Former astronaut John Glenn, the first American in space, sent these books to The Little Auction That Could (Michele Sandberg/Special to Page2Live)

The list of those who signed their favorite childhood books and shipped then to Stuart for a charity auction reads like a pop culture Top 100: Poet Maya Angelou; The Apprentice’s Donald Trump; golfer Tiger Woods; former First Lady Barbara Bush; her son, former Gov. Jeb Bush; chimp lover Jane Goodall; former Miami Heat star Shaquille O’Neal; Pres. Barack Obama; Nike’s Phil Knight; Hollywood stars Sean Connery, Steve Martin and Robert Wagner; TV news readers Katie Couric and Brian Williams; Palm Beach musician Jimmy Buffett; and Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, among others.

In all, a total 60 A-listers contributed. It took time, nearly two years, said organizer Karla Preissman. The first to respond to her requests was Jeb Bush, who shipped her The Travels of Babar. The last? The prez. Obama rush-mailed a pop up book of the White House two weeks ago.

Dubbed The Little Auction That Could (after the children’s book The Little Engine That Could), the event ends Nov. 20 with the auctioning of the books at the Lyric Theatre. Proceeds go to the Hibiscus Children’s Center, a shelter for abused and neglected children. Until then, the books are exhibited at Stuart’s Elliott Museum.

For more info about the auction and the celebs, and what they liked to read, check out this website.

And see Page2Live’s photos by Michele Sandberg of Thursday night’s preview of what’s for sale:

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Bova received the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Leader of the Year award in 2004 (Palm Beach Post archives)

The scandal that engulfed the well-known Fort Lauderdale law firm of Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler has spilled into the Boca Raton restaurant biz.

Tony Bova, 58, a Boca resident and the high-profile owner of a string of area restaurants, counts disgraced attorney and political power broker Scott Rothstein among his partners in at least a half-dozen ventures.

And chief among those are Bova Ristorante, Bova’s pride and joy on Boca’s Federal Highway, and the chain Bova Restaurant Group.

Bova Ristorante, where older guys with slicked-back hair loved to hook up with women too young for them, mysteriously closed its doors shortly before Rothstein took off for North Africa last month.

And no one’s talking.

“Tony Bova has no comment at this point,” a spokeswoman said.

Bova’s association with Rothstein, who’s believed to be the principal in a $500 million Ponzi scheme and just returned to Florida to face the music, surprised observers.

“Tony was a very successful restaurant owner in his own right,” said Tom Prakas, a hospitality-business broker. “I don’t know why he needed Scott Rothstein.”

One strange thing regarding Bova and Rothstein is that their businesses last year spent more than $200,000 on political causes, mostly in a heated race across the Palm Beach County line.

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(Courtesy of CBLPI)

This portrait of the Palm Beach-based GOP dragon lady Ann Coulter fittingly adorns a winter month on the 2010 conservative women calendar. Yep, there is such a calendar, and it’s being put out by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute. The group offers guidance and advice to young conservative women. This year, by the way, the calendar also features fallen Miss California Carrie Prejean and the comely conservative scribe Michelle Malkin. This must-have item can be yours for a mere $25.

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This is a cellphone picture of a hand sanitizer in the men’s room at the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of the lawfirm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt Adler. The bottle bears the firm’s logo and these words: “OUR CLIENTS come to court WITH CLEAN HANDS.” The nerve! Let’s see if founder Scott Rothstein, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s sugar daddies, has clean hands when he answers to allegations that he ripped off $500 million from investors to fund his champagne-and-caviar lifestyle! Check out the latest on Rothstein here.

Lt. Paula Kronsperger, one of the highest-profile females at the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office, is out on worker’s comp as more allegations of sex-related wrongdoing rain on her.

Kronsperger, 41, the warrants and fugitives unit’s executive officer, went out on leave Oct. 11, according to PBSO spokeswoman Teri Barbera. Barbera couldn’t legally discuss the reason for Kronsperger’s temporary departure. But two sources at the department said months under Internal Affairs scrutiny and a new investigation by PBSO’s Human Resources have stressed out Kronsperger.

Four days before Kronsperger’s departure, as many as 20 of her employees descended on the office of HR honcho Joyce Stelling to file a federal EEOC complaint against Kronsperger.

Reason: Hostile work environment!

John Kazanjian, head of the local PBA police union, confirmed the existence of the EEOC complaint.

“The sheriff (Ric Bradshaw) called me to ask if I could hold off some of my members from joining the EEOC action,” Kazanjian said. “But I couldn’t do it.”

The troops, meanwhile, are grumbling that it is highly unusual for a PBSO employee to be allowed on worker’s comp for stress. Usually, stressed out employees have to use the Family Medical Leave Act.

FMLA leaves are unpaid. But because Kronsperger is on worker’s comp, PBSO continues paying her $104,000-a-year salary, Barbera confirmed.

Last month a member of Bradshaw’s cabinet, Maj. Michael Veccia, invoked the FMLA to take a leave the day he was supposed to be interviewed by Internal Affairs in connection with a hostile work environment complaint. He, too, told the brass he was stressed out.

Why the double standard? It’s nothing of the sort, Barbera said.

For more, and the poll, look below or click (Read more…)

Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams

Rookie Palm Beach County Commissioner Steve Abrams was called to the Fort Lauderdale headquarters of his private employer, the law firm of Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, for a 9 a.m. meeting today. The meeting is about the future of the 76-attorney company founded by the flamboyantly rich and politically connected Scott Rothstein.

