PEOPLE

By Belinda Luscombe

GOOD OLD FACTORY VALUES

AARON FEUERSTEIN is the George Bailey of the industrialist set. And just as in It's a Wonderful Life, it looks as if it has all worked out swimmingly for the factory owner. When fire gutted Malden Mills in December 1995, Feuerstein decided to rebuild his mill right in Massachusetts, instead of moving it to a cheap labor haven like Mexico or taking the insurance payout and retiring. What's more, he kept all 2,700 staff on the payroll for three months and paid their health insurance for three more. It took nearly two years and an understanding banker, but Malden Mills had a reopening ceremony last week, and Feuerstein hopes to have the last 70 workers rehired soon.

SEEN & HEARD

Is the man whose novel made the middle-aged extramarital dalliance seem like a cosmic event having a fling of his own? According to Texas Monthly, Bridges of Madison County author Robert James Waller, 58, has split with his wife of 36 years, Georgia, for another woman, Linda Bow, 34, a ranch forewoman. The Wallers' only child, Rachael, tells the magazine, "How do you watch your hero fail?"

Daniel Beck, Gianni Versace's 8-year-old nephew, has a compelling reason to be nice to his sister. Allegra Beck, 11, is the main beneficiary of Versace's fortune, including his 45% share in the company, worth about $50 million, according to Italian news reports. Daniel didn't miss out entirely. He's said to have inherited his uncle's art collection, including works by Picasso, De Chirico and Leger.

JENNIFER'S BOOKISH WAYS

"There are times when I can be a pain in the ass," says JENNIFER JASON LEIGH. She's referring to her technique in movies that are adapted from novels. "I'll just take every page of the novel that refers to my part and paste it to the corresponding page in the script." When the novels in question are such highly regarded works as Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres and Henry James' Washington Square, which open within a few weeks of each other, this strategy can be a little intimidating for the directors. The two movies allowed Leigh to play the devoted but misunderstood daughter of two men she knew as a child: Jason Robards, an old friend of the family's--she took the Jason in her name after him--and Albert Finney, "the first man I ever had a crush on," says Leigh. "We were riding the elevator in Paris, and he patted my head and said, 'What a beautiful child.' " That was before he saw his future co-star in that blue-and-gold frock, of course.

IN, OUT OR NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS?

Is it a literary conceit or is it an outing? The cover of the October Esquire proclaims that KEVIN SPACEY has a secret. The story opens by suggesting that the secret is that Spacey is gay, but goes on to say the real secret is that he's a movie star. (Gosh.) It could be seen as a smart-alecky way of writing an otherwise glowing account of Spacey's merits, but it irked the star's handlers. Spacey's agent, Brian Gersh, went so far as to suggest he would discourage anyone William Morris represents from working with Esquire, a statement others at the agency--which has 3,000 clients, including Clint Eastwood and Bill Cosby--later backed away from. As for whether he is gay, Spacey says in the piece, "I have no interest in confirming or denying that at all."