By GINIA BELLAFANTE

The Next Maya Angelou

Judging from the crowds that flocked to Washington's Sidney Kramer book shop, one might have imagined that Robert James Waller was holding court behind its doors. But the writer whom 1,300 had come to greet was JIMMY CARTER, author of Always a Reckoning, his first collection of poetry. Seeking the creative fulfillment that military service could not provide, Carter turned to verse in the Navy. The poems span the full range from folksy to sentimental; one reads, "It's hard to know what I can say ... to have the coolness melt/ To share once more/ The warmth we've felt."

SEEN & HEARD

Anchorman Peter Jennings does not seem pleased by speculation that he is dating Barbra Streisand. Responding to reports that he'd shared a cuddly dinner with the chanteuse, he wrote gossip columnist Liz Smith a letter saying, "We spent the entire dinner discussing a speech Barbra was soon to give."

The current issue of Mademoiselle features a cover image of Kate Moss in which she looks like Veronica Lake missing the bridge of her nose. The photo has the fashion world buzzing, but Mademoiselle editor Elizabeth Crow sees nothing wrong with it. "Kate has appeared on many Mademoiselle covers, and she always looked raunchy, neglected, unattractive," says Crow. "We wanted to make her drop-dead glamorous."

Dancing with Editors

With her impudent wit, penchant for baseball caps and indulgence in high-powered '80s socializing, HEATHER WATTS never fit the image of demure ballerina. Known for sharp movements and an idiosyncratic style, she suffered poor reviews early in her career but won critics over in Balanchine's 1980 Davidsbundlertanze. Last week Watts, a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet, retired at 41, ending her final performance tearfully amid a blizzard of flowers. She is about to begin a career as a journalist and will cover the arts as a contributing editor for Vanity Fair.

Fame, We Wholeheartedly Embrace You

Combining plaintive alterna-rock lyrics with a Graceland-period Paul Simon sound, the DAVE MATTHEWS BAND has become the rage of college radio. Under the Table and Dreaming, its major-label debut, has also made the quintet an MTV favorite and poised its genteel hometown of Charlottesville, Virginia, to become the next Seattle. Lead singer-songwriter Dave Matthews, a hobby painter and self-proclaimed mamma's boy, harbors no Eddie Vedder-ish loathing of fame, though. "I'm grateful as hell. I wouldn't mind people knowing our songs in Tahiti," says Matthews, "or even Outer Mongolia."