Sunday Reading

Mike Wilson with Tarzan sleeps over: Gordon Scott, an actor who played Tarzan in the movies in the late '50s and early '60s, died on May 4 in Baltimore. He was 80.

The Associated Press obituary gave a terse account of his life: Grew up in Portland, Ore., became a bodybuilder, caught the eye of a Hollywood producer, got married, hollered and swung through a half-dozen Tarzan flicks, got divorced, made some gladiator pictures, quit the movies, spent 40 years in retirement, died of complications after heart surgery.

This is how the AP obituary ended:

His later years were spent in Baltimore, in a row house owned by Roger and Betty Thomas. "My husband has been a fan of his since he was a child, " Betty Thomas said. "When we were in Hollywood about eight years ago, we looked him up. We invited him for a visit. He came and never left."

Beg pardon?

Tarzan came and never left?

Alexa James with a soldier's family: September 2006: Speeding south down Interstate 95, Adam Siruchek glances sideways at his son sleeping in the passenger seat. He reaches over, pats his leg.

Not to wake him. Just to feel the knee. Squeeze it. Remember it.

Colleen Kenney with a father on Mother's Day: The baby born last Mother's Day loves to be held, especially by her father.

She looks like him, same blue eyes and blond hair, not so much like her dark-eyed mother. She's going to be tall like him — 90th percentile on the charts. She smiles a lot and is teething, and when she drools, Daddy wipes her chin with her bib.

He changes her diaper.

Hands her Gerber finger foods, which she puts in her mouth.

Pushes her in her Jeep all-weather stroller, a gift from Aunt Jane.

Pushes her in the tree swing in his parents' backyard.

Cheers her on when she pushes herself up, tries to crawl, looks up at him, grinning.

"Keep pushing, Jadyn! Keep pushing!"

Distracts her when she's ornery by shaking her favorite rattles, the soft flower and the colorful star.

Gives her a bottle.

Gives her a bath.

Wipes every tear.

"Fall down? Go boom?"

Calms every fear.

Reaches for her.

All the things her mother can't do.

Dan Barry on the lure of Lucin Town (free version): Great Location! Rare Parcel! Premium Lot!

Somehow these age-old come-ons still cast their spell, drawing us in, relieving us of that obstacle to suspect acquisition, our disbelief. With words that all but wink in confidence, they slyly suggest that our mothers raised no fools, that we should get while the getting's good - and that desert land in Utah is the next big thing.

''Excellent investment property in high-growth area,'' reads an eBay advertisement for the sale of 40 acres in a remote part of rural Box Elder County. Good roads (unencumbered by pavement), close to casinos (if 80 miles is close) and, the ad says, ''only one mile away from Lucin Town.''

Ah, the lure of Lucin Town.

What are you reading?