UXL Newsmakers - Volumes 1-4 (UXL Newsmakers)

U•X• L newsmakers U•X• L newsmakers volume 1 one A–Fe Judy Galens, Kelle S. Sisung Carol Brennan, Contributing W...

Author: Judy Galens | Kelle S. Sisung | Allison McNeill

31 downloads 3613 Views 59MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!
Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

U•X• L newsmakers


volume

1

one

A–Fe

Judy Galens, Kelle S. Sisung Carol Brennan, Contributing Writer Jennifer York Stock, Project Editor

U•X•L Newsmakers Judy Galens, Kelle S. Sisung, and Carol Brennan Project Editor Jennifer York Stock Editorial Michael D. Lesniak, Allison McNeill Rights Acquisition and Management Peggie Ashlevitz, Edna Hedblad, Sue Rudolph © 2005 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. Thomson and Star Logo are trademarks and Gale and UXL are registered trademarks used herein under license. For more information, contact Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Or you can visit our Internet site at http://www.gale.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means— graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, tap-

Imaging and Multimedia Lezlie Light, Mike Logusz, Denay Wilding Product Design Kate Scheible

ing, Web distribution, or information storage retrieval systems—without the written permission of the publisher. For permission to use material from this product, submit your request via Web at http://www.gale-edit.com/permissions, or you may download our Permissions Request form and submit your request by fax or mail to: Permissions Department Thomson Gale 27500 Drake Rd. Farmington Hills, MI 48331-3535 Permissions Hotline: 248-699-8006 or 800-877-4253, ext. 8006 Fax: 248-699-8074 or 800-762-4058

Composition Evi Seoud Manufacturing Rita Wimberly

Since this page cannot legibly accommodate all copyright notices, the acknowledgments constitute an extension of the copyright notice. While every effort has been made to ensure the reliability of the information presented in this publication, Thomson Gale does not guarantee the accuracy of the data contained herein. Thomson Gale accepts no payment for listing; and inclusion in the publication of any organization, agency, institution, publication, service, or individual does not imply endorsement of the editors or publisher. Errors brought to the attention of the publisher and verified to the satisfaction of the publisher will be corrected in future editions.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Galens, Judy, 1968UXL newsmakers / Judy Galens and Kelle S. Sisung ; Allison McNeill, project editor. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7876-9189-5 (set) — ISBN 0-7876-9190-9 (v. 1)—ISBN 0-7876-9191-7 (v. 2) —ISBN 0-7876-9194-1 (v. 3)—ISBN 0-7876-9195-X (v. 4) 1. Biography—20th century—Dictionaries, Juvenile. 2. Biography—21st century—Dictionaries, Juvenile. 3. Celebrities—Biography—Dictionaries, Juvenile. I. Sisung, Kelle S. II. McNeill, Allison. III. Title. CT120.G26 2004 920’.009’051—dc22 2004009426

Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

contents

volume

1

one

Newsmakers by Field of Endeavor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix Reader’s Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xv Freddy Adu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Anthony Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Avi Arad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Jean-Bertrand Aristide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Jack Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Orlando Bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Tom Brady . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Larry Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Mark Burnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 Benjamin Solomon Carson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 Keisha Castle-Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Coldplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Sophia Coppola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 Paige Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

Ellen DeGeneres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 Michael Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Hilary Duff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Dale Earnhardt Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Shirin Ebadi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Michael Eisner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171 Olafur Eliasson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Missy Elliott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189 Deborah Estrin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 Tina Fey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix

v

contents volume

2

two

50 Cent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Carly Fiorina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Cornelia Funke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229 Neil Gaiman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Sonia Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Frank Gehry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Julie Gerberding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269 Brian Graden . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277 Brian Greene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285 Helen Grenier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293 Josh Groban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303 Tony Hawk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311 Saddam Hussein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 Hugh Jackman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329 Peter Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339 LeBron James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349 Steve Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357 Angela Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 Norah Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383 Dean Kamen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393 Beyoncé Knowles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401 Daniel Libeskind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409 Lindsay Lohan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421 Stella McCartney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix

vi


•

volume 1

contents volume

3

three

Betsy McLaughlin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435 Mike Mignola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 Isaac Mizrahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 451 Michael Moore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 459 Frankie Muniz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469 Takashi Murakami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 Walter Dean Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483 Donna Jo Napoli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491 Gavin Newsom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497 Jenny Nimmo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 Indra Nooyi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 513 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519 OutKast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527 Larry Page and Sergey Brin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535 Christopher Paolini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 543 Linda Sue Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551 Richard Parsons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 561 Nancy Pelosi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571 Michael Phelps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 587 Daniel Radcliffe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 597 Michael Ramsay and James Barton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607 Raven. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615 Condaleeza Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623 Andy Roddick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 631 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix


•

volume 1

vii

contents volume

4

four

Alex Rodriguez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 639 Burt Rutan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 647 Josh Schwartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 655 Arnold Schwarzenegger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663 Ryan Seacrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 673 Terry Semel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 681 Nisha Sharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 691 Russell Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 699 Jessica Simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 707 Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 715 Annika Sorenstam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 721 Gary Soto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727 Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 737 Patricia Head Summitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745 Amber Tamblyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 751 Lonnie Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 759 Justin Timberlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767 Gabrielle Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775 Peter Vitousek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 783 White Stripes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 Margaret Whitman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799 Michelle Wie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 807 Serena Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 813 Yao Ming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 821 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 829 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xix

viii


•

volume 1

Art/Design Olafur Eliasson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 181 Frank Gehry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 259 Daniel Libeskind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 409 Stella McCartney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 427 Mike Mignola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 441 Isaac Mizrahi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 451 Takashi Murakami . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 475 Burt Rutan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 647


•

by •

volume 1

•

field of endeavor

Italic type indicates volume number.

Business Michael Dell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 139 Michael Eisner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 171 Carly Fiorina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 221 Helen Grenier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 293 Dean Kamen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 393 Steve Jobs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 357 Betsy McLaughlin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 435 Indra Nooyi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 513 Larry Page and Sergey Brin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 535 Richard Parsons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 561 Michael Ramsay and James Barton . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 607 Terry Semel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 681 Russell Simmons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 699 Margaret Whitman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 799

ix

field of endeavor

Entertainment Anthony Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 9 Avi Arad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 15 Jack Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 33 Orlando Bloom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 43 Mark Burnett . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 81 Keisha Castle-Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 101 Sophia Coppola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 117 Paige Davis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 125 Ellen DeGeneres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 131 Hilary Duff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 145 Michael Eisner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 171 Tina Fey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 205 Brian Graden. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 277 Hugh Jackman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 329 Peter Jackson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 339 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 375 Beyoncé Knowles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 401 Lindsay Lohan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 421 Michael Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 459 Frankie Muniz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 469 Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 519 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 587 Daniel Radcliffe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 597 Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 615 Josh Schwartz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 655 Arnold Schwarzenegger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 663 Ryan Seacrest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 673 Jessica Simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 707 Ben Stiller and Own Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 737 Amber Tamblyn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 751 Gabrielle Union . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 775

x


•

volume 1

field of endeavor

Government Jean-Bertrand Aristide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 23 Sonia Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 247 Saddam Hussein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 319 Gavin Newsom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 497 Nancy Pelosi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 571 Condoleezza Rice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 623 Arnold Schwarzenegger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 663 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 829

Music Coldplay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 109 Hilary Duff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 145 Missy Elliott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 189 50 Cent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 213 Josh Groban . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 303 Norah Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 383 Beyoncé Knowles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 401 OutKast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 527 Raven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 615 Jessica Simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 707 Justin Timberlake . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 767 White Stripes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 791


•

volume 1

xi

field of endeavor

Science Benjamin Solomon Carson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 91 Deborah Estrin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 197 Julie Gerberding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 269 Brian Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 285 Helen Grenier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 293 Dean Kamen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 393 Larry Page and Sergey Brin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 535 Burt Rutan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 647 Lonnie Thompson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 759 Peter Vitousek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 783

Social Issues Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 51 Shirin Ebadi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 161 Sonia Gandhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 35 Gavin Newsom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 63 Nisha Sharma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 53

Sports Freddy Adu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 1 Tom Brady. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 61 Larry Brown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 71 Dale Earnhardt Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1: 153 Tony Hawk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 311 LeBron James . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 349

xii


•

volume 1

field of endeavor

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 375 Michael Phelps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 579 Andy Roddick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 631 Alex Rodriguez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 639 Annika Sorenstam. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 721 Patricia Head Summitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 745 Michelle Wie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 807 Serena Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 813 Yao Ming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 821

Writing Cornelia Funke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 229 Neil Gaiman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 237 Angela Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2: 367 Mike Mignola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 441 Walter Dean Myers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 483 Donna Jo Napoli. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 491 Jenny Nimmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 505 Christopher Paolini . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 543 Linda Sue Park . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3: 551 Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler). . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 715 Gary Soto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4: 727


•

volume 1

xiii

reader’s guide

Format Biographies are arranged alphabetically across four volumes. Each entry opens with the individual’s birth date, place of birth, and field of endeavor. Entries provide readers with information on the early life, influences, and career of the individual or group being profiled. Most entries feature one or more photographs of the subject, and all entries provide a list of sources for further reading about the individual or group. Readers may also locate entries by using the Field of Endeavor table of contents listed in the front of each volume, which lists biographees by vocation.

Features • A Field of Endeavor table of contents, found at the front of each volume, allows readers to access the biographees by the category for which they are best known. Categories include: Art/Design, Business, Entertainment, Government, Music, Science, Social Issues, Sports, and Writing. When applicable, subjects are listed under more than one category for even greater access.


•

volume 1

U

•X•L Newsmakers is the place to turn for information on personalities active on the current scene. Containing one hundred biographies, U•X•L Newsmakers covers contemporary figures who are making headlines in a variety of fields, including entertainment, government, literature, music, pop culture, science, and sports. Subjects include international figures, as well as people of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

• Sidebars include information relating to the biographee’s career and activities (for example, writings, awards, life milestones), brief biographies of related individuals, and explanations of movements, groups, and more, connected with the person. • Quotes from and about the biographee offer insight into their lives and personal philosophies. • More than 180 black-and-white photographs are featured across the volumes.

xv

reader’s guide

• Sources for further reading, including books, magazine articles, and Web sites, are provided at the end of each entry. • A general index, found at the back of each volume, quickly points readers to the people and subjects discussed in U•X•L Newsmakers.

Comments and Suggestions The individuals chosen for these volumes were drawn from all walks of life and from across a variety of professions. Many names came directly from the headlines of the day, while others were selected with the interests of students in mind. By no means is the list exhaustive. We welcome your suggestions for subjects to be profiled in future volumes of U•X•L Newsmakers as well as comments on this work itself. Please write: Editor, U•X•L Newsmakers, U•X•L, 27500 Drake Road, Farmington Hills, Michigan 48331-3535; call toll-free: 1-800-877-4253; or send an e-mail via www.gale.com.

xvi


•

volume 1


Freddy Adu

June 2, 1989 • Tema, Ghana

AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.


•

volume 1

Soccer player

Freddy Adu is like any average teenager. He goofs around with his friends, enjoys going to the movies, loves PlayStation, and hates doing his homework. Unlike most kids, however, he earns about $500,000 a year. Adu’s hefty paycheck comes from playing soccer. In November of 2003, when he signed with Major League Soccer (MLS), Adu became the youngest person to play for a professional American sports league since 1877. Called “the boy with the magic feet,” all eyes are on the young superstar who many predict will make soccer the new favorite American pastime.

The playing fields of Ghana Freddy Adu is so gifted and seems so mature that people question whether he could actually be as young as he is. According to his birth certificate, however, he was born on June 2, 1989, in the seaport town of Tema, Ghana, in West Africa. Tema is known for two things: fishing and soccer. Adu was kicking a soccer ball by the time he was two-

1

freddy adu

and-a-half years old. By the age of six, while father Maxwell and mother Emelia ran a local convenience store, he was playing in barefoot pick-up games with boys two or three times his own age. “I did not go one day without playing,” Adu told Leslie Stahl in a 2003 60 Minutes interview. “It was just kicking and learning.” In 1997, when Adu was eight, his parents participated in an immigration lottery through the U.S. embassy in Ghana. According to Emelia Adu, the reason was to give her children, Freddy and younger brother Fredua, the chance for a better education. The Adus won the lottery and all four packed up and moved to the United States, settling in Potomac, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. Shortly after arriving in America, Maxwell Adu abandoned his family. To support the boys, Emelia took on two jobs, getting up at five A.M. every morning and working more than seventy hours a week.

“When I’m out there on the field, I’m in a whole different world.” Naturally, Freddy Adu turned to soccer, playing with other children at his school playground. His fourth-grade friends were amazed, and one of them invited him to play in a tournament hosted by the Potomac Soccer Association. It was his first time playing in an organized soccer event. Adu dazzled everyone, but was particularly noticed by financial consultant Arnold Tarzy, who was also the coach of the Cougars, a Potomac soccer team. Adu left such an impression on Tarzy that the Cougars coach tracked him down, and within fortyeight hours of the tournament Adu had joined his team. Tarzy became Adu’s supporter and friend as well as his coach.

The buzz starts When Adu was ten, Tarzy suggested that he travel to Italy with a U.S. Olympic Development Program team to compete in a youth tournament for players under age fourteen. Adu’s team not only won the

2


•

volume 1

freddy adu

Learning the Language

A ccording to sportswriter Rick Reilly, Freddy Adu “can do things with a soccer ball that make you wonder if it’s not Velcroed to his feet.” At a very young age Adu mastered dribbling and passing. He also tackled the most complicated of soccer moves. Several of these moves are named after the soccer players who made the moves famous. Perhaps one day young soccer players will be learning “The Adu,” but in the meantime, here are some of the moves that Freddy uses to score on the soccer field. • Beckham. Named for David Beckham (1975–) from England. The move is used to get a special spin, or “bend,” on a ball as it is kicked toward the goal. A player uses the side of his foot to slice under the ball, at the same time leaning back as far as he can to get the most lift. The

Beckham was popularized in the 2002 movie Bend it Like Beckham, about a young Indian girl who struggles to pursue her dream of being a soccer star like her idol, David Beckham. • Cruyff. Named for Johan Cruyff (1947–) from the Netherlands. A player pretends to be kicking the ball with the inside of his right foot, but instead shifts his weight to the left foot, turns his right foot to point down, and switches the ball to his left foot. The move is used to “fake out” opponents. • Maradona. Named for Diego Maradona (c. 1961–) from Argentina. The move consists of stopping the ball with one foot while making a 180-degree turn above it. It is used to control the ball and change direction.

competition, but Adu scored more points than anyone in the tournament and was named Most Valuable Player (MVP). The soccer world stood up and took notice. Adu was younger by several years than most of the players. In addition, he was pitted against players from Europe, where soccer (known as football) is king and people train seriously from a very young age. Major European teams such as Inter Milan (considered to be the New York Yankees of soccer) came calling, hoping to lure Adu to Europe. During the following year Adu also attracted attention from the U.S. Soccer Federation and from companies such as Adidas, who were eager to have the soccer star with the megawatt smile promote their products. But Adu’s mother said no. “He’s too young,” Emelia Adu told Amy Rosewater of USA Today in 2001. “I want him to get an education.” Emelia Adu struggled with her decision, but felt she was making the right choice for her son. Freddy’s skills were not limited to the soccer field. He was also a budding artist. In his first art competition, which he entered in the fifth U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

3

freddy adu

grade, Adu won the top prize in the county. He was also an exceptional student. Shortly after joining the Cougars, Adu received a full scholarship to attend The Heights, a prestigious boys’ school in Potomac. He did so well that he skipped the seventh grade. Adu also played basketball, scoring twenty-eight points in his first junior varsity game. But Adu’s soccer ability was too bright to hide, and coaches continued to knock on his door. In 2001 John Ellinger, coach of the U.S. Soccer Federation’s Under-17 team, asked Adu to attend a weekend tournament in Florida. After watching Adu’s performance, Ellinger told Mark Starr in a Newsweek interview, “I see him do things I haven’t seen the pros do.” He described one move in particular: “The kid fielded a pass on the outside of his left foot, flicked it up and over his head—and over the defender—and corralled the ball without breaking stride.” Ellinger invited Adu to train at the federation’s Soccer Academy, which is part of the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Florida. Run by the sports agency IMG, the 190-acre campus is an elite training ground for top athletes in a variety of sports. For example, only thirty of the nation’s best young players are invited to attend the soccer academy. In 2002 Adu’s mother agreed to let him go, and he moved to Florida, becoming, at twelve, the youngest member of America’s Under-17 soccer team.

Fancy footwork Adu did not disappoint his coaches in Bradenton. He consistently scored high in matches against other youth squads, as well as in exhibition games against several college and professional teams. In March of 2003, just weeks after he became a U.S. citizen, Adu helped his team qualify for the Under-17 World Championships. In August he and his American teammates traveled to Finland for the finals. Adu scored four goals in two games, one a critical semifinal match against South Korea. Although his team ultimately lost to Brazil, the word was out that Adu was the kid to watch. In fact, according to one scout quoted in a March 2003 Sports Illustrated article, “He’s going to be the best player in the world someday.” Coaches and leagues were again pounding at the door; there were even some tempting offers for Adu to train in Europe. It was

4


•

volume 1

freddy adu

The Next Pelé?

Young Freddy Adu has often been compared to Pelé, considered by many to be the most famous, and perhaps the greatest, soccer player of all time. Edson Arantes do Nascimento was born in 1940 in Tres Coracoes, Brazil, the son of a soccer player. He turned pro at age sixteen and played for the Santos Football Club in Brazil from 1956 to 1974. In 1975, in an attempt to boost the sport of soccer in the United States, Pelé was signed to play with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League. He played with the team for two years before retiring in 1977. Throughout his career, Pelé scored an amazing 1,280 goals in 1,362 professional games. He also

holds the record as the only team player to win three World Cup titles. People were amazed by Pelé’s skill on the soccer field, but they were also captivated by his charming personality and winning smile. After retiring, Pelé continued to be active, serving as a sports commentator and traveling around the world as a soccer ambassador. In 1997 he was elected minister of sports in Brazil. In 2004 he appeared in Freddy Adu’s first television commercial, for Pepsi’s Sierra Mist. In his interview with Leslie Stahl, Adu relayed the advice Pelé gave him: “He told me to keep my head up and just play.”

reported that he was offered $3 million from England’s Manchester United. Adu turned them all down. For one thing, the Adus did not need the money, since Freddy had recently signed a $1 million contract with Nike to endorse their sports line. In addition, Adu was itching to play with the pros. According to European Federation rules, any player transferring from outside the European Union is limited to playing in youth leagues until he or she turns eighteen. “If you’re good enough,” Adu remarked to Stahl, “you’re old enough.’ So, when America’s Major League Soccer (MLS) came knocking, Adu answered. In November of 2003, he signed on with the MLS and was offered a four-year contract with a two-year league option. In January of 2004 he was snatched up by D.C. United to play professional soccer. His yearly salary: a cool $500,000, which is almost twice that of the average American soccer player. Adu was fourteen years old; the typical age of a professional soccer player is twenty-seven.

Freddy’s future Adu missed most of D.C. United’s training camp in early 2004 because he was still in school. Thanks to his high grades (he consisU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

5

freddy adu

Freddy Adu warms up before a 2004 game against the Los Angeles Galaxy. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

tently earned straight A’s) and the Soccer Federation’s accelerated academic program, he graduated from high school in March, three years ahead of schedule. He then moved back to Maryland to live with his mother, who will drive him to and from practice. The Adus live in a brand new house purchased by Freddy, and Emelia Adu has finally been able to quit her job. “She doesn’t work anymore. She’s done,” Adu told Stahl. “You know she’s worked so hard.” Emelia Adu has not forgotten, however, that Freddy is still a boy. She expects him to do the usual chores that every kid does, such as mowing the lawn, doing the dishes, and vacuuming.

6


•

volume 1

freddy adu

Adu, however, is not a normal boy. On April 3, 2004, when he took the field for his first professional match, millions of people tuned in to watch the fourteen-year-old on ABC Sports. The match between D.C. United and the San Jose Earthquakes was the MLS season opener and had been sold out for months. Fans swarmed the stands, chanting “Freddy, Freddy,” until finally, during the second half of the game, Adu was brought in. The 5-foot-8-inch forward, however, made a very low key showing. In fact, he never even attempted to score a goal. Adu’s coaches were not worried, chalking up his lackluster play to all the media frenzy. Adu himself seemed unfazed about his performance, commenting to sportswriter Joseph White on the FOXSportsworld Web site, “I got it out of the way, and now I’m ready to go.… I’m glad it’s over.” Adu’s next goal is to play on the U.S. team in the 2006 World Cup. Teams representing individual countries compete every four years for the world championship of soccer. Until then, hopes are high that Adu will spark the interest in soccer in America that is shared by the rest of the world. Although many children play the game in school, not much attention is paid to the sport at the professional level. Discussing Adu in a November 2003 Sports Illustrated article, MLS commissioner Don Garber commented, “It’s not just about performing on the field. It’s about being a founding father of the sport for a generation.” In the midst of all the hype, however, Adu, has remained a down-to-earth young man. In a press conference held just before his professional debut and reported on the Sports Illustrated Web site, he focused on the upcoming game and his team: “I’m not coming out here to become the savior of American soccer. I’m anxious to get out there and play and have fun because when I’m on the soccer field that’s when I’m at my happiest.”

For More Information Periodicals Reilly, Rick. “Ready Freddy.” Sports Illustrated (December 1, 2003): p. 94. Rosewater, Amy. “Soccer Prodigy Adu Won’t Go to Highest Bidder.” USA Today (August 23, 2001): p. 23. Starr, Mark. “A Strong Kick for American Soccer.” Newsweek (December 30, 2002): p. 70.


•

volume 1

7

freddy adu Wahl, Grant. “Freddy Adu: At 13, America’s Greatest Soccer Prodigy Has the World at His Feet.” Sports Illustrated (March 3, 2003): pp. 40–49. Wahl, Grant. “Freddy Stays.” Sports Illustrated (November 24, 2003): p. 24.

Web Sites Stahl, Leslie. “Just Going Out to Play: Interview with Freddy Adu.” 60 Minutes (March 28, 2004). CBSNews.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/ stories/2004/03/25/60minutes/main608681.shtml (accessed on March 31, 2004). “Adu in Demand: Everyone Has Advice For 14-Year-Old as MLS Debut Nears.” SI.com: Sports Illustrated. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/ 2004/soccer/03/28/bc.sport.soccer.adu (accessed on March 31, 2004). “Freddy Adu Says Hello.” CBSNews.com. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/ 2003/11/20/national/main584743.shtml (accessed on March 31, 2004). White, Joseph. “Adu Makes MLS Debut in D.C.’s 2–1 Win Over San Jose.” FOXSportsworld.com. http://www.foxsportsworld.com/content/view? contentId=2290392 (accessed on April 4, 2004).

8


•

volume 1

Anthony Anderson

August 15, 1970 • Augusta, Maine



•

volume 1

Actor, writer, producer

With his boyish face and gap-toothed smile, and weighing over 270 pounds, Anthony Anderson is not a typical Hollywood leading man. In fact, for most of his career he has played second banana in such films as Big Momma’s House (2000), Barbershop (2002), and Kangaroo Jack (2003). In March of 2003, however, Anderson signed a deal with the Warner Brothers Network to write, produce, and star in his own TV sitcom, All About the Andersons. And in 2004 he finally came into his own, appearing in at least four major movies. In fact, most moviegoers couldn’t turn around without seeing Anderson grinning down from the screen. In an interview with Anderson on the Filmcritic Web site, Sean O’Connell remarked, “Few could argue with the fact that Anderson is the hardest working young talent in show business.”

Born into the business Anthony Anderson was born on August 15, 1970, in Augusta, Maine, but was raised in Compton, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. His

9

anthony anderson

mother, Dora, was a movie extra, so young Anthony literally grew up on film sets. By the age of five, Anderson followed in his mother’s footsteps and began appearing in television commercials. He showed such promise as an actor that he attended a Los Angeles performing arts high school, where he won an award given by the Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO), a program sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The annual award recognizes students in grades nine through twelve “who exemplify scholastic and cultural excellence.” Anderson won the ACT-SO award for a monologue, or short speech, which he performed from the play The Great White Hope (1968), written by American playwright Howard Sackler (1929– 1982). The play is based on the life of Jack Johnson (1878–1946),

“This is what my energy was created to do— entertain, to have an effect on people’s lives with my work.” the first African American heavyweight-boxing champion. Jackson was portrayed by James Earl Jones (1931–) both on the stage and in the film version of the play. Anderson considers Jones to be his favorite actor, and credits him as his inspiration. “I really respect and admire his work,” Anderson commented to O’Connell. “It’s why I do what I do.” As a result of his talent, Anderson earned a drama scholarship to attend Howard University, a prestigious African American college in Washington, D.C. It was also a result of Anderson’s determination and drive, since life could have been quite different for a child raised in Compton. The suburb is known for its gang violence, and frequently makes the news for incidents of drive-by shootings and drug arrests. In a 2002 interview appearing on the Femail magazine Web site, Anderson commented, “You were either made a ward of the court, on parole, or dead at 21 if you grew up in Compton, Los Angeles.”

10


•

volume 1

anthony anderson

Stepping stones After graduating from Howard, Anderson paid the usual dues of an actor, taking such bit parts as that of Alley Hood #2 in the 1996 television movie Alien Avengers. His work on Avengers helped land him his first major job, as a regular on the NBC morning teen sitcom Hang Time. From 1996 to 1998 Anderson played the role of Teddy Brodis, a bumbling high school basketball player. He was in his mid-twenties at the time, but with his baby face and knack for comedy, no one would have guessed it. During his Hang Time days, Anderson also popped up on other television shows, including In the House, which starred rapper LL Cool J (1968–), and on NYPD Blue.

Anthony Anderson at the Movies Life (1999). Liberty Heights (1999). Urban Legends: Final Cut (2000).

In 1999 Anderson made the leap to the big screen in the 1930s prison comedy Life, playing opposite established stars Eddie Murphy (1961–) and Martin Lawrence (1965–). That same year he also appeared in director Barry Levinson’s 1950s coming-of-age movie Liberty Heights. In 2000 Anderson had what many consider to be his breakthrough year, when he played opposite Martin Lawrence in the hit comedy Big Momma’s House. He also appeared in Me, Myself, and Irene, which starred Jim Carrey (1962–), one of Hollywood’s biggest box office draws. Critics claimed it was a forgettable Carrey film, but Anderson, as Carrey’s son, Jamaal, drew rave reviews.

Romeo Must Die (2000). Me, Myself, and Irene (2000). Big Momma’s House (2000). 3 Strikes (2000). Two Can Play at That Game (2001). See Spot Run (2001). Kingdom Come (2001).

Not all of Anderson’s movies were comedies. Some were dramas, like Kingdom Come (2001). Some were action films such as Romeo Must Die (2000) and Cradle 2 the Grave (2003), both starring Jet Li (1963–), and Exit Wounds (2001), a Steven Seagal (1951–) thriller. In these films Anderson usually provided the comic relief, and he was consistently singled out over the stars with bigger billing. For example, in Cradle, many reviewers felt that as Tommy, the wisecracking henchman, Anderson’s acting stole the show.

Exit Wounds (2001). Barbershop (2002). Scary Movie 3 (2003). Malibu’s Most Wanted (2003). Kangaroo Jack (2003). Cradle 2 the Grave (2003). My Baby’s Daddy (2004). Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004).

All about Anthony

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle (2004).

Anderson was on a career roll, starring in at least four movies each year, beginning in 2000. The exception was 2002, when his only onscreen performance was in Barbershop. He also continued to do guest spots on television programs, including Ally McBeal and My Wife and Kids. It seemed that Anderson was everywhere and could do anything, U•X•L newsmakers

All American Game (2004). King’s Ransom (2005).

•

volume 1

11

anthony anderson

but he was not yet a household name. In 2003 all that changed. Anderson had a blockbuster hit with the film Kangaroo Jack, and then bounced back to the small screen in a big way to write, produce, and star in his own television sitcom. For several years Anderson had been toying with the idea of writing a television script. In March of 2003 he finally pitched his idea to Warner Brothers (WB) executives, and they loved it. Mike Clements, a WB senior vice president of development, told Leslie Ryan of Television Week that Anderson “is such an enthusiastic and energetic guy that when he was telling us these stories, well, we literally hadn’t laughed like that in a really long time.” Clements also commented that the stories were so outrageous they had to be true. And, in fact, they are. All About the Andersons is about a struggling actor (played by Anderson) who, along with his young son, moves back home to live with his parents. Anderson based the idea on a period in his own life when he moved back home after graduating from college. Still jobless, he just sat around the house eating. Eventually he drove his parents crazy. His stepfather was so determined to get Anderson out of the house that he put a padlock on the refrigerator, took out all the phone jacks and installed a pay phone, and bought a coin-operated washer and dryer so that Anderson was forced to pay in order to wash his clothes. Anderson knew these things were a bit abnormal, but he also knew they were funny. “I realized my family was funny, because nobody ever wanted to leave our house,” he explained in People. After his show debuted in the fall of 2003, TV viewers were given a glimpse into Anderson’s early life, and they agreed with him: his family was hilarious. Critics, however, wrote mixed reviews. In particular, some felt that the relationship between Anderson’s character and his on-screen father, played by veteran actor John Amos (1941–), was sometimes a bit harsh for a family comedy. In general, though, Anderson received applause for his acting and most agreed that All About the Andersons showed great potential. However, the show was cancelled in April of 2004.

A long way from Compton In 2004 Anderson continued juggling his time between TV and film. He costarred in several movies, including Agent Cody Banks 2 with

12


•

volume 1

anthony anderson

teen actor Frankie Muniz (1985–). In Agent Cody he played Derek, the wisecracking handler of the young secret agent. He also finished work on King’s Ransom, the first movie in which Anderson took top billing. It seemed that the big man with the big potential was finally coming into his own. What are his future plans? Although he admitted in People that “comedy is second nature for me,” Anderson has also noted that he is eager to take on more dramatic roles. He also plans to balance out his movie choices by appearing in some movies that are family friendly and some that are more edgy. He explained to Julia Roman on the Latino Review Web site, “It’s good making films that my family can sit back and enjoy.” Anderson and his wife, Alvina, who was his college sweetheart, have two children, Kyra and Nathan. Anderson also has plans to act on the stage, and hopes one day to do some stand-up comedy. The multitalented actor has come a long way from Compton, and there seems to be no stopping him. As busy as he is, Anderson frequently takes time out to visit his old school and talk to kids about what they can accomplish. As reported on the Femail Web site, he has urged young people to “set your seights on more than what you see around you, see beyond.” Better than the message is Anderson himself, who is living proof that big dreams can become a reality.

Anthony Anderson in movie still from Agent Cody Banks 2 (2004). © MGM Pictures/Zuma/Corbis.

For More Information Periodicals Kelleher, Terry. “All About the Andersons.” People (October 27, 2003): p. 36. Ryan, Leslie. “The Gonzo Life of Mr. Anderson.” Television Week (April 28, 2003): p. 10. Speier, Michael. “All About the Andersons.” Daily Variety (September 10, 2003): pp. 50–51.


•

volume 1

13

anthony anderson

Web Sites “Anthony Anderson Interview.” Femail.com. http://www.femail.com.au/ ma_anthonyanderson.htm (accessed on April 1, 2004). “ACT-SO.” NAACP.org. http://www.naacp.org/work/actso/act-so.shtml (accessed on April 2, 2004). O’Connell, Sean. “Grave Discussions: Talking With Anthony Anderson.” Filmcritic.com. http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/0/b130b 479fe49434108256ccb0019880b?OpenDocument (accessed on April 1, 2004). Roman, Julia. “My Baby’s Daddy: Interview With Anthony Anderson.” Latino Review. http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2004/miramax/ mydaddysbaby/anthony-interview.html (accessed on April 2, 2004).

14


•

volume 1

Avi Arad

1948 • Poland



•

volume 1

Producer, executive, toy designer

Avi Arad may have the coolest job in the world, considering that he gets to hang around with the likes of Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Fantastic Four. As chief creative officer (CCO) of Marvel Enterprises, Arad has a hand in all areas of the superhero business, from developing and marketing toys to publishing comic books. He is also president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Marvel Studios, which means that it is Arad’s job to oversee the process that takes Marvel superheroes from the comic book page to the silver screen. Arad should be busy for a very long time, since Marvel has about 2,700 characters just waiting to burst onto the movie scene. Arad, as their biggest fan, is only too happy to provide some super-human assistance.

Comic book escape Avi Arad was born in Poland, but soon after his birth his parents took their young son to live in Israel. The year was 1948, and many people

15

avi arad

living in Eastern Europe were looking for a way to make a better life after the devastation of World War II (1939–45). While growing up, Arad’s passion was reading, and he described his favorite childhood pastime in a 2003 interview with Scott Bowles on the USA Today Web site. “We didn’t have much back then,” Arad explained. “Maybe I just wanted to escape that life into something more fantastic.” As a result, Arad devoured comic books such as Superman and Spider-Man, which were translated into Hebrew. In 1965, when he was seventeen years old, Arad joined the Israeli army, called the Israel Defense Forces. Israeli citizens are required to serve in their military, and most do it willingly because

“I believe that comic books are as valid a form of literature as any other.” they feel they have an obligation to protect their country. In 1967 Arad was wounded and spent the next fifteen months recuperating in a hospital. After he left the army he immigrated to the United States, where he attended college at Hofstra University in New York. He paid for his education by teaching Hebrew and working as a truck driver. After graduating from college, Arad began working in the toy business, a career that he would devote himself to for the rest of his life. He started out as a toy designer, creating products for almost every major toy company in the United States, including Hasbro, Mattell, and Tyco. Throughout his career it is estimated that he designed more than 150 toys and games. In the late 1980s he permanently joined forces with Toy Biz, which was owned by fellow Israeli immigrant Isaac “Ike” Perlmutter (1945–). At Toy Biz, Arad was responsible for developing such memorable toys as My Pretty Ballerina, Magic Bottle Baby, and Baby Wanna Talk. He also created a series of X-Men action figures that were gobbled up by kids of all ages, bringing in more than $30 million dollars for the company.

16


•

volume 1

avi arad

The story of Marvel In 1993 Toy Biz struck an agreement with Marvel Entertainment to manufacture toys based on Marvel comic book characters. In exchange Marvel received a substantial piece of Toy Biz. From then on, the story of Avi Arad became linked with the story of Marvel. Marvel Comics was founded by publisher Martin Goodman (1908–1992). In 1939 Goodman began selling comic books for ten cents an issue. A comic book is a magazine that consists of a series of panels used to tell a story. Each panel contains a brightly colored picture, and often some text. Because comic books were inexpensive to produce and the action-packed stories were so popular, especially with young people, Goodman became the father of a very successful industry. Throughout the years Marvel hit highs and lows, but it steadily built a fan base of comic book readers who were fiercely loyal to their favorite comic book characters. By the 1960s the company was selling fifty million comic books a year, and superheroes like the Incredible Hulk were everywhere, appearing not only in comic books but on Tshirts, lunch boxes, and Saturday morning cartoons. Over the years Marvel also changed hands a number of times. In 1988 the company was purchased by the Andrews Group, which changed its name to Marvel Entertainment and put finance guru Ronald Perelman (1943–) in charge. Perelman had extensive business experience, but no experience in the comic book business. He expanded the company into other areas such as sports trading cards, and took out loans that the company was unable to repay. Arad and Perlmutter tried to advise Perelman that he was sitting on a gold mine, and that Marvel characters had the potential to be marketed in many ways. Perelman refused to listen, and by 1996 Marvel was filing for bankruptcy and heading for failure. After a major court battle, Perelman lost control of the company. After all the dust settled, Toy Biz took over Marvel in 1998, and Arad and Perlmutter were in the driver’s seat. They changed the company name to Marvel Enterprises and divided it into three divisions: toys, entertainment and licensing, and comic book publishing. Toy Biz designs, develops, markets, and distributes toys; Marvel Studios creates movies, video games, and television programs featuring Marvel characters; and the publishing division focuses on the core product that Marvel has always produced—comic books. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

17

avi arad

The History of Spidey

Spider-Man was the brainchild of legendary comic book writer Stan Lee (1922–), who joined Marvel Comics when he was only sixteen years old. Lee is often credited with revolutionizing the comic book industry. The character of Spider-Man first appeared in 1962 as part of the comic book series “Amazing Fantasy.” He became so popular that the series was renamed Amazing Spider-Man. In 1977 Spider-Man began starring in his own comic strip, which eventually appeared in more than five hundred newspapers around the world. Lee wrote and edited the strip, which appeared seven days a week, while Fred Kids drew the panels. In the late 1980s, Lee’s younger brother, Larry Lieber, became Spider-Man’s artist. The first Spider-Man animated television series was launched on ABC in 1967, and ran for two seasons. The first live-action program aired on CBS from 1977 to 1979. Since then Spidey has made regular appearances on the small screen. He returned in his own animated series in 1981 and was joined by several super pals, including the Incredible Hulk, in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, which aired on NBC from 1982 to 1985. In the 1990s and 2000s, Spider-Man starred in several successful series that were aired on major networks, including MTV.

With the release of the Spider-Man movie in 2002, a whole new generation of fans was introduced to the web-slinging hero. He also swings into action on countless video games, and there is even a Spider-Man ride on the Marvel Super Hero Island at the Universal Studios theme park in Orlando, Florida. Part of Spider-Man’s popularity seems to be that Lee created a superhero who is also very human. Peter Parker was an ordinary student until he was bitten by a radioactive spider while attending a science demonstration. The bite gave him amazing powers, including super strength, a sixth “spider” sense that allowed him to detect danger, and the ability to stick to walls and ceilings. He was also able to spin and shoot webs, thanks to a webshooter of his own design. Parker has used his spider powers against such villains as Cyclone, Doc Ock, and the Kingpin. Regardless of his amazing abilities, however, Parker is an average Joe. He is of average height at 5-foot 10 inches, average weight at 165 pounds, and has average hair color (brown). He also worries about everyday things like money, girlfriends, and dandruff. Basically, underneath the mask, Spider-Man is a hero that everyone can relate to. And he continues to be one of the most well-known and popular Marvel characters of all time.

Marvel revived Perlmutter, the more conservative half of the duo, became the numbers man who handled the business end of things. Arad became the creative force behind the company. And according to many, it is Arad who deserves the credit for Marvel’s meteoric comeback. Since 1998 the company’s stock has risen 136 percent and, as it did in its heyday, Marvel dominates the comic book industry. Why is Arad given all the credit? According to Dan Raviv, author of Comic Wars, “The key to

18


•

volume 1

avi arad

Marvel’s current success is that Avi Arad loves the Marvel heroes. He knows their stories backwards and forwards.” As the company’s chief creative officer (CCO), Arad has maintained strict control over his band of Marvel characters, which means he dabbles in every part of the company. He is involved with Toy Biz products from design to manufacture to marketing; he is working with the publishing division to develop comic books that appeal to younger kids; and he has been instrumental in Marvel’s licensing boom. Through licensing, other companies pay Marvel to use its characters in marketing their products. For example, Activision pays Marvel to use Spider-Man in such video games as Mysterio’s Menace. Arad’s biggest success came about when he brought his superhero friends to life on television and in the movies. When he joined Marvel in the early 1990s, Arad encountered resistance when he decided to move the company into TV and film. At the time, the comic book market was sluggish and it seemed no one was interested in seeing Marvel characters on any size screen. Arad thought otherwise, and in 1992 he produced the X-Men animated series, which appeared on Fox Kids’ Network. It was a daring move, since the XMen had a strong fan following, but was not well known by the general public. Arad, however, believed the story had a special appeal for kids, since it focused on the exploits of a group of outsiders (known as mutants because of their special powers) who are shunned by society because they are different. Arad proved that he had a special knack for knowing what kids like. The series became one of the highest rated television shows on the Fox Network, and Arad went on to produce other Marvel animated series, including Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, and X-Men: Evolution.

Swings into movie theaters In the late 1990s Arad faced a hard sell when he tried to break into the movie business. In the past, Marvel-based movies had been low-budget efforts that were considered to be big jokes. As a result, Hollywood studios were not open to spending millions of dollars on comic book movies that no one wanted to see. Once again Arad proved that U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

19

avi arad

Avi Arad (left) and director Sam Raimi on the set of Spider-Man 2. R. J. Capak/WireImage.com.

he knew his audience. In 1998 he co-produced Blade, the story of an immortal warrior who battles an underworld of vampires bent on destroying the human race. Released by New Line Cinema, the movie earned three times more than it cost to make. Comic book fans praised Arad for remaining true to the Marvel character, and reviewers considered it to be a high-quality action film. As Arad told Filmforce, “After that, people were listening very carefully. Very carefully.” In 2000 Arad finally opened the Marvel movie floodgates when he co-produced X-Men for the big screen. The movie earned almost $300 million worldwide, and featured respected English actors Sir Ian McKellan (1939–) and Patrick Stewart (1940–), as well as American actress Halle Berry (c. 1968–). It also made a star out of a thenunknown Australian actor named Hugh Jackman (1968–), who played a character named Wolverine. After that, it seemed Arad could do no wrong. In 2002 SpiderMan swung into movie theaters, breaking box office records along the way. It earned over $800 million worldwide and became one of the ten highest grossing films of all time. The success of the first movie spawned a sequel, Spider-Man 2, which was released in 2004. Both movies were co-produced with Sony Pictures, and both starred actor Tobey McGuire (1975–) as Peter Parker, alias Spider-Man. For Arad, bringing the webbed hero to film was more than a business, it was a passion. That passion sparked the release of The Hulk and

20


•

volume 1

avi arad

Daredevil in 2003. And in 2004, along came The Punisher, Spider-Man 2, Man-Thing, and Blade 3: Trinity. By mid-2004 there were many other movies already in the pipeline, including Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, and Elektra, which features the female ninja assassin introduced in Daredevil, played by TV actress Jennifer Garner (1972–).

A kid at heart Some of the Marvel films did better than others. For example, The Hulk was not well received either by fans or critics. But Arad believes in every one, and he sees the potential in all of them. In addition, he makes believers out of others. Ang Lee (1954–), who directed The Hulk, told Bowles that before he looked at the script he knew very little about the green superhero. The director realized, however, that he had to do a good job because Arad “cares so much about his characters that it causes you to care just as much.” As president and CEO of Marvel Studios, Arad has become a powerful force in the Hollywood community, and because of his influence comic books have re-emerged as a respected form of entertainment. But he is not the typical business tycoon; he is a walking, talking ad for his company. Instead of humdrum suits and ties, Arad wears T-shirts emblazoned with Marvel characters and puts superhero pins on the lapels of his leather jacket. He is also known for sporting a Spider-Man ring on his pinky finger and traveling around on his Harley motorcycle. It is obvious that Arad is a savvy businessman. The seven Marvel films that he has co-produced since 1998 have grossed more than $2 billion, and in 2003 Premier magazine listed him as number fortyfour on its annual “Power 100 List.” But in the end, Arad is successful because he loves what he does. He may be president of Marvel Studios, but as he told Bowles, while sitting in his office cluttered with action figures and cereal box toys, “I don’t think of myself that way. I’m really just a kid inside.”

For More Information Books Raviv, Dan. Comic Wars. New York: Broadway Books, 2002.


•

volume 1

21

avi arad

Periodicals Amdur, Meredith. “Marvel Says Super-Size Me.” Daily Variety (January 20, 2004): pp. 1–2.

Web sites Bowles, Scott. “Marvel’s Chief: A Force Outside, A Kid Inside.” USA Today (June 5, 2003). http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/ 2003-06-05-marvel_x.htm (accessed on April 6, 2004). “A Chat With Marvel’s Hollywood Icon: Interview With Avi Arad.” Filmforce: IGN.com (February 10, 2004). http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/ 491/491232p1.html (accessed on April 6, 2004). Last, Jonathan V. “To ‘Hellboy’ and Back.’ CBSNews.com (April 2, 2004). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/02/opinion/main610078.shtml (accessed on April 6, 2004). Marvel Enterprises. http://www.marvel.com (accessed on April 7, 2004). Spider-Man 2: The Official Web site. http://spiderman.sonypictures.com (accessed on April 6, 2004).

22


•

volume 1

Jean-Bertrand Aristide

July 15, 1953 • Port-Salut, Haiti



•

volume 1

Political leader, priest

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, has had a political history as troubled as that of his country. At one time the priestturned-politician was considered to be the savior of Haiti’s poorest citizens. By 2004 many people felt that, despite his good intentions, Aristide had become a corrupt leader who was no longer capable of running his country. Aristide has twice served as president of Haiti. In 1991, less than a year after becoming the country’s first democratically elected president, he was overthrown by opposition groups. He was again elected president in 2000, but in February of 2004 he left office amid controversy. U.S. officials claimed that Aristide had resigned; the ousted president has insisted that he was forced to resign. While in exile in the Central African Republic, Aristide stated that he believed he was still the legal and true president of Haiti. He told Amy Goodman on the Znet Web site, “[The people of Haiti] are still fighting in a peaceful way for their elected President. I cannot betray them.”

23

jean-bertrand aristide

Titide, the political priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born on July 15, 1953, in the fishing village of Port-Salut, Haiti, to parents who were farmers. The occupation of his parents was not uncommon, since the majority of Haitians make a small living by farming. The unique thing was that Joseph and Marie Solanges Aristide, although poor, were educated. According to statistics released by the United Nations (UN) in 2000, fifty percent of the people in Haiti cannot read or write. Joseph died when Jean-Bertrand was only three months old. Marie Solanges then packed up her young son and his older sister and moved to Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince,

“In order for peace to reign, one must speak the truth.” where her children would have a better chance of receiving an education. An education, she knew, would help them rise out of poverty. When he was six years old Aristide began studying at a primary school run by the Society of St. Francis de Sales, an order of Roman Catholic priests known as the Salesians. The main mission of the Salesians is to serve the poor. Aristide proved to be an exceptional student. In 1974 he earned a bachelor’s degree from the College Notre Dame in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. He then traveled to the Dominican Republic to study for the priesthood at the Salesian Seminary. Aristide then returned to Haiti, where he studied philosophy at the Grand Seminaire Notre Dame and psychology at the State University of Haiti. He also studied in Rome, Israel, and at the University of Montreal in Canada. As a result of his travels, Aristide learned to speak six languages (Spanish, English, Hebrew, Italian, German, and Portuguese), in addition to Creole, the native language of Haiti, and French, the official language of the country. He also studied music and learned to play several instruments, including guitar, piano, and saxophone. After he became a priest in 1983, Aristide was assigned to a small parish just outside Port-au-Prince called St. Joseph. He was soon transferred to St. Jean Bosco, a larger parish in the heart of the Port-au-Prince

24


•

volume 1


Snapshot: History of Haiti

Haiti is a tiny country located to the south of the United States, in the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western portion of the island of Hispaniola; the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern portion. Haiti is small, about the size of Maryland, but it is densely populated. About 95 percent of the people who live there are black; they are descendants of the African slaves who worked on the French sugar plantations early in Haiti’s history. In 1492, during his exploration of the Americas, Christopher Columbus discovered the island of Hispaniola and established a Spanish settlement near the present city of Cap-Haitien. By the 1500s, more and more Spanish planters were drawn to the region and slaves from Africa were imported to work the large plantations. In 1697 Spain ceded, or transferred, the western third of the island (now Haiti) to the French. Under French rule, Haiti became one of the wealthiest communities in the Caribbean, and one of the largest producers of sugar and coffee. By the late 1700s nearly half a million black slaves were living in Haiti. Although they comprised the majority of the population, they were at the bottom of the ethnic hierarchy. The political power was concentrated in the hands of mulattos (people of mixed black and white background) and lightskinned descendants of French landowners. This

created a tension between the various groups, which simmered throughout Haiti’s history. From 1791 through 1803 the country was rocked by a slave rebellion, led by General Toussaint L’Ouverture (c. 1743–1803), a free slave who had risen in the ranks of the French army. By 1801 General L’Ouverture controlled the entire island. That same year he established a constitution that abolished slavery. In 1804 former slave Jean-Jacques Dessalines (1758– 1806) declared Haiti an independent state, free from France’s rule. Dessalines called himself emperor and seized all white-owned land. The remainder of the nineteenth century was marked by frequent and often violent shifts in political power, with twenty-two changes of government between 1843 and 1915. In 1915, because there seemed no end to the constant conflict, the United States stepped in and occupied Haiti until 1934. Following the departure of U.S. troops, the country endured a succession of leaders. One of them was Dumarsais Estime, the first black president of the republic, who took office in 1946. Two subsequent regimes were overthrown, and six held power, before François Duvalier was elected president in 1957. In 1964, Duvalier proclaimed himself president for life. When he died in 1971, he was succeeded by his nineteen-year-old son, Jean-Claude.

slums. Aristide quickly earned a reputation as a champion of the poor. He spent countless hours working at orphanages and youth centers in the poorest and roughest neighborhoods of the capital city. He was also known as a fiery speaker who used the pulpit to spread his political message. Although small in size (he is only five-foot four inches tall), his words were powerful. Aristide, lovingly nicknamed “Titide” (Tiny Aristide) by his followers, spoke out against the military government that had oppressed the Haitian people for most of the twentieth century. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

25


Jean-Bertrand Aristide, during services at St. Jean Bosco Church, Haiti, in 1988. AP/Wide World

Takes on the Tontons In particular, Aristide denounced the Duvaliers, a family of Haitians who had been in power since the late 1950s. Until the family was overthrown in 1986, both François “Papa Doc” Duvalier (1907–1971) and his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” (1951–), ruled the country through military might. “Papa Doc” created a private army, known as the Tontons Macoutes, whose sole purpose was to rid the country of all opposition. Anyone suspected of opposing the Duvaliers was bullied, kidnapped, or murdered. The army also swept the streets, robbing and killing at random. The people of Haiti lived in constant terror. The majority of them also lived in squalor, since the Duvaliers and their followers, who made up about ten percent of the population, controlled all the wealth.

Photos. Reproduced by permission.

The Duvaliers, and the military governments that came after them, felt threatened by Aristide. He was a charismatic man, whose kind heart was apparent to the hundreds of people who crowded his church services. He was also being heard across the country, since his sermons were broadcast on the Roman Catholic station, Radio Soleil.

26


•

volume 1


As a result, the number of Aristide’s followers was growing by the thousands. In addition, Aristide’s sermons were starting to become more radical, as he called for the masses to rise up and claim their rights. Although the tiny priest did not condone violence as a means for change, he did not discourage it, either. As a matter of fact, Aristide was known for quoting a certain passage from the Bible: “And he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one” (Luke 22: 36). The military rulers demanded that the Catholic Church stop Aristide from stirring up the Haitian people. When church leaders were unable to do so, the Tontons stepped in. Several attempts were made on Aristide’s life, and on September 11, 1988, his church was attacked while he was saying mass. More than a dozen people were killed, over seventy were seriously wounded, and St. Jean Bosco was burned to the ground. Two weeks later, Aristide was expelled from the Salesian Order and the Vatican (the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Rome) ordered him to transfer out of Haiti. Following the attacks, Aristide’s followers became more loyal than ever. They viewed him as a true holy man, a prophet who would lead them out of their misery. And because he had escaped death over and over, they called him “Mister Miracles.” When news got out that Aristide was going to be transferred, tens of thousands of Haitians stormed the streets in what would become the largest demonstration in Haiti’s history. They physically blocked access to the airport, forcing Aristide to remain in the country. Aristide stayed and continued to help the poor, even though he had no official church. He helped create a medical center, ran a halfway house for young runaways, and established workshops so that people could become skilled craftsmen.

First presidency: 1991 By the end of the 1980s the military force in Haiti had escalated out of control. World peacekeeping organizations such as the UN and the Organization of American States finally stepped in and demanded that a free election take place. At first Aristide was reluctant to become a presidential candidate. His followers, fearful that the Tontons would take control, begged him to run. On October 18, 1990, Aristide entered the race and called his campaign the Lavalas (cleansing flood). A record number of Haitians flocked to the polls, eager to vote U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

27


in the country’s first free election. Aristide won by a landslide, taking almost 68 percent of the popular vote. Aristide supporters danced in the streets, sure that their nightmare was over. Aristide’s opposition, composed of the wealthy and the military, viewed him as a threat to their way of life. Aristide took office on February 7, 1991, determined to focus on social reform. One of his goals was to launch a national literacy program so that even the poorest Haitians could learn how to support themselves. He was also determined to purge the government of corrupt officials from former administrations. Many leaders were asked to retire; some army officers, judges, and police suspected of past violence were jailed. There was an uneasy peace in Haiti, but it did not last long. It soon became obvious that Aristide, suspicious of the past, could not work with opposition leaders who remained in office. In addition, he formed his own personal army of street gangs who were encouraged to avenge past wrongs. Such eye-for-an-eye justice disturbed many outside of Haiti. The country’s military opposition resurfaced, and on September 30, 1991, just seven months into his term, Aristide was overthrown by Raoul Cedras (1950–), a general in the Haitian military. The Tontons Macoutes was re-formed as the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, and Cedras launched a new reign of terror. Anyone aligned with Aristide was silenced, which resulted in public executions and widespread torture. Aristide, who had fled to Venezuela and then to the United States, pleaded with world leaders for help. International peacekeeping groups, including the UN and the United States, responded. For almost three years they exerted pressure, both economic and military, to reinstate Aristide. Over and over again their efforts stalled. In September of 1994, more than twenty thousand U.S. troops were sent to Haiti to face the Cedras regime, and a month later Aristide was finally allowed to return to his country and serve out the remainder of his term. According to the constitution of Haiti, a president’s term lasts five years. When Aristide’s term ended in February of 1996, he was not allowed to run again, since the constitution of Haiti does not allow for consecutive terms. Aristide was succeeded by Réné Préval, an ally of Aristide and his prime minister since 1991.

28


•

volume 1


Second presidency: 2001 In 1994 Aristide resigned from the priesthood. Not because he had lost his faith, he explained to Patrick Samway in America, but “because it gave me the free space in which to work.” In 1996 he married Mildred Trouillot, a lawyer who had served as an adviser to Aristide’s government. After leaving office and resigning from the priesthood, Aristide continued to fight for the underprivileged, in Haiti as well as around the world. For example, he founded the Aristide Foundation for Democracy, an organization that worked to find solutions to problems facing developing nations. Aristide also began work on a campaign to become the president of Haiti for a second time. In late 1996 he formed a new political party, the Fanmi Lavalas (FL), or the Lavalas Family Party. The FL swept the Senate elections in May of 2000. Haiti’s legislative body, like the U.S. Congress, is divided into two houses: the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Parties who opposed Aristide merged to form the Convergence Democratique (CD) and claimed that the elections were fixed. The CD boycotted the November of 2000 presidential elections, and when Aristide walked away with almost 92 percent of the popular vote, they cried foul. Since Aristide had run virtually unopposed, they did not accept him as the true president. When Aristide took over the presidency on February 7, 2001, the CD named Gerard Gourgue as the head of its own government. The Haiti that Aristide inherited in 2001 was utterly in ruins. The unemployment rate was at an all-time high, roads were impassable, education and health care were in short supply, and drug trafficking was widespread. Once considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti had become one of the poorest countries in the world. Aristide promised to create jobs and to provide basic necessities, including safe housing and access to clean water. Because of constant conflict with the CD, however, Aristide had little time to make good on his campaign slogan of “Peace in the mind, peace in the belly.” In December of 2001, opposition forces attempted to overthrow Aristide. Aristide supporters responded by setting fire to CD headquarters. The result was a continuing battle between political forces. As a result Haiti continued its downward spiral, and by 2003 the country was in worse shape than ever. In April the UN declared Haiti U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

29


to be in a state of emergency. According to UN reports, 56 percent of Haitians suffered from malnutrition and only 46 percent had access to clean drinking water.

End of the Aristide era By the end of 2003 many groups in Haiti, including labor unions and human rights organizations, were calling for Aristide to resign. Even some of his most loyal supporters felt betrayed. In February of 2004 a rebel group calling itself the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front seized Gonaives, Haiti’s fourth largest city. The group was led by Guy Philippe, a former police chief. By late February the rebels controlled Haiti’s second largest city, Cap-Haitien, which caused Haiti to be split directly in half, with Aristide in control in the south and rebel groups controlling the north. Aristide’s security forces, known as the chimeres, battled the rebel army, but they also clashed with any group that opposed the president. They attacked student protesters with machetes, pistols, and rocks, and roamed the streets looting stores, burning cars, and sometimes killing innocent people. Hundreds of Haitians were killed or wounded in the crossfire. During peace negotiations that ensued, the rebel leaders would accept nothing but Aristide’s resignation. Aristide held fast and refused to step down until the end of his term in 2006. By late February, the international community was again poised to intervene. In a February 27, 2004, address reported on the CNN Web site, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell (1937–) made a plea: “I know Aristide has the interest of the Haitian people at heart. I hope that he will examine [the decision to resign] carefully considering the interests of the Haitian people.” On February 29, 2004, Aristide reportedly took the plea to heart. In the early hours of the morning he signed documents to officially resign, and then boarded a plane and flew to the Central African Republic. At first the press reported that Aristide had resigned of his own free will, but Aristide began to give interviews that suggested otherwise. According to Steve Miller and Joseph Curl of the Washington Times, the president-in-exile accused the United States of kidnapping him. In an interview with the Associated Press and CNN, Aristide declared, “[My captors] were not Haitian forces. They were …

30


•

volume 1


Americans and Haitians together, acting to surround the airport, my house, the palace. Agents were telling me that if I don’t leave they would start shooting and killing in a matter of time.” U.S. officials denied the accusations. In the same Washington Times article, Secretary of State Powell responded that “Mr. Aristide was not kidnapped. We did not force him on the airplane. He went on the plane willingly.… It was Mr. Aristide’s decision to resign.” In interview after interview, Aristide insisted that he was forced out of his country. He also insisted that he was not a man of violence, but a man of peace. In a March 8, 2004, interview on the CNN Web site, he commented, “Before the elections of the year 2000, which led me for the second time to the National Palace in Haiti, I had talked about peace. And throughout in the National Palace, throughout my tenure, I talked about peace. And today I continue to talk about peace.”

Nowhere to go In 2004, however, Haiti was not a peaceful country. By April, nearly four thousand troops from the United States, Canada, France, and Chile were stationed there trying to keep the peace. It was hoped that elections would result in a new democratic government, but considering the country’s history, the outlook was grim. One thing was certain: Aristide would not be returning home. As provisional president Boniface Alexandre commented to Robert Novak of CNN, “He cannot come back to Haiti.” In March of 2004 Aristide received temporary asylum in Jamaica, and in June he and his family took up residence in South Africa. Many in South Africa were not eager to accept him, but government officials agreed to open its doors, seeing the situation as a temporary one. In a press conference on May 31, as quoted on AllAfrica.com, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad welcomed the ousted president, saying, “President Aristide, his family and aides will remain in the country until the situation in Haiti has stabilized to the extent that they can return.”

For More Information Books “Jean-Bertrand Aristide.” Contemporary Black Biography. Volume 6. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1994.


•

volume 1

31

jean-bertrand aristide “Jean-Bertrand Aristide.” Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations: World Leaders. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2003. “Haiti.” Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, 10th ed., 6 vols. Gale Group, 2001.

Periodicals Padgett, Tim, and Kathie Klarreich. “One More Show of Force: The U.S. Military Returns to Haiti to Try to Stop the Violence.” Time (March 15, 2004). Samway, Patrick H. “Rebuilding Haiti: An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide.” America (February 15, 1997): p. 12. Samway, Patrick H. “When Mayhem is the Rule.” Time (March 8, 2004).

Web Sites Bowman, Jo. “Aristide Begins Asylum in South Africa.” AllAfrica.com: South Africa. (June 2, 2004) http://allafrica.com/stories/200406020177. html (accessed on June 9, 2004). Goodman, Amy. “Goodman Interviews Aristide.” ZNet (March 8, 2004). http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=36&ItemID =5111 (accessed May 4, 2004). Koinange, Jeff, Lucia Newman, and Barbara Starr. “Aristide Appeals for Peace in Haiti.” CNN (March 8, 2004). http://www.cnn.com/2004/ WORLD/americas/03/08/haiti (accessed on May 5, 2004). Miller, Steve, and Joseph Curl. “Aristide Accuses U.S. of Forcing His Ouster.” Washington Times (March 2, 2004). http://www.washtimes. com/national/20040302-124204-5668r.htm (accessed on May 5, 2004). Newman, Lucia, John King, and John Zarrella. “Powell to Aristide: Do What’s Best for Haitian People.” CNN (February 27, 2004). http:// www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/02/27/haiti.revolt0630/index. html (accessed on May 5, 2004). Novak, Robert. “Haiti after Aristide.” CNN (March 25, 2004). http://www. cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/25/haiti (accessed on May 5, 2004).

32


•

volume 1

Jack Black

April 7, 1969 • Santa Monica, California



•

volume 1

Actor, singer, musician

Jack Black is a one-man dynamo—a manic, scruffy ball of energy who has quietly been shaking up the entertainment world for years. Acting steadily since the mid-1990s, Black usually took on smaller roles that were usually quirky, but always unforgettable. He also became onehalf of a comedy rock duo called Tenacious D, which played regularly in small comedy clubs in California. As a result, Black developed a cult following of fans, who watched and waited for him to break out as a star. In 2003 fans got their wish, when Black skidded onto the screen as rocker-turned-teacher Dewey Finn in the blockbuster School of Rock. Almost overnight, Jack Black became a household name.

