Off to California

Jack Kent Cooke, 47, is a lively Toronto wheeler-dealer who owns or controls the Maple Leaf baseball club, radio station CKEY, two magazines and a handful of manufacturing firms. Now he is about to switch his citizenship from Canadian to U.S., and he has high-placed encouragement. Before the Senate last week was a House-approved bill, sponsored by Pennsylvania's Democratic Representative Francis E. Walter, that would grant Cooke residence retroactive to Sept. 28, 1950. Significance: Cooke could then become a U.S. citizen in 60 days instead of the normal five years.

Cooke's change of nationality seems to coincide with the troubles besetting his dream of creating a Canadian communications empire. His money-losing Saturday Night magazine has long been on the block without any takers. Last year Canada's Board of Broadcast Governors, after questioning Cooke on his programing philosophy, gave only a minimum two-year renewal to CKEY's license. Recently the B.B.G. left him among the also-rans in the race for Toronto's private TV channel.

Cooke has similar troubles in the U.S., where he has about $1,000,000 invested. Last December the Federal Communications Commission deferred renewal of the broadcasting license for Pasadena, Calif. radio station KRLA, bought by Brother Donald Cooke (a U.S. citizen since 1947) with the help of a loan from Jack. The FCC objected to KRLA's programing, complained that Jack had taken an active part in station management, although agency policy prohibits foreign ownership.

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