Abrams is one of three attorneys at the firm’s Boca Raton offices. Hired 18 months ago, Abrams specialized in governmental law until he was picked by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace disgraced commissioner Mary McCarty on the commission.

“I’m just part-time now and I don’t do governmental law,” Abrams said. “I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I’m in a satellite office in Boca. We don’t hear anything.”

Abrams said he doesn’t know if he still has a job there. Several lawyers were recently laid off.

Rothstein, a tight buddy of Crist’s and other Republican heavy-hitters like U.S. Sen. John McCain, skipped town last week amid allegations that money borrowed from legal settlements was missing.

Rothstein was known to hire lawyers involved in politics, including Abrams, a former mayor of Boca Raton, and disgraced former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne.

Displaying tats in some strange places, including precariously close to the most sensitive part of her right breast, The Addams Family’s Christiana Ricci spent Halloween in the surf of Miami Beach with new beau Curtis Buchanan, an L.A. photographer.

Fergie: Adult diapers, please!

Under congressional fire: Miami Dolphins’ celebrity owners!

U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican from the boondocks — I mean Iowa — asked NFL Commish Roger Goodell a pertinent question in a Capitol Hill hearing yesterday.

If Palm Beacher Rush Limbaugh is too offensive to be a part-owner of the St. Louis Rams, then why are Fergie and singer/actress Jennifer Lopez?

King, who hijacked a hearing about football injuries, said: “I don’t think anything that Rush Limbaugh said was offensive, but with Fergie and with J-Lo, they have, between the two of them, alleged that the CIA are terrorists and liars. They’ve promoted sexual abuse of women. They’ve used the N-word, verbal pornography, recreational drug use, etc. And they are owners of the Dolphins. And it’s also ironic that Fergie was approved as an owner on the very day that you made your statement on Rush Limbaugh.”

JLo

And King left out a few things.

He didn’t seem to remember the time when Fergie was so drunk she peed on herself during a show. And he left out Dolphins part-owner Serena Williams, the Palm Beach Gardens tennis titan whose obscene tirade at a line judge at this year’s U.S. Open was seen by a worldwide audience.

And he’s got the JLo thing wrong. Her hubby, salsero Marc Anthony, is an owner — JLo isn’t listed on the team’s media guide as one. She does accompany him to games and often ends up in game photos.

As for Fergie, the sale of her shares into the team is pending.

Still, Goodell’s response was little else than a typical D.C. topic-shifting ploy. He talked about Donovan McNabb, the Philadelphia Eagles QB whom Limbaugh once called “overrated.”

On his Web site Wednesday, Limbaugh called Goodell a “total weasel.”

King ended his questioning by telling Goodell to listen to JLo and Fergie songs and report back.

“I’d ask you to go back and take a look at the owners of the Dolphins, and . . . the songs that they recorded, review those lyrics, and I’ll provide some of those lyric songs to you,” he said, “and I’ll ask you to come back and respond to that question after the hearing as to whether you’ll put the same scrutiny on those owners who have really shined a negative light on the NFL as opposed to somebody that the NFL apparently just doesn’t agree with his politics.”

The Limbaugh controversy erupted earlier this month when star conservative radio talker was dropped from a group of investors who bid on the hapless Rams. Goodell spoke against Limbaugh becoming an investor, as did players and current team owners — mostly for things Limbaugh may or may not have said concerning race.

Meanwhile Dolphins majority owner Stephen M. Ross, whose Palm Beach home is two miles south of Rush’s, has stocked the team’s ownership with celebrities. The roster includes tennis star Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, and Miami singer Gloria Estefan and husband Emilio. The Dolphins signed a commercial deal with Palm Beach troubadour Jimmy Buffett and had hip-hopper T-Pain redo the team’s fight song.

Said Dolphins spokesman Harvey Greene: “We have no comment, except to reaffirm that our limited partners were approved through the appropriate process by the NFL.”

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(Courtesy Mattel)

There are, in Palm Beach, dozens of dandies that could have served as the inspiration for the new, $81.99-Ken doll.

The must-have toy goes on the market in April — Fools Day, although it’s no joke. And yes, as the certificate of authenticity will show, the doll’s name really is Palm Beach Sugar Daddy Ken.

The newbie by Matel, maker of Barbie, comes complete with a George Hamilton tan, apple-green jacket, white pants and shoes, swim trunks, tea-cup white pooch with a pink leash and, it’s understood, an attractive bank account.

Sugar Daddy is the latest addition to the popular line of Palm Beach Barbie, which already includes Palm Beach Coral Barbie and Palm Beach Caftan Barbie.

This is how entertainmentearth.com describes Sugar Daddy, for which it’s already taking orders: “Cool sophistication in breezy Palm Beach! Sporting a dashing jacquard-patterned jacket with a light pink polo shirt and crisp white pants, Ken doll is ready for Palm Beach social season, sunning by the pool and a stroll with his little companion.”

Coming up next, Palm Beach Walker Ken!

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American Idol star Kris Allen chills backstage on the parking lot of Land Shark Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Minutes later, Allen debuted three tracks from his upcoming album as NFL fans gathered for the Miami Dolphins’ loss to the New Orleans Saints. Strange venue, but Allen, winner of the Fox show’s eighth season, did Before We Come Undone, Written All Over My Face and Can’t Stay Away. The football fans’ favorite: A cover from Britney Spears‘ Hit Me Baby One More Time.