Knight cancels appearance

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Texas Tech University men's basketball coach Bobby Knight has opted out of a book-signing luncheon co-sponsored by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram because he did not like a newspaper article that scrutinized his older son's business practices.\nThe April 12 article, which ran on the front page of the Star-Telegram, claimed records showed that Tim Knight, an assistant athletics director at the school, had shipped school merchandise to an Indianapolis store operated by his mother without the university receiving payment. Bobby Knight was a long-time coach at IU.\n"I was notified by St. Martin's Press, Bob Knight's publisher, that he didn't like the story in the Star-Telegram, and that because of that, he is refusing to honor his commitment to the Book and Author program," said Jeff Guinn, the newspaper's books editor.\nThe controversial coach, who is the author of "Knight: A Coach's Life," was scheduled to be one of six at the event, which will benefit the Fort Worth Public Library. It is scheduled for noon May 1 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center.\nOrganizers said they were expecting to sell about 600 tickets to the luncheon, about 200 of those based on Knight's appearance alone.\nThe luncheon will go on as scheduled, Guinn said, adding that he is disappointed by Knight's decision.\n"I am sorry that coach Knight, in trying to retaliate against the Star-Telegram, is hurting the library," Guinn said. "But we are not canceling the program."\nTickets to the event are $45 each. Featured authors include Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler, Elizabeth Dewberry, Star-Telegram staff writer Tim Madigan, Scott Blackwood and James Ward Lee, co-editor of "Literary Fort Worth," a compendium of the best writing by authors who are current or former residents.