The Hearsts: Father and Son

Columnist and editor-in-chief of the Hearst newspapers, Hearst Jr. is heir to the publishing empire founded by his father. In this brisk, unpretentious, opinionated autobiography, he expectedly defends Hearst Sr. as a ``true populist'' who made ``massive contributions'' to journalism. Not so predictably, he partially blames his mother, Millicent, for the marital breakup caused by her husband's long-term affair with alcoholic actress Marion Davies. Writing with veteran reporter Casserly, Hearst Jr. recounts the saga of his grandparents George and Phoebe, who left a Missouri farm for California's gold fields, becoming multimillionaires. He offers a stirring account of his own adventures as a WW II correspondent and nostalgically recreates the New York City news beat of the 1950s and '60s. He also records encounters with Churchill, Nehru, Damon Runyon, Clark Gable, Thatcher, Carter; and offers barbed commentary on such figures as Walter Winchell (``a real bastard'') and LBJ (``one of the loneliest men I ever met''). Photos. 60,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo. (Sept.)