Writer

  For six hours Saturday, South Jersey's Collingswood borough became a book lover's paradise, as its 10th annual Book Festival drew thousands who came to stroll through six cordoned-off blocks of Haddon Avenue in an open-air celebration of everything literary. National best-selling authors such as former New York Times reporter Amy Waldman shared space at tables with local favorites like Bernie Parent, Stanley Cup-winning goalie for the Flyers; children's author Dan Gutman; and dozens of lesser-known writers who also came to sell their books and tell their stories.

In his autobiographical movie and subsequent play, A Bronx Tale , Chazz Palminteri doles out lots of advice as a young man learns from two father figures. Now the writer-actor-director is taking his advice skills to the airwaves with Ask Chazz , a four-week series of live, call-in shows on SiriusXM Radio, where callers will get Palminteri's thoughts on a variety of topics, including the entertainment business and relationships. "It's like life lessons told in a street-savvy way," the actor said.

IT'S 1989, the Berlin Wall is about to fall and it's freezing. A West German soldier is handing out hot chocolate to cold spectators. The soldier perks up: Wandering among the legions of people is actor Andrew McCarthy. History is being made, but it's McCarthy whom the soldier gets excited about. McCarthy, who made a name for himself in the '80s starring in movies such as "Pretty in Pink," "St. Elmo's Fire" and the Philly-shot "Mannequin," said that was one of the weirdest instances of his being recognized in a foreign country.

Glenn Ellsworth Ecklund, 94, of Media, a 20-year Navy veteran and retired technical writer, died Thursday, Sept. 13, of heart failure at Lankenau Hospital. Mr. Ecklund grew up in Warren, Pa., and often spoke about how great it was to grow up in a small town surrounded by forests, his son, John, said. After graduating from high school in 1937, he enlisted in the Navy. During World War II, he served aboard ships in the Pacific and the Mediterranean. "His Navy career took him to six of the seven continents, over endless miles of ocean and sea," his son said, "and he seemed to remember every detail of every voyage.

Eva Figes, 80, a refugee from Nazi Germany who became an acclaimed novelist, memoirist, and critic best known for a feminist treatise, Patriarchal Attitudes, died Aug. 28 of heart failure at her London home. Ms. Figes was 38, divorced, and raising two children when she felt moved to write a blistering indictment of women's standing in society and what she viewed as the inequality of marriage. She had been a novelist to that point, but the experience of petty discrimination in the workplace and elsewhere inspired her anger.

T HE PROBLEM nags at supporters of the state's voter-ID law - they say that the controversial legislation will stop widespread voter fraud, but they have no evidence to show that the problem exists. John Fund, a conservative columnist who released books in 2004 and last month claiming that voter fraud is rampant, attempted Monday to defend the law during a panel discussion at the National Constitution Center. Former Gov. Ed Rendell, who opposes the law, moderated the debate and pressed for explanations about why it is needed since attorneys for the state, during a legal challenge this summer, said that they could offer no evidence that in-person voter fraud occurs.

Margaret "Peg" Hess-Fennell, 70, of Phoenixville, a writer and corporate leadership development coach, died Sunday, Sept. 2, of pancreatic cancer at Seasons Hospice in Phoenixville. Since 2007, Mrs. Hess-Fennell had been director of organization effectiveness at United BioSource Corp. in Blue Bell. Before that she held the same position with Covance Inc. In recent years, she also authored the book I'm Alive for God's Sake, about her experience with cancer. Under the pen name A.M. Brimmar, she also coauthored two books with her grandchildren, Help Is on the Way: North America and Help Is on the Way: South America . The books, illustrated by her grandchildren, chronicle the adventures of a soaring eagle that tries to save endangered animals.

REMEMBER a year ago, when the Eagles' so-called Dream Team built up fans' expectations and then was so bad it needed to win its last four games just to finish 8-8? We do, too, but it doesn't stop us from offering you a whole new set of predictions for the Eagles' 2012 season. ED BARKOWITZ WORRIED about the quarterback. Nervous about the safeties. Really wish Jason Peters was playing. Scared of the kicker. Boy, this team seemed a lot better in June than in September. As for the season, the first step is getting to 4-2 at the bye week.

Ex-Eagle quarterback Donovan McNabb may be accepting that he's now an ex-quarterback. No team has signed the 35-year-old free agent, not even for an audition as a backup, since the Minnesota Vikings released him last season. Now comes word he's "close to agreeing to a network job," according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal. He's "signed with agent Mark Lepselter for broadcast work," she tweeted Sunday (@SBJLizMullen). Indeed, MAXX Sports & Entertainment, founded by Lepselter, not only lists McNabb as a client under "broadcasters" but IDs him as "Analyst - NFL Network.

Within minutes of Rep. Paul Ryan's first speech as Mitt Romney's running mate, Twitter blew up with tweets - but they were about three people, not just two. You might have expected a tweet storm about Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, and Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman who joined the GOP ticket Saturday morning. And indeed, across the nation, #RomneyRyan2012 was the top-trending nonsponsored topic on Twitter, with Paul Ryan second. But in seventh place? Ayn Rand, the Russian American novelist and political writer whom Ryan credited in his speech Saturday morning with inspiring him to go into public service.