Lockerbie victim's story coming to film

Ken Dornstein's memoir "The Boy Who Fell Out of the Sky" -- about the death of his older brother, David, in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland -- is being made into a movie by "Whale Rider" director Niki Caro. Dornstein, a Somerville resident and editor for the PBS series "Frontline," wrote his book more than 10 years after his brother died, at a point when he could finally sort through the many notebooks and journals his troubled brother left behind. It was released last year and will be issued in paperback in June. Like the book, the Warner Bros. film also follows how Ken comes to deal with the loss of his brother and learns more about his sibling. "I needed to reconstruct just those moments [in David's life] that gave me bits of information I needed," Dornstein told the Globe last year. "I wanted to understand who he was for me, what I owed him and missed about him, what I could take into the future." Currently working on the screenplay, Caro will set the film in the present and past through flashbacks, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "I'm pretty compelled by material that's real and human," she told the trade publication. "It looks at the emotional consequences of terrorism, but not in a political way."

It’s twin girls for Mia and Nomar

Former soccer star Mia Hamm and Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra welcomed their first children -- twin girls -- early yesterday in Los Angeles. But the former Red Sox shortstop missed the arrivals. "Both are healthy and over 5 pounds," Dodgers spokesman Josh Rawitch told the Associated Press. Rawitch said Garciaparra left the team late Tuesday to be with his wife but was in the air when the babies were born. "He was on a speaker phone with the delivery room speaking with Mia during the births," Rawitch told the AP. (The Los Angeles Times reported that Nomie had a private jet on standby at Vero Beach Airport for when he got word the babies were on their way.) No. 5 went straight to the hospital upon arriving in LA. "He was excited and nervous at the same time," manager Grady Little, who was dining at the same restaurant as Garciaparra when word came, told the Times.

Restaurant L promises style, substance

Pino Maffeo is setting out to change the coolly fashionista space of Restaurant L into a more inviting Boston Public. Chef Maffeo, who will be the owner and operator of the new restaurant now under construction within the Louis Boston department store, plans darker, warmer steakhouse colors and an Asian-inspired menu. His partner is Nino Trotta . Maffeo, a Food & Wine best new chef of 2006 and a veteran of New York and California restaurants, promises Japanese, Thai, and Chinese influences in the food and Asian details in the decor, as well as a meat-heavy emphasis, affordable wines, and a new bar. All this by the end of April, says Maffeo, who adds: "We're looking to put together something solid."

For tonight's LifeSavor event to benefit Community Servings, Cambridge crime writer Robert B. Parker is offering a live auction item he wouldn't have considered even a few years ago. Parker has dedicated all of his 60 novels to his wife, Joan, but she will have to share the dedication with the winning bidder when her husband writes his next book. . . . Former US ambassador to Ireland Jean Kennedy Smith will receive the Eire Society of Boston's Gold Medal award at its annual dinner May 3 at the Park Plaza Hotel. Kennedy Smith was chosen for the honor because of her "central role in the peace efforts in Ireland during the 1990s and for her humanitarian efforts in the United States on behalf of children," Eire Society president Edris B. Kelley said in a release. . . . Debbie Reynolds is the latest star of yesteryear to sign on to sing at the Reagle Players theater in Waltham. "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" Oscar-nominee will perform April 20--22. Reynolds has played the Boston area several times and was even the Hasty Pudding Theatricals' "Woman of the Year" -- in 1955. . . . Tennis pros Jim Courier, John McEnroe, Pete Sampras, Todd Martin, and Mats Wilander will be in Boston on May 1 for a gala to benefit Tenacity, a program that helps at-risk youth through tennis lessons and improving literacy skills. The fete kicks off the five-day Champions Cup Boston competition.

Alison Arnett of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.