'Parade's End' keeps British TV invasion going

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tom Stoppard is sitting on the patio of a Sunset Boulevard hotel, bathed in California winter sunshine, framed by bamboo landscaping and looking very much out of his element in Hollywood.

The acclaimed British playwright professes to feeling that way as well, despite having pocketed a Writers Guild of America lifetime achievement award the night before for his screenplays, including the Oscar-winning "Shakespeare in Love."

"I was always nervous coming here. The first time I was terrified," he said. "I'm trying not to sound nauseatingly self-deprecating, but I don't think of myself as being a terrific screenwriter or even a natural screenwriter."

Combine that, he said, with the local entertainment industry's perception that "I'm some different kind of animal," a high-minded artist to whom the words "intellectual" and "philosophy" are freely applied.

But if Hollywood can be forgiven anything, it should be that. Stoppard has created a remarkable wealth of two dozen-plus plays, including "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," ''Travesties" and "The Real Thing," and he's counting on more.

He looks like a proper man of letters, with unkempt gray hair, a comfortably unstylish cardigan and a delicately shaped mouth that hesitates, slightly, before dispensing exacting thoughts on the art of writing (without pretension: he relishes a snippet of "Ghostbusters" dialogue.)

Stoppard also is the master behind "Parade's End," a five-part HBO miniseries (airing Tuesday through Thursday, 9 p.m. EST) that was lauded by U.K. critics as "the thinking man's 'Downton Abbey'" after its BBC airing.

Adapted by Stoppard from a series of novels by British writer Ford Madox Ford, "Parade's End" features rising stars Benedict Cumberbatch ("Sherlock Holmes" and the upcoming "Star Trek" movie) and Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") in the juiciest of roles.

Like PBS' "Downton Abbey," it's set in the early 20th century among aristocrats and encompasses World War I's shattering effect on the social order. Romance is provided by the triangle of Cumberbatch's tradition-bound Christopher, his unfaithful wife, Sylvia (Hall), and a suffragette (Australian newcomer Adelaide Clemens). The uniformly impressive cast includes Janet McTeer, Miranda Richardson, Roger Allam and Rupert Everett.

Stoppard rejects the oft-made comparison to PBS' "Downton" as unfair to it and its writer-creator, Julian Fellowes: "I was embarrassed by it because it's so condescending of Julian's work. He's a good writer and he's done a superlative job," he said. It's also a misguided comparison because "Downton" is heading toward season four and "Parade's End" is "five episodes and that's it, forever."

The self-effacing Stoppard leaves it at that. But there's a wider gap between the two: "Downton" is an easy-to-digest soap opera, while "Parade's End" is a challenging, nuanced view of a slice of British society and a set of singular characters, all dressed to the nines in the heady language of literature.

"There's a wonderful richness to the language and a beauty, which I think is the brilliance of Tom Stoppard, and also this very beautiful language of Ford Madox Ford," said director Susanna White.

The heedless, acid-tongued Sylvia has dialogue to relish, something Stoppard cannot resist.

"The line I like best comes straight from Ford: (the public) likes 'a whiff of sex coming off our crowd, like the steam on the water in the crocodile house at the zoo,'" he said, adding gleefully, "What a line!"

Although careful to credit the novelist with that particular zinger, Stoppard said "Parade's End" is the first adaptation in which his dialogue and that from the original text have become intertwined in his memory.

He attributes that to the year he spent forming Ford's intricate novels into a screenplay, often crafting original scenes, and the several more years he spent helping bring the series to fruition with the producers and White ("Generation Kill").

"It's the closest thing to writing a play which isn't a play that I have ever been involved with," he said.

The stage has been the Czech-born Stoppard's chief occupation since leaving journalism in his 20s. But he's made a number of detours into film, either as a screenwriter or a behind-the-scenes script doctor. His latest big-screen project is the adaptation of "Anna Karenina" with Keira Knightley.

Stoppard's insistence that he isn't an outstanding scriptwriter stems, in part, from his reticence. Then there's what he calls the differing "schools of eloquence" represented by film and plays.

"I envy and admire movies which are eloquent without recourse to long speeches," he said, citing several lines to illustrate his point. One comes from "The Fugitive" ("I don't care," Tommy Lee Jones says after Harrison Ford insists he didn't kill his wife), another from "Ghostbusters."

