People: Oct. 13, 1986

The sanest way for the U.S. Air Force Academy to acknowledge the 25th anniversary of Catch-22 would be to ask the author to come celebrate on campus. But wouldn’t that be by definition insane? Never mind. When it actually wants to do something, the military just plows ahead. Which is how Joseph Heller wound up spending last weekend at the academy. Heller thought the idea not the least bit strange. “Catch-22 is no more antiwar or antimilitary than other novels,” he says. “What it’s critical of is dishonesty, personal corruption, ambition — what any decent person would be critical of.” Furthermore, the academy agrees; it has been assigning the book since it came out in 1961 as a model of what not to do in the service. “I had the best time of my life during the war,” maintains the author. And, alluding to the substantial royalties the book continues to bring in, he adds, “I’m still making a good living from World War II.” Was he worried about chumming with future versions of the relentless Colonel Cathcart? “This is a once-in- a-lifetime experience, and I hope I’ll be back in another 25 years,” said Heller, employing the kind of logic that his reluctant hero Yossarian would understand.