Product of rocket science Jack Black was born April 7, 1969, in Santa Monica, California, to Tom and Judy Black, both satellite engineers. In a 2003 Newsweek interview with Devin Gordon, Black admitted it was ironic that both

33

jack black

his parents were rocket scientists. He also put a Jack Black spin on the situation: “They’re rocket scientists. I’m a rock scientist.” While Black was growing up his parents fought constantly, which finally led them to divorce when he was ten years old. The separation had a profound effect on Black. In search of attention, he turned to acting. Black appeared in his first television commercial, for Atari, when he was thirteen. “I knew that if my friends saw me on TV, it would be the answer to all my prayers,” he told Gordon, “because … everyone would know I was awesome. And I was awesome—for three days. Then it wore off. But it gave me the hunger.” Black fol-

“There’s a little bit of acting in my music, and there’s always a little music in my acting, so it’s kind of like the peanut butter cups: ‘You’ve got your chocolate in my peanut butter.’” lowed his Atari commercial with a Smurfberry Crunch ad, which he admitted wasn’t nearly as cool. After divorcing Judy Black, Tom Black moved out of the country and started a new family. Feeling abandoned, Jack became moody and started to act out. He turned to drugs and began stealing money from his mother. A frustrated Judy sent the boy to an alternative school in Culver City, California, where therapy was part of the curriculum. While there, Black was encouraged by one of his teachers to channel his energy through acting. After getting back on track, Black transferred to a private school called Crossroads in Santa Monica. After graduating in 1987, he enrolled at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

More than a Belushi clone In 1989 Black left UCLA to join The Actors’ Gang, a Los Angelesbased acting troupe co-founded in 1981 by Tim Robbins (1959–). At

34


•

volume 1

jack black

Will Ferrell: Partner in Comedy

It seems that everywhere Jack Black goes, Will Ferrell is not too far behind. In 2003, according to Entertainment Weekly’s annual list of top entertainers, Black had the dubious distinction of sharing the title of favorite Hollywood class clown with Ferrell. At the 2004 Academy Awards, the two cracked up viewers when they shared a microphone and sang the “get off the stage” song. And in April of 2004, it was announced that Black and Ferrell were slated to star in an upcoming comedy about two Los Angeles. motorcycle cops. The two have been so closely linked that many people often wonder who is funnier—Black or Ferrell? Best known for the many characters he created on the long-running television series Saturday Night Live (SNL), Will Ferrell was born on July 16, 1968, in Irvine, California. He began his impersonations in high school when he was in charge of broadcasting the daily announcements. Ferrell graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in sports journalism, and worked briefly as a sports announcer. At the same time, he performed stand-up comedy at local clubs and coffee houses. When he realized he preferred comedy, Ferrell began taking workshops at a local community college. He soon joined The Groundlings, an Los Angeles-based comedy improv

group. It was while working with The Groundlings that he was discovered for Saturday Night Live. Ferrell appeared on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2002, and is known for creating such memorable characters as Craig the Spartan cheerleader, and for his uncanny impersonations of famous persons such as President George W. Bush (1946–). Ferrell’s movie career began during his stint on Saturday Night Live. His movie titles include A Night at the Roxbury (1998), featuring his SNL club-hopping character Steve Butabi, Zoolander (2001), and Old School (2003). In 2003 Ferrell had his first starring role playing a six-foot-three-inch, yellow-tight-wearing Christmas gnome in the movie Elf. Ferrell gave Black a run for his money at the box office when Elf proved to be a surprise hit, bringing in $150 million dollars. As a result Ferrell, like Black, seemed to have his pick of roles. He followed Elf with the movie Anchorman (2004), and signed on to appear in a film by famous director Woody Allen (1935–). He was also chosen to star in the movie A Confederacy of Dunces, based on a novel by American author John Kennedy O’Toole (1937–1967). Jack Black had also been considered for the role.

the time, Robbins was best known for his performance as the rookie pitcher in Bull Durham (1989), but he was also about to break out as a director. In 1992 Robbins directed his first movie, Bob Roberts, and he cast Black in his first film role, as a crazed fan. Their collaboration would continue throughout the 1990s, with Black appearing in two more movies directed by Robbins: Dead Man Walking (1995) and Cradle Will Rock (1999). In addition to appearing in Robbins-directed films, Black accumulated a number of other movie credits, usually playing the wacky U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

35

jack black

best friend, as he did in The Cable Guy (1996) or Bongwater (1998). Black also took bit parts on such television shows as Life Goes On, Northern Exposure, and The X-Files. He was definitely starting to get noticed, especially by critics, who often compared him to the comedian John Belushi (1949–1982), who first gained fame on the late-night comedy series Saturday Night Live. On the surface, the comparison was easy to see. At five-foot seven inches tall and weighing about two hundred pounds, Black, like Belushi, is short and stocky. He also shares the same wild-eyed look, devilish grin, and animated eyebrows. But it was also clear that Black was not a Belushi clone; he was an actor who brought a unique talent to his many roles. That talent became apparent when he appeared in High Fidelity (2000), a movie based on the novel by popular English author Nick Hornby (1957–) and starring John Cusack (1966–). Cusack, a friend of Black’s since their Actors’ Gang days, suggested Black for the movie. Although High Fidelity starred John Cusack as record store owner Rob Gordon, the main draw of the movie was Jack Black, who played Barry, the obnoxious record store clerk with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of all things vinyl. Barry does little actual work. Instead, he and a fellow clerk spend most of their time making fun of customers and quizzing each other on music trivia. The record store scenes highlight Black’s whip-smart acting abilities, but the real treat takes place at the end of the film. Barry, who has hinted about his singing aspirations throughout the movie, takes the stage and steals the show by belting out a classic tune by American R&B singer Marvin Gaye (1939–1984).

Half of a tenacious duo For those who have followed Black’s career, it was not surprising that he took so easily to the microphone in High Fidelity. Since 1994, in addition to being an actor, Black has also been part of a rock band known as Tenacious D. Black formed the two-man group with Kyle Gass, whom he met while performing with The Actors’ Gang. In a People interview with Jason Lynch, Black confided that at first he and Gass were “archenemies,” but that eventually they worked out their differences and soon were spending a lot of time in Gass’s apartment, writing

36


•

volume 1

jack black

songs, playing music, and dreaming about forming a band. They named their group Tenacious D, which stands for “tenacious defense,” a term regularly used by sports announcer Marv Albert (1944–). The D (as the group is referred to by its fans) started out as a regular band, but Black and Gass quickly realized that their strength was in parody. This means that they poke fun at anything that comes their way, including heavy metal rockers who take themselves too seriously and the music industry in general. Essentially they are heavy metal comedians: two middle-aged, overweight men who tear up the stage like veteran rock stars. According to Cusack, who spoke with reporter Michael Salkind of the Colorado Springs Gazette in 2000, Tenacious D is “one of the six or seven wonders of the world.” The band drew such a following at local Los Angeles area clubs that the rock duo was soon featured in short spots on the Home Box Office (HBO) show, Mr. Show with Bob and David. This led to an appearance in the 1995 movie Bio-Dome and a half-hour series in 1999 on HBO called Tenacious D: The Greatest Band on Earth.

Black and White Following his talented turn in High Fidelity, Black got his first taste as a leading man while playing opposite Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow (1973–) in the comedy Shallow Hal (2001). The movie’s premise is that Black’s character, the superficial Hal Larson, pursues only gorgeous women. During a chance meeting with self-help guru Tony Robbins, Larson is hypnotized so that he is able to see a woman’s inner beauty. As a result, he stuns his friends by falling for a 300-pound woman. Critics generally panned the weak comedy, and most felt that Black was miscast as the cynical Larson. On the other hand, it was a turning point in his career, since it was evident that Black felt comfortable as a leading man. Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, commented that “in his first big-time starring role, [Black] struts through with the blissful confidence of a man who knows he was born for stardom.” In 2002 Black briefly slipped back into co-star status when he appeared as Lance, the deadbeat brother, in the offbeat comedy Orange County. Again, the movie received lackluster reviews, but U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

37

jack black

critics, including Ebert, were wowed by Black’s performance. The film was also important for Black because he formed a partnership with the movie’s writer that would change his career. Orange County was written by Mike White (1970–), a pal of Black’s who lived next door to him in Hollywood from 1997 to 2000. White, too, was on the verge of making it big. He had written for the popular television shows Freaks and Geeks and Dawson’s Creek, and he had penned the movies Chuck and Buck (2000) and The Good Girl (2002). Black admitted to Steven Daly of Entertainment Weekly that he was “obsessed” with White’s quirky style of writing, so he approached his friend about writing a movie specifically for him. He was tired of being offered frat boy Belushi-type roles and wanted something that would showcase his talents. White was up for the challenge, and spent five months designing a custom-made role for Black and crafting a script. The character he developed was Dewey Finn; the movie was School of Rock (2003).

School Daze In School of Rock, Black plays Dewey Finn, a down-on-his-luck guitarist and singer who scams his way into becoming a substitute teacher at a posh New York prep school. The scruffy musician has his own unique way of teaching. For homework, he hands out CDs so that his students can study the history of rock, and their daily lessons focus on creating what he calls “musical fusion.” Ultimately Finn and his fifth graders form their own group, the School of Rock, and they compete in a citywide battle of the bands. But of course the point is not about winning the contest. As Freddy, the band’s ten-year-old drummer explained, “We’re on a mission. One great rock show can change the world.” The character of Dewey Finn is everything about Black all rolled into one: he has Black’s abundant energy, his love of rock and roll, his musical talent, and his frantic personality. As Black explained to Edna Gundersen in USA Today, he “scientifically figured [Dewey Finn] is 92% me. There’s 8% that’s not me.” In the same article, however, film writer White was quick to point out that Finn is not a Xerox copy of Black. “Jack is a conscientious professional who takes his job seriously, and he isn’t bouncing off the walls 24/7.”

38


•

volume 1

jack black

School of Rock brought in more than $20 million at the box office when it opened in October of 2003. The movie drew praise for writer White, who also costarred as Finn’s uptight roommate, Ned Schneebly. Director Richard Linklater (1961–) also earned kudos for the project. Linklater, who directed 1993’s Dazed and Confused, is a dedicated rock buff; he painstakingly made sure that all music references in the movie were accurate. In addition, it was Linklater’s idea to cast children who were musicians as Dewey Finn’s students. All the kids in the movie sing and play their own instruments.

Jack Black poses with his young co-stars at the Hollywood premiere of School of Rock. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Goblets of praise Without a doubt, however, School of Rock was Jack Black’s movie. It established him as a certified star, and critics, to quote Dan Snierson in Entertainment Weekly, raised “goblets of gush” in his honor. Black U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

39

jack black

even received a Golden Globe nomination as best leading actor in a musical or comedy. Golden Globes are awarded each year by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press for outstanding achievement in film and television. Following the movie’s release, Black went on a nonstop whirl of interviews, appearing on every program from Good Morning America to the Tonight Show. In interviews he gave a glimpse into his personal life, making it clear that he is not the party animal that people perceive him to be. In fact, White explained to Gordon that in all the years he lived next door to his portly pal, they never had a single party. Instead, Black spends as much time as he can with his longtime girlfriend, actress and writer Laura Kightlinger. He is a self-proclaimed hermit, whose favorite pastimes include sleeping late, all-night movie marathons, and playing video games on his Xbox. Given his white-hot status, however, there is not much time for Black to relax. In 2004 he appeared in Envy with Ben Stiller (1966–), and then lent his voice to the animated film Shark Tale. He was also tapped by English director Peter Jackson (1961–) to star in a remake of King Kong. Black especially hoped his newfound clout would spark interest in his own pet project, a script called Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny. When asked by Daly what might be next on his plate, Black replied as only he can, “I’ll probably have to do something stretchy. After the D-movie, of course. But then? Stretcha-letcha ding-dong.”

For More Information Periodicals Daly, Steve. “Jack Black Slept Here.” Entertainment Weekly (October 17, 2003): pp. 26–30. Gordon, Devin. “Jumpin’ Jack Black: He’s a Gas, Gas, Gas.” Newsweek (September 29, 2003): p. 52. Hay, Carla. “Black Back from Media Blitz.” Billboard (October 25, 2003): p. 18. Lynch, Jason. “Dude Awakening: In School of Rock He Rules, but Jack Black Could Use Some Peace and Quiet.” People Weekly (October 13, 2003): p. 75. Salkind, Michael. “Tenacious D Parodies Really Rock.” Colorado Springs Gazette (April 24, 2000): p. 10. Snierson, Dan. “Jack Black and Will Ferrell: Class Clowns.” Entertainment Weekly (December 26, 2003): p. 40.

40


•

volume 1

jack black

Web Sites Ebert, Roger. “Shallow Hal.” Chicago Sun-Times (November 9, 2001). http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/2001/11/110903.html (accessed on April 19, 2004). Grosz, Christy. “Dialogue: Jack Black.” Hollywood Reporter (March 24, 2004). http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/crafts/feature_display. jsp?vnu_content_id=1000473949 (accessed on April 21, 2004). Gundersen, Edna. “The Lighter Side of Jack Black.” USA Today (September 28, 2003). http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2003-09-28black_x.htm (accessed on April 21, 2003).


•

volume 1

41

Orlando Bloom

January 13, 1977 • Canterbury, England



•

volume 1

Actor

Orlando Bloom is best known for playing the elf warrior Legolas Greenleaf in the epic film trilogy The Lord of the Rings. His ability as an actor was appreciated by critics, but the bigger story was that over the course of the three films Bloom attracted an enormous number of fans. Although his naturally dark features were disguised by a waistlength blonde wig, blue contact lenses, and pointy ears, young girls the world over discovered a new heartthrob. Bloom’s success as Legolas opened doors for the classically trained English actor, who has gone on to appear in a number of other critically acclaimed movies. In addition, he became one of the hottest young properties in Hollywood, making Entertainment Weekly’s “It list” in 2003.

Early bloomer Orlando Bloom was born on January 13, 1977, in Canterbury, England. His mother, Sonia, ran a foreign language school; his father,

43

orlando bloom

Harry, was a human rights activist, lawyer, and author. Before moving to Canterbury the elder Blooms lived in South Africa, where Harry Bloom (1913–1981) was a fierce fighter in the struggle against apartheid, a policy of racial segregation. When Orlando was only four years old, his father died after suffering a stroke. He and his older sister, Samantha, were raised by their mother, who had a profound effect on her children. Sonia Bloom was a businesswoman, but she was also a true lover of the arts. She even named her son after her favorite English composer, Orlando Gibbons (1583–1625). While growing up, Sonia frequently took Orlando and Samantha to the theater, and encouraged

“I’d really like to take a role that doesn’t involve a sword.” both of them to attend drama classes and Bible reading classes. By the age of eight Bloom was appearing in school plays, and he and his sister were competing in local festivals. As Bloom recounted to Siobhan Synnot on the scotsman.com Web site, “You had to read out stories or poetry, and we always won.” His introduction to the theater made Bloom decide at an early age that he wanted to be an actor. Acting was also a positive outlet for Bloom, since it helped him work through some early childhood problems. For one thing, as he told Synnot, he was “quite a chubby kid.” Part of the chubbiness came about during his recovery from a skiing injury that happened when he was nine—while Bloom was recovering, he moped about the house and ate candy bars. A more serious issue arose when he was diagnosed with severe dyslexia, which means that he has trouble reading and processing language. While attending St. Edmund’s School in Canterbury, he was often teased about his poor spelling. At age thirteen Bloom received another blow when he learned from his mother that Harry Bloom was not his real father. His biological father (and Samantha’s as well) was a man named Colin Stone, a

44


•

volume 1

orlando bloom

Fast Facts for Orlando Fans • Bloom considers himself to be incredibly accident prone. He has broken both his legs (in skiing accidents), his nose (a rugby injury), a wrist (while snowboarding), and a toe (crushed by a horse). He has even suffered a few skull fractures. For example, when Bloom was a toddler, he toppled off a kitchen stool. • While filming The Lord of the Rings films in New Zealand, Bloom and the other nine actors who made up the “fellowship of the ring” became so close-knit that they decided to get tattoos. Bloom has the elf symbol for the number nine tattooed on his forearm.

• Bloom is an excellent sculptor. He studied sculpting in school and hopes to one day have his own sculpting studio. As Bloom explained to Catriona Hawatson of the Sunday Times (UK), “It is important to exercise different creative areas of your brain. It balances you.” • Around his neck Bloom wears a number of charms and trinkets. Some of them are gifts, such as a key ring that was given to him by Johnny Depp; others are things that Bloom has found on his travels, such as a shell from Thailand, a prayer baton from India, and a silver ball from Tokyo, Japan.

longtime family friend who was also Bloom’s legal guardian. In interviews, Bloom has sometimes seemed uncomfortable talking about the issue, but the revelation does not seem to have caused a great deal of disruption. As he explained to Synnot, “I was lucky, I had two dads.… As long as I can remember, Colin has been a good friend, but I always thought Harry was my real father.”

Budding actor Bloom left St. Edmunds when he was sixteen years old to join the National Youth Theatre in London. After two seasons he won a scholarship to train with the British American Drama Academy. While there he auditioned for parts on television and in theater. Bloom then spent three years studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, a prestigious London school that was the training ground for such newly famous English actors as Ewan McGregor (c. 1971–), Joseph Fiennes (1970–), and Ben Chaplin (c. 1969–). In 1998 Bloom made his first film appearance, a small, one-line part in the movie Wilde, about English playwright Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). Several movie offers followed, but a serious accident put a brief crimp in Bloom’s career and had a life-changing effect on the budding actor. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

45

orlando bloom

When he was twenty-one years old, while shimmying along the drainpipe of a friend’s apartment in an attempt to open a window, Bloom fell three stories and broke his back. The possibility that he would be paralyzed was very real. Metal plates were bolted to his spine and he wore a back brace for almost a year. Bloom also endured months of rehabilitation. As he told Allison Glock of Gentleman’s Quarterly, the accident made him realize how lucky he was to be alive. He recounted to Glock how one person in particular helped him to put things in perspective: “I had this one great teacher who came to visit and said to me, ‘This is going to be the making of you.’And it was.” Miraculously, Bloom recovered enough to return to his regular life at Guildhall. Just two days before graduation, in 1999, he found out from his agent that director Peter Jackson (1961–) had chosen him to appear in his film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, which was based on the fantasy trilogy written by English author J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973). Originally Bloom had hoped for the role of the human named Faramir, who is introduced in The Two Towers, the second film in the series. Jackson, however, felt Bloom was perfect for the role of Legolas Greenleaf, the elf warrior of Mirkwood. Since Legolas is one of the main characters in the story, it meant that Bloom would appear in all three films of the trilogy.

Joins the fellowship The Lord of the Rings is the epic tale of nine warriors (four hobbits, two humans, a dwarf, an elf, and a wizard) who must form a fellowship in order to save their mythical world of Middle Earth from destruction. It is a sweeping adventure story, and bringing it to the screen was a major undertaking. In an interview with Henry Cabot Beck in Interview magazine, Bloom admitted that it was more than a little intimidating for his first big role to be in such a major movie. The young actor spent months preparing to play Legolas, since the role required him to be an expert at archery, sword fighting, and horseback riding. After recovering from his back injury, Bloom welcomed the physical challenge. “It was like winning the lottery,” he told Beck. “I mean, imagine being flown to this amazing country and being taught how to shoot a bow and arrow, learn to ride horses, and study swordplay.”

46


•

volume 1

orlando bloom

The “amazing country“ was New Zealand, where cast and crew spent almost two years filming the three movies. While in New Zealand, Bloom and his costars became very close, forming almost a family bond. Bloom was considered the daredevil of the bunch, since he spent what free time he had bungee jumping, snowboarding, and learning how to surf. In addition, he performed most of his own stunts. During one scene Bloom fell from his horse and broke a rib. He was back in the saddle within a few days. The trilogy was released over a three-year period. The Fellowship of the Ring was unveiled in 2001, followed by The Two Towers in 2002, and The Return of the King in 2003. All three movies broke box office records and all three were critically acclaimed. In 2002 Bloom received an award for Best Debut at the Empire Awards, sponsored by the British film magazine Empire. He also won the Breakthrough Male honor at the 2002 MTV Movie Awards. At the same time, fans around the world catapulted the young actor to fame. Synnot estimated that after Fellowship was released, almost thirty thousand Internet sites sprang up that were devoted to the handsome Brit. Before The Two Towers had even opened in theaters, there were over one million Orlando Bloom Web sites. The modest Bloom explained away the phenomenon to Kate Stroup of Newsweek: “Legolas is a good, safe guy for girls to pin their dreams on.”

Life after Middle Earth While working on The Fellowship of the Ring, Bloom took a small role in director Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (2001), a movie about the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, East Africa. The film was a case of art imitating life: Bloom played a U.S. Army Ranger who breaks his back falling from a helicopter. The part was small but pivotal, and Bloom was applauded for his efforts. Just two years out of school, the twenty-three-year-old actor had appeared in two of the top movies of 2001, and he was just getting started. Bloom continued to appear in films that challenge him physically, and he also shared the screen with some of Hollywood’s more established heartthrobs. In 2003 he costarred in Ned Kelly, a shoot’em-up movie about a notorious Australian outlaw. Australian hunk Heath Ledger (1979–) played the lead, while Bloom portrayed Joe U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

47

orlando bloom

Byrne, a member of Kelly’s gang. Although he was in a supporting role, Bloom stole the spotlight. According to Lisa Schwarzbaum in Entertainment Weekly, “The effortlessly charismatic Bloom … dims our interest in Ledger every time the two share a scene.”

Orlando Bloom (left) and Diane Kruger in a movie still from Troy (2004). © Warner Brothers Pictures/Zuma/Corbis.

In 2003 Bloom also costarred in a big-budget Disney picture, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name. This time the leading man was Johnny Depp (c. 1963–), who played Captain Jack Sparrow. Bloom took the role of blacksmith-turned-pirate Will Turner. Once again the fearless actor had to test his skill with a sword. The difference this time was that Will Turner had an onscreen romance, which meant that fans were given a look at Bloom’s first onscreen kiss.

48


•

volume 1

orlando bloom

More sword and dagger work came his way in 2004, when Bloom joined Brad Pitt (1963–) in the film Troy. The movie is an epic account of the Trojan War, the ten-year battle of Greek legend between the Greeks and Trojans. Bloom played Paris, Prince of Troy, who ignites the seeds of war when he carries off the beautiful Helen, queen of Sparta.

Bona fide star Midway through the making of Troy, Pirates of the Caribbean was released, and it became apparent that Bloom’s star was ascending in the leading man department. According to Troy costar Diane Kruger (who played Helen), when the filming started no one really knew who Bloom was. But when Pirates came out, she told the Web site Teen Hollywood.com that “it was pretty extraordinary to witness someone going from basically nothing to having girls screaming whenever we stepped out the door.” Bloom seemed to handle his newfound celebrity well, perhaps because he got a few pointers from some of the biggest names in the film business, namely Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt. For example, while shooting Troy in Malta, an island nation in the Mediterranean, Bloom and Pitt were mobbed by fans. Bloom explained to Synnot that Pitt was very calm, and directed him to just keep walking: “Don’t stop walking and we’ll be fine. If you stop, it can get really scary.” But Bloom wanted to be more than just a pinup star; he wanted to sink his teeth into deeper roles. And he managed to do just that by choosing a different kind of part in The Calcium Kid, a low budget British comedy released in May of 2004. In sharp contrast to his tan, tousled look as Paris in Troy, Bloom transformed himself into a nervous milkman who, through a series of strange coincidences, ends up fighting the world boxing champion. As he told Synnot, “It was just something completely different. I needed to do it.” Bloom also spent 2004 wrapping up work on at least two other films, Haven, a crime drama featuring Bill Paxton (1955–), and Kingdom of Heaven, which reunited the young actor with Black Hawk Down director Ridley Scott. He was also slated to appear in a sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

49

orlando bloom

From almost dying in a fall in 1998 to starring in some of the biggest movies of the 2000s, Orlando Bloom has experienced an almost meteoric rise to stardom. He has become an international idol for scores of young female fans, and may even become the model for a new generation of stars. Those who know him have described him as charismatic but also sensitive, thoughtful, and polite. Gregor Jordan (c. 1967–), who directed Bloom in Ned Kelly, summed it all up when talking to Synnot, stating that Bloom “is going to be huge because he’s a good actor and he has incredible presence. There’s a reason why girls go crazy for him. There’s just something about him that makes people want to sit in the dark and watch him on the movie screen.”

For More Information Periodicals Beck, Henry Cabot. “Orlando Bloom: Two Roles Under One Belt and Injuries to Rival Jackie Chan.” Interview (November 2001): pp. 50–52. Glock, Allison. “Orlando’s Magic.” Gentleman’s Quarterly (January 2004). “Greater Orlando.” People (January 12, 2004): p. 26. Schwarzbaum, Lisa. “Ned Kelly: Outback Outlaws Outwit, Outplay, and Outlast the Odds.” Entertainment Weekly (April 2, 2003): p. 45. Stroup, Kate. “Orlando Bloom: The Budding of a Heartthrob.” Newsweek (July 14, 2003): p. 56.

Web Sites Howatson, Catriona. “What to Look Forward To.” Sunday Times (UK) (December 30, 2001). http://www.geocities.com/bloomin_fan/UK_ Sunday_times.html (accessed on April 23, 2004). “It List 2003: It Elf, Orlando Bloom.” Entertainment Weekly (June 27, 2003). http://www.ew.com/ew/article/commentary/0,6115,459112_1_0 _,00.html (accessed on April 23, 2004). “Kruger Stunned by Suddenness of Orlando’s Fame.” Teen Hollywood.com (April 8, 2004). http://www.teenhollywood.com/d.asp?r=65110&cat= 1027 (accessed on April 23, 2004). The Lord of the Rings. http://www.lordoftherings.net/film/trilogy/thefellow ship.html (accessed on April 22, 2004). Synnot, Siobhan. “In Full Bloom.” scotsman.com (April 18, 2004). http:// news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=426322004 (accessed on April 22, 2004). Troy. http://troymovie.warnerbros.com (accessed on April 23, 2004).

50


•

volume 1

Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser Wes Boyd c. 1961

Political activist

Eli Pariser c. 1981 • Camden, Maine

Political activist



•

volume 1

Wes Boyd.

Eli Pariser. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

In the early 1990s Wes Boyd was flying high as a successful entrepreneur in the computer industry. He earned millions of dollars and made his way into the homes of thousands of PC users, all because of a popular screen saver that featured tiny winged toasters. But by the late 1990s Boyd had left his business behind, and was instead harnessing the power of the Internet as a means for political action. In 1998 he and his wife, Joan Blades, started MoveOn.org as a small-scale response to the impending impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Little did they know that they were starting an online political revolution. By the mid2000s, after joining forces with a young activist named Eli Pariser, MoveOn supporters numbered in the millions and the organization itself had become what John Heilemann of Business 2.0 called “one of the country’s most influential interest groups, both online and off.”

51

wes boyd and eli pariser

The accidental activists When Wes Boyd was growing up, he did not plan on changing the world, but he did envision himself working with computers. He was born in the early 1960s, and by the time he was fourteen years old he was hooked on computers and was considered something of a computer prodigy. Boyd attended college for a bit, but dropped out to pursue his passion—software design. For several years he worked as a programmer at the University of California at Berkeley. He then went on to design software for personal computer (PC) users who were blind or visually impaired. In 1987 he made the leap to entertainment

“Our goal is to make it impossible to ignore the anti-war sentiment in this country.” Eli Pariser, AlterNet, February 11, 2003.

software design when he formed his own company, Berkeley Systems, along with his wife, Joan Blades. Boyd was the technical expert and served as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO). Blades, who had previously worked as a professional mediator, took on the role of vice president of marketing. A mediator is someone who acts as a negotiator between two parties who are in dispute. Over the years Berkeley Systems grew into a leader in the entertainment software industry, producing such wellknown online computer games as “You Don’t Know Jack,” a game show that challenged a player’s knowledge of popular culture. Berkeley Systems’ biggest claim to fame, however, was their line of screen savers, which are images that display on the screen when a computer is on but not in use. The company’s most popular screen saver consisted of colorful winged toasters. Their business was so lucrative that by the late 1990s Boyd and Blades employed 150 people and were making yearly sales of approximately $30 million. In 1997 the couple sold Berkeley Systems for a reported $13.8 million, and settled down to enjoy a quiet, peaceful life in their com-

52


•

volume 1


The Ultimate Bake Sale

MoveOn.org uses the Internet to rouse its many members to action in a variety of ways. One of Eli Pariser’s ideas was really a very simple one: have a giant bake sale. In April of 2004 Pariser put out a call on MoveOn.org’s Web site, asking members across the country to host bake sales, the proceeds of which would go toward financing Senator John Kerry’s bid for the presidency. Members responded in droves to the “Bake Back the White House” campaign, and on April 17 more than one thousand bake sales were held from Hawaii to Maine.

Over fourteen thousand creative bakers served up such treats as Beat Bush Brownies and Kerry Karamels, and by day’s end, the cross-country bake sale had brought in approximately $750,000. Volunteers also passed out more than forty thousand Kerry flyers and worked to register voters. In an Associated Press story reported on cnews.com, Adam Ruben, a field director of the MoveOn PAC, explained: “We wanted to do a fund-raiser, but we wanted to do it fresher and with a twist. This is a great way to engage a lot of people who have signed a petition online but haven’t done anything in their neighborhood.”

fortable home located in the Berkeley, California, foothills. That peace was short-lived. In 1998 the United States was rocked by scandal when President Bill Clinton (1946–) was accused of misconduct surrounding an affair he had with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The investigation and hearings dragged on for months and the president faced impeachment. In the United States, the House of Representatives has the power to bring formal charges (the power of impeachment) against a president that may lead to his removal from office; the Senate hears the case and makes the ultimate decision. Boyd and Blades, like many people, felt that the hearings had gone on for too long, that the president did not deserve to be impeached, and that politicians should get back to the real business of running the country. In September of 1998 the couple decided to do something. They launched a Web site called MoveOn.org, which included a simple, one-line petition that read: “Congress must immediately censure President Clinton and Move On to pressing issues facing the country.” They were essentially calling for a reprimand, not removal from office. Boyd and Blades then e-mailed the petition to one hundred of their friends, and invited them to add their names. “It was supposed to be a flash campaign,” Boyd explained in Time. “We’re in, we’re out, we’re fixed.” The two ex-computer executives, however, were just getting started. Within a week, one hundred thousand people had signed U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

53


the petition, and just a few months later, more than a half-million people had added their names. The response was so great that Boyd and Blades recruited volunteers via the Web, asking them to hand-deliver petitions to members of the House or to make calls to district offices.

On-line campaigning President Clinton was impeached by members of the House of Representatives in a vote that went directly along party lines, meaning that the majority of Republican representatives voted for impeachment, while most Democrats voted against it. Clinton was found not guilty by the Senate in January of 1999, but the issue was not over for the members of MoveOn. In June of 1999 the organization established its own political action committee (PAC), a group that raises funds for political candidates who they feel will support its interests. In this case, the MoveOn PAC specifically worked against Republican candidates who had voted for impeachment. Donors were able to contribute online, and within five days of its launch, the MoveOn PAC brought in an astonishing $250,000. By election day of 2000, the PAC had raised $2 million to help elect four new senators and five new congressional members—all Democrats. This was not the first time that an organization had used the Web to raise funds for candidates, and the amount raised, given the astronomical costs of campaigning, was not very large. But MoveOn had demonstrated that it was successful at reaching the small donor, considering that the average contribution they received was $35. “That may not seem like a lot of money to most people,” Blades commented to Terrence McNally of AlterNet, “but it was a revolution in fundraising for campaigns from average citizens.” MoveOn also proved that fundraising could be relatively inexpensive. Traditional fundraising is primarily done through direct mailings. In this case, there were no printing or postage costs; the biggest expense came from credit card transaction fees. In less than two years MoveOn had evolved from an online petition site to an organization that influenced elections. It also began to branch out to focus on other issues, including gun control, environmental protection, and campaign finance reform. Although Boyd and Blades maintained control of the site, they did not control the issues.

54


•

volume 1


That was left up to the MoveOn members, who voiced their opinions through ActionForum.com, the site’s Internet discussion forum. On the forum, visitors to the site comment on various subjects and offer suggestions for strategy, while other members rank the comments. The comments that receive the highest rankings move to the top and represent the opinions of the majority. MoveOn’s priorities are based on this feedback. As Boyd explained to Heilemann, “We do deep listening to our base; we know where they are and what they want to do. We live and breathe response rates.”

Pariser, the virtual peacenik ActionForum became a hotbed of discussion, particulary following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Based on member feedback, MoveOn launched an online campaign calling for “justice, not escalating violence.” Thousands of supporters responded. Boyd and Blades also noticed that other sites were popping up on the Web that shared their viewpoint, but one in particular, called 9-11Peace.org, caught their eye. It had been launched by a twenty-year-old young man named Eli Pariser. Pariser was born in Camden, Maine, the son of two 1960s peace activists who went on to establish an alternative high school in their small harbor hometown. The Parisers introduced Eli to politics when he was very young, encouraging him to watch or listen to the news and explaining even the most difficult concepts to him. As he told Heather Salerno of the Westchester, N.Y., Journal News, “When I heard something on the radio about … nuclear war, I asked and they gave me a straight answer.” At age nineteen, Pariser graduated from Simon’s Rock College, a progressive school located in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He briefly considered a career in law after being accepted by the University of Chicago, but instead decided to go to work designing Web pages. His career as a Web designer was cut short by the events of September 11. Like Boyd and Blades a decade earlier, Pariser wanted to make his voice known. He created an online petition at his Web site that advocated a peaceful response to the terrorist attacks and urged President George W. Bush (1946–) and members of Congress to use “moderation and restraint.” Pariser initially e-mailed the link to his site to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

55


thirty of his friends; his friends forwarded the link to their friends, and within two weeks more than five hundred thousand people from around the world had added their names to the petition. The site caused such a global buzz that Pariser began receiving calls from news organizations that wanted to know more about the lanky young man. Pariser also received a call from Wes Boyd, who offered advice and financial support. As Pariser told Salerno, “Eli was in the same place as we were when we got started. We got in touch and said, ‘Can we help?’” Boyd did more than help. Not long after, he invited Pariser to merge Web sites and he hired the young activist to become MoveOn’s director of international campaigns. Since then, Pariser has become the public face of the organization, appearing at rallies and providing interviews to the press, while Boyd is the organization’s president and Web mastermind. According to John Heilemann, MoveOn’s co-founder is much more comfortable behind the scenes, offering his technical expertise and tending to the business side of things. As Boyd told Heilemann, MoveOn is a “service business providing connection to the political process, using technology as a lever.” Joan Blades serves on the board of directors of MoveOn and is a full-time volunteer.

The power of advertising Since Pariser joined the organization, MoveOn’s membership has nearly tripled. According to 2004 figures, approximately 2.25 million people from around the world are registered members. Pariser spent long hours, sometimes up to eighteen hours a day, making sure that these members were heard and that their concerns were turned into action. He continued to make use of online petitions, letter-writing campaigns, and political fund-raising ($3.5 million was raised for the 2002 congressional elections), and also launched dynamic new initiatives, several of which involved face-to-face activism and grassroots organizing—meaning organizing at the local level. In particular, Pariser and members of MoveOn rallied extensively around a single issue: to prevent an invasion of Iraq by U.S. troops. In the wake of September 11, the U.S. government had purportedly linked the terrorist attacks of September 11 to Saddam Hussein (1937–), the leader of Iraq. MoveOn became so powerful that it was eventually able to break into traditional areas of advertising, including print, radio, and

56


•

volume 1


television. Such advertising is traditionally off-limits to smaller nonprofit groups because the cost of advertising is incredibly expensive. In December of 2002 Pariser asked MoveOn members to donate $40,000 to pay for a full-page ad in the New York Times that would feature an anti-war appeal. Within a few days, the contributions totaled nearly $400,000. With the extra money, the organization was able to pay for additional anti-war spots on radio and television that appeared in thirteen cities across the United States. The thirty-second televised spot was particularly controversial, and some channels, including CNN, Fox, and NBC refused to air it. Called the Daisy ad, it was a remake of a famous ad that appeared during the 1964 presidential race between Lyndon Johnson (1908–1973) and Barry Goldwater (1909–1998). Both ads feature a young girl plucking petals from a daisy while the threat of nuclear war looms in the distance. Despite MoveOn’s efforts, the United States invaded Iraq in March of 2003, and MoveOn turned its attention toward the 2004 elections and the removal of George W. Bush from office. The organization threw its support behind John Kerry (1943–), the Democratic candidate for president, and took the art of ad campaigning one step closer to the average citizen by creating a unique contest called “Bush in 30 Seconds.” The contest invited people to submit homemade thirty-second commercials critiquing a Bush administration policy. More than 1,500 people entered the contest, which was judged online by thousands of MoveOn members. The ultimate winner was chosen by a panel of celebrities, including documentary filmmaker Michael Moore (1954–). The winning commercial, called “Child’s Play,” received wide exposure on the Internet, and was broadcast on several television networks. CBS, however, refused to air it during the 2004 Super Bowl, claiming it was too controversial. In mid-2004, MoveOn went to the experts to launch a flurry of anti-Bush ads that were televised and run in theaters as movie trailers. Such Hollywood heavyweights as film director Rob Reiner (1947–), writer Aaron Sorkin (1961–), and musician Moby (1965–), were only too happy to oblige. As Reiner commented to Ronald Brownstein of the Los Angeles Times, “We’re all on [MoveOn’s] e-mail list and we know how effective they are. When they ask us to play a role in getting rid of President Bush, you jump to the task.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

57


Word of mouse MoveOn had not gone Hollywood, however. Before any of the commercials were broadcast, MoveOn members were asked for their approval. And according to commentators, such tactics have contributed to the organization’s amazing success. Despite how large their membership base had become, Boyd and Pariser remained tied to the group’s original goal: to provide a voice for ordinary citizens. Their success was also attributed to the no-frills simplicity of their organization. MoveOn has only a handful of staff members, and there are no offices. Employees work out of their homes and connect through e-mail and occasional telephone conferences. Pariser operates out of New York City, from a closet-sized room in an apartment he shares with four roommates and two cats. By the mid-2000s, MoveOn had grown from a simple idea to become one of the most powerful political forces in the United States. Politicians were sitting up and taking notice, and the rest of the world had realized that Boyd and Pariser were pioneers in a new frontier of online politicking. Hundreds of thousands of dollars could be raised in mere hours and, more important, millions of voices had a quick and easy outlet for action. For Boyd and Pariser, this was the future of politics, and it was all accomplished through word of mouse.

For More Information Periodicals Taylor, Chris, and Karen Tumulty. “MoveOn’s Big Moment: How an Activist Website with Just Seven Staff Members and No Office is Changing Internet Politics.” Time (November 24, 2003).

Web Sites “Anti-Bush Group Organizes Bake Sales across the U.S.A. to Raise Money.” cnews.com (April 17, 2004). http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/ WeirdNews/2004/04/17/426758-ap.html (accessed on July 22, 2004). Brownstein, Ronald. “Tapping Talent, Not Just Names.” Los Angeles Times (July 4, 2004). http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-moveon4 jul04,1,6080074.story?coll=la-home-headlines (accessed on July 15, 2004). Hazen, Don. “Moving On: A New Kind of Peace Activism.” AlterNet (February 11, 2003). http://www.alternet.org/story/15163 (accessed on July 15, 2004).

58


•

volume 1

wes boyd and eli pariser Heilemann, John. “Looking for Democracy’s Next Big Thing.” Business 2.0 (July 2004). http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863, 655745,00.html (accessed on July 15, 2004). Markels, Alex. “Virtual Peacenik.” Mother Jones (May/June 2003). http:// www.motherjones.com/news/hellraiser/2003/05/ma_379_01.html (accessed on July 15, 2004). McNally, Terrence. “MoveOn as an Instrument of the People.” AlterNet (June 25, 2004). http://www.alternet.org/story/19043 (accessed on July 19, 2004). MoveOn Web site: Democracy in Action. MoveOn.org. http://www.move on.org (accessed on July 15, 2004). Salerno, Heather. “Eli Pariser May Be Only 23, But He’s Helping Change the Nation’s Political Panorama.” Journal News (Westchester, New York) (April 18, 2004). http://www.commondreams.org/headlines 04/0418-02.htm (accessed on July 15, 2004).


•

volume 1

59

Tom Brady

August 3, 1977 • San Mateo, California


•

volume 1

Cy Cyr/WireImage.com.

Football player

By the mid-2000s Tom Brady was the undisputed king of the gridiron. In 2002 he became the youngest quarterback in the history of the National Football League (NFL) to lead his team to a Super Bowl victory. Two years later, in 2004, he proved the magic was still strong when he led the New England Patriots to their second Super Bowl title in three years. In addition, Brady was named the Super Bowl’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 2002 and 2004. The dimpled, cleancut quarterback had reached career heights that most veteran football players envied, and he had done it all before he was thirty years old.

Football, football, and more football Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. was born on August 3, 1977, in San Mateo, California, the youngest child, and only son, of Galynn and Tom Brady. The Bradys were a close-knit family, and they were all sports enthusiasts. The three Brady girls (Maureen, Nancy, and Julie)

61

tom brady

played every sport imaginable, including softball, soccer, and basketball. Tommy, as his family calls him, always went to their games and cheered them on. He also caught their competitive spirit. As Julie Brady explained to People Weekly, “We used to compete for absolutely everything, and we pushed [Tom] all the time.” The nightly battles to control the television remote were especially fierce, and frequently the fighting took place with water pistols. Brady’s interest in football started when he was very young. Some of his earliest memories are of attending San Francisco 49ers games with his family every Sunday when the team was in town. “The Niners were my team,” enthused Brady in a CBS Under the

“Football has so many elements of sports. It’s strength, and it’s speed, and it’s quickness. It’s endurance. It’s toughness. It’s so fast. It’s a great game to watch. It’s a great game to play.” Helmet interview. Brady was a particular fan of San Francisco quarterbacks Joe Montana (1956–) and Steve Young (1961–). When not going to football games, or watching football on television, Brady was playing football. While attending St. Gregory’s elementary school in San Mateo (where he was an altar boy), he played flag football and touch football at recess and after school. His position? Quarterback. Brady first played organized football as a freshman at San Mateo’s Junipero Serra High School, a Catholic all-boys school. By his junior year he was a starting quarterback, and by his senior year he was being noticed by college and pro scouts. During Brady’s high school quarterback career, he completed 236 of 447 passes (52.8 percent) for 3,702 yards, and thirty-one touchdowns. The multi-talented Brady was also a star catcher on the school’s baseball team, and, when he graduated from high school in 1995, he was recruited to play pro-

62


•

volume 1

tom brady

I’m Going to Disney World!

In February of 2004, just hours after leading the New England Patriots to their second Super Bowl victory, quarterback Tom Brady was whisked away to join a whirlwind of celebrations. Where was he going? As he told millions of fans who were watching their television screens, “I’m going back to Disney World.” Brady joined a long line of athletes who have been featured in one of television’s most famous advertising campaigns. In the ad, immediately following the game, a narrator asks, “You’ve just won the Super Bowl! What are you going to do next?” The player responds, “I’m going to Disney World!” The first ad, which aired in 1987, focused on Phil Simms (1955–), quarterback for the New York Giants, winners of Super Bowl XXI. The “What’s next?” commercials became so famous that the phrase “I’m going to Disney World” became a part of American pop culture.

In 2004 Brady was going back to Disney World because he had already been there following his first Super Bowl win in 2002. Only three other NFL players have been featured twice in the commercials: Joe Montana (1956–), Emmitt Smith (1969–), and John Elway (1960–). Many of the players, like Brady, are MVPs, but not all. As Disney senior vice president of marketing Ken Potrock explained on PR Newswire, “We select players based on success in the field and a Cinderella-type story.” Brady definitely fit the bill. In both 2002 and 2004, he led his team to a storybook finish, so what better way to celebrate than with a fairy-tale ending. On February 2, the fairytale came true. Just one day after his Super Bowl win, Brady and his mother were riding through the streets of Disney’s Magic Kingdom and thousands of fans, including Mickey Mouse, cheered the latest Super Bowl hero.

fessional baseball for the Montreal Expos. Instead, he opted to accept a scholarship to play football for the University of Michigan (U of M), in Ann Arbor.

Life as a Wolverine During his first two years as a U of M Wolverine, Brady warmed the bench as a backup quarterback for future NFL stars Brian Griese (1975–) and Scott Driesbach (1975–). He was frustrated by his lack of play, and at one point, considered transferring back to California. However, Brady stuck it out, and in 1998, his junior year, he earned the starting quarterback position. He went on to earn an All–Big Ten Conference honorable mention; he was an Academic All–Big Ten Pick (he had a 3.3 grade point average); and he set several University of Michigan records, including the record for most attempts (350) and completions (214) in one season. Brady also led the Wolverines to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

63

tom brady

victory at the Citrus Bowl in 1999 and was named team co-captain the same year. In 2000 he became team captain. Despite his success, Brady faced a setback his senior year when he was forced to share his quarterbacking duties with teammate Drew Henson (1980–). Henson was only a freshman, but he had been highly recruited in both football and baseball, and Wolverine coach Lloyd Carr feared that if not played, Henson might leave U of M in favor of a pro baseball career. Brady worked all the harder and completed the year by throwing the twenty-five-yard pass that brought victory to U of M over the University of Alabama in the 2000 Orange Bowl. The Orange Bowl, like the Citrus Bowl is a post-season competition between two college football teams. The four most prestigious bowl games are the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, and the Rose Bowl. Bowl games are always played as close as possible to New Year’s Day. By the time his college career came to a close, Brady had won twenty of the twenty-five games he started. He had arm strength and throwing accuracy, and he believed his chances were good for being chosen to play professional ball during the 2000 NFL draft. Things did not turn out as Brady hoped, however. During the draft he was the 199th player chosen, and he was picked up by the struggling New England Patriots. According to sports analysts, coaches were leery of Brady. They questioned his speed, but mostly they wondered why Henson, a freshman, had received so much playing time at the University of Michigan over the more seasoned senior. Brady showed up at the Patriot’s training camp determined to prove himself. His U of M coach expected nothing less. “The more he gets knocked down,” Carr commented to People Weekly, “the harder he competes. You can’t underestimate Tom.”

Stirs up a tired team Although he was a fourth-string Patriot quarterback, Brady did not complain. Instead he watched and studied and prepared. He learned the Patriot playbook front to back, and he hit the weight room to bulk up his six-foot-four-inch frame from 204 to 220 pounds. He also pelted veteran teammates with questions about ways to improve his on-field strategy. By the end of his first season, Brady had played in only one game, during which he completed one pass. The game was against the Detroit

64


•

volume 1

tom brady

Lions, and the Patriots lost 34 to 9. The team ended the season at the very bottom of the AFC East division with a record of five wins and eleven losses. The thirty-two football teams that are part of the NFL are divided evenly into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Within each conference, there are four divisions: North, South, East, and West. During the off-season, Brady continued to work on improving his game, and at the 2001 training camp he was one of the team’s most improved players. Brady so impressed his coaches that he was named back-up to the Patriot’s star quarterback, Drew Bledsoe (1972–). On September 23, 2001, during the second game of the season, Bledsoe received a stunning blow to his chest, and barely made it off the field. A jittery Brady, who had not expected to play, stepped in to finish the game, which the Patriots ended up losing. With Bledsoe out of commission, it seemed that the Patriots were doomed to face another losing season. However, as Brady began to get comfortable in his new role, things began to change. “I’m a big fan of Drew’s,” former Patriot safety Lawyer Milloy (1973–) told Michael Silver of Sports Illustrated, “but it was obvious the team needed something different, and Tom brought that youthful energy.” With the calm confidence of someone much older than his twentyfour years, Brady helped the Patriots rack up a string of wins. In 2000 they finished at the bottom of the heap; in 2001 they were AFC Division champions, and they were going to the Super Bowl.

Packs a Patriot punch at the Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the top competition in football, played each year between the two teams who are leaders from the AFC and NFC divisions. It has become a major television event that is watched by millions of fans throughout the world. Going into the Super Bowl, the New England Patriots were considered the underdogs, even though they ended the 2001 season with eleven wins and five losses. For one thing, their Super Bowl track record was not good. They had only competed twice, and they lost both times. Plus they were being led by an inexperienced quarterback: Tom Brady. The St. Louis Rams were the hands-down favorite to win Super Bowl XXXVI, scheduled for February 3, 2002. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

65

tom brady

Regardless of the predictions, Brady was so calm before the big game that he took a nap in the locker room. “When I woke up,” Brady explained to Dave Kindred of The Sporting News, “I told myself it’s a football game. It just comes down to playing football. I felt calm and confident.” Brady’s confidence was key since the game turned out to be a nail-biting battle. When the Rams tied things up with only one minute, thirty-nine seconds to go, people expected the game to go into overtime. Brady, however, set up a spectacular nine-play drive that positioned the Patriots for a field goal. With mere seconds left on the clock, the Patriots defeated the Rams, 20 to 17. The Super Bowl win was only the beginning of Brady’s Cinderella story. He not only led his team to victory, he was also named MVP of the game, and he set a new record as the youngest quarterback to win a Super Bowl at twenty-four years and 184 days old. One of the previous record-holders was his childhood idol, Joe Montana. In addition, Brady emerged as a true leader of his team, earning the respect of his coaches, teammates, and the sports press. According to sportswriter Paul Attner, “he has embraced his position with a passion and intelligence rarely seen in the game.” Analyst Phil Simms of CBS noted that Brady “really knows how to play quarterback, how to interact with teammates, when to be their friend, when to be their leader and when to be their enemy when he has to. He can influence an entire franchise.”

Sweet repeat After the thrill of the Super Bowl, the following season was disappointing for the Patriots, and they did not make the playoffs. A determined Brady, however, rallied his team in 2003. The season started off slow with two wins and two losses, but then Brady and the Patriots took off on a winning streak. After winning fourteen games in a row, they were headed, once again, to the Super Bowl. Super Bowl XXXVIII, played on February 1, 2004, was a memorable match-up between the Patriots and the Carolina Panthers. The first half was agonizingly long as both teams fought hard to control the field. At half-time, the score stood at Patriots 14, Panthers 10. The second half of the game proved to be a humdinger. The two teams scored a combined 37 points in the fourth quarter, and with four seconds left on the clock, New England’s Adam Vinatieri made a forty-

66


•

volume 1

tom brady

Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, during a 2003 game against the Buffalo Bills. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

one-yard field goal to win the game, 32 to 29. For the second time in three years, the underdog Patriots took home the championship. For Brady, it was a sweet repeat. His game statistics were impressive: thirty-two completions in forty-eight attempts for 354 yards, and three touchdowns. He was named, once again, Most Valuable Player, and he broke another record by becoming, at age twentysix, the youngest quarterback to win two Super Bowls.

Brady-mania After his first Super Bowl win, Brady-mania swept the United States. Sportscasters could not heap enough praise on him, calling him meticulous, conscientious, and self-assured. Girls everywhere thought he was dreamy. Parents liked him, too. According to fellow teammate Larry U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

67

tom brady

Izzo, who spoke with reporter Michael Silver, “Every mother and father in New England wants their daughter to be dating Tom Brady.” It seemed everyone was clamoring for the fresh-faced quarterback. Brady was a judge for the Miss USA Pageant; his face beamed down from billboards for the famous “Got Milk?” ad campaigns; and he was named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People of 2002.” Just before his second Super Bowl, Brady was even invited to be a special guest at the White House for President George W. Bush’s January of 2004 State of the Union address. Brady seems to be handling his celebrity status with the same cool approach he has toward playing football. As he told Silver in Sports Illustrated, “Look, I’m a football player, and when I think back to the Miss USA pageant and all the other cool stuff I’ve done these last few weeks, the most fun I’ve had by far was winning the Super Bowl.… I know how I got here, and I’m going to devote myself to helping my team win it all again.” In addition, throughout it all, Brady has remained very close to his family, and perhaps it is thanks to them that he stays grounded. In an interview with Brady’s hometown newspaper, the San Mateo County Times, Tom Brady Sr. put his son’s celebrity into perspective: “Tommy’s a hometown boy and, generally, everybody likes to see the hometown boy succeed.”

For More Information Books Lazenby, Roland, and Bob Schron. Tom Brady: Sudden Glory. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2002. Stewart, Mark. Tom Brady: Heart of the Huddle. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 2003.

Periodicals Attner, Paul. “Brady’s Bunch: Super Bowl Preview.” The Sporting News (January 26, 2004): p. 16. Chadiha, Jeff. “The Brady Hunch.” Sports Illustrated (February 13, 2002): p. 46. Fraley, Malaika. “Brady’s Bunch: Neighbors, Family Bask in ‘Tommy’s’ Football Glory.” The San Mateo County Times (January 30, 2004). Kindred, Dave. “A Day of Red, White, and Blue—and Brady.” The Sporting News (February 11, 2002): p. 64.

68


•

volume 1

tom brady King, Peter. “These Kids Can Play.” Sports Illustrated (November 11, 2002): p. 36. Silver, Michael. “Cool Customer: Fresh off a Storybook Season in Which He Quarterbacked the Patriots to a Super Bowl Victory at Age 24, Tom Brady Is Learning to Cope with the Blitz of Newfound Fame.” Sports Illustrated (April 15, 2002): p. 34. Tresniowski, Alex. “Super Cool Super Hero: A Benchwarmer Just Last Year, Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady Proves Too Good for the Rams—and Almost Too Good to Be True.” People Weekly (February 18, 2002): p. 54.

Web sites “Back in the Day with Tom Brady.” Interview transcript. CBS Under the Helmet (August 31, 2002) http://images.nfl.com/partners/aol/index. html?http://www.nfl.com/reebok/bid/tbrady.html (accessed on May 31, 2004). “Tom Brady biography.” Official Web site of the New England Patriots. http://www.patriots.com/team/personal.sps?playerid=566&playertype =1&image4.x=11&image4.y=7 (accessed on May 31, 2004).


•

volume 1

69

Larry Brown

September 14, 1940 • New York, New York



•

volume 1

Basketball coach

Many experts consider Larry Brown to be the best coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In Brown’s case, that ranking is based not on the number of championship teams he has coached— the native New Yorker has led just one team to an NBA championship—but on his skill as a rebuilder of teams. Never staying long in one place, Brown would, in the words of Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith, “come, conquer, and leave.” As of 2004, Brown had coached ten college and professional teams in thirty-two years of coaching. In nearly every case, at least in the NBA, he came on board to convert a losing team into a winning one, developing the abilities of key players, pushing the concept of working as a team, and establishing a sense of the team as family. At the end of the 2002–03 season, when Brown announced he would be leaving his post as coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, NBA franchises all over the country began to dream of luring Coach Brown to their teams. The victors in this contest were the Detroit Pistons, a

71

larry brown

team that strayed from the typical Larry Brown coaching project. The Pistons were not down and out; they had won fifty games and the division title for two seasons prior to Brown’s arrival. But the management team in Detroit was hungry for a championship, and they felt certain that Brown could take them there. Brown did not disappoint. In just one season, he helped the Pistons go from being a strong team to being an unstoppable machine, beating the mighty Los Angeles Lakers four games to one, to win the NBA championship series. Time magazine called the victory “the sport’s biggest upset in more than 25 years.”

“All I ask is that we play the game the right way. I want us to play as a team, share the ball, play unselfishly, defend and rebound every night, and respect the game.” A painful childhood Born in New York in 1940, Lawrence Harvey Brown was the second child born to Ann and Milton Brown. In a 2001 Sports Illustrated article, Ann described Larry when he was a child: “He was an angel, so quiet and gentle.” When Brown was six years old, his father, then just forty-three years old, died suddenly. Fearing his reaction, Ann decided not to immediately tell her younger child that his father had died. Brown was sent to a relative’s house for several weeks. When he asked about his father he was told that Milton, a traveling salesman, was on the road, working. A month later the boy learned the truth that he had suspected for many days, but he and his mother never spoke about it. To support the family, Ann went to work, spending long hours in the family’s bakery in Long Beach, on Long Island, New York. Larry and his brother Herb occupied themselves playing basketball. Brown graduated from Long Beach High School, where he was a standout basketball player. At the insistence of his future coach, Frank McGuire, Brown spent part of a year at a military academy to

72


•

volume 1

larry brown

learn discipline and gain maturity, before enrolling at the University of North Carolina (UNC). There, coached by McGuire and Dean Smith, Brown and his teammates practiced the fundamentals over and over again. They were taught more than just skills, however: their coaches also drilled the players on style and attitude, encouraging them to treat each other with respect and to play unselfishly rather than try to be a superstar. Brown adopted these standards as his own, employing them later in his coaching jobs. After three seasons of playing varsity basketball at UNC, averaging a team-leading 16.2 points per game during his junior year, Brown graduated in 1963. He was invited to play for the U.S. basketball team in the 1964 Olympics, held in Tokyo, Japan. Brown and the rest of the team won nine games and lost none during the Olympics, returning home with the gold medal.

Here, there, and everywhere During 1967 Brown began playing professional basketball for the newly formed American Basketball Association (ABA), a league that lasted just nine seasons. Brown played in the ABA on five different teams over five seasons. He made the ABA All-Star team three times, and in 1968 he was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the AllStar game. The following year Brown helped his team, the Oakland Oaks, win the ABA championship. After leaving the ABA as a player in 1972, Brown returned to the league one year later as head coach of the Carolina Cougars. He spent two years coaching the Cougars before moving to Denver to lead the Nuggets, a team that began as part of the ABA. Later, after the ABA folded, the team became part of the NBA. For each of his three seasons coaching in the ABA, Brown was named coach of the year. In 1979 he left the Nuggets and professional basketball and took a job coaching college basketball. Brown’s first job with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was coaching the Bruins at the University of California at Los Angeles. During his first season with the Bruins, Brown led the team to the NCAA championship game. While the Bruins did not win the big game, they did come up with forty-two wins against just seventeen losses during Brown’s two seasons as coach. In 1981 Brown briefly returned to the NBA, coaching the New Jersey Nets to two winning seasons before heading back to the NCAA in 1983 to lead the Jayhawks at the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

73

larry brown

A Victory for the Underdogs

Even after the Detroit Pistons beat the Milwaukee Bucks, the New Jersey Nets, and the Indiana Pacers during the 2004 playoffs, few sportswriters outside of Detroit felt the Pistons had a chance to go all the way against the Los Angeles Lakers. Boasting the star power of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, not to mention the impressive winning streak of coach Phil Jackson—with nine NBA championships under his belt—the Lakers seemed to have every advantage. Sports commentators spoke of the depth of the Lakers’ bench, the abundance of talent that went beyond the team’s starting lineup. They pointed out that while the Pistons had perhaps the best defensive team in the NBA, their offense was inconsistent. Before the start of the finals, Ron Rapoport, columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, asked, “Are these NBA Finals

absolutely necessary? Can’t we just declare the season over and tell the Lakers they can start their parade whenever they like?” He went on to describe the Pistons-Lakers series as “a disaster in the making” and an “ugly mismatch.” It turned out Rapoport was half right—in the end it did seem that the series was mismatched, but in Detroit’s favor, not that of Los Angeles. Boasting a solid all-around team but no superstars, Detroit played with an energy and intensity that the Lakers could not match. In the first game, the Pistons displayed the defensive strategies they had become known for. Bryant and O’Neal both had high-scoring games, but as for the rest of the team, no Laker scored more than five points. The Pistons emerged victorious, 87-75. Game two looked like it might be a

University of Kansas (KU). Brown spent five seasons at KU, with his career there culminating in an NCAA championship in 1988. Brown went back to the NBA for the 1988–89 season to coach the San Antonio Spurs. During his first year in Texas, the Spurs won only twenty-one games. The following two seasons, with Brown at the helm, they won more than fifty. Brown then moved on, heading west to Los Angeles to coach the Clippers for two seasons. In 1993 he became the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, leading the team to more victories than any coach had done before. The Pacers made it to the playoffs during three of Brown’s four seasons there, and reached the finals twice. Brown left Indiana in 1997 to take a job with the Philadelphia 76ers, then the worst team in the NBA. Brown spent a longer time in Philadelphia than he had anywhere else—six seasons—taking the team to heights they had not reached in many years. Brown took the 76ers to the playoffs for five straight seasons, becoming the first coach in the history of the NBA to reach the playoffs with six differ-

74


•

volume 1

larry brown repeat performance, until Bryant pulled off a lastminute three-pointer to tie the game and send it into overtime. With the wind taken out of their sails, the Pistons petered out and the Lakers won, 9991. Sports analysts declared that the psychological toll of losing game two would significantly damage the Pistons’ chances in game three, even though that game would mark their return to their home stadium in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Once again, the Pistons defied expectations, blowing the Lakers away in an 88-68 victory. In an article in Sports Illustrated, Jack McCallum related a comment from the Lakers’ Derek Fisher after the game three loss: “Their desire to be champions is greater than ours at this point.” Suddenly, it seemed that the Pistons might have a chance after all. Predictions favoring Detroit began to spread. During game four, O’Neal displayed the qualities that made him a star, scoring

thirty-six points and grabbing twenty rebounds for the Lakers. Bryant, however, seemed to be trying too hard. McCallum wrote: “The worse he shot, the more he forced shots; the more he forced shots, the more he tried to make up for it.” Bryant made only eight of twenty-five shots. The Pistons plowed on, winning 88-80. No team in NBA history had come back from a three-to-one deficit in the finals; the odds were in the Pistons’ favor. The Lakers started with a bang in game five, taking a 14-7 lead in the first quarter. Following a strategic timeout, the Pistons charged onto the court, dominating the Lakers for the remainder of the quarter. At that point, wrote McCallum, “It was over. There were thirty-six minutes to play. But it was over.” All five of the Pistons starters scored in double digits in game five, with center Ben Wallace collecting twenty-two rebounds. When the buzzer sounded, the Pistons had 100 points, the Lakers 87. For the first time in fourteen years, the Pistons were the NBA champs.

ent teams. The 76ers won fifty-six games during the 2000–01 season, the most victories they had had in more than fifteen years. That year the team made it to the finals, bringing Brown the closest he had come so far to an NBA championship. The road to greatness with the 76ers was a rocky one, with Brown thinking many times about quitting. He struggled with the team’s star player, Allen Iverson, a talented and intense player who initially resisted Brown’s authority and refused to cooperate—or sometimes even show up—at practices. But Brown persisted, and developed a trusting relationship with Iverson, pushing him to realize his potential and become a true team player. Iverson acknowledged the depth of their relationship to Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith in 2001: “We’ve both learned a lot about basketball and life. I know one thing. Coach’s voice will never leave my head as long as I live.” Brown was named NBA Coach of the Year after the 2000–01 season, and the following year he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He also added another Olympic gold medal to his collection, this time as the assistant coach for the 2000 U.S. team in Sydney, Australia. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

75

larry brown

Larry Brown confers with Pistons team members during a break in their 2004 game against the New Jersey Nets. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Brown’s ups and downs Throughout his many years of coaching, Brown has steadily and consistently taken teams that were fumbling and converted them into sleek, powerful, winning franchises. Brown views his role as that of teacher, and he has the patience to work exhaustively on improving players’ skills. His way of teaching basketball, which he frequently refers to as “the right way,” involves an intense, aggressive defensive style, with players giving it their all from the initial tip-off to the final buzzer. He demands a great deal from his players, giving in return his encouragement and confidence. Brown has shown an impressive ability to bring a sense of family to the teams he coaches. Greg Popovich, an NBA coach who served as assistant to Brown during his time with

76


•

volume 1

larry brown

the San Antonio Spurs, told Investor’s Business Daily, “Coach Brown truly does care about people. He wants to know what makes people tick—why they might be depressed on a certain day, who needs love, those sorts of things.” His efforts to build his basketball families have cost him relationships in his personal life, however. Brown has been divorced twice and in the past endured years of barely speaking to his brother Herb. And as close as his relationships to his players become, they are always short-lived, with Brown leaving his post every few years, always seemingly on the hunt for the perfect situation. When he announced his decision to leave the 76ers in the spring of 2003, Joe Dumars—former star player and current general manager of the Detroit Pistons—did not hesitate to call Brown. Dumars was not sure the Pistons would appeal to Brown. As Sean Deveney put it in an article at FOXSports.com, “Brown’s reputation was akin to St. Jude, the patron saint of hopeless causes. He was a guy who came in, fixed a broken team, and moved on to the next broken team.” And the Pistons were not exactly a broken team. Dumars felt certain, however, that Brown would be attracted to the Pistons’ potential to go all the way—with a little help from a respected teacher and devoted coach. Brown accepted Dumars’s offer and headed to the suburbs of Detroit.