Bill Murray is confronted by "this kind of Amazonian ghost goddess, spooky thing, and he goes, 'This chick is toast,'" Stoppard said, with a delighted smile.

"It's the sense that precisely the right words have been uttered," he explained.

That's how fellow scribes feel about him. One L.A. film and TV writer said she regularly rereads the famed cricket-bat speech from "The Real Thing," about the challenge of writing, for joy and inspiration: "If you get it right," the character Henry says, "the cricket ball will travel two hundred yards in four seconds, and all you've done is give it a knock like knocking the top off a bottle of stout, and it makes a noise like a trout taking a fly. What we're trying to do is to write cricket bats, so that when we throw up an idea and give it a little knock, it might travel."

For now, the right words for Stoppard would be those of a new play, the first since "Rock 'n' Roll" from seven years ago. He has no regrets about immersing himself in "Parade's End," but is ready for the solitude needed to find the right story for the stage.

He used to steal away to a house in France until the air travel became too much. Now he makes do with a "small, shabby cottage an hour-and-a-half from London, which in theory is supposed to be my French house. But it's not far enough away" to evade commitments, social and otherwise. ("I'm Mr. Available," he laments.)

It's welcome assurance to hear the guild lifetime award he received Feb. 17 doesn't signal a halt for Stoppard. It did pull him up short, at least briefly.

"I was quite surprised. Though I am 75, so I shouldn't be surprised. But I haven't thought of stopping yet."

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Online:

http://www.hbo.com

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Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org and on Twitter (at)lynnelber.

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Well: Savory Pie Recipes for Health

Pie is an indulgence often saved for holiday time. But this week Martha Rose Shulman shows us how to bake a pie and eat it too, without the guilt. She offers savory vegetable pies, showcased in whole grain crusts. She writes:

This week I slowed down and made pies: savory ones filled with vegetables … I used a number of different crusts for my winter pies. My favorite remains the whole wheat yeasted olive oil crust that I have used before in this column, but I also worked with a simple Mediterranean crust made with a mix of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and olive oil. And for those of you who are gluten-free, I made another foray into gluten-free pastry and produced one I liked a lot, which was a mix of buckwheat flour, millet flour and potato starch. It had a strong nutty flavor that worked well with a very savory, very vegan, tofu and mushroom “quiche.” They are all simple to mix together and easy to roll or press out. And if you don’t feel like dealing with a crust, just use Greek phyllo. The important things, after all, are the savory vegetables inside.

Here are recipes for a pie crust and four savory winter vegetable pies.

Whole Wheat Mediterranean Pie Crust: A simple Mediterranean crust made with a mix of whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and olive oil.

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Mixed Greens Galette With Onions and Chickpeas: A tasty way to use bagged greens in a dish with Middle Eastern overtones.

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Goat Cheese, Chard and Herb Pie in a Phyllo Crust: A garlicky mix of greens and your choice of herbs inside a crispy phyllo crust.

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Tofu Mushroom ‘Quiche’: A vegan dish with a deep, rich flavor.

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Winter Tomato Quiche: Canned tomatoes can be used in the off season for a delicious dinner.

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Demand for cruises stays strong despite Carnival Triumph mishap

The misadventure of the Carnival Triumph cruise in the Gulf of Mexico has provoked several passenger lawsuits and a storm of bad publicity, including horror stories about overflowing toilets and long food lines.

But if you think the debacle might lead to heavily discounted cruise rates this summer, think again.

Demand for cruise vacations remains strong enough that industry experts predict no sizable fare cuts this summer and fall. The only company offering big deals is Carnival Cruise Lines, operator of the ill-fated ship.

"I don't foresee a panic," said Sherry Laskin, a travel agent and online cruise columnist on the website Cruise Maven. "The cruise lines are not going to shoot themselves in the foot."

In the wake of the Triumph fiasco, social media sites are strewn with comments from people who say they are ready to sail with Carnival again. But others vowed never to step on a ship.

"I don't think that I will ever take another cruise," San Diego resident Carol Brouse, whose sister-in-law Janie Esparza was a Triumph passenger, told The Times. Esparza feels the same way, Brouse said. "One close call is enough."

A cruise website that monitors prices — CruiseCompete — shows the average per-person rates for a seven-night cruise for the upcoming summer period have dropped between $3 and $136 compared with six months ago. But the decline is just a fraction of overall fares that range from $946 to $2,458 per person for the summer.

Recent history shows that bookings do not drop significantly after a high-publicity cruise disaster, Laskin and other industry experts say.

