TLC memories

Orlando, Fla. Members of the group ‘N Sync remembered singer Lisa Lopes on Sunday as an energetic performer who was always eager to work.

Justin Timberlake described Lopes as humble, fun, warm and loving. “She had a passion for what she did,” he said. “She loved to work and she loved to make music.”

“She had high energy and a lust for life,” said J.C. Chasez. “She was always energetic.”

Lopes, one-third of the Grammy-winning trio TLC, died Thursday in a vehicle crash near Jutiapa, Honduras.

Dole vs. Clinton redux

Macon, Ga. Former Senate majority leader Bob Dole anticipates a rematch with Bill Clinton, his 1996 presidential rival, if Dole’s wife wins a North Carolina Senate seat.

“If Elizabeth gets elected, I’ll be in the Senate spouse club with Bill Clinton,” Dole said. “I’m going to run for president of the club. This time I’m going to beat him.”

Hillary Rodham Clinton is now a New York senator while Elizabeth Dole is seeking the Republican nomination to run for the seat being vacated by Sen. Jesse Helms.

Oprah goes Hawaiian

Hana, Hawaii Oprah Winfrey and her former personal trainer are buying seven shoreline lots to build several homes, including one for the talk-show celebrity.

Winfrey and trainer Bob Greene will put conservation first and keep site development low key. Several archaeological sites exist on the Lehoula property, including a cinder cone called “Ka Iwi O Pele,” or the bones of the volcano goddess Pele. Lehoula is also the site of the first Hawaiian fishpond.

Winfrey’s spokesman, Gideon Kaufman said there will be no building on the cinder cone. Winfrey and Greene “want to be good neighbors.”

Not booking a publisher yet

Palm Beach, Fla. Jimmy Buffett has been keeping himself busy, touring for his latest CD and writing a new book.

“It’s part-fiction, part-nonfiction,” Buffett told Parade magazine in Sunday’s editions. “I haven’t yet signed a contract. These things take a long time, and it’s hard work. If you talk about it too much, they begin to smell the money and pile on the pressure to get it finished.”

Buffett is already an accomplished writer, one of only six authors to have a New York Times No. 1 best seller in both fiction and nonfiction.