Detroit basketball For the players, the transition to working with Brown is not always an easy one. Zeroing in on exactly what will make each player better, Brown works with the players relentlessly to bring them to his standards. He insists that their habits and attitudes change to conform to his model of the “right way” to play basketball. At the same time, he earns the players’ respect and loyalty, reaching the point where his goals become their goals. The Pistons were a good team before Brown came on board, but throughout the 2003–04 season they steadily improved. The team really jelled with the acquisition of six-footeleven-inch power forward Rasheed Wallace in February of 2004. His abilities on both offense and defense provided the force the Pistons needed to move to the next level of play. In the month of March, the Pistons won eight straight games by fifteen or more points, an NBA record. They made the record books again when they held their opponents to less than seventy points for five games in a row. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

77

larry brown

During playoff season the Pistons defied expectations by plowing through their opponents. First they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round, four games to one. Then, over seven games against the New Jersey Nets, the Pistons squeezed out a victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Pistons then claimed the Eastern Conference championship with a four-games-to-two victory over the Indiana Pacers. Next up: the NBA finals, with the Pistons pitted against the seemingly unstoppable Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers were heavily favored, placing the Pistons squarely in underdog territory. Pacing the sidelines, Brown fretted over every missed shot, every turnover, every lost rebound. In the end, Brown and the Pistons were victorious, beating Los Angeles in five games. Brown became the only coach in history to win both an NCAA and an NBA championship. At the beginning of the 2003 basketball season, Sporting News reported the results of a poll of NBA general managers. In the categories of best coach for developing young players and best overall head coach, Larry Brown earned the most votes. In thirty-two years as a head coach—with the NCAA, the now-defunct ABA, and the NBA—Brown has led his teams to a winning season, winning more games than were lost, twenty-eight times. When he was first hired to lead the Pistons, a journalist asked the restless sixty-three-year-old coach if Detroit would be his final coaching job before retirement. Brown replied, according to Sports Illustrated’s Richard Deitsch, “This will be my last stop.” In response, Deitsch quoted fellow writer Gary Smith as saying: “Somehow I don’t think so.… But there is one thing I’m sure of: Somewhere, somehow, Larry Brown will [always] be a coach.”

For More Information Periodicals Deitsch, Richard. “He Keeps Going and Going.” Sports Illustrated Championship Edition (June 30, 2004): p. 87. Deveney, Sean. “A Worthy Challenger.” Sporting News (April 12, 2004): p. 36. Gregory, Sean. “Motown Masterminds.” Time (June 28, 2004): p. 62. McCallum, Jack. “The Rise of the Working Class.” Sports Illustrated Championship Edition (June 30, 2004): p. 47. McCosky, Chris. “What Will Brown Do to You?” Sporting News (October 27, 2003): p. 20.

78


•

volume 1

larry brown Mink, Michael. “Champion Coach Larry Brown.” Investor’s Business Daily (June 28, 2004): p. A07. Rapoport, Ron. “Forgettable NBA Finals Need Fast, Merciful Ending.” Chicago Sun-Times (June 3, 2004). Smith, Gary. “Mama’s Boys.” Sports Illustrated (April 23, 2001): p. 54. Smith, Gary. “‘Where You Gonna Be Next Year, Larry?’” Sports Illustrated (November 12, 1984): p. 106.

Web Sites Deveney, Sean. “Brown, Pistons a Good Fit.” FOXSports.com. http://msn. foxsports.com/content/view?contentId=2490118 (accessed on July 1, 2004). “Larry Brown.” HoopHall.com: Official Website of the Basketball Hall of Fame. http://www.hoophall.com/halloffamers/brown_larry.htm (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Larry Brown.” NBA.com http://www.nba.com/coachfile/larry_brown/ (accessed on June 30, 2004).


•

volume 1

79

Mark Burnett

July 17, 1960 • London, England


•

Jim Spellman/WireImage.com.

volume 1

Television producer

In May 2000, when Americans first heard the phrase “the tribe has spoken,” television as we knew it changed forever. The speaker was host Jeff Probst; the television show was Survivor; the show’s creator was British-born producer Mark Burnett. Survivor was a game show like no other before it. With sixteen castaways battling to win a million-dollar prize on a deserted island, it was part athletic competition and part soap opera. Millions tuned in to watch the contestants experience conditions of deprivation, dilemma, and physical challenge. The savvy Burnett realized that the audience watching this show was the key to a gold mine, and he soon began work on other reality television series. In 2003 he produced The Restaurant, which presented the ups and downs that go into launching a new restaurant. In 2004 Burnett’s “The Apprentice” drew millions of viewers as contestants vied to win a corporate position with one of America’s richest businessmen. Along the way, Burnett became one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and everyone watched as he earned the title, “king of reality TV.”

81

mark burnett

From commando to nanny Mark Burnett came from a humble, but very supportive family. He was born in July 17, 1960, in London, England’s East End to parents who were factory workers. His father worked in a Ford Motor Company plant; his mother worked in the battery compound next door. Although the Burnetts could not afford to give their only child a lot of material things, they did give him plenty of encouragement. Burnett’s mother, in particular, served as an early role model. As Burnett recalled in his autobiography Dare to Succeed, “She always dressed immaculately, never letting her station in life interfere with how she presented herself.” She passed that sense of pride on to her son, and

“I heard my name associated with the Peter Pan syndrome more than once. But, really, what’s so wrong with Peter Pan? Peter Pan flies. He is a metaphor for dreams and faith.” always explained to him that he could achieve anything in life he wanted. She was also her son’s biggest champion. Burnett explained in his autobiography, “Basically, she supported every crazy thing I had ever done my whole life.” When he was seventeen years old, Burnett joined the British Army. In a short time, he became a section commander of the prestigious Parachute Regiment. Burnett saw active duty in Northern Ireland and the Falkland Islands, and left the army in 1982 a decorated soldier. Although he observed the horrors of war, Burnett also had his first taste of adventure, a taste that would stay with him the rest of his life. Not sure what to do after the service, Burnett decided to take a position as a military adviser in Central America. He did not tell his mother the full details, only that he was taking a “security job.” Burnett’s mother told him she had an uneasy feeling about the job, and she asked her son to reconsider accepting it. When he landed in Los Ange-

82


•

volume 1

mark burnett

les, in 1982, on his way to Central America, Burnett thought about his mother’s warning and decided to stay put in the United States. With $600 in his pocket, he contemplated his next move. A friend of his who was living in Los Angeles told him about a wealthy Malibu family who was looking for a nanny. Impressed by his cleaning and ironing abilities (learned in the strict British Army environment), Burnett was hired. The commando-turned-nanny worked for two different families over the course of several years. Burnett became lifelong friends with one of his employers (named Burt), and Burt eventually developed into the young man’s mentor. Burnett quizzed the producers and businessmen he came into contact with through Burt, and he soaked up all the information they could offer. Eventually, Burt hired Burnett to sell insurance. During the late 1980s, Burnett went from selling insurance to selling T-shirts along a fence in Venice Beach, California, to starting his own marketing and advertising firm. By the early 1990s, the English immigrant who had come to the United States with a few hundred dollars had earned his first million. By all accounts, he was a success. However, Burnett felt something was missing. That something was adventure.

Eco-Challenge In February 1991, Burnett found his inspiration. While flipping through the Los Angeles Times he happened upon an article describing a French adventure competition called the Raid Gauloises. Each year, five-person teams from various countries competed in an exotic location for up to two weeks. The race was grueling as team members competed nonstop, taking on such tasks as marathon kayaking, horseback riding (or even camel-riding, depending on the location), and parachuting. Such physically demanding competitions were not new to Europe, but the United States had nothing of the kind. Burnett decided to fix that. He would create his own competition, call it EcoChallenge, and produce it for American television. Burnett felt he had to prepare for Eco-Challenge. As he remarked in his autobiography, “I took an unusual step. I would race in the Raid-Gauloises. This would show me how my future customers actually felt while racing, and help me become a better race producer.” Burnett pulled together Team American Pride, the first U.S. team ever to compete in the Raid Gauloises. He and Team America competU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

83

mark burnett

Mark Burnett’s Principles of Success

Mark Burnett is an inspiration story. From soldier to nanny; from salesman to producer, he is a true man of vision. As Kevin Downey of Broadcasting & Cable put it, “Burnett has a vision that strays far from the norm. Fortunately for him, advertisers and millions of viewers have turned some of his dreams into hits.” According to Burnett, however, the keys to success are easy ones that everyone can follow. In his bestselling book Dare to Succeed: How to Survive and Thrive in the Game of Life, he describes seven principles that have been a guide “through the minefields dividing dreams and success.”

1. Only results count. 2. Have the courage to fail. 3. Choose teammates wisely. 4. Perseverance produces character. 5. Be right or be wrong, but make a decision. 6. Set achievable goals. 7. Try to go above, beyond, and then further.

ed in the 1992 Raid in Oman, the 1993 Raid in Madagascar, and the 1994 Raid in Borneo. By 1995 Burnett was ready to launch his own race. He formed a management team, poured every cent he had into the idea (including taking a loan against his house), and pitched the idea to several television networks. On April 25, 1995, the first EcoChallenge was held in Utah, and broadcast on MTV. The show later migrated to the Discovery Channel and then to the USA Network. Billed as the “toughest race in the world,” the first competition spanned over 370 miles across the rocky terrain of southern Utah, and included more than fifty teams. Players had to ride on horseback for 26 miles, swim in cold water carrying backpacks, and hike more than 100 miles across the desert. Some of the players did not make it and had to be flown by helicopter to safety. When an interviewer from Boy’s Life asked Burnett why people would put themselves through such physical torture, he explained, “Only by taking people to their lowest low do they learn something about themselves.” Players kept coming back for more, and so did audiences. Burnett produced eight more Eco-Challenges, which took place in one exotic location after another, including Morocco (1998), Borneo (2000), New Zealand (2002), and Fiji (2003). Eco-Challenge was nominated several times for an Emmy award (the highest achievement in television) and received many top honors, including a 1996 Sports Emmy.

84


•

volume 1

mark burnett

Survival of the fittest Inspired by the success of Eco-Challenge, Burnett geared up to produce another competition-based series. During the course of the EcoChallenge races, he was intrigued by how the players interacted with each other under stress. As he told USA Today online, “Eco-Challenge proved to me that the communication within groups was much more a factor in an expedition success than technical or physical attributes. And that’s what attracted me to Survivor.” Survivor was actually the brainchild of British producer Charlie Parsons. Burnett purchased the rights to the idea from Parsons in 1998. As he wrote in his autobiography, “I had a gut feeling that I could make this great concept even greater.” It took Burnett a few years to convince networks of his gut feeling. Network after network turned down the project until 2000, when CBS snapped it up, hoping to air it during the empty summer months when its regular line-up was in reruns. Six thousand people applied for the chance to be dropped off on a remote island in order to compete for food, shelter, and the ultimate prize of one million dollars. Only sixteen were chosen, ranging from Rudy, a retired Navy SEAL (a highly skilled military division), to a female truck driver named Susan. The men and women were divided into two “tribes,” and over the course of thirty-nine days they competed in such challenges as fish-spearing, slug-eating, and running obstacle courses. At the end of each show, the losing team of the night met in tribal councils and voted off one of their own members. Survivor was an immediate and outrageous success. Viewers flocked to their sets every Thursday night to find out who was voted off, and tuned in on Friday mornings to watch ousted tribal members interviewed on radio and TV talk shows. On August 23, 2000, over fifty million people tuned in to watch the series finale. The show’s winner, Richard Hatch, became an instant celebrity; producer Mark Burnett became a multi-millionaire; and Survivor went down in pop culture history as the most successful reality show of all time.

From island jungle to concrete jungle Burnett went on to create a number of Survivor sequels and specials, and although none quite reached the heights of the original, each U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

85

mark burnett

Mark Burnett (center) and the cast of Survivor: Pearl Island pose with their 2004 People’s Choice Award.

attracted record numbers of viewers. In December 2003, when Survivor: Pearl Island (the seventh installment in the series) ended, it was the second-most watched program on network television. In May of 2004 more than twenty-four million viewers saw Amber Brkich named the winner of the Survivor: All Stars competition, which set eighteen past cast members in competition against one another.


In addition to its popularity with audiences, Survivor received praise from critics and was nominated for fourteen Emmy awards, winning two. Perhaps the real mark of success was that Survivor spawned a number of imitators, including Big Brother and Joe Millionaire. Such shows hoped to cash in on the reality craze, but none even came close. Burnett was not yet finished riding the reality show wave. In 2003 he took his cameras to Oahu, Hawaii, and introduced viewers to the world of professional surfing in Boarding House: North Shore. He also gave us a behind-the-scenes look at the restaurant business while following up-and-coming New York chef Rocco DiSpirito in The

86


•

volume 1

mark burnett

Restaurant. Neither show had quite the draw of Survivor. In 2004, however, Burnett moved from the island jungles to the concrete jungle in The Apprentice. And, once again, he hit the jackpot. On the surface, The Apprentice sounded very much like Survivor: sixteen contestants picked to compete in a number of challenges to win a grand prize. In this case, the contestants were men and women with backgrounds in business, the playing field was set on the streets of New York City, and the winner got the chance to work for Donald Trump (1946–), a U.S. real estate whiz who is estimated to be worth approximately $4 billion. Burnett was a longtime fan of Trump, and in 2002 he got the chance to meet his idol when he leased the skating rink in Central Park for a Survivor finale. Trump owns the rink (as well as many other New York City landmarks), and the two got to talking. They both agreed that a competition set in New York would be perfect since, as Trump remarked to Entertainment Weekly, “New York City is the toughest jungle of them all.” Over the fifteen episodes, two teams (men versus women) competed to see who was the best at selling lemonade, designing ad campaigns, and renting high-priced apartments. At the end of each show, instead of gathering at a tribal council, the losing team met with Trump in the “boardroom.” Just as millions tuned in to watch Jeff Probst extinguish a tribal member’s torch, millions more tuned in to watch Trump flick his wrist, point at the losing player, and say, “You’re fired!” By the series end, the contestants had again become celebrities, as fans rooted for the conniving Omarosa, mild-mannered Kwame, and spastic Sam; the network and Burnett were taking home barrels of cash; and Burnett cemented himself as the guru, the titan, the king of reality TV. Following the success of The Apprentice, Trump wrote in Time that “Burnett is a great visionary, able to see into the future with far better accuracy than any of his competitors. His No. 1 talent is having the right idea at the right time.… The positive impact of his efforts has been seen and felt by tens of millions of people.”

King of unscripted drama In interviews Burnett acknowledges that he has tapped into a new type of television producing, but he bristles at the term “reality TV.” As he told Josh Mankiewicz of Dateline NBC, he prefers to call his creU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

87

mark burnett

ations, “unscripted dramas.” Regardless of what they are called, there seems to be no end to them. In March 2004, Burnett launched a program called Recovery, which follows a CIA agent who recovers abducted children. Premiering in June 2004, The Casino follows two entrepreneurs who purchase the failing Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the hopes of resurrecting its glory days. Burnett is also producing The Contender, along with actordirector Sylvester Stallone (1946–). The focus of the show is a nationwide search for the next boxing superstar. By 2004, forty million people were watching Mark Burnett– produced shows every week on at least three major networks. He was also a best-selling author, a motivational speaker, and he appeared on almost every “who’s who” list imaginable, from “Entertainment Weekly’s Top 101 Most Powerful People in Entertainment” to “TV Guide’s Most Valuable Players” list. In his spare time, Burnett was active in a number of charities, and he remained a top-notch athlete: he is a certified scuba diver and an advanced-level skydiver. What is Burnett’s message to adventurers out there? As he told Josh Mankiewicz of MSNBC, “There’s nothing like biting off more than you can chew and chew it anyway.”

For More Information Books Burnett, Mark. Dare to Succeed: How to Survive and Thrive in the Game of Life. New York: Hyperion, 2001.

Periodicals Armstrong, Jennifer. “Donald’s Kids: Sixteen Go-Getters Will Do Anything to Land a Job with Trump.” Entertainment Weekly (December 19, 2003): p. 64. Boga, Steve. “Challenge of a Lifetime.” Boy’s Life (August 1996). Downey, Kevin. “A Dreamer of Real Dreams: Burnett Launched a Television Genre and Has Seen It Gain Respect.” Broadcasting & Cable (January 19, 2004) p. 10A). Poniewozik, James. “The Art of the Real: Donald Trump Doesn’t Hand Out Roses, But He Does Break Hearts on the Reality Showdown ‘The Apprentice.’” Time (January 12, 2004): p. 69. Trump, Donald J. “Mark Burnett: The Guru of Reality Television.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 95.

88


•

volume 1

mark burnett

Web Sites The Apprentice Web site. http://www.nbc.com/The_Apprentice (accessed on May 29, 2004). Curtis, Bryan. “Mark Burnett: Saving the World One Reality Show at a Time.” MSN: Slate Web site (April 12, 2004). http://slate.msn.com/id/ 2098688 (accessed on May 29, 2004)> Mankiewicz, Josh. “Mark Burnett: Mr. Reality TV.” MSNBC: Dateline NBC (April 16, 2004). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4740184 (accessed on May 29, 2004). Survivor Web site. http://www.cbs.com/primetime/survivor8/index.shtml (accessed on May 29, 2004). “Survivor: Mark Burnett.” USA Today Online (July 19, 2000). http://www. usatoday.com/community/chat/0719burnett.htm (accessed May 29, 2004).


•

volume 1

89

Benjamin Solomon Carson September 18, 1951 • Detroit, Michigan



•

volume 1

Neurosurgeon, motivational speaker, philanthropist, author

Ben Carson is one of the most famous and respected doctors in the world. Since the 1980s, his surgeries to separate conjoined twins have made international headlines, and his pioneering techniques have revolutionized the field of neurosurgery. Almost as important is that Carson has become a role model for people of all ages, especially children. Although he works thirteen-hour days and performs hundreds of operations a year, Carson makes time to spread his message that anything in life is possible, regardless of what color a person is or where he is from. Carson speaks from experience. He went from the innercity streets of Detroit, Michigan, to the halls of Yale University, to director of pediatric neurosurgery at one of the most prestigious hospitals in the United States. In 2004 Carson was awarded the Healthcare Humanitarian Award because he has “enhanced the quality of human lives … and has influenced the course of history through ongoing contributions to healthcare and medicine.”

91

benjamin solomon carson

The “dumbest kid in the world” Carson’s mother, Sonya Copeland, was only thirteen years old when she married a much older Baptist minister from Tennessee named Robert Solomon Carson. After the couple moved to Detroit, Michigan, they had two boys, Curtis, born in 1949, and Benjamin Solomon, born on September 18, 1951. When young Ben was only eight years old, his parents divorced, and Sonya Carson was left to raise her two sons alone. Sonya moved the boys to Boston, Massachusetts, to be near family, but less than a year later the Carsons returned to Detroit. Sonya took on two, sometimes three, cleaning jobs at a time to support her children. In his writings, Carson has commented that even during the hardest times, his mother was the family’s rock.

“One of the things that really has inspired me and pushed me on is learning about the human brain and recognizing the incredible potential that lies there—but also recognizing how few people use it.” He was never a good student, but when Carson returned to his Michigan elementary school he realized that he was far behind the other fifth graders. In fact, in an Oracle interview with Andrew Pina, Carson recalled being laughed at by his classmates who, one day at recess, decided he was not only the dumbest kid in the fifth grade, but maybe the dumbest kid in the whole world. Life at Higgens Elementary was also not easy because it was a predominantly white school, and Carson, one of the few African American students, was taunted by his schoolmates and ignored by teachers. Sonya Carson decided to take matters into her own hands by switching off the television. Ben and Curtis were allowed to watch only two programs a week, and their mother made them read two books each week from the Detroit Public Library. The boys were also

92


•

volume 1


Carson Scholars

In

1994 Ben Carson and his wife, Candy, established the Carson Scholars Fund. Carson noticed that schools honored athletes with trophies and pep rallies, but that academic achievement often went unnoticed. He also wanted to encourage students to explore the fields of science and technology. According to the fund’s Web site (http://www.carsonscholars.org), the goal of the nonprofit organization is to “to help our children stay competitive in science, math, and technology, as well as balance academic achievement with the high esteem our society gives to sports and entertainment. Each year, scholarships of $1,000 are awarded to students in grades four through twelve who achieve a grade point average of at least 3.75, and who show a true commitment to their community. Scholarships are presented at an awards banquet where winners are also given certificates and medals. Currently, the program exists in Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Delaware. Certain cities in several other states, including Battle Creek, Michigan, also participate. The ulti-

mate goal of Dr. Carson, “is to have a Carson scholar in every school in the United States.” Proceeds from the sale of Carson’s books help support the scholarship program, but in 2003 Carson found a different funding source. Directors Peter and Bobby Farrelly approached the famous physician about playing himself in their movie, Stuck on You, about conjoined adult twins who are separated. The movie was a comedy, and at first Carson was doubtful about becoming involved. However, when he read the script he actually liked it and realized the film was going to be tastefully done. As Carson told U.S. News & World Report, “they do give you some insights on what that must be like to be connected to someone 24-7.” The rest of the Carsons also appeared in the movie: Candy was a nurse, and Carson’s children played extras in the hospital waiting room. When the movie premiered in Baltimore, Maryland, home of Johns Hopkins, all the proceeds went to the Carson Scholars Fund and to the BEN Fund, which provides financial aid to children who cannot afford necessary surgeries.

required to write book reports, which Sonya would underline and mark up. Only later did Ben Carson realize his mother, who had left school after the third grade, was barely able to read. “She pulled a fast one on us,” Carson told David Gergen of PBS, “but after a while, something happened. I began to actually enjoy reading the books.… I could go anywhere in the world, be anybody, do anything. You know my imagination began to run wild.” Within a year-and-a-half Carson went from the bottom of his class to the top of his class. Another obstacle that threatened to defeat Carson was his violent temper. Sometimes his anger was provoked, like when he was teased. Other times he lashed out over insignificant things. When he was fourteen, for example, Carson stabbed a friend because the boy had changed the radio station. This incident terrified Carson, who U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

93


realized, as he told Current Science, that he was headed for “jail, reform school, or the grave.” Carson turned to prayer, and learned to make peace with himself and others. Even today, the physician relies on his Christian faith, and prays before and after each surgery.

Brain power By the time he graduated from Southwestern High School in 1969, Carson was earning all A’s, and his classmates, who only a few years before called him the dumbest kid in school, voted him the most likely to succeed. He received a full scholarship to attend Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, where, in 1973, he earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. From there, he headed back to Michigan to attend medical school. Carson had wanted to become a doctor since he was a boy, after hearing about medical missionaries in sermons at church. He originally planned to become a psychiatrist, but during his first year in medical school he was intrigued by the field of neurosurgery (surgery of the brain, nerves, and spinal cord). After earning a medical degree from the University of Michigan in 1977, the young physician was accepted into the residency program in general surgery at the prestigious Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland. Carson was the hospital’s first African American neurosurgical resident, and by 1982, he was the chief resident of neurosurgery. In 1983 Carson and his wife, Lacena “Candy” Rustin (whom he had met at Yale), moved to Perth, Australia, because Carson had been invited to be the chief neurosurgical resident at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, one of Australia’s leading centers for brain surgery. Because there were few neurosurgeons in the country, Carson gained a great deal of experience in a short time. As he wrote in his book Gifted Hands, “In my one year there I got so much surgical experience that my skills were honed tremendously, and I felt remarkably capable and comfortable working on the brain.” In 1984 Carson returned to the United States, and to Johns Hopkins, where at age thirty-three he was named director of pediatric (child) neurosurgery. He was the youngest doctor ever to hold the position, and Carson remains head of pediatric neurosurgery to this day. Carson quickly gained a reputation as a skillful surgeon; he also became known as someone who would take on cases that other doctors thought were risky

94


•

volume 1


or hopeless. In addition, Carson was eager to combine his own surgical skills and knowledge of the workings of the brain, with technology. As a result, he became a pioneer in advanced surgical methods. Some of Carson’s most difficult cases involved patients who suffered from chronic seizures (uncontrollable attacks that come from abnormal electrical discharges in the brain). In some cases, patients were having more than one hundred seizures a day. Carson revived a surgical procedure that had been abandoned because it was considered too dangerous. Called a hemispherectomy, the surgery involves removing half of a patient’s brain. Carson performed his first successful hemispherectomy in 1985, and since then the operation has helped many patients lead healthy, normal lives.

Separating conjoined twins Carson made numerous other advancements in neurosurgery. For example, he developed a new method to treat brain-stem tumors and was the first doctor to perform surgery on a fetus inside the womb. However, by the late 1980s, Carson became known as an expert in one of the most difficult types of surgeries: separating conjoined twins (identical twins born with connected body parts). Conjoined twins occur once in every seventy thousand to one hundred thousand births. Separating conjoined twins is difficult because they sometimes share internal organs or major blood vessels. In 1987 Carson was called upon to separate two babies from Ulm, Germany, named Patrick and Benjamin Binder. The boys were craniopagus twins, which means they were joined at the head. Craniopagal joining is among the rarest forms of conjoined twins, occurring about once in every two million births. Because the condition is so rare and because one, or both, children usually die in surgery, most doctors were skeptical of the case. Carson, however, agreed to perform the surgery. Because the boys were joined at the back of the head, and because they had separate brains, he felt the operation could be performed successfully. Plus, as Carson told Current Science, “In my field, you take all comers.” Carson and his team of more than seventy people prepared for five months before the surgery, which included performing several U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

95


dress rehearsals. On September 5, 1987, after twenty-two hours in the operating room, the boys were successfully separated. Part of the success was because Carson had developed a method to stop the flow of blood while he and other surgeons performed the delicate task of untangling, dividing, and repairing shared blood vessels. Although the twins suffered brain damage, both survived the operation and became the first craniopagus twins to successfully be separated. In the 1990s Carson surgically separated two sets of craniopagus twins. The 1994 separation of the Makwaeba twins in South Africa was not successful; both girls died from complications of the surgery. In 1997, however, Carson and his team were able to separate Luka and Joseph Banda, infant boys from Zambia, in South Central Africa. Both boys survived, and neither one suffered severe brain damage. The Bandas were the first set of twins joined at the tops of their heads to be successfully surgically separated.

Laden (left) and Laleh Bijani, the Iranian conjoined twins Ben Carson and others operated on in an attempt to separate them. AP/ Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Adult separation In 2003 Carson faced perhaps his biggest challenge: separating two adult conjoined twins. Ladan and Laleh Bijani, who were joined at the head, were twenty-nine years old when they decided to be separated. The separation of adult craniopagus twins had never been attempted because the outcome was almost certain to be death for both patients. Even Carson, ever the optimist, was not sure what the results would be. He tried to talk the two women out of the surgery, but after many discussions with them, he agreed to move forward. Ladan and Laleh had law degrees, were extremely bright and, according to Carson, they knew exactly what was in store for them. As Carson recounted to Andrew Pina, more than anything the women wanted to live independent lives: “They said, ‘We would rather die than spend another day together.’” Carson and a team of more than one hundred surgeons, specialists, and assistants conducted the fifty-two-hour operation on July 8, 2003, in Singapore (Southeast Asia). They used a 3-D imaging technique that Carson had developed for the Banda operation. The computerized images allowed the team to practice “virtually” before the

96


•

volume 1


operation and allowed them to follow a computerized reconstruction of the twins’ brains during surgery. Midway through the operation, however, complications set in, and Ladan and Laleh both died because of severe blood loss. As devastating as the loss was, Carson told the press, as reported in the Observer, “What they have contributed to science will live far beyond them.”

Medical superstar People around the world were intrigued by conjoined twins, and Carson’s surgeries generated a lot of press. At first, the soft-spoken doctor was known in the media only as a hospital spokesperson who explained complicated operations in terms that everyone could understand. Eventually, Carson’s own story began to pique the interest of the public. Everyone was fascinated that such a “miracle worker” had come from such humble beginnings, and soon Carson became a motivational speaker, much in demand at schools, hospitals, and businesses. He traveled across the United States, explaining that if he was able to overcome such obstacles as poverty and racism, anyone could. On his Web site, Carson outlined what he believes to be the keys to success: “One’s ability to discover his or her potential for excellence; the acquisition of knowledge to develop it; and a willingness to help others.” The biggest key is education, which according to Carson, “leads to liberation.” In 2002 Carson was forced to cut back on his public appearances a bit when he faced a medical problem of his own. In June he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, but fortunately the cancer was caught in time. Carson the surgeon became Carson the patient, but that did not stop him from taking an active role in his own case. The feisty doctor reviewed his own X-rays and quizzed the team of surgeons who operated on him. Carson fully recovered from his surgery and came away with a clean bill of health. Because of his brush with death, however, Carson made a few life changes. Although he was always interested in cancer, Carson told Ebony, now he is “looking more at root causes of cancer and how it can be prevented.” He still operates on more than three hundred children a year, but he has been trying to shorten his days: prior to his cancer he used to work from 7:00 in the morning until 8:00 at night. Now, he tries to leave the hospital at 6:15 P.M. This gives him more U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

97


time to spend with his wife and three children, Murray, Benjamin Jr., and Rhoeyce, and to indulge in his other passion, playing pool. Carson still keeps up a busy speaking schedule, but children also visit him at Johns Hopkins to see their role model in person. In addition, Carson has written several books that recount his life story and encourage people everywhere to strive for excellence. Because of his unflagging commitment to children and his many medical breakthroughs, Carson has received countless awards and honorary degrees. In 2004 there was even talk of a Hollywood movie that would tell the world more about the man Ebony magazine called a “medical superstar.”

For More Information Books Carson, Ben, with Cecil Murphey. Gifted Hands. Washington, DC: Review and Herald, 1990. Carson, Ben, with Cecil Murphey. Think Big: Unleashing Your Potential for Excellence. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992. Carson, Ben, with Gregg Lewis. The Big Picture: Getting Perspective on What’s Really Important in Life. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1999.

Periodicals “Dr. Ben Carson: Top Surgeon’s Life-and-Death Struggle with Prostate Cancer.” Ebony (January 2003): p. 38. Hallett, Vicky. “He Split Up Matt and Greg.” U.S. News & World Report (December 15, 2003): p. 16. McLaughlin, Sabrina. “Split Decisions: Surgeon Ben Carson Is a Master at Separating Conjoined Twins.” Current Science (April 16, 2004). Pina, Andrew. “A Look at ‘The Big Picture.’” The Oracle (April 12, 2004). Vaira, Douglas. “The Good Doctor: Dr. Benjamin Carson Proves That with Determination and Confidence, Anything Is Possible.” Association Management (October 2003): pp. 56–61.

Web Sites Dr. Ben Carson Web site. http://www.drbencarson.com (accessed on June 27, 2004). Gergen, David. “The Big Picture: Interview with Dr. Ben Carson.” PBS Online NewsHour (September 7, 1999). http://www.pbs.org/newshour/ gergen/july-dec99/carson_9-7.html (accessed June 27, 2004). McKie, Robin. “Doctors ‘Begged’ Twins to Call Off Surgery.” Observer (July 13, 2003). http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,997302, 00.html (accessed on June 26, 2004).

98


•

volume 1

benjamin solomon carson “Pediatric Neurosurgeon Benjamin Carson, M.D. to Separate Adult Conjoined Twins in Singapore.” Johns Hopkins Press Release (June 12, 2003). http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/press/2003/June/030612.htm (accessed on June 27, 2004.


•

volume 1

99

Keisha Castle-Hughes

March 24, 1990 • Donnybrook, Western Australia


•

Steve Granitz/Wire Image.com.

volume 1

Actress

Growing up in New Zealand, Keisha Castle-Hughes dreamed of someday becoming an actress, though she suspected that achieving such a goal would be extremely difficult. In 2001, when Castle-Hughes was just eleven years old, a casting director visited her school searching for a young girl to play the lead role in an upcoming movie. In a fairy-tale-like scenario, Castle-Hughes was awarded the role, chosen from among hundreds of children to play Pai, the main character in Whale Rider. Just three years later, in February of 2004, she found herself seated in one of the front rows of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California, at the seventy-sixth annual Academy Awards ceremony. Castle-Hughes was no ordinary attendee, however: she arrived at the ceremony as a history-making performer, the youngest ever to earn a nomination for best actress.

101

keisha castle-hughes

An ordinary childhood Castle-Hughes was born on March 24, 1990, in Donnybrook, Western Australia. Her father, Tim Castle, is Australian, while her mother, Desrae Hughes, is a Maori from New Zealand. The Maori, a people of Polynesian descent, were the first to populate New Zealand, possibly as long ago as 800 C.E. When Castle-Hughes was four years old, she and her family moved to New Zealand, a nation consisting primarily of two large islands, the North Island and the South Island. She now lives on the North Island in Glenn Innes, near Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. Castle-Hughes has two younger brothers, Rhys and Liam.

“A long time ago, my ancestor Paikea came to this place on the back of a whale. Since then, in every generation of my family, the first-born son has carried his name and become the leader of our tribe … until now.” Keisha Castle-Hughes, as Paikea, in Whale Rider

Prior to being cast in Whale Rider, Castle-Hughes had experienced a typical childhood, attending school, arguing with her brothers over whose turn it was to wash the dishes, and spending time with friends. She told Eleanor Black of the New Zealand Herald, “I’m always on the phone. When I’m not with a friend, I’m on the phone to a friend and when I’m not on the phone to a friend, I’m on the net to a friend, so I’m always with friends.” She had wanted to become an actress one day, although she had been warned this was a difficult path. Upon expressing her theatrical ambitions during a career fair at her school, she was advised to seek a more “realistic” profession. According to an article in Entertainment Weekly, she recalled, “I always said I wanted to be an actor and people were like, ‘It’s not going to happen. It’s a great dream, but let’s get real here.’”

102


•

volume 1


Whale Rider: The Novel

The screenplay for the movie

Whale Rider, adapted for film by director Niki Caro, was based on a novel by Witi Ihimaera. Born in Gisborne, New Zealand, in 1944, Ihimaera has been credited with writing the first Maori novel—Tangi, released in 1973. Best known for his works written for adults, Ihimaera has also published books for a younger audience, including his young-adult novel Whale Rider. The film’s success brought the author, already celebrated in his native land, significant exposure worldwide. Like the film, the novel focuses on a young girl, though her name in the book is Kahu rather than Pai. The chapters alternate between narration of the girl’s story by her uncle, Rawiri, and an account of the legendary whale rider, founder of the Maori people. As

with her film counterpart, Kahu displays the qualities of a natural leader, but she meets with anger and resistance on the part of her great-grandfather, who cannot accept the idea of a female tribal chief. Supported and loved by her less-traditional great-grandmother, Nanny Flowers, Kahu develops the confidence to challenge her tribe’s ancient conventions. (In the film these characters are the girl’s grandparents rather than great-grandparents.) In a review of the novel in Booklist, Gillian Engberg described it as a challenging work because of its multiple story lines and difficult subject matter, but asserted that the book is well worth the effort: “[Ihimaera] combines breathtaking, poetic imagery, hilarious family dialogue, and scenes that beautifully juxtapose contemporary and ancient culture.”

An extraordinary adolescence When director Niki Caro and casting director Diana Rowan visited her school in Mt. Wellington in 2001, Castle-Hughes had no way of knowing the impact that visit would have on her life. Nearly ten years earlier, Rowan had discovered Anna Paquin, also a Kiwi, or New Zealander, and cast her in the Oscar-winning film The Piano. Paquin won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in that film and has gone on to star in several successful films, including the X-Men series. Just as she had done with Paquin, Rowan detected untapped acting potential in Castle-Hughes, and the eleven-year-old was chosen to star as Paikea in Caro’s upcoming film Whale Rider. In her biography on the official Web site for Whale Rider, Castle-Hughes recalled her reaction when she learned she had gotten the role of Pai: “I was just speechless, I didn’t know what to say. About two hours later I was running around the hotel just screaming. I was so overwhelmed!” Castle-Hughes spent about two months filming Whale Rider in Whangara, a small seaside village on the eastern coast of New Zealand. With the help of her tutor, Stephanie Wilkin, and director Caro, CastleU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

103


Hughes received a crash course in acting, learning the basics of her craft and getting to know the character she would play. Castle-Hughes recalled at the film’s Web site: “Stef and Niki showed me how to find my feelings and how to talk properly. Then after a couple of weeks I just fell into the character. I didn’t need to look back on anything because I could feel the character so much.” She earned praise from the filmmakers and her fellow actors for her dedication, her professionalism, and her ability to portray complex emotions in a believable way.

Whale Rider Based on a book by Maori author Witi Ihimaera, Whale Rider depicts a crisis in the world of a Maori tribe known as Ngati Kanohi. The tribal elders struggle to make their ancient traditions relevant to the young people in the tribe, many of whom feel a strong attraction to the values and popular culture of Western society. The leader of the tribe, Koro, finds himself in a difficult position: tribal tradition dictates that the leader be a first-born male descendant of the legendary Paikea, who arrived at the shores of New Zealand one thousand years ago on the back of a whale. But a tragedy in Koro’s family has undermined that tradition: while in labor delivering her twin daughter and son, Koro’s daughter-in-law dies, as does the baby boy. The griefstricken father, Koro’s son Porourangi, names his daughter Paikea, breaking with tradition by giving a girl the name of the male tribal ancestor. Koro, desperately worried about the tribe’s future now that the male heir has died, urges his son to quickly remarry and produce a male heir. Pourarangi responds by fleeing New Zealand, leaving his daughter to be raised by her grandparents. That little girl, nicknamed Pai, grows up in the shadow of her grandfather’s disappointment that his one surviving grandchild is a girl. To Koro it is unthinkable that a girl could take on the responsibility of leading the tribe. He begins conducting training sessions for local boys, teaching them the tribe’s ancient warrior ways in the hope of finding a natural leader among them. Pai watches the proceedings secretly, wanting to participate in the classes but forbidden by her grandfather from taking part. Despite his orders, Pai practices on the sly, mastering the warrior arts and learning about other aspects of her tribe’s customs. She is deeply hurt by her grandfather’s rejection but

104


•

volume 1


somehow remains steadfast in her belief that she is destined to lead her tribe and that her grandfather will eventually recognize that fact.

Actress Sigourney Weaver and Academy president Frank Pierson announce the nominees for the 2004 best leading actress Oscar. Pictured on the screen behind them, from lower left: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Diane Keaton, Samantha Morton, Charlize Theron, and Naomi Watts.

When several whales are stranded on Whangara’s beach, many in the community interpret the situation as a dire warning for the tribe itself. They consider the whales sacred, and if the beached whales die, it would seem to forecast more trouble for the Ngati Kanohi people. The entire town bands together in an effort to get the whales back into the water, but their efforts are unsuccessful. In an extraordinary display of courage and leadership, Pai goes to the beach alone, climbs on the back of one of the whales and, like her legendary namesake, rides the whale through the ocean water.


The aftermath Whale Rider, a small movie from the distant country of New Zealand that starred native actors as well as non-actors who had never before U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

105


been in a film, achieved a surprising level of success in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. The film earned more than $40 million at box offices worldwide, a respectable sum for any movie and a shocking amount for a film made well outside the Hollywood mainstream, with a budget of about $4 million. Whale Rider won audience awards at such important festivals as the Toronto Film Festival in Ontario, Canada, and the Sundance Film Festival in the United States. At the New Zealand film awards the film won honors for best film, writer, and director, with Castle-Hughes taking home the trophy for best actress. Of her many awards and accomplishments, Castle-Hughes’s Academy Award nomination for best actress earned her the most attention worldwide. The youngest-ever nominee lost to Charlize Theron, star of Monster, but for thirteen-year-old Castle-Hughes, being in Los Angeles, appearing on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Oprah Winfrey Show, and attending the Oscar ceremonies provided sufficient excitement to overcome any disappointment. While she enjoyed the hoopla surrounding the Academy Awards, CastleHughes, viewing the Hollywood scene for the first time, expressed a hint of skepticism in a February of 2004 article in the New Zealand Herald: “Here it’s all based on these awards and these awards and these awards, and if your life doesn’t revolve around it, then what are you doing in Los Angeles?” She also expressed amusement regarding the numerous gift baskets she received as an Academy Award nominee: “What am I going to do with acid peel and wrinkle remover? And you get all these gift certificates for places in Beverly Hills—I’m like, I live twelve hours away from here.” Following her whirlwind tour of the American entertainment industry, Castle-Hughes eagerly returned home to her friends and family, hoping to get back to her normal life but unsure whether that would be possible. In early 2003, just as her fame was spreading from the success of Whale Rider, Castle-Hughes told the New Zealand Herald of her anxieties about enrolling at a new school: “I think it would be nice if I could meet people as me, but that’s not going to be possible. I’m going to meet people as ‘the whale rider’ and it’s going to be hard, even as fun as it’s going to be. I want to meet people on my own steam.” Coping with newfound fame and the changes it brings will continue to be a factor in Castle-Hughes’s life; she plays the Queen of Naboo in the upcoming film Star Wars: Episode III, due in 2005.

106


•

volume 1


For More Information Periodicals Baillie, Russell. “Keisha’s Big Worry, Heels and Red Carpet.” New Zealand Herald (February 28, 2004). Bal, Sumeet. “Keisha Castle-Hughes: Whale Rider.” Entertainment Weekly (February 6, 2004): p. 50. Black, Eleanor. “Taking Rider in Her Stride.” New Zealand Herald (January 25, 2003). Engberg, Gillian. “The Whale Rider.” Booklist (July 2003): p. 1881. Linden, Sheri. “Whale Rider.” Hollywood Reporter (June 6, 2003): p. 25. Sorensen, Marlene. “New Zealand Girl Power.” Time International (August 11, 2003): p. 58.

Web sites “Keisha Castle-Hughes: Pai.” Whale Rider: The Movie. http://www.whale riderthemovie.com/html/castcrew_cast.html (accessed on April 29, 2004).


•

volume 1

107

Coldplay

Rock group


•

volume 1

From the time of British-bred sensation Coldplay’s first major-label release in the summer of 2000, music journalists have written that the band doesn’t quite fit in with the current popular-music landscape. Their soulful, haunting, intelligent songs have set them apart from bubblegum pop stars, aggressive rap artists, and what Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly described as “the hordes of thuggish, blustering nu-metal bands or Identikit junior-league punk outfits.” Much has been made in Britain’s music press of lead singer Chris Martin’s clean-living ways and general distaste for alcohol—a far cry from the lifestyle of a stereotypical rock star. The band has shied away from corporate endorsements, choosing to promote causes that address world poverty or environmental issues rather than lending their music to commercials selling cars or sneakers or computer software. In spite of—or perhaps because of—the ways in which they differ from their peers, Coldplay has become a sensation, selling millions of records, earning numerous major awards, and garnering praise from music critics all over the

109

coldplay

From left, John Buckland, Chris Martin, Will Champion, and Guy Berryman of Coldplay. © S.I.N./ Corbis.

world. In an article in Maclean’s magazine, Coldplay guitarist Jon Buckland explained that connecting to listeners on an emotional level “is the most important thing in music for us. We’re not really the cool, detached kind of people; we’re really passionate about what we’re doing.” At Coldplay’s official Web site, Martin further explained the band’s reason for being: “We were trying to say that there is an alternative. That you can try to be catchy without being slick, poppy without being pop, and you can be uplifting without being pompous.… We wanted to be a reaction against soulless rubbish.”

The birth of a sensation The members of Coldplay met and became friends while living in the same dormitory at the University College of London (UCL) in the mid-

110


•

volume 1

coldplay

1990s. They formed a band, originally naming themselves Starfish. When friends of theirs who were playing in a band called Coldplay no longer wanted to use the name, Starfish officially became Coldplay. The name was taken from a book of poetry called Child’s Reflections, Cold Play. The group comprises bassist Guy Berryman, guitarist Buckland, drummer Will Champion, and lead singer, guitarist, and pianist Martin. Martin had wanted to be a musician since the age of eleven. He explained to Katherine Turman of Mother Jones that when he began attending UCL, he was more interested in finding bandmates than in studying his major, ancient history. Asked by Turman whether he started his education thinking he would become an ancient history teacher,

“Our sound will change, but all we care about is melody and emotion.” Chris Martin, Coldplay e-zine, www.coldplay.com, November 2003.

Martin jokingly responded, “That was my real dream, but then Coldplay came about!” Three of the four members did complete their university education (Berryman dropped out partway through), with much of their free time spent writing music and rehearsing. In April of 1998 Coldplay went into the recording studio with the intention of recording a demo CD to use as a calling card for introducing the band to record labels. The recording session went so well that the band decided to release the three songs as an EP—a recording of a few songs, shorter in duration than a regular full-length album— that was titled Safety. They made five hundred copies, most of which were given to radio stations, newspapers, music magazines, family members, and friends. In the audience at one of Coldplay’s live shows in a London club was Simon Williams, a music journalist and the founder of independent record label Fierce Panda. Williams was so impressed by the band that he signed them to his label. With the label’s financial backing, Coldplay returned to the studio in February of 1999 to record the EP Brothers and Sisters. With this release, Coldplay began earning the attention of England’s music reviewers and radio hosts. In 1999 the influential British magazine New Musical U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

111

coldplay

Making a Difference

While many of Coldplay’s songs concern personal subjects like love, heartbreak, and insecurity, Martin and the rest of the band have also focused on global issues, particularly speaking out for fair trade as part of Oxfam’s Make Trade Fair campaign (www.maketradefair.com). Oxfam is a collection of non-governmental organizations working all over the world to reduce poverty and improve lives. During 2002 Oxfam invited Coldplay to tour Haiti and see firsthand the problems experienced by farmers in a developing nation, and to learn about the impact the World Trade Organization (WTO) has had on these farmers. In an interview with Mother Jones, Martin confessed that he and the other members of Coldplay knew almost nothing about world trade issues before their visit to Haiti: “We hadn’t any idea about it. But you go on a trip and learn how the importing and exporting of goods around the world works, and you realize it’s a huge crisis.” Appalled by the dire poverty in Haiti and convinced that social activism, particularly when practiced by a worldfamous band, could make a difference, Coldplay began discussing world trade and promoting Make Trade Fair whenever possible. The band members have explained to anyone who will listen that WTO rules allow inexpensive American and European crops, grown by farmers who receive financial help from their governments, to flood the markets in poor

nations, making it much harder for farmers in places like Haiti and Mexico to sell their own crops. The members of Coldplay have also supported environmental causes. At their Web site, Coldplay has asked fans who wish to write them letters to send emails, in part because such transmissions are “easier on the environment” than traditional paper letters. In addition, the band has joined with a United Kingdom company called Future Forests to plant ten thousand mango trees in India. As explained on the Future Forests Web site, “the trees provide fruit for trade and local consumption and over their lifetime will soak up the carbon dioxide emitted by the production and distribution of Coldplay’s best-selling album A Rush of Blood to the Head.” Numerous environmental experts believe that harmful carbon dioxide emissions coming from sources such as factories, cars, and furnaces have begun to change Earth’s climate and, if not curbed, will lead to devastating consequences produced by global warming. At the band’s Web site, bassist Guy Berryman explained why he and his bandmates feel compelled to promote these causes: “Anyone in our position has a certain responsibility. Odd though it may seem to us, a lot of people … read what we’re saying, see us on TV, buy our records and read the sleeves, and that can be a great platform. You can make people aware of issues. It isn’t very much effort for us at all, but if it can help people, then we want to do it.”

Express (NME) labeled Coldplay the new band to watch, and Steve Lamacq of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio 1 gave Coldplay’s music plenty of airtime, helping the song “Brothers and Sisters” enter Britain’s pop music charts at number ninety-two. Brothers and Sisters made an impression not only on radio listeners and music critics but also on Dan Keeling of Parlophone

112


•

volume 1

coldplay

Records. Keeling signed Coldplay to the label in 1999, and the band went into the studio to record their first major-label effort. This EP, The Blue Room, was released in the autumn of 1999. Thanks to an intense touring schedule, continued support from Radio 1, and the band’s ongoing polishing of their musical skills, Coldplay’s fan base widened. Parlophone felt the band was ready for a higher profile, and the group began to record their first full-length CD, Parachutes.

Coldplay gets hot In March of 2000 Coldplay released “Shiver,” the first single from Parachutes. “Shiver” made a splash, reaching number thirty-five on England’s music charts, but it was the second single from Parachutes that catapulted Coldplay to stardom. “Yellow,” released in June of 2000, became a genuine hit in both England and the United States, where it came to the attention of the public as a video on MTV and then went into heavy rotation at radio stations all across the country. Thrilled with their newfound international success, the band nonetheless worried about overexposure. During their 2001 visit to Live 105, an alternative rock radio station in San Francisco, a station employee showed Buckland the station’s current playlist, with “Yellow” in the number-one spot. In the week prior, the station had played “Yellow” fifty-one times. Buckland remarked to Entertainment Weekly in March of 2001, “It’s cool. But fifty-one times? That’s, like, seven times a day. Even I’d get sick of it.” Far from getting sick of Coldplay’s music, however, critics and fans celebrated the arrival of a band with a seemingly endless supply of soaring melodies, emotional outpourings, and pensive but ultimately upbeat lyrics. Parachutes was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize in 2000, and in 2001 the album earned two BRIT Awards (similar to the Grammy Awards in the United States) for best British group and best British album. The following year Parachutes won the Grammy Award for best alternative music album. In the band’s biography on the Coldplay Web site, Champion explained that their success has been “all on our own terms. We have 100 percent control over any aspect of whatever we do, and that’s really important to who we are and the music we make.” All band members share in the songwriting credits, co-produce their recordings, and oversee proU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

113

coldplay

duction of their videos and the selection of artwork for their CDs. Even the photograph on the cover of Parachutes, of a spinning globe lit from within, is credited to Coldplay. Following the album’s release in the summer of 2000, Coldplay hit the road, touring the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States. The tour proved exhausting, with the 2001 U.S. tour plagued by bad weather and illness among band members. Several cancelled shows inspired rumors that the band was on the verge of a breakup, but such gossip was unfounded. By the end of the tour, Coldplay’s members were in dire need of a long rest, but they had accomplished their mission: they had brought their music to the masses, and the masses were happily singing along.

What a Rush Emotionally and physically drained from the long months of touring, Coldplay returned home for a respite before beginning work on their second album. Amid speculation that their second album could not meet the expectations generated by the first, band members made statements to the press that they would rather release no album at all than release a substandard recording. According to the Coldplay Web site, after a few months of recording, “Everyone was happy—except the band.” Buckland recalled in the band’s online biography: “We were pleased with it, but then we took a step back and realised that it wasn’t right. It would have been easy to say we’d done enough, to release an album to keep up the momentum, but we didn’t.” They went back to a small studio in Liverpool where much of Parachutes had been recorded, and took another stab at it. This time, they found exactly what they were looking for. “Songs like ‘Daylight,’ ‘The Whisper,’ and ‘The Scientist’ splurged out over two weeks, and we recorded them very quickly,” Martin remembered. “We just felt completely inspired, and felt we could do anything we liked.” The extra effort paid off, and A Rush of Blood to the Head was released in the summer of 2002 to a chorus of positive reviews. Hollywood Reporter summed up the feelings of many: “It’s an even better album than the first, a superb collection of sonically and lyrically adventurous songs that have the kind of hooks that burrow into your brain on a first hearing and a depth that resonates long afterward.”

114


•

volume 1

coldplay

Coldplay earned a slew of awards for their sophomore album, including three MTV Video Music Awards in 2003, a Grammy Award for best alternative music album in 2003 and, for the song “Clocks,” a Grammy for record of the year in 2004. The band also won, once again, the BRIT Awards for best British group and best British album.

Coldplay accepts their 2004 Record of the Year Grammy. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Mary Kaye Schilling wrote in Entertainment Weekly about the nearly constant radio play of A Rush of Blood to the Head, and described it as being “stalked by Coldplay—in restaurants, yoga class, even the toilet at the gas station, for crying out loud.” Even in the midst of international success and abundant media coverage, however, Coldplay managed to keep a relatively low profile, and band members could still go about their daily lives without worrying about being recognized and swarmed by fans. Their anonymity was threatened, however, when frontman Martin began dating American actress Gwyneth Paltrow (1973–) in the summer of 2002, bringing the singer a new level of celebrity. In December of 2003, the couple announced PalU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

115

coldplay

trow’s pregnancy and, soon after, their marriage. Their daughter, Apple Blythe Alison Martin, was born in May of 2004. After another intense round of touring to support the release of A Rush of Blood to the Head, Coldplay attempted to take a break from the spotlight, returning to England and the recording studio to create their third album. In the meantime they released Live 2003, a CD and DVD package chronicling a concert performed in Sydney, Australia, with the DVD featuring additional behind-the-scenes coverage of the tour. MacKenzie Wilson of the All Music Guide Web site described the release as “a resilient, bright package of glorious rock & roll.”

For More Information Periodicals Browne, David. “Uncommon Coldplay.” Entertainment Weekly (March 16, 2001): p. 32. Deziel, Shanda. “Music: Hot and Cold.” Maclean’s (October 7, 2002): p. 62. Diehl, Matt. “Matt Diehl Talks to the Rest of the Band.” Interview (August 2003): p. 119. Scheck, Frank. “Coldplay.” Hollywood Reporter (August 14, 2002): p. 12. Schilling, Mary Kaye. “Coldplay: The New Romantics.” Entertainment Weekly (December 26, 2003): p. 36. Sinclair, Tom. “Even Better Cold.” Entertainment Weekly (October 25, 2002): p. L2T5. Turman, Katherine. “Chris Martin: Fair Trade’s Charm Offensive.” Mother Jones (January-February 2004): p. 78.

Web sites Coldplay Official Web site. http://www.coldplay.com (accessed on May 7, 2004). “Coldplay: Bio.” MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/coldplay/bio. jhtml (accessed on May 3, 2004). “Coldplay’s Forest: Tree Tubes.” Future Forests. http://www.futureforests. com/acatalog/Future_Forests_Coldplay_s_Forest__Tree_Tubes_151. html (accessed on May 7, 2004). Wilson, MacKenzie. “Coldplay.” All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com (accessed on May 7, 2004).

116


•

volume 1

Sofia Coppola

May 12, 1971 • New York, New York


•

volume 1

© Steve Azzara/Corbis.

Director, screenwriter, producer, designer, photographer

S ofia Coppola was born into Hollywood royalty, the daughter of one of the most applauded film directors of the twentieth century, Francis Ford Coppola (1939–). From the beginning, it seemed she was destined, like her father, for a career in the movies. A few weeks after her birth, Coppola took on her first acting role: as an infant boy in her father’s epic film, The Godfather (1972). Throughout her life, she continued to live and work under her father’s wing, but his wing often cast a long shadow. In 2004 Coppola finally stepped out of that shadow to claim her own celebrity. She became the first American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director, for her movie Lost in Translation (2003).

An artistic household Sofia Coppola was born May 12, 1971, in New York City, during the production of The Godfather. She was the youngest child, and the

117

sofia coppola

only daughter, of director, producer, screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola, a designer, artist, and documentary filmmaker. Sofia, and her older brothers, Roman and Gian Carlo, grew up on the sets of their father’s movies, with their mother close at hand, often documenting the movie-making process. The youngest Coppola loved traveling to such exotic film locations as Manila, located in the Philippines, where the filming of Apocalypse Now (1979) took place. Apocalypse Now is Francis Ford Coppola’s powerful look at the Vietnam War (1954–75). Seven-year-old Sofia entertained herself for hours by drawing elaborate pictures of palm trees and helicopters and weaving the pictures together to form a story.

“I felt a little bit this time, a little bit, like people were able to see my movie without seeing my family.” When not on location the family settled in a small town in Napa Valley, California, away from the glare of Hollywood. Even at home, however, family life was far from ordinary. The Coppolas had summer creativity camps, where the children were encouraged to write stories and plays, to design and experiment. Sofia’s parents inspired her, but Eleanor Coppola has also noted that her daughter was a very imaginative child from the beginning. According to a now-famous story, Francis Ford Coppola claims that he knew his daughter was destined to be a director when she was about three years old. As Coppola has told it, he and wife were driving in their car, bickering back and forth and not paying attention to Sofia, who was sitting in the backseat. Tired of her parents arguing, Sofia called out, “Cut!”

The acting bug bites back Coppola not only visited her father’s movie locations, she also had small roles in his films, including Rumblefish and The Outsiders, both

118


•

volume 1

sofia coppola

The Family Business

Under the circumstances it is not surprising that Sofia Coppola went into the family business; her family tree reads like a who’s who of Hollywood. Grandfather Carmine Coppola (1910–1991) was a flutist, conductor, and composer who worked with a number of symphonies across the United States. He found fame in his later years when he migrated to Hollywood and wrote music for the movies, especially those directed or produced by his son, Francis Ford Coppola. In 1974, he won an Oscar for writing the score for Francis Ford’s The Godfather, Part II. Sofia’s aunt is actress Talia Shire (1946–), the sister of Francis Ford. Shire is probably best known for her role as Adrian in Rocky (1976), for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. Shire’s son is actor Jason Schwartzman (1980–), who starred in Rushmore (1998). Sofia’s more famous cousin is actor Nicolas Cage (1964–),

son of August Coppola, Francis Ford’s brother. Cage won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas (1995). Sofia’s brother, Roman Coppola (1965–), is also in film and was a familiar face on the set of The Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. He served as his sister’s assistant director on both movies. Sofia Coppola even married a filmmaker, director Spike Jonze (1969–), whom she met while a student at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). Some claimed that the character of the flashy photographer husband in Lost in Translation was based on Jonze and that Coppola wrote the story because she was having trouble in her marriage. Coppola denied the rumors, although she admits that most of what she writes comes from her personal experiences. In 2003 Coppola and Jonze separated after four years of marriage.

released in 1983 and both based on the popular novels of author S. E. Hinton (1948–), who writes books for children and young adults. Coppola also appeared in The Cotton Club (1984) and Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). Her biggest role, however, came in 1990 when her father tapped her to play Mary Corleone in The Godfather, Part III. When the movie was released, critics had a field day. Reviewers openly criticized Francis Ford Coppola for showing favoritism and casting his own daughter in such an important role. His daughter, however, was never his first choice. Actress Winona Ryder (1971–) was originally cast, but backed out at the last minute because of illness. As a favor to her father, Sofia agreed to take the part. This was a big step for her because, although she had been in several movies, she was extremely camera shy. “I never wanted to be an actor,” Coppola told Karen Valby in Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not my personality.” Coppola was not rewarded for her bravery. Instead, critics raked her over the coals, poking fun at her accent and claiming that she gave a horribly wooden performance. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

119

sofia coppola

Coppola was so upset by the harsh criticism that she gave up acting, appearing in only a few more films, including Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace (1999). The camera-shy young woman, however, had other interests.

