One big happy Globe family

by Nancy Gaines

LOOSELY SPEAKING

Groton: School for scandal

Boston Globe columnist Eileen McNamara reportedly threw a fit last week when colleague Steve Bailey, a business-page columnist, tried to chastise her in print for a piece she'd penned a few days earlier criticizing the "self-appointed civic leaders" who set out to keep the Patriots in Massachusetts. "Please," wrote Bailey, "can't this be about getting something done for a change?" Globe sources say Bailey sent a copy of the column to McNamara as a courtesy before it was printed. She immediately complained to editors, demanding that it be killed. She claimed Globe policy prohibits columnists from criticizing each other in print, say the sources, one of whom adds: "The hypocrisy was, shall we say, stunning." McNamara had been an outspoken critic of fellow columnists Mike Barnicle and Patricia Smith when they were in trouble last year and wrote a scathing indictment of Smith as she was forced out the door. In this case, a compromise evidently was reached whereby Bailey's column appeared without using McNamara's name. "I think Eileen's a terrific columnist. I admire her tremendously," says Bailey. "She tells me there is a Globe policy against dissing other columnists in print. So I won't."

Anybody here know a park named Pope? Maybe we were the only ones, but we wondered why the new (and welcome) 65-acre park being constructed on landfill in Dorchester, alongside the Southeast Expressway at the site of the once-beloved Neponset Drive-In, is named Pope John Paul II Park. We asked the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which said, "What Pope park?" and referred us to the Mayor's Office. Which said, "Pope who?" and referred us to Parks and Recreation. Which said, "Not our park, pope's or otherwise" -- and referred us to the state Metropolitan District Commission (MDC). Which said, "Park? It's ours. Pope? Not a clue. Call back." Eventually, we asked Bill Geary, who was MDC commissioner when the legislation creating the park was passed in 1986. "The name wasn't my idea," said Geary, now general counsel to CleanHarbors. The acquisition of the land, he said, was part of a long-range plan to preserve that area from condo development. "We put up a sign that said it was the future site of the Neponset River Esplanade, which I wanted to call it. But an old-time Polish-American activist from South Boston, Joe Alecks, a former state comptroller, saw the sign and accused me of `secretly' trying to name the way-distant park after 'some Irish pol.' Joe filed bills all the time, naming things after [Polish and] Polish-American heroes. He's responsible for Columbia Circle being Kosciusko Circle, and the Pulaski Skyway part of Morrissey Boulevard, and the Lech Walesa ramp in Southie. Anyway, Joe was mad and he filed a bill. And there I was, the former altar boy. Was I going to fight it? That's how the park got named after the Polish pope."

Ills for Stemberg

What may well be the longest-running divorce-related court action -- the suits between Staples CEO Tom Stemberg and former wife Maureen Sullivan Stemberg, who split up 12 years ago -- has been further prolonged. A trial scheduled for May on a claim brought by Sullivan Stemberg that her former husband abused the legal process by accusing her of defamation of character (a complaint he recently dropped) was put off until October. The reason, friends of Sullivan Stemberg report, is that she is scheduled for surgery in the next few weeks for what they say is cancer.

Arts money foots dance bill

A combination of $2.5 million in new government and private grants will bring 25 new performances funded by the Boston-based National Dance Project into communities nationwide over the next few years. Several of the projects, none of which have yet been selected, are expected to be performed in Boston by Dance Umbrella, as has been customary. The three-year-old dance project, funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts, has already underwritten works by Mark Morris, Bill T. Jones, and Merce Cunningham. This year's roster includes Antigone's Dream, by choreographer Paula Josa-Jones of Martha's Vineyard, which will be telecast on WGBH-TV's Greater Boston Arts May 12, and a performance by Boston-born Sean Curran at Jacob's Pillow in August.

Native intelligence

Do this week's debut of The Winslow Boy, David Mamet's Edwardian-era film, and the upcoming premiere of his Boston Marriage, about turn-of-the century women (set for June at the Hasty Pudding), mark a new softness for the tough-talking Pulitzer-winning playwright -- and does it have anything to do with living these days in comfy Brookline with his wife, actress Rebecca Pidgeon, and their new baby? No, Mamet told press at the Winslow opening. He'll be back to the hard-boiled suspense he loves with his next project, a remake of High and Low, Akira Kurosawa's 1963 detective thriller. . . . Hibernia, the downtown restaurant/club on Kingston Street, just hired as executive chef Robert Ahrens, who previously ran the kitchen at Mount Blue, the Norwell restaurant owned by Aerosmith. . . . Pals of porn-performance artist Annie Sprinkle, a local crowd pleaser, are seeking donations in the wake of a fire that destroyed her houseboat in Sausalito, ruined her possessions and work files, and killed her two cats. Money may be sent to Box 396, Sausalito, CA 94965. Or, as her fundraising letter suggests, you might just "dedicate an orgasm to her."