PROSPERO STRIKES IT RICH

In the realm of the religious inspirational, Sister Maria del Rey of Maryknoll writes sunnily, with sentiment (and a soupcon of sentimentality). Here she describes what ""a curly bearded bishop, an irrepressible priest, and six Maryknoll sisters"" did to change the fortunes of Prospero, Nicaragua. When they came, the people themselves called their town ""muy triste""; twenty years later the townsmen were headed into a happier future, their prospects not based only on the gold mines which had supported the company town, but on farming and cattle raising. Sister del Rey mentions all this, spends more time with the people themselves: Juan Minosa, self-styled King of Arithmetic who helped build the Colegio Maryknoll; Rodrigo Bermudez, who with his Luz led the community. Then too there are Bishop Lucas, Padre Victor, the Maryknoll sisters, whose accomplishments will appeal to an expectant, expected audience.