What’s a girl to do? While still in high school Coppola was already dabbling in fashion and design. She modeled for American designer Marc Jacobs (1964–) and interned at Chanel, a famous fashion house in Paris, France. As an intern, she mostly answered phones, made photocopies, and ran errands, but the experience, says Coppola, was remarkable. After graduating from Napa Valley’s St. Helena High School, Coppola briefly attended college in Oakland, California. She then enrolled at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia, California, where she studied painting for several years before dropping out. By now, Coppola was in her early twenties. She toyed with the idea of going to film school in New York, but school did not seem to be the place for her. Instead, she began to explore different career options. For a while she worked as a photographer, taking pictures for such fashion magazines as Paris Vogue and Allure. Eventually Coppola turned to fashion design when she and a longtime friend started a sportswear clothing label called Milk Fed. Coppola focused on design while her friend took charge of production. Over the years the venture grew, and eventually became quite successful. The current line consists mostly of logo imprinted T-shirts and clothing inspired by 1980s fashion. Coppola also launched her own boutique, Heaven-27, to sell the hip Milk Fed line. Stores are based in Los Angeles and Japan, where Heaven-27 is considered one of the coolest stores in the country. Coppola worried that she was going in too many directions, and that maybe she should focus her energies. Coppola went to her father for advice, asking him if she should settle with one thing and specialize. The senior Coppola recalled telling his daughter “that she didn’t have to, that she should pursue everything and anything that interested her, that eventually they’d come together in something on their own.”

120


•

volume 1

sofia coppola

Everything comes together Coppola tried her hand at painting, photography, fashion design, acting, and even hosting a show on television. In 1995 she and Zoe Cassavetes, daughter of director John Cassavetes (1929–1989), appeared on Hi-Octane, a weekly show on Comedy Central that was geared toward teens and focused on movies, fashion, and celebrities. The program was short-lived. In 1998, however, everything finally seemed to come together. That was the year that Coppola wrote, directed, and produced her first film, a short comedy called Lick the Star. It was not the first time that she had tried her hand behind the camera. In 1989 she helped her father write the script for a short film titled Life without Zoe, which was part of the anthology movie New York Stories. She also designed the costumes for the movie. Lick the Star, however, was Coppola’s first attempt at taking creative control of a film project, and, after making the movie, she declared that she had figured out what she wanted to do. Coppola lost no time in pursuing her dream. In 1999, only one year later, she released her first feature-length film, The Virgin Suicides. Coppola wrote the screenplay, which was adapted from the 1993 book by American author Jeffrey Eugenides (1960–). The movie was produced by Zoetrope, her father’s film company. This time, although some critics focused on the fact that a Hollywood kid was being given a boost by her famous father, most were not as harsh as they had been in 1990 when Coppola appeared in The Godfather, Part III. In fact, the majority of reviewers embraced the very bizarre story of a group of teenage boys in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, obsessed with five sisters who, by the movie’s end, kill themselves. Many of Coppola’s skills helped her to make The Virgin Suicides a success, especially her photographer’s eye and her flair for design. Since the story is told from the perspective of several different boys, she used a lot of quick camera shots as if the boys were taking snapshots. And, because the story is set in the 1970s, she wanted to get the right feel in the look of the film and in the clothes the actors wore. Coppola was viewed as a young, new director who had a lot of potential, and critics looked forward to her next film. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

121

sofia coppola

A story all her own The success of The Virgin Suicides led Coppola to try her hand at writing an original screenplay. She had been thinking about a story for several years, one that would take place in Tokyo, Japan, where she had spent a lot of time working on her clothing line and shooting ads for fashion magazines. The outcome was Lost in Translation (2003), which Coppola not only wrote, but produced and directed. The movie is a look at two unhappy Americans who cross paths in Tokyo. One is a middle-aged celebrity named Bob Harris, played by Bill Murray (1950–), who is alone in Japan to shoot a whiskey commercial. The other is Charlotte, a young girl just out of college, whose photographer husband leaves her behind as he goes off on extended photo assignments. Coppola explores how the two cope with the unfamiliar neon culture of Japan. Bob and Charlotte are also two people, at different points in their lives, who are unsure of who they are and what their places are in the world. According to Coppola, who spoke with Entertainment Weekly in October 2003, that is how she felt when she was younger: “I just remember feeling overwhelmed by ‘How do you figure out what you’re supposed to do?’” Coppola shot the movie on location in Tokyo in just twentyseven days, for only $4 million, which in movie-making, is a very small budget. There is no fast action, no special effects, just a simple story about two people who connect. As she did in The Virgin Suicides, Coppola drew on her background in design and photography to create her own personal style of filmmaking. Her cast and crew noticed. Her critics noticed. According to David Ansen, in Newsweek, “Coppola is a warm, meticulous observer, with an intimate style that’s the polar opposite of her famous father, Francis Ford. He’s grand opera. This is chamber music.”

Coppola makes history Critics heaped additional praise on Lost in Translation, describing it as elegant and lyrical. Some even called it flawless. With the praise came the awards. The movie took home three Golden Globes: Best Picture and Best Director for Coppola, and Best Actor for Murray. The Golden Globes are awarded each year by members of the Hollywood Foreign

122


•

volume 1

sofia coppola

Press Association for outstanding achievement in film and television. Coppola also received top honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and at the Independent Spirit Awards, which honor smaller films that are not made by huge Hollywood studios. In 2004, however, the thirty-two-year-old filmmaker made history. She became the first American woman to be nominated as Best Director by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Each year the academy, composed of members of the film community, gives awards, known as Oscars, to individuals who excel in such areas as screenwriting, acting, editing, and directing. Coppola followed in the footsteps of only two women: Italian director Lina Wertmuller (1928–), nominated in 1976 for Seven Beauties, and New Zealand-born director Jane Campion (1954–), nominated in 1993 for The Piano. Coppola won the 2004 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, but she lost the award for Best Director to Peter Jackson (1961–), director of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Her place in history, however, and her reputation as a respected filmmaker was set. All the years of dabbling and searching, observing and experimenting, had finally paid off.

Sophia Coppola poses with her Academy Award for Original Screenplay for Lost in Translation. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Interviewers describe Sofia Coppola’s films as dreamy or dreamlike. They use the same words to describe Coppola the filmmaker. Still a shy, quiet person, Coppola seems uncomfortable in the spotlight of her new-found fame. According to Anthony Breznican, who interviewed her in 2004, she is “polite, pensive and as unpolished” as the character of Charlotte in Lost in Translation. She is also eager to move on to her next film, which is expected to be about the life of Marie Antoinette (1755–1793), the notorious eighteenth-century queen of France.

For More Information Periodicals Ansen, David. “Scarlett Fever.” Newsweek (September 15, 2003): p. 64. Betts, Kate. “Sofia’s Choice.” Time (September 15, 2003): p. 70.


•

volume 1

123

sofia coppola Corliss, Richard. “Sundance Sorority.” Time (January 24, 2000): pp. 68–69. Gehring, Wes. D. “Along Comes Another Coppola.” USA Today (January 2004): p. 59. Krueger, Lisa. “Sofia Coppola.” Interview (April 2000): p. 46. Valby, Karen. “Fresh Heir: By Following in Her Father’s Footsteps, a Young Filmmaker Finds Her Own Way.” Entertainment Weekly (October 3, 2003): p. 51. Valby, Karen. “Sofia Coppola: Lost in Translation.” Entertainment Weekly (February 6, 2004): p. 94.

124


•

volume 1

Paige Davis

October 15, 1969 • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania


•

Amy Graves/WireImage.com.

volume 1

Television host

When Paige Davis signed on in 2001 as the host of Trading Spaces, a home-improvement show on cable television’s The Learning Channel (TLC), she thought of it as a way to learn about performing on television without actually being in the spotlight. She explained to Charlie Huisking of the Sarasota Herald Tribune, “When I auditioned, I had no idea what it would become. I figured it would be a chance to spread my wings and cut my chops on TV, hidden away on cable on a show no one would see. Boy, was I wrong.” After Davis joined the show, the number of viewers steadily increased, with millions tuning in to each episode. Soon Trading Spaces became one of the most popular shows on regular cable, the network increased the number of shows each season from forty-five to sixty, and Davis had become a star. She has appeared on such national television programs as the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and the Today Show, and her image has appeared twice on the cover of TV Guide. She also earned high-

125

paige davis

profile roles in stage productions, including the part of Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago.

A natural performer Born in 1969 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mindy Paige Davis spent many of her childhood years in Prairie Sun, Wisconsin. When she was thirteen years old, she came across her mother’s copy of the West Side Story cast recording. Listening to the music from this celebrated Broadway show, Davis fell in love with the songs and with the idea of becoming a performer. She memorized the words to every song and

“Even if we got canceled right now, I really believe that Trading Spaces completely affected a genre of television, and it made its mark. Everybody’s copying us because they want their own show that people adore and are committed to. Our fans are so loyal.” spent hours acting out the show, playing various parts. She knew she wanted to dance and sing, not just in her own living room but on stage in front of an audience. In an interview with Kate Coyne in Good Housekeeping, Davis related, “Dancing is my life.… I didn’t start dancing until I was fourteen, but I knew immediately that it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.” Davis’s family moved to Louisville, Kentucky, where she attended high school at the Youth Performing Arts School. After high school graduation Davis attended the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She honed her performing skills working in summer stock and regional theater, and soon after graduating from college, Davis moved to Los Angeles to look for work as a performer.

126


•

volume 1

paige davis

Home Improvement Around the Clock

The hugely popular Trading Spaces is just one among many home renovation programs populating the cable landscape, each with its own twist. Some, like the long-running This Old House (PBS), focus exclusively on home renovation, demonstrating techniques and giving practical advice for viewers. Others combine elements of traditional home improvement shows with fly-on-the-wall reality television, throwing in a race against time or a high-stakes competition among friends. Trading Spaces itself has generated two spinoffs: Trading Spaces: Family and Trading Spaces: Home Free. In the family edition, kids participate in the neighborly redesign efforts. Home Free is a home redesign tournament with multiple neighbors competing against one another to win the ultimate homeowner prize: a paid-off mortgage. On While You Were Out (TLC), one member of a household is lured away for two days while a designer and crew of workers redesign a room or revamp the yard. Intensity builds as the crew races to complete the project before the absent person

returns home for the big surprise. Weekend Warriors (HGTV) features homeowners spending a weekend on a home-improvement project. This show lacks the element of surprise so crucial to Trading Spaces and While You Were Out, but it allows viewers to see the emotional and physical strain placed on the homeowners who have to complete their own project without the help of designers or professional carpenters. Monster House (Discovery) is a home-renovation show on steroids. While the homeowners camp out in an RV in front of their home, a work crew spends five days drastically redesigning several rooms in their house. The projects usually conform to a theme, including Old West House, Race Car House, and Amusement Park House. Not only do the residents receive a brand-new look for their home, the workers also earn a deluxe tool package if they finish the project on time. On a smaller scale, In a Fix (TLC) rescues do-it-yourself homeowners who begin a project only to find themselves in the midst of a disastrous project. Called in by a member of the family, the show’s crew arrives to fix the problem and toss in a redesign of the room while they’re at it.

In Los Angeles Davis won roles in commercials and videos and even toured with the Beach Boys as a dancer. While she found steady work in the entertainment industry for several years, she was unable to secure a breakthrough role that would make her a top-tier performer. In 1997 she finally got a major role, playing Babette the feather duster in the national touring company of the stage show Beauty and the Beast. She spent two and one-half years touring as Babette, gaining experience that could launch her career on the stage. Lumière, the character in the show who pursues Babette, was played by actor Patrick Page, who became Davis’s real-life love interest and, eventually, her husband. (Many observers have noted that, had Davis not kept her maiden name after getting married, she would be known as U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

127

paige davis

Paige Page.) Davis’s experience in the cast of Beauty and the Beast led to her next role, dancing in the Broadway musical Chicago. In the Las Vegas production of the show Davis served as the understudy to Chita Rivera for the lead role of Roxie Hart.

Trading up to TV In 2001 Davis put her promising musical theater career on hold to pursue an entirely different path. A friend of hers who was a fan of the reality cable show Trading Spaces—based on the British show Changing Rooms—learned that the show’s host had quit after one season, and urged Davis to audition for the position. In spite of the fact that the bulk of her experience was in theater and not television, the producers of Trading Spaces were impressed by Davis’s enthusiasm and sparkling personality, and they hired her on as host beginning with the 2001 season. In each episode of Trading Spaces, neighbors swap house keys for two days to redesign one room in each others’ homes. The show provides a budget of $1,000 for each family as well as assistance from professional designers and carpenters. The homeowners do much of the physical work themselves, painting walls, wallpapering, and staining woodwork. As the show’s host, Davis introduces the participants to viewers at the beginning of each episode, explaining their relationship to each other and pointing out the design challenges for the rooms that will undergo transformation. She then takes viewers through the highlights of the renovation, focusing not only on the physical changes to the room but also on the emotional discomfort the participants feel as they wonder how their neighbors will react to their work and what the redesigned room in their own house will look like. When needed, Davis even pitches in with the manual labor. She told Huisking, “I’m 100 percent invested in what the designers want and what the homeowners are feeling. When I’m not on camera, I’m having lunch with the homeowners, hearing about their children, helping them paint, trying to make them as relaxed as possible.” The high point of each episode is what’s known as the “reveal,” when the homeowners are guided, eyes shut, to the newly redesigned room in their home to see what their neighbors have done. Reactions range from joy to puzzlement to downright horror, with some home-

128


•

volume 1

paige davis

owners breaking down in tears when they see the changes made to their room. While she knows some television viewers especially enjoy the homeowners’ negative reactions, Davis is too personally involved in each renovation experience to derive pleasure from these occasions. “It does make good television,” she acknowledged to Thomas Nord of the Louisville, Kentucky, Courier-Journal. “I have friends who tell me they love it when that happens. I hate it. It’s terribly awkward and sad.”

In her spare time In 2003 Davis published Paige by Paige: A Year of Trading Spaces, a behind-the-scenes account of one season of the show. In the book Davis describes the mishaps and blunders that sometimes occur offcamera. She recounts the adventures she has had with the cast and crew during their travels, and inserts tidbits about the personalities of the designers and others who work on the show. Her recollections include some of the more memorable homeowner reactions of the season, including the Las Vegas resident who refused to speak to her neighbors after seeing the color they had chosen to paint her room. After participating in the redesign of more than two hundred rooms, Davis told Stephanie Schorow of the Boston Herald that she wanted to renovate her own apartment in Manhattan. “It’s very predictable,” she said of her current design scheme. “I want to be more brave.”

Paige Davis poses outside the Ambassador Theatre in New York City, where she appeared in the musical Chicago. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Davis has alternated her Trading Spaces duties with occasional returns to her first love: the theater. She spent a week in May of 2003 performing in the traveling production of Eve Ensler’s provocative work The Vagina Monologues, and during the summer of 2004 she headlined the Broadway production of Chicago, starring in the role she had previously understudied: that of Roxie Hart. While she may never have envisioned herself as the host of a reality home improvement program, Davis has expressed unflagging enthusiasm for her work. She told Sandra Kallio of the Wisconsin State Journal, “It’s remarkable what happens every single time. It blows my mind.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

129

paige davis

For More Information Periodicals Huisking, Charlie. “Paige Davis Finds Space for Theater.” Sarasota (FL) Herald Tribune (May 13, 2003): p. E1. Kallio, Sandra. “She Wouldn’t Trade Places.” Wisconsin State Journal (August 20, 2003): p. D1. Nord, Thomas. Louisville (KY) Courier-Journal (August 6, 2002): p. 1C. Schorow, Stephanie. “Diary Opens Window into World of Home Makeover Host.” Boston Herald (August 17, 2003): p. 49.

Web sites “Trading Spaces.” TLC.com. http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/tradingspaces/tradingspaces.html (accessed May 12, 2004). Paige Davis Official Web site. http://www.paigedavis.com (accessed May 12, 2004).

130


•

volume 1

Ellen DeGeneres

January 26, 1958 • Metairie, Louisiana



•

volume 1

Comedian, actress, author

Ellen DeGeneres is one of the most popular contemporary comedians and the host of a successful daytime talk show. She is perhaps best known to young audiences as the voice of the endearing but absentminded fish Dory in the blockbuster animated hit Finding Nemo (2003), a role that perfectly captured her rambling, seemingly unrehearsed comic style. After rising through the ranks of stand-up comedy during the 1980s and early 1990s, DeGeneres became a successful television star with her show Ellen in the mid-1990s. Her career became temporarily derailed in the late 1990s, but she got back on track a few years later, surpassing her earlier successes by a long shot. During 2003 DeGeneres published a best-selling book of short stories and essays, toured across the United States with a new stand-up routine, voiced the part of Dory in Finding Nemo, and launched her syndicated talk show. Displaying the self-assurance that comes from a string of successful career moves, DeGeneres explained to Nicholas Fonseca of Entertainment Weekly how she feels about her latest ven-

131

ellen degeneres

ture: “I’ve never been so passionate about something. I will probably do this for the rest of my career.”

A late-blooming comedian DeGeneres was born outside New Orleans and spent most of her childhood there, living with her parents and her older brother, Vance. As a child, DeGeneres spent much of her free time exploring the city. She recalled to Liz Scott of New Orleans Magazine, “I rode my bike everywhere. All over the campus [of Newcomb College]. All over uptown. You know, people can grow up in New Orleans without realizing how unique a city it is. I remember thinking that it was a really neat place.”

“I’m doing a talk show. It’s not my job to get into an argument with somebody about religion or politics or sexuality or anything. It is my job to make people laugh.” When DeGeneres was thirteen years old, her parents divorced, and she moved with her mother to Atlanta, Texas. As quoted in the St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, she recalled using comedy to help her mother through the painful period after the divorce: “My mother was going through some really hard times and I could see when she was really getting down, and I would start to make fun of her dancing,” DeGeneres remembered. “Then she’d start to laugh and I’d make fun of her laughing. And she’d laugh so hard she’d start to cry, and then I’d make fun of that. So I would totally bring her from where I’d seen her start going into depression to all the way out of it.” After DeGeneres graduated from high school in 1976, she moved back to New Orleans, holding down a series of jobs, none of which suited her personality. She worked for a time in a law firm but felt stifled by the dress code. She held a number of restaurant jobs, from hostess to bartender to oyster shucker. She also worked at a retail

132


•

volume 1

ellen degeneres

clothing store and as a house painter. Ultimately she realized that she did not like following other people’s rules, and she would have to make a career for herself that allowed for independence. At the age of twenty-three, she started to flesh out a comedy routine, first performing just for friends and then at local coffeehouses and comedy clubs. Soon she became the master of ceremonies, or emcee, at a New Orleans comedy club. In 1982 she entered a national talent contest held by the cable network Showtime, sending in a videotape of her stand-up act. When DeGeneres won the contest, earning the title of “Funniest Person in America,” she went immediately from local New Orleans comic to nationally recognized up-and-coming comedian. Over the next several years, she traveled around the country performing stand-up comedy, and she appeared on several HBO specials. In 1986 DeGeneres made history in her first-ever appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Most comedians who appeared on the Tonight Show performed their stand-up routine and then returned backstage, never being invited to sit on the couch and have an on-camera chat with Carson. The invitation to sit down with Carson paid tribute to a comedian’s talent and stature. A female comedian had never been asked to sit on the couch after a first-time performance on the show. The night DeGeneres debuted on the Tonight Show in 1986, Carson brought her over to the couch. She had arrived.

Breaking ground In 1991 DeGeneres was honored as best female stand-up comic at the 1991 American Comedy Awards. About the same time, she branched out to begin acting in television series. She appeared in a couple of short-lived sitcoms, Open House and Laurie Hill, before earning her own show. These Friends of Mine premiered on ABC in March of 1994, receiving mixed reviews and decent ratings. The show starred DeGeneres as Ellen Morgan, an employee (and later owner) of a bookstore called Buy the Book. It focused on the lives of Ellen and her friends, finding humor in the mundane, everyday events of the characters’ lives. By the beginning of the second season, the show had undergone major changes, including its title, which became Ellen. The reviews and the ratings steadily improved, as more and more viewers connected with DeGeneres’s oddball humor and appealing, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

133

ellen degeneres

average-gal persona. DeGeneres earned numerous nominations for Emmy Awards, and in 1997 she won the prestigious Peabody Award for her work on the show. In the spring of 1997, DeGeneres made pop-culture history by having her character come out as a lesbian, becoming the first gay lead character on a network television sitcom. That show, called “The Puppy Episode,” garnered forty-six million viewers and brought DeGeneres an Emmy Award for best comedy writing. At the same time, DeGeneres herself came out to millions with a cover story in Time magazine announcing that she is gay. The announcement came as no surprise—fans and journalists had speculated that it was coming—but it still generated a media storm. Many fans wrote supportive letters, while others were scandalized by the news. During the 1997–98 season, Ellen began losing viewers. Many observers suggested that the show had fundamentally changed when the main character’s sexual orientation became the focus of numerous episodes. Some believed that the network simply did not want the controversy generated by the announcement about Ellen’s sexuality. Some major advertisers had pulled out, and the network, fearful of offending viewers, began attaching warning labels to episodes that showed Ellen kissing another woman or discussing her sexual orientation. The show was cancelled after the 1997–98 season. After her show’s cancellation, DeGeneres went through a difficult period, both professionally and personally. Her highly publicized relationship and August of 2000 breakup with actress Anne Heche (1969–) eroded much of the goodwill fans felt toward her—or at least that is what DeGeneres believed, as she explained in an article in People magazine: “I went through a phase, whether it was true or not, where my perception was, ‘Everyone hates me now,’ and it felt horrible.” She appeared in a number of films during this period, including EDtv and The Love Letter, but none of these established her as a successful film actress. In 2001 DeGeneres starred in a short-lived sitcom called The Ellen Show, which was praised by reviewers but never attracted a large audience. Amid these disappointments, DeGeneres’s professional life hit one distinctly positive note, setting the stage for what some have described as her career’s second act. Soon after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, DeGeneres was asked to host the prime-time Emmy Awards, a program that had been delayed twice due to the

134


•

volume 1

ellen degeneres

tragedy. As many in the entertainment industry struggled over how to amuse audiences—or whether they should even try—in the somber aftermath of 9/11, DeGeneres impressed her fellow actors and millions of viewers with what Fonseca described in Entertainment Weekly as a “witty, respectful, and wise” performance.

From left, Christiana Aquilera, Molly Shannon, and Ellen Degeneres, during a taping of The Ellen Degeneres Show. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Finding her audience—again Over the next year or so, DeGeneres began showing up on television more and more often. She hosted Saturday Night Live, appeared on an episode of Will and Grace, and occupied the center square on the primetime game show Hollywood Squares. Suddenly, in 2003, DeGeneres was everywhere. She returned to stand-up with a hugely successful thirty-five-city tour, culminating with an HBO comedy special called Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. She published a best-selling book of comic essays called The Funny Thing Is…, and she lent her voice to what became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time: Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo. The character of the blue tang fish Dory seemed tailor-made for DeGeneres’s wide-eyed, naive, and intensely U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

135

ellen degeneres

likable persona, and in fact the role was written expressly for her. In a September of 2003 article in Entertainment Weekly, Andrew Stanton, the film’s director and cowriter, explained why DeGeneres was his only choice for that character: “Everybody has that friend who’s funny merely for existing. That’s Ellen. You’re not waiting for a punchline with her. You’re just waiting for her to speak so you can start laughing.” In the fall of 2003, DeGeneres found herself once again at the center of a self-titled television program; this time she was not the star of a sitcom but the host of a syndicated daytime talk show. In its first season, The Ellen DeGeneres Show earned positive reviews and solid ratings across the nation. The successful year was topped off with a record twelve Emmy Award nominations in 2004, the most ever received by a talk show in its debut season. According to an article in the Washington Post, when she heard the news about the Emmy nominations, DeGeneres responded with a comment typical of her self-criticizing, slightly insecure comedic style: “They told me, you got nominations for every single category except the song, and I instantly said, ‘What’s wrong with our song?’” In addition to three technical awards, DeGeneres’s program won the 2004 Emmy for outstanding talk show. Basking in a post-Emmy glow, DeGeneres commented in an article at CNN.com: “I have fun every day. It’s the best job I ever had.” The joys of DeGeneres’s professional successes are underscored by her stable and happy personal life. She has spent several years in a relationship with photographer and actress Alexandra Hedison. The two share a home on a three-acre spread in the Hollywood Hills. In a late 2003 article in People, DeGeneres reflected on her career, concluding that both the highs and the lows have been valuable to her: “Right now I’m in such a good place, and I’m so grateful for every step of the way, because it makes me appreciate this time even more.”

For More Information Books St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. 5 vols. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000.

Periodicals Blumenstock, Kathy. “DeGeneres Attempts to Give Her Viewers a ‘Sense of Fun.’” Washington Post (May 16, 2004).

136


•

volume 1

ellen degeneres Fonseca, Nicholas. “The New Queen of Nice.” Entertainment Weekly (September 12, 2003): p. 112. Scott, Liz. “Ellen DeGeneres.” New Orleans Magazine (July 1994): p. 68. Tauber, Michelle, and Julie Jordan. “Look Who’s Talking.” People (November 10, 2003): p. 93.

Web Sites “DeGeneres, Brady among Daytime Emmy Winners.” CNN.com. http:// www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/22/daytime.emmys.ap/ (accessed on June 26, 2004). The Ellen DeGeneres Show. http://ellen.warnerbros.com/ (accessed on June 26, 2004).


•

volume 1

137

Michael Dell

February 23, 1965 • Houston, Texas


•

volume 1

© Kim Kulish/Corbis.

Chairman of Dell, Inc.

I n 1984, as a first-year college student in Austin, Texas, Michael Dell borrowed $1,000 from his parents to start a computer accessories business. He began by selling kits to help customers upgrade their personal computers, establishing a business model his company, Dell, Inc., still follows today: sell directly to consumers, eliminating the middle step of a retail store or a distributor, and hold on to far more of the profits. In just two decades, Dell’s company grew to massive proportions, with more than 47,000 employees and annual revenues of more than $40 billion. Dell himself was squarely at the top of Forbes magazine’s list of the ten wealthiest Americans under the age of forty. He has been praised as a visionary and an innovator, but he has also earned admiration for being a stable, consistent leader. In an industry that changes rapidly, in terms of both technology and personnel, Dell has stood out from his peers by remaining at the helm of his company from its struggling early days to its current status as a major player in the global field of information technology (IT).

139

michael dell

A businessman from the beginning Michael Saul Dell was born in 1965 in Houston, Texas. While he displayed intelligence and ingenuity from an early age, he had little interest in school. At the age of eight, he sent away for information on taking a high school equivalency exam, which, if he passed, would make him a high school graduate without having to endure the remaining years of school. His parents insisted he stay in the classroom, and Dell invested his considerable creative energy in afterschool ventures. When he was twelve years old, he operated a mailorder trading business for stamps and baseball cards, earning $2,000. At the age of fourteen, Dell got his first computer, an Apple II and

“What people have never understood is that we’re not like other companies.” soon realized that he had a knack for taking computers apart and putting them back together. While in high school, Dell took a job delivering newspapers for the Houston Post. His aggressive selling strategies—which included obtaining mailing lists of newly married people, offering them free trial subscriptions, and then following up with phone calls—resulted in earnings of $18,000. Not one to hold on to his spoils, Dell spent the money on a new BMW. In 1983, when Dell entered his freshman year at the University of Texas at Austin, his parents hoped he would become a doctor, but Dell’s skills lay elsewhere. In examining the personal computer, or PC, industry, he noticed an opportunity to sell PCs for less, as he explained to Richard Murphy of Success magazine: “I saw that you’d buy a PC for about $3,000, and inside that PC was about $600 worth of parts. IBM would buy most of these parts from other companies, assemble them, and sell the computer to a dealer for $2,000. Then the dealer, who knew very little about selling or supporting computers, would sell it for $3,000, which was even more outrageous.” Dell realized that he could assemble computer parts, skip the step of selling to a dealer, and go directly to the consumer. That way the consumer

140


•

volume 1

michael dell

could buy the product for less, and Dell held on to every penny of the profits. Dell thus combined his knowledge of computers with his well-developed business sense and began his own business, assembling upgrade kits for personal computers. In a 1999 article in Fortune, Dell recalled operating his new business out of his University of Texas dorm room on the twenty-seventh floor: “People would ride up to the 27th floor with their computers. I’d put in some memory or a disk drive, they’d pay me, and I’d send them on their way.” His earnings soon reached about $25,000 a month. By the summer of 1984, after one year at the university, Dell had decided that he needed to focus all of his time on his business, and he dropped out of college. His company, then called PCs Unlimited, began building PCs, starting with parts from such established computer companies as IBM and Compaq and adding elements to make the products unique. Dell continued to sell directly to consumers, a strategy that paid off in vast sums: by the end of 1984, his company had earned $6 million. Dell was off and running, leading his company to enormous growth year after year.

Michael Dell answers a call from a customer. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

The envy of CEOs everywhere By early 1985, at the age of twenty, Dell had thirty employees working for him. During the summer of that year, the company began producing the Turbo PC, its first computer made entirely from scratch, rather than a customized version of another company’s machine. In 1987 Dell changed the name of the company from PCs Unlimited to Dell Computer Corporation. At that time he began a program offered by no one else in the industry: rather than having customers bring broken-down computers to a store for repair, Dell Computer would pay house calls to service its customers’ PCs. In Success magazine, Dell pointed out that this offer came out of necessity rather than an ingenious plan to outperform competitors: “That was a pretty important plus because we didn’t have any stores,” he recalled. During 1988 Dell began offering the public the opportunity to buy stock in his company. Just four years after the company had begun, sales reached U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

141

michael dell

A Brief History of Personal Computers

For many people, it is nearly impossible to imagine life without computers, yet it was not long ago that computers were a rare item, seen perhaps by the average citizen only on television. Mainframe computers of the 1950s took up entire rooms; minicomputers were the size of refrigerators; and microcomputers, which eventually became known as personal computers (PCs), could fit on a desktop. Today, many varieties of wireless computers can be held in the palm of a hand. In the early 1970s, consumer demand for home and business computers began to develop. About that time, Ed Roberts, owner Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems (MITS), worked with engineers to develop the MITS Altair 8800. This computer was sold as a kit for $400; it had to be assembled by the consumer, who also had to write the software. In spite of these hurdles, MITS was flooded with orders for the Altair in 1975. Soon after the Altair hit the market, two young programmers approached Roberts to inform him of an existing software program that could be

adapted to work on the Altair. These programmers, Paul Allen and Bill Gates, then a first-year student at Harvard University, created a version of the program, called BASIC, for the Altair. Later, MITS went out of business, and Gates and Allen founded Microsoft, the global software giant. In about 1973 Xerox developed the Alto, a computer featuring a mouse and a point-and-click graphical user interface (GUI). The company never marketed this computer to the public, however, as Xerox management could not envision how consumers would use it. Computers that featured a GUI, including Apple’s Lisa and Macintosh models, did not become widespread for another ten years. In 1975 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs, two computer hobbyists, began working together to build their own PC using inexpensive parts. The following year they founded Apple Computers and released the Apple I. In 1977 Apple Computers released the Apple II, considered by many to be the first true personal computer. This PC, which

$159 million. Dell found success in his personal life at that time, too; he married Susan Lieberman in October of 1989. Residing in Austin’s hill country, the couple has four children. Dell Computer grew at an astronomical rate, and with that growth came problems. During 1993 the industry as a whole was suffering a slowdown, with consumers buying fewer PCs. Dell Computer was suffering from numerous management problems. The company scrapped plans for a new laptop computer when it realized the product was outmatched by its competitors. An attempt to sell Dell computers through retail outlets like Best Buy and Wal-Mart had failed. Recognizing that his company needed to be overhauled, Dell brought in several new high-level managers with years of experience in high-tech industries. Many of the day-to-day responsibilities were delegated to these trusted executives, leaving Dell to concentrate on the company’s

142


•

volume 1

michael dell sold for just under $1,300, featured color graphics and a disk drive. Apple’s primary competitor was Commodore, which released the Commodore PET in early 1977. The PET had features similar to Apple II but was sold for half the price. Commodore also created the Commodore 64, which featured a good deal of memory and color graphics and used inexpensive floppy disks for storing files. The Commodore 64 became the best-selling PC of all time. Computers were catching on with a small segment of the population, but it was not until the invention of spreadsheet software in 1979 that many businesses saw the benefits of using PCs. With the development of VisiCalc, a program invented by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston, businesses calculating their finances could use computer software to perform in a few minutes tasks that had previously taken hours. When a user changed one number in a column, the software automatically calculated the change to every other number on the sheet, changes that otherwise had to be done by hand. During that same year, Wordstar, a groundbreaking word-processing software, was released and became immedi-

ately successful. With Wordstar and similar software, users could create, edit, save, and print documents using their computers. With the release of the IBM PC—the computer credited with popularizing the phrase “personal computer”—in August of 1981, the PC came to be seen as a vital business tool and a machine that could be useful to general consumers as well. The IBM PC was designed with an open architecture, meaning that similar computers built by other companies could use IBM software. Microsoft, first with the development of MS-DOS and later with Windows, became the primary developer of operating systems—the programs that run every other program on a computer—for IBM-type PCs. While Apple had popularized computers with graphical user interfaces, Microsoft became a major GUI player with the release of its first Windows operating system in 1985. Developments in the personal computer since that time have been less dramatic than in the early years, focusing primarily on increasing memory, speed, and portability, decreasing the machine’s size, and improving the quality of the GUI.

overall vision and strategy. The reorganization helped the company regain its footing, a triumph marked by the hugely successful release of a new laptop computer, the Latitude XP. Many business analysts have suggested that one of Dell’s secrets to success has been his ability to remain focused on his winning business model: sell directly to consumers, keep prices low and quality high, and offer solid technological support to customers. Within thirtysix hours of a customer ordering a PC by phone or through the company’s Web site, a custom-built Dell computer is shipped. To keep its costs down, the company maintains an extremely low inventory of computer parts, at any given time housing only enough components to fulfill a few days’ worth of orders. This strategy not only reduces the need for warehouse space but also ensures that, in the rapidly changing computer industry, Dell always has in stock the newest parts its suppliU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

143

michael dell

ers offer. Michael Dell has been able to maintain his company’s steady growth rate by selling not just to individual consumers but also to large corporations, educational institutions, and government agencies. The company has expanded its line of products in recent years to include network servers (powerful machines that run computer networks), storage systems, handheld computers, and printers—an expansion signified by its 2003 name change from Dell Computer to Dell, Inc. Dell has extended its customer base throughout the world, most notably into Asia, capturing 7 percent of the PC market in China by 2004. During the summer of 2004, Dell, who had been chairman and chief executive officer, or CEO, of his company, relinquished the CEO position, passing that title on to Kevin Rollins, his former president and chief operating officer. In a 2004 interview with Fortune magazine, Dell and Rollins stated that the change in their job titles did not signal any major shift in the way the company would be run. Dell declared: “We run the business together, and we’re going to continue.” Since its beginnings in 1984, the company has set a rapid pace for growth; it took Dell just twenty years to surpass industry leader Hewlett-Packard to hold the largest share of the computer-making market. A 2001 article in The Economist summed up Dell’s accomplishment, stating, “There is hardly a more admired boss than Mr. Dell, the man who turned the commodity business of PC making into a goldmine by doing things differently.”

For More Information Periodicals Calonius, Erik. “Their Wildest Dreams.” Fortune (August 16, 1999): p. 142. Kirkpatrick, David. “Dell and Robbins: The $41 Billion Buddy Act.” Fortune (April 19, 2004): p. 84. Murphy, Richard. “Michael Dell.” Success (January 1999): p. 50. “A Revolution of One.” The Economist (April 14, 2001): p. 10.

Web Sites “Dell Inc.” Hoover’s Online. http://www.hoovers.com/dell/—ID__13193— /free-co-factsheet.xhtml (accessed on June 26, 2004). “Executive Biographies: Michael S. Dell.” Dell. http://www1.us.dell.com/ content/topics/global.aspx/corp/biographies/en/michael_dell?c=us&l=; en&s=corp (accessed on June 26, 2004).

144


•

volume 1

Hilary Duff

September 28, 1987 • Houston, Texas


•

Mike Guastella/Wire Image.com.

volume 1

Actress, singer

Young teens everywhere first came to know Hilary Duff as Lizzie McGuire, the title character of the Disney Channel show that aired from 2001 until 2003. As Lizzie, Duff played an awkward, slightly clumsy junior high schooler—a bit of a stretch for the confident, multitalented actress. Since establishing a successful television career with Lizzie McGuire, Duff has branched out to conquer multiple fronts: she has acted in a number of feature films, including starring roles in The Lizzie McGuire Movie and A Cinderella Story; she has released her own album, Metamorphosis; and she presides over a line of clothing, makeup, and accessories, called Stuff by Hilary Duff. Duff accomplished all of this before her seventeenth birthday, but in spite of her rapid ascent to fame, she works hard to remain grounded, helped along by close relationships with her family and friends.

145

hilary duff

Texas girl heads to Hollywood Duff was born in Houston, Texas, far from the glitter and glamour of Los Angeles. She knew from a young age, however, that she enjoyed performing. She studied gymnastics and ballet, and when her older sister, Haylie, began taking acting lessons, Hilary joined her. At age six Duff joined a touring production of The Nutcracker ballet, and she also acted in local commercials as a youngster. She earned her first television role in 1996, in the miniseries True Women, which aired the following year. Once Haylie and Hilary began getting acting jobs, they persuaded their parents that they had to live in Los Angeles if they were to

“I get zits and bad hair just like everyone else. But I think you have to work through it. I’m very into embracing your flaws and knowing that you’re beautiful for a lot of different reasons besides just what you look like on the outside.” have any chance at a career in the entertainment industry. During the late 1990s, despite her declaration in Newsweek that she “never wanted to be a stage mom,” Susan Duff drove her daughters, their possessions, and their pets from Texas to Los Angeles. The girls’ father, Bob, stayed in Texas—he is a partner in a convenience-store chain—but he flies to California every few weeks to spend time with his family. Soon after the move, Duff hit the audition circuit, trying out for every part she could find. She was cast as Wendy in the direct-to-video film Casper Meets Wendy in 1998. She earned a role in the television movie The Soul Collector and a guest appearance on Chicago Hope. Then, in 2000, Duff auditioned for the Disney Channel’s upcoming new show, Lizzie McGuire. After appearing before the show’s producers four times, Duff was hired. Rich Ross, president of the Disney channel’s entertainment division, commented in Newsweek on the number of try-

146


•

volume 1

hilary duff

Amanda Bynes Makes the Transition

Amanda Bynes (1986–), a standout among the crop of young stars getting their start on television shows aimed at the tween audience, spent several years sharpening her comedic skills on the Nickelodeon network before successfully heading to the big screen. Born in 1986 and raised in the Los Angeles area, Bynes entered show business at a young age. She was discovered while participating in a children’s comedy workshop at the age of seven, and by her tenth birthday she had been hired as part of the cast of Nickelodeon’s All That. During her four years on that sketch comedy show, Bynes displayed her sharp comic timing and physical comedy chops. The network felt her potential was so great that she earned her own show in 1999, The Amanda Show. Both shows highlighted Bynes’s facility for goofy humor; Time’s Richard Corliss wrote of comparisons made between Bynes and two highly respected queens of comedy: “She has been called the new Lucille Ball and the next Gilda Radner, thanks to her deft, daft turns on [Nickelodeon].” Bynes attracted a large following, particularly among preteen viewers. She was voted favorite television actress three years in a row on Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice awards. While Bynes enjoyed the years of silly wigs and outrageous pratfalls, she longed for the opportunity to be viewed as a legitimate actress. Knowing she

eventually wanted to make the transition to more challenging roles, preferably on the big screen, Bynes waited until she was well into her teen years before pursuing that goal. She appeared opposite Frankie Muniz in the 2002 film Big Fat Liar, and later that year she earned a starring role in a new sitcom on the WB, What I Like about You. Costarring Jennie Garth, formerly of Beverly Hills 90210, the series features Bynes as a suburban teen who moves in with her city-dwelling older sister. In 2003 she scored a headlining role in What a Girl Wants, a modern-day retelling of the 1958 hit The Reluctant Debutante. Bynes plays a free-spirited American girl who jets off to London to find her father, an aristocratic Englishman who does not even know she exists. While the film received mixed reviews, many critics were struck by Bynes’s fresh-faced appeal and easy on-camera confidence. What a Girl Wants served as an effective launching pad for Bynes, who began entertaining numerous other film offers soon after its release. Like her fellow teen queen Hilary Duff, Bynes has retained a down-to-earth outlook amidst her international stardom. She has expressed a desire to have a long-term acting career, but she has little interest in the glitzy entertainment-industry scene. Bynes told Corliss: “I pride myself on not being Hollywood. I could go to the parties and stuff, but for me it’s so fake.”

outs: “She wasn’t doing anything wrong. She just wore such great outfits, and we wanted to see what she’d come in with next.”

Life as Lizzie Lizzie McGuire began airing in 2001, when both Duff and the character she played were thirteen years old. On the show, Lizzie—sweet, smart, but not terribly smooth—encounters problems typical for a girl U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

147

hilary duff

navigating the treacherous waters of adolescence: crushes on boys, arguments with friends, and difficulties with parents. While Lizzie sometimes fumbles her way through crisis situations, the cartoon version of Lizzie, who appears periodically to comment on the circumstances, always knows just what to say and do. The show quickly became a huge success, earning a massive following among tween girls—that is, girls between the ages of about eight and fourteen—and even among older teens and people in their twenties. Parents approved of the show for its positive outlook, and kids loved Lizzie because it portrayed the problems of a normal, average girl. The show’s executive producer, Stan Rogow, told Entertainment Weekly’s Tim Carvell that Lizzie was characterized “by what she wasn’t: She wasn’t the cheerleader, she wasn’t the diva, she wasn’t the jock, she just was Lizzie.” Watching “just Lizzie” week after week was more than enough for viewers, who adored the character as well as the actress who played her. Duff became a celebrity almost overnight; she could hardly go anywhere without encountering young fans who wanted her autograph or a photo. Famous for playing a typical teen, Duff suddenly had a life that was far from typical. Rather than go to school, she worked with an on-set tutor several hours a day. In addition to filming episodes of Lizzie McGuire, Duff also branched out to film roles, playing young Lila Jute in Human Nature in 2001 and the title role in the 2002 television movie Cadet Kelly. At this time she also began expanding her career to include singing, recording “I Can’t Wait,” the opening track for the Lizzie McGuire show. She contributed a track to the CD Disneymania, and she (along with several featured guests) released a Christmas album in 2002, Santa Claus Lane.

Triple threat Two thousand three was a banner year for Duff, when she made the transition from Disney-bred tween sensation to bona fide star of television, films, and pop music. Lizzie McGuire continued as the Disney Channel’s number-one series, spawning the equally successful Lizzie McGuire Movie, which features Lizzie heading to Rome for a summertime class trip. While there, she meets a handsome Italian singer named Paolo and is persuaded to assume the identity of pop star Isabella, Paolo’s partner, who happens to be a dead ringer for young

148


•

volume 1

hilary duff

Lizzie. In addition to starring in the film, Duff recorded several songs for the hit soundtrack. Also during 2003, Duff had a starring role opposite fellow television actor Frankie Muniz (1985–) in the movie Agent Cody Banks, in which she plays Natalie, Cody Banks’s love interest. The year was capped off with a role as one of the twelve children in Cheaper by the Dozen, starring Steve Martin (1945–). Duff’s whirlwind success encountered an obstacle when she and Disney parted ways during the negotiations for a sequel to The Lizzie McGuire Movie. The television series was in its final season, with Disney limiting it to sixty-five episodes, and when the two parties were unable to reach a deal for a second movie, Duff faced a Lizzie-less future. Although Lizzie fans were heartbroken, the effect on Duff’s career proved minimal. She continued to score film roles, starring in both A Cinderella Story and Raise Your Voice in 2004. She also made a successful transition from actress to pop singer, releasing her first full-length solo album, Metamorphosis, in August of 2003. By October of that year, the album had gone platinum, meaning one million copies had sold. Three months later, that number had nearly tripled. The executives at her label, Buena Vista (which is owned by Disney), made it a priority to market Duff’s music not just to her preteen Lizzie fans but also to an older audience. The songs were crafted by a team of veteran pop songwriters and producers; however, two tracks were written by a relative newcomer: Duff’s big sister, Haylie.

Hillary Duff performs at the Universal Amphitheatre in 2004. © Lucia DeMasi/Corbis.

Crucial to the acceptance of Duff as more than just a tween queen was her presence on MTV, as noted by Craig Rosen in Billboard: “The Disney Channel show Lizzie McGuire may have launched Duff’s career, but MTV has been influential in helping her make the transformation from TV personality to pop star.” The video for the album’s hit single “So Yesterday” reached number two on Total Request Live (TRL), MTV’s must-see all-request show. The video of another single, “Why Not,” also appeared regularly on TRL. Another important partner helping Duff find musical success was America Online, or AOL, which offered its Internet subscribers excluU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

149

hilary duff

sive and abundant access to Duff videos, concerts, photos, and more. Metamorphosis found success in more conventional channels as well: “So Yesterday,” for example, made a huge splash on Top 40 radio and reached number one on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

Marketing and merchandise In November of 2003 Duff expanded her territory even farther, releasing a DVD called All Access Pass. Her first music DVD, All Access Pass includes videos for the singles “So Yesterday,” “I Can’t Wait,” and “Why Not.” It also features footage of live performances as well as behind-the-scenes glimpses of Duff and her creative team hard at work. The fall of 2003 also saw the release of three Hilary Duff fashion dolls, each of which represents a facet of Duff’s career: rock star, movie star, and TV star. The following spring, Duff premiered her own line of clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and accessories; Stuff by Hilary Duff is sold at Target in the United States and by other retailers elsewhere, including Zellers in Canada and Kmart in Australia. Going well beyond a simple acting and singing career, Duff presides over a multimedia empire. In spite of having grown up in front of a camera, Duff has managed, according to family and friends, to remain a sincere, down-to-earth person. In Entertainment Weekly, Lizzie McGuire executive producer Rogow gave much of the credit to Duff’s parents, acknowledging the dangers of allowing a child into show business: “It takes an extraordinary effort, I think, to avoid [the pitfalls]. It’s a full-time thing … and somehow, the Duffs have been able to do it.” In an attempt to use her fame to change the world, Duff is active in Kids with a Cause, a nonprofit organization that helps combat poverty, illness, and neglect among young people. An animal lover, she is also involved with a wild horse sanctuary called Return to Freedom. Duff has expressed a true appreciation for what she has achieved, showing no signs of taking her success for granted. In a 2004 interview with CosmoGirl! magazine, she looked back on her pre-Lizzie days and gave credit to the whole Duff clan: “I’ve worked really hard—and it hasn’t been just me. It’s been a team effort with my entire family, including my sister, Haylie. Over the last five years, I auditioned and auditioned and kept trying and trying, and now we’re seeing the reward for all the work we did.”

150


•

volume 1

hilary duff

For More Information Periodicals Berger, Lori. “Hilary Duff.” CosmoGirl! (March 2004): p. 126. Carvell, Tim. “The Girl in the Bubble.” Entertainment Weekly (May 9, 2003): p. 34. Corliss, Richard. “The Fresh-Face Factory.” Time (April 14, 2003): p. 76. Rosen, Craig. “Hilary Duff: A Performer’s Metamorphosis.” Billboard (January 31, 2004): p. 10. Stroup, Kate. “Girl Power.” Newsweek (March 17, 2003): p. 56.

Web Sites Hilary Duff. http://www.hilaryduff.com/html_2003/main_site/frameset.htm (accessed on June 26, 2004). Hilary Duff: Metamorphosis. http://buenavistarecords.go.com/hilaryduff/ (accessed on June 26, 2004).


•

volume 1

151

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

October 10, 1974 • Kannapolis, North Carolina



•

volume 1

Race-car driver

Dale Earnhardt Jr. possesses one of the most familiar names—and faces—in the world of stock-car racing, but he has yet to become a top-ranked champion driver for the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, better known as NASCAR. Much of his fame stems from his family name: he is the son of the late Dale Earnhardt, one of NASCAR’s most beloved stars. Since his father’s death from a crash during the 2001 Daytona 500, the younger Earnhardt has had to make his own way: as a driver, as a grieving son, and as a celebrity. He has won several major races in NASCAR’s premier racing series, the Nextel Cup (formerly known as the Winston Cup), including the Daytona 500 in February of 2004. Earnhardt is one of NASCAR’s most popular drivers. He has a devoted following among race fans, many of whom started out as fans of his father. However, Earnhardt has, in his own right, captured the hearts of millions with his racing talent as well as his easygoing, regular-guy personality.

153

dale earnhardt jr.

A racing dynasty Earnhardt was born into a racing family. His father, Dale Sr., known as the Intimidator, was a seven-time Winston Cup champion and winner of seventy-six races in a career that spanned more than twenty years. Dale Sr. went into racing to follow in his own father’s footsteps; Ralph Earnhardt was the 1956 champion of the NASCAR National Sportsman division, now known as the Busch series. “I wanted to race—that’s all I ever wanted to do,” Dale Sr. proclaimed in a profile of the Earnhardts at NASCAR.com. Dale Jr. clearly inherited his father’s passion as well as the racing mentality and incorporated it into his own life. At NASCAR.com Dale Sr. recalled taking his son go-

“There’s nothing better and nothing I’d rather do than be going around the track in a race car. That’s something I’ve fallen in love with and don’t want to give up for a long time.” karting when the boy was about ten years old. At one point as he raced around the track, Dale Jr.’s wheel was clipped, the go-kart spun out of control, and the boy went flying. His concerned father raced across the track, but the boy jumped up and immediately asked about his gokart. Dale Sr. recalled, “The only thing he was concerned about was ‘Where’s my go-kart?’ That was a pretty awesome sight, I’ll tell you.” The lure of racing was so powerful in the Earnhardt family that Dale Jr., his sister, Kelley, and his half-brother, Kerry, all entered the sport. Kelley Earnhardt told Lee Spencer of the Sporting News that when they were growing up together she would not have guessed that her brother, Dale Jr., would become a racer: “He spent a lot of time playing with Matchbox cars, but he was not aggressive … and didn’t take risks.” At first Earnhardt joined another branch of the family business, going to work at his father’s Chevrolet dealership. However, by his late teens he had begun racing. Earnhardt and his brother Kerry pooled their resources to buy a 1978 Monte Carlo, which they rebuilt

154


•

volume 1

dale earnhardt jr.

and raced in the Street Stock division. After two seasons, Earnhardt moved up to the Late Model division, in which he raced for three seasons. In 113 races in that division between 1994 and 1996, he won only three times, but he astounded onlookers by finishing in the top ten ninety times. His relationship to his legendary father earned him no special treatment during the early years; the teenager used his own money and was expected to secure his own corporate sponsors, companies that help finance a racer in exchange for the display of their logo on the car or on the driver’s uniform. Just as his father had done, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to work his way up. By 1997 Earnhardt had done just that, moving up to NASCAR’s more prestigious Busch series. At that point, everything changed. “I was having fun driving late-model cars. Just messing around,” he recalled in Sporting News. “When I started running Busch, I got serious. Everything about that was cool. Sure, I was seeking my father’s approval. I wanted to make him proud. I’d been trying to do that all my life.” Getting serious made all the difference for Earnhardt, who won the Busch series championships two years in a row, in 1998 and 1999. He won thirteen races during those two years, finishing in the top five in almost half the races he entered. When he entered the Busch series full-time, Earnhardt began driving a car owned by his father. In a fitting tribute to Ralph Earnhardt, who started the family racing dynasty, Earnhardt adopted his grandfather’s number and has been racing in car number eight ever since.

Tragedy and triumph in racing’s big leagues For the 2000 season Earnhardt moved up to the Winston Cup circuit, NASCAR’s most prestigious division. He quickly established his rookie season as one to remember, winning his twelfth race as well as his sixteenth. That season he also won the Winston, NASCAR’s allstar race, becoming the first rookie to do so. He enjoyed a friendly rivalry with his father, who pushed his son toward success, not by easing off on him, but by riding him hard, just as he did every other racer in the field. Earnhardt entered his second season in the Winston Cup with high hopes, planning to build on his successes from his rookie year. He believed his chances were good to come up victorious in the Daytona 500 in February. On February 18, 2001, during the final lap of the Daytona 500, Earnhardt’s father was involved in a serious U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

155

dale earnhardt jr.

The Lowdown on NASCAR

N ASCAR is among the most popular spectator sports in the world, and its popularity is growing. New fans may benefit from a “crash course” on racing to explain such things as the complicated system of point earnings, the various flags used in racing, and the origin of the term “stock car.” What does “stock car” mean? When NASCAR began in 1947, the stock cars came straight from the supply, or stock, of a car dealer, giving fans the notion that they, too, could start their engines and race to the finish line. NASCAR soon realized that regular street cars were not made to endure the tough conditions of racing, and driving teams were sneaking around the rules to make modifications anyway, so the rules were changed to allow for extensive customization of racing cars. How fast can the NASCAR cars go? The available power of a typical NASCAR engine is around eight hundred horsepower. The cars are capable of

speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour (mph), but recent NASCAR regulations require the installation of a restrictor plate between the carburetor and the engine. This plate minimizes the airflow into the engine and limits its power to about 450 horsepower. Even with the restrictor plates, NASCAR racers reach speeds approaching 200 mph. How do the cars handle turns at such high speeds? Nextel Cup cars are fitted with a unique suspension spring, shock absorber, and alignment setting at each wheel to help them with turns. This construction allows the drivers to turn to the left with very little movement of the steering wheel. When not on a curve, however, drivers have to turn the wheel to the right in order to go straight. What do the various flags used during races mean? The green flag starts the race or resumes it if there has been a caution period. The yellow flag signi-

multi-car crash. Earnhardt finished second in the race, but no celebrations followed. Dale Sr. was rushed to the hospital; it was determined later that he had died instantly from the crash. The Earnhardt family, as well as millions of devoted fans, were devastated. All eyes were on Earnhardt in the aftermath of the crash; close friends observed that the young man seemed to grow up overnight, thrust into maturity by the loss of his father. Unable to grieve privately, Earnhardt and his family had to cope with the fans’ sorrow as well as their own. One week later, Earnhardt returned to the driver’s seat to race at the North Carolina Speedway. That race ended badly, as Earnhardt was slowed in the first lap by a minor accident. He struggled over the next couple of months, performing poorly in many of his races. In July he headed back to the site of his father’s death, the Daytona International Speedway, for the Pepsi 400. His stepmother, Teresa, did not attend the race, unwilling to return so soon to that arena.

156


•

volume 1

dale earnhardt jr. fies a problem on the track, including an accident, debris, or light rain. The caution situation usually lasts for at least three laps, during which drivers cannot pass the pace car. The white flag signifies that there is one lap remaining in the race; the black-and-white checkered flag means that the leading car has crossed the finish line, and the race is over. Other flags include the red flag, which signals that everything, from drivers to pit crews, must come to a halt. This flag appears at the start of a rain delay or in the case of a serious accident. A black flag waved at a particular car means that driver must return to the pit, perhaps because the car is emitting smoke or losing parts. The black flag with a white “X,” shown to drivers who received the black flag but did not go to the pit, signifies that the driver is disqualified until he “pits.” The blue flag with an orange diagonal stripe is an optional flag signaling drivers to use courtesy in situations when the leaders are approaching from behind and trying to get past. What is pole position? This term refers to the number-one starting position. The driver who

posts the fastest time during a qualifying round earns the pole position, giving him the best possible starting point for winning the race.

How do drivers earn points? The winner of each NASCAR race earns 180 points, with the second-place finisher earning 170. The point totals of those finishing in places three through six decrease by five-point increments; in other words, the thirdplace finisher will get 165 points, and number four will get 160. The points for positions seven through eleven go down in increments of four, and for positions twelve through forty-three, the points go down by threes. Bonus points are also available in each race, with drivers earning five points for every lap they lead and an additional five points going to the driver who led the most laps. When the Nextel Cup series gets close to the end of the season, the point totals are adjusted for the series leaders in what is called the “Chase for the Championship.” At the end of the season, the driver with the most points is the Nextel Cup champion.

Earnhardt somehow put aside his grief, focused tightly on the track in front of him, and emerged victorious. “I will be crying sooner or later,” Earnhardt said of his feelings for his father after the emotional victory, as quoted in the NASCAR.com profile of his family. “I dedicate this win to him—there ain’t nobody else.” Earnhardt went on to two more significant victories that season, winning at Dover, Delaware, in September, the first race after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and winning in October at Talladega, the site of his father’s last first-place finish before his death. Earnhardt finished the 2001 season ranked eighth in points (racers are awarded a certain number of points for each race based on their finish), with nearly $6 million in winnings. While Earnhardt had a mediocre season on the tracks in 2002, his popularity soared. Sports Illustrated’s Jeff MacGregor speculated on the phenomenal adoration of his fans: “Until the time of his U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

157

dale earnhardt jr.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits in his racecar after winning the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series Aaron’s 312. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

father’s death, Dale Jr. … had inspired in fans only the kind of tentative, speculative affection that surrounds the son of any famous man.…The fans’ affections, their swarming passions, untethered after his father’s accident, are beginning now to bear down on him.” Conscious of his appeal to the masses, corporations beat a path to his

158


•

volume 1

dale earnhardt jr.

door, offering millions of dollars in endorsement deals in return for Earnhardt plastering their logos all over his car and clothing. He published a book about his rookie Winston Cup season, Driver #8, which reached number four on the New York Times best-seller list and stayed on that list for seventeen weeks. He still mourned his father’s loss— MacGregor quoted him as saying, “I used to miss him every minute. Now I’ve got it down to about every five minutes”—but he had begun to move on. He took on a much greater role in Dale Earnhardt Inc., the racing team begun by his father and owned by his stepmother, focusing on the team’s long-term success. During the 2003 season, Earnhardt performed better than he had in any prior year. He won two Cup races, at Talladega and Phoenix. He had thirteen top-five finishes, and finished in sixth through tenth place another eight times. His final Cup standing was third place, his highest finish since entering the Winston Cup division. He continued to win the fervent admiration of fans, who voted him NASCAR’s most popular driver; he won more votes, 1.3 million, than the rest of the top-ten drivers combined. Earnhardt began the 2004 season with a flourish, winning the celebrated Daytona 500 on February 15, almost three years exactly after his father’s death on the same track. Whether he goes on to have a career that matches his father’s stellar performance or simply remains one of a handful of top NASCAR drivers does not seem to matter to his fans. After his Phoenix victory in late 2003, a reporter asked Earnhardt how things might change if he became a Winston Cup champion. Earnhardt considered the question, according to AutoWeek magazine, and responded, “I don’t know if it would be a whole lot different. Fans cheer for you not because of wins, but … because of who you are, what you represent, and your attitude.”

For More Information Periodicals Cavin, Curt. “The People’s Choice.” AutoWeek (November 10, 2003): p. 64. Lambert, Pam. “Junior Achievement.” People (March 8, 2004): p. 71. MacGregor, Jeff. “Dale Earnhardt Jr. and NASCAR Nation.” Sports Illustrated (July 1, 2002): p. 60. McCarther, Mark. “Junior’s Got a Brand New Bag.” Sporting News (August 25, 2003): p. 20. Spencer, Lee. “The Ties That Drive.” Sporting News (August 6, 2001): p. 48.


•

volume 1

159

dale earnhardt jr.

Web Sites “Dale Earnhardt Jr.” Dale Earnhardt Inc. http://www.daleearnhardtinc.com/ content/motorsports/t_driver.aspx?t=8 (accessed on June 27, 2004). Dale Earnhardt Jr. http://www.dalejr.com/ (accessed on June 27, 2004). Deitsch, Richard. “Their Finest Moments.” SI.com. http://sportsillustrated. cnn.com/2004/racing/05/25/earnhardt_moments/index.html (accessed on June 27, 2004). “The Earnhardts” and “Q&A: Dale Earnhardt Jr.” NASCAR.com. http:// www.nascar.com/ (accessed on June 27, 2004). Hollingsworth, Joe. “NASCAR Explained.” Advance Auto Parts. http:// www.advanceautoparts.com/howtos_tips/automedia_html/pht/PHT200 30801WC/PHT20030801WC.htm (accessed on June 27, 2004).

