Not Kinder, Not Gentler: Peggy Noonan, a...

Not Kinder, Not Gentler: Peggy Noonan, a speech writer for Ronald Reagan and George Bush who gave Bush such magic phrases as “Kinder, gentler” and “Read my lips,” says she finally burned out, done in by the “mice”--the bureaucrats who called many of the shots under Reagan and changed her speeches. But she did keep notes for her new book, “What I Saw at the Revolution.” On Reagan: “The battle for the mind of Ronald Reagan was like the trench warfare of World War I: Never have so many fought so hard for such barren terrain.”

Hard Decision: Prince Charles has appealed for the conservation of tropical hardwoods, whose harvest is accelerating worldwide deforestation. Despite agreements to import only timber grown in managed forests, it is impossible to know whether given shipments come from properly managed forests, Charles said Tuesday in London. “We cannot simply go on talking about the need to protect the world’s rain forests and not create the kind of institutions and mechanisms which will actually make that possible.”

His Story: Steve Gobie has come forward to talk about his alleged sexual relationship with Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). “If I hadn’t been so sure that this story was going to come out publicly, I would never have stepped forward,” Gobie, 33, said in New York Tuesday. Gobie said he was Frank’s lover, and that the congressman definitely knew he ran a prostitution ring from Frank’s apartment.

Legal Eagles: Effi Barry, wife of embattled D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, met last week in Washington with lawyers from the same firm that represented Ollie North. She met with lawyers Bob Barnett and David Povich, who successfully defended a federal official in a 1976 entrapment case. Barnett said Tuesday, “I will emphatically state I am not representing Mrs. Barry on any book or movie deal.”