The Press: No. I Name Dropper

Among U.S. newspaper columnists, Leonard Lyons, 47, is the No. 1 name-dropper. Columnist Lyons bears his title proudly, and his chatter about celebrities in his column, "The Lyons Den," syndicated to 74 dailies, earns him $65,000 a year. This week Columnist Lyons explained why name-dropping makes a successful column. "Would you [like me to] tell you about a dinner party for my Uncle Max? . . . Nah, you really don't want to hear about that . . . The basic fact of newspaper life is that if any Uncle Max—unless it's Beerbohm, Beaverbrook or Factor—breaks a leg, it never makes...

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