You Thought Nixon Had Troubles?

How to embark on a book tour when you are forbidden to travel? Disgraced newspaper baron Conrad M. Black faces that dilemma as he races to publish his 1,152-page biography of President Richard M. Nixon before heading off to prison.

Black was convicted last month of fraud and conspiracy for his role in diverting millions of dollars from his newspaper company, Hollinger International, to pay for his lavish lifestyle and that of his wife, Barbara Amiel Black.

He is not scheduled to be sentenced until November, but until then Federal District Judge Amy St. Eve has ordered Black to stay in Chicago, where he was convicted, or in Palm Beach, Florida, where he has a home.

That will make it hard for him to plug his Nixon biography, which is scheduled to be published in October.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune—ironically, the crosstown rival of one of his former marquee properties, the Chicago Sun-Times—Black was jocular about the problem.

"As it is now," he said, "my geographic limitations are not conducive to a massive book tour."

Sure, but don't overlook the value of all that name recognition generated by the trial and conviction.

by Mark Stein