NAMES & FACES

Holocaust Memoir Halted

Publication of Herman Rosenblat's Holocaust-themed "Angel at the Fence," scheduled for release by Penguin subsidiary Berkley Books in February, was canceled after unspecified revelations by his agent called its authenticity into question, the Associated Press reports. Rosenblat's book details how he met his future wife, Roma Radzicky, through a barbed-wire fence at Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp, and was randomly reunited with her on a blind date in New York in the 1950s.

Though Rosenblat, 79, has proved he was imprisoned at Buchenwald, scholars have questioned whether the camp's architecture would permit such a meeting, and Rosenblat's friends and family voiced skepticism in a recent issue of the New Republic. Oprah Winfrey, who championed and then chastised James Frey, author of the 2003 not-quite-true addiction memoir "A Million Little Pieces," had Rosenblat on her show twice and has called his tale "the single greatest love story . . . we've ever told on the air." In a statement issued Saturday through his agent, the author admitted falsifying parts of his work: "I wanted to bring happiness to people," said Rosenblat, who now lives in the Miami area. "I brought hope to a lot of people."

Prince Edward, Dog Beater?

Prince Edward, Queen Elizabeth II's youngest son, may have beaten a hunting dog during a pheasant shoot over the weekend, according to Agence France-Presse. "He broke up the fight with the dogs, and pictures show him waving his stick around," said a Buckingham Palace spokesman. "We cannot confirm, however, whether he struck the dog." The hunt took place on the grounds of the queen's private Norfolk estate, where the royal family routinely spends the Christmas holiday and Elizabeth herself was photographed wringing a pheasant's neck in 2000. "Hitting a dog is a pathetic, cowardly and vicious act," said Andrew Tyler, director of Animal Aid, a British animal rights organization. "It would appear he has had a royal tantrum."

Dad: Brady Not Engaged

Our report might have been at least premature: Though we reported Saturday that New England Patriot Tom Brady and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen got engaged on a Christmas Eve flight from New Jersey to Boston, the injured quarterback's father told the Boston Globe that his son is still on the market. "It's rumor, rumor, rumor," Tom Brady Sr. said. "We talked to him, and there's nothing to say. . . . It must be a slow news day." The Boston Herald confirmed that Bündchen, 28, appeared Friday with the younger Brady, 31, on Boston's Beacon Street sans engagement ring.

Soccer Star's Gift: Baby Girl

Brazilian soccer star Ronaldo, a.k.a. "O Fenomeno" (the Phenomenon), has a new daughter, People reports. Maria Sofia was born to Ronaldo Luis Nazário de Lima, 32, and fiancée Maria Beatriz Anthony in Rio de Janiero on Christmas Eve. Ronaldo -- the top scorer in the history of the World Cup -- also has an 8-year-old son with his ex-wife, model Milene Domingues.

Hey, Isn't That . . . ?

Crooner Robin Thicke in Chinatown at VIDA Fitness. Once dubbed the "most soulful white guy on the planet" by People magazine, Thicke popped in for a quick steam before his performance at DAR Constitution Hall rocking a black Adidas warm-up suit.

-- Justin Moyer, from staff, wire and Web reports