European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 1, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Books Mencken a sarcasm faced the klan among others by Tim Warren the Baltrom Redsun when the Kun flux klan marched Down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington in August 1925, . Mencken was stationed at the Treasury building taking notes with the rest of the press before them unfolded a remarkable sight thousands of klan members and their families Many from the North filling the most important Street in Washington from the Capitol to the White House. It was a defiant and chilling exhibition of Power. This was after All a time when hundreds of Public officials on the local state and even National Levels were elected with known klan sympathies a or even in some cases were unabashed members. The implications of the klan a swaggering about the nations capital were not lost on Mencken a longtime and outspoken opponent of the organization. This is what he wrote in his Story for the evening Sun  a Pennsylvania led the Van and in fact dominated the whole Parade. They marched proudly and showed a lurid fancy in their investiture. The men of Sam d. Rich of Pittsburgh were clothed in Robes faced with Scarlet and wore Mitres of the sort affected by patriarchs of the greek rite. They had their wives with them a fat amiable gals mainly with their make ups dripping from the ends of their noses. The men of Johnstown wore Trench hats those of holi Vaysburg bore muskets. Altoona was led by a klan intellectual in Horn rimmed spectacles. A so  past rank after rank a the Beauty and chivalry of Kutztown Kunkletown Kratz Ervehe Kleinfeltersville Schwenksville Houtzdale and Hamburg. The klan gown was Only the beginning of their attire. Over it some wore the cloaks of Spanish grandees of the 16th file the implacable , Mencken. Century and some the Robes of shinto High priests. One platoon was in Green Baldric emblazoned with Vermilion crosses another wore huge special shakers be spattered with Gilt stars. The example of the Moose has not gone for naught in the mining towns. There is a rising taste for elegance there and it showed itself brilliantly in today s  on and on Mencken wrote in like manner disembowel ing the klan with controlled derision and Sharp detail. Perhaps some journalists presented their distaste for the Parade in a straightforward and outraged tone and understandably Sobut not Mencken who saw the klan members for what they were Petty and cowardly and abysmally ignorant. One of the parades leaders was an a Imperial profligate whose uniform a was a mass of glittering gems the love offering no doubt of his Liege sweating on foot behind him. He acknowledged the Huzzah of the rabble with Graceful sweeps of the left hand. A regal fellow and much happier in patriotic work you May be sure than he Ever was in the Lime and Cement  this excerpt from the recently published the impossible Mencken a selection of his Best newspaper stories edited by Marion Elizabeth Rodgers Doubleday shows Mencken at the top of his game incisive Brave capturing even the tiniest nuance exposing Sham and hypocrisy As Only he could. One recalls the observation of Joseph Conrad a a Mencken a vigor is astonishing. It is like an electric current. In All he writes there is a crack of Blue Sparks. That give you a sense of enormous Power a taken from the approximately 3,000 newspaper stories that Mencken wrote a primarily for the evening Sun and the Sun  but also the new York evening mail and the Chicago sunday Tribune a the 200 or so that make up the impossible Mencken remind us of the extraordinary vitality of his writing. Though some pieces focus on the arts or such matters on the Best Way to prepare crabs and oysters most show Mencken entering in on the biggest issues of the Day. Be it political conventions a favorite subject prohibition the Scopes trial lynchings on the Eastern Shore or overzealous traffic policing , Mencken boldly strode into the fray. In her introduction Rodgers cites an appropriate comment from Mencken a the two main ideas that run through All my writing whether it be literary criticism or political polemic Are these i am strongly in favor of Liberty and i hate  upon Reading the opening pages of the impossible Mencken one reaction quickly sprang to mind what a contrast to and Welcome Relief from the last Book we saw about the Sage of Baltimore the diary of . Mencken. That gloomy frequently bitter Book came out two years ago and in the eyes of some fans of the Sage of Baltimore put tarnish on his reputation. Here was Mencken railing against jews Blacks and poor White workers who came to Baltimore during world War ii a Lin threads a he called them. Some colleagues and supposed old friends got rough treatment As Well. Mencken even allowed in an especially saddening entry that it probably was a mistake that his ancestors had immigrated from Germany and that he had never really Felt at Home in the United states. In 77�e impossible Mencken though we sense not an embittered old Man who feels life has passed him by but one who is taking in the show however ludicrous it May be and is enjoying it  shooting for autobiography by Esther b. Fein the new York times after retiring from pro basketball because he has the aids virus. Magic Johnson has decided to write his autobiography. Johnson will collaborate with Roy s. Johnson jr., with whom he wrote the Book magic a touch an instructional guide to basketball published by Addison Wesley said Michael Carlisle a literary agent. The two also collaborated on a cover Story in sports illustrated where Roy Johnson is a senior editor. The writers have not decided who will publish the Book but Carlisle said it would not be an in Stant Book that landed in the stores on the heels of the news of the players infection. A it will be a full biography magic s life Story and it will Deal openly and honestly with the question of living with aids a Carlisle said. Ever since Johnson announced he had the virus publishers have been trying to Frame a Book project that would capitalize on his popularity and his eagerness to speak out about aids. Some people have suggested that whoever becomes the publisher should agree to donate at least a portion of the Book s profits to help fight aids or to project 32, the foundation Johnson is set magic Johnson Ling up to Foster aids research and education. The number he wore for 12 years As a Laker was 32. A magic has a very important message to deliver a said Jeff Neuman an editor at Simon amp schuster who said he was pursuing publishing a Book by and about the former guard. A the is in a remarkable position to increase awareness and education about aids and to reinforce the message that yes this can happen to anyone. He is also in the position to encourage Reading among Young people since they would be a natural audience for the Book. In a sure like three quarters of the Industry in a trying to figure out How to pursue  Addision Wesley has been besieged with requests for magic a touch which sold about 90,000 copies in hard cover when it was published in 1989 and nearly 100,000 since it came out in paperback last year. Stocks of the Book have already been shipped said Jennifer Prost publicity director for Addison Wesley and the publisher is scurrying to reprint. A the Book has been Given new life a Prost said wishing the same could be True for magic. Page 8 a sunday december 1, 1991