In November 2010, the Carnival Splendor suffered a fire that disabled its engine and left the ship adrift off the Pacific coast. Passengers complained of long food lines and disabled toilets — similar to the gripes by Triumph passengers. But the Splendor was back in operation three months later, sailing at more than 100% capacity, according to federal records.

The Costa Concordia, operated by Costa Cruises, crashed off the coast of Italy in January 2012, killing 32 passengers. The captain, accused of causing the accident by maneuvering too close to shore and of abandoning his passengers after the crash, faces criminal charges.

Still, Carnival Corp., the Miami parent company of Carnival Cruise Lines and Costa Cruises, reported an increase of about 3% in passenger bookings for the 12 months that ended Nov. 30, 2012, with passenger revenue almost flat compared with the previous year.

Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise company, controls nearly 50% of the cruise market through 10 cruise line brands around the world.

Bookings on all U.S.-based cruise lines rose about 4% in the first three months of the year compared with the same period in 2011, according to federal statistics.

"There may be a hiccup in bookings but people have moved on," said Stewart Chiron, another cruise line expert and founder of the Cruise Guy website.

In the latest fiasco, the Carnival Triumph was left adrift in the Gulf of Mexico this month after an engine fire. The 893-foot-long ship, carrying more than 3,000 passengers, lost power for air conditioning and some bathrooms and kitchens, requiring many people to sleep on the deck, use plastic bags as toilets and stand in line for hours for food.

Carnival offered to reimburse its passengers for their fare and transportation costs, plus $500 to compensate them for their inconvenience. Still, several filed lawsuits against the cruise line, seeking damages for emotional distress and other issues.

The mishap generated a slew of news reports based on the reactions of passengers, some of whom said they feared for their lives.

Carnival said that Monday it will start offering several discounts for Carnival Cruise Line vacations, including a 50% cut in deposits for select sailings through Dec. 31, plus discounts of up to $200 per stateroom on cruises six days or longer. For European voyages this summer, Carnival is letting a third and fourth guest sail free in the same cabin.

Most cruise trips are booked nine to 12 months before the ship sails, which means many summer cruise trips have already been booked. Chiron said he has heard of no mass cancellations.

"People are not going to stop booking," he said.

For people thinking about trying a cruise for the first time, the Triumph incident may persuade them to stay away, said Michelle Fee, chief executive of Cruise Planners-American Express Travel. But veteran cruise vacationers won't be frightened off, she said.

"People realize that sometimes things happen," Fee said.

hugo.martin@latimes.com

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Bulgari shows off Liz Taylor's gems

It isn't easy sometimes to be an ordinary person in Los Angeles, so near to and yet so far from the city's glamorous events.

You hear about the grand Oscar parties, but you will never be invited. The award ceremony may be taking place minutes from where you live, but you watch it at home, on TV, in your sweat pants — and you might as well be in Dubuque.

Rodeo Drive too can make you feel like a scrap on the cutting room floor. As you stroll the wide and immaculate sidewalks of Beverly Hills' iconic shopping street, you pass by boutiques you'd feel self-conscious walking into. In the windows are baubles and trinkets you could never in three lifetimes afford.

Which is why it is rather nice to be invited to make a private appointment at the house of Bulgari, the fine Italian jeweler that opened its doors in 1884.

Elizabeth Taylor loved Bulgari jewels. Richard Burton, whose torrid affair with her began during the filming of "Cleopatra" in Rome, accompanied her often to the flagship shop on the Via Condotti. He liked to joke that the name Bulgari was all the Italian she knew.

So it is fitting that starting Oscar week, the jeweler is celebrating the Oscar-winning star with an exhibit of eight of her most treasured Bulgari pieces.

They are heavy on diamonds and emeralds — of rare size, gleam and value.

And Bulgari knows their value well.

After Taylor's death, it reacquired some of the gems at a Christie's auction. One piece, an emerald-and-diamond brooch that also can be worn as a pendant, sold for $6,578,500 — breaking records both for sales price of an emerald and for emerald price per carat ($280,000).

That brooch, whose centerpiece is an octagonal step-cut emerald weighing 23.44 carats, was Burton's engagement present to Taylor. He followed it upon their marriage (his second, her fifth) with a matching necklace whose 16 Colombian emeralds weigh in at 60.5 carats. Bulgari bought the necklace back too, for $6,130,500.

