Smithsonian May Acquire Reeve's Wheelchair

The Smithsonian is interested in other Reeve possessions, including his writings. (James A. Parcell -- The Washington Post)

The Smithsonian is in discussions with the family of Christopher Reeve to receive some of the late "Superman" star's possessions -- including his wheelchair.

In a recent visit to Howard Stern's Sirius radio show, the actor's sister-in-law Deborah Morosini said the institution passed on the family's offer to donate the Man of Steel's wheels. But reps for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation and the National Museum of American History said yesterday that talks are continuing. Valeska Hilbig, a spokeswoman for the museum, said the Smithsonian also wants other items, such as Reeve's writings and his other medical and rehab equipment that could help document his life and work as an advocate for research on spinal-cord injuries.

"One object does not convey the many messages" of a historic figure's life, Hilbig said. "We just want to tell a complete story." For example, the Smithsonian doesn't just preserve Dorothy's ruby slippers: "We also have the camera that 'The Wizard of Oz' was shot with, we have the script that shows how the color of the slippers was changed from silver to red, we have the costume for the Scarecrow."

Nature Turns Ugly for Doha and Her Brood

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What started as a heartwarming Easter tale of federal employees interacting with urban wildlife has devolved into a grotesque and tragic nightmare. Doha, the duck who laid her eggs at the U.S. trade representative's office, has lost at least eight of her 10 hatchlings to a violently turfy goose outside the Interior Department.

After our recent stories (and adorable Web video), our colleague Korin Miller heard yesterday from Interior employees appalled by the carnage at the pond on Virginia Avenue NW -- a repeat, they hastened to add, of past seasons. Miller saw the duckling corpses with her own eyes (and yes, there's more video at washingtonpost.com/reliablesource).

Paul Schmidt, a bird expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, tried to gently explain that, well, it's nature: "Every niche of habitat is usually filled with existing wildlife or risks to those critters. It is, as Darwin says, survival of the fittest. . . . There's not a governmental responsibility. . . . It's a natural behavior on the part of that goose."

Anyway, sorry. From now on, we stick to VIP hookups, celebrity real estate and other unnatural things.

For Wives, the Wizards' Tailspin Stops at the Door

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They have the clothes and the homes and the parties you envy -- but surely there's a downside to being a Wizard Wife? Like the dark moods that must follow their husbands home these days after five straight losses and the two biggest stars sidelined with injuries.

Charrisse Jackson Jordan (right, with Dianne Bruce and Roselyn Payne Epps) says hubby Eddie Jordan doesn't bring the losses home.(Gwen Russell)

"Hmm, not really," said Charrisse Jackson Jordan, wife of Coach Eddie Jordan. "When he's home, he takes advantage of the time to be with the children. I thought yesterday maybe he'd be in a bad mood when they lost the game [to the New Jersey Nets], but then the other team [Indiana] lost, too, so they made the playoffs. The only time it's tough is if his job is on the line."

Charrisse hosted a fundraising reception on Wednesday for the youth group Girls Inc. at Yiro, a Georgetown children's boutique, greeting guests including Michelle Fenty and fellow WW Keisha Booth (spouse of Calvin). Jordan told us she goes to most home games, though not on "big homework nights" for her two kids, who only catch weekend games: "It's hard enough to get them up the next morning." Sounds so . . . normal, doesn't it? We'll have to keep looking for reasons not to envy them.

More Imus Fallout: Wife's Book Tour Is Canceled

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Another casualty of the Don Imus flap: His environmentalist wife -- whom the radio yakker fondly refers to on-air as "the green ho," and no, that's not really okay either -- has canceled her book tour.

Deirdre Imus was due to promote "Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning" on TV and in appearances across the country, but Simon & Schuster postponed "because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under," a rep said. She is also the author of "The Imus Ranch: Cooking for Kids and Cowboys."

Update

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A Prince George's County judge has ordered DMX to pay $35,000 in child-support back payments to the local woman who gave birth to the rapper's child in 2004. Monique Wayne's lawyers claimed the star (born Earl Simmons) fell behind on his $5,000-a-month support agreement. Still unresolved: Wayne's ongoing $6 million lawsuit claiming that DMX defamed her in an interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine in which he alleged that conception happened when she "raped" him in his sleep.