The sprawling eastern Iowa cornfields made famous by the movie "Field of Dreams" are being sold to a company that will preserve the site's baseball legacy, the owners announced Sunday.
Don and Becky Lansing said they have accepted an offer from Mike and Denise Stillman and their company, Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which will develop the site near Dyersville as a baseball and softball complex. A purchase price was not disclosed.
"We worked hard to maintain its wholesome allure, and our success says a lot about our nation's love affair with its national pastime," Becky Lansing said.
The land has been in the Lansing family since 1906. The couple put the property up for sale for $5.4 million in May 2010. The parcel includes the two-bedroom house, baseball diamond, six other buildings and 193 acres -- mostly cornfields. The 1989 film was based on the book "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella and starred Kevin Costner. The site has been a popular tourist spot ever since.
Madoffs' truth and consequencesRuth Madoff -- whose husband is serving a 150-year prison sentence for conning investors out of billions of dollars -- was more deeply hurt by his alleged long-running extramarital affair than by his fraud, according to a new book. In a confrontation with her son, Andrew Madoff, she said that was "the most hurtful thing" that ever happened to her. When she wondered aloud why husband Bernie Madoff didn't just leave her, Andrew reportedly offered one possible explanation: In a divorce, his dad's finances would have been scrutinized. "Truth and Consequences: Life Inside The Madoff Family," by author and magazine writer Laurie Sandell, is being released Monday. Sandell says she was approached by Andrew Madoff and his fiance, Catherine Hooper, to write about the family's painful experience.
EBONY AND IVORY: During a summer visit to a Motown recording studio, Paul McCartney wanted to run his fingers along an 1877 Steinway grand piano played by some Detroit music greats he considers idols. "He was disappointed when we told him it didn't play," said Motown Historical Museum chief executive Audley Smith Jr. Undaunted, McCartney told the museum that he wanted to help restore it. On Monday, the piano will be shipped from Detroit to Steinway & Sons in New York for restoration.