They are in the exhibit, along with Burton's engagement ring to Taylor and a delicate brooch — given to her by husband No. 4, Eddie Fisher — whose emerald and diamond flowers were set en tremblant so that they gently fluttered as Taylor moved.

The jewels are not for sale.

On Tuesday night, actress Julianne Moore wore the Burton necklace, with pendant attached, at a gala for Bulgari's top clients. At the dinner hour, guests were escorted along a lavender-colored carpet to a nearby rooftop that had been transformed into a Roman terrace.

Those honored guests, of course, got private viewings of Taylor's jewels.

But so did Amanda Perry, a healer from West Hollywood who arrived the next morning for one of the first appointments available to the public.

Someone had emailed news of the collection to the 35-year-old Taylor fan. She walked in off the street Tuesday, when the exhibit was open only to press — and Sabina Pelli, Bulgari's glamorous executive vice president, fresh from Rome, was taking sips of San Pellegrino brought to her on a silver tray between back-to-back interviews that started at 5 a.m.

The camera crews were long gone when Perry came back Wednesday. She had the exhibit, and handsome sales associate Timothy Morzenti of Milan, entirely to herself.

In a black suit, still wearing on his left hand the black glove he dons to handle fine jewels, Morzenti whisked Perry off via a private elevator to the exhibit on the second floor. The jewels stood in vitrines mounted high off the ground. Behind them were photos and a slide show of Taylor, bejeweled.

"Which piece would you like to see first?" Morzenti asked her as a security guard stood by. "I personally love the emerald ring."

Then he proceeded at leisure to explain Bulgari-signature sugar-loaf cuts and trombino ring settings, while tossing in occasional Taylor stories.

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Large coats a mainstay for next winter from Milan

MILAN (AP) — Many of the fashions displayed on the Milan runway Thursday had a yesteryear appeal — but with a contemporary edge.

Coats are a mainstay for next winter, many of them oversized with accentuated cuffs — part of a trend toward architectural references in clothing. Fur coats and jackets make the biggest comeback in many a season, perhaps appealing to new markets in cold weather climates, and certainly fitting for the snowy Milan weather.

Many of the styles, from the flared skirts to belted suits, recalled couture favorites from earlier fashion eras. However, the styles were updated by paring down the silhouette and using coarse fabric for elegant wear that in the past has been associated with silkier materials.

Spandex gave a modern glint to looks, including form-fitting dresses, jumpsuits and turtleneck tops, which were softened with sewing details or by coupling them with softer materials like fur and cashmere. For romantic looks, there was lace paired with leather or animal prints for a new twist. Gold lame and sequins add luxury to sensual evening wear.

The palette featured a lot of blues, green, red, some white and flashes of yellow along with mainstay black.

Hardy, practical shoes were a mainstay, but designers aren't neglecting pretty looks and are still coming up with sandals, pumps and feminine slippers and booties.

Bags tend to be large, but not huge, and no few have a Mary Poppins practicality.

PRADA

The Prada finale was a long luxurious mink coat with ample collar and cuff like the ones the Hollywood divas used to wear in the 1950s. Underneath the model wore a sheer see-through silk dress.

It was only the showiest item of the winter collection presented Thursday evening, based on yesteryear luxury, from the opulent coats to the gilded gowns to the mink wraps.

Miuccia Prada season after season has a fashion vision, and follows it through regardless. This round she revisits vintage couture in a contemporary context.

Coats have extra wide cuffs and are often belted at the waist and flared toward the bottom. Skirts come in wide ballerina styles, as do some the dresses. The jumper dress is another 1950s look, which Prada revisits, even for evening, not to mention the many coat dresses in the collection.

Totally Prada, and anything but retro, was the uneven hemline (one side much longer than the other) that the designer used for daytime belted sheaths as well as gilded, belted gowns.

Fabrics ranged from coarse tweeds to shimmering metallic materials, plus leather and fur. Crocodile takes on new importance when used not only for bags, but also for skirts and even a suit.

The latest Prada shoe, either a sandal or a bootie, has a thick high heel, but a heavy rubber sole.

The sides of the voluminous bags in tweed and leather, including crocodile, were folded in such a way to give the impression of a feline face, perhaps inspired by a video of a cat that was part of the background of the show.

FENDI

Fendi is to fur what Ferrari is to cars. Yet given current concerns about animal rights, the brand has moved from the lavish fur coats that were all the rage in the 1980s to a more discreet way of interpreting fur as fashion.

