• Donald Spencer, Real estate developer; recipient of the first William Lawless Jones Award from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music:

        The Long Walk to Freedom: the Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela (Little Brown; $14.95).

        “It's a remarkable autobiography. It's important because when others write about him, it reflects their own experiences. But here, he tells about his feelings.

        “I read 'til late last night. Where I'm at, he's about 21 and just got his first suit. He is still loyal to Great Britain's domination of South Africa. It's interesting because we see the evolution of his ideas.”

        • Francis Jones Poetker, Consultant to the American Horticultural Society at the Smithsonian Institution:

        Left Behind: A Novel of the Earth's Last Days by Tim LeHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (Living Books/Tyndale House; $7.99).

        “It's a philosophical and environmental book begining with the the 1900s up until 2000. I got lost in it. It's got my friends excited and me titillated.”

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