Kearns Goodwin wins history award
Doris Kearns Goodwin can add ''award-winning" in front of ''bestseller" for ''Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," her biography of the 16th president and his Cabinet. The Concord author has won the 2006 Lincoln Prize -- and its $50,000 award, which will be announced today. Kearns Goodwin was specifically cited for her ''bravura study of the Lincoln administration -- not only Lincoln himself but the remarkably gifted, competitive, indefatigable men who helped their President to save the Union and end slavery." The prize, the most generous in the field of American history, is administered annually through the Lincoln and Soldiers Institute at Gettysburg College. Kearns Goodwin isn't the only author with local ties being honored by the institute. Fellow Concord author Richard F. Miller's ''Harvard's Civil War" was praised by the jury for moving beyond the conventional approach to history ''to incorporate social, political, and cultural history into military analysis." The jury selected Cambridge author Carol Bundy's ''The Nature of Sacrifice," a biography of Charles Russell Lowell Jr., for an honorable mention. And Bates College prof Margaret Creighton's ''The Colors of Courage" was praised for the Maine author's ability ''to integrate the stories of noncombatants with the military history of the [Civil] War." Kearns Goodwin will receive the Lincoln Prize at an April dinner in New York City.
Ben, Matt to work together again
There's no truth to the rumor that buddies Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are reprising the Redford/Newman classic ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." But the pair has hatched a plan to costar in a courtroom drama about a couple of legal eagles whose pro bono work freed a death-row inmate after 18 years. Based on the true story of John Thompson and his heroic lawyers Michael Banks and J. Gordon Cooney, the untitled project will be distributed by Disney's Touchstone Pictures. Academy Award winners for ''Good Will Hunting," Cambridge kids Affleck and Damon last worked together on Kevin Smith's ''Dogma." Contacted yesterday, attorneys Banks and Cooney said they're delighted that Thompson's tale will be told. ''John's an incredibly decent person who was within weeks of being executed," said Banks, who'll be played by Affleck. ''And that's an unspeakable tragedy." Cooney is a summer resident of Nantucket. Now in his 40s, Thompson was convicted in 1985 of killing a prominent New Orleans businessman. He was ultimately released and exonerated after Banks and Cooney found blood evidence that was concealed by prosecutors.South End eatery closings leave void
Two small but well-regarded South End restaurants -- Perdix and the Nightingale -- have closed up shop, leaving holes in the neighborhood's Tremont Street strip. The 50-seat Perdix, which Tim Partridge opened in 2003 after a couple of years in Jamaica Plain, initially closed temporarily for renovations amid hopes for a full liquor license. But when the city's Licensing Board deferred a decision, ''it left us in limbo," Partridge said. ''The math just doesn't work for us anymore." Competition from Washington Street newcomers Stella and Toro, both of which have liquor, hasn't helped. ''I feel really good about what we did," said Partridge, who plans to ''hunker down" with his family -- including an 18-month-old daughter -- and mull his next move. As for the Nightingale, which closed at the end of January, co-owner Kevin Sheehan couldn't be reached for comment. Joe Yonan of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 
