Lyons' New Den

Hearst's King Features Syndicate was hard at work on a glowing ad for Leonard Lyons, whose column it had sold to 25 papers (circulation: 4,000,000). The ad: 1) an ebullient article on Lyons by William Saroyan ("one of the few columns of our time which has both form and style"); 2) a letter from New York University's English Department saying that Lyons' column is recommended reading in the Advanced Writing Class; 3) a statement by Carl Sandburg (via Saroyan): "Imagine how much richer American history would have been, had there been a Leonard Lyons in Lincoln's time"; 4) the assertion that Lyons has "500 newsbeats a year."

But the fine promotion was never sent out, and last week Columnist Lyons switched syndicates from King Features to McNaught. The trouble originated with Publisher Hearst, summering in northern California. He was getting madder & madder at Lyons. Lyons had made friendly mention no less than 41 times since Jan. 1 of Orson Welles, producer of the movie Citizen Kane, allegedly based on Hearst's strange career. That was tactless at least of Columnist Lyons.

Hearst wired King Features to cut Lyons' column out of all Hearst papers. But only the Boston American and the San Francisco Examiner had carried it.

Thereupon Hearst wired harsh words to King Features. Lyons availed himself of a 60-day cancellation clause, signed with McNaught Syndicate. The change did not dampen his cheerful animation. McNaught Syndicate's Charles McAdam (a Lyons booster from way back) was confident he could add a lot more Lyons customers.

Self-styled ''news columnist," 34-year-old, long-nosed Leonard Lyons is in a class by himself. A teetotaler, he probably works harder, more soberly and methodically than any gossip columnist living. Until his start in columning (1934), he swears he had never been in a nightclub. Now, six nights a week, he goes to 14 Manhattan nightspots. Methodically he leaves home at 11, returns like clockwork at 4:30 to write his column, always makes his 7 a.m. deadline. Punctually at 3 p.m. he goes to his office, where he is available to tipsters until seven.

No less methodically he went into columning by design, not accident. He asked editors how to do it. They told him to start on some small-town paper, work his way into Manhattan. Instead he deluged other Manhattan columnists with his contributions. The New York Post hired him full time.

Proud of having been sued only once--by a vaudeville actor who died of acute alcoholism while suing Lyons for calling him a heavy drinker--Lyons admits getting about 60% of his gossip from nightclubs, the rest from outside sources. Considering the number of non-Broadway anecdotes in his column, the nightclub percentage seems high. But Columnist Lyons points out that a lot of people stop at nightclubs: he met Mrs. Roosevelt in one, Alfred Landon in another, Soviet Ambassador Oumansky in the Stork Club.

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