160


•

volume 1

Shirin Ebadi

1947 • Hamadan, Iran



•

volume 1

Lawyer, human rights activist

Before October of 2003, most people outside of Iran—and many people inside that country—had never heard of Shirin Ebadi. She was not a major world leader, negotiating to end wars or topple repressive dictators. She was not a high-profile diplomat, traveling the globe and fighting against poverty or injustice. Ebadi was, and is, an Iranian Muslim lawyer who has devoted her life to improving the lives of victims of human rights abuses, particularly women and children in her home country. A human right is any right considered to belong to all people, including the rights to life and liberty, self-expression, and equality before the law. In recognition of her efforts, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in December of 2003, a prestigious award given annually to a person or organization for extraordinary efforts on behalf of peace and social improvement. The first Muslim woman and the first Iranian citizen to earn this prize, Ebadi has since commanded a much wider audience for her speeches as she attempts to convince the world that Iran can be both a moderate democracy—a

161

shirin ebadi

people whose leaders are fairly elected and responsible to the citizens—and a nation guided by Islamic values.

A voice for the silenced Ebadi was born in Iran in 1947. Her father, Muhammad Ali Ebadi, was an important lawyer and law professor who contributed significantly to the writing of Iran’s trade laws. Ebadi chose to follow in her father’s footsteps, training to be a lawyer at the University of Tehran. During the 1970s she supported the reforms of Iran’s leader, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, referred to simply as the shah, as he worked

“I sound like a dreamer, I know. The challenge facing us today is to think like dreamers but act in a pragmatic manner. Let us remember that many of humanity’s accomplishments began as a dream.” to increase the rights of women and to reduce the powers of the nation’s Muslim religious leaders. In 1975 Ebadi became the first woman judge in Iran. She held the position of president of the city court of Tehran, the capital city of Iran, until 1979. She married Javad Tavassolian, and they have two daughters who were born in the 1980s. After the revolution of 1979, which deposed the shah and instated a conservative Islamic government, women were no longer allowed to have such important jobs, and Ebadi was forced to give up her position. The leader of Iran after the revolution was Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini, a conservative religious leader who had risen through the ranks of Islamic teaching to achieve the honored title of “ayatollah.” He derived broad support from the lower-level clergy, known as mullahs, who advocate strict application of Islamic law to all aspects of Iranian life. Ebadi had initially supported the idea of the revolution, believing it would improve conditions in Iran. After the

162


•

volume 1

shirin ebadi

ayatollah took over, however, he created an atmosphere of suspicion and fear, enforcing religious regulations with brutality and intimidation. He immediately reversed most of the shah’s social reforms, tightly restricting the rights of Iranian citizens, particularly women. Ebadi realized that she, and millions of others, had been deceived about the ayatollah’s intentions. Unlike many of her fellow intellectuals—teachers, scientists, artists—she chose to stay in Iran during a difficult period when anyone suspected of disagreeing with the Islamic state could be arrested, imprisoned, and tortured. Her decision to stay and fight for change while keeping within the bounds of the law earned her the respect of many in her country. Prevented by government decree, as all Iranian women lawyers were, from practicing law on her own, she joined an all-male law practice during the 1980s and began working on humanrights cases. Under the ayatollah’s repressive government, which enforced its laws by inflicting violence on and withholding basic rights from the people, Ebadi had plenty of battles to fight. During her years as a judge, she had seen numerous cases that illustrated the unfair treatment of women and children in Iran. Ebadi dedicated herself to changing such laws and to acting as the voice of those who were silenced by the government.

The long road to reform After the death of the ayatollah in 1989, some of the restrictions imposed by the religious leaders were eased. Women were again allowed to practice law, and Ebadi struck out on her own. She sought justice for those whose rights had been violated by the government, often providing her legal services for free. One of her notable cases involved the murder of a nine-year-old girl by her father. Despite the fact that the father was a proven drug abuser who had prevented his daughter from attending school, the father had gained custody of her when the parents divorced. The laws overwhelmingly favored fathers in custody battles, and those same laws allowed the father to avoid any jail time after he killed his daughter, claiming that fathers have the right to do what they choose with the lives of their children. Ebadi took on the case to help the mother find a measure of justice. She argued that the custody laws were grossly unfair and that the father U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

163

shirin ebadi

A Recent History of Iran

B eginning in 1941, Iran was led by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, known simply as “the shah.” In some respects, the shah ruled Iran harshly, forbidding other political parties to form and tightly controlling the press. However, he also instituted a number of social changes, including placing a greater emphasis on secular, or nonreligious, education rather than on religious schooling and giving more rights to women than they had had under previous leaders. Most of his reforms proved controversial with the country’s religious leaders, who claimed that giving more freedoms to women went against Islamic values. They opposed any reforms that reduced their own power. One influential religious leader, Ruhollah Musawi Khomeini, an ayatollah (a high-ranking religious leader) and a philosophy professor at an Islamic religious school, or madrasah, sharply criticized the shah’s policies. The government responded by raiding the school, killing several students, and arresting Khomeini.

Khomeini was sent into exile, living for several years in other countries of the region, including Iraq and Turkey; he later lived in France. During his exile he kept in close contact with his followers in Iran, promoting the notion of a takeover in Iran that would change the leadership from secular to strictly religious. Meanwhile, during the 1970s, Iran encountered numerous economic hardships, and discontent spread. Even those who had at one time supported the reforms of the shah began to believe that it would be best for the country if he were overthrown. In January of 1978, numerous followers of the Ayatollah Khomeini held demonstrations, joined by many others who were frustrated by the lack of jobs and rising prices. The shah’s government responded harshly to these demonstrations, and a number of protesters were killed. These deaths only fueled the rebellion, however, as each protester killed by the government was championed as a martyr, a hero who had died for the cause. The demonstrators demanded that the shah step down. In January of 1979, after a year of

should be punished for the murder. While her victory was small—the father was given just a one-year prison sentence—it was also significant, as she managed to change the custody laws so that fathers abusing drugs or inhibiting their children’s education would not be able to obtain custody. This change in the law came too late for the nine-yearold girl, but it undoubtedly helped other children. In addition to her work as a lawyer, Ebadi has also worked as a lecturer at the University of Tehran and has written a number of books on the subject of human rights, including The Rights of a Child: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children’s Rights in Iran and History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran. Ebadi has helped found several groups that work to promote human rights in her country, including the Association for Support of Children’s Rights in Iran and the Center for the Defense of Human Rights. She was one of 134 people who signed the 1994 Declaration of Iranian Writers, a pro-democracy

164


•

volume 1

shirin ebadi violent protests and brutal crackdowns, the shah and his family fled Iran. Khomeini returned to Iran on February 1, and by April 1, after a nationwide referendum—a special election—Iran was declared an Islamic state, with Khomeini as its leader. While the takeover had been accomplished with the support of numerous groups aside from the religious leaders, once Khomeini took power, the clerics excluded their former partners from all important posts in the government. All social reforms, including those that had established nonreligious schools and that had relaxed restrictions for women, were revoked. Khomeini and his followers instituted strict religious rules, which were violently enforced. In the years of the shah’s rule, Iran had developed close ties with the United States, and its culture had become increasingly westernized—that is, displaying a resemblance to societies of North America and Western Europe. After Khomeini took over, the government sought to destroy all traces of westernization in Iran. A group of protesters loyal to Khomeini took over the American embassy in the city of Tehran. They took sixty-six U.S. citizens hostage, demanding that

the shah, who was then undergoing cancer treatments in the United States, be returned to Iran. The hostage crisis was eventually resolved; the shah did not return to Iran and died soon after in Cairo, Egypt. A bitter war that would result in massive civilian deaths began when Iraq invaded Iran in September of 1980. During the war, after terrorist bombings originating from within Iran had killed numerous clerics and government leaders, Khomeini’s followers responded with brutal attempts to squash any rebellion. They arrested suspected enemies of the state on the flimsiest evidence, and prisoners were often deprived of basic human rights: tortured, raped, and executed. The war with Iraq ended in July of 1988, and less than a year later, in June of 1989, Khomeini died. Following his death, a struggle for control of the country erupted among various groups, some wishing to maintain the strict social and religious culture of Khomeini’s rule and some arguing for a loosening of religious regulations, broader rights for women, and the reestablishment of relations with the West, particularly the United States. Various other groups held positions between those two extremes.

letter to the government denouncing all forms of literary censorship. Ebadi applied her considerable energy to the campaign of moderate presidential candidate Mohammad Khatami, who was elected by an overwhelming majority in 1997 and reelected in 2001. In spite of Khatami’s moderating influence, however, reforms since his election have been minimal due to the entrenched power of the country’s religious leaders. In a nation where the legal system is based not on a constitution but on sharia law—Islamic law derived from the Koran, Islam’s sacred writings—and where that law is interpreted by conservative religious leaders, reform-minded leaders fight an uphill battle. Ebadi has not argued for abandoning sharia as Iran’s legal basis, but she does believe that sharia can be interpreted differently than it has been traditionally, allowing for greater freedom and equality for all citizens. She has expressed repeatedly her belief that Islamic law and democracy can be compatible and that human rights are possible U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

165

shirin ebadi

Shirin Ebadi (right) receives the Nobel Peace Prize, December 10, 2003. Ebadi holds the Nobel Diploma and Ole Danbolt Mjos, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, holds the medal which goes along with the prize. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

in Iran. In a 2003 article for the Weekly Standard, Ebadi told journalist Amir Taheri: “If the present regime does not reform and evolve into one that reflects the will of the people, it is going to fail, even if it adopts a secularist posture.” In other words, to Ebadi, the most important element of government is that it be democratic, subject to the wishes of the general public, whether under a religious or nonreligious banner.

Recognized by Nobel After many years of working to improve conditions for women and children in Iran, Ebadi’s work began to attract international notice and recognition. She received the Rafto Prize from the Norwegian govern-

166


•

volume 1

shirin ebadi

ment in 2001 for her work promoting human rights and democracy. Two years later, to her great surprise, she was chosen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as the recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize. Ebadi won an amount equal to well over one million dollars, which she then donated to the organizations she leads in Iran. In the aftermath of winning the prize, Ebadi looked back on Iran’s recent history in an article in Europe Intelligence Wire: “Compared to twenty-five years ago, I can only see progress. But in a lot of areas, freedoms are still restricted. Freedom and democracy are not handed to you on a silver platter. Neither are they achieved with American tanks.” In spite of the international attention she gained after receiving the Nobel Prize, Ebadi confessed in an article in London’s Sunday Times that she still feared for her own safety: “Anyone who fights for human rights in Iran lives in fear. But I have learnt to overcome my fear. In Iran anything could happen to anyone. My fight is to make sure that only good things happen to my people.” Various groups in Iran disagree with Ebadi over what those “good things” might be and over how to accomplish them. At one end of the political spectrum, many young Iranians want nothing short of radical change in their country: they want to change Iran from an Islamic state to a secular, democratic country. They feel that Ebadi is too willing to give in to the powerful mullahs, the religious leaders, and that she does not use her tremendous influence to effect significant change. Some women’s groups also attack Ebadi for not being more critical of the religious leaders. They dismiss Ebadi’s claims that the laws of Islam, if interpreted correctly, can be compatible with human rights and democracy; these groups believe the only way a woman can be truly free is to live in a secular society. Such activists call for a revolution, an overthrow, while Ebadi advocates an evolution, a gradual change. While liberal activists consider Ebadi too timid in her reform attempts, those at the other end of the spectrum, the hard-line religious clerics, consider her a dangerous radical. These clerics, or mullahs, oppose any suggestion that women and children be given more rights. They reject the notion of easing traditional Islamic laws and resist any attempt to reduce their own power and influence. At many points throughout her career, Ebadi has paid a high price for her views and her actions. Investigating cases involving the deaths of Iranian intellectuals and reformers in 2000, Ebadi obtained U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

167

shirin ebadi

evidence that some religious leaders and conservative politicians had been behind the murders. She was subsequently arrested and imprisoned for more than three weeks, held in solitary confinement. Ebadi has received numerous death threats, which increased by thirty times after she won the Nobel Prize. She has been attacked in Iranian newspapers and labeled a traitor. She was forced by protestors to stop giving a speech at Al-Zahra women’s university in December of 2003. She has been criticized by some religious Muslims in Iran for not wearing the hijab, the traditional Muslim headscarf, when she travels abroad and for shaking hands with men during such travels. Ebadi responds to such attacks by coolly repeating that she believes in Islam as a religion of peace, justice, and democracy. She points out that the Koran contains numerous references to democratic ideals, such as respecting the ideas and opinions of others. After winning the Nobel Prize, Ebadi received numerous invitations to speak in many different countries. Through her speeches and media coverage, Ebadi’s work became known to millions. Details of her courageous battles for justice in Iran have inspired people all over the world, and Ebadi has made it clear that winning a prominent international prize has only confirmed her decision to fight for change in Iran. She also signaled that, regardless of her level of fame, she would not compromise her message or her beliefs. She openly criticized the United States for its war on terror and for its 2003 invasion of Iraq. In her speeches and writings she has emphasized the importance of education and social justice in the fight against terrorism, explaining that such violence can only be stopped by addressing the causes of terrorism. She has argued that if those inclined to commit acts of terrorism were offered the hope that their lives would improve—a chance to be lifted out of poverty and to benefit from a fair and just system—they would no longer feel the desperation that leads to such acts. In an article in Newsweek International, Ebadi expressed her wish that future generations will carry on the fight for reform, making greater strides than she has: “I hope that young Iranians can go further than me. My generation had very little means to keep itself informed. When I was young we had neither computers nor the Internet. Our only source of information was a small library at the university. So I hope that today’s young people can do much more and do better for our country than I did.”

168


•

volume 1

shirin ebadi

For More Information Periodicals Dorsey, Gary. “Nobel Cause.” Baltimore Sun (May 15, 2004). “Ebadi to Give Nobel Prize Money to Rights Charities.” Europe Intelligence Wire (December 9, 2003). MacLeod, Scott. “Shirin Ebadi: For Islam and Humanity.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 118. Sunday Times (London) (October 19, 2003). Taheri, Amir. “Iran’s First Lady.” Weekly Standard (November 3, 2003). Valla, Marie. “Shirin Ebadi.” Newsweek International (October 20, 2003): p. 92. “Women a Force for Change in Iran.” Europe Intelligence Wire (March 8, 2004).

Web Sites Ebadi, Shirin. “In the Name of the God of Creation and Wisdom.” Nobel eMuseum. http://www.nobel.se/peace/laureates/2003/ebadi-lecture.html (accessed on August 1, 2004).


•

volume 1

169

Michael Eisner

March 7, 1942 • Mt. Kisco, New York



•

volume 1

CEO of Walt Disney Company

When Michael Eisner came on board as Disney’s chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer, or CEO, in 1984, many observers wondered if he could handle the business end of running an entertainment company. In his previous jobs as an executive at ABC and as president and CEO of Paramount Pictures, a major Hollywood film studio, Eisner had developed a reputation as a creative genius, an idea man. As the leader of the legendary Walt Disney Company, Eisner proved that he could balance creativity with sound business sense. He revitalized the company’s animated films division, expanded and improved the Disney theme parks, acquired major television networks and cable stations, and made the Disney brand an almost universal presence, found everywhere from fast-food restaurants to toy stores to cruise ships. In a 2000 interview with the Harvard Business Review, Eisner spoke of the need to weigh creative ideas against business demands, to create magic but at the same time keep within a strict budget. “In a

171

michael eisner

creative person, just as in a creative company,” he stated, “you have to have … a creative outlook and one that embodies common sense, side by side, inseparable. If you don’t, then you get neither art nor commerce.” After Eisner had spent nearly twenty years at Disney, many of the company’s investors began to feel that he was no longer maintaining that delicate balance between art and business, and that he had sacrificed some of Disney’s special qualities for the sake of improving profits. Eisner came under attack from many on Disney’s board of directors as well as members of the public who owned stock in the company, and in early 2004, he was ousted as chairman of the board.

“A leader, in my opinion, really has four roles. You’ve got to be an example. You’ve got to be there. You’ve got to be a nudge, which is another word for motivator, really. And you’ve got to show creative leadership—you have to be an idea generator, all the time, day and night.” He kept his position as CEO, but many in the industry wondered how long he could continue at the helm of Disney.

Starting at the bottom Michael Dammann Eisner was born in Mt. Kisco, a small town north of New York City, in 1942. His father, Lester Eisner Jr., was a Harvardeducated lawyer and an investor in real estate, and the family was quite wealthy. Eisner’s parents placed a strong emphasis on social graces— Eisner wore a sport jacket and tie at family dinners—as well as on education and culture. They encouraged their children to read often, and the family frequently attended the theater. Eisner’s interest in theater continued during his years at Lawrenceville School, an expensive boarding school in New Jersey, where he was in a theatrical club and

172


•

volume 1

michael eisner

pursued acting. During his college years, at Denison University in Ohio, Eisner again found himself drawn to the theater. Deciding that he did not want to be an actor, he began writing plays, one of which was produced by the school’s drama club. During the summer between his junior and senior years of college, Eisner had a job as a page, or assistant, at NBC, a job he obtained through his father’s friendship with the television network’s then CEO, Robert Sarnoff. The job was neither glamorous nor important, but it laid the foundation for Eisner’s long and celebrated career in the entertainment industry. After he graduated from Denison in 1964, Eisner returned to NBC, working as a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logging clerk, keeping track of the times that commercials aired. He then moved to CBS, where he was responsible for placing commercials during children’s programs as well as such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show and Jeopardy. Feeling restless and eager for a more important job in television, Eisner sent out hundreds of resumes. He received one reply, from a twenty-four-year-old executive at ABC named Barry Diller. Diller hired Eisner, and in the fall of 1966, Eisner began working for ABC, where he would spend a significant part of his career. The following year he married Jane Breckenridge, a computer programmer; they would go on to have three sons together.

Express lane to the top Eisner rose quickly through the ranks at ABC, becoming the head of daytime and children’s programming by 1971. He created two longrunning soap operas during that time, One Life to Live and All My Children, as well as launching the cult-favorite educational series Schoolhouse Rock. During that time, ABC became the top-rated network on Saturday mornings, when their children’s cartoons aired. As an executive developing prime-time shows a few years later, Eisner had a critical role in delivering the long-running hit show Happy Days as well as such 1970s classics as Starsky and Hutch, Barney Miller, and Welcome Back, Kotter. During his time at ABC, Eisner helped bring the network from its third-place ratings slump to the first-place position. In the spring of 1976, Paramount Pictures, one of the major film studios in the United States, hired Eisner as president and CEO; U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

173

michael eisner

Walt Disney: The Man behind the Mouse House

A lthough Walt Disney died in 1966, his presence is still felt both within the walls of the Walt Disney Company and in the hearts of fans worldwide. He invented the concept of movie-length cartoons, in the process bringing to life such fairy tales as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. He was also responsible for some of American popular culture’s most enduring characters, including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Disney established the theme parks Walt Disney World and Disneyland, which have endured as popular vacation destinations for tourists from all over the world. Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1901, Disney grew up on a farm in Missouri, later moving to Kansas City. He began drawing at a young age, incorporating into his creations the many animals on the family farm. He learned basic drawing skills from a course he completed by mail and from classes he took at local museums. After volunteering with the Red Cross during World War I, Disney began his career drawing illustrations and creating primitive animated cartoons for an advertising agency. He moved to Hollywood in 1923, with few possessions and no prospects. His brother, Roy, already living in California, supported Walt emo-

tionally and financially, and the two set up shop together. With the new company struggling and desperate for a break, Walt developed a cartoon character named Mortimer Mouse; his wife, Lillian, suggested he change the name to Mickey, and thus, a legend was born. Mickey Mouse’s first appearance was in a 1928 cartoon short called Steamboat Willie, notable for being the first fully synchronized sound cartoon, meaning that the sound aligned with the actions of the characters. Walt Disney himself provided the voice of Mickey, with drawings by Ub Iwerks. Mickey Mouse was an immediate sensation, and the Disney company could stay afloat. Walt displayed a tireless drive for technical innovation, constantly seeking out ways to improve his cartoon shorts. He also proved to be a creative powerhouse, contributing his own ideas and shaping others’ storylines as well. Disney expanded his company’s operations with the opening of a studio where a crew of animators could train and work. In 1937 Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length cartoon. Taking several years and costing nearly $1.5 million to make—an unheard-of sum in those days—

his former coworker at ABC, Barry Diller, was chairman of Paramount’s board of directors. Paramount was struggling at the time, in last place among the studios, but it took Eisner just two years to reverse the company’s fortunes, bringing it to the top of the list. He distinguished himself there as a studio head who skillfully controlled costs while also contributing to the creative end of filmmaking, overseeing script development and other aspects of film production. Under Eisner’s guidance, the studio released such hits as Saturday Night Fever, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Bad News Bears, Grease, and Beverly Hills Cop.

174


•

volume 1

michael eisner Snow White retains its status as a film classic today. Disney followed the success of this film with other such animated classics as Pinocchio, Dumbo, and Bambi. Disney also achieved tremendous success with live-action family films, with his greatest success being the 1964 masterpiece Mary Poppins. In the mid-1950s, Disney began producing cartoons and live-action programs for television, including The Mickey Mouse Club and Zorro. After attending an amusement park with his children, Disney began to dream of creating a Disney theme park that would appeal to children and adults alike. He opened Disneyland in Anaheim, California, in 1957. In just a decade, the park attracted nearly seven million visitors. Years later, Disney made plans for a second theme park in Orlando, Florida; Walt Disney World opened in 1971, five years after his death. His dream of developing a city of the future was realized in 1982 with the opening of the Epcot Center (Epcot stands for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow). In Disney’s assessment, his greatest contribution to future generations was the establishment of the California Institute of the Arts, known as Cal Arts, a college-level school designed to train students in the visual and performing arts. In Disney’s biography at the company’s Web site, he is quoted as saying of Cal Arts, “It’s the principal thing I hope to leave when

Walt Disney. The Library of Congress.

I move on to greener pastures. If I can help provide a place to develop the talent of the future, I think I will have accomplished something.” As Disney fans will attest, his legacy goes far beyond Cal Arts. Disney has been described as a legend and a folk hero, and his name has become synonymous with the concepts of creativity, imagination, and enterprise.

Disney boss In the fall of 1984, Eisner left Paramount to become the CEO of Disney at the request of founder Walt Disney’s nephew, Roy Disney. At the time of Eisner’s arrival at the Mouse House, the entertainment giant was struggling. Most of Disney’s profits came from its theme parks, and even the parks were not doing as well as they once had. The company’s films were not successful, and it did not have a strong presence on television. Eisner quickly set about to change Disney’s fortunes, and he was tremendously successful: within less than twenty U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

175

michael eisner

years, Eisner increased the company’s annual revenues from less than $2 billion to more than $25 billion. He began by expanding Disney’s television programming, approving the sale of old cartoons, films, and television shows to TV networks. He initiated substantial additions and improvements to the company’s U.S. theme parks, Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World in Florida. Eisner also approved the construction of two theme parks outside the United States, Euro Disney in France and Tokyo Disneyland in Japan. While Euro Disney initially performed relatively poorly, the Disney parks in the United States became far more successful than in years past. Disney even took to the seas, establishing the Disney Cruise Line with ships acting as floating miniature theme parks. Disney saw huge profits once it began releasing videotapes— and later, DVDs—of its popular films and flooding the market with toys, clothing, and other products that tied in to the films. The natural next step was to open retail stores to sell these products, and the Disney Store became a staple at shopping malls all across the United States. Under Eisner’s leadership, Disney became a major player in television, purchasing Capital Cities, the company that owned Eisner’s former employer, ABC, in 1996. Disney thus also became the owner of another Capital Cities property, the cable sports network ESPN. Disney also owns the cable networks Lifetime, E! Entertainment Television, and others. Eisner established the company’s own cable network, the Disney Channel. With hit shows like That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, and Kim Possible, the Disney Channel has earned a huge following among kids of all ages. During Eisner’s years on the job, Disney also made a comeback in the film department, creating movies for adults as well as scoring new hits with their traditional animated fare for children. In addition to owning such film studios as Touchstone Pictures, Dimension Films, and Hollywood Pictures, Disney acquired the independent production company Miramax, which went on to create numerous critical and popular successes, including Shakespeare in Love, Chicago, and the Spy Kids series. For several years, it seemed Disney could not miss with its children’s fare, releasing one animated smash after another: The Little Mermaid in 1989, Beauty and the Beast in 1991, Aladdin in 1992, and The Lion King in 1994. In the

176


•

volume 1

michael eisner

mid-1990s, animated films created on computers began to edge out the traditional two-dimensional animation of the Disney classics, but Eisner had ensured that Disney had a piece of that pie as well. Disney had formed a partnership with Pixar Animation Studios, the innovative company responsible for the computer-animated Toy Story movies, A Bug’s Life, Monster’s Inc., and Finding Nemo. Disney found new life for its animated classics on the Broadway stage, achieving huge success with the theatrical versions of Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

Trouble in paradise During 1994, Disney’s president and Eisner’s trusted partner, Frank Wells, died in a helicopter crash. In the years following, highly public battles between Eisner and such top Disney executives as Michael Ovitz and Jeffrey Katzenberg played out in the press. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, Disney was struggling on many fronts, returning to the pre-Eisner days of relying on the theme parks for a significant portion of its profits. After the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, tourism fell off drastically, and even the theme parks’ earnings began to dip. During 2004, Disney’s relationships with Pixar and Miramax soured. Pixar, demanding a greater share of earnings from the Pixar/Disney film partnership, refused to sign a new distribution contract with Disney and set about finding another partner. When Disney sought to prevent Miramax from distributing a politically charged documentary, Fahrenheit 9/11, by controversial filmmaker Michael Moore, Miramax’s founders, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, found a way to sidestep parent company Disney for the film’s distribution. The scuffle over Fahrenheit 9/11 was just one in a series of disputes between Eisner and the Weinsteins, and speculation grew that Disney might be willing to sell Miramax. Also during 2004, Eisner found himself doing battle with his company’s board of directors, some of whom questioned whether he was the right man to lead Disney in the twenty-first century. Chief among his detractors was Roy Disney, nephew of Walt, the same man who had pushed for Eisner’s hire back in 1984. Roy Disney, as well as many people who own Disney stock, had begun to feel that EisU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

177

michael eisner

ner’s aggressive selling strategies had robbed the company of much of its magic. Eisner’s enthusiasm for “branding”—tirelessly promoting the Disney brand through the creation of sequels for nearly every Disney film or by emphasizing a film’s product tie-ins as much as the film itself—had angered devoted Disney fans. At the annual shareholders’ meeting in March 2004, thousands gathered to express their displeasure. Roy Disney spoke to the audience, summing up the feelings of many, as quoted in Newsweek: “Branding is something you do to cows. Branding is what you do when there’s nothing original about your product. But there is something original about our products. Or at least there used to be.” Applause erupted from the crowd. When it came time to vote, 43 percent of the shareholders refused to vote for Eisner’s reelection to Disney’s board of directors. This vote of no confidence resulted in his being removed as chairman. Eisner remained as the CEO, though many in the industry speculated that his grasp on the company had weakened and he would not remain at Disney for long. When Disney encountered difficulties at the turn of the twentyfirst century, Eisner expressed his confidence that the company would rebound. In an interview with the Harvard Business Review, Eisner stated that while Disney might occasionally miss the mark, the company has never lost the ability to entertain. Speaking of Disney’s various theme parks, he told interviewer Suzy Wetlaufer: “If you look at people’s faces, you’ll see that Disney still knows how to sweep people off their feet, out of their busy or stress-filled lives, and into experiences filled with wonder and excitement. We sell fun and—not to sound arrogant, really just to sound proud—we still do that better than anyone.” The problem, according to many investors and Disney insiders, is that Eisner places too much emphasis on the “sell” part of that formula, and not enough on the “fun.” Whatever Eisner’s future at Disney, few could argue that he has failed to leave his mark. In the years since he took over, Disney has gone from a beloved but struggling company to a media powerhouse with a significant presence in film, television, radio, publishing, and on the Internet—not to mention the more than seven hundred Disney stores and the hugely successful theme parks. Under Eisner’s guidance, the company has gone far beyond Mickey Mouse and Snow White. Not every fan appreciates Eisner’s influence on the company, but his powerful leadership style has ensured a lasting future for Disney.

178


•

volume 1

michael eisner

For More Information Books Eisner, Michael, with Tony Schwartz. Work in Progress. New York: Random House, 1998.

Periodicals Bart, Peter. “The Ultimate Survivor Mobilizes New Tactics.” Daily Variety (March 15, 2004): p. 4. “Eisner’s Resume: A Rapid Rise.” Newsweek (September 28, 1998): p. 54. Jefferson, David J., and Johnnie L. Roberts. “The Magic Is Gone.” Newsweek (March 15, 2004): p. 52. Wetlaufer, Suzy. “Common Sense and Conflict: An Interview with Disney’s Michael Eisner.” Harvard Business Review (January 2000): p. 115.

Web Sites “Michael D. Eisner.” Disney Online. http://psc.disney.go.com/corporate/ communications/bios/Eisner.html (accessed August 1, 2004). “Walt Disney: A Biography.” Disney Online. http://disney.go.com/vault/ read/walt/index.html (accessed August 1, 2004).


•

volume 1

179

Olafur Eliasson

1967 • Copenhagen, Denmark



•

volume 1

Artist

Olafur Eliasson is not a traditional artist. His best-known works cannot be hung on a wall and do not involve paint or a camera or sculpting materials. Eliasson creates what is known as installation art. This unconventional modern art form can be described as art that viewers must walk through or around to experience. Installation art is usually created for a particular space, whether inside a museum or outside in a field, and for a particular period of time. It cannot be owned by collectors or museums: it exists for a time, and then it is taken down. It cannot be preserved for future generations, except through words and photographs. Eliasson’s works make use of natural elements, including light, water, fire, and wood, and he often combines these elements to re-create the outdoors inside, producing effects such as an indoor waterfall or rainbow. The artist has been displaying his works for the public since the mid-1990s, gaining an ever-larger following among art lovers. With The Weather Project (2003) Eliasson found his widest

181

olafur eliasson

audience yet, capturing the imagination of millions. The exhibit opened in Turbine Hall of London’s Tate Modern museum in October of 2003. In the first month alone, six hundred thousand visitors attended; by late December, that number swelled to one million. According to Sebastian Smee of the Daily Telegraph, Eliasson “has created some of the most exhilarating, thought-provoking, and vivid works of art anywhere in the world in recent years.”

Northern light Eliasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He spent his childhood in Denmark, returning to Iceland, his parents’ native country, for summers.

“I think there is often a discrepancy between the experience of seeing and the knowledge or expectation of what we are seeing.” The stark northern landscape of his youth informed his artistic sensibilities, giving the artist a keen appreciation for what P. C. Smith of Art in America called “the changing drama of natural light.” Eliasson attended the Royal Academy of Arts in Copenhagen from 1989 to 1995. At the academy, he studied the traditional ways of creating art—painting, sculpture, drawing—and learned about the old masters of the art world. During that time, he also turned his attention to the subject of human beings, researching neurology, the study of the nervous system, and Gestalt psychology, a way of analyzing human behavior and perception. Eliasson’s works include photography and sculpture, but he is best known for his installations. Beginning in the mid-1990s, he has participated in a number of exhibitions all over the world, with his works featured at such prominent museums as the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and London’s Tate Modern. He has had a number of solo exhibitions, as well, at the Musée de l’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in France; at the ZKM (Center for Art and Media) in Karl-

182


•

volume 1

olafur eliasson

sruhe, Germany; and at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria. Eliasson represented Denmark in the 2003 Venice Biennale, a prestigious international art exhibition held every two years in Venice, Italy. The art exhibition is just one part of the Biennale, which conducts an array of annual events celebrating film, dance, architecture, music, and theater. Eliasson has made Germany his home base for much of his career, living in Cologne and later moving to Berlin.

Imperfect illusions Many of Eliasson’s works have the quality of an illusion, with the artist creating in an indoor space such natural phenomena as a foggy mist or the light of the sun. The artist takes care, however, that his illusions are not perfect. Eliasson always makes obvious the mechanism for producing the illusion: the water pump and punctured hose that create a misting effect, the electrical wiring that powers the lights of his “sun.” In describing Beauty, an installation wherein Eliasson created an indoor rainbow, critic Daniel Birnbaum of Artforum International praised the artist’s decision not to hide the tools he used for creating the effect: “There are no secrets, just a fascinating optical phenomenon to behold. Instead of being tempted to look for some veiled gadgetry, the viewer is thus confronted with the thing itself: the fact that light and water in combination produce color.” By displaying his re-created natural elements in settings where such elements are not generally found—such as in a gallery or on a busy city street—Eliasson encourages audiences to reflect upon the relationship between the natural world and the urban world and between nature and human beings. Visitors seeing a foggy mist fill a room in a gallery experience that fog in quite a different way than if it were outside. Mary Sherman of the Boston Herald acknowledged that, even though it’s obvious that an illusion is created by the artist, “our senses are heightened, our mind is sent racing, the world seems transformed, and, for a brief moment, the illusion is real.” For Eliasson’s works, the audience always plays an important role, indicated in part by his tendency to use the possessive pronoun “your” in many of his titles. While the artist produces the work, its impact comes from the way audiences react. In 1996 Eliasson had his first New York City installation, Your Strange Certainty Still Kept. It featured an artificial waterfall constructed inside the gallery. Eliasson U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

183

olafur eliasson

James Turrell: Light Artist

Like Olafur Eliasson, James Turrell uses light and space as his tools for creating art rather than paintbrushes or a camera. Eliasson’s works are often said to have been influenced by those of Turrell, who has been given many different labels, including environmental artist, land artist, and light artist. Like Eliasson, Turrell has studied both art and psychology, with a special interest in the subject of human perception, the way people interpret what they see or feel. His works explore the concept of light as an object, a physical material, not just something that illuminates other things. With such works as Gard Blue and Danae, Turrell created geometric sculptures out of light. At first glance, such sculptures appear to have a physical form, to be tangible, but a closer examination reveals that they are pure light. Born May 6, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, Turrell has been exhibiting his works for the public since

the late 1960s, with installations in important museums all over the world. He has won several prestigious prizes in the United States, including a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and a Guggenheim Fellowship, as well as earning numerous awards abroad. The most significant work of his career is the Roden Crater, a project he began in the late 1970s and which has cost more than $10 million. The projected completion date for the Roden Crater has shifted in recent years, from 1999 to 2004 to some time around 2006. Created from an extinct cone-shaped volcanic crater in the Painted Desert near Flagstaff, Arizona, the Roden Crater consists of several tunnels and underground chambers with openings to the outside. At its base, it has a diameter of one mile, and the distance from the base to the rim is seven hundred feet. Work-

hung a rain gutter, punctured many times over, from the ceiling and pumped water to the gutter, which then rained down through the numerous holes. The falling droplets were lit by flashing strobe lights, creating the illusion that each drop was momentarily suspended in mid-air. Your Sun Machine, created in 1997, consisted of a bare room with a large circle cut out of the roof. Throughout the day—at least during sunny days—the sun shone in through the hole, its beams traveling across the wall as the day went on. The movement of the sun throughout the day constituted a major part of the work; another important aspect was the viewer’s self-awareness, as described by the Web site of Tate Modern: “the viewer was reminded of his or her own position as an object, located on earth, spinning through space around the real sun.” Your Now Is My Surroundings, displayed in late 2000 in New York City, comprised two parts. The first was a small room, constructed of drywall, with a concrete floor. The glass had been removed from a skylight in the ceiling, occasionally resulting in rain collecting on the floor. Mirrors lined the walls from eye level up to the opening in the

184


•

volume 1

olafur eliasson ing with astronomers, Turrell has crafted an observatory of sorts, a way for people to observe the wonders of the sky and the play of natural light at various points of the day. As Paul Trachtman explained in Smithsonian, “Some of the spaces are precisely, mathematically oriented to capture rare celestial events, while others are shaped and lit to make everyday sunsets and sunrises look extraordinary.” Trachtman described his experience of witnessing a sunset from within one of the chambers, called the Crater’s Eye, which has smooth white walls that slope toward the circular, open ceiling, making the room appear like “some cosmic egg.” The way that Turrell has lit the interior of the Crater’s Eye alters visitors’ perceptions of the night sky above, as explained by Trachtman: “Strangely, as the colors deepen, the sky seems to drop down onto the crater. It loses its ordinary sense of being somewhere ‘up there,’ and ends up ‘down here.’”

Turrell has gone to extraordinary lengths to make his vision of Roden Crater a reality. By the time it is completed, he will have spent something like thirty years devoted to this project. He joked to Trachtman that the price of the Roden Crater has had a human element as well as monetary, costing him “a couple of wives and several relationships.” Turrell obtained grazing leases for many acres of land surrounding the crater and became a cattle rancher, in part as a source of income but primarily to prevent construction of new homes on the land, homes that would use artificial light and alter the sky at night. The time, effort, and money spent on the Roden Crater seem inconsequential, however, when Turrell’s goals for the project are considered. He hopes it will survive for thousands of years, and he has planned with astronomers for the spaces within to wonderfully display celestial events predicted to take place far into the future.

ceiling, reflecting the sun, sky, and clouds. Your Repetitive View, part of the same exhibit, consisted of a thirty-three-foot-long wooden chute that extended through the gallery’s interior walls, across a room, and straight through a window to the outside. Viewers could look through one square-shaped end to see the outdoors, a view that Eliasson had transformed from ordinary to “quite magical,” as described by Eleanor Heartney in Art in America: “the interior of the shaft was lined with mirrors that seemed to draw in light and color from outside, and fracture them along its length.” Frances Richard of Artforum International described the artist’s exploration of seemingly opposite concepts in this installation: “interior and exterior, stability and reflection, architecture and emptiness.” The tension between indoors and outdoors is a theme frequently found in Eliasson’s works: the notion of escaping the bustle and confinement of a city, even when in the very midst of that city, through an encounter with the natural world. Heartney concluded that, with this installation, “the experience was startling, as the everyday world became a space as unfamiliar as it was mesmerizing.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

185

olafur eliasson

Visitors at the Tate Modern Gallery in Longon, England, lie under Olafur Eliasson’s The Weather Project. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

186


•

volume 1

olafur eliasson

While some of Eliasson’s works might seem simple in the overall effect, they involve extensive calculations and preparations. Johanna Burton of Artforum International suggested that the artist’s creative processes “are made up of equal parts architecture and science fiction and supplemented by a mammoth dose of advanced mathematics.” Her suggestion is accurate: to help him with the planning and execution of his installations, Eliasson employs experts in a variety of fields, including architecture, carpentry, metalworking, engineering and structural design, and mathematics.

The Weather Project The Weather Project, Eliasson’s wildly popular 2003–2004 installation at London’s Tate Modern, consisted primarily of the artist’s version of the sun and sky. Upon walking into the massive hall, visitors saw a giant glowing disc suspended from the ceiling, an unmistakable representation of the sun. The light of this “sun” shone through a hazy mist, generated by humidifiers placed along the length of the hall. A glance at the ceiling revealed that it had been plastered with mirrors, reflecting the many visitors gathered far below. Upon closer examination, visitors could see that the “sun” was not actually circular; the artist had hung a half-circle of lights, which, when reflected in the mirrors on the ceiling, gave the impression of a complete circle. The hundreds of mirrors, applied in a jagged way rather than laying perfectly flat, gave the upper edges of the “sun” a rough, uneven appearance, making it look startlingly real. For those just entering the hall, the people already inside were silhouetted, appearing as dark figures against the bright yellow-orange light. With The Weather Project, as with many of his works, Eliasson explored his views on the relationship between the natural world and the city. Regardless of how insulated a city dweller might be from nature, some aspects necessarily intrude, namely in the form of weather: rain, wind, sun, snow. With this installation, Eliasson created the illusion of nature and weather indoors, giving viewers a sense of the beauty and peacefulness of a sun-drenched mist. But he also allowed people to see the artificial nature of his creation. Those attending the installation could walk around the various parts of the installation, noting the electrical wiring powering the “sunlight” and the humidifiers creating the mist. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

187

olafur eliasson

When asked by Fiona Maddocks of the Evening Standard what the work is about, Eliasson replied, “It’s definitely first and foremost about people. People are looking at themselves as much as at art.” The installation provoked unusual behavior among many visitors, behavior not ordinarily seen in museums. Visitors spent hours in Turbine Hall, sprawled on the floor, gazing up at the mirrors in an attempt to locate their reflections. Some even grouped together to create interesting shapes with their bodies that would be reflected above. Others had picnics on the gallery floor or sat in silent meditation. Maddocks reported that “there’s much serious kissing.” In the view of Richard Dorment of the Daily Telegraph, the reactions of the visitors added a layer of meaning and significance to the work: “What the artist began, the audience completes. It is the visitors that make The Weather Project unforgettable.”

For More Information Periodicals Birnbaum, Daniel. “Olafur Eliasson.” Artforum International (April 1998): p. 106. Burton, Johanna. “Olafur Eliasson.” Artforum International (September 2003): p. 224. Dorment, Richard. “A Terrifying Beauty.” Daily Telegraph (London, England) (November 12, 2003). Heartney, Eleanor. “Olafur Eliasson at Bonakdar Jancou.” Art in America (February 2001): p. 135. Maddocks, Fiona. “The Weather Man.” Evening Standard (London, England) (November 20, 2003). Richard, Frances. “Olafur Eliasson.” Artforum International (January 2001): p. 136. Sherman, Mary. “Special Effects.” Boston Herald (February 6, 2001). Smee, Sebastian. “The Artist Who Paints with the Weather.” Daily Telegraph (London, England) (September 30, 2003). Smith, P. C. “Olafur Eliasson at Tanya Bonakdar.” Art in America (December 1996): p. 92. Trachtman, Paul. “James Turrell’s Light Fantastic.” Smithsonian (May 2003): p. 86.

Web Sites Olafur Eliasson. http://www.olafureliasson.net/press/ (accessed August 1, 2004). “Olafur Eliasson: The Weather Project.” Tate Modern. http://www.tate.org. uk/modern/exhibitions/eliasson/eliasson.htm (accessed August 1, 2004).

188


•

volume 1

Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott

1971 • Portsmouth, Virginia


•

Jim Spellman/Wire Image.com.

volume 1

Hip-hop artist

M issy Elliott has accomplished the extraordinary. Hundreds of rap artists have made successful records, written hit songs, and produced other artists’ work; some have even headed up their own record labels. Few of them, however, have been women. Rap is a male-dominated art form; the music is filled with aggressive, often violent, imagery and negative attitudes toward women. The chances of a young musician making it big in the music industry are slim in the best of circumstances, but for a woman to become hugely successful in the world of hip-hop is nothing short of phenomenal. Elliott has achieved success on her own terms: she writes, produces, and arranges her music; she controls the direction of each new album; and she has refused to play along with someone else’s idea of what a female rapper’s image should be. For Elliott, this strongwilled approach to her career has paid off. She has written and/or produced songs for Christina Aguilera, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé Knowles, Whitney Houston, and Janet Jackson. She has released five of her own albums since 1997, and each has sold upwards of one million

189

missy “misdemeanor” elliott

copies. She has forged an innovative, light-hearted, sexy style that trumpets her self-confidence and willingness to take a risk. In a review of her 2003 album, This Is Not a Test!, Rob Sheffield of RollingStone.com assessed her accomplishments: “After seven years at the top, she still sounds as hungry and driven as ever, refusing to repeat past successes, pushing on to newer and weirder realms while everyone else is catching up to what she was doing five years ago.”

A rough start Born Melissa Arnette Elliott in Portsmouth, Virginia, Elliott is an only child who experienced intense personal conflict as a child. Elliott was the victim of sexual abuse by an older cousin when she was eight

“I don’t have these lyrics where you be like, ‘Wow.’ But music is music, and as long as I make people want to dance, make them happy, then I don’t really trip off of what other people say. I just do music.” years old, and she frequently witnessed her father physically abusing her mother. She recalled to Entertainment Weekly’s Rob Brunner: “I never wanted to go stay at my friends’ houses because I always thought my father would beat my mother up or kill her or something.” In spite of such traumatic events, Elliott has recalled lighter moments as a music-obsessed youngster. She remembers shutting herself in her room and pretending to be a superstar singer. She told Kevin Chappell of Ebony: “When I was four, I used to sing to my doll babies. They had rotating arms, I used to lift them up and pretend that they were clapping for me.” She had little interest in schoolwork, preferring instead to listen to music, imitate her musical heroes—like Michael Jackson—in the mirror, and write songs.

190


•

volume 1


Longing for escape from her painful home life, Elliott wrote letters on a daily basis to Jackson and his sister, Janet, begging them to come to her school and take her back home with them. The Jacksons never came to her rescue, but one day, when Elliott was fourteen, her mother did: Patricia Elliott packed up their things, took her daughter, and left. “My mother leaving my father changed my life,” Elliott told Chappell. “It made me a stronger person.” The next few years proved difficult, with Elliott and her mother struggling to make it on their own. Elliott skipped school fairly often, but she stayed out of serious trouble. Continuing her fascination with music, she wrote song lyrics all over her bedroom walls. Her mother, initially upset, eventually gave in, as Elliott explained to Brunner: “My mother didn’t want to fuss about too much. She just wanted me to be happy, because I’d been through so much.… [She] wanted to make sure that I was okay. She just was like, ‘Okay, put another song up there. Who cares?’” As a teenager, Elliott joined with three other girls to form a vocal group called Sista. She graduated from high school in 1990. The following year, after a concert by the R&B band Jodeci, Elliott and the other members of Sista approached Jodeci member DeVante Swing at a hotel. They performed a few songs for him, and Swing was so impressed that he signed them on to record for his production company. Sista recorded an album, but the group disbanded once the girls learned that the label, Elektra Records, was not prepared to release it. By that time Elliott had made several key connections in the recording industry. She formed a producing/songwriting team with her childhood friend Timbaland (1971–), with Elliott writing the songs and Timbaland producing the recordings. They contributed songs to the albums of numerous artists, including four singles on One in a Million, a CD by the late singer Aaliyah (1979–2001). Elliott also contributed vocals to other artists’ tracks, including a fateful turn on Gina Thompson’s 1996 song “The Things That You Do.” Sylvia Rhone, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Elektra Records, heard Elliott’s contribution to the song and recognized a special quality about the guest singer. As Rhone told Brunner in Entertainment Weekly, “You just see it, you hear it, and you know that it says ‘superstar.’ It wasn’t like we had to nurture or push. She could sing, she could rhyme, she could write, and she had a sense of what she wanted imagewise even back then.” Rhone signed Elliott to a deal enabling U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

191


All about Eve

Like

Missy Elliott, Eve Jihan Jeffers, better known to her fans simply as Eve, has defied convention with her career as a rapper. Through a combination of talent, luck, and determination, Eve has reached superstar status in a field where women have a hard time being taken seriously. Born on November 10, 1978, Eve grew up in the low-income housing projects of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She knew she wanted to be a performer from an early age and joined an all-girl singing group with some friends. At age thirteen she decided she wanted to be a rapper, and she performed at local talent shows whenever possible. After graduating from high school, Eve met the influential rapper/producer Dr. Dre (1965–), who signed her to a record deal with his label After-

math. She moved to California for a time, working on writing and recording, but when the label dropped her, she returned to Philadelphia. She met rapper DMX, who introduced her to the Ruff Ryders, a group of rappers and producers in New York. Impressed by her spontaneous audition, the Ruff Ryders invited Eve to be their first female member. After an intense period of writing and rapping with the Ruff Ryders—what she called “boot camp” in a Newsweek article—Eve appeared on the group’s successful compilation CD Ryde or Die Vol. 1. She also scored high-profile guest spots on songs with the Roots and with Blackstreet. Her success with others prompted Eve to break out on her own, and she released her first solo album, Let There Be Eve … Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, in 1999.

her to write and produce songs. Elliott eventually had a contract to create her own album and to run her own record label, Gold Mind.

Streets paved with platinum In 1997 Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliott, the budding rap star, released her debut album, Supa Dupa Fly, with guest spots by rappers Busta Rhymes, Lil’ Kim, and Da Brat. Looking back on the album a few years later, Steve Huey of All Music Guide proclaimed that Supa Dupa Fly was “arguably the most influential album ever released by a female hip-hop artist.” With Timbaland contributing his innovative producing skills, Elliott created a CD that crossed back and forth between genres, as expressed in a review at RollingStone.com: “The production … marries hip-hop beats and succulent R&B with a cool, uncluttered glaze that flatters the rhythms instead of flattening them.” Elliott showcased her versatility on this album as on those that followed, cowriting songs, singing, and rapping in her distinctive lowkey, humorous style. Driven by the success of the single “The Rain

192


•

volume 1

missy “misdemeanor” elliott While the album bore the stamp of its Ruff Ryder producers, it also proudly displayed Eve’s personality. Eve was not afraid to be sexy and feminine, but, unlike many of her fellow female hip-hoppers, she relied more on her talent than on her appearance to sell records. As explained by Lorraine Ali of Newsweek, Eve plays “as tough as the boys, but with a stealthy female elegance. She walks the fine line between the empowering, old-school style of Queen Latifah and the trashy titillation of Lil’ Kim.” The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart—an extraordinary accomplishment for a female rapper—and sold two million copies. Eve followed up her debut with Scorpion in 2001. While critics had mixed reactions to the album, her fans snapped it up. The single “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” a duet with No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, was a huge success, winning an MTV Video Music Award in 2001 and a Grammy Award in 2002. On her third

album, 2002’s Eve-olution, Eve branched out, singing rather than rapping on several tracks. She cited reggae and rock as influences on that album, expressing a distaste for the emphasis on drugs and violence in rap. Eve showed fans another side of herself when she appeared in the Vin Diesel action movie XXX and in fellow rapper Ice Cube’s Barbershop in 2002. She later earned her own sitcom on UPN, a show called Eve, which stars the rapper as a fashion designer looking for love. While critics dismissed the show, fans felt otherwise, and the ratings for the first season were solid. Eve juggled her music career, television show, and additional movies, returning for the sequel Barbershop 2 and filming The Woodsman with Kevin Bacon and a comedy called The Cookout, all 2004 releases. Eve has also become famous for her fashion sense, and in the fall of 2003 she rolled out her own line of women’s sportswear called Fetish.

(Supa Dupa Fly),” the album earned a nomination for a Grammy Award and found a huge audience as well, earning platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of at least one million units. Elliott followed up her successful debut with Da Real World in 1999, an album boasting such hit singles as “She’s a B***h” and “Hot Boyz.” On the former track Elliott expresses her frustration that men can stand up for themselves and be respected while women who behave in assertive ways are described in nasty terms. In the song, she redefines the word in the title to refer to a strong woman. During 2000 Elliott spent less time in the studio and more time focusing on the work of new artists whose albums would be released on her Gold Mind label. She returned in 2001 with the release of Miss E…So Addictive, which includes the breakout singles “Get Ur Freak On” and “Scream a.k.a. Itchin’,” both of which earned Elliott Grammy Awards for best female solo rap performance. The album features guest performances by a number of high-profile R&B and rap artists, including Jay-Z, Ludacris, Eve, Redman and Method Man, and Ginuwine. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

193


In late 2001, Elliott paid a visit to her doctor, who told her she had high blood pressure. He advised that, if she wanted to live long enough to achieve all of her goals and enjoy her wealth into retirement age, she had better lose weight. Elliott, then thirty years old, took his advice to heart and began a strict regimen of eating healthy, low-sodium foods, drinking plenty of water, and exercising. Elliott began working out up to four times a day, using the treadmill, kickboxing, and lifting weights. After a few months, she had lost more than seventy pounds and lowered her blood pressure. Her physical transformation, as well as her continuously evolving musical style, are referred to in the title of her 2002 album Under Construction. Featuring the hits “Work It” and “Gossip Folks,” the album is a nostalgic take on old-school rap, paying tribute to and sampling groundbreaking tracks of the genre. Elliott explained the thinking behind the album to Brunner in Entertainment Weekly: “For the new generation, it’s gonna sound like something new. For the old generation, it’s gonna be a memory. It works both ways.” The album, achieving double platinum status with sales of over two million copies, impressed both fans and critics, including Gavin Edwards of RollingStone.com, who stated in his review of Under Construction: “It’s hard to remember what the world was like before Missy ‘Misdemeanor’ Elliott came along, but historical records indicate that it was a lot more boring.” Elliott went on to win her third Grammy Award in the category of best female rap solo performance for “Work It.”

Missy Elliott kisses her 2004 Best Female Solo Performance Grammy Award. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Elliott released her fifth album, This Is Not a Test!, in late 2003. In keeping with her other albums, Elliott showcases the work of several high-powered guests, including Mary J. Blige, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, Nelly, and Beenie Man. Some critics described the album as containing too much filler and too few groundbreaking Elliott/Timbaland collaborations, but others, while acknowledging the release is less than perfect, suggest that even a flawed album by Missy Elliott stands above those of most of the hip-hop crowd. Sheffield concluded his review of this CD at RollingStone.com by saying, “Why anybody would choose to spend their life without a copy of This Is Not a Test! is a mystery.”

194


•

volume 1


The fruits of her labor During 2004 the television network UPN announced the development of a reality series called The Missy Elliott Project, which would air in the middle of the 2004–2005 season. Executive produced by and starring Elliott, the show will feature a crew of aspiring hip-hop artists competing against each other in such categories as singing, rapping, and dancing. Elliott will help choose the winner, who will be offered a record deal with her Gold Mind label. Known for her individualistic fashion sense, Elliott has added to her substantial earnings by endorsing such products as Sprite, Gap corduroy jeans—in commercials with pop superstar Madonna—and Adidas athletic wear. In 2004 she signed with Adidas to create her own line of athletic gear, called Respect M.E. (both a motto and a play on her initials), which includes sneakers, track suits, T-shirts, and hooded sweatshirts. Elliott does not exactly hide the abundant wealth she has attained from such deals as well as from sales of her albums and concert tickets. She possesses several residences, including a home in New Jersey, a lavish condominium near Miami, and a mansion built for her mother in Virginia Beach. Her car collection includes a Ferrari, a Lamborghini, and a Hummer. While Elliott acknowledges the pleasures of being rich, she also speaks often of how thankful she is for the life she leads and of how important it is for musicians to invest their money wisely rather than blowing it all on an outlandish lifestyle. She has displayed her desire to make a difference in the world by becoming the spokesperson for Break the Cycle, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people avoid abusive relationships and counseling those who have been victims of domestic violence. In all that she has done, Elliott has displayed an unwavering sense of self. As she told Chappell, “I’m not a follower. I’m not a copycat. I’m an original.”

For More Information Periodicals Ali, Lorraine. “Diamond in the Ruff.” Newsweek (March 12, 2001): p. 70. Brunner, Rob. “Missy Elliott.” Entertainment Weekly (November 22, 2002): p. 32. Chappell, Kevin. “Eve and Missy Elliott: Taking Rap to a Whole New Level.” Ebony (August 2001): p. 68. Lynch, Jason. “Missy Universe.” People (January 20, 2003): p. 77.


•

volume 1

195


Web Sites “The Complete Missy Elliott.” RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone. com/?searchtype+RSArtist&query+missy%20elliott (accessed August 1, 2004). “Missy Elliott.” All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com (accessed on June 7, 2004).

196


•

volume 1

Deborah Estrin

December 6, 1959 • Los Angeles, California


•

volume 1

Courtesy of Deborah Estrin.

Computer scientist

Deborah Estrin is a pioneer in the development of a revolutionary technology called embedded networked sensing, or ENS. ENS involves the use of tiny, acutely sensitive monitoring devices that can “read” their surroundings, picking up extremely detailed information. When networked together—in other words, when the sensors can communicate with each other—and when embedded, or planted, in a particular environment, these sensors can not only pick up information, but they can also analyze and relay it back to scientists. If planted in a bridge or a building, sensors might convey information about the structure’s soundness, pinpointing any weak areas that need reinforcement. Sensors embedded in a forest might gather information about the amount of water and nutrients in the soil as well as the eating habits of nearby wildlife. Named as one of the “Brilliant 10” in Popular Science magazine’s list of elite researchers, Estrin is the director of the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS) as well as a professor of com-

197

deborah estrin

puter science at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Her involvement in ENS has put her at the forefront of a burgeoning technology that could radically transform society. Just as the Internet connects a virtual world of computers and databases, a vast network of embedded sensing devices could serve as a communications system for the physical world, connecting streams of information about waterways, air, plant life, the animal kingdom, human-made structures, and far more. The full potential of ENS has yet to be completely explored.

A life of learning Born in Los Angeles in 1959, Estrin was raised in a household that placed a premium on learning. Her parents, Thelma and Gerald, were

“Estrin … wants to connect us to the physical world as intimately as the Internet connects us to one another.” Laurie Goldman, Popular Science, September 1, 2003

professors in the computer science department at UCLA, and both earned PhDs in electrical engineering. This was a notable accomplishment particularly for Estrin’s mother, since relatively few women earned PhDs during the early 1950s, especially in scientific fields. “I was very fortunate,” Estrin related in an interview with U•X•L Newsmakers, “to be surrounded by academics and role models, and to have a professional mother and a feminist father.” She went on to explain that she and her two sisters, Judy and Margo, knew that their parents valued “education, career, having an impact in the world, [and] intellectual growth.” All three girls took those values to heart; in addition to Estrin and her groundbreaking research and university teaching, Judy is a successful entrepreneur, while Margo is an accomplished physician specializing in internal medicine. Estrin’s own intellectual curiosity has been passed on to the next generation as well: her teenaged son, Joshua, is interested in

198


•

volume 1

deborah estrin

physics and nanoscience, the study of the world on a molecular or atomic scale. From the time of middle school, Estrin focused intently on her studies, concentrating especially on science and technology. She also loved math, studying the subject at an advanced level from the seventh grade on. She knew as a child that she wanted to invent things. After graduating from University High School in West Los Angeles, Estrin earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980. She went on to earn a master’s degree in technology policy from the Massachussetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982. Three years later, Estrin completed the PhD program in computer science at MIT. After graduating from MIT, Estrin headed back to the West Coast to begin her teaching career. During 1986 she accepted a position as professor of computer science at the University of Southern California (USC), where she taught and conducted research until 2000. In 1987 she won the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), for her research on computer networking and security issues. From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, Estrin focused her research on designing network and routing protocols for large global networks like the Internet, essentially exploring the ways information is transmitted over a massive network of computers.

Special sensors In the late 1990s Estrin turned her attention to the field of embedded networked sensing, and began to explore some of the possibilities for such devices. At the heart of an ENS device is a microprocessor that is about the size of a die-cast toy car such as those made by Hot Wheels. A microprocessor is at the core of any number of high-tech devices, from computers and cars to cellular phones and digital music players. The ENS microprocessors are combined with collections of various sensors. These might include a device to detect sound or motion or to determine chemical composition, or perhaps a video or infrared camera that can capture images that are outside the spectrum of colors visible to the human eye, such as body heat. The microprocessor, in effect, translates the information picked up by the sensor and allows scientists U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

199

deborah estrin

to make sense of it. These wireless sensing devices, when spread over a large area, can transmit information to the scientists monitoring them and, perhaps more significantly, can be instructed to send information only when a specified event of interest occurs. Embedded networked sensors could have a multitude of uses. Food manufacturers might use them to monitor shipments of their products, determining their location and making sure they are being kept at the proper temperature. The potential applications in the medical field are numerous, including a sensor-embedded bandage that might signal doctors that a patient is developing an infection. Sensors embedded throughout an airplane might identify possible structural problems that could be fixed before the plane ever leaves the ground. At a 2002 seminar at the University of California at San Diego, Estrin suggested some of the possibilities of ENS to her audience. The Web site of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology quoted from Estrin’s lecture: “Imagine high-rise buildings in downtown Los Angeles that could detect their structural faults, then alert authorities on corrective action.… What if buoys along the coast could alert surfers, swimmers, and fishermen to dangerous levels of bacteria?”

Deborah Estrin, holding up a sensor node. Courtesy of UCLA Today. © The Regents of the University of California.

Inspiration in a rain forest During 1999 Estrin vacationed in Costa Rica, home to lush tropical rain forests. She was awed by the abundant animal and plant life in the rain forests and by the admirable focus of the Costa Rican government and people on preserving their country’s biodiversity. Estrin realized that biologists could radically improve their ability to observe complex biological phenomena by using embedded networked sensors. Upon returning from Costa Rica, Estrin began to focus on the impact ENS could have on the study of biology, the environment, and other natural sciences. Among many other uses, ENS could help scientists track and monitor the impact of climate change on endangered ecosystems—a community of organisms and the surrounding environ-

200


•

volume 1

deborah estrin

ment—and could provide detailed information about the type and level of contamination in the soil or air. In 2000 Estrin left USC to become a professor of computer science at UCLA. As with all scientific endeavors, Estrin’s research in the field of ENS depended on funding to carry it from the planning stages to actual testing of the sensing devices in the real world. Soon after joining the faculty at UCLA, she and several colleagues from UCLA, USC, and other universities began working on a massive grant proposal that would give them the funding they needed. During August of 2002, Estrin and her colleagues heard the news they had anxiously awaited for many months, news of a grant the likes of which most scientists can only dream of: the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Science and Technology Center awarded them a ten-year, $40 million grant to develop ENS technologies for the study of physical and biological systems. The grant allowed for the establishment of the Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), and Estrin was named the center’s first director. Based at UCLA, CENS was one of six academic research centers to receive the 2002 NSF grant, which specifies that the work must be collaborative, involving people from various fields of study. Estrin’s center includes professors from a number of different departments at UCLA and other universities, including computer science, electrical engineering, biology, and education. In exchange for the grant money, the research centers must commit to conducting their primary research, and to advancing educational opportunities in local schools and universities and increasing the number of minorities participating in the research. They must also connect with other research institutions as well as the business world and the surrounding community. CENS was ready and able to fulfill the many requirements, and work soon began on developing the initial programs for testing ENS technology.