Fendi creative director Silvia Venturini, daughter of one of the company's five founding sisters, opted for wisps of fur used as hair decorations, bracelets, or charms hanging from Fendi bags.

Fur also appeared as inserts in a skirt or a dress, or sheered and fashioned into a cozy, but not showy, jacket. Long fur, usually goat, also seen on other runways during Milan's preview showings, was used to make up a skirt or a cape.

For decades, German born designer Karl Lagerfeld has been working with Fendi, adding his flamboyant designing talent to their creative genius.

This round he offered a constructed slim silhouette, with accentuated shoulders and a knee-length hemline. The look is sophisticated rather than sexy and used deep, dark shades of red and blue, which along with black are becoming the staple colors for next winter.

In the accessory department, Fendi chose to reinvent its iconic handbags, from the clutch bag — this time furry — to a modern version of the Mary Poppins bag.

The shoes are sure to be a winter hit. Whether a pump, a boot or a lace-up, each pair was elaborately decorated, some in fur, and comes with a pointed toe and a glistening mirrored high heel.

BLUGIRL

Blugirl has looks for women feeling both demure and daring at the same time — mixing traditional tartan, peek-a-boo lace and bold leopard prints.

The women's wear collection for next winter, took as its muse the British style icon Alexa Chung. The label described Chung's style as "midway between tradition and urban accents, ultra-cosmopolitan, always cool."

Designer Anna Molinari's collection started off with a preppy coed look: green, red and navy plaid skirts, sometimes pleated, or pencil pants paired with oversized green sweaters, pullovers or cardigans. Shoes were leather ankle boots, worn with short, dark socks.

The outfits transitioned into more feminine territory. A tartan-printed taffeta bubble skirts paired was with a ruffle-neck lace shirt and topped with a loose-fitting leopard-print jacket, leading off an array of looks combining plaid, lace and leopard. Here the preferred shoe was the pump.

The collection finished with a flash of gold, with sequined evening dresses and skirts.

Dragon and swan motifs gave a nod to Chung's British-Chinese heritage. Commanding dragon shaped necklaces and Chinese-style jackets offered Asian flair, while sequined kissing swans on evening wear were reminiscent of an English park.

The looks were finished with small shoulder bags in leopard print, tartan or sequins, strapped across the body for the stylish girl-on-the-go.

MAX MARA

The German Bauhaus design school gave a sophisticated clientele functional yet elegant design in everyday objects, like chairs and teapots, as well as living and working spaces. On the runway in Milan, Max Mara struck the same note of functional elegance in its Bauhaus-inspired women's wear show.

The collection for next winter was, fittingly, highly structured.

The coats alone were a feat of layered and textural complexity. A hooded overcoat, worn open over the shoulders with empty sleeves hanging, accompanied another interior jacket with a nubby texture.

Often, the overcoat sleeves were rolled up to reveal another layer of, say, spandex, which contrasted with the satiny coat lining. Leather patches emphasized rounded shoulders.

Max Mara's heritage of practical luxury was highlighted by its focus on new camel fabrics for their coats, including spun alpaca and mouflon wool. From super-functional camel, the color palette then progressed to a deep yellow and onward to decidedly urban shades of gray, black and midnight blue — a nod to the Bauhaus inspiration.

The silhouette ranged from skinny pencil skirts paired with long sweaters for the office or loose-fitting pajama pants for relaxed afternoons. Shoes emphasized comfort — sneakers — but were built from luxury materials like suede and leather. Boston bags were made from leather and crocodile prints.

DSQUARED2

Both the masculine and feminine sides of the DSquared2 label were shouting over each other for attention.

The collection for next winter featured over-the-top masculine tailoring balanced with oversized jewels.

For daytime, the look was gangster chic, with loose-fitting men's double-breasted suits worn with nothing more than a dickey underneath and topped with exaggerated bowler hats — pink with purple ribbon. Pencil skirts paired with belted jackets, one with layered, architectural lapels.

But for nighttime, the mood was more speak easy slinky with silky dresses with an asymmetrical, trailing feather boa hemline or a fur stole — a favorite on Milan runways this season.

Designing twins Dean and Dan Caten showed at night for the first time in a while, giving up their closing day slot.

JUST CAVALLI

Designer Roberto Cavalli drew inspiration for his second line "Just Cavalli" collection, from a recent trip to Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan, at the foot of the Himalayas.

