Book Leave!

As anyone who has been reading this space knows, I have been working on a book on antiquities, and will be taking a leave from my Hollywood job to work on it full-time. This has now been reported elsewhere with the breathless excitement attached to actual news, which it isn't really. So, to those keeping track: starting July 1, I will be taking a six month leave of absence from the Times, to write a book (for the Times) on antiquities and the debate over who should own them, museums or source countries. I will be traveling to the Middle East and other parts of the Mediterranean this summer to better investigate the source countries' side of the story, and have been busy over the past six months hearing the museums' side (among my other duties, of course). After that, I truly am not sure on what I will be doing. I asked my editors back in February for a chance to take on a new challenge after many years of covering Hollywood. They've agreed in principle, but nothing specific has been decided. There it is. I'm certainly open to suggestions.