DUE 1944, RETURNED 1996: VENTURA LIBRARY BOOK HAS STORY TO TELL.

Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer

Burdette ``Pete'' Payne had never heard of Ventura County.

Then the Oklahoma man stumbled across an old book with a Ventura County library card stamped with a 1944 due date. After looking up the seaside community in an atlas, he dropped the book in the mail.

More than 51 years after it was due, the most overdue book in the memory of Ventura County library officials found its way home.

``I was astounded it was that far overdue,'' Payne said. ``It really gave me a good feeling to find that little book and get it back home.''

So ended the odyssey of the children's book ``Bomber Pilot,'' which was due Dec. 20, 1944, and racked up more than $3,600 in fines.

``I just laughed and laughed,'' said Dixie Adeniran, director of the Ventura County Library Services Agency. ``It's nice of people to return library books, but sooner than that would be better.''

Payne said his wife picked up the book at a yard sale in South Tulsa, Okla. But as her husband, a World War II aviation buff, paged through the book, he found the Ventura County library card stamped with the due date.

``I almost kept it,'' he said. ``Then I said, no, they probably want it back. If it were mine, I would want it back.''

Payne stuck the book in the mail. A few months later, he got a thank you letter from Mary Lynch, librarian at the Ray D. Prueter library branch in Port Hueneme.

``It was nice of him to care enough about public property to send it back instead of what happens an awful lot of times, which is people just keep it,'' Lynch said.

Although the library caps fines at $6, librarians amused themselves by calculating the fine at $3,640.

``The library doesn't charge that kind of money if you are late,'' Lynch said. ``At most, we'll charge you the price of the book. Don't panic if you're late. But please return your book.''

The odyssey of the little book remains a mystery, but librarians suspect it may have been checked out by the family of a sailor stationed at Port Hueneme during World War II.

For Payne, a 60-year-old print shop worker at Occidental Petroleum in Tulsa and free-lance newspaper writer, the hubbub has been well worth the postage.

``I've gotten more publicity over this than anything I've ever done in my life,'' he said.

In fact, the little book created a special place in Payne's heart for a place he never even knew existed until a few months ago.

``We're going to Utah for vacation,'' he said. ``I told my wife we may have to skip over there and check out that book again.''

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Photo: Librarians Mary Lynch, left, and Alice Lewis hold th e children's book ``Bomber Pilot,'' which was missing from the Port Hueneme library for 51 years.

Tina Gerson/Daily News