"Riches there are measured by the values of happiness," the designer said ahead of the show, which had an ethnic, almost hippie feel to it.

Almost the entire collection came in subdued native prints, fashioned in anything from tunics over pants to colorful evening gowns. Accessories included long silk necklaces like the ones worn by the Bhutan nobility, and a backpack to replace the more urban handbag.

Many designers are featuring fur this round of preview shows, including Cavalli who used it mainly to trim the hoods of his winter parkas. That was enough to draw the wrath of a small group of animal rights activists who disrupted the show holding up signs in Italian saying, "Your fashion is our death," until they were forcibly removed.

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Living With Cancer: Arrivals and Departures

After being nursed and handed over, the baby’s wails rise to a tremolo, but I am determined to give my exhausted daughter and son-in-law a respite on this wintry evening. Commiserating with the little guy’s discomfort — gas, indigestion, colic, ontological insecurity — I swaddle, burp, bink, then cradle him in my arms. I begin walking around the house, swinging and swaying while cooing in soothing cadences: “Yes, darling boy, another one bites the dust, another one bites the dust.”

I kid you not! How could such grim phrases spring from my lips into the newborn’s ears? Where did they come from?

I blame his mother and her best friend. They sang along as this song was played repeatedly at the skating rink to which I took them every other Saturday in their tweens. Why would an infatuated grandma croon a mordant lullaby, even if the adorable one happily can’t understand a single word? He’s still whimpering, twisting away from me, and understandably so.

Previously that day, I had called a woman in my cancer support group. I believe that she is dying. I do not know her very well. She has attended only two or three of our get-togethers where she described herself as a widow and a Christian.

On the phone, I did not want to violate the sanctity of her end time, but I did want her to know that she need not be alone, that I and other members of our group can “be there” for her. Her dying seems a rehearsal of my own. We have the same disease.

“How are you doing, Kim?” I asked.

“I’m tired. I sleep all the time,” she sighed, “and I can’t keep anything down.”

“Can you drink … water?” I asked.

“A little, but I tried a smoothie and it wouldn’t set right,” she said.

“I hope you are not in pain.”

“Oh no, but I’m sleeping all the time. And I can’t keep anything down.”

“Would you like a visit? Is there something I can do or bring?” I asked.

“Oh, I don’t think so, no thanks.”

“Well,” I paused before saying goodbye, “be well.”

Be well? I didn’t even add something like, “Be as well as you can be.” I was tongue-tied. This was the failure that troubles me tonight.

Why couldn’t I say that we will miss her, that I am sorry she is dying, that she has coped so well for so long, and that I hope she will now find peace? I could inform an infant in my arms of our inexorable mortality, but I could not speak or even intimate the “D” word to someone on her deathbed.

Although I have tried to communicate to my family how I feel about end-of-life care, can we always know what we will want? Perhaps at the end of my life I will not welcome visitors, either. For departing may require as much concentration as arriving. As I look down at the vulnerable bundle I am holding, I marvel that each and every one of us has managed to come in and will also have to manage to go out. The baby nestles, pursing his mouth around the pacifier. He gazes intently at my face with a sly gaze that drifts toward a lamp, turning speculative before lids lower in tremulous increments.

Slowing my jiggling to his faint sucking, I think that the philosopher Jacques Derrida’s meditation on death pertains to birth as well. Each of these events “names the very irreplaceability of absolute singularity.” Just as “no one can die in my place or in the place of the other,” no one can be born in this particular infant’s place. He embodies his irreplaceable and absolute singularity.

Perhaps we should gestate during endings, as we do during beginnings. Like hatchings, the dispatchings caused by cancer give people like Kim and me a final trimester, more or less, in which we can labor to forgive and be forgiven, to speak and hear vows of devotion from our intimates, to visit or not be visited by acquaintances.

Maybe we need a doula for dying, I reflect as melodious words surface, telling me what I have to do with the life left to be lived: “To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.”

“Oh little baby,” I then whisper: “Though I cannot tell who you will become and where I will be — you, dear heart, deliver me.”

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Susan Gubar is a distinguished emerita professor of English at Indiana University and the author of “Memoir of a Debulked Woman,” which explores her experience with ovarian cancer.

