People

By Josh Tyrangiel

DIDN'T THEY TRY THIS WITH CARRIE?

JOHN MELLENCAMP had an idea for a musical. The story revolved around two competitive brothers who get a glimpse into their family's macabre past. With a few phone calls, he lined up someone to write the book: STEPHEN KING. "He's a reclusive kinda nut, and I am too," says Mellencamp from his Florida recording studio. "So we've found some sort of brotherhood in that. He's got the story written, and I've got half a dozen songs written, so we're on our way." The untitled project won't open on Broadway, but Mellencamp hopes that's where it will end up. Meanwhile, they're learning by doing. "We're still scratching our heads trying to figure out where the songs go. We don't really want to ask anybody, and we don't want a book on how to do it. We just want to make it up ourselves so maybe it'll be different."

LIKE FATHER, LIKE HUSBAND?

You may not know this, but JACQUELINE KENNEDY ONASSIS was American royalty. So Sarah Bradford's reverential America's Queen won't shock anyone with its conclusion that Jackie still hovers over us as a model of poise and grace. What's new are revelations about Jackie from folks a bit closer to her than a thrice-removed Kennedy cousin. Gore Vidal, Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Richard Goodwin, Jackie's ultracompetitive sister Lee Radziwill Ross and several of Jackie's ex-lovers comment on, among other things, her romantic issues with father figures, her intense, loving relationship with Bobby Kennedy, and her father "Black Jack" Bouvier's habit of sharing play-by-play analysis of his sex life with his daughters, which Jackie apparently thought was "the most wonderful thing." Still wondering where those father-figure issues came from?

ONE LESS COG IN THE MACHINE

Rage Against the Machine's lead singer ZACH DE LA ROCHA has decried American imperialism, sweatshops, Mumia Abu-Jamal's death sentence--you name the lefty cause, he's written a song about it. Now the consummate angry young man is raging against his own machine. "I feel that it is necessary to leave Rage because our decision-making process has completely failed," he says. "It is no longer meeting the aspirations of all four of us collectively as a band and, from my perspective, has undermined our artistic and political ideal." ("Creative differences" would have sufficed.) Guitarist Tom Morello says the band will survive with 25% less rage and that 29 tracks mastered by rap-rock producer Rick Rubin are ready for the next album. "We'll keep it loud, keep it funky and most definitely rock on." As for the lack of a lead singer, David Lee Roth is still very much available.

GRETZKY DOESN'T GET THIS ONE

In his native Canada, Colorado Avalanche goaltender PATRICK ROY is Michael Jordan and Brad Pitt rolled into one giant protective plastic shell. But what Roy (pronounced Wah) accomplished last week made headlines even in a country with actual news. In a 5-4 victory over Washington, Roy, 35, broke the 30-year-old record for most career wins by a goalkeeper (448), making him the Hank Aaron of hockey. Was it thanks to his superstitious routine of talking to the goalposts? "To be honest with you, everything went so fast in that game that I didn't really have a chance to have a talk with them," says Roy. "They'll forgive me." As for the man whose record he broke--the late Terry Sawchuck--Roy says, "He played without the mask, and they say he had more than 400 stitches in his face. But he also played in a time when there was only one goaltender, and if you were injured, you needed to come back fast. He was a great competitor." So maybe Roy's record--set with the aid of masks, pads and backup goalies--needs an asterisk? "Uh, no."