ESCAPE ARTIST

Sixteen TV/movie deals and “dozens of offers for a hostage book” have crossed the desk of ABC News correspondent Charles Glass since his heralded escape from kidnapers in Beirut. For now, he’s passing them on to his literary rep.

“I haven’t spoken directly to anyone,” Glass told us from ABC News’ Gotham headquarters. “When I returned from Damascus, there were scores of telegrams and telexes and letters and I put them in an envelope and sent it to my agent.”

He made it clear that he doesn’t intend to write a book. “I don’t want to sound sanctimonious, but I don’t want to spend the rest of my life being an ex-hostage.” He will include a chapter on the kidnaping in his long-in-progress book about the region, “Tribes With Flags,” and is penning a piece for Rolling Stone, “but that is all I will write.”

Movie offers are more tempting: “If someone wanted to give me a million dollars, I’m not opposed to it. I don’t mind them doing it, but I’m not interested enough to get involved.” First-wave enthusiasm, he acknowledged, has died down.

Glass was back at ABC last week putting in time owed. “I never was on a leave of absence (as reported),” he said. “I have a contract that calls for me to work 90 days a year.”

All this has provided a lesson: “I thought it was interesting that there are so many people who are willing to cash in on any form of human suffering and also ask me to cash in on my own.”