Author chosen to write sequel to ‘Peter Pan’

London (ap) — Peter Pan and the wily Captain Hook are set for a rematch.

Children’s author Geraldine McCaughrean has been chosen to write the official sequel to J.M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan,” the London hospital that holds the copyright to the classic work said Sunday.

Barrie willed the “Peter Pan” copyright and royalties to the Great Ormond Street Hospital when he died in 1937, and the institution has long wanted to commission a follow-up.

It has stipulated that the new work, titled “Captain Pan” must feature the original characters: the boy who never grew up along with his pals Wendy, fairy Tinkerbell and the Lost Boys — as well as the fearsome pirate Hook.

“It is an astonishing, daunting privilege to be let loose in Neverland, armed with nothing but a pen, and knowing I’m walking in Barrie’s revered footsteps,” said McCaughrean, 53, the three-time winner of the Britain’s prestigious Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year.

“But completing this book is going to be the writing adventure of a lifetime — and such amazing fun!”

McCaughrean has experience of reworking classic tales: She won her third Whitbread award in January for “Not The End of the World,” a retelling of the story of Noah’s ark.

She was chosen from a number of authors who each submitted submit a sample chapter and synopsis of the potential book.

“I think J.M. Barrie would have liked her style — if I’m wrong, he’ll be back to haunt us,” said David Barrie, a great-great-nephew of J.M. Barrie who was on the judging panel.

The judges said McCaughrean’s entry “captured the elusive spirit of the original whilst offering a fresh and astounding creative response and will appeal to both children and adults.”

Jane Collins, chief executive of Great Ormond Street Hospital and a judge, said the hospital has always wanted a sequel to Peter Pan because of the pleasure he has given children and adults for more than 100 years and to build on Barrie’s generosity.

“Peter Pan may never grow up, but the income he brings us has helped many other children grow up and get better over the years,” she said. “With half our beds in a building dating back to the 1930s, any little help from the sequel will be very welcome.”

McCaughrean and the hospital will split the royalties from the new book. The copyright expires in 2007.

Swank in food fight

Wellington, New Zealand — Hilary Swank, the Oscar-winning star of fight flick “Million Dollar Baby,” is going toe-to-toe with New Zealand authorities over a $150 fine for bringing fruit into the country, local media reported Sunday.

Swank was fined in January for failing to declare an apple and an orange in her luggage when she arrived at Auckland International Airport, The Sunday Star-Times newspaper reported.

“It’s a pretty standard practice to issue an instant fine for a biosecurity risk,” said Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry spokesman William Minchin. “The only thing that’s unusual in this case is that it’s Hilary Swank and she’s famous.”

Thousands of visitors arriving in New Zealand each year are fined on the spot for not declaring products like fruit, which cannot be imported into New Zealand, and hundreds contest the fines, Minchin said.

New Zealand is largely free of pests, which cause billions of dollars in damage to crops and livestock in other parts of the world, and has strict quarantine guidelines.

Brooks sets things straight

Yakima, Wash. — One Garth Brooks fan who spent $1,200 to buy a guitar signed by the country singer — only to find out it was a fake — has received an authentic signature.

Toby Bradley, 34, a long-haul trucker, put the guitar up for auction on eBay in January hoping to raise $50,000 for Asian tsunami victims.

Brooks’ attorney saw the eBay listing and asked Bradley to send it to him so the signature could be verified. It turned out to be fake, but Brooks signed the guitar and sent it back to Bradley.

Bradley was on the road when the guitar arrived at his home last week, but his wife told him the news.

“I appreciate that they made it authentic,” Bradley said in a telephone interview with the Yakima Herald-Republic.

He said he was disappointed that he had not talked directly to Brooks, but he still thinks Brooks is the greatest entertainer of all time.

Actress breaks foot onstage

New York — Christina Applegate, star of the Broadway-bound revival of “Sweet Charity,” broke her foot during a performance in Chicago and will be out of the musical through its Boston tryout engagement, which begins Friday.

Applegate is expected to return to the musical by the time it starts preview performances April 4 in New York, John Barlow, a spokesman for the show, said Sunday. The musical is scheduled to open April 21 at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre.

Applegate was injured during the opening moments of Friday’s performance at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, but she continued to play for about 20 minutes before the show was stopped. After a short delay, Applegate’s understudy, Dylis Croman, took over the role, and the performance resumed.

Applegate, best known for her role as the teenage tart on television’s “Married … With Children,” will be making her Broadway debut in the musical.

“Sweet Charity” tells the story of Charity Hope Valentine, a goodhearted taxi dancer who always falls in love with the wrong man. The musical, which has a book by Neil Simon and a score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields, was first done on Broadway in 1966 with Gwen Verdon in the title role. Shirley MacLaine starred in the 1969 film version.