Kingdoms have been lost for want of nails, shoes and horses, but it was not, as legend now has it, a pair of sore feet that spurred the U.S. civil rights movement 24 years ago. Who should know better than Rosa Parks, 64. In December 1955 Parks was a tired Montgomery, Ala., domestic who refused to surrender her seat on a bus to a white man. Her arrest spurred black civil disobedience that helped wipe out segregation laws. Honored last week with a Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize, Parks joined hands with Coretta Scott King and former United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young for an emotional prayer service. Then to set the record straight, she explained that she was already active in civil rights when she boarded that bus. She kept her seat be cause her dignity was hurting, not her feet. "I hope people understand I did what I did not to make trouble or attract attention. But I would do the same thing again."

What had a Niagara of cascading hair, a smile like sunrays, some discreet thigh and a revolutionary effect on the poster business? A picture of Farrah Fawcett, that's what. The Farrah poster, still the alltime bestseller in a crowded field, pushed aside peace symbols and cartoon characters. Top draws today include such entries as Farrah's replacement Angel, Cheryl Ladd, and WKRP in Cincinnati's Loni Anderson, but Muppetdonna Miss Piggy is way up on the charts too, as a kind of ham amid the cheese. Beefcake has sold as well, including young Rock Stars Andy Gibb and Leif Garrett, John Travolta looking disco-feverish and NBC's heart throb Highway Cop Erik Estrada posing with his CHiPs down. Alas, such posters may soon be passe. Manufacturers report a swing away from pictures of individuals and a renewed interest in, of all things, outdoor scenes, mottoes and geometries.

Henny Youngman had plenty of quips in his quiver for a bar mitzvah in Atlantic City, especially since the coming-of-age ceremony was his own. The comedian, now 73, somehow missed being confirmed 60 years ago. Rabbi Seymour Rosen was delighted to go to the gambling casino where Youngman was appearing to correct the oversight, and Tenor Jan Peerce was cantor. "Today," cracked Youngman, after reading his prescribed prayers in phonetic Hebrew, "I am a boy." Years ago, he insisted, "you got a fountain pen when you were bar mitzvahed. Now you get a computer." But the punch lines were watered with tears when the new kid in town tried to be serious before 300 friends. "Today," he concluded tearfully, "I am the proudest Jew in the world."

It was no surprise that Beautiful-People Photographer Francesco Scavullo celebrated his 51st birthday at Manhattan's Studio 54, the tacky ex-TV studio that has been built into the Big Apple's most celebrated disco with the help of hype-hungry celebs. But why was his party so subdued? Why did Co-Owner Steven Rubell, 36, cross his wrists as though he were wearing handcuffs? Premonition, possibly. Two days later a federal judge, considering guilty pleas from Rubell and Partner Ian Schrager to charges of failing to pay $400,000 in taxes on income skimmed from disco receipts, hit them with 42-month jail terms and fines totaling $40,000.

Considering the credits, it could almost be called All in the Family: Paul Newman, director; Wife Joanne Woodward, star; Daughter Susan Newman, coproducer. Actually, it's The Shadow Box, an ABC-TV movie adaptation of the prizewinning play about three terminally ill patients and their families. Valerie Harper, the fun ny Ms. Nutzy of the Rhoda series, plays the deadly serious wife of a fast-fading truck driver. Woodward is a boozing broad who sleeps with anyone. That was the director's idea. Says Newman, who last directed his wife twelve years ago in Rachel, Rachel: "I'm sick and tired of seeing her as a librarian or schoolteacher. I want to show them she's a knockout."

When your bride is mayor of San Francisco, must you promise to love her honor and obey? Maybe so, when it's Dianne Feinstein's administration. Bridegroom Richard Blum, 44, an investment banker who met Widow Feinstein, 46, when they were brought together to discuss finances, joined the lady in her mayoral chambers last week to share a prenuptial toast. After the wedding and a reception to which tout San Francisco was invited, Blum will discover what it means to take on city hall. The honeymoon includes four days in Washington, where the mayor plans a series of conferences with federal officials.

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