By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

It has been years since Nick Clooney left his career as a TV anchorman behind. But do not kid yourself that he is "retired." That just does not stick to a man with a schedule that could bring a shuttle diplomat to tears.

Consider this: From late October to late December, his appointment book includes:

CLOONEY ON THE GO

Nick Clooney will promote his new book at a "Silver Screen" showing of the Billy Wilder classic Some Like It Hot, starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, Wednesday at Showcase Cinemas Western Hills. The author will introduce the film at 12:40 p.m.; the screening will follow at 1 p.m. At 3 p.m., Mr. Clooney will sign copies of his book, which will be for sale at the theater. $1, includes popcorn and a soft drink.   On Nov. 16, he will preside at the Bob Braun Celebrity Gala benefit for the Tri-State Parkinson's Wellness Chapter of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, at 6 p.m. in the Sharonville Convention Center, 11355 Chester Road. Tickets, $125; 948-1100; (800) 840-2732; www.parkinsonswellness.org.   His book-signings include: • Nov. 16, 1 p.m., Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 2692 Madison Road, Norwood. • Nov. 17, 2 p.m., Borders, 2040 Miamisburg-Centerville Road, Dayton • Nov. 22, 7 p.m., Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 161 Lexington Green Circle, Lexington. • Nov. 23, 2 p.m., Barnes & Noble, Newport on the Levee.

A veterans' tour of World War II sites in Saipan, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Hiroshima to collect material for his syndicated radio show In The Company of Heroes - accompanied as usual by his wife, Nina.

Master of ceremonies duty at the Bob Braun Celebrity Gala to benefit the Tri-State Parkinson's Wellness Chapter of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana.

A trip to Los Angeles for a star-studded memorial salute to his late sister, Rosemary, whom he also honored at a music festival in the family hometown of Maysville the last weekend in September.

Another trip to Los Angeles for the premiere of the Steven Soderbergh science fiction film Solaris, starring his son, George.

Yet another trip to Los Angeles for the opening of Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, the first film directed by his movie-star son.

As usual, all that happens while he writes a thrice-weekly newspaper column and hosts a daily radio show on WSAI-FM.

This year, the peripatetic Mr. Clooney is ratcheting up the pace to include a book tour. His latest book, The Movies That Changed Us: Reflections on the Screen (Atria Books; $26; 324 pages), officially hits the shelves on Tuesday, so the author is making the rounds of bookstores, radio programs and TV shows, including National Public Radio's Morning Edition (airing Wednesday) and NBC's Today Show (Nov. 13).

"Nina is funny about this," Mr. Clooney said. "She says, `Nick, I thought by now, we'd be in the back yard digging parsnips. And here we are running harder than ever.'

"It's luck," Mr. Clooney said. "The luck of your health holding up, and the luck of being in a racket that gives you the opportunity to do all that."

For all his years in the "racket" - in June, hundreds of friends turned out for a gala party to celebrate his 50th year in broadcasting - Mr. Clooney confessed he can still get the jitters. Take that Today Show appearance, for example. "I'm very nervous," he said. "It's easy enough to do if you're just talking about television, but this is a book."

Memorable movies

The idea for the book was born while Mr. Clooney was hosting the cable series AMC Movie Classics. The idea was to find movies that did not merely reflect the nation's cultural mores, but influenced them in lasting ways.

He started with 396 titles. Throwing out all but 20 was a taxing process.

"So many of them are such good movies," he said. "Some of these (in the book) are not particularly great movies, but they hit something. They hit the moment."

Out of the 20, he has a special fondness for the post-World War II drama about returning veterans, The Best Years of Our Lives, "because of the wonderful non-actor who did this astounding job in the motion picture, Harold Russell," a double amputee who won an Oscar as best supporting actor. "His performance moves me every time. That's his life he's showing us, and very bravely doing so."

Further, he said, the film "brought America to mainstream movies. Mainstream movies up till then pretty much glossed over things; everybody was airbrushed. Not this one. Coming just one year after the war was over, I thought it was a stunning triumph."

More books to come

Though he claims he intends to get some rest, oh maybe around January, Mr. Clooney is already fermenting a new book. He can't discuss the topic (publishing talks are under way), but said, "It's another reportorial job. I couldn't write fiction. I have no imagination at all."

He also has stacks of interviews and other material left over from his research for The Movies That Changed Us, as well as a treasure-trove of notes from interviews conducted over the course of a career with such legendary film talents as director Michael Curtiz(Casablanca), George Marshall(Giant), composer Roger Edens (On the Town) and writer-actor Gore Vidal (Suddenly Last Summer).

"Most of it sits there, waiting for me to look through it," said Mr. Clooney. "I'd like to try to see if there's any thread. It could be another book."

E-mail mmcgurk@enquirer.com

Clooney's book a new friend for film fans