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The last of the Watergate convicts, former Attorney General John Mitchell, was freed from an Alabama federal prison last week after serving 14 months of his one-to four-year sentence. Meanwhile, the Watergate judge, John Sirica, was dotting the i's on his forthcoming book To Set the Record Straight (W.W. Norton; $15). The judge, now 74 and semiretired, drew upon impressions he jotted down during the trial: how the witnesses and defendants looked and acted, whether he felt they were telling the truth or "exaggerating." The actual work took place at his Washington home, in a study with an exercise bicycle and a solid "Watergate wall" of cartoons, photographs and awards he has received. Besides his views of his most famous case, Sirica's book will offer insights into the life and times of the tough judge once known as Maximum John. Says he: "I was a dropout from law school twice, so I tell youngsters, if Sirica made it, you can."
On the Record
Irving Paul ("Swifty") Lazar, literary agent, when asked if he had any compunction about handling Richard Nixon's book: "No. Let us say a doctor is called in to save Hitler. Do you think he should save his life or let him die?"
Garry Trudeau, cartoonist, describing Elizabeth Taylor in his comic strip Doonesbury: "A tad overweight, but with violet eyes to die for."
Albert Kumin on his new job as White House pastry chef: "It is the icing on the cake."