Ecosystems and beyond One year later, in August of 2003, Estrin and CENS began their first large-scale study of an ecosystem in the James Reserve, a protected area in the San Jacinto Mountains of southern California. The study will eventually deploy approximately one hundred sensing devices embedded over a thirty-acre wooded area. As Laurie Goldman sumU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

201

deborah estrin

marized in Popular Science, “video cameras will watch bluebird nests, motion detectors will sense predators, and buried CO2 probes will monitor soil chemistry.” The study will focus on the impact of short-term changes in the microclimate—the climate of a small area—on plants and animals. The sensors will be set to detect such things as the movement of water through the soil and the growth patterns of various types of plants and trees. The ENS devices are also being used to track the feeding and reproduction habits of several species of birds in the area. In keeping with their commitment to make the data they gather accessible to the public, the scientists at CENS arranged for the results of the study to be available on the Internet at www.jamesreserve.edu. Estrin and her colleagues have also experimented with embedding sensors in buildings and other human-made structures to gather information about earthquakes. These sensors can detect seismic, or earthquake-related, activity, and can measure the impact of such activity on a building, indicating strengths and weaknesses. Scientists hope that in the future such sensors could help prevent a building’s collapse during a disaster. Seismologists, scientists who study earthquakes and related activity, know that during a strong earthquake in Mexico City in 1985, a number of skyscrapers collapsed because they were vibrating exactly in tune with the earthquake. In the long term, embedded networked sensors have the potential to structurally alter a building, essentially “detuning” it, giving it a better shot at surviving an earthshaking disaster. Another early project headed by Estrin has involved the use of sensing devices for soil sampling in order to measure contaminant levels. Sensors could also be used to measure water contamination from industrial waste or other sources, zeroing in on the source of the problem in order to resolve it efficiently. In the world’s oceans and coastal waterways, sensors could detect the presence of harmful microorganisms, like certain types of algae or bacteria, before the damage from such organisms becomes too great. Ultimately, as Estrin described to Newsfactor Innovation, she envisions ENS as an ever-present technology: “In the long term, embedded networked sensing systems are likely to be in the car you drive to work; in the roads, embankments and traffic lights by which you drive; in the parking structures; in complex environments like hospital rooms; as well as outpatient monitoring setups in the home.” To

202


•

volume 1

deborah estrin

establish and then maintain so many sensory networks will require the cooperation of experts in a number of fields, from computer science and engineering to mathematicians, biologists, and information scientists. Estrin has recognized the importance of involving social scientists, legal experts, and others who can explore the potential impact on society of such in-depth monitoring. The widespread use of sensors in the future could raise important issues of privacy, such as sensors that might enable governments or other institutions to gather detailed information about the lives of private citizens. While a great deal of research and testing must take place before the full potential of ENS can be explored, Estrin has a notion of the technology’s nearly limitless possibilities, and her role in the realization of those possibilities is a critical one.

For More Information Periodicals Fulford, Benjamin. “Sensors Gone Wild.” Forbes (October 28, 2002). Goldman, Laurie. “Deborah Estrin.” Popular Science (September 1, 2003): p. 84. Huang, Gregory T. “Casting the Wireless Sensor Net.” Technology Review (July 1, 2003): p. 50. Mervis, Jeffrey. “Research Centers: Science with an Agenda.” Science (July 26, 2002).

Web Sites “Biography.” Center for Embedded Networked Sensing. http://www.cens. ucla.edu/Estrin/index.shtml (accessed on August 2, 2004). Hamilton, Michael. “Making Sense of Nature.” James Reserve. http:// www.jamesreserve.edu/news.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). McDonough, Brian. “Networked Computer Sensors Infiltrate Everything.” Newsfactor Innovation. http://sci.newsfactor.com/perl/story/18088. html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “New Center for Embedded Networked Sensing Will Use Wireless Technology to Create Wide Array of Sensor Systems to Monitor Environment, Buildings.” UCLA News. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp? menu=fullsearchresults&id=3246 (accessed on August 2, 2004). “UCSD-TV and SD Telecom Council Team on New Program about Telecommunications.” California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. http://www.calit2.net/news/2002/10-25-estrin. html (accessed on June 21, 2004).

Other Additional information for this profile was obtained from a personal interview with U•X•L Newsmakers (August 3, 2004).


•

volume 1

203

Tina Fey

May 18, 1970 • Upper Darby, Pennsylvania



•

volume 1

Television writer, screenwriter, actress

Tina Fey might have single-handedly made it hip to wear glasses in the mid-2000s, but there is more to the writer-actress-comedian than her trademark black-rimmed specs. In 1999 she broke into the boy’s club by becoming the first female head writer on the long-running television comedy Saturday Night Live (SNL). In 2000 she proved she could deliver lines with the same dry wit after she stepped in front of the cameras to coanchor the popular SNL segment “Weekend Update.” In 2004 Fey combined both talents when she wrote the screenplay and costarred in the teen comedy Mean Girls. Along the way, Fey also showed the world that smart is sexy: she was named one of People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People of 2003.

A happy-go-lucky nerd Tina Fey came from a family that appreciated humor. Born on May 18, 1970, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, she admitted to Associated

205

tina fey

Press writer Douglas Rowe that her ultra dry wit comes from her mother, Jeanne. Fey also gives credit to her father, Don, and big brother, Peter, for introducing her to classic comedy. Some of her early memories are of watching comedies on television with her family, especially episodes of the British series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Peter, who is eight years older, also gave Fey her first glimpse into the world of Saturday Night Live. SNL aired at 11:30 at night, and since Fey was too young to stay up and watch it, Peter would act out the skits for her the next day. By the eighth grade, Fey was writing reports on comedy. She also carved out a role for herself as the class comedian. As Fey told

“Women tend toward more character-based, subtle observations. Men are more amused by fighting bears, sharks, and robots.” Donna Freydkin of USA Today, she started to crack jokes in middle school, and when people laughed, she decided then and there, “this is going to be my thing. I’m going to try to be that person at the party.” However, there was also a quiet side to the budding comedian. At Upper Darby High School, Fey was a serious student; she was very studious, and was involved in such activities as tennis, newspaper, choir, and drama. She was not particularly popular. In Fey’s own words to Rowe, she was a “happy-go-lucky nerd who operated in my own little social situations outside of the cool people.” After high school Fey enrolled at the University of Virginia, intending to study English. She soon switched her major to drama, and when she graduated, Fey and a college friend took off to study acting in Chicago. Chicago was Fey’s destination because it was the home of Second City, a famous training center for actors and comedians. The star-struck girl from Pennsylvania had grown up idolizing those actors on Saturday Night Live who had gotten their start at Second City—actors such as Gilda Radner (1946–1989), John Belushi (1949–1982), and Dan Aykroyd (1952–).

206


•

volume 1

tina fey

Queen Bees and Wannabees

Rosalind Wiseman’s book Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence has become a best seller and is being recommended as an important book that gives parents a very realistic look at the world of teenage girls. As Wiseman tells parents, the social cliques of high school have become more complicated, and teenagers are so influenced by these groups that it can lead to extremely harmful behavior. Bullying can lead to violence; peer pressure can push kids into taking drugs or becoming sexually active. Wiseman creates a navigation guide for parents, explaining the various kinds of social roles young girls take on. For example, there is the Queen Bee (the leader), the Sidekick, the Banker (a girl who uses secrets to move up in the group), and of course, the Target (the person who is singled out for harassment). She also outlines parenting techniques, offer-

ing advice on how to talk to teens and always suggesting that parents remember what it was like to be young and facing so many pressures. Taking the lid off “girl world” is often not pretty (the girls are, as the movie title says, mean), but Wiseman does try to inject some humor into her survival manual. By the time she wrote the book, Wiseman was an expert on teens. She had spent more than a decade talking to thousands of young girls about cliques, problems with boys, issues with school, and, in general, how they felt about themselves. In 1992 she founded a nonprofit organization, called The Empower Program, to teach girls self-defense as a way of protecting themselves against violence. Since then the program has grown, and the organization offers strategies for use in schools that will help both girls and boys understand how to be more compassionate and how to become empowered enough to take a stand and stop violence.

Moves to Saturday Night By day Fey worked the front desk at the local YMCA; at night she took classes at Second City, where as she told William Booth of the Washington Post, she became “completely addicted” to improv. Improv, short for improvisation, is a type of comedy in which actors perform together without a script. They spontaneously make up (or improvise) material as they go along, usually focusing on a particular theme or subject. According to Fey, improv made her a far better actor than her classical training in college, and everything clicked into place. As she explained to Booth, improv “tapped into the writer part of my brain and the actor part all at the same time.” After two years at Second City, Fey was asked to join the company’s touring group, and in 1994 she was promoted to the Second City main stage in Chicago. The dedicated comedian appeared in eight shows a week for over two years. Although it was an exhausting period U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

207

tina fey

in Fey’s life, it was also productive, and she managed to hone her skills as a writer, as well as a performer. In 1997 she took a chance and sent a few of her scripts to a Second City colleague who had gotten a job at Saturday Night Live. The producers liked what they read, and offered Fey a position on the writing staff. Fey jumped at the offer and moved to New York. Within a few weeks, her first sketch aired. Just two years later, in 1999, Fey was promoted to head writer—the first woman to hold the position in the twenty-seven-year history of SNL. Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, as an experiment. The concept was to showcase up-and-coming young comedians who might be too outrageous or too sophisticated for regular prime-time television. Hence, the cast became known as the Not Ready for Prime-Time Players. The ninety-minute live show aired at 11:30 P.M. on Saturday night and quickly developed a dedicated audience. In the 1970s millions of people stopped everything on Saturday night and gathered around the TV to watch their favorite skits and performers. In addition, the show gained such an important reputation, that to appear on SNL was an honor. The coolest music groups, the hottest stars, and the hippest comedians vied to take the SNL stage.

Injects some girl power Over the years, however, SNL suffered from ups and downs as producers and writers changed, and cast members left to pursue Hollywood careers. By the time Fey took over the head writer’s chair, the show was, as Booth put it, “faintly mildewy.” From 1999 until the mid-2000s, SNL’s ratings began to steadily rise, and in 2002 the writing staff took home an Emmy (the highest award given for excellence in television) for the first time in several years. Many people, including critics and fellow cast members, chalked up the show’s comeback to Fey. As comedian Janeane Garofalo (1964–) explained to People magazine, “SNL has risen from the ashes again to be a very good show—in no small part thanks to Tina Fey.” Fey was also credited with bringing some major girl power back to the show. When she joined SNL, she was one of only three women on the twenty-two-member writing staff. As a result, one of the complaints was that female SNL players were not featured as regularly as the male performers. Fey changed all that. She created sketches that

208


•

volume 1

tina fey

featured women and made it a point to showcase some of her old friends from Second City who had joined the cast, including Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler. In 2000 Fey became a featured player herself when she paired with fellow SNL-cast mate Jimmy Fallon (1974–) to cohost “Weekend Update,” the one segment of the show that remained constant since the show’s early days. Although the anchors changed from season to season, the point of the segment remained the same—to take current news and add a special bite of SNL commentary. Fey, the first woman to host the segment since 1982, added her own brand of wit and soon became known for her scathing observations, her low-key delivery, and of course, her trademark blue jacket and black glasses. She was a darling of the critics, and gained even more power on the show.

The Queen Bee of Mean Girls By 2002, just five years after joining the show, Fey was helping Saturday Night Live’s longtime producer Lorne Michaels (1944–) decide which sketches to put on the air and what players to feature. When Fey approached Michaels with an idea that could expand into a screenplay, he was all ears. While flipping through the New York Times Magazine, Fey was intrigued by a review of a book by Rosalind Wiseman, called Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence (2002).The book was a guide to help parents understand the potentially difficult world that teen girls find themselves coping with on a daily basis. Fey believed that the book, although a work of nonfiction, had real movie potential. “What struck me the most,” Fey said on the Mean Girls Web site, “were the anecdotes of the girls that were interviewed for the book. Rosalind, rightfully, takes them very seriously, but in my opinion, they’re also very funny. I mean the way girls mess with each other is very clever and intricate.” When she got the green light from Michaels, Fey started her research. The thirty-two-year-old pored through teen magazines and Web sites, and watched one teen movie after another. Of course, she also worked with Wiseman, promising her that she would not, as Fey told Booth, “turn it into a … stupid, cheesy teen comedy.” Fey worked on the script for almost two years, sandwiching it in during her breaks from SNL. The result was the 2004 comedy Mean Girls. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 1

209

tina fey

Mean Girls focuses on seventeen-year-old Cady Heron, who grew up in the wilds of Africa and was homeschooled by her research scientist parents. When the family moves back to the United States, Cady finds out that life is harder in the high school jungle, where kids run in packs, and every day is a struggle to survive. She is caught between such cliques as the social outcast Mathletes and the ultrapopular, but ultra-malicious and much-feared leaders of North Shore High School, the Plastics. When Cady falls for hunky jock Aaron Samuels, who just happens to be the ex-boyfriend of the school’s Queen Bee, Regina George, the Plastics go after the new girl with a vengeance. To retaliate, Cady, along with “art freaks” Janis and Damian, do some plotting of their own.

Tina Fey (left) poses with Lindsay Lohan, the star of Mean Girls. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Fey handled every rewrite of the script, which is unusual for a first-time screenwriter. She was also given a lot of control over the movie by director Mark Waters, who immediately signed on to the project after reading Fey’s screenplay. As he explained on the Mean Girls Web site, “It was witty and funny and full of humor yet still had a kind of humanity to it that you could connect to.” Moviegoers of all ages flocked to the May 2004 premiere, and it was numberone at the box office after its opening weekend. Critics praised Fey’s “wickedly funny” writing and her ability to create characters and dialogue that rang true to life. As Cady might put it, Fey really tapped into “girl world.”

A look behind the glasses So, just how much of Tina Fey is in Mean Girls? According to the screenwriter, there is a little bit of her in several of the characters. She was boy-crazy like Cady, and although Fey told Freydkin, “Regina is an amalgam of girls I was intimidated by in high school,” there is also a smidge of Fey in Regina as well. As she admitted to Booth, “I was a really snarky girl.” Fey also appeared in the movie. She plays math teacher Mrs. Norbury, who at the movie’s end, lectures the school’s female student population that “Calling somebody else fat will not make you any thinner. Calling somebody stupid will not make you any smarter.”

210


•

volume 1

tina fey

At home, the comedian is much more of an introvert and not at all like the characters she plays each week on Saturday Night Live. As her husband, Jeff Richmond, told Freydkin, “Her persona is so caustic, but she’s very shy and she doesn’t like confrontation in real life.” Richmond is the musical director of SNL, and on Sunday, the couple’s one day off from work, they enjoy lounging at home and baking desserts. The rest of the time, Fey is busy. She told Entertainment Weekly that she plans to stay with SNL “as long as they will have me,” but she is also at work developing a sitcom for NBC. Will she star in it? Maybe. As Fey explained to Freydkin, “I like being a writer who performs.”

For More Information Books Wiseman, Rosalind. Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence. New York: Crown, 2002.

Periodicals Booth, William. “Tina Fey, Specs Symbol.” Washington Post (April 25, 2004): p. N01. “Girls’ Night? With Tina Fey at SNL’s Helm, a Former Player Sees Improvement.” People Weekly (December 10, 2001): p. 19. Meadows, Susannah. “Ladies of the Night.” Newsweek (April 8, 2002): p. 54. Schwartz, Missy. “The Smartest Girl in the Class.” Entertainment Weekly (May 7, 2004): p. 32. Schwarzbaum, Lisa. “Clique Magnet: Lindsay Lohan Is the Prey in the High School Jungle of Tina Fey’s Sharp, Sassy Mean Girls.” Entertainment Weekly (May 7, 2004): p. 57. Smith, Kyle, and Brenda Rodriguez. “Leap of Fey: Saturday Night Live’s Tina Fey Brings Her Specs Appeal to the Big Screen in Mean Girls.” People Weekly (May 3, 2004): p. 75.

Web Sites The Empower Program Web site. http://www.empowered.org (accessed on June 27, 2004). Freydkin, Donna. “Fey Gets Her Skewers Out.” USA Today (April 22, 2004) http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-04-22-fey-main _x.htm (accessed on June 27, 2004). Mean Girls Web site. http://www.meangirlsmovie.com/indexflash.html (accessed on June 27, 2004).


•

volume 1

211

tina fey Rowe, Douglas J. “SNL’s Tina Fey Makes Screenwriting Debut.” FoxNews. com: Foxlife (April 29, 2004) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933, 118710,00.html (accessed on June 27, 2004).

212


•

volume 1



volume

2 two

Fi–McC










contents

volume

1

one



•

volume 2


v

contents volume

2

two


vi


•

volume 2

contents volume

3

three



•

volume 2

vii

contents volume

4

four


viii


•

volume 2



•

by •

volume 2

•

field of endeavor



ix

field of endeavor


x


•

volume 2

field of endeavor




•

volume 2

xi

field of endeavor




xii


•

volume 2

field of endeavor




•

volume 2

xiii

reader’s guide




•

volume 2

U



xv

reader’s guide



xvi


•

volume 2


50 Cent

July 6, 1976 • Queens, New York



•

volume 2

Rap musician

The rapper known as 50 Cent is living proof that hip-hop is as much a lifestyle as it is a type of music. He was a star in the underground mix-tape circuit for several years, but the rest of the world did not hear about him until 2002, when his first single, “Wanksta,” appeared on the soundtrack of the film 8 Mile. In 2003, 50 Cent’s debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, topped the charts and broke sales records. As a result, the young rapper was constantly in the press, and his life became an open book. This was not a “studio gangsta,” meaning a musician who makes up stories about drugs, violence, and murder in order to sell records; 50 Cent was the real deal. He grew up on the streets of New York, survived being shot at nine times, and used those experiences to fuel his songs. As a result, critics noted that his music had a gritty edge, and they predicted that 50 Cent would be the next hip-hop heavyweight.

213

50 cent

Life of a drug dealer Born Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent grew up in South Jamaica, a neighborhood of Queens, which is a borough of New York City. It is a tough neighborhood, plagued by gang violence; it is also the birthplace of many rappers, including LL Cool J (1968–) and the female trio Salt N’ Pepa. Fifty Cent was surrounded by violence from the day he was born. His mother, Sabrina Jackson, was only fifteen years old when he was born on July 6, 1976. She turned to dealing drugs in order to support her son, and eventually became one of the most feared drug dealers in Queens. Sabrina was killed mysteriously when her son was eight, perhaps the result of a drug war.

“The bottom line is, the obstacles that you overcome are going to determine how great you are.” Fifty Cent was raised by his grandmother, whom he adored. However, because she had nine other children in her charge, the boy spent a good deal of time on the streets. By the time he was twelve, he was dealing crack, a strong form of cocaine that is smoked. As 50 Cent explained to Allison Samuels of Newsweek, he had to fend for himself because he did not want to burden his grandmother: “I didn’t want to ask her for a pair of Air Jordans when I knew she couldn’t afford them, so I began working to get my stuff and not stress her out.” At age fifteen, 50 Cent bought his first gun, and by nineteen years old he was the neighborhood drug kingpin, bringing in about $150,000 a month. He had dropped out of high school and was spending most of his time in jail; 50 Cent was also listening to his favorite musicians, including KRS-1, Rakim, and Run-DMC, and trying his hand at writing his own rhymes. He dreamed about breaking into the music business but was not sure he should give it a try. When his son, Marquise, was born, 50 Cent knew it was time to make a change: he decided to stop dealing drugs and start making music.

214


•

volume 2

50 cent

Eminem: Unlikely Hip-Hop Hero

Eminem is one of the biggest superstars in the music business, but he is also one of the most controversial. His lyrics are full of profanity; his CDs are boycotted by women’s organizations and gay and lesbian groups; and he makes news headlines because of his public rampages against his mother, his ex-wife, other musicians, and fans. On the other hand, Eminem, a white rapper from Detroit, Michigan, has an enormous number of steadfast followers. He also has been credited with infusing new life into a genre that some considered to be growing old and stale. Eminem was born Marshall Mathers III in Kansas City, Missouri, on October 17, 1972. When he was young, he and his mother, Debbie MathersBriggs, divided their time between Missouri and Detroit, Michigan. When he was twelve, the family finally put down roots in the east side of Detroit. Because they were constantly moving, Mathers found it difficult to make friends, so he turned to television and comic books. He also started tuning in to rap music, and soon he was writing rhymes like his favorite musicians, LL Cool J and 2 Live Crew. By high school, Mathers was skipping most of his classes, and focusing his energies on his music. He failed the ninth grade, and ended up dropping out of Osbourne High School.

Mathers paid his dues over the next few years, releasing independent CDs until he was noticed by veteran rapper Dr. Dre. With Dr. Dre’s help, the world was introduced to Marshall Mathers, also known as Eminem, also known as Slim Shady, the title of his 1998 debut CD. His songs were harsh, filled with references to rape, violence, and drug use. In particular, Mathers lashed out at his ex-wife, Kim, and his mother, whom he blamed for his hard childhood. Critics loved him or hated him, parents protested, but millions of people bought his music and attended his concerts. The Slim Shady CD was followed by The Marshall Mathers LP (2000) and The Eminem Show (2002). Both sold millions of copies and earned several Grammy Awards. In 2003 The Eminem Show won the Grammy for Best Rap Album. That same year Mathers took home an Academy Award for Best Original Song for “Lose Yourself,” which appeared on the soundtrack of the movie 8 Mile (2002). Mathers also starred in the film, playing Jimmy Smith, a would-be rapper who battles the streets of Detroit. Smith was a character that Eminem knew well since he moved from those same streets to become one of the most unlikely hip-hop heroes in music history.

Learns from the master In 1996 a friend of 50 Cent’s introduced him to one of his boyhood idols, Jam Master Jay (1965–2002), a member of the pioneer rap group Run-DMC. Jay was from the same neighborhood, and he saw a spark in the fledgling rapper. Soon, 50 Cent was studying with the seasoned musician. “He was really patient with me,” 50 Cent told Josh Tyrangiel of Time. “I would come in with rhymes, almost free verse, and he explained that they had to fit 16 bars of music. Once he said it, I got it.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

215

50 cent

In 1997 Jam Master Jay signed a production deal with 50 Cent and agreed to promote him. The songs 50 Cent produced were raw, and his lyrics were taken from his own life on the streets. As Evan Serpick of Entertainment Weekly wrote, “they reverberated with authenticity.” Fifty Cent quickly became a hit in the underground world of hip-hop. This means he was recording and releasing discs independent of any major record company. As a result, the big record labels started to take notice of the “street thug”-turned rapper. In 1999 Columbia Records signed a deal with 50 Cent and gave him a reported $65,000 advance. Jam Master Jay received $50,000, and lawyers took the rest, so, even though he was a bona fide musician with a record deal, 50 Cent had no money. He kept his “day job,” which meant that he continued to sell drugs to make ends meet. Once they had 50 Cent under contract, Columbia was not sure what to do with him. Tired of waiting to release his first legitimate CD, 50 Cent cut his own single called “How to Rob.” The song was an attempt to get noticed by his label. As 50 Cent told Serpick, “I needed them to stop and look at me.” “How to Rob” did get Columbia’s attention, and everyone else’s attention in the music world since it was filled with 50 Cent’s plan to “rip off” every hip-hop star around. In his lyrics, 50 Cent warned, “I’ll rob Boyz II Men like I’m Michael Bivens/Catch Tyson for half that cash, like Robin Givens.” Columbia put 50 Cent’s song on the soundtrack to the movie In Too Deep (1999), but did little else with their artist. In May of 2000, 50 Cent’s street life caught up with him. While sitting in a friend’s car in front of his grandmother’s house, another car pulled up, and the driver fired round after round into 50 Cent’s body. All told, he was hit nine times, including a bullet to his hip, which shattered the bone, and a bullet to his head. Although 50 Cent survived, the close call was too much for Columbia Records, and the company dropped him from its label. Ever optimistic, the rapper returned to the mixed-tape circuit.

A fan in Slim Shady In 2002, 50 Cent wrote “Wanksta,” the song that would be his ticket to the big time. “Wanksta” was a bouncy party tune, but it was also a

216


•

volume 2

50 cent

direct jab at 50 Cent’s archenemy, rapper Ja Rule (1976–). The feud between the two musicians began in 1999, when Ja Rule was robbed and then accused 50 Cent of being involved in the incident. In the song, 50 Cent claims that his rival is merely a gangster wanna-be: “You say you a gangsta, but you never copped nothing’/You say you a wanksta and you need to stop frontin’.” Fifty Cent delivered “Wanksta,” along with a few of his other songs, to Paul Rosenberg, manager of the hottest rapper of the moment, Eminem (1972–). Eminem immediately called 50 Cent and asked him to come to Los Angeles. In June of 2002, 50 Cent signed on the dotted line for a reported $1 million, and was the first rapper to be promoted by Shady/Aftermath Records, Eminem’s personal record label. According to Serpick, it was a “match made in hip-hop heaven.” Unlike Columbia Records, Shady/Aftermath immediately put 50 Cent to work. Later in 2002, three of 50 Cent’s songs, including “Wanksta,” appeared on the soundtrack to 8 Mile, a movie loosely based on the life of Eminem. “Wanksta” received a lot of radio airplay, and listeners lined up to buy a CD by the new rapper. As a result, 50 Cent and Eminem went into the studio to work on 50 Cent’s debut disc. Eminem produced several of the songs; other tracks were produced by hip-hop legend Dr. Dre (1965–). The CD, titled Get Rich or Die Tryin’, was released in February of 2003, and it immediately broke records. Just days after it debuted, it sold almost one million copies and made it to number-one on the Billboard charts.

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Get Rich or Die Tryin’ sounded like an anthem for 50 Cent’s life. He took shots at other rappers in such songs as “U Not Like Me,” where his target is Sean “P. Diddy” Combs (1971–), and he included dance cuts, like “In Da Club,” which became an immediate hit single. However, as David Browne of Entertainment Weekly explained, 50 Cent spent most of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ “riffing on his crime-ridden past.” Almost all the songs talked about drugs, guns, and death, and all of them were definitely R-rated. Fifty Cent, however, was not apologetic about his lyrics. As he told Ebony magazine, “I curse to express how I feel.… The things I’ve been through made me the way I am U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

217

50 cent

today.” Fifty Cent also addressed his future in Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and the fact that he is all too eager to reap the rewards of a hip-hop star. In one song, he shares that he has “been patiently waiting for a track to explode.” And, according to 50 Cent’s “In Da Club,” he is “feelin’ focus, man, my money on my mind/Got a mil out the deal and I’m still on the grind.”

50 Cent performs at the 2003 BET Awards. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

By the end of 2003, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ had sold more than 6.4 million copies, which made it the best-selling CD of the year. It was also recognized as the biggest number-one debut by a new artist on a major record label. Fifty Cent was nominated for five Grammy Awards (one of the highest achievements in the music industry) and won five World Music Awards. The secret to the CD’s success, according to reviewer Ted Kessler, was that behind the clubby dance

218


•

volume 2

50 cent

tunes there was a “cold-blooded seriousness to [50 Cent’s] stories … that set him apart.” Critics also praised 50 Cent’s gritty vocals and commented that his choir-boy smile and his tattooed, well-toned physique probably helped to boost sales, as well.

Member of Da Club Following the triumph of Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent became a full-fledged member of the hip-hop club, and started to live the Hollywood lifestyle that goes with it. In October of 2003 the boy from South Jamaica purchased the house of ex-boxing champion Mike Tyson (1966–) for $4.1 million. In addition, since his “bad boy” days were not yet behind him, 50 Cent also purchased a fleet of SUVs, all of which were bulletproof. As he explained to Ebony, “No matter how successful you are, you’ve … gotta take precautions.” As added protection, 50 Cent wears a bullet proof vest every day, and insists that his son also wear one. Fifty Cent’s fears are not unfounded. In 2002 his longtime friend and mentor Jam Master Jay was shot and killed in his recording studio in Queens, New York. Fifty Cent does not seem to want to shake his gangster image, but he does intend to channel it into his music and into other projects: “50 Cent is a metaphor for change,” 50 Cent explained to Zondra Hughes. In late 2003, 50 Cent and his group G-Unit, short for Guerilla Unit, released their first CD, called Beg for Mercy. At the same time, the rapper announced plans to write his autobiography. He was also considering some movie offers. As for the future, 50 Cent was realistic, but hopeful. As he told Serpick, “Trouble seems to find me, so I’m kinda anticipating not everything being beautiful, or going my way. But it feels like it is right now. So far, so good.”

For More Information Periodicals Browne, David. “Money Talks: It Ain’t Nothing But a G Thing for Rapper 50 Cent, Who’s Looking to Get Rich or Die Tryin’ with the Help of Eminem.” Entertainment Weekly (February 21, 2003): p. 148. Brunner, Rob. “Cash of the Titans.” Entertainment Weekly (May 30, 2003): pp. 26–29. Drumming, Neil. “4 50 Cent: Rapper’s Delight.” Entertainment Weekly (December 26, 2003): p. 24.


•

volume 2

219

50 cent Hughes, Zondra. “The 9 Lives of 50 Cent: Rap Star Survives Shootings, Stabbing and Death Threats.” Ebony (August 2003): pp. 52–53. Kessler, Ted. “Shady Business.” New Statesman (March 31, 2003): p. 43. Serpick, Evan. “The 50 Cents Piece.” Entertainment Weekly (February 28, 2003): p. 42–44. Tyrangiel, Josh. “Rap’s Newest Target.” Time (February 17, 2003): p. 68.

Web Sites “Eminem Biography.” Shady Soldiers Web site. http://www.shadysoldiers. com/info/biography.htm (accessed on June 27, 2004). 50 Cent Direct. http://50centdirect.com (accessed on June 27, 2004).

220


•

volume 2

Carly Fiorina

September 6, 1954 • Austin, Texas



•

volume 2

Chairman and CEO, Hewlett-Packard

As chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP), a technology company worth $72 billion, Carly Fiorina is the most powerful woman in American business. Many give credit to the savvy businesswoman for leading the technology titan into the twentyfirst century. In 2002 Fiorina cemented her reputation as a risk taker when she engineered a controversial merger between HP and Compaq Computers. After expanding her empire, Fiorina was sitting at the helm of the second largest computer company in the world. By the mid-2000s, however, given HP’s shaky numbers, critics wondered if Fiorina’s reign would continue. Regardless, her role in history as a trailblazer would remain. When she joined Hewlett-Packard in 1999, Fiorina became the only woman to head a large, publicly held company in the United States.

221

carla fiorina

Steers toward business Businesswoman Carly Fiorina was born Cara Carleton Sneed on September 6, 1954, in Austin, Texas. Her unique name was the result of family tradition. All the male members of the Sneed family who were named Carleton died while serving in the Civil War (1861–1865). To honor them, one child in each subsequent generation was named either Carleton (if a boy) or Cara Carleton (if a girl). Fiorina’s father, Joseph Sneed, was a lawyer and at one time served as deputy attorney general under President Richard M. Nixon (1913–1994). He also served for more than thirty years as an appeals court judge in San Francisco, California. Fiorina’s mother, Madelon, was an abstract

“Progress is not made by the cynics and doubters. It is made by those who believe everything is possible.” painter. In 2003, during a ceremony honoring her father’s longstanding career, Fiorina credited her parents for inspiring her to excel. “In times of hardship and uncertainty,” she observed, as quoted on the OCE Public Information Office Web site, “people need a strong internal compass to find their way.” Fiorina specifically thanked her father for “always being my true north.” Although Fiorina was raised primarily in the San Francisco Bay area, her father’s job caused the family to move quite a bit. She attended at least five high schools all over the world, including Ghana (in Africa) and London, England. Fiorina eventually returned to California to attend Stanford University, located in Palo Alto. Strangely enough, Hewlett-Packard’s corporate headquarters are located in Palo Alto, and the future CEO worked in HP’s shipping department during a summer break from college. After graduating with a degree in medieval history and philosophy, Fiorina decided to follow in her father’s footsteps. She entered law school at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1976. After one semester, however, she dropped out, deciding that a career in law was not for her.

222


•

volume 2

carla fiorina

Do You Want to Be Carly Fiorina?

Carly Fiorina has graced the top of Fortune magazine’s annual list of the most powerful women in business since the ranking was launched in 1998. But in October of 2003, when the magazine polled the other honorees and asked them whether they would like to be in Fiorina’s shoes, the answer was consistently “no.” Many seemed uncomfortable with the word power. As Ann Fudge, CEO of Young & Rubicam (and number 46 on the list), told Fortune, “We need to redefine power!” And according to Jenny Ming, president of Old Navy, “Power is in your face and aggressive. I’m not like that.” Definitions aside, according to Fortune, by the mid-2000s the trend was that women were regularly being offered positions of power but were not accepting them. And more and more women were leaving their top-level positions or taking short- or long-term breaks. One reason cited was that women were not willing to sacrifice their personal lives, especially time with their children, in order to work a staggering number of hours at their companies. As Jamie Gorelick, former vice chairman of Fannie Mae, commented to Fortune, the “secret is that women demand a lot more satisfaction in their lives than men do.” Of course it makes it a lot easier to devote time to a career if one spouse stays at home. Interestingly enough, according to Fortune, more than one-third of the women who appeared on the list in 2003 had husbands who were stay-at-home dads. In fact, Carly Fiorina’s husband Frank, a former AT&T executive, took an early retirement in 1998 to help focus his energies on his wife’s career.

Not only were women turning down or leaving upper level positions in the business world, but business schools were having a difficult time attracting female students. According to a 2002 study by Simmons College of over four thousand teenagers, only 9 percent of girls interviewed expressed an interest in going into business. In addition, women made up only 36 percent of students heading toward a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). As Judy Rodin, president of the University of Pennsylvania, explained, young women on her campus regularly commented that “You [career-focused] women work too hard. You’re too strung out.” Considering that Carly Fiorina starts her day every morning at 4:00, maybe they are right. Fortune did offer some hope. Young men appeared to be changing their attitudes toward the business world. They, like women, seemed to want a balance between their personal lives and their careers. According to Brenda Barnes, who teaches at the Kellogg School of Management in Chicago, her students have told her that they saw their parents “dedicating themselves to their companies” and that they are not willing to “give their lives over to their jobs.” Women executives see this as good news. They predict that if business attitudes change, equality between men and women in the top business spots may become a reality. That reality may be some time coming, however, considering that in 2003 only 8 percent of the top level jobs in corporate America were held by women.

Not sure what to do, Fiorina tried her hand at a number of jobs. She even taught English in Bologna, Italy. It was while working as a receptionist at a New York brokerage firm that her interest in business U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

223

carla fiorina

was sparked. Fiorina decided to go back to school to get a master’s degree in business administration (MBA), and in 1980 she graduated from the University of Maryland. Fresh out of graduate school, Fiorina landed a job at the telecommunications giant AT&T as a sales representative. She was quickly promoted to the position of commercial account executive, and was responsible for selling long distance telephone service to federal agencies in the U.S. government.

Lights up Lucent, then snagged by HP Fiorina’s aggressive sales record did not go unnoticed by her employers, who decided that she was definitely management material. As a result, in 1988 she was sent to the prestigious Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to earn a master of science degree in business. While at Sloan, Fiorina met the head of AT&T’s Network Systems Group, a manufacturing division of the company that was viewed as sluggish and outdated. Against the advice of colleagues, she decided to transfer to Network Systems, even though it was a low profile area and the move seemed almost certain to stall her career. However, quite the opposite happened. In 1995 Fiorina was appointed as the first woman officer at Network Systems when she was put in charge of North American sales. She became instrumental in carving out new markets for AT&T in the Far East, well before it became commonplace for U.S. businesses to expand on a global scale. In 1995 AT&T decided to spin off into three separate companies and Fiorina was at the center of the whirlwind. One company would focus on long distance, while NCR Corporation would be the computer company and Lucent Technologies would concentrate on telecommunications and networking equipment, essential for running the Internet. Network Systems was folded into Lucent, and Fiorina was put in charge of revamping the new company. She coordinated Lucent’s $3 billion initial public offering (IPO), which is the offering of stock on the open market to the public for the first time. She was also responsible for creating Lucent’s flashy marketing image, including its red swirl logo. Lucent quickly became a leader in the networking industry, and Fiorina was given most of the credit. In 1998 she became president of Lucent’s Global Service Provider Business, and

224


•

volume 2

carla fiorina

by year’s end Lucent had chalked up $19 billion in revenue. That same year Fiorina was placed at the top of Fortune magazine’s list of the most powerful women in business. Other corporations soon took notice of the knowledgeable young professional, including Hewlett-Packard, the grandfather of all computer companies. In July of 1999, HP announced that it had hired Fiorina to be its president and chief executive officer (CEO). The move was remarkable for several reasons. One, HP was a familyowned business, and for the first time it was hiring a president from outside its own ranks. Second, the corporation became the first large U.S. company to place a woman in charge. Third, Fiorina was breaking into Silicon Valley, a region south of San Francisco where there is a concentration of high-tech industries, and until Fiorina came along, the industry had been strictly male-dominated. Although Fiorina was sad to leave AT&T after almost twenty years, she explained to Electronic News, “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. Hewlett-Packard is a company of great accomplishment and even greater potential.… I will strive to strike the right balance between reinforcing HP’s values and working to reinvent its business.”

A house divided Since its formation in 1939 by Bill Hewlett (1913–2001) and Dave Packard (1912–1996), Hewlett-Packard had grown into one of the preeminent leaders in the computer industry, noted primarily for cornering the printer market. But by the late 1990s it was starting to lose ground, especially to personal computer (PC) giant IBM. The company looked to Fiorina to help it reenergize. As Sam Ginn, a member of HP’s board of directors told Electronic News, “The board unanimously agreed that she is quite simply the ideal candidate to leverage HP’s core strengths in the rapidly changing information-systems industry and to lead this great company well into the new millennium.” Fiorina lost no time cleaning house. She streamlined operations by combining several different divisions into fewer, more manageable units. She also shook up the HP sales staff, telling them to shape up or leave the company. This was a harsh mandate, but at the same time Fiorina was also known for her exceptional leadership skills and for maintaining a loyal employee following. By 2001, however, analysts were U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

225

carla fiorina

wondering if HP’s ambitious new CEO had been too aggressive. True, Fiorina had struck some very lucrative deals with Ford Motor Company and Delta Airlines to purchase exclusively from HP, but the corporation’s PC sales were still lagging and there had been no major inroads into the world of e-business, as promised. HP remained optimistic. As board member George Keyworth explained to USA Today, “In the early summer of 1999, when we were interviewing Carly, we discussed it would take a minimum of three years to turn things around and there would be lots of ups and downs. We are absolutely behind her.” The board was divided, however, when Fiorina made a daring announcement in September of 2001. In a further effort to overtake IBM, she proposed to buy Compaq Computers, another faltering leader in the PC industry. The proposed merger could cost up to $25 billion, but Fiorina claimed that the combined assets of the two companies would create an information technology dynamo. Members of both the Hewlett and Packard families balked at the idea, and initially refused to go along with the deal. They eventually relented, and on May 3, 2002, Fiorina successfully engineered the $19 billion consolidation.

Carly Fioina (left) shakes hands with the chief executive of Compaq, Michael Capellas. HewlettPackard purchased Compaq in 2002. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

Carly claims victory with Compaq A year-and-a-half after the merger, Fiorina was claiming victory. She told Fortune magazine that “the strategy has been vindicated.” She also announced that HP “leads in every product category, every geography, and every customer segment in which we participate.” The company did look different, and it launched a new ad campaign with the tag line “Everything is possible.” It was also branching into new consumer electronics markets, like Tablet PCs and MP3 players, hoping to give new industry leader Dell Computers a run for their money. But according to business analysts the numbers told a different story. In October of 2003, writer Stephanie Smith observed on the CNN Web site that the “new HP looks a lot like the old HP,” and revealed that 80 percent of the company’s $4.4 billion profit still came from printer sales. In addition, the morale of HP seemed to be suffering. By January of 2004 seven of HP’s top managers had left the company. Some

226


•

volume 2

carla fiorina

retired, some migrated to the competition, and at least one quit suddenly and without notice. Fiorina remained unfazed, telling Fortune that “only 1.7 percent of executives at the vice president level and above have left HP since the merger. That’s a pretty small percentage.” Numbers aside, there is no doubt that Fiorina has ranked as a visionary. While at AT&T she helped usher in the era of global business; at Hewlett-Packard she has been at the forefront of new technological ventures. Fiorina has also helped HP become a leader in giving. She launched HP’s Technology for Teaching program, which each year awards $10 million in technology grants to U.S. schools from kindergarten through college level. She has also established programs in other countries, including India, to “help bridge the digital divide between technology empowered and technology-excluded communities,” as quoted in PR Newswire. As a result, in November of 2003 Hewlett-Packard was honored by the international nonprofit humanitarian organization Concern Worldwide for “its commitment to spearheading educational initiatives around the world.”

For More Information Books “Carly Fiorina Biography.” Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 2. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Periodicals “Concern Worldwide US Presents ‘Seeds of Hope’ Award to HP’s Carly Fiorina.” PR Newswire (November 5, 2003). “Fiorina Named HP President and CEO.” Electronic News (July 26, 1999): p. 14. Lashinsky, Adam. “Power 25: No. 19 Carly Fiorina, Hewlett Packard.” Fortune (August 11, 2003): p. 78. Lashinsky, Adam. “Wall Street to Carly: Prove It! HP Talks Up a Turnaround, but Investors Don’t Buy It—Yet.” Fortune (January 12, 2004): p. 36. Scardino, Marjorie. “Carly Fiorina: Inventing a New Hewlett-Packard.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 72. Swartz, Jon. “Another Thumbs Down for H-P Deal.” USA Today (November 8, 2001).

Web sites “Carly Most Powerful Woman—Again.” CNNMoney.com (September 29, 2003). http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/29/technology/fortune_women/ index.htm (accessed on May 21, 2004).


•

volume 2

227

carla fiorina “Court of Appeals Honors Judge Joseph T. Sneed.” OCE Public Information Office (December 9, 2003). http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/web/ OCELibra.nsf/0/bc0e84a3abe7cc0688256df9000124fa?OpenDocument (accessed on May 21, 2004). La Monica, Paul R. “Fiorina Strikes Back.” CNNMoney.com (November 21, 2002). http://money.cnn.com/2002/11/18/technology/comdex_ fiorina (accessed on May 21, 2004). Smith, Stephanie. “Can HP Find Its Way?” CNNMoney.com (October 2003). http://money.cnn.com/best/magazine_archive/2003/10/SEL-02. html (accessed on May 21, 2004).

228


•

volume 2

Cornelia Funke

1958 • Dorsten, Westphalia, Germany

© 2004 Landov LLC. All rights reserved. Repoduced by permission.


•

volume 2

Author, illustrator

F

or years Cornelia Funke has been one of the best-known and bestselling children’s authors in Germany. In fact, many people have called her the German J. K. Rowling. Americans, however, were not exposed to Funke’s work until 2002, when her book Herr der Diebe was translated into English and released by Scholastic Press as The Thief Lord. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Like their German counterparts, young American readers gobbled up the fantastic tale of two orphans set loose among the canals and streets of Venice, Italy. The book made every major bestseller list and won countless awards. It also established Funke as a storyteller on an international scale, since the book has since been published in nearly forty countries. In October of 2003 Funke released her second book in the United States, Inkheart. Publisher’s Weekly called it “delectably transfixing,” and readers were left clamoring for more of their favorite new author.

229

cornelia funke

Illustrator becomes author Cornelia Funke was born in 1958 in Dorsten, Westphalia, located in the central region of Germany. Funke, who spoke with Sue Corbett of the Miami Herald, explained that her last name is pronounced FOONkah. She also mentioned that in the United States “people say ‘Funky,’ and I rather like that.” Funke did not set out to be a writer. When she was eighteen years old she left Dorsten to study at the University of Hamburg, where she earned a degree in education theory. Not sure what to do after graduation, Funke decided to take a course in book illustration at the Hamburg State College of Design.

“If I was a book, I would like to be a library book, so I would be taken home by all different sorts of kids. A library book, I imagine, is a happy book.” Funke started out designing board games and illustrating books for other authors. After illustrating for several years, however, she began to lose interest in her job. “I was, I have to admit, bored by the stories I had to illustrate,” Funke explained in a Bookwrap video interview online. Instead, she wanted to draw pictures for books that were exciting, books about dragons and adventure. She recalled that one night, at the age of twenty-eight, she started to write her own story. The illustrator-turned-author did not suffer the usual trials of firsttime writers. She sent her manuscript out to four German publishing houses and all four wanted to publish it. Funke’s earliest books, most of which she illustrated herself, were short and aimed at younger readers of about eight years old. Her first longer, chapter book for older children was Drachenreiter (Dragonrider), published in Germany in 1997. It was followed in 2000 by Herr der Diebe (The Thief Lord). The book was a phenomenal success in Germany, but Funke was not satisfied. She was determined to take a shot at the English-language market, where she knew her stories would have a chance to be read by a wider audience. Funke turned to her cousin, Oliver Latsch, and asked him to translate Herr

230


•

volume 2

cornelia funke

Cornelia Funke’s Favorite Books

In

many of her interviews, writer Cornelia Funke describes herself as a passionate reader. And, as she revealed in an AudioFile interview, one of her goals as an author is to “try to awaken the passion for reading in children and adults.” In Inkheart, one way Funke accomplishes this goal is by introducing her audience to classic works of fiction. Each chapter begins with a quote from a book, and there are references to books such as The Wind in the Willows by Scottish author Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932) sprinkled throughout the text. In an article posted on the Guardian Unlimited Web site, Funke revealed her own “favourite bedtime stories,” many of which are mentioned in Inkheart.

1. Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. 2. The BFG by Roald Dahl. 3. What Witch by Eva Ibbotson. 4. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. 5. Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver by Michael Ende. 6. Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. 7. The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren. 8. The War of the Buttons by Louis Peraud. 9. The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. 10. The Princess Bride by William Goldman.

der Diebe into English. With manuscript in hand, she made the rounds of the top English publishers.

Thief Lord steals the hearts of millions Several companies showed an interest, but at the same time the fates were actively at work at The Chicken House, a new book publisher in England. The Chicken House was founded in 2000 by Barry Cunningham, who had a long career in publishing and was known for taking chances on new writers. In fact, it was Cunningham who first decided to publish the Harry Potter series after British author J. K. Rowling (c. 1966–) was turned down by countless other publishers. In this case, Funke did not go to Cunningham. Cunningham went looking for her, after he received a letter from an eleven-year-old girl in England named Clara, asking why her favorite author (Cornelia Funke) was not published in English. Clara was bilingual, she spoke both German and English, so she had been enjoying Funke’s books for several years. Cunningham tracked down Funke’s agent, read the manuscript, and immediately bought the English-language rights for Herr der Diebe and for Drachenreiter. In July of 2000 The Thief Lord was pubU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

231

cornelia funke

lished in England. It sold out in just ten days, an unheard-of phenomenon for a children’s book. Two years later Funke’s story debuted in the United States. Critics heaped praise on The Thief Lord, calling it an immediate classic. Readers agreed, and the book reached the New York Times bestseller list, where it remained comfortably perched for twenty-five weeks. The Thief Lord was named a best book of the year by many publications, including School Library Journal and Parenting Magazine. It also won a slew of awards, including the prestigious Mildred L. Batchelder Award, which is presented annually by the American Library Association to the best book originally published in a foreign language and then translated and published in the United States. Part Peter Pan and part Robin Hood and Oliver Twist, The Thief Lord is set against the backdrop of Venice, Italy. Rebecca Sinkler of the New York Times called the book a “love song to the city and its splendors.” In fact, Venice is one of Funke’s favorite destinations, and she was inspired to write the story during one of her many visits. “I wanted to tell children that there is a place in this world that is real and full of history, but also contains magic and mystery,” she explained to Trudy Wyss in an interview on the Borders Books Web site. The many alleyways and canals of Venice were perfect for the story because, as Funke told Wyss, “there are hundreds of hiding places.” At the story’s center are two orphans, twelve-year-old Prosper and his five-year-old brother, Bo, who run away from Hamburg to Venice because their aunt and uncle want to separate them. When they arrive in the strange city, they are taken in by a band of young pickpockets and thieves who are led by Scipio, the thirteen-year-old masked Thief Lord. The boys live comfortably enough with their new-found friends in an abandoned movie theater until they discover they are being tracked by an investigator hired by their aunt and uncle. They also run into trouble when the gang is hired to steal a wooden horse’s wing that long ago was broken off a magical carousel. The carousel has the power to make “adults out of children and children out of adults.”

Written from the heart Readers were spellbound by the many twists and turns in the plot of The Thief Lord, and Funke left her audience wanting more. They were rewarded in October of 2003 when Scholastic Press, her American

232


•

volume 2

cornelia funke

Cornelia Funke poses with her book, Inkheart. © 2004 Landov LLC. All rights reserved. Repoduced by permission.

publisher, released Inkheart. There is a gleam in Funke’s eye when she talks about this book, which she believes to be one of her best efforts. As she explained in the Bookwrap video, she put the “blood of her heart” into writing it: “There are those people who love books and are greedy for books and the rustling of paper and the printed letter and I wanted to write about this. This lust for the printed word. And I think Inkheart is all about that. The enchantment that comes from books.” Good authors make books come alive for their readers. In Inkheart, twelve-year-old Meggie loves books so much that she regularly falls asleep with them. Her father, Mo, teases her, saying, “I’m sure it must be very comfortable sleeping with a hard, rectangular thing like that under your head.” But Meggie enjoys taking her books to bed because the books whisper their stories to her at night. Books are also important to her father, who earns his living by traveling across the country repairing and caring for old volumes. He does not, however, read to his daughter because of a secret power he possesses: if Mo reads a book aloud, its characters leave the pages and enter the real world. Mo discovered his gift several years earlier, when he released characters from the book Inkheart. One of them, named Capricorn, is so evil that his heart is said to be made of ink. Capricorn hunts down Mo because he wants to destroy Inkheart, ensuring that he will never return to its pages. The success of Inkheart followed that of The Thief Lord. The book debuted at number nine on the New York Times bestseller list and stayed on the list into 2004. It also received rave reviews. Publisher’s U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

233

cornelia funke

Weekly enthused that “readers will be captivated by the chilling and thrilling world [Funke] has created.” James Neal Webb of BookPage went so far as to call it “a magical, life-altering volume.”

Funke on film To promote her books, in November of 2003 Funke left Hamburg and her children, Anna and Ben, and went on a U.S. book tour. (The character of Bo in The Thief Lord was based on Ben.) She was interviewed on television and radio and visited many bookstores across the United States. In her Bookwrap video interview Funke commented about the American children she met on tour, and how open and curious they were. “It was great fun to meet them,” she said. “I was especially enchanted by the book maniacs in America. I didn’t know there was so many here.… And I have to confess this kind of book passion I have only met in America.” Funke revealed to the Miami Herald that there are two sequels planned for Inkheart. The second in the series, called Inkblood, has already been written and is being translated from the German, with an expected release date of 2005. In addition, there are movies in the works based on The Thief Lord and on the Inkheart trilogy. Once her books hit the big screen, Funke, already a beloved writer, will no doubt become a writing phenomenon. And there is also no doubt that there are many more books to come from her pen. As she told Wyss, “Writing is my passion.… I couldn’t live without it.”

For More Information Books Funke, Cornelia. Dragon Rider. New York: Scholastic Books, 2004. Funke, Cornelia. Inkheart. New York: Scholastic Books, 2003. Funke, Cornelia. The Thief Lord. New York: Scholastic Books, 2002.

Periodicals Corbett, Sue. “Author on Her Way to Fame; Could Be Next J. K. Rowling.” Miami Herald (December 2, 2003). Review of Inkheart. Publisher’s Weekly (July 21, 2003): p. 196. Review of The Thief Lord. Publisher’s Weekly (June 24, 2002): p. 57. Sinkler, Rebecca Pepper. “Children’s Books: Theft in Venice.” New York Times (November 17, 2003).

234


•

volume 2

cornelia funke Webb, James Neal. “Characters Come to Life in Fast-Paced Fantasy.” BookPage (November 2003).

Web sites “Cornelia Funke Biography.” Scholastic Books: Book Central. http://www. scholastic.com/titles/authors/Cornelia_funke.htm (accessed on May 25, 2004. “Cornelia Funke’s Favourite Bedtime Stories.” Guardian Unlimited (U.K.). http://books.guardian.co.uk/top10s/top10/0,6109,1063558,00.html (accessed on May 27, 2004). Inkheart by Cornelia Funke (video clip interview). Bookstream Inc./Bookwrap. http://a1110.g.akamai.net/7/1110/5507/v002/bookstream.download.akamai.com/5507/bw/bs/0439531640/b1/default_wm.htm (accessed on May 26, 2004). “Talking with Cornelia Funke: Cornelia Funke Interview.” AudioFile http:// www.audiofilemagazine.com/features/A1222.html (accessed on May 27, 2004). Wyss, Trudy. “Hey American Kids, Meet Cornelia Funke: A Beloved German Children’s Author Makes Her U.S. Debut.” Borders Books. http:// www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=funke (accessed on May 27, 2004).


•

volume 2

235

Neil Gaiman

November 10, 1960 • Portchester, England



•

volume 2

Writer

Neil Gaiman is an extraordinarily imaginative writer who works in a variety of formats, writing graphic novels (or, book-length comics), short stories, novels, children’s books, and scripts for television and films. His works are classified in a number of different genres, from horror to fantasy to science fiction, and often he jumps from one genre to another within a single work. Gaiman understands the conventional rules of writing fiction, particularly comic books, but he rarely follows such rules, choosing instead to pursue the winding paths of his imagination. Gaiman has achieved rock-star status among his millions of fans, and is best known for his Sandman series of comic books. He began writing Sandman installments in the late 1980s, developing a passionate following along the way. After a break of several years from Sandman, he published the graphic novel Sandman: Endless Nights in 2003. In October of that year, Endless Nights reached number twenty on the New York Times bestseller list, a rare feat for a comic book. Gaiman has also achieved success with a novel-

237

neil gaiman

la, or short novel, for young adults, titled Coraline. The novel earned a number of prestigious awards, including the Hugo and Nebula awards for outstanding works of science fiction and fantasy, and the Bram Stoker award, which is given to exceptional works of horror.

A reader becomes a writer Gaiman was born in Portchester, England, in 1960. His mother, a pharmacist, and his father, the director of a company, encouraged their young son’s reading habits, although even without such encouragement Gaiman would probably have been an avid reader. He devoured every book he could get his hands on as a child, working his way through the

“All my life, I’ve felt that I was getting away with something because I was just making things up and writing them down, and that one day there would be a knock, and a man with a clipboard would be standing there and say, ‘It says here you’ve just been making things up all these years. Now it’s time to go off and work in a bank.’” entire local children’s library and partway through the adult collection as well. In an interview on the KAOS2000 Magazine Web site, Gaiman explained that he carried a book with him wherever he went: “Before weddings, bar mitzvahs, funerals and anything else where you’re actually meant to not be reading, my family would frisk me and take the book away.” He read books in a number of different genres, especially comics, and he was particularly drawn to science fiction and fantasy works. While preparing for his own bar mitzvah, a Jewish ceremony marking a young man’s transition to the world of adulthood, Gaiman became entranced by religious and mystical Jewish writings.

238


•

volume 2

neil gaiman

As a teenager Gaiman began to outgrow the comic books he had loved as a child. Faced with a lack of comic books aimed at a more mature audience, Gaiman decided to fill that need himself. He wanted to write comic books when he grew up, although at the time he had no idea how to accomplish that goal. After graduating from high school in 1977, Gaiman became a journalist. He wrote articles for a number of British newspapers and magazines, including the Sunday Times, the Observer, and Time Out. In 1983 he and partner Mary McGrath had their first child, named Michael. In March of 1985 Gaiman wed McGrath, and that same year their daughter, Holly, was born. During that time Gaiman began writing short stories, including such titles as “How to Be a Barbarian,” “How to Spot a Psycho,” and “Jokers through History.” In the early 1980s Gaiman began reading the works of esteemed British comic book writer Alan Moore, author of such landmark works as Swamp Thing and Watchmen. He told Authors and Artist for Young Adults (AAYA): “Moore’s work convinced me that you really could do work in comics that had the same amount of intelligence, the same amount of passion, the same amount of quality that you could put in any other medium,” such as novels, short stories, or films. While comic books had been around since the 1930s, the development of the graphic novel as a serious form of literature was relatively recent, and the rules for the genre were still being written. Gaiman was drawn to the experimental nature of adult-oriented comic books and graphic novels, and in the mid-1980s he began writing comics. He wrote several issues of a series called 2000AD before publishing the graphic novel Violent Cases in 1987. Violent Cases depicts a grown man’s childhood recollections, with a visit to an elderly doctor as the starting point of those memories. While treating the four-year-old child for a broken arm, the doctor shares vivid stories from decades earlier, when the infamous gangster Al Capone was his patient. After publishing Violent Cases, which was illustrated by his frequent collaborator Dave McKean, Gaiman came to the attention of celebrated publisher DC Comics, home of Batman and Superman. His next work, a three-part series called Black Orchid, was published by DC Comics, the first of Gaiman’s many works to find a home there. The series revisits a character from DC’s history, the crime-fighting heroine named in the title. Black Orchid is quite different from the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

239

neil gaiman

Not Comic Books: The Stories and Novels of Neil Gaiman

While Neil Gaiman initially and enduringly captured the imaginations of millions of readers with his Sandman comics and other graphic novels, he has also applied his seemingly endless energy to works of prose, namely novels and short stories. Gaiman began writing short stories before ever penning a comic book, and some of his stories and story-poems have been collected into the volumes Angels and Visitations (1993) and Smoke and Mirrors (1998). As with his other writings, these collections range across many genres, from fantasy, science fiction, and horror, to comedy and mystery. Gaiman’s first novel was a comedic collaboration with English writer Terry Pratchett. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (1990) was written over a period of several weeks in 1989, with Gaiman and Pratchett sharing their contribu-

tions over the phone, each working hard to make the other laugh hysterically. The novel uses slapstick comedy to address the most serious of subjects: the end of humankind. In 2003 Good Omens was named one of England’s one hundred “best-loved novels” in a poll conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In 1996 Gaiman published Neverwhere, a novel that came about after he had written the script for a six-part BBC series with the same title. Dissatisfied with the many compromises made during the filming of the series, Gaiman opted to regain control of his ideas by issuing the work as a novel. In an interview on the Writers Write Web site, Gaiman related that every time a major alteration was made to his script during the production of the series, he would think to himself, “It’s OK, I’ll put it back in the novel.” The book explores the adventures of Londoner Richard Mayhew, who encounters a girl named Door, a visitor from an other-

typical female characters in comic books; Gaiman described her to AAYA as “vaguely feminist, ecological, essentially nonviolent. I liked the fact that at the end she doesn’t get mad and start hitting people.” For his next venture, DC asked Gaiman to revive another old character, and Gaiman chose the little-known Sandman, a character that originated in the 1940s. DC hired Gaiman to write a monthly serial featuring the Sandman, a career move intended to build the writer’s reputation. Much to the surprise of both Gaiman and DC Comics, the Sandman series was an immediate hit.

The Lord of Dreams Gaiman’s first Sandman installment came out in 1989, and over the next eight years a total of seventy-five issues were released. With each new comic, Gaiman elaborated on the complex universe surrounding the Sandman, complete with myths explaining the origin of that uni-

240


•

volume 2

neil gaiman worldly place called London Below. Door has the ability to travel between the two worlds, the real London and the fantastical underground London, and Mayhew accompanies her, helping her flee a pair of brutal assassins. Attempting once again to bring his vision of Neverwhere to the screen, Gaiman sold the rights to his novel to Jim Henson Productions, the company best known as the home of the Muppets. For Stardust, Gaiman collaborated with artist Charles Vess to produce a short, richly illustrated fantasy novel. Described by many as an adult fairy story, Stardust tells the romantic tale of a young man battling powerful foes to retrieve a fallen star promised to his beloved. Stardust was initially released as a four-part illustrated series by DC Comics in 1997 and 1998; one year later, Spike Books issued a one-volume version without illustrations. Critics raved, fans went wild, and plans were soon underway to make a Stardust movie.

novels. A typical Gaiman hodge-podge of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and mythology, American Gods tells the story of ancient European gods who accompanied waves of immigrants to the shores of the United States, only to be discarded and ignored in modern society. They have been replaced by American-bred gods such as Media and Technology, and the old-time gods are fed up and looking for a fight with their newer counterparts. American Gods connected with Gaiman’s many fans and earned new fans as well, all of whom propelled the book to a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. The novel won numerous awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, SFX (for outstanding works of science fiction and fantasy), and the Bram Stoker award for distinguished works of horror. While Gaiman established his reputation with his groundbreaking work in comics, he has cemented his legacy by applying his creativity to every existing genre and by inventing a few new ones as well.