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CalPERS plans 85% rate hike for long-term-care insurance

Dailey Mayo received some stunning news in the mail this week: an 85% rate increase for the long-term-care insurance he has had for 15 years from the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

The retired sales manager in Pasadena said his monthly premium of nearly $400 would jump to $738, or about $8,850 annually, under this plan. "I'm 82 now and I might need this care soon," he said. "It really ticks me off that they are doing this."

More than 110,000 CalPERS policyholders are receiving similar news this week after the pension fund's board approved the changes late last year. CalPERS said the hefty rate hikes won't take effect until 2015 and are necessary to keep this $3.6-billion insurance fund intact for future claims. This CalPERS program, like other plans sold by private insurers, has been plagued by higher-than-expected claims, lower investment returns and poor pricing.

"We understand people's anger and frustration," said Bill Madison, a CalPERS spokesman. "It's not something the board wanted to do, but it's necessary so benefits are available to people when they need it. We know these rate increases can be a financial hardship."

Insurance regulators in California and other states say insurers too often underestimated the cost of care and the number of customers who would hold on to these policies. These plans typically help pay for nursing-home stays, home-health visits and other residential care that's generally not covered by Medicare.

Many insurers have stopped selling the most generous, unlimited policies, and some companies have left the business entirely. All this comes as millions of baby boomers enter retirement and weigh difficult decisions about what type of financial protection they may need against future medical expenses.

CalPERS, which runs the nation's second-largest long-term-care plan, after one for federal government employees, said it would offer affected policyholders several ways to adjust their benefits to avoid these premium increases.

For instance, customers can drop the option of having benefits that automatically increase with inflation or they can forgo lifetime benefits in favor of a finite period or amount. CalPERS said it would ask policyholders to make a decision on any changes by June 30.

Overall, the agency has more than 148,000 policyholders in its long-term-care program. Some policyholders will see a 5% rate increase this year, while most will see the bigger 85% increase starting in 2015. The 85% increase primarily affects about 110,000 people who purchased the agency's policies from 1995 to 2004 that provided lifetime benefits.

The giant pension fund said it is taking numerous steps to shore up the struggling program. Thursday, the CalPERS board of administration approved plans to reopen enrollment by the end of the year and to offer newly designed long-term-care policies aimed at fortifying the program with new premium dollars. Enrollment has been closed since 2009.

Large rate hikes have become the norm for many of the nation's 8 million long-term-care policyholders.

John Hancock Life Insurance Co. received approval for 40% rate increases on certain policies sold in California late last year, according to the state Insurance Department. A unit of CNA Financial Corp. has sought increases of 45% for some California policyholders, but state officials said they are still reviewing that request.

California lawmakers approved a law last year that imposed new requirements on insurers wanting to raise these rates, and it bolstered other consumer protections.

Industry officials say pricing long-term-care policies accurately has been a long-standing challenge as people continue to live longer and medical costs keep rising. CalPERS and private insurers have also been stung by historically low interest rates that have contributed to lower investment returns, which are used to pay claims.

"Long-term-care insurance is probably the most complex insurance product imaginable," said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Assn. for Long-Term Care Insurance in Los Angeles. "You have to predict correctly 20 years into the future what economic conditions will be like and what health conditions will be like."

Slome said the federal employee program for long-term-care insurance raised rates as much as 25% in 2009 and less than 2% of affected policyholders dropped their coverage.

"Nobody likes paying more, but these policyholders will have options," Slome said. "Now is the time for people to reassess their personal situation."

CalPERS said its average annual premium for long-term-care insurance now is $2,206, or $184 a month. Since the start of the program, dementia and stroke have been the leading causes of claims, accounting for 44% of all payouts. The agency said the number of active claims increased 6% in 2012 over 2011, and total claims paid amounted to $182 million.

The fund for long-term-care insurance is separate from CalPERS' $255-billion pension fund and financially independent. As a result, that pension money cannot be used to hold down the long-term-care rates.

Richard Carter, 64, a math teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, got one of the letters this week about the 85% increase in premiums. Carter said he cannot afford for his rates to rise to about $5,000 a year.

"That's just not affordable on what I expect to receive in retirement," said Carter, who plans to retire next year. "And that doesn't include what I am sure will be further increases in the coming years."

Mayo, the retired sales manager in Pasadena, was able to purchase a long-term-care policy through CalPERS because his daughter worked for the state's workers' compensation bureau at the time. He said he's studying his options for changing benefits to stave off the huge run-up in premiums.

