A major biography of Random House's legendary co-founder Bennett Cerf has been signed at his own publishing house. The author is Gayle Feldman, a former editor at PW who has the distinction of being a contributor both to this magazine and the Bookseller in London. While researching in the publishing archives at Columbia University on a recent journalism fellowship, she discovered a batch of letters, scrapbooks and other personal effects deposited there by Cerf. She will use them as the basis for a book she will write for Random veteran editor Robert Loomis, who bought North American rights in her founder's tale from agent Betsy Lerner at the Gernert Company. The book is destined for publication in 2006.