Writers

It's an age-old question in basketball, from the pickup courts to the NBA: Who's got next? That's certainly the question over at UCLA, where there has been no shortage of speculation about who will replace Ben Howland as basketball coach. Some Bruins fans can't seem to understand why the likes of Michigan State's Tom Izzo and Florida's Billy Donovan aren't lining up for the job. Or maybe that Coach K guy. Others are championing champions from the mid-major ranks such as Gonzaga's Mark Few, Butler's Brad Stevens or Virginia Commonwealth's Shaka Smart.

The morning commute was like any other - almost. As cars flew by on the northbound 710, I hit "play" on my iPod and a melody swept over me. Rush hour melted away. "Ah-vey, ah-vey, veh-room corrrr-pooose," the choir began. The Latin words open "Ave Verum Corpus" (Hail true body), a choral composition that has captivated listeners for more than two centuries. I sang along, and I wasn't doing it alone. At that moment, two friends in New Jersey and Georgia were singing the words as well.

JOHNANNESBURG, South Africa - When Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe was in college, a European professor assigned "Mister Johnson," which portrayed Africa as a land of grinning, shrieking savages. Time magazine called it "the best novel ever written about Africa. " Achebe was outraged. He vowed that if someone as ignorant as Joyce Cary, the novel's Anglo-Irish author, could write such a book, "perhaps I ought to try my hand at it. " FOR THE RECORD: Chinua Achebe obituary: In the March 22 Section A, the obituary of Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe referred to writer Ngugi wa Thiongo as a fellow Nigerian.

When I think about Chinua Achebe, who died Thursday in Boston at age 82, I remember an event, five years ago, at Manhattan's Town Hall. The occasion was a commemoration, sponsored by PEN American Center, of the 50th anniversary of Achebe's first novel, “Things Fall Apart,” which opened the territory of African literature for many readers around the world. I listened as, one after the next, novelists Colum McCann, Edwidge Danticat and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie took the stage to pay homage to Achebe.

Working with first-time actors playing versions of themselves, Michel Gondry has crafted an exuberantly chaotic vision of a teenage moment in time in "The We and the I. " The feature, set on the last day of the school year, jumps back and forth among a group of Bronx high-school students as they ride the bus home. Their fictitious route, on a real city bus, takes far longer than an actual cross-borough commute would. But the trip, beginning in bright afternoon and ending in twilight, is a figurative flight as well as an earthbound echo chamber of empty yammering and dramas both petty and huge.

Fans of pulpy British horror novels were dismayed to learn that James Herbert , author of books including "The Rats," "Magic Cottage" and "Haunted," had died at his home Wednesday. The 69-year-old died peacefully in his sleep, according to publisher Pan Macmillan. Herbert was an art director at an advertising agency when he began writing his first novel, "The Rats," which was published when he was 30. His most recent book, "Ash," came out in the U.S. late last year. In all, he wrote 23 novels that have been published in 34 languages, selling more than 54 million copies worldwide.

Loyalties are tested, futures are reconsidered and the body count climbs in the effective action import "New World. " Writer-director Hoon-jung Park tells this twisty story of internecine warfare within a Korean corporate crime syndicate with patience, elegance and no small amount of bloodshed. The title refers to the name of a national law enforcement operation that's launched to close in on the ruthless, multi-tentacled Goldmoon organization after its omnipotent head, Seok (Geung-young Lee)

Actress Lindsey Kraft has suffered her way through dozens of readings for pilots and bit television parts. But before the stage series "Unscreened," Kraft never had the chance to play a lead role--let alone a prostitute caught off-guard when a client turns out to be her father. "Most of the day I feel less like an actor than a professional auditioner," said Kraft, who has had small roles on TV shows such as "The Mob Doctor. " "It's nice to finally have something you feel proud of," she added, then laughed when reminded of her part.

Peter Meyerson TV writer, producer worked on 'The Monkees' and 'Welcome Back, Kotter' Peter Meyerson, 81, a TV writer and producer who co-wrote the debut episodes of sitcom classics "The Monkees" and "Welcome Back, Kotter," died March 11 at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. He was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and a heart condition, said his former wife Julia Russell. For "The Monkees," the 1966-68 comedy series featuring four Beatlesque band members, Meyerson collaborated with writing partner Robert Schlitt for the first episode and a handful more during the show's run on NBC. Meyerson is credited with developing "Welcome Back, Kotter" for television and worked as a writer, supervising producer and executive script consultant on the show, which aired on ABC from 1975 to '79. Meyerson co-wrote the pilot, which introduced the Sweathogs - a group of smart-aleck students at a Brooklyn high school played by John Travolta, Robert Hegyes, Ron Palillo and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs - and their teacher Gabe Kotter, played by series co-creator Gabe Kaplan.

Henry Bromell, a novelist and short-story writer who brought a literary quality to some of the most acclaimed dramatic TV series of the last two decades, including "Homeland," "Northern Exposure" and "Homicide: Life on the Street," died Monday at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica. He was 65. He was believed to have had a heart attack, said his longtime friend and agent Peter Benedek. Bromell spent the last 23 years writing, producing and directing TV dramas noteworthy for their resonant characters and sharp dialogue.