"As I get older I need some protection," Mayo said. "I am really debating whether to keep the damn thing."

chad.terhune@latimes.com

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Interstate 5 reopens through the Grapevine

From Times Staff

February 20, 2013, 9:44 a.m.

The California Highway Patrol has reopened a stretch of Interstate 5 through the Grapevine that was closed earlier today because of ice.

The highway was opened to vehicles with escorts at about 9:15 a.m., said CHP Officer Ed Jacobs. The freeway was closed between Castaic and Grapevine Road about 6:35 a.m., Jacobs said.

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'For Better or Worse' moves from TBS to OWN

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey's cable channel says it will be the new home of the sitcom "For Better or Worse."

Tyler Perry's comedy series will move from TBS to OWN for its third season, starting this fall. OWN announced Wednesday that it's also getting rerun rights for the show's first two years.

"For Better or Worse" is about three couples dealing with the challenges of dating and married life. OWN says the original cast, including Tasha Smith and Michael Jai White, will remain with the show. Production on season three begins in April.

The comedy will be OWN's third scripted series from Perry, who has a deal with OWN to produce TV shows and other projects. The first two original series, a sitcom and a drama, are scheduled to debut in May.

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Well: Effects of Bullying Last Into Adulthood, Study Finds

Victims of bullying at school, and bullies themselves, are more likely to experience psychiatric problems in childhood, studies have shown. Now researchers have found that elevated risk of psychiatric trouble extends into adulthood, sometimes even a decade after the intimidation has ended.

The new study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday, is the most comprehensive effort to date to establish the long-term consequences of childhood bullying, experts said.

“It documents the elevated risk across a wide range of mental health outcomes and over a long period of time,” said Catherine Bradshaw, an expert on bullying and a deputy director of the Center for the Prevention of Youth Violence at Johns Hopkins University, which was not involved in the study.

“The experience of bullying in childhood can have profound effects on mental health in adulthood, particularly among youths involved in bullying as both a perpetuator and a victim,” she added.

The study followed 1,420 subjects from Western North Carolina who were assessed four to six times between the ages of 9 and 16. Researchers asked both the children and their primary caregivers if they had been bullied or had bullied others in the three months before each assessment. Participants were divided into four groups: bullies, victims, bullies who also were victims, and children who were not exposed to bullying at all.

Participants were assessed again in young adulthood — at 19, 21 and between 24 and 26 — using structured diagnostic interviews.

Researchers found that victims of bullying in childhood were 4.3 times more likely to have an anxiety disorder as adults, compared to those with no history of bullying or being bullied.

Bullies who were also victims were particularly troubled: they were 14.5 times more likely to develop panic disorder as adults, compared to those who did not experience bullying, and 4.8 times more likely to experience depression. Men who were both bullies and victims were 18.5 times more likely to have had suicidal thoughts in adulthood, compared to the participants who had not been bullied or perpetuators. Their female counterparts were 26.7 times more likely to have developed agoraphobia, compared to children not exposed to bullying.

Bullies who were not victims of bullying were 4.1 times more likely to have antisocial personality disorder as adults than those never exposed to bullying in their youth.

The effects persisted even after the researchers accounted for pre-existing psychiatric problems or other factors that might have contributed to psychiatric disorders, like physical or sexual abuse, poverty and family instability.

“We were actually able to say being a victim of bullying is having an effect a decade later, above and beyond other psychiatric problems in childhood and other adversities,” said William E. Copeland, lead author of the study and an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center.

Bullying is not a harmless rite of passage, but inflicts lasting psychiatric damage on a par with certain family dysfunctions, Dr. Copeland said. “The pattern we are seeing is similar to patterns we see when a child is abused or maltreated or treated very harshly within the family setting,” he said.

One limitation of the study is that bullying was not analyzed for frequency, and the researchers’ assessment did not distinguish between interpersonal and overt bullying. It only addressed bullying at school, not in other settings.

Most of what experts know about the effects of bullying comes from observational studies, not studies of children followed over time.

Previous research from Finland, based on questionnaires completed on a single occasion or on military registries, used a sample of 2,540 boys to see if being a bully or a victim at 8 predicted a psychiatric disorder 10 to 15 years later. The researchers found frequent bully-victims were at particular risk of adverse long-term outcomes, specifically anxiety and antisocial personality disorders. Victims were at greater risk for anxiety disorders, while bullies were at increased risk for antisocial personality disorder.

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