RICHARD FIRMAGE, author of "The Alphabet Abecedarium: Some Notes on Letters," will read and sign copies of his book at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, at Waking Owl Books, 208 S. 1300 East. For information phone 582-7323.
- THE UTAH STATE POETRY SOCIETY is accepting entries in its annual competition. Deadline is Feb. 1 for the local society, March 15 for the national contest. For rules, send a self-addressed stamped envelope with 52 cents postage to Elaine Ipson, 449 Country Club, Stansbury Park, UT 84047.- SCOTT SOMMER, a novelist and screenwriter known for his quirky, tragicomic characters, has died at his home in Manhattan. He was 42. The cause was a heart attack, said his father.
Sommer was the author of "Nearing's Grace" (1979); "Lifetime" (1981), a collection of short stories and novellas; "Last Resort" (1982); "Hazzard's Head" (1985), and "Still Lives" (1989).
Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Jonathan Baumbach said Sommer's work was "post-modern in its imaginative use of literary form," adding that his "sensibility is romantic in the way of J.D. Salinger and F. Scott Fitzgerald."
- New York Times News Service