People

By Guy D. Garcia

The torch has beckoned for nearly a century as a symbol of hope for people everywhere. But by the time it was taken down 17 months ago, as part of a $230 million restoration of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, the 4,800-lb. copper beacon had been badly damaged by the elements. Last week a new torch based on the original 1886 design by French Sculptor Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was raised 305 ft. to its perch in Liberty's right hand, overlooking New York Harbor. Constructed by a team of artisans from Les Metalliers Champenois of Reims, France, the 15-ft. flame is gilded with 24-karat gold leaf. During the ceremony, Regional National Park Director Herbert Cables said that the new torch would "shine more brightly than ever." Indeed, it shall. New lights will illuminate the flame when President Reagan kicks off the statue's 100th birthday celebration on July 4, 1986.

It looked like the staging area for the world's largest order of French fries. But no, it was merely one more odd happening in the life of Baseball Legend Yogi Berra, who last week wound up with a ton of taters on the lawn of his Montclair, N.J., home. The seed for Berra's bumper harvest was planted last summer at a celebrity golf tournament near Grand Forks, N. Dak. Berra reportedly asked what folks around those parts did for a living and was told that they grew potatoes. To which Berra replied, "I didn't think they'd grow enough here to fill up my driveway. "His comment reached the local Red River Valley Potato Growers Association, which decided to prove the catcher-manager and new Houston Astros coach wrong by trucking 46 50-lb. boxes to his door. Berra's not telling, but what deliveryman could have resisted shouting, "Hey, Yogi, this spud's for you!"

"The downside of being an actor is that you can't act until somebody hires you," complains Patti Davis. So the President's daughter decided to become her own boss by turning writer. The result is Home Front (Crown; $15.95), to be published in March, a reflective novel about a 1960s college student who defies her politician father to become involved in the antiwar movement. Davis, 33, who co-wrote the book with Novelist Maureen Strange Foster, admits that some of the story is autobiographical. "I used kernels of truth and experience," she says, "and embellished the rest." Davis found fiction such a snap that she has already begun a second novel and has received offers to develop Home Front into a television movie. Naturally, Davis, who was featured in the 1981 TV movie For Ladies Only, has her eye on the leading role. Of course, if she needs any coaching for the part, she can always go to her real-life parents for help.

He is America's favorite nerd, but last week Comedian Pee-wee Herman was treated like a big man on campus, as he became the third recipient of the Harvard Lampoon's Elmer Award for comedy. Dressed in his trademark tight-fitting gray suit and red bow tie, Herman, a.k.a. Paul Reubens, thirtyish, was escorted by student court jesters and paraded through the university grounds, as a cheering crowd waved signs reading, PEE-WEE HERMAN AND BUSH IN '88. Said Herman of the award, which had previously been bestowed upon Comics Bill Cosby and John Candy: "I'd like to go to Harvard some day, so I think this will look good on a resume." But the star of the surprise hit movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure was more impressed by what the Elmer could do for his career. "It's a lifetime-achievement award," observed Herman, "so it means an early retirement." --By Guy D. Garcia