People talk 9/24

Michael J. Fox to put old spin on former series

LOS ANGELES -- Michael J. Fox says his emotional but brief guest appearance this week on his former series, "Spin City," is coming at the right time.

Fox left the ABC comedy last year amid his struggle with Parkinson's disease and was replaced in his role as deputy mayor by Charlie Sheen.

"It really would have been strange if I had gone back last season," Fox told the Los Angeles Times. "It would have been very awkward for Charlie. But now it's established its own identity. And I could just watch someone else do the job and get my check in the mail."

"It's like visiting your kid in college. You don't have to feed him or her."

Fox said the guest spot was not easy on him physically because of his illness.

The first two of the three episodes featuring Fox are to air back to back on Tuesday. The third is set for next week.

Bennett teaches k.d. lang ease of performing

NEW YORK -- Her current concert tour with Tony Bennett is a learning experience for k.d. lang.

"I've learned not to complain about the schedule," the singer said in an interview with Newsday. "It's kind of embarrassing to complain now. He's 75 years old and even when I have time off his band's still going."

And she said that while she makes a big deal out of getting ready to perform, Bennett "just gets up there and sings."

"What I'm learning from him is kind of the easiness of it, the fact that it's what you do," she said of singing. "It's like running water."

They first sang together in 1994 on "Moonglow," and she was surprised at how well their voices and personalities blended. "I think it's just chemistry, really."

Comic Jerry Van Dyke plans to retire in Mexico

BENTON, Ark -- Comic actor Jerry Van Dyke has sold some of his Benton property, abandoned plans to buy a bathhouse in the resort town of Hot Springs and is moving to Mexico, his daughter says.

The 70-year-old brother of Dick Van Dyke is trying to retire, says daughter Jerri, who runs Jerry Van Dyke's Soda Shoppe in Benton.

Van Dyke played Luther Van Dam for nine years on the television sitcom "Coach." He built a home near Benton in 1984 after marrying local country singer Shirley Jones.

He plans to keep his ranch near Benton and his soda shop, which is decorated with posters, photographs and other memorabilia from his acting career, Jerri Van Dyke says.

Tenor's concert strain after events of week

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Luciano Pavarotti's weekend concert was something of a strain, coming so soon after the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

"I am not here in the best moment of our life," Pavarotti said in an interview Saturday. "I think that life must go on even if I'm very touched (by) something like that."

He said he planned to dedicate the Sunday night concert "to the peace of the entire world."

"America discovered something she did not know -- the war at home," he said.

The 65-year-old tenor recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of his 1961 opera debut, which was as Rodolfo in "La Boheme" in Reggio Emilia, Italy. He says singing is a passion he was born with and he has no immediate plans to slow down.

"Well, I'll go on as long as I can, as long my voice is telling me to go, and with the voice my audience, and with the audience everybody else," Pavarotti said.

-- From wire reports