In 2001 Gaiman released American Gods, perhaps his best-known work outside of his graphic

verse. Myths are stories handed down through the ages, often used to explain a culture’s practices or beliefs. In the world of the Sandman, a family of seven immortal, godlike creatures, known as the Endless, engage in cosmic struggles. Each of the Endless represents a different element of human emotions and experience—Dream, Desire, Despair, Destiny, Delirium (formerly Delight), Destruction, and Death. Known by a variety of names, including Sandman, Morpheus, Lord of the Dreaming, and Master of Story, Dream wanders through places both earthbound and otherworldly. Tall, thin, and pale, with spiky black hair, Dream is the ruler of the Dreaming, a sort of parallel universe that exists alongside earthly reality. Humans can enter the Dreaming only while sleeping. Dream is a mysterious figure, unknowable even to the most devoted readers. AAYA quoted Gaiman as saying, “He’s definitely not human. I mean, he is the personification of dreams. He’s the king of the dreaming place where you close your eyes each night and go. And whether he’s [good or evil] depends an awful lot on U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

241

neil gaiman

where you’re standing. From his own standards, he is always acting for the best, but his moral code and his point of view are not human.” Gaiman approached the Sandman stories in an everything-butthe-kitchen-sink frame of mind, incorporating mythologies of his own invention as well as ancient Greek myths. He also found inspiration in the mystical Jewish writings he had studied as a youth. He didn’t stop there, however, as he explained to Scott Brown in Entertainment Weekly: “I just kept adding things, seeing if it would hold. I thought, Let’s put Shakespeare in there. Okay, that worked. Well, surely I won’t be able to add the Norse gods.… No, that worked too. But I certainly won’t get away with angels.” As Brown pointed out, “He got away with angels, and more.” The Sandman stories are complicated, sophisticated works written on a grand scale. Gaiman’s rich, multilayered universe presents a challenge to readers; these are not simple stories that can be grasped immediately. Gaiman’s Sandman comics broke new ground in many ways. They brought female fans to the world of comics, a genre typically read mostly by men, and in addition they converted legions of readers who had never before considered comics to be serious literature. Gaiman’s comics have won numerous awards, many of which are usually reserved for traditional prose works—short stories, novels, and the like—rather than comic books. In Entertainment Weekly, Brown quoted comics writer Moore, the object of Gaiman’s admiration from early on, who said of Gaiman’s Sandman creation: “It’s a perfect legend. It’s so good that it shouldn’t really even have a writer. It should be one of those stories that’s just always been there.” Throughout the initial eight-year run of the Sandman serials, DC Comics periodically collected several issues for publication as a graphic novel. The first such collection, Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, introduces the reader to Sandman’s universe. Sandman: The Wake includes the final installment of the series that concluded in 1996. Gaiman’s many devoted fans felt crushed when the series ended, but the author revisited the character in several later works. In 1999 he released Sandman: The Dream Hunters, a collaboration with illustrator Yoshitaka Amano that retells a Japanese story titled “The Fox, the Monk, and the Mikado of All Night’s Dreaming.” A longawaited continuation of the series appeared in 2003, with Sandman: Endless Nights garnering rave reviews, earning a number of awards,

242


•

volume 2

neil gaiman

and securing a spot on the New York Times bestseller list. Endless Nights is a collection of seven separate stories, each devoted to one of the Endless and each illustrated by a different artist. Gaiman told Jeff Zaleski of Publishers Weekly that he takes pride in the variety of genres explored in Endless Nights: “Do you know what the coolest thing about Endless Nights is?… Not one of those stories is even in the same genre as any of the other stories.”

“Warping young minds” The Sandman also made an appearance in works Gaiman wrote for a young adult audience, showing up in a small role in Books of Magic, a collection of four comic books concerning the world of illusion and trickery. Sandman’s sister, Death, played a prominent role in the Sandman spinoff Death: The High Cost of Living. In a once-per-century visit to Earth, Death helps a suicidal teenager discover new reasons for living. In 2003 Gaiman released another work for young adult readers, the novel Coraline. In this work the title character, a young child, discovers a doorway in her new house that leads to a matching home in a different world. In that other world, a set of parents with pale skin and black button eyes ask Coraline to stay with them and be their daughter. Realizing that her own mother and father are in need of rescuing, Coraline then engages in a dangerous struggle with the “other mother” to retrieve her parents. Gaiman has also written books for young children, including the picture book The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, published in 1997. In that story, young Nathan trades his father for a bowl of goldfish. His mother, unhappy with the outcome of the trade, forces Nathan to retrieve his father, and the boy must engage in a series of exchanges to get his parent back. During 2003 Gaiman published another children’s story, The Wolves in the Walls, in which the young heroine Lucy must convince her family that their home is being taken over by wolves. “I love writing children’s books,” Gaiman told Phil Anderson of KAOS2000. “I think I will always write children’s books. I love warping young minds.” Gaiman is an extremely prolific writer who has created a long list of works in an impressive variety of genres. In addition to his comic books, graphic novels, and works for young people, he has also U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

243

neil gaiman

written several successful novels, including Neverwhere, which began as the script for a six-part series for British television, and American Gods, a bestseller in the United States that depicts a struggle between the European gods of ancient origin and the newer, more arrogant American gods. Gaiman has written numerous scripts for television and movies—in some cases working on film adaptations of his own works—with his best-known work being the English-language script for the highly praised Japanese animated film Princess Mononoke. During the summer of 2003 Gaiman returned to the comic book genre with the series 1602. Set in seventeenth-century England, this series is published by Marvel, a major rival of DC Comics. At any given time Gaiman juggles several projects, and he also makes time for extensive book tours. His public appearances draw record numbers of fans, more than most authors, and he inspires in his followers the kind of adoration generally not experienced by authors. Fans have been known to faint at his book signings, and at least two have asked Gaiman to draw on a portion of their body, so they can then have his writing tattooed onto their skin. When not traveling the world to promote his works, Gaiman spends much of his time writing at his large Victorian home located near Minneapolis, a home he shares with McGrath and their youngest child, Maddy.

For More Information Books Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Vol. 42. Detroit: Gale, 2002.

Periodicals Brown, Scott. “The Best Comic Book Ever Returns.” Entertainment Weekly (October 3, 2003): p. 36. Zaleski, Jeff. “Comics! Books! Film! The Arts and Ambitions of Neil Gaiman.” Publishers Weekly (July 28, 2003): p. 46.

Web Sites Anderson, Phil. “Interview with: Neil Gaiman.” KAOS2000 Magazine. http://www.kaos2000.net/interviews/neilgaiman99.html (accessed on July 6, 2004). Krewson, John. “Neil Gaiman.” The Onion A.V. Club. http://www.theonion avclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=3504&f=1 (accessed on July 3, 2004).

244


•

volume 2

neil gaiman Neil Gaiman Official Web site. http://www.neilgaiman.com/index.asp (accessed on July 6, 2004). Richards, Linda. “Neil Gaiman.” January Magazine. http://www.january magazine.com/profiles/gaiman.html (accessed on July 3, 2004). White, Claire E. “A Conversation with Neil Gaiman.” Writers Write. http:// www.writerswrite.com/journal/mar99/gaiman.htm (accessed on July 3, 2004).


•

volume 2

245

Sonia Gandhi

December 9, 1947 • Orbassano, Italy



•

volume 2

Politician

The story should have had a fairy-tale ending: a beautiful young girl meets her handsome Prince Charming, has two children, and lives happily every after. In 1968, however, when Sonia Maino married Rajiv Gandhi of India, the fairy tale was only half realized. She snagged a handsome prince, but she also inherited the troubled history of his country. Rajiv Gandhi was a member of a family that had ruled India since the 1940s. His grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first prime minister, and his mother, Indira Gandhi, held that office throughout the 1970s. Rajiv himself briefly served as prime minister in the 1980s, but was assassinated in 1991 as he attempted to reclaim the post. Almost a decade after her husband’s death, Sonia Gandhi reluctantly followed in her famous family’s footsteps by entering politics. In 2004, after serving as president of India’s Congress Party, she was called upon by members of Parliament to take up the reins of prime minister. Gandhi shocked the nation, and the world, when she

247

sonya gandhi

declined. Members of the opposition breathed a sigh of relief, but others feared that the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty had come to an end.

Love at first sight Sonia Gandhi was born Sonia Maino on December 9, 1947, in the small village of Orbassano, just outside Turin, Italy. She was raised in a traditional Roman Catholic household, and her parents, Stefano and Paolo, were working class people. Stefano was a building contractor who owned his own medium-sized construction business; Paolo took care of the family’s three daughters. When Sonia was eighteen years old, her

“Power in itself has never attracted me, nor has position been my goal.” father sent her to Cambridge, England, to study English. He did not know that his oldest daughter’s life was about to change forever. In 1965, just a year after arriving in England, Sonia met a young Indian student named Rajiv Gandhi (1944–1991), who was studying mechanical engineering at Cambridge University. According to Sonia Gandhi, it was love at first sight. The courtship, however, lasted three years, perhaps because Rajiv was from one of the most famous families in India, if not the world. Sonia’s parents were reluctant to have her become involved in such a different culture, and Sonia herself was nervous about meeting Rajiv’s famous mother, Indira Gandhi (1917–1984), who was considered to be the “first lady” of India. Indira Gandhi’s father, Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), became the country’s first prime minister after India claimed its independence from Great Britain in 1947, and Gandhi worked closely with him until his death. In 1965 Indira Gandhi was poised to fill Nehru’s shoes. Sonia’s fears were quickly overcome as she and Indira became fast friends. In 1968, Sonia and Rajiv were married in a simple ceremony in New Delhi, India; Sonia wore the same pink sari her motherin-law had worn at her own wedding many years before. A sari is a

248


•

volume 2

sonya gandhi

India’s Parliament Explained

India’s government is based on the British parliamentary system. The Parliament, or ruling legislative body, is divided into two houses: the upper house, called the Rajya Sabha, consists of a maximum of 250 members; the lower house, known as the Lok Sabha, is composed of no more than 545 members. As in the United States, members of each house are elected to office, and they represent con-

stituents who reside in a particular state. There are fourteen states in India. Legislative elections are held every five years. Following the election, if one party receives a majority of votes, one member is voted in by the party as prime minister. If one party does not achieve a majority of votes, members negotiate with other parties in order to form what is known as a coalition government.

traditional dress that consists of several yards of cloth draped around the waist and shoulders. Following the wedding Sonia and Rajiv moved in with Indira Gandhi, who by this time had become prime minister. Sonia’s relationship with Indira deepened, and ultimately she became the faithful and obedient daughter-in-law, in charge of running the household. This meant that although Gandhi came into the marriage a modern woman of the West, she soon traded her miniskirts for saris and steeped herself in Indian culture. She even learned to speak Hindi, the official language of India.

Rajiv reluctantly enters politics While Sonia Gandhi served as hostess at state functions and received visiting dignitaries along with her mother-in-law, Rajiv Gandhi remained relatively removed from politics. After leaving Cambridge, he did not go into engineering; instead he pursued his passion for flying and became a commercial airline pilot for Indian Airlines. The heir to the political throne was expected to be Rajiv’s younger brother, Sanjay (1946–1980). As a result, the Gandhis lived in relative peace and quiet, while raising their two children, Rahul and Priyanka, away from the glare of the media. In the meantime, the 1970s became the Indira Gandhi decade in India. The Indian public revered her, calling her Mataji, meaning revered mother. Her political opponents, however, viewed her as a sometimes ruthless leader who seemed determined to form a dictatorU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

249

sonya gandhi

ship. She even caused dissension within her own political party, the Congress Party (CP). The CP was particularly popular in India, because its early members were major figures in the fight for independence from Great Britain. As a result, the party controlled India’s government for most of the twentieth century. In 1969, however, Gandhi split the CP; her splinter group was eventually called the Congress-I Party, the “I” standing for Indira. By the late 1970s Sanjay had become Gandhi’s primary policy adviser, and in 1980 he officially entered politics by winning a seat in Parliament. Before Sanjay had a chance to fulfill his destiny, however, he was killed in a flying accident. A stunned Indira Gandhi begged her older son to join the family’s political ranks. Sonia Gandhi was vehemently opposed to the idea, fearing that her husband might be injured or killed, given the explosive nature of Indian politics. After several long discussions, however, the couple jointly agreed that Rajiv should quit his job with the airlines. Although Sonia Gandhi was not pleased, she was a dutiful wife and supported her husband’s decision. In 1981 Rajiv ran successfully for Parliament and took over the seat vacated by his brother. He served as the representative from the Amethi district of Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern India populated by approximately 160 million inhabitants.

A grieving widow In 1984 the Gandhi family, and India, was shaken to its very core when Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her own bodyguards. Tensions had been escalating for some time between various Indian religious sects, including Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. Earlier in the year, Sikh militants had stockpiled weapons in their sacred Golden Temple, assuming that the government would not dare to enter their holy sanctuary. Gandhi, however, sent troops to storm the temple, which resulted in the deaths of many militants. In retaliation, Gandhi’s bodyguards, who were Sikhs, shot and killed the prime minister in her own home. Just hours after the shootings, Rajiv Gandhi was sworn in as his mother’s replacement. Sonia Gandhi, resigned to the fact that her husband must lead his country, became his vigilant supporter and submerged herself in the role of a prime minister’s wife. She became an art historian and

250


•

volume 2

sonya gandhi

Manmohan Singh: India’s Newest Prime Minister

India’s newest prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, was born into a family of very modest means on September 26, 1932, in Gah, West Punjab (now Pakistan). After earning degrees in economics from Cambridge University in England and from Punjab University, he spent the next thirty years working as a quiet but very key player in Indian politics. In the 1980s Singh served as the head of the Reserve Bank of India, and in 1991 he became the country’s finance minister in the Congress Party-led government of Narasimha Rao (1921–), which was in power until 1996. When he took the post, India was in disastrous financial straits, but during his tenure Singh became the mastermind behind the country’s economic reform movement. He opened up the country to outside investors for the first time, and ended regulations that had kept India tied to the past. For example, Singh dissolved the “license Raj,” which required private businesses to seek government approval before

making almost any decision. By the end of the 1990s, with Singh’s help, India was well on its way to economic recovery. Perhaps more remarkable, however, was that throughout the decades of scandal that rocked the Indian government, Singh retained an incredibly “squeaky clean” reputation. In fact, in 2002 he was awarded the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award. And in May of 2004, when it was announced that he would be taking on the post of prime minister, Singh was given support across the board from representatives of the various Indian parties. Singh has been married since 1958 and has three daughters. In addition to playing an active role in government, he is also a respected professor of economics and a published author. He is a member of the Sikh faith; when he became prime minister, he became the first Sikh to hold the country’s top government position.

worked with a team at the National Gallery in New Delhi to restore Indian landscapes. She also collected and edited letters that had been sent between Indira Gandhi and her father, Jawaharlal Nehru, which were ultimately published in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite Sonia Gandhi’s successes, however, her husband Rajiv was a lessthan-successful ruler. He was never able to match the popularity of his famous mother, and his administration was plagued by one problem after another, including charges of illegal arms dealings. As a result, in 1989 Rajiv Gandhi was voted out of office. In the 1991 elections, Rajiv hit the campaign trail determined to reclaim his family’s title. In an uncharacteristic move, security was light. Following his mother’s death, Rajiv had taken to wearing a bulletproof vest and had surrounded himself with bodyguards. On this trip, however, his goal was to reconnect with the masses. Unfortunately, the lack of security would prove to be his undoing. On May 22, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

251

sonya gandhi

1991, while swinging through Tamil Nadu, a key state in south India, he was killed by a young female assassin. The woman was a member of the Tamil Tigers, a band of militants who were fighting for a separate state in northeast Sri Lanka (a country just south of India). After her husband’s assassination, Sonia Gandhi was devastated. She became a virtual recluse for the next six years, spending most of her time with her children and rarely leaving her home. She did break her silence twice. In 1992 Gandhi published a book called Rajiv, which offered an unexpected glimpse into the life she shared with her husband. In 1994 she went into more detail when she published Rajiv’s World. She also preserved her husband’s legacy by traveling throughout the world and establishing trust funds in his name. Remembering him in such ways provided at least some degree of healing.

Savior of the Congress Party Throughout her seclusion, representatives from the Congress Party (CP) sent appeal after appeal to Gandhi asking her to be their leader. The CP, once the strongest party in India, had never recovered from Indira Gandhi’s death, and by the 1990s it was in serious decline. At the same time, one of the opposition parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), was fast gaining ground. Since most of India still revered the Gandhi name, representatives believed that Sonia Gandhi would offer the best hope of infusing new life into their party. Time and again Gandhi refused their offers. In 1997, however, realizing that the CP was in dire need, she agreed to formally join their ranks. Although she had no political experience, Gandhi threw herself into the 1998 legislative campaign. She made more than 140 stops throughout the country, delivering speeches to packed audiences. And, even though she spoke in a very soft voice and in heavily accented Hindi, she touched the people of India. It may have been partly because she was seen as a grieving widow, or because voters saw her as a reminder of the party’s past glory, but the CP was re-energized and Gandhi emerged as a political power in her own right. As one CP representative told CNN in December of 1998, “She gave the party again a nucleus around which it could get united.” Gandhi gained so much popularity that members of opposing parties, especially the BJP, saw her as a very real threat. In an attempt

252


•

volume 2

sonya gandhi

to undermine her credibility, they attacked her verbally and in the press, focusing on a single issue: Gandhi had no right to be involved in politics because, having been born in Italy, she was a foreigner. It did not seem to matter than Gandhi had become an Indian citizen in 1984. Such attacks did little harm, however, since most of the voting public did not consider Gandhi to be an outsider. As one male supporter told CNN in 1998, “Ever since she married Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia has lived in India. She has learned all about India and made herself an Indian. In fact, she is a good example of a good Indian woman.” Although the CP made a good showing in the 1998 elections, gaining twenty-eight seats in Parliament, the Bharatiya Janata Party came out the ultimate winner when it formed a coalition government with seventeen other lesser parties. Therefore, in March of 1998, BJP leader Atal Behari Vajpayee (1926–) was named prime minister. It was, however, a short-lived victory. Shaky to begin with, Vajpayee’s government remained intact only until April of 1999, which meant that elections had to be held again in the fall of the year. In the meantime Gandhi was elected president of the CP, and it seemed possible that another Gandhi would soon be in the country’s top position. Once again the question of Gandhi’s right to be involved in politics came into play, although this time the outcry came from several top members of her own party. Not wishing to divide the group, Gandhi resigned. The CP refused to accept her resignation, however, and instead fired the members who had dared to oppose her. When the October elections rolled around, it was still not clear whether Gandhi was the favored CP contender for prime minister. As it turned out, the point was not an issue, since the CP had a poor showing, capturing only 112 seats. The BJP claimed victory, with 182 seats, and Vajpayee once again formed a coalition government. Known as the National Democratic Alliance, the BJP-led government controlled almost three hundred of the 545 seats in the lower house of Parliament, the Lok Sabha. This time, Vajpayee managed to install a relatively stable coalition, and the BJP would remain in control for the next five years.

Took husband’s seat in Parliament In the same election Gandhi ran for two parliamentary positions, including the seat in Uttar Pradesh which Rajiv Gandhi had once held. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

253

sonya gandhi

Supporters of Sonia Gandhi gather in front of her house in New Delhi, India, in 2004. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Candidates in India are allowed to run for two seats simultaneously; if they win both, they must choose which post to take. Gandhi ultimately won both seats, but chose the district her husband had represented. Under BJP rule the country seemed to prosper, and by 2004 Vajpayee was claiming credit for turning the economy around. True, big

254


•

volume 2

sonya gandhi

business was booming and India was advancing technologically, but millions of rural Indians living in poverty were not benefiting from BJP reforms. According to statistics reported by CNN in 2004, half of the Indian population was living on less than two dollars a day. However, Vajpayee was so confident that voters were behind him that, although national elections were slated for October of 2004, he called for polls to open six months early. Gandhi again hit the campaign trail, covering approximately forty thousand miles in the months prior to the elections, and spending long days speaking in sweltering heat that soared over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. For most of her appearances she dressed in a simple white sari, which is the symbol of widowhood in India. She also spoke simply and plainly, and made a direct appeal to the nation’s poor. In direct contrast to Vajpayee, who touted big business, Gandhi’s campaign, according to Egbert Bhatty of the Washington Dispatch, focused on “unity, tolerance, and love among all men.” As they had in 1998, millions of her countrymen embraced the soft-spoken Gandhi, calling her desh ki bahu, our daughter-in-law. When elections began in April, voters turned out in droves. Almost four hundred million people went to the polls, and after all the ballots were counted in May, there was a surprise upset. The CP, along with its coalition allies, captured 279 seats, a slim majority, but a majority nonetheless, in the Lok Sabha. Since it had won a majority, the CP needed to elect a new prime minister, and the frontrunner seemed to be Sonia Gandhi. Although Gandhi remained tight-lipped about whether or not she wanted the position, political analysts predicted that her victory was assured, and CP members were vocal in their support. Elizabeth Roche of The Age quoted senior official Ambika Soni as saying, “Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress party. We want that our party chief should become the prime minister.”

The fairy tale ends? On Tuesday, May 17, during a meeting of the CP, Gandhi made a declaration that stunned her party, the people of India, and the rest of the world. “I was always certain,” she said, “that if ever I found myself in the position that I am in today, I would follow my inner voice. Today, that voice tells me that I must humbly decline this post.” Gandhi’s U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

255

sonya gandhi

supporters pleaded with her to reconsider, but she remained firm in her decision to decline the position. Some claimed that she was bullied into her decision by the BJP opposition, who once again berated Gandhi because of her foreign birth. Others felt that she and her children feared for her safety. But the public Gandhi indicated that she was stepping aside for the good of her party and the good of India. The day after her announcement, Gandhi nominated longtime friend and government official Manmohan Singh (1932–) to take the reigns as prime minister. On May 19, 2004, his appointment became official. Although Gandhi did not accept the country’s top post, she remained at the helm of the CP, and those around her still considered her to be very much in the forefront of Indian politics. As Mani Shankar Aiyar of the CP told Bill Schneider of CNN.com, “She is the queen. She is appointing a regent to run some of the business of government for her. But it is she who will be in charge and who will continue to direct the fortunes of the Congress Party.” In addition, after the 2004 elections, it seemed that the Gandhi dynasty would continue at least for another generation, since Sonia and Rajiv’s son, Rahul, was successfully elected to the Indian Parliament.

For More Information Periodicals Omestad, Thomas. “The Ghandis Return.” U.S. News & World Report (May 24, 2004): p. 14. Walsh, James. “India: Death’s Return Visit.” Time (June 3, 1991).

Web Sites Bhatty, Egbert F. “Sonia Gandhi: The Once and Future Prime Minister of India.” Washington Dispatch (May 21, 2004). http://www.washington dispatch.com/printer_9110.shtml (accessed on July 5, 2004). Bindra, Satinder. “Gandhi Dynasty Poised for Power.” CNN.com: World (May 14, 2004). http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/05/14/ india.vote1155/index.html (accessed on June 30, 2004). Gandhi, Sonia. Speech, Congress Parliamentary Party meeting (New Delhi, India, May 17, 2004). rediff.com. http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/ may/18sonia2.htm (accessed on July 5, 2004). Haidar, Suhasini, and Ram Ramgopal. “Singh: Poster Boy of Change.” CNN.com: World (May 20, 2004). http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/ asiapcf/05/20/india.singh/index.html (accessed on July 5, 2004).

256


•

volume 2

sonya gandhi Pratap, Anita. “An Enigmatic Sonia Gandhi Transforms Indian Politics.” CNN.com: World (December 12, 1998). http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/ asiapcf/9812/12/india.sonia.gandhi/index.html (accessed on June 29, 2004). “Profile: Sonia Gandhi.” BBC News: World Edition (May 14, 2004). http:// news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3546851.stm (accessed on June 29, 2004). Roche, Elizabeth. “Sonia Gandhi Tightens Grip on Presidency.” The Age.com (May 15, 2004). http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/05/15/10845 70991729.html?from=storylhs&oneclick=true# (accessed on June 30, 2004). Schneider, Bill. “Gandhi Has Power, but Declines Post.” CNN.com: Inside Politics (May 21, 2004). http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/ 05/21/gandhi/index.html (accessed on July 5, 2004).


•

volume 2

257

Frank Gehry

February 28, 1929 • Toronto, Ontario, Canada


•

© Mike Cassese/Reuters/Corbis.

volume 2

Architect

Over the years many adjectives have been used to describe Frank Gehry’s creations, including edgy, forward-looking, astonishing, and weird. Anything but ordinary, Gehry challenged the mainstream in the 1970s and 1980s when he used everyday materials such as cardboard to make furniture, and chain-link fencing to construct buildings. Collectors sought his whimsical lamps and chairs, and Gehry-designed office buildings and homes were scattered in cities all over the world, but the maverick architect did not achieve real fame until the late 1990s. The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, unveiled by Gehry in 1997, made him a celebrity at the age of sixty-eight. Since then, countless urban commissions have come Gehry’s way, and he is considered to be one of the most important and innovative architects of the twenty-first century. In October of 2003, the Los Angeles landscape was enhanced by Gehry’s latest triumph, the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

259

frank gehry

Fond of fish Frank Gehry was born Ephraim Goldberg on February 28, 1929, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He and his sister, Doreen, were raised in Timmins, a small mining town in eastern Ontario, by the extended Goldberg family. Father Irving was a former boxer who traveled selling pinball and slot machines. Sometimes Gehry would make sales calls with his father, which meant that he made frequent stops at bars at a very young age. In a Smithsonian magazine profile, he was quick to point out, “But my mother took me to concerts and introduced me to art, so there was a balance.”

“I’m only an architect, no matter what anybody says—a humble architect.” Gehry also considers his grandmother to be an early influence. He fondly remembers building imaginary cities with her using woodshavings scavenged from his grandfather’s hardware store. He also remembers the carp that his grandmother let swim around in the family bathtub on Friday nights. The Goldbergs were Jewish and gefilte fish, a seasoned ground fish dish, was a favorite for Sabbath, or Saturday night, dinner. In later years Gehry regularly used fish motifs in many of his designs. “I never intended to build fish,” Gehry told Kurt Andersen of Time. “In my mind, I say ‘Enough with the fish.’ But it has a life of its own.” By the mid-1940s the family was experiencing hardships on several fronts. Following World War II (1939–45) the Canadian government began cracking down on gambling and Irving Goldberg’s business suffered. At the same time the family lost most of their savings as a result of some bad investments. Then, in 1947, Goldberg suffered a heart attack, which was severe enough that his doctor suggested a change of scenery to help him recuperate. As a result, the entire family left Canada for Los Angeles, California. Gehry had just graduated from high school, and the move proved to be an important one. He has lived the rest of his life in California, and critics considered him to be very much a California designer—brash, bold, and unpretentious.

260


•

volume 2

frank gehry

Breaks from the modernist mold Gehry took a job as a truck driver in order to pay for night-school art classes and eventually enrolled in the school of architecture at the University of Southern California (USC). He was inspired to get a degree in architecture by one of his teachers who invited him to visit a construction site. “I was quite moved by watching the architect walking around, supervising, by the things he was worried about,” Gehry recalled to Patrick Rogers of People magazine. In 1952 Gehry married his first wife, a stenographer who helped put him through school. The two were married for sixteen years and had two daughters, Brina and Leslie. According to Gehry his wife encouraged him to change his name. Gehry was taunted and beaten up when he was a boy in Toronto because he was Jewish, and his wife feared the same for their children. He now regrets his decision. “I wouldn’t do it today,” Gehry told Rogers. After graduating from USC in 1954, Gehry had a one-year stint in the U.S. Army, Special Services Division. It was during this time that he began experimenting with furniture design since his assignment was to make furniture for the enlisted soldiers. Gehry’s designs were so good that his tables and chairs usually ended up in the officers’ quarters. He then spent a year studying city planning at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1957 Gehry returned to California and worked for several years with established architecture firms, before opening his own design firm in 1962. Gehry’s early projects were fairly typical of the times and followed the modernist style. Modernist architecture stressed clean, geometric lines, with no clutter and no decoration. Simplicity was key; functionality was the focus. Gehry the artist, however, was itching to experiment. He was very much caught up in the West Coast art movement and counted many emerging artists as his friends, including Ed Moses (1936–) and Billy Al Bengston (1934–). By the mid-1960s, Gehry started to, as Richard Lacayo of Time put it, “insinuate odd bits of business into his designs.” He began using materials such as unpainted plywood, rough concrete, and corrugated metal, all of which are usually hidden after a house is “properly finished.” As Gehry told Lacayo, “I was trying to humanize stuff.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

261

frank gehry

Icon or eyesore In 1972 Gehry had his first flirtation with celebrity, not for his architecture, but for a line of furniture made out of layers of corrugated cardboard. Again, Gehry was experimenting with the traditional functions of materials, since cardboard was not usually considered in furniture design. Called Easy Edges, the chairs and tables were lightweight, inexpensive, and fun. Gehry pulled the plug on the project three months into production, claiming he did not want to be tied down by making mass-produced furniture. In the late 1970s he introduced Experimental Edges, a more upscale version of Easy Edges. According to Gehry, the reason he dabbles in furniture design and other small projects is because he gets a “quick fix.” “Architecture takes so long,” he told Jennifer Barrett of Newsweek. “That’s why you do the small stuff—instant gratification.” Gehry undertook a steady stream of business during this period, designing private homes and small public buildings, mostly in California. It was the renovation of his own home in Santa Monica, however, that brought him back into the spotlight. What started out as a simple 1920s pink bungalow turned into what Kurt Andersen described as an “unfinished looking structure from a new-wave Oz.” Gehry left the pink exterior of his home intact, but encased it in a shell made from metal, chain-link fencing, and glass. As he explained to Smithsonian, his intention was to “build a new house around the old and try to maintain a tension between the two, by having the one define the other.” The bizarre structure caused quite a tension between Gehry and his neighbors, who threatened to take him to court because they considered it an eyesore. Gehry’s once-quiet street became a mecca for architecture students who came from all over the world to see the elaborate pink concoction. Gehry also received a lot of national attention, although not all of it positive. Many of his corporate clients were turned off by the experimental building, and several pulled their contracts. His largescale business may have suffered, but private clients who commissioned Gehry to renovate studios and homes were more than happy to work with the innovative architect who coined the term cheapscape to describe his style of working with inexpensive, man-made materials. And museum directors, such as Richard Koshalek, head of the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), praised him for his

262


•

volume 2

frank gehry

vision. Gehry designed a gallery for the MOCA in 1982 that incorporated a chain-link canopy over the street. The gallery was in an industrial section of Los Angeles, and according to Gehry, as quoted by Smithsonian, it “established a territory, and gave the building substance from the outside.” In the same article, Koshalek responded, “Frank understands space; many architects don’t.… He uses common materials like an artist, with elegance.”

From bad boy to innovator Exhilarated by his newfound freedom, Gehry decided that the edge was where he wanted to be, and he started over from scratch. He reduced his office staff from thirty to three and resolved to take on only work that he truly wanted to do. This led to international commissions including the Fishdance Restaurant (1986) in Kobe, Japan, and the Vitra Design Museum (1987) in Germany, and, of course, to several projects based in his native California, such as the California Aerospace Museum in Los Angeles (1982). The museum houses a collection of planes and exhibits and is composed of several different structural shapes, including a metal polygon and a stucco cube. On the front, poised just over the entrance, Gehry attached a F104 Starfighter jet. The jet serves as an immediate “billboard” advertising the function of the building to passersby. In 1987 Gehry was honored with a retrospective of his works by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and by the late 1980s critics were recognizing him as more than just an eccentric California architect. As Kurt Andersen wrote, “He may no longer be written off as an idiosyncratic California bad boy. He must be regarded as one of the two or three more important members of the late-modernist generation—and maybe the most successful innovator of them all.” In 1989 Gehry’s peers agreed and awarded him the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious honor that can be given to a living architect. The late 1980s also saw Gehry turning to technology to solve some of his elaborate design problems. Although he begins by physically creating three-dimensional models, sometimes using crumpled paper and soda bottles for the very early ones, computers are necessary to plot out the complicated design specs. Gehry’s computer program was adapted from software used in the manufacture of Boeing U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

263

frank gehry

jets. A decade later, it proved key in designing what became Gehry’s most famous building, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. With its swooping titanium arches and jutting wings, it looks like something poised to take flight. Master architect Philip Johnson (1906–), as quoted by Richard Lacayo, proclaimed it to be the “most important building of our time.” The public was also intrigued by Gehry’s modern marvel. The Guggenheim, which opened in 1997, drew more than a million visitors its first year, and suddenly Bilbao, a city that was previously unremarkable, became a tourist haven. As Lacayo noted, Gehry “managed to be both intellectually respectable and popular.”

The Walt Disney Concert Hall After his Guggenheim triumph, Gehry worked harder than ever, both in the United States and around the world. For example, in 1999 he finished the aluminum-covered office complex known as the Frank O. Gehry buildings, in Dusseldorf, Germany. A year later, he unveiled the Music Experience Project in Seattle, Washington, a $100 million interactive rock and roll museum. Gehry returned to Los Angeles, however, to create what many claim is a masterpiece to rival the Guggenheim, the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The project had been in the works since 1987 when Lillian Disney (1899–1997), widow of American icon Walt Disney (1901–1966), decided to build a new hall to house the Los Angeles Philharmonic. The following year Gehry won the competition to design the hall, which was surprising at the time since he was still known as the weird architect who used chain-link fencing. When faced with his modern, spiraling designs, the ninety-year-old Disney was perplexed. Gehry won her over by showing her the inspiration for his design—a single white rose floating in a bowl of water. Work on the hall went in fits and starts, stalled over the years by earthquakes, riots, and a lack of funds. In 1997 Lillian Disney died, and many thought perhaps her dream died with her. That same year, however, the Guggenheim opened and Gehry’s instant star status infused new life into the proposal. Funding came through, and fifteen years after he began, Gehry unveiled the finished hall in October of 2003. The structure looks like a cascade of shiny, metal ribbon unfurled against the sky.

264


•

volume 2

frank gehry

The Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. © Ted

In Time magazine, Gehry called it “a boat where the wind is behind you.” It is especially unique because Gehry seems to have captured the essence of the hall’s namesake. As Richard Lacayo pointed out, the shining arcs bring to mind the magic wand of Disney dancing in the air.

Soqui/Corbis.

For the curving interior Gehry used Douglas fir to create comfortable, cozy surroundings for concert-goers, who are also treated to floralpatterned cushioned seats. The seat design is a tribute to Lillian Disney. In addition, since functionality is so central, Gehry wanted the musicians to be happy. He worked closely with a Japanese acoustics company to ensure that his design would provide a perfect harmonious setting. One day while the orchestra was practicing, Gehry was in the audience. “One of the bass players looked at me,” he recounted to Lacayo, “and gave me this big thumbs up. That’s when I knew it was all O.K.”

The future is Gehry With the Disney Hall, Gehry transformed the skyline of Los Angeles, just as he had done in Bilbao, and so changed the face of those cities U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

265

frank gehry

forever. He also shook up the world of architecture, again. According to Lacayo, “[The Disney Hall] can be counted on to reverberate not just through L.A. but across the U.S., raising the stakes everywhere for what a building can be.” Gehry continues to raise those stakes since his design calendar is booked solid for some time. He was seventy-four when the Disney Hall opened, but there are plans in the pipeline for a new theater in Brooklyn, New York, a hospital wing in Scotland, and a museum extension in Toronto. In addition, Gehry still works on the smaller stuff: designing watches for Fossil and a new SuperLight chair made from aluminum that weighs only 6 pounds. Gehry and his second wife, Berta, who serves as chief financial officer (CFO) of his design firm, live in the same house that the California architect transformed back in the 1970s. And Gehry still runs his studio, which has now grown to over 140 employees. In his spare time, the rumpled, soft-spoken artist enjoys sailing in the Santa Monica Bay and playing ice hockey. He took up the sport at age sixty. Looking ahead, he would like to become involved in urban renewal projects in Los Angeles and New York. “I’m not going to retire,” Gehry told People magazine, “I’ll just keep going.”

For More Information Books Gehry, Frank. Symphony: Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. New York: Harry Abrams, 2003.

Periodicals Andersen, Kurt. “Building Beauty the Hard Way: After Years of Risky Experience, Frank Gehry Relaxes.” Time (October 13, 1986). Lacayo, Richard. “The Art of Warp.” Time (October 27, 2003): p. 71. Lacayo, Richard. “The Frank Gehry Experience.” Time (June 26, 2000): pp. 64–68. Rogers, Patrick. “Dream Builder: Architect Frank Gehry Creates Tomorrow’s Fanciful Landmarks.” People Weekly (July 10, 2000): pp. 114–115. Webb, Michael. “A Man Who Made Architecture the Art of the Unexpected.” Smithsonian (April 1987): p. 48.

Web Sites “Architect: Frank Gehry.” Great Buildings Online. http://www.great buildings.com/architects/Frank_Gehry.html (accessed August 1, 2004).

266


•

volume 2

frank gehry Barrett, Jennifer. “Frank Gehry Has Designed Everything from Cardboard Chairs to Vodka Bottles. His Next Project: Remaking New York City.” MSNBC News: Newsweek (April 16, 2004). http://msnbc.msn.com/id/ 4759758/site/newsweek (accessed August 1, 2004). “Frank Gehry, Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate: 1989.” Pritzker Prize Web site. http://www.pritzkerprize.com/gehry.htm (accessed August 1, 2004).


•

volume 2

267

Julie Gerberding

August 22, 1955 • Estelline, South Dakota



•

volume 2

Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Julie Gerberding is a physician and an expert in infectious diseases. As director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), she also holds what may be the most important medical job in the United States since the CDC is the federal agency in charge of protecting the health and safety of the American public. That task has been a challenge since Gerberding took on the job of director in July of 2002. Before she could settle into her position, she was confronted with the mysterious viral infection known as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). That epidemic was followed by an outbreak of the rare monkeypox virus, and an especially widespread threat of the West Nile virus. In addition, as head of the CDC, it is up to Gerberding to make sure that the American health system is prepared to handle a bioterrorist strike, a very real threat since the attacks of September 11, 2001. Gerberding, the first woman to hold the post of CDC director, remains undaunted. In 2004 she announced a massive reor-

269

julie gerberding

ganization and vowed in Time magazine that she is “redefining [the] CDC as the nation’s health-protection agency.”

A born physician Julie Louise Gerberding was born on August 22, 1955, in Estelline, a tiny rural town in South Dakota, where her father was the police chief and her mother was a schoolteacher. Gerberding knew from the very beginning that she wanted to be a doctor. In fact, she built her first laboratory to study the life cycle of bugs in her parents’ basement. After high school, Gerberding moved to Cleveland, Ohio, to attend Case

“There is no time to lose. Our waistlines are expanding while our health is deteriorating.” Western Reserve University. While an undergraduate she received the school’s top science prizes, and in 1977, she earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and biology, graduating with honors. After some consideration, Gerberding decided to stay at Case to pursue her medical degree. She graduated in 1981, again with high honors. Gerberding also took home Case Western’s Alice Paige Cleveland Prize, which is awarded to a woman graduate who displays outstanding leadership qualities. Gerberding headed to the West Coast to complete her internship and residency training at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). This was in the early 1980s, and San Francisco was being hit hard by an unknown disease; as a result, the young physician became involved in the early battle against acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). As Gerberding explained in a 2003 CWRU interview, “My clinical training really evolved with the AIDS epidemic and it was natural for me to get started in the infectious disease area during that time.” She completed a fellowship in pharmacology (the study of drugs and their effects) and infectious diseases, and in 1990 was named director of UCSF’s Epidemiology Prevention and Interventions (EPI) Center. Epidemiology is the area of medicine that deals with the control and transmission of disease.

270


•

volume 2

julie gerberding

VERB: It’s What You Do

The issue of obesity is not a uniquely American one. In 2004 the World Health Organization estimated that over one billion adults worldwide were overweight, which put them at risk of such diseases as diabetes, cancer, and heart attack. In May of 2004, Julie Gerberding represented the CDC at an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland. The United States, along with 194 other countries, met to approve the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, which recommends that people change their diets and habits by exercising more and limiting their intake of fat, salt, and sugar. At home, the CDC put the recommendation into action by launching a $190 million national multicultural campaign called VERB: It’s What You Do. According to the program’s Web site, the goal is to

help preteens and teens get active in a “cool and meaningful way.” CDC statistics point to the fact that 30 percent of children watch at least five hours of television a day. VERB offers tools and tips for parents to help get the family off the couch and on the go. One idea is for families to explore sports from other countries. For example, broomball, which originated in Canada in the 1900s, is similar to hockey; it is played on ice, but instead of hockey pucks and sticks, players use brooms and balls. At the Web site there are quizzes, polls, and incentives to track activity hours, like a chance to win sports gear from the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). There are also activity suggestions for almost every day of the year, including a Bike to School Day or have a race with Mom on Mother’s Day.

Gerberding and her colleagues at the EPI were instrumental in creating guidelines to help prevent the transmission of AIDS to healthcare workers. They also developed a medical procedure to combat infection in workers who had been exposed through needles. In addition, the EPI became an information center for businesses about how to deal with people infected with HIV in the workplace. Gerberding quickly became known in the medical community as an authority on AIDS and she continues to be a leading advocate to this day at the CDC. As she commented to Lois Bowers of CWRU: “AIDS is the number one health problem affecting most of the developing world as well as the developed world. It is an agency priority that we do our share of interventions to prevent its spread.”

Stays calm during anthrax scare In 1998 Gerberding went to work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a federal agency that is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Established in 1946, the mission of the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

271

julie gerberding

CDC, as stated on its Web site, is “to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability.” The agency carries out this mission by partnering with other groups both in the United States and abroad to, according to the CDC Web site, “detect and investigate health problems; conduct research to enhance prevention; develop and advocate sound public health policies; implement prevention strategies; promote healthy behaviors; foster safe and healthful environments; and provide leadership and training.” Over eight thousand people are employed by the CDC, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC is composed of twelve operational units, or offices, including the National Center for Environmental Health and the National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID). When Gerberding joined the CDC, she became the director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, which is part of the NCID. She used her expertise to further research into the area of hospital safety, and focused specifically on investigating medical errors and drug-resistant infections. Just three years later, in 2001, Gerberding was appointed acting director of the NCID. Almost immediately she was faced with a national emergency. Just one month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, there were several reports of anthrax, a potentially fatal disease of the lungs, in Florida and Washington, D.C. Experts suspected foul play since anthrax is usually transmitted to humans by contaminated animals. The NCID instantly went to work, and together with other federal agencies and local health organizations, discovered letters containing anthrax spores in District of Columbia postal facilities and various news organizations. A widespread panic spread across the country, and people became wary of opening their mail. As the NCID spokesperson, it was Gerberding’s job to address the public and many credit her for calming a frightened nation. She appeared confident in press conferences, and she explained the complicated situation in clear, concise terms. Even after the scare, bioterrorism (deliberate attacks using germ warfare) remained a key health concern. In a 2002 CDC press release, Gerberding reassured the public that measures were being taken to ensure their safety: “CDC’s response to the anthrax attacks required input from experts throughout the agency and they were there. We have the people, we have the plans and now we have the practice. We’re building our knowledge

272


•

volume 2

julie gerberding

Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the CDC, speaks during a 2003 press conference on Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).

and capacity every day to assure that CDC and our partners are ready to respond to any terrorist event.”


SARS, monkeypox, and West Nile In spring of 2002, when CDC director Jeffrey Koplan announced that he was stepping down, it came as no surprise that Gerberding was being considered for the job. Tommy Thompson (1941–), the Secretary of Health and Human Services, especially championed her appointment, and when the official call came through in July, it was Thompson who spoke to the press. “I can think of no one better equipped to take the helm,” he said, as quoted on CNN.com. “[Gerberding] brings the right mix of professional experience and leadership skills to ensure the CDC continues to meet the nation’s public health needs.” Barely six months in the director’s chair, Gerberding’s skills were put to the test when the United States once again faced a mysteriU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

273

julie gerberding

ous illness. This time it was labeled severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. Although the disease originated in Asia, with China hit particularly hard, it soon became apparent that this was a disease that traveled. By May of 2003, there were almost seven thousand cases reported in almost thirty countries. Although only approximately sixty of the cases appeared in the United States, people were frightened because the flu-like disease was potentially fatal. Gerberding and the CDC worked quickly to join with international researchers in understanding what caused the virus and how it was spread. And, again, Julie Gerberding was the voice of reason for the American public. Throughout 2003, Gerberding appeared regularly in the press, providing statistical updates and fielding countless questions. She answered honestly and clearly, explaining that the disease was spread through face-to-face contact, specifically through droplets spread by a cough or sneeze. She admitted that it was a sobering situation, but she also warned that it was difficult to separate the “help from the hype.” In a press conference on April 14, 2003, she offered some simple precautionary steps: “My advice is to kind of follow the same rules that your mother taught you in kindergarten. Keep your hands clean, and cover your mouth with a tissue if you’re coughing and sneezing. And use common sense.” Just as the press over SARS started to die down, other national health concerns dominated the headlines during the summer of 2003, including a rare outbreak of monkeypox in the Midwest and a return of the West Nile virus. The monkeypox virus is usually isolated to Africa, but in June there were more than sixty cases reported in the United States. The CDC was called in and quickly linked the infection to prairie dogs, intended for sale as pets, which had been bitten by an infected African rat. As a result the CDC launched an investigation into the exotic pet trade. An ongoing issue was the West Nile virus, a disease that is spread primarily through mosquito bites. Because of heavy rainfall in the Eastern United States, there was a rash of cases. According to CDC reports, in 2003 West Nile infected 9,862 Americans, 264 of whom died.

Everyday challenges Although rare diseases and bioterrorism tended to grab the spotlight, Gerberding stressed that the CDC remained committed to public

274


•

volume 2

julie gerberding

health concerns that are ongoing. As she noted to Lois Bowers of CWRU, “The CDC … exists to promote safe, healthier people in all communities, and those priorities have not changed at all since 9/11.” In 2003 the agency’s annual budget increased to $7.2 billion. This would allow the CDC to focus its energies on such chronic issues as diabetes, asthma, and obesity. In 2004 the agency paid particular attention to the issue of weight control. According to CDC statistics cited by Kim Severson of the San Francisco Chronicle, “deaths related to poor diet and too little exercise have increased by 33 percent over the last decade.” The agency predicted that if the trend continued, being overweight and out of shape would soon become the numberone cause of preventable death in the United States. In 2004 Gerberding was also committed to restructuring the CDC, which she claimed was like a jigsaw puzzle when she first came on board. In an effort to streamline processes, the number of directors reporting to Gerberding was reduced from twenty-five to thirteen and the various units were grouped under four centers. On May 13, 2004, Gerberding announced that the agency would focus on two major health protection goals: Preparedness, which will ensure that each person in every community is protected from infectious, environmental, and terrorist threats; and Health Promotion and Prevention of Disease, Injury, and Disability, with a special focus on improving the quality of health at “every stage of life.” Gerberding acknowledged that the CDC was an “extraordinary agency with the greatest workforce in the world,” but she also observed that “today’s world characterized by tremendous globalization, connectivity, and speed poses entirely new challenges. The steps we are taking through this initiative will better position us to meet these challenges head on.” With Gerberding at the helm, the CDC should be able to meet almost any challenge. A dedicated caregiver, a natural leader, and a gifted researcher, she is active on many fronts outside of the agency despite her often grueling schedule. In addition to being a wife and mother, Gerberding is an associate professor of medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, and belongs to a number of professional organizations, including the American Society for Clinical Investigation. She also serves as an adviser to several health organizations, one of which is the newly formed Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative. The goal of the organization, which is composed of experts in a U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

275

julie gerberding

variety of health fields, is to come up with the key issues that need to be addressed in order to effect change at a global level. Gerberding, still sounding like the young doctor who was a pioneer in the 1980s, told CWRU, “We’re going to be thinking out of the box, we’re going to be thinking big, and we’re going to be thinking, ‘What can we do that will have the most impact?’”

For More Information Periodicals Bowers, Lois A. “The Front Line: Julie Gerberding.” CWRU Magazine (spring 2003): pp. 29–31. Park, Alice. “Julie Gerberding: The Health-Crisis Manager.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 102. Severson, Kim. “Weighty Crusade: Worldwide Efforts Promote Healthier Diets, More Exercise.” San Francisco Chronicle (May 23, 2004): p. A1.

Web Sites “As Americans Reflect on 9/11, HHS and CDC Continue to Aggressively Prepare the Nation for Another Terrorist Attack.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Communication. (September 9, 2002). http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r020909.htm (accessed August 1, 2004). “CDC Announces New Goals and Organizational Design.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Communication (May 13, 2004). http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r040513.htm (accessed August 1, 2004). “CDC Chief on Public Health’s Front Line.” CNN.com: World News (April 19, 2004). http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/04/16/gerberd ing (accessed August 1, 2004). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://www.cdc.gov (accessed August 1, 2004). “SARS: Genetic Sequencing of Coronavirus.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Communication (April 14, 2003). http:// www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/transcripts/t030414.htm (accessed August 1, 2004). VERB Now.com! Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www. verbnow.com (accessed August 1, 2004). “WHO’s Anti-Obesity Plan Wins Backing from U.S., Food Industry.” Bloomberg.com: News & Commentary (May 20, 2004). http://quote. bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aAmoQey1ZIBc&refe r=us (accessed August 1, 2004).

276


•

volume 2

Brian Graden

March 23, 1963 • Hillsboro, Illinois


•

Photo by Keith Bedford/Getty Images.

volume 2

President of programming, MTV and VH1

Brian Graden has the knack—the knack for knowing what twentyyear-olds want to watch when they grab the remote control. As president of entertainment for MTV and VH1, Graden is responsible for deciding which programs will be the next big hits and which ones are destined to fizzle. Although the network uses market research to gauge viewer likes and dislikes, success often comes down to instinct. It is that instinct that prompted Graden to introduce original, reality programs to MTV, which transformed it from a music-video cable network to a mega-hit, must-watch channel. In 2002 Graden was charged with refreshing the identity of MTV’s sister network VH1, a channel aimed at Generation X (people born in the 1960s and 1970s). VH1 soared in the ratings, and Graden proved again that he could tap into any audience. As MTV president Judy McGrath told Broadcasting & Cable, “Everything Brian does breaks through and yet is completely in touch with the popular culture.”

277

brian graden

Not cut out for finance Brian Graden has always been obsessed with music and television. He was born on March 23, 1963, in the rural community of Hillsboro, Illinois, population five thousand. When he was young, Graden taught himself how to play the piano, and by the time he was a teenager he was a major rock-music fan. In high school he and his friends formed a cover band called Ace Oxygen and the Ozones, with Graden on keyboards. When not practicing he and the band spent a lot of their time watching a brand new channel on television that showed only videos. This was Graden’s first taste of MTV. As he recalled to Jeffrey Epstein of The Advocate, “I was 16 or 17 when MTV first came on the

“You can never become static. It is more fun to move on to something new, something you haven’t tried before.” scene. Nobody had cable, but there was one person in the whole city who had satellite. So we would go over to his basement and just watch for hours and hours.” When Graden was eighteen the future of the Ozones was threatened when the guitar player’s father, who was a minister, found out that his son was playing in bars. As a result, he shipped his son off to the ultra-conservative Oral Roberts University, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The determined bandmates followed, but the reunion was short-lived as the Ozones broke up just a few years later. Since his future as a rock musician seemed doubtful, Graden wondered about his next move. After graduating from Oral Roberts in 1985, he headed to Harvard University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to study business, still not sure where it would lead. One glimpse into his future came in 1988 when he took the summer off to intern at the newly formed Fox network. With graduation approaching, and resume in hand, Graden made the usual round of calls to interview for a job. After going from one Wall Street firm to another, it started to become clear that high finance

278


•

volume 2

brian graden

MTV: A Network with a Conscience

MTV is known for videos and for outrageous reality shows like Punk’d, where each week Hollywood heartthrob Ashton Kutcher (1978–) plays another wacky prank on one of his celebrity pals. But, since Brian Graden took the helm of the network in the late 1990s, it has also become known as a platform for raising social awareness. Graden, who is openly gay, made a special point of using public-service messages, documentaries, and regular programming to teach tolerance. “[MTV] is not pro-anything,” he told The Advocate, “except tolerance. We believe that everyone should have a chance to be heard, and it’s hard to argue with that.” One particularly powerful campaign, called Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand against Discrimination, was launched in 2001. MTV kicked off the campaign by airing Anatomy of a Hate Crime, an original docudrama about Matthew Shepard, a young gay college student who was brutally murdered in 1998. The movie debuted without commercials, and immediately following, MTV ceased its regular pro-

gramming for seventeen hours; instead the network continuously scrolled the names of hate-crime victims along the bottom of the screen. Graden claims that there was no debate about the decision. “When the idea came up,” he explained to Philadelphia Weekly, “we just went ahead and did it because that’s the kind of thing we should be doing.” In 2002 Graden was awarded the Tom Stoddard National Role Model Award, an annual award given by the Equality Forum to people or institutions that, according to Philadelphia Weekly, “promote greater understanding and sensitivity to gay and lesbian issues.” According to a representative of the organization, “We believe that there is no single entity that has a greater impact [than TV] on shaping the attitudes of young people about gays and lesbians.” Graden credits MTV for being open to the issues and claims that this is one reason he stays where he is. As he told The Advocate, “As a television executive, I could work anywhere, but I wanted to be here because MTV is a network that wants to do more than entertain.”

was not for him. During one interview, in particular, it became crystal clear. In several magazine articles, Graden described his moment of revelation when an executive at a potential employer asked him: “Why do you want to be me? Why do you want my job?” His immediate response, as he told Allison Romano of Broadcasting & Cable, was “I can’t imagine anything more horrifying than being you.”

The programming czar In 1989, following graduation from Harvard, Graden moved to Los Angeles, California, hoping to get hired at Fox. He ended up working on the network’s production staff, and just four years later, in 1993, he became vice president for program development. He also headed up U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

279

brian graden

Foxlab, a branch of the network that was in charge of alternative programming. Graden and his Foxlab creative team were responsible for launching such reality shows as America’s Most Wanted and Cops. Always on the lookout for new talent, it was during this time that Graden happened upon two young writers who had just made their first live-action film, called Cannibal the Musical (1994). Their names were Trey Parker (1969–) and Matt Stone (1971–), and little did Graden know that the three would soon make television history. Graden hired Parker and Stone to create a Christmas video card for him to send out to friends, which resulted in The Spirit of Christmas, a five-minute animated short that eventually gave birth to South Park. The video created such a buzz that Graden quickly tried to hire Parker and Stone to create a regular series. Fox, however, decided to pass on the project, a decision that prompted Graden to leave the network. “If Fox was not the kind of culture where South Park could be accommodated,” he remarked to Romano, “then I questioned whether broadcast was the kind of medium where ideas could be accommodated.” Graden left Fox and moved with Parker and Stone to the cable network Comedy Central, which first aired South Park in August of 1997. The irreverent animated series was an immediate hit, just the first example of the Graden development magic in action. Shortly before South Park debuted, Graden left Comedy Central to branch out with his own production company. Before he had a chance, however, he was approached by a recruiter who was hiring for MTV. Graden did not think twice about abandoning his fledgling company; this was his childhood dream come true. This was not, however, the MTV that Graden grew up with. When MTV was launched in 1981, it was a revolutionary concept—a cable channel targeted at teenagers that aired nothing but music videos twenty-four-hours a day. It was basically televised radio, complete with veejays who introduced the music clips. By the 1990s, viewers were demanding more than just music videos, and MTV began featuring more and more non-music programming, some of it animated like Beavis and Butthead, and some of it reality-based, such as The Real World. He was at the network less than four months when Graden was named executive vice president in charge of programming, or as his boss Judy McGrath put it, he became the “programming czar.” Graden was tasked with revamping the MTV lineup, which was causing the

280


•

volume 2

brian graden

network to slip dangerously in the ratings. Others at MTV assumed that Graden would cut back on the non-music programming, but he had other plans. As he told Variety in 1997, “the real idea here is to find ideas that cut through and get people’s attention.” And get their attention he did. Graden expanded the definition of reality TV by pushing forward prank-based comedy programs such as The Tom Green Show, featuring quirky Canadian funnyman Tom Green (1972–). And in 1998, he championed interactive television when he gave the thumbs up to Total Request Live, a call-in video request show that remains an MTV staple.

Behind the scenes at MTV MTV ratings steadily rose and Graden developed a reputation for having his finger on the pulse of the young, hip market. In 2000 he was promoted to president of programming for MTV, as well as companion channel MTV2. “I was completely overwhelmed,” Graden admitted to The Advocate, “but this was the moment I’d been waiting for.” His success was only beginning. In spring 2002 Graden hit the jackpot when he launched The Osbournes, a program that followed the daily lives of bad-boy rock legend Ozzy Osbourne (1948–) and his family, including wife Sharon and children Jack and Kelly. Again, Graden had created another kind of reality show, this time blending music, the backbone of MTV, and a behind-the-scenes look at celebrity life. The show became an enormous hit, drawing millions of fans each week, and the Osbournes became America’s favorite dysfunctional family. Since viewers were only too eager to get a glimpse into the lives of the famous and nearly famous, Graden cashed in with similar series, including Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which chronicled the ups and downs of newly married pop singers Jessica Simpson (1980–) and Nick Lachey (1973–). When the program premiered in August of 2003, Simpson and Lachey were blips on the music scene: Simpson was considered a pretty blonde clone; Lachey was a member of minor boy band 98 degrees. By the end of 2003, after they opened the doors of their Beverly Hills mansion for the cameras, they were the hottest couple in Hollywood. When Newlyweds began its second season on January 21, 2004, it was seen by 4.7 million viewers and was the number-one show in its time slot. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

281

brian graden

While MTV was enjoying an upswing, VH1 was nosediving. Formed in 1986 as an MTV alternative for a more mature audience, the channel focused on the lighter side of pop music. It did not enjoy real success, however, until the 1990s when, like MTV, it began to supplement its video format with musicrelated shows. The network hit it big with programs like Pop-Up Video, a novelty show where quick information clips “popped up” during videos, and Behind the Music, which profiled the lives of the music industry’s biggest stars. Unfortunately, as Megan Larson of Mediaweek put it, the programs “suffered death by overplay.” Instead of building its lineup, the network looped the same programs over and over, day after day. As a result, viewers got bored and tuned out. Enter Brian Graden.

Brian Graden poses with Carmen Electra and Dave Navarro, who appeared on MTV’s reality show From Death Do Us Part (2004). Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com.

A nostalgia kick at VH1 In early 2002 management tapped Graden to become president of programming for VH1, hoping that he could resurrect the network just as he had done with MTV. Insiders wondered if being in charge of two networks would spread even a dynamo like Graden too thin. Graden, however, was not worried. As he told Allison Romano, “In my own journey, I was ready for a new puzzle.” But, after spending some time in the VH1 offices and examining the situation, he had some doubts. First of all, VH1 staffers did not work in the same electric environment that existed at MTV. And, second, Graden discovered that there was actually very little development going on. As he told Larson, “I looked in the cupboard and saw three or four things that had some life. Virtual panic set in.” Graden immediately set about revving up the staff. At meetings he encouraged everyone, from researchers to writers to graphic artists, to express themselves. His one rule, as he explained to Mediaweek was “don’t trash anyone’s idea.” Soon the energy level at the network had kicked into high gear and even the look and feel of on-air programming was recharged. Graphics and program promotions became hip and edgy, reflecting the tastes of the VH1 Gen-X audience. By the second half of 2002, ratings were up by 50 percent, and it looked like

282


•

volume 2

brian graden

VH1 was on the rebound. Some critics, however, had their doubts, claiming that Graden was offering some quick fixes, but little new content. “[He] applied some great band-aids to get them to the next step,” a Starcom Entertainment director told Mediaweek. “We have not seen a real daringness in programming yet.” Graden was just getting started. Again, he put out his feelers and tapped into his audience. MTV was aimed at twelve to twenty-fouryear olds who were only interested in the trends of the moment. Since Gen Xers were VH1’s target audience, Graden decided to target their tastes by leveraging the nostalgia factor. By the mid-2000s Gen Xers were experiencing a definite love affair with all things pop culture. “We want to trigger the emotion from a past that we share together,” Graden explained to Megan Larson. “The appetite for recycled pop culture seems endless. It’s comfort food.” VH1 began serving up large portions of pop comfort food through such series as I Love the ’80s, which was followed by I Love the ’70s. Both feature highlights of movies, music, news, and fads specific to the featured decade, interspersed with commentary provided by celebrities and entertainment critics. Viewers responded and began coming back in droves. By 2004 VH1 was in full recovery and the network had nearly tripled its original programming.

