From the ancient annals of Robert Ripley's "Believe It or Not,' I recall the phenomenon of a man said to have been able to write The Lord's Prayer on a grain of rice.

If only he were here to help me today. My problem is similar: how to compress the careers of Steve and Nini Horn, plus the accolades due them, into the space of a single column.

Steve, as you probably know, served as Cal State Long Beach president (1970 to 1988) and as Long Beach's (38th District) representative to Congress (1993 to 2002). Had it been up to his constituents instead of the politicians who gerrymandered him from office, he likely would still be in the House.

People who knew Horn in Congress tell stories with a Frank Capra ring to them. He was, they say, one of the first members at work in the morning, one of the last to leave at night. Whether you liked his politics or not, you got your money's worth from Horn.

One of the best quotes about his performance comes from Carla Hayden, president of the American Library Association. She said it in March on presenting Horn with the group's James Madison Award:

"(He) has been a fierce and fearless fighter in insisting that government agencies open their books to promote meaningful oversight and sponsored and co-sponsored many bills that increase oversight of federal agencies. While we congratulate him on his retirement, he will be sorely missed at a time when free and open access to information is being gravely threatened.'

As for renaming the North Campus Center, CSULB president Robert Maxson notes that it "houses the University Art Museum, which Steve founded and developed and which became Nini's passion. It's considered one of the best university art museums in the country. Only about 10 percent of university art museums are accredited. This is one of them.

"It is also the last building that Steve built, and it also houses the largest student computer lab in the state university system.'

Maxson adds, "Steve's fingerprints and footprints are all over this campus. ... I have been president nine years. I'd like to take credit for all the good things that have happened on this campus, but the credit really goes to Steve.' Funny? Horn?

When I asked a mutual friend for an humorous Horn anecdote, he said, "There are none. He is not a humorous man.' Others have said the same, but I beg to differ. On explaining his German- Irish ancestry, he once told me, "Unfortunately, I inherited Irish ingenuity and German humor.'

On another occasion, I visited him at his former local office adjacent to the Lakewood golf course. We were to discuss some very serious but now forgot ten issue. Instead, I found him laughing. He had just glanced out a window to see a golfer, out of sight of his opponent, kick the latter's ball off a green.

There were many times when I disagreed with Horn, occasionally in print. But he was not the kind to hold a grudge either against me or even against those who roped him out of office. He was, in fact, the first elected official to sit with me and discuss the idea of having a branch of the Smithsonian Institution in the Long Beach area. Reaching out Horn went out of his way to touch others. After I wrote a story on the 78 lost members of the USS Evans, whose names are not on the Vietnam Wall, he joined the battle being waged by survivors of the destroyer. (The Evans had been home-ported in Long Beach during the Vietnam War and sank in a collision with another ship.)

In becoming the congressional champion of that cause, he went toe-to-toe against Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Not many members of Congress do that these days.

One last Steve Horn story. It involves a reader who had written to Horn trying to get the medals which his father had earned but never received during World War II. The reader called me one day and in disbelief told me of being at home in his underwear one Saturday morning when the doorbell rang. There was Horn, delivering the medals in person. I doubt another member of Congress would have done that.

Nini Horn shares her husband's gift for the personal touch, as is attested by my wife, Debbie. "Nini is incredible,' she says. "She is the consummate politician's wife. And she has a fantastic way of getting you enthused about the very things for which she is enthused.'

The Horns are modest, and this column, which could be much longer, may embarrass more than please them. But they should know, if they already do not, that Long Beach is lucky to have them.

The Wednesday ceremony to rename the building will take place at the North Campus Center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

The public is invited.