SALINGER FOE

Meet the man being sued by the famously reclusive author J.D. Salinger: Fredrik Colting, alias John David California.

''Yes, John David California and I are the same man,'' Colting acknowledges from his home near Gothenburg, Sweden. California/Colting is the author of 60 Years Later, a spinoff of The Catcher in the Rye that Salinger alleges is a copyright infringement.

Colting had kept his name hidden from the public, but he was identified in court papers filed in New York. His identity was first reported Wednesday by the investigative website thesmokinggun.com.

OUT OF THE SLUMS

The makers of the hit movie Slumdog Millionaire have bought a new home for one of the two child stars discovered in Mumbai's slums.

The children lost their homes last month when authorities demolished parts of their slum.

The purchase of a 250-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment for the family of Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, was completed Monday, says Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee the Jai Ho trust set up by the filmmakers to help Azharuddin and his 9-year-old co-star Rubina Ali.

''They can move in,'' Mattoo says ``I'm just waiting for their consent.''

Ownership of the tiny apartment, which cost about $50,000, will be transferred from the trust to Azharuddin when he turns 18, provided he completes school, Mattoo says.

''He has to complete an education. We are very clear about that.'' The apartment is in Santa Cruz West, a suburb of Mumbai just north of the slum where the two children now live.

Mattoo said the trust is looking for a new home for Rubina.

The government has also started the process of giving both children apartments, and the family of Azharuddin hopes to get both.

''After Azhar is grown up he can stay in one,'' his mother Shameem Ismail says. ``Me and my husband can stay in the other.''

-- ERIKA KINETZ

Associated Press

Tom Hanks is Hollywood's go-to Mr. Nice Guy, and he has no bigger fans than the surviving veterans of Easy Company, this country's most celebrated fighting unit of World War II.

This past week Hanks, who helped immortalize historian StephenAmbrose's account of the company's war in the HBO series Band of Brothers, accompanied the surviving vets to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-day.

On a train ride from Paris to Normandy, eight surviving members of Easy Company recounted their stories for Hanks and his traveling partner, Hollywood political consultant Andy Spahn.

''It was very moving,'' said Spahn. You'll get to see the conversation for yourself sometime soon. An HBO crew came along.

Hanks was present for the 60th anniversary of D-day in Normandy five years ago. But this time there were fewer WWII veterans left.

-- TINA DAUNT

Los Angeles Times Service

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