The Graden factor People in the entertainment industry expect even greater things from Graden in the future. He is a man who relentlessly pursues popular culture, and he is always on the lookout for the next big trend. “I am a voracious consumer of culture,” he admitted to Alex Williams of New York Metro, “There will be a stack of ten new CDs on my table, and then I have to TiVo everything, and I read at least thirty magazines cover to cover every month. I just can’t stop.” He is also known as a man who is passionate about his job. His colleagues comment about his boyish enthusiasm, which sparks a similar zeal in others. According to Judy McGrath, president of MTV Networks Music Group, “Brian enjoys the sport of TV.” And there is no end to what the former boy wonder has in the network pipelines. On VH1, Graden continues to mine the penchant for the past with series such as Super Secret TV Formulas. At the same U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

283

brian graden

time, he tries to bridge the generational gap (he is in his forties now, after all) through shows like In Tune, which pairs contemporary artists with musicians who inspired them. For example, in 2004, John Mayer (1977–) took the stage with his idol, singer-songwriter Paul Simon (1941–). Although Graden is a whiz at predicting the future of television, he is not quite as certain about his next career move. When asked about his plans by Jeffrey Epstein of The Advocate, he simply shrugged and replied, “I have absolutely no idea. I just want to keep being true to the moment.”

For More Information Periodicals Epstein, Jeffrey. “He Got His MTV.” The Advocate (May 23, 2000): p. 76. Nix, Jenny. “MTV’s Graden on an Upward Curve.” Variety (December 22, 1997): p. 28. Poniewozik, James. “VH1: Gen X Nostalgia Central.” Time (February 2, 2004). Romano, Allison. “His Finger Is on the Pulse of Pop Culture.” Broadcasting & Cable (September 8, 2003): p. 40.

Web Sites Larson, Megan. “Behind the Makeover.” MediaWeek.com (March 24, 2003) http://www.mediaweek.com/mediaweek/icopyright_display.jsp? vnu_content_id=1847775 (accessed August 1, 2004). MTV Web site. http://www.mtv.com (accessed August 1, 2004). Valania, Jonathan. “Last Night a VJ Saved My Life.” Philadelphia Weekly Online. (April 24, 2002) http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/archives/ article.asp?ArtID=2154 (accessed on June 11, 2004). VH1 Web site. http://www.vh1.com (accessed August 1, 2004). Williams, Alex. “MTV’s Real World.” New York Metro.com (December 2, 2002) http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/tv/n_8081/index.html (accessed August 1, 2004).

284


•

volume 2

Brian Greene

February 9, 1963 • New York, New York

Physicist, author


•

volume 2

With his hip New York wardrobe, salt-and-pepper hair, and quick grin, Brian Greene looks more like a forty-something Justin Timberlake than the scientist that he is. In fact, Greene is considered one of the top physicists in the United States and a leading expert in the field of superstring theory, which asserts that all matter is made up of tiny vibrating loops of energy. He is also perhaps one of the most famous scientists in the world, thanks to his 1999 best-selling book, The Elegant Universe, a guide to string theory for average readers. In 2004 Greene released The Fabric of the Cosmos, a book that explores space and time, and which promised to be equally successful. Because of his ability to explain in simple terms what some call “headache-inducing” concepts, Greene has been credited not only with introducing science to the masses, but encouraging them to care about it.

285

brian greene

Boy with a different perspective Brian Greene was born on February 9, 1963, in New York City. Early on, it was apparent that Greene was different. He was obviously gifted in math; at one point he was known to tape together squares of construction paper in order to multiply numbers with thirty digits. Greene also credits his father, Alan, a former vaudeville performer, with teaching him how to look at the world in different ways. He explained the game he and his father used to play to Bradley Jay of The Atlantic. While walking the streets of Manhattan, Greene and his dad would take turns describing what they saw from different perspectives. For example, if Brian saw a penny fall out of someone’s pocket, he might

“The universe is rich and exciting, and there’s stuff that can knock you over every day if you’re privy to it.” pretend to be an ant on the coin talking about spiraling down to the ground on a copper disk. By the time he was in grade school, Greene was so precocious in math that his frustrated sixth-grade teacher suggested he look for a tutor at nearby Columbia University. With a note from his teacher in hand, Greene and his sister went from office to office on the campus, and finally located a graduate student willing to work with the budding mathematician. The student, Neil Bellinson, studied with him every week until Greene graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1980. After graduation Greene attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he majored in physics, the science of the interaction between matter and energy. In addition to his studies, he also pursued other interests that began in high school. For example, Greene ran cross-country and acted in musicals. Greene graduated from Harvard in 1984, and as a Rhodes Scholar he traveled to England to study at Oxford University. Each year Rhodes Scholarships are given to the most outstanding scholars

286


•

volume 2

brian greene

Very Greene Analogies

In order to explain very complicated concepts Brian Greene often turns to everyday examples. For instance, one of the ideas central to string theory is that there are many more dimensions than the ones we are aware of. The problem is that they are so small they are difficult to detect. Greene suggests that a dimension may be invisible because of our perspective. Imagine, he says, that far off in the distance an ant is walking on a garden hose. From our vantage point, the garden hose looks simply like a one-dimensional line. If we walk closer, the ant and the garden hose, another dimension if you will, come into view.

Another example is Greene’s explanation of the uncertainty principle, which was proposed by one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976). According to Heisenberg, who spent his life studying the movement and properties of atoms, it is impossible to pinpoint the precise position and momentum of a particle at the same time. In his “Strings and Strings” lecture, as quoted in Columbia College Today, Greene likens the principle to ordering dinner from a Chinese menu: “There’s list A and list B. You can have Chow Mein, you can have Mu Shu, but under no circumstances, according to Heisenberg, can you have both.”

in the world; the scholarships allow them to study at the prestigious Oxford University. In his spare time, Greene acted with an improvisational theater group. This knack for acting would one day serve him well, as he became known for his easy and relaxed public speaking style. Greene’s focus at Oxford, however, was physics. It was at Oxford that Greene first became intrigued by string theory. As he was walking to class one day he spied a poster advertising a lecture about a newfound “theory of everything.” “I found it very exciting,” Greene told Shira Boss of Columbia College Today. “They were saying there was a brand new way to solve the riddle of gravity and quantum mechanics.” After attending the lecture, he and his friends formed a study group and absorbed any and all information on the subject they could find.

String theory is the key After earning his PhD in physics in 1987, Greene returned to Harvard. In 1990 he took a teaching job at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he became a full professor in 1995. The next year Columbia University recruited him to teach physics and math. Greene remains a professor there to this day, and is codirector of the school’s Institute U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

287

brian greene

for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics. He also teaches at Cornell and Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, via teleconferencing. Greene became known as a dynamic lecturer and his classes, though covering difficult subjects, were in high demand. As one student remarked to Boss, “He breaks things down in the most basic language. It makes it engaging and enjoyable, which is why we’ve been hanging on for so long, even though the concepts are fuzzy.” Fuzzy is probably the right word to describe string theory, which is the focus of Greene’s research. According to Greene, in an interview with Jay, “the basic idea of string theory is pretty straightforward. It tries to answer a question that has been asked for two-anda-half thousand years, which is, What are the smallest ingredients making up everything in the world around us?” The difficult part is that string theorists claim the building blocks of the universe are filaments, or strings, that vibrate at various frequencies. These strings are so small that they cannot be observed; they cannot even be proven through experiments. Instead, Greene and his colleagues rely on mathematics to infer their existence. Some wonder why it is important to worry about something so small that it cannot be seen. According to Greene and other physicists, string theory holds the key to unlocking everything, including how the universe was created and how it works. The mathematics of string theory also speculates about even more fantastic ideas, including the belief that there are eleven dimensions, seven more than we are currently aware of; and that several parallel universes exist alongside our own. Greene became well known in the scientific community for championing these theories. In 1992 he and two Duke University colleagues also made an amazing discovery. Using advanced mathematics they were able to prove that the fabric of space can tear and then repair itself in a new way. As Greene told Peter Tyson of NOVA, “For a brief moment, you feel like you have seen the universe in a way that nobody previously has.”

Physics becomes fun Greene, along with his discoveries, would probably have remained known to only a handful of academics, except that in the late 1990s he was approached to write a book about string theory. At first he was

288


•

volume 2

brian greene

reluctant, worrying that he might not be able to successfully produce something that could be understood by the general public. The biggest hurdle was that string theory is proven through mathematical symbols, which cannot easily be translated into everyday language. But Greene also saw a need. As he remarked to Shira Boss, “People can be turned off from science, because the technical side can be forbidding, but the ideas are as dramatic as any novel.” In 1999 Greene succeeded in his efforts, and The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory was published. The book took off immediately, breaking sales records, and zooming up nearly every U.S. best-seller list. What followed was a media blitz. Greene was scheduled for a multitude of book signings, and he appeared on countless radio and television programs from National Public Radio’s Science Friday to the Late Show with David Letterman. Suddenly Greene was a celebrity physicist. He was even stopped on the street by fans and well-wishers. Why would a book about string theory be so popular? According to Publishers Weekly, “the strength of the book resided in Greene’s unparalleled ability to translate higher mathematics and its findings into everyday language and images, through adept use of metaphor and analogy, and crisp, witty prose.” It probably also did not hurt that the thirty-six-year-old Greene was just as witty when he appeared in person. Greene was happy about the brisk book sales, but he was equally happy that he was generating a buzz about string theory, and science in general. Perhaps the greatest testament of his success came in the letters and e-mails that he received from people of all ages. For example, Shira Boss quoted one man who described himself as a “playwright and independent filmmaker who got a D in high school physics.” He wrote to Greene: “You have given science back to me, and for that, I owe you an immeasurable gratitude.”

Understanding the cosmos Four years later, in 2003, Greene helped NOVA translate The Elegant Universe into a three-hour documentary. Creating a movie was an incredibly ambitious undertaking since Greene discusses concepts that cannot be seen, let alone filmed. The producers used state-of-theart computer animation, special effects, and trick photography to help U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

289

brian greene

viewers delve into Greene’s universe. They also relied on Greene’s wide-ranging talents as an enthusiastic storyteller and gifted performer. The physicist-turned-filmmaker, however, wanted to make sure that the documentary was both entertaining and accurate. “For me,” he explained to NOVA’s Peter Tyson, “it was constantly keeping a watch out to make sure that the science ultimately was dictating what we could and couldn’t do.” In 2004 Greene again put ambition to the test when he released his second book, The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality. While The Elegant Universe focused on superstring theory, Fabric, as Greene told Tyson, is a “discussion of our ever-changing grasp of what these seemingly simple notions of space and time actually are.” In what Library Journal called “simple but elegant language,” Greene attempts to explain even more complex concepts for the general reader. He uses his usual clever analogies, including frogs in bowls, pennies on balloons, and ping-pong balls in molasses, to help us understand how time travel might be possible or how time does not flow the way we think it does. Greene also peppers the text with pop-culture allusions, including references to such popular TV shows as The Simpsons. Not all reviews were positive, however. The Economist maintained that Greene fell short of his intentions and that his second book comprised a “meandering path through the maze of modern physics … which is highly confusing to the novice.” Regardless, the public welcomed the latest offering from the Columbia physicist.

The elegant Professor Greene In between dates on his multi-city publicity tour, Greene continued to teach his classes, which had become packed with students and nonstudents clamoring to attend. He was also busy giving public lectures in an attempt to reach an even wider audience. Working with the Emerson String Quartet, he developed a type of performance art that blended physics and music. Called “Strings and Strings,” the charismatic Greene lectured to audience members, essentially giving them a crash course in physics, all set against a symphonic backdrop. The event drew sell-out crowds to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, and there were plans to develop a full-length program to be presented at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2005.

290


•

volume 2

brian greene

Greene also planned to begin work on a series of books aimed at young children that would help prepare them to digest more difficult physics books as they get older. In addition, he envisioned a companion film that would be entertaining and story-based. According to Jeff Zaleski of Publishers Weekly, Greene will no doubt, make “science a blast to watch.” But for Greene there is a more important mission. He truly believes that understanding physics, and understanding the way the universe works, is essential for each and every person. As he told Zaleski, “I’ve seen that, as people become aware of space and time, of the strange events of quantum mechanics, they are enriched because they see the world in a different way.” He likens it to baseball or football; if you know the rules you enjoy watching the game so much more. Greene maintains a balance between his work and his personal life, although he admits that his job is not just nine-to-five. He continues to take acting lessons, which as he explained to Shira Boss, provides a release, “a way to enter a new world. The things you think about [when acting] are totally different from what you think of in a normal research day.” Greene also maintains a healthy respect for the world around him. He lives in Andes, New York, on an old farm that he hopes one day to transform into an animal shelter. He also follows a vegan diet, which means he eats no animals or animal byproducts, such as milk or cheese. When it comes to his research, as important as he considers it to be, Greene is sometimes frustrated by it. He has spent almost twenty years of his life working on a theory that may or may not be right. “It’s a very precarious way to live and to work,” he admitted to Tyson. On the other hand, Greene believes that his research has paved the way for other important developments. In the same interview, he told Tyson, “To me if the theory turns out to be right, that will be tremendously thick and tasty icing on the cake.”

For More Information Books Greene, Brian. The Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions, and the Quest for the Ultimate Theory. New York: W. W. Norton, 1999. Greene, Brian. The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.


•

volume 2

291

brian greene

Periodicals “All Strung Out: Popular Physics.” Review of The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality. The Economist (April 17, 2004): p. 83. Buczynski, James A. Review of The Fabric of the Cosmos. Library Journal (March 15, 2004): p. 103. Kirschling, Gregory. “Master of the Universe.” Entertainment Weekly (February 27, 2004): p. 101. Review of The Fabric of the Cosmos. Publishers Weekly (February 9, 2004): p. 74. Zaleski, Jeff. “Writing Science: Inside the Elegant Universe of Brian Greene.” Publishers Weekly (February 9, 2004): pp. 50–54.

Web Sites Boss, Shira. “World on a String.” Columbia College Today (September 1999) http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/sep99/12a.html (accessed August 1, 2004). The Elegant Universe Web site. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/elegant (accessed August 1, 2004). Jay, Bradley. “The Universe Made Simple.” Atlantic Unbound (May 20, 2004). http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/interviews/int2004-05-20. htm (accessed August 1, 2004). Tyson, Peter and Brian Greene. “Elegant Universe: Conversation with Brian Greene.” Nova Online (July 2003). http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/ nova/elegant/greene.html (accessed August 1, 2004).

292


•

volume 2

Helen Greiner

1967 • London, England



•

volume 2

Roboticist, president and cofounder of iRobot Corporation

For roboticist Helen Greiner the future is not found in the pages of a science fiction novel; the future is here and now. As president and cofounder of the iRobot Corporation, she is responsible for helping to advance the accessibility of robots, which are mechanical devices that perform functions automatically or by remote control. Most of iRobot’s inventions have been designed for use in the military or in industry, but with technology costs decreasing, the company’s consumer robot market is starting to take off. Greiner predicts that within a few years almost every home in the United States will have a robot to perform such tasks as housecleaning and babysitting. Her company’s vision, as she told Elizabeth Durant of Technology Review, is to “get robots into everyone’s hands.”

A fan of R2D2 Helen Greiner was born in London, England, in 1967. Her father was

293

helen greiner

a refugee from Hungary who met his future wife at the University of London. When she was five years old, the family moved to the United States where they settled in Southampton, New York, a suburb of New York City. Even when she was young, Greiner was a whiz at science. Her older brother had all sorts of neat radio-controlled cars and electronics sets and Greiner was so jealous that, as she admitted to Dataquest, she “sometimes took them.” When her family bought one of the earliest personal computers (PCs), a TRS-80 purchased from Radio Shack, Greiner claimed it for her own. She spent a good deal of time tinkering with it and fine-tuning it, and soon she was using it to control the movements of some of her brother’s confiscated toys.

“If we don’t take robots to the next level, we’ll have a lot of explaining to do to our grandchildren.” In 1977, when she was only ten years old, Greiner went to see a movie that would point to her future life’s work. That movie was Star Wars. While most girls developed crushes on Luke Skywalker or Han Solo, Greiner was captivated by the three-foot-tall spunky android, R2D2. “He was not just a machine,” she told Dataquest. “He had moods, emotions, and dare I say, his own agenda. This was exciting to me—he was a creature, an artificial creature.” When the ten-year-old found out that R2D2 was actually controlled by a man inside a plastic-cased costume she was crushed. From that day, Greiner vowed to create her own R2D2, a real one based on state-of-the-art technology. That vow prompted Greiner to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the finest colleges for science and technology in the world. While at MIT she dove into the study of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI). AI is the computer technology that allows robots to react to situations and gives them some ability to reason. Greiner worked in MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, which was (and still is) headed by Rodney Brooks (1954–), the man who would one day be Greiner’s partner at iRobot. Greiner also met Colin Angle at MIT; Angle would become the third partner in the iRobot venture. The two actually became acquainted on Greiner’s first day on

294


•

volume 2

helen greiner

Robots Meet the Past: iRobot in Egypt

The iRobot Corporation designs and builds robots that do all kinds of extraordinary things, from climbing walls to squeezing through narrow pipes. In the summer of 2002, however, one of the company’s robots visited the past. Earlier in the year iRobot was approached by the science and exploration magazine National Geographic and Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities to build a robot that would explore two of the shafts, or tunnels, in the Great Pyramid of Giza. The pyramid, located near Cairo, Egypt, was built around 2650 B.C.E by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) to serve as a tomb when he died. The two shafts in question, a northern one and a southern one, both lead to the Queen’s chamber. In the early 1990s, a German archaeologist had attempted to explore the southern shaft using a robot, but was thwarted in his efforts because the shaft was blocked as it neared the chamber. Shortly after being contacted, iRoboters went to work. First, they built a test shaft

that represented the angle, height, and width of the pyramid’s shaft. Then they quickly designed and built the tiny Pyramid Rover, which is only approximately 5 inches wide and 11 inches long. It can expand and contract in height from 4 to 11 inches, which made navigating through the shaft easy since it could grip the top and bottom for better stability. The Rover was tied to a controller outside the pyramid and was equipped with lights, video equipment, and tools specific to archaeology. When it made its journey through the southern shaft it performed remarkably. Upon reaching the blocking stone, it used a gauge to figure out the thickness of the rock; the Rover then drilled a small hole through the block and inserted a tiny camera using its extending arm. Since the expedition was televised on the Fox Network, millions of people around the world were given the first glimpse into the Queen’s chamber, which had been sealed for 4,500 years.

campus. They became fast friends because they were both devoted to the science of robots; they were also big snowboarding fans.

iRobot comes to life Before Greiner graduated in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering she spent some time in Pasadena, California, interning at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Her job was to help design robots that would do repairs in space. Her interest was sparked enough that she developed designs for a space robot that could grasp objects more easily. The designs became part of her master’s thesis. In 1990, after earning an advanced degree in computer science, Greiner headed back to California to work at California Cybernetics, a company that made robots which helped in the manufacture of cars. Less than a year later she returned to the East Coast to form her own robot company with Brooks and Angle. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

295

helen greiner

The three roboticists had a very simple plan: to build affordable robots that could be used in everyday life. A simple plan, but ambitious since the robotics field was in its early infancy. When Greiner and her colleagues first started out, she likened it to the early days of computers in the 1970s. The few robots that existed were very expensive, costing tens of thousands of dollars, and they were used mostly in manufacturing, especially in the auto industry to complete such tasks as spray-painting or welding. Most of the experimentation was being done in university research labs, and that is where it usually stopped; there was very little practical application. As Greiner told Dataquest: “I saw the work going on in research labs and universities. It was really great stuff, but it all seemed to die when the funding ran out, or when the student left. I found this really appalling.” She went on to explain, “Commercial successes will drive the innovation.” Calling their company IS Robotics, the MIT partners set up shop in Angle’s apartment. Greiner was named president, Angle became the chief executive officer, and Brooks took on the role of chief technology officer. They started out building robots for university researchers at a cost of $3,000 each. Since they only sold about sixty per year, and the cost of parts was steep, the company barely broke even. The partners worked eighteen-hour days, writing their own computer codes and soldering parts, parts that were frequently built in MIT’s machine shop. Eventually they were able to hire a handful of other engineers, but they also recruited interns from MIT who were paid minimum wage. They were so dedicated to their vision that they put up all the manufacturing costs themselves, maxing out their credit cards and racking up over $100,000 in bank loans.

Military-minded: Ariel and PackBot The company’s first big government contract came in 1993 when it was hired by the U.S. Department of Defense and the Office of Naval Research to design an underwater minesweeper. As they do with many of their creations, company engineers modeled the robot, called the Ariel Underwater, after a living creature. In this case, the model was the ghost crab, a burrowing crustacean that lives on Atlantic and Caribbean beaches. Like the ghost crab, Ariel has six legs and can sway with the tides while still maintaining a grip on the ocean floor. It is programmed

296


•

volume 2

helen greiner

I, Robot: The Movie

The iRobot Corporation was named after a series of short stories written by Isaac Asimov (1920– 1992), a popular American science fiction writer who wrote countless books and who many consider to be one of the greatest writers in the genre. Asimov is credited with actually coining the term robotics. He also developed what he called the “Three Laws of Robotics: 1. A robot may not harm or injure a human being. 2. A robot must obey the orders that a human being gives to it, unless it would result in injury.

In July of 2004 a movie based on Asimov’s stories was released by 20th Century Fox, called I, Robot. The film starred Will Smith (1968–) as a detective of the future investigating the death of a scientist at a company called US Robotics. Despite the Laws of Robotics, his primary suspect in the killing is a robot. The robots featured in the movie are called NS-5 models, known as the “world’s first fully automated domestic assistant.” In conjunction with the movie’s release, 20th Century Fox launched an interactive Web site (www.irobotnow.com), which gave viewers a glimpse into the making of the movie bot; it also allowed users to virtually build their own NS-5.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as it does not interfere with laws number one or two.

to detect mines, explosives set in the ground or under the water; it can also place explosives and scurry away before they blow up. Boosted by their success, the partners moved into headquarters based in Somerville, Massachusetts. They also hired more engineers and changed the company name to iRobot. According to Greiner the name comes from a book of short stories written in 1950 by noted science fiction author Isaac Asimov (1920–1992). In addition, the company began to take on some nonmilitary work. For example, they contracted with the oil-service company Baker Hughes to design a robot that could travel miles underground to make repairs in oil-well bores. The bulk of iRobot’s business, however, remained focused on creating products for the military. Greiner and company turned a corner in 1995 when the Defense Department commissioned them to make what would become one of their premier products: a small tank-like robot, known as the PackBot, designed to scope out areas too dangerous for soldiers. At forty pounds it is portable; it is also able to climb stairs, travel over even the toughest terrain, and can right itself, using flippers, if knocked over. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

297

helen greiner

After the World Trade Center in New York City was destroyed in 2001, four PackBots were sent into nearby buildings to make sure the structures were sound. In 2002 the robots were first used in combat when they were sent to Afghanistan. Their mission was to search caves for enemy soldiers and to sniff out booby traps. At first U.S. soldiers were skeptical. As Greiner told Elizabeth Durant of Technology Review, “The guys were like, ‘Robots? We don’t need robots. We were trained how to clear caves.’ But when you get to the cave’s mouth, and it’s dark inside … they started calling for the robots.” Based on feedback from the field, the company was able to tweak the PackBot’s design. In 2003 PackBots were sent to Iraq to search buildings, vehicles, and airfields for booby traps and mines. The robots are equipped with a camera that can transmit images back to the base. Some of the PackBots are even capable of detecting harmful gases. By 2004 estimates, approximately fifty PackBots were being used in Iraq and Afghanistan and only one of them had been lost in action.

Oh, baby! Company breaks into consumer market Regardless of her success, Greiner’s main goal was still to break into the consumer market with something affordable and practical. The company’s first foray into the consumer market was definitely more affordable than the PackBot, which had a price tag of $45,000, but it was more fun than truly practical. In the late 1990s, iRobot partnered with the Hasbro toy company to develop a robotic doll. Engineers worked on the design for almost two years, equipping the doll’s skin with electronic sensors so that it giggled when its feet were tickled and smiled when it was held. The doll was also programmed to “learn” to speak. Called My Real Baby, the toy hit store shelves in 2000. Considering the doll was quite expensive to produce, at $95.95 it was fairly reasonably priced. Not reasonable enough for customers, however, since Hasbro sold only 100,000 units. Greiner still considered the product to be a company milestone since it paved the way for advancements in artificial intelligence. Rodney Brooks, who spoke with Joseph Pereira, explained that, “for the first time our robots had

298


•

volume 2

helen greiner

to interact with countless numbers of people in ordinary homes, not graduate students [in labs].” In 2002 iRobot introduced the product that finally put it firmly on the consumer map, a disc-shaped robotic vacuum cleaner called the Roomba. Engineers had been working on the design for twelve years. They also put in countless hours studying the science of floorcleaning; iRoboters even spent one night at a Target department store to watch industrial cleaners at work. The result was a 5-pound, 13inch-wide appliance that looks very much like a horseshoe crab. It runs on rechargeable batteries and propels around a room in wide circles, bouncing lightly off any obstacle it encounters. When it is finished, it stops, beeps, and turns itself off. According to the company, Roomba has enjoyed brisk sales. It also received wide publicity on television, radio, and in countless magazines. Oprah Winfrey (1954–) named it “one of her favorite things,” and the Roomba was awarded the seal of approval from Good Housekeeping, a magazine that has long served consumers. In addition, iRobot and Roomba received hearty approval within the robotics industry. As Craig Jennings, president of the Robotic Industries Association, told Elizabeth Durant, “Nobody else has a product that has had the success of Roomba. I think [iRobot] hit a home run.”

Greiner predictions By 2004 the tiny company that was started in a scientist’s apartment employed over 120 people, and was based in Burlington, Massachusetts, with branch offices in Milford, New Hampshire, and San Luis Obispo, California. It had contracts in multiple markets, including academic, industrial, military, and consumer, which made it the largest, privately owned robotics company in the world. The corporation’s mission, however, remained roughly the same. As stated on the iRobot Web site, the partners pledge “to build really cool stuff; to make money; to have fun; and to change the world.” Because of the company’s growth and success, its founders, especially Greiner, began to receive quite a bit of recognition. In 2002 Greiner was named an Innovator for the Next Century by MIT’s Technology Review; in 2003, she made Fortune magazine’s list of the Top 10 Innovators Under 40 in the United States. According to Greiner, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

299

helen greiner

however, iRobot was just beginning to take off. “There’s so much room for innovation and new ideas,” she commented to Kristin Weir of Current Science. Greiner’s predictions for the future of robotics are great. She told Deepa Kandasamy of Dataquest that according to U.S. military officials within fifteen years, “one-third of all military vehicles will be unmanned.” She also believes that given the advancements in AI technology and the drop in costs for robot components, such as computer chips, consumer products will become even more affordable. “Within five years robots will be cleaning floors and acting as remote eyes and ears,” Greiner enthused to Kandasamy, “Within fifteen years, they will act as true personal assistants and friends.” When asked about her personal vision, Greiner, whose corporate office is strewn with toy robots, replied that she sees “our robots taking on all dangerous jobs. A robot in every office building. A robot in every home that has a computer. We will change the world with this technology.”

For More Information Periodicals Durant, Elizabeth. “Robot-Triumvirate: A Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Is Putting iRobot and Its Three Founders on the Map.” Technology Review (October 2003). Pope, Justin. “Looking to Iraq, Military Robots Focus on Lessons of Afghanistan.” Detroit News (January 12, 2003). Weir, Kirsten. “Robot Master.” Current Science (February 28, 2003): p. 8.

Web Sites “Ancient Egyptian Chambers Explored.” National Geographic Channel Web site (April 4, 2003). http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/ 2002/09/0910_020913_egypt_1.html (accessed August 1, 2004). Goldman, Leah. “Machine Dreams.” Forbes.com (May 27, 2002). http:// www.forbes.com/global/2002/0527/043.html (accessed August 1, 2004). Grossman, Lev. “Maid to Order.” Time.com (September 14, 2002). http:// www.time.com/time/roomba (accessed August 1, 2004). iRobot Corporation Web site. http://www.irobot.com/home.cfm (accessed August 1, 2004). I, Robot Now Web site. http://www.irobotnow.com/index.php (accessed August 1 2004). Kandasamy, Deepa. “Queen of Robotics.” Dataquest Web site. (March 17, 2004) http://www.dqindia.com/content/industrymarket/datatalk/2004/ 104031701.asp (accessed August 1, 2004).

300


•

volume 2

helen greiner Pereira, Joseph. “Natural Intelligence: Helen Greiner Thinks Robots Are Ready to Become Part of the Household.” Wall Street Journal: Classroom Edition Online. (October 2002) http://www.wsjclassroomedition. com/archive/02oct/COVR_ROBOT.htm (accessed August 1, 2004).


•

volume 2

301

Josh Groban

February 27, 1981 • Los Angeles, California

AP/Wide World Photos. Reporoduced by permission.


•

volume 2

Singer

Josh Groban is not a typical twenty-something pop singer, and record store owners have had a tough time deciding just what bin to put his CDs in. Many of his songs are contemporary romantic ballads, but Groban, who is classically trained, also performs opera and sings classical songs in Italian, Spanish, and French. Regardless of the fact that he defies classification, Groban’s fans number in the millions, and they have no problem locating or buying his music. Since bursting on the scene with his debut album in 2002, the gangly Groban has become a music phenomenon. He was the best-selling new male artist of 2002, and since then he has toured the world, performing to record-breaking crowds of all ages.

A unique voice Joshua Winslow Groban was born February 27, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. According to Groban, both of his parents were quite artistic and instilled in their children a love of theater and music. His

303

josh groban

mother, Melinda, was an artist and interior designer. His father, Jack, a businessman who owned his own executive recruiting company, was an accomplished pianist who could play piano by ear. Groban inherited his piano-playing skills from his father. He also credits both his parents for introducing him to a wide variety of musical styles. Groban was drawn to musical theater and opera, counting Mandy Patinkin (1952–) and Luciano Pavarotti (1935–) as two of his idols. At the same time, he listened to pop musicians. In Interview, Groban explained to Renee Fleming that he was especially interested in artists “who decided not to settle into one particular musical style—people like Paul Simon, who took folk music and put African

“I’m not performing for the classical crowd or the Britney crowd. I’m performing for people who like all different kinds of music.” music on top of it.” He was referring to American singer-songwriter Paul Simon (1941–) and his award-winning Graceland album, which was the first CD Groban ever received as a gift. Although he was inspired by music from an early age, Groban was not an early singer. He eventually took a vocal class in junior high school, but as he admitted on his Web site, he really joined because all the other kids were joining. A turning point came in the seventh grade when his teacher auditioned students to sing in the school’s variety show. Groban wowed the teacher with his voice and was tapped to perform a solo. The number was a song written in the 1920s by the famous American composers George (1898–1937) and Ira Gershwin (1896–1983). While it showcased Groban’s rich voice, it did not make him particularly popular with kids his own age. “When you’re in the seventh grade and everybody’s listening to rap, it’s not the coolest thing to discover you have a voice like mine,” he told Fleming. After the performance, however, Groban had a revelation. As he explained to Fleming, “I realized that this was something I could do to

304


•

volume 2

josh groban

stand out and express myself in a way that I didn’t normally know how to do. And that became something very powerful.” As Groban grew older and his voice matured, it became apparent that he had real talent. He was accepted into the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, where he studied musical theater and acted in many school plays, in the hope that one day he would sing and act professionally. The chance came sooner than he expected.

Opera boy in the making When he was seventeen years old, Groban’s voice teacher, Seth Riggs, was contacted by Grammy Award-winning producer and composer David Foster (c. 1950–), who was looking for someone to sing at some upcoming celebrity events. Riggs sent Foster tapes from several of his students, but it was Groban’s recording that caught Foster’s attention. “It floored me,” the producer told People in 2002. Foster immediately booked him to perform at the 1999 inauguration of California Governor Gray Davis (1942–), which took place in Sacramento, California. A very nervous Groban found himself singing in front of a crowd of twenty thousand. A few weeks later, Celine Dion (c. 1968–) was slated to sing a duet with Italian opera star Andrea Bocelli (1958–) on the Grammy Awards program. Bocelli, however, was unable to rehearse, and Foster asked Groban to fill in. At first Groban said no, since he was given only a few hours’ notice. “I didn’t want to go in there unprepared,” he told Bob Brown of ABC News. He relented, however, realizing that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When he took the stage with Dion, he was enthusiastically praised as the young man with the impressively grown-up voice. Comedian Rosie O’Donnell (1962–), who was hosting the awards program, took a quick liking to Groban and invited him to appear on her talk show, dubbing him Opera Boy. Foster continued his partnership with Groban, and invited him to perform at a number of high-profile events. At one of these events, Groban drew the interest of television writer and producer David E. Kelley (1956–). At the time, Kelley was working on the hit TV series Ally McBeal and thought that Groban would be perfect for an upcoming episode. In the show’s 2001 season finale, Groban appeared as Malcolm Wyatt, a nerdy high school senior who sues a fellow classU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

305

josh groban

mate for breaking their prom date. Of course, Kelley made sure that Groban’s singing was a key part of the script. After the episode aired, thousands of viewers called and wrote in to the Fox network inquiring about the talented young newcomer.

Special marketing for a special singer Meanwhile, Groban had graduated from high school and was planning to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to continue studying musical theater. Foster, however, approached him with the news that executives at 143 Records, a joint venture between Foster and Warner Brothers, were interested in signing a record deal. Groban thought long and hard, but ultimately decided to put college on the back burner and take the plunge into the music business. Initially, record company executives were not sure how to approach Groban’s first album. With his boyish good looks, they first thought that Groban should focus on pop songs. But his classical training prompted them to consider an album including Italian opera. In the end, Foster stepped in and worked to produce Groban’s 2001 self-titled debut album, which included a blend of contemporary rock and pop tunes along with classical music in English, Spanish, and Italian. Such a combination was difficult to market in the fast-paced world of MTV, so the record company took a variety of approaches to promote their new artist. Groban was invited back to appear on a holiday episode of Ally McBeal in late 2001. He also appeared on numerous talk shows, from Oprah to the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Groban was even featured on the prime-time news program 20/20. Following the media blitz, album sales soared and Josh Groban Web sites popped up all over the Internet. But the media blitz was just getting started. Groban went on to make countless public appearances, with one major highlight coming in early 2002. When he took the stage to sing with Welsh soprano Charlotte Church (1986–) at the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, Groban was heard by an estimated 1.6 billion people around the world. In late 2002 Groban was given a major opportunity when he taped a live concert that was aired on PBS in December. The twenty-

306


•

volume 2

josh groban

year-old took the stage with a variety of music heavyweights, including Andrea Corr (1974–), lead singer of the Irish traditional/pop group The Corrs, and the legendary American composer John Williams (1932–). At the same time, Groban released his second album, Josh Groban in Concert, a DVD-CD combination based on the PBS special. It debuted at number thirty-five on the Billboard Top 200 chart and quickly reached number one on the music video charts.

Closer to Groban Thanks to an unprecedented amount of media coverage, Groban’s fan base grew by leaps and bounds. He was especially popular on the Internet, where his CD enjoyed increasing sales. One record executive, as quoted on ABC News, called him “the first Internet star.” An on-line community of fans who called themselves Grobanites helped to boost sales. Another site called Friends of Josh Groban became a one-stop shopping network where fans could order concert tickets, albums, and get up-to-the-minute news about their favorite singer. Fans did not have to wait too long to hear more of Groban, since he was back in the studio in 2003 to put together his third album. For seven months he worked with producers to choose, arrange, and record songs. Groban also spent time writing songs, three of which appeared on the final cut. As he explained on his Web site, “This time I’ve tried to open the door as wide as possible. These songs are a giant step closer to who I really am and what my music is all about.” As a result, the album was titled Closer. As exhilarating as the experience was, however, Groban admitted that it was also daunting. In the same Web site article he confided, “I felt tremendous pressure to repeat the success of the first album.… The challenge became not so much reaching the bar I had already set, but setting it higher.” When Closer was released in late 2003, it received mixed reviews. While most critics praised Groban’s powerhouse voice, they also believed that his delivery was somewhat immature and lackluster. Reviewers were especially critical of Groban’s pop songs. Chuck Arnold of People called them “over-the-top ballads,” and Scott Paulin of Entertainment Weekly dismissed them as “depressingly predictable.” Arnold went on to suggest that Groban, with his classically trained voice, should stick to singing in Italian, Spanish, and French. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

307

josh groban

“As it is,” Arnold wrote, “this is a disc only Grobanites will love.” And Grobanites did love it. The first week it was released, Closer rocketed to number four on the Billboard chart, and by mid-2004 it had sold more than four million copies. In January of 2004 Groban embarked on his first world concert tour, with stops slated in the United States, France, England, Norway, and Sweden. When tickets went on sale, they sold out almost immediately. Fans of all ages flocked to Groban’s shows, which were decidedly more mellow than the usual rock concert. In an interview with Bob Meadows of People, Groban joked that “the security guards at my shows don’t have anything to do.” Fans may have been more well-behaved, but they were also incredibly devoted. One woman told Meadows that she had seen Groban in concert forty-four times. People in the music industry were amazed at the sellout crowds, but one Billboard insider, Geoff Mayfield, tried to explain the phenomenon in People: “I think it’s a personal connection. [Groban] seems accessible as a human being, with that otherworldly voice.”

Josh Groban performs at the 2004 Super Bowl. © Win McNamee/ Reuters/Corbis.

A little bit of everything Since being discovered by Foster in 1999, Groban has been working almost nonstop, either traveling, performing, or in the recording studio. He does not complain, but does admit that life on the road is not that glamorous. Days are long and filled with voice lessons, sound checks, and rehearsals. To pass the time, he reads, watches movies, and plays video games. Groban is also an avid drummer. He learned to play when he was about sixteen years old, and as he explained to Fleming, “It’s a great way to get all the stress out.” Few young people gain so much success at so early an age, but Groban seems to be handling it well. He commented that his biggest extravagance has been to buy a Porsche. He also views his career with a mature eye. While he is trained to sing opera, he does not see himself recording or performing any major arias for some time. “When I

308


•

volume 2

josh groban

do them,” he told Fleming, “I want to do them right.” And Groban still has his sights set on Broadway. He came one step closer to his dream in September of 2003, when he appeared in a one-night-only benefit performance of the play Chess at the Amsterdam Theater in New York City. There appears to be much more ahead for the boy with the “bottomless lungs.” When asked by Fleming where he sees himself in ten years, he replied, “I’d like to be able to say that I put my foot in a little of everything, but that I did it intelligently. And if I make mistakes, I want to know that I learned from them.”

For More Information Periodicals Arnold, Chuck. Review of Closer. People (December 1, 2003): p. 46. Fleming, Renee. “Josh Groban: So How Did Josh Groban Manage to Woo Millions of Hearts with Just His Set of Prodigious Pipes?” Interview (March 2004): pp. 140–145. Meadows, Bob. “Josh Groban: Why are Grandmothers and Tweeners Screaming Their Heads Off at the Same Concert? To Catch America’s Hottest Crooner.” People (June 21, 2004): p. 117. Paulin, Scott. Review of Closer. Entertainment Weekly (November 14, 2003): p. 122. “A Stella is Born: Baby Baritone Josh Groban Adds Italian Dressing to the Music Charts with a New Classical-Pop Album.” People (June 17, 2002): p. 116

Web Sites Brown, Bob. “A Star in the Making: Who is Josh Groban?.” ABCNews. com: 20/20 http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/DailyNews/ 2020_joshgroban_020412.html (accessed on June 20, 2004). Josh Groban Web site. http://www.joshgroban.com (accessed on June 18, 2004).


•

volume 2

309

Tony Hawk

May 12, 1968 • San Diego, California



•

volume 2

Skateboarder, businessman

A

ccording to Newsweek magazine, Tony Hawk is the “most famous skateboarder, like, ever.” A big claim, but with a lot to support it. In the 1980s and 1990s, Hawk almost single-handedly transformed skateboarding from a kids’ parking-lot pastime into a respected sport. He won virtually every skateboarding competition he entered, and before he was twenty, he was considered to be the number one vertical skateboarder in the world. Hawk was equally talented off the ramp. His business ventures and product endorsements have made him a very wealthy man, and have also kept him in the spotlight. As skateboarding icon Stacy Peralta told Sports Illustrated, “Tony is the first skateboarder who has given the world a face to put on the sport. He has become a part of American pop culture.”

311

tony hawk

Skateboarding to the rescue When Anthony Frank Hawk was born on May 12, 1968, his parents could not have realized that skateboarding was eventually going to become such an integral part of their lives. As Hawk readily admitted in his autobiography, he was a “hyperactive demon child” who regularly terrorized his babysitters, his teachers, and his parents. He was very bright, with an IQ of 144, but he was also frustrated and unfocused, and would frequently fly into rages. His father, Frank, a retired U.S. Navy officer and small appliance salesman, and his mother, Nancy, a homemaker and part-time business teacher, were equally frustrated about what to do with their youngest child. When Hawk

“I feel like if I’m not out there getting banged up, then I’m not getting better.” was eight, his older brother Steve bought him, on a whim, a blue fiberglass hand-me-down skateboard, and his father built a skating ramp in the backyard. They hoped that skateboarding might be the outlet that young Tony needed. Hawk was instantly hooked, and soon the young boy with the behavior problems was practicing up to six hours a day, every day. He especially enjoyed the freedom that came with the sport. As he explained to Charlie Rose of CBS News, skateboarding was not like baseball or basketball, which required teamwork and regular practice schedules. “I liked that no one was telling me how to do it,” he remarked. When Hawk outgrew his backyard ramp, he began practicing at skateparks near his home in San Diego, California. The scrawny kid with the wild blonde hair stood out among the other skaters. He was so skinny that he had to wear elbow pads on his knees, but the young skateboarder was already experimenting with daredevil moves. Frank Hawk, realizing that the sport had virtually saved his son, became the ultimate skateboard supporter and Tony Hawk’s numberone fan. He began by driving Hawk to and from competitions all over the state of California, and soon became even more involved. In 1980,

312


•

volume 2

tony hawk

Street versus Vert

Inside the world of skateboarding there is a very real rivalry between two camps: street skaters and vertical skaters. Street skating is done on any surface or any structure found in the urban landscape, including parking lots, handrails, benches, or curbs. Vertical skating is performed on vertical ramps or other structures built specifically for the sport. Street skating came first, coming to light in the late 1970s in California with surfers executing dangerous stunts on the curved walls of empty swimming pools. There were no competitions with prize money, and skaters did not wear expensive designer duds. Street skaters considered themselves to be hip rebels, outside the mainstream. Street-style skaters are still very much present in the 2000s. According to skateboarding insiders, as reported in Sports Illustrated, there are between 350 and 400 street skaters who are considered to be professionals, some of them as young as sixteen. They earn their reputations the old-fashioned way, per-

forming outrageous tricks, without safety gear, in outof-the-way, illegal places. Although they consider themselves to be “outlaws,” many of them make a living from skateboarding. Just like Hawk, they get contracts from skateboard apparel and accessory companies, and they can bring home anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 a month. However, diehard street skaters do not appreciate the spotlight that Tony Hawk has turned on skateboarding. Many accuse him of selling out to corporate America and watering down what was once an edgy sport. Darrell Stanton, a teenage pro street skater who spoke with Sports Illustrated, echoed that sentiment: “I hope the whole skateboarding popularity thing stops before it gets too mainstream. I’d like for it to stay a raw sport.” But statistics suggest that Stanton is unlikely to get his wish. According to the polling company American Sports Data, Inc., in 2003 more kids under the age of eighteen were skating than playing baseball.

dissatisfied by the quality of the competitions and the lack of sponsoring organizations, Frank Hawk founded the California Amateur Skateboard League (CASL). Three years later, in 1983, he established the National Skateboarding Association (NSA), the first professional skateboarding organization of its kind. Ultimately the high-profile events put on by the NSA were credited with boosting the popularity of skateboarding in the 1980s. The biggest boost, however, came in the form of Tony Hawk himself. By age fourteen Hawk had turned professional, joining the Powell Peralta skateboard team called the Bones Brigade. By age sixteen he was dominating the sport. The road, however, was not an easy one. As Hawk won competition after competition, some veteran skaters cried favoritism, since his father was the NSA president. They also dismissed his wild, crazy skating as showboating. But that same U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

313

tony hawk

creative skating gave birth to the Ollie, which became one of the most important moves in vertical skating. It also helped Hawk win three NSA championships and almost twenty additional pro events by the time he was eighteen.

A skateboard slump Before he graduated from Torrey Pines High School in 1986, Hawk was earning $100,000 a year from skating in competitions, making public appearances, and endorsing products such as Mountain Dew. Known as the Birdman because of his high-flying acrobatics, he was also a featured performer in Bones Brigade videos, which to this day are watched by would-be skaters. Hawk bought his first house just before graduation, and as he told the New York Times, “That was an inkling that [skateboarding] was already my career.” By the end of the 1980s skateboarding was a hot sport, and Hawk was its king. But, like all things, popularity goes in cycles, and in the 1990s the public’s interest in skateboarding had begun to wane. Part of the problem was the high cost of insurance required to run competitions and maintain skateparks. As a result, competitions were cancelled and skateparks around the United States were closed. This signaled disaster for Hawk, who now had very little money coming in, and a wife and child to support. In 1990 he had married his first wife, Cindy; two years later the couple had a son, Riley. His career sport was losing popularity, and a worried Hawk considered getting a regular nine-to-five job, possibly in computers, since he was a self-proclaimed techno geek. “I did demos where I could count the spectators on two hands,” he recalled to Tim Layden of Sports Illustrated. Instead, Hawk decided to throw himself into a new business venture. In 1990 he and fellow skateboarder Per Welinder launched Birdhouse Projects, a company to manufacture skateboards and skate accessories. In 1992 Birdhouse was followed by Blitz, which distributed other skateboard brands. Hawk mortgaged and eventually sold his home in order to finance his businesses. The rocky start-up proved to be too much of a strain on his family, however, and Tony and Cindy divorced. But just when it seemed that things could not get any worse, skateboarding once again came to the rescue.

314


•

volume 2

tony hawk

Back in the game In 1995 Hawk got a call from executives at the television sports network ESPN, who asked him to skate in a new alternative competition called X Games (Extreme Games). A more-than-interested Hawk flew to Rhode Island, where the contest was being held, and took first place in the vertical competition and second place in street skating. The televised event was seen by millions of people, and almost overnight the interest in skateboarding was re-ignited, as well as interest in Hawk and his career. Soon he was again “hawking” products on television, appearing in countless commercials for companies such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Campbell’s Soup. He also hosted a number of sports specials, including MTV’s Sports and Music Festival. Of course, Hawk also pumped up his skateboarding. He traveled around the world to skate in exhibitions, and year after year he swept the X Games, taking home both singles and doubles titles. By 1999 the king was back on his throne. During the 1999 X Games, Hawk made history during the Best Trick event, when he introduced a move called the 900, a move so spectacular and dangerous that no one has successfully landed it since. The 900 is a two-and-a-half rotation midair flip above the lip of the vertical ramp. Hawk had been working on the move for more than a decade, and had been seriously injured along the way. Landing the 900 was a personal triumph. As Hawk explained to Rose, “I just felt this great sense of relief that I’d finally conquered this beast that had plagued me for so long.” After the 900, it seemed that Hawk could do no wrong, especially in business, where he became a one-man marketing phenomenon. Birdhouse and Blitz took off, becoming two of the largest skateboarding companies in the world. In 1999, however, Hawk ventured into what would become his most lucrative enterprise—video games. He had been trying to interest companies in a skateboarding game since the mid-1990s, but executives did not bite. “They just didn’t get it,” Hawk explained to Sports Illustrated. Finally Activision, a California-based company, approached Hawk in September of 1998 about developing a video game. Computer engineers mocked up a working version and Hawk tinkered with it for months, providing feedback and offering suggestions for improvement. When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was introduced in the fall of 1999, it created an immediate buzz. By Christmas it had zoomed to the top of the video sales charts. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

315

tony hawk

In 2004 Activison released the fourth version of Pro Skater and added Tony Hawk’s Underground to its catalog of games. Each game sold better than the last, and the Hawk series became one of the bestselling video lines of all time, with worldwide yearly sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Eager to cash in on Hawk’s obvious appeal, more businesses lined up to strike deals. In 2000 the skateboarder became the spokesman for Hot Bites frozen snack foods. Hawk went on to lend his name to a slew of products, including toys, shoes, clothing, and DVDs. His most recent endorsement deals, which were reportedly worth over $1 million each, included McDonald’s, Hershey’s chocolate milk, and Frito Lay snacks. According to Jake Phelps, editor of Thrasher magazine (a skateboard magazine), who spoke with Layden, “Tony Hawk means ka-ching.”

Boom Boom Huck Jam Analysts have attributed Hawk’s success to several factors. First, even in his thirties he continues to be one of the most talented skateboarders to ever hit the vertical ramp. Second, because of his many personal appearances, he is accessible to his fans. For example, every summer Hawk goes on a multi-city skateboarding tour with members of his Birdhouse team. For those who cannot make it to see Hawk in person, his tours are televised as ESPN specials. Third, according to marketers, Hawk has a squeaky-clean image and is viewed as the perfect family man, which makes him appealing not only to kids but to their parents. In 1999 Hawk remarried; he and his second wife, Erin, have two sons, Spencer and Keegan. All three of the Hawk boys seem to be following in their father’s footsteps, and Riley, the oldest, has been skating since he was four. Perhaps the biggest reason for Hawk’s success, however, is that he remains passionate about the sport he picked up when he was a child. He still skates every day and, although he claims to be retired, he continues to compete in the X Games. In addition, Hawk is determined to grow the sport even further. One way to do that is through the Tony Hawk brainchild, Boom Boom Huck Jam, an annual event that combines rock music and extreme sports. As Hawk explained to Devin Gordon of Newsweek, “‘Hucking’ refers to launching in the air. ‘Jam’ is a gathering of talent. And ‘boom boom’ is just to give it some flavor.” The ninety-minute spectacle was unveiled in 2002 in Las

316


•

volume 2

tony hawk

Tony Hawk skates at the Edwards Air Force Base skatepark in California, in 2004. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Vegas, Nevada, and featured the best skateboarders, BMX bikers, and motocrossers in the world. Fans were also entertained by some of the hottest new bands around, including The Offspring and Good Charlotte. Following the Las Vegas unveiling, the whole ensemble took off on a 24-city North America tour, performing to sellout crowds. Boom Boom Huck Jam is introducing a whole new generation of kids to skateboarding, but Hawk also wants to make sure that every kid who wants to skate has a chance. In 2002 he established the Tony Hawk Foundation, which provides money to help build and promote skateparks in low-income urban centers throughout the United States. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

317

tony hawk

Since its inception the foundation has given assistance to more than 125 skateparks across the country.

Favorite male athlete Hawk has endured many on-the-job hazards, including a broken elbow, cracked ribs, more sprains and scrapes than he can count, and multiple lost teeth. On the other hand, he has become a multi-millionaire and a living legend, all from riding on a board with wheels. A real pioneer of skateboarding, Hawk invented nearly one hundred tricks and moves that have been handed down to young skaters today. More important, he continues to serve as a role model and inspiration for children who consider him to be one of their all-time favorite sports stars. In fact, in the early 2000s, Hawk consistently topped most teen polls. For example, in 2003 and 2004 he was named Favorite Male Athlete at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards. All this, however, is just icing on the cake for Hawk. As he explained to Sports Illustrated: “Here’s what skateboarding is to me. It’s my form of exercise, my sport, my means of expression since I was nine years old. It’s what I love. I never expected it to give me anything more than that.”

For More Information Books Hawk, Tony, with Sean Mortimer. Hawk: Occupation: Skateboarder. New York, ReganBooks, 2002.

Periodicals Ault, Susanne. “Hawk Splices Games, Music, Sports for HuckJam.” Billboard (September 28, 2002): p. 16. Givens, Ron. “Skateboarding’s Best Seller.” New York Times Upfront (December 11, 2000): p. 20. Gordon, Devin. “Newsmakers: Tony Hawk.” Newsweek (October 14, 2002): p. 71. Layden, Tim. “What Is This 34-Year-Old Man Doing On A Skateboard? Making Millions.” Sports Illustrated (June 10, 2002): pp. 80+.

Web Sites Rose, Charlie. “Tony Hawk Takes Off.” CBSNews.com: 60 Minutes (June 16, 2004). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/12/10/60II/main 532506.shtml (accessed on June 21, 2004). Tony Hawk Official Web site. http://www.tonyhawk.com (accessed on June 21, 2004).

318


•

volume 2

Saddam Hussein

April 28, 1937 • Tikrit, Iraq



•

volume 2

Former president of Iraq

Beginning in the 1970s, Saddam Hussein ruled the Republic of Iraq with a tight grip. His supporters maintained that through his many social and economic programs he effectively brought the country into the modern age. His many critics, however, claimed that Saddam was a ruthless dictator who would stop at nothing in his endless push for power. Regardless, the charismatic leader retained control of his country during countless military conflicts, including an eight-year war against Iran in the 1980s and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. He also survived a slew of assassination attempts throughout the course of his presidency, and at times he seemed almost invincible. But in March of 2003, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq and deposed the defiant leader. Saddam escaped capture, but after a nine-month manhunt, he was caught, imprisoned, and faced multiple charges relating to war crimes and human rights abuses. Many speculated that the once-invincible ruler would ultimately face the death penalty.

319

saddam husseim

A troubled beginning The ex-president of Iraq had a troubled childhood. Saddam Hussein was born on April 28, 1937, in the village of Al-Awja, near Tikrit, a town just north of the city of Baghdad, in central Iraq. His father, Hussein ‘Abd al-Majid, was a peasant sheepherder who by various accounts either died or disappeared before his son’s birth. His older brother, who was twelve, died of cancer shortly thereafter. The combined tragedies had a devastating effect on Saddam’s mother, Subha Tulfah al-Mussallat, who became extremely depressed during her last months of pregnancy. After her new son was born, she named him Saddam, which means “one who confronts” or “the stubborn one.” Because of her depression, however, she was unable

“We are ready to sacrifice our souls, our children, and our families so as not to give up Iraq. We say this so no one will think that America is capable of breaking the will of the Iraqis with its weapons.” to care for him, and young Saddam was sent to live in Baghdad with his uncle, Khairallah Talfah, a retired army officer and Arab nationalist. When he was three years old Saddam returned to live with his mother, but she had remarried and family life was not pleasant. His new stepfather was abusive and treated him harshly over the next several years. As a result, when he was ten years old Saddam ran away to the safety of his uncle’s home. Khairallah Talfah served as a role model for his nephew, especially influencing his political beliefs. After Saddam graduated from the al-Karh Secondary School in Baghdad, he officially joined his uncle’s political party, the Arab Baa’th Socialist Party, which had been formed in Syria in 1947 with the goal of promoting unity among the various Arab states in the Middle East. In Iraq and neighboring countries the Baa’th Party had become an underground revolutionary force.

320


•

volume 2

saddam husseim

In 1959, when Saddam was just twenty-two years old, he played a major part in the assassination attempt of Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim by the Baa’th Party. He was shot in the leg but managed to escape, first to Syria and then to Cairo, Egypt. While in Egypt he studied law at the University of Cairo. In 1963, after a military overthrow of Qassim’s government, Saddam was allowed to return to Iraq. That same year he married his first wife, Sajida, the daughter of his mentor, Khairallah Talfah. His return was short-lived, however, since internal squabbling within the new Baa’th regime led to its downfall. Once again Saddam was forced into hiding, but he was caught in 1964 and imprisoned for the next two years. Although in jail, he remained involved in party politics. Escaping from prison in 1966, Saddam became a rising star in the Baa’th organization, forming close ties with key party officials who were planning a second attempt at taking control of Iraq. In July of 1968 the Baa’ths organized a successful takeover of the Iraqi government. Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, a retired general and prominent party spokesman who was a distant relative of Saddam, assumed the role of chairman of the Baa’th Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) as well as the presidency of Iraq. Saddam, who had become an integral part of the organization, was named vice president.

Second in command Although Ahmed Hassan was officially the president of Iraq from 1969 through 1979, it was Saddam Hussein who truly held the reins. And thanks to Saddam, the country enjoyed its most stable and productive period in recent history. After oil prices soared in the 1970s (oil is Iraq’s primary natural resource and export), he used the revenues to institute a major system of economic reform and launched an array of wide-ranging social programs. Roads were paved, hospitals and schools were built, and various types of industry, such as mining, were expanded. In particular, Saddam focused attention on the rural areas, where roughly two-thirds of the population lived. Land was brought under the control of the Iraqi government, which meant that large properties were broken up and parcels distributed to small farmers. Saddam also funneled revenues into modernizing the country’s agriculture industry. For example, he brought electricity into even some of the most remote communities. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

321

saddam husseim

Saddam’s social programs benefited both rural and city dwellers. In an effort to wipe out illiteracy, he established free schooling for children through high school and made it a government requirement that all children attend school. Saddam’s government also provided free hospitalization to all Iraqis and gave full economic support to families of Iraqi soldiers. Such large-scale social programs were unheard of in any other Middle Eastern country. When he created his massive reforms, Saddam may have had the benefit of his people in mind, but he was also a shrewd politician. In order to maintain a stable government and to assure that his party would remain in power, it was necessary to gather as much support as possible. By the late 1970s the Baa’th regime enjoyed a widespread following among the working classes, and the party was firmly unified around its second-in-command. Saddam also served as the outward face of the Iraqi government, representing the nation on both the domestic and international fronts. On July 22, 1979, when an ailing Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr decided to step down as president, it came as no surprise that Saddam Hussein stepped into his shoes.

The cult of Saddam Hussein Support for Saddam Hussein was not universal. The conservative followers of Islam (the national religion of Iraq) did not agree with many of Saddam’s innovations, which they felt were directly opposed to Islamic law. This included legislation that gave women more freedoms and the fact that a Western-style legal system had been installed. As a result, Iraq became the only Arab country not ruled by the laws of Islam. Major opposition also came from the Kurds who occupied the northern region of the country. The Kurds are a nomadic people who are concentrated in areas of Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. They are Muslim but not Arabic, and they strongly disagreed with the Baa’thist push for a united Arab front. Saddam even faced resistance within his own party, and he made it a policy to weed out anyone he viewed as a threat. On July 22, 1979, just days after taking over the presidency, he organized an assembly of Baa’th leaders and read aloud the names of suspected spies; these people were taken from the room and publicly executed by firing squad. A few years later, in 1982, he ordered the execution of

322


•

volume 2

saddam husseim

Tiled portrait of Saddam Hussein in Tikrit, Iraq. Many such images and statues of Hussein appeared in cities throughout Iraq. © Shepard

at least three hundred officers who had supposedly questioned his military tactics. Once in control, Saddam surrounded himself with a tightly-knit group of family and friends who assumed high levels of responsibility within the government. These individuals, however, were not necessarily immune to Saddam’s paranoia. At one point, Adnan Talfah, Saddam’s brother-in-law and childhood friend, was killed in a “mysterious” helicopter crash. And in 1996 Saddam had his sons-in-law murdered for being disloyal.

Sherbell/Corbis.

Although he ruled with an iron fist, Saddam also was preoccupied with winning the devotion of the Iraqi people. He promoted himself as a hero of the nation who was dedicated to making Iraq the leader of the Arab world. Images of Saddam were plastered throughout the country. Some of them depicted the ruler as a dedicated Muslim wearing traditional robes and headdress; others featured Saddam in a Western-style business suit, wearing sunglasses and holding a rifle over his head. All were efforts to make a connection at every level of society and to solidify his role as an all-powerful president. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

323

saddam husseim

Such tactics, however, also solidified his reputation as an insecure and unstable leader. He became known for his paranoia, which was not unjustified, considering he had survived at least seven assassination attempts. As a result he rarely appeared in public. He also slept only a few hours a night, at secret locations, and all of his food was carefully prepared and inspected by official food tasters.

Conflicts with Iran and Kuwait Outside of Iraq, especially in the West, Saddam was seen as a dictator whose quest for dominance in the Middle East was viewed with particular concern. In 1980 Saddam proved that such fears were founded when he attacked Iran, an invasion that led to an eight-year bloody conflict. Relations between Iran and Iraq had been deteriorating for years, and came to a head in 1979 when the Ayatollah Khomeini (c. 1900–1989) overthrew the government of Iran during an Islamic uprising. Saddam worried that Khomeini would set his sites on spreading his radical religious rule to the secular (nonreligious) state of Iraq. Disputes over territorial boundaries led to skirmishes throughout late 1979 and into 1980, and on September 22, 1980, Iraqi forces crossed the Iranian border and officially declared war. Over the next eight years, both countries suffered almost irreparable damage, and the healthy economy that Saddam had created during the 1970s was in ruins. Billions of dollars were borrowed from countries such as the United States, Kuwait, the U.S.S.R., and France, to support the war effort. The United States alone gave the Iraqi government nearly $40 billion in food supplies and arms. And both sides suffered a tremendous loss of human life. It is estimated that approximately 1.7 million people were killed during the conflict. In one battle on March 16, 1988, Iraqi troops attacked the Kurdish town of Halabja, using poison nerve gas. Nearly five thousand people died, most of whom were women and children. Various reports claimed that chemical weapons were used by both Iran and Iraq, but these tactics continued to raise the alarm that Saddam Hussein was a military threat who could not be trusted. In 1989 the war ended in a stalemate, with no side claiming a real victory. Conflicts between Saddam and other nations, however, were just beginning. Faced with the prospect of rebuilding his coun-

324


•

volume 2

saddam husseim

try, Saddam tried to pressure the neighboring country of Kuwait to forgive the $30 billion loan he had been given. The reason he gave was that the war with Iran had effectively protected Kuwait from an Iranian invasion. Tensions were also sparked between the two countries over territorial boundaries that were especially important because they involved the control of oil reserves in the area. When negotiations failed, Saddam invