By the account of a recent album he recorded, Frank Sinatra, 50, is in the September of his years. But as the days dwindle down to a precious few, he's decided to make the most of them by marrying Mia Farrow, 21, Maureen O'Suilivan's actress daughter. After keeping steady company with her for more than a year, Frankie took her home to mother and gave her a ding-a-ding ring, nine carats heavy and worth something like $100,000. Said Old Pal Joey Bishop: "It looked like Plymouth Rock had been lowered onto Columbus Circle."

"The light came in from the east. And then there came the sharp compelling cry--the most awesome, happiest sound known to human ears, the first child of Sam and Rebekah Johnson was discovering America." So wrote Lyndon's mother in the family album in 1908. The celebrated passage now hangs, framed, in the replica of his five-room birthplace, which has just been built on the original's decayed foundation. Another bit of memorabilia in the new presidential shrine, which is just a mile from the present L.B.J. ranch: a china-doll clown that was a Christmas present to an aunt from little Lyndon, then four. "He proudly handed it over," burbled a White House press release, "telling her delightedly that it cost a dime and was worth every cent of it."

Nice, good, old John

Some other writers' Grapes of Wrath

Are still to come

But is it possible

That yours are only in the past?

So wrote Soviet Poet Evgeny Evtushenko in Literaturnaya Gazeta, addressing his nice, good, old pal John Steinbeck, whom he met during the author's 1963 visit to Russia. Evtushenko was scolding Steinbeck for not speaking out against the Vietnamese war.

Steinbeck, who has a son with the Armed Forces radio in Saigon, replied with an open letter of his own. "My dear friend Genya," he wrote, "You know well how I detest all war, but for this one I have a particular and personal hatred. I am against this Chinese-inspired war. I don't know a single American who is for it. But, my beloved friend, you asked me to denounce half a war, our half. If you could persuade North Viet Nam to agree in good faith to negotiate, the bombing would stop instantly. The guns would fall silent and our dear sons could come home."

From the very first he did splendidly, winning an Emmy in his first year and holding his own against TV's mightiest (Milton Berle, Groucho Marx, Lucille Ball). Then in 1957 he announced his retirement "from the lights of TV to the shades and shadows of the Cross. As the retirement was dictated by spiritual considerations, so will be the moment of return." The exact spiritual considerations are not known, but Uncle Miltie has announced his return to the silver tube and so now has Uncle Fultie. Beginning in the fall on 30 syndicated stations, New York's Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, 71, will conduct a weekly color series called not Life Is Worth Living, as it was before, but just plain The Bishop Sheen Program.

Athletics is one thing New York's two Senators don't have in common. So when their staffs met on the softball diamond, Jacob Javits' crowd deferentially called themselves "The Old Men," and Bobby Kennedy's crew were dubbed "The Kennedy Kids." Neither of the distinguished colleagues started. But in the second inning, Javits, 62, stepped in for a swing while Bobby, 40, hooted pleasantly from the sidelines. The Senior Senator cracked a clean single--uh, clean, if you don't count some fumble fingering in centerfield. Daughter Joy Javits, 17, who was a ringer (she's on Senator Claiborne Pell's staff), then brought her balding pa pounding home with a triple. Thus inspired, "The Old Men" eked out a 28-17 win. Two-four-six-ache, who do we appreciate? Jake, Jake, Jake. Yeah.

"Dear Bob," the letter began, and went on to express New York Mayor John V. Lindsay's "deep gratitude" toward "one of the city's most venerable, respected, dedicated and effective public servants." The soft soap notwithstanding, Dear Bob was being fired from his powerful job as coordinator of the city's federal-state-city highway projects. Robert Moses, 77, once the master of the New York environment, including parks and beaches, is now left with only the Triborough Bridge, six other bridges and two tunnels to run. In a letter accusing Lindsay of "ripper legislation," he chided him for "the errors of your logic," and signed off as "Your venerable friend."

After nine months of trying to unify the warring factions among her husband's followers in Argentina, Isabel Peron, 35, found that her efforts had come to precious little: the recent military coup led to the dissolution of all political parties. So Isabel rejoined el lider in his Spanish exile. She was met with a lengthy embrace from unwan Juan, looking less than his 70 years, and the couple went off for "a second honeymoon." Their transportation: a black Mercedes that is registered in the U.S. to avoid Spanish import duties. Old dictators know all the tricks.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.