UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 8, Page 7                        
October 22, 1992                                       
Professor's Hoffa biography generates media interest   
                                                       
     Quick, before the paparazzi start hounding Art Sloane for photo
ops, tell the tabloid press the University of Delaware business
professor is not the author of Jack Nicholson's new movie Hoffa.
     It can be confusing.                                    
     Sloane did write Hoffa, the only biography of the infamous
Teamsters boss. The book was published in 1991 just before Hoffa, the
movie, went into production. And yes, he is being called by everyone
from The Wall Street Journal to the Arts and Entertainment Network to
answer questions about the authenticity of the movie. True, he did
consult with Nataliga Nogulich, the actress who portrays Josephine
Hoffa, and, yes, she did tell him that she, Nicholson and Danny DeVito
(who stars in and directs the film) have all read his book. But no,
Sloane's Hoffa is not the movie Hoffa.                       
     The screenplay was written by David Mamet from books and articles
about the Teamsters. Sloane says that even though 20th Century Fox and
director DeVito had a completed script almost five years ago,
production was delayed until they could get Jack Nicholson for the
title role.                                                  
     "It's not a true biography of Hoffa. It's some fact and some
fiction," he said. For example, DeVito's role as Hoffa's best friend
is not real. "It's a composite," according to Sloane.        
     For some reason, possibly the movie, Sloane has been besieged
with requests for interviews lately. In fact, CBS Evening News
interviewed him about this renewed interest in the labor leader in
mid-October.                                                 
     Within the past few weeks, Sloane has done extensive interviews
for USA Weekend, the Arts and Entertainment Network and MPI home video
production and distribution company.                         
     A&E will feature Sloane along with James Hoffa Jr. and Hoffa's
daughter, Barbara Crancer, in its "Biography" series. The segment on
the former Teamsters' boss will air in December.             
     MPI has interviewed him for a documentary about the Teamster 
chief that is being made for home video distribution. He also is in
the midst of negotiations with two independent producers, and the list
goes on.                                                     
     Sloane doesn't think the renewed interest in Jimmy Hoffa is all 
that sudden. "He's been America's most famous missing person for years
now," Sloane said. He thinks that America is hungry for a    
down-to-earth, bigger- than-life hero now that white knight Ross
Perot's armor has begun to rust.                             
                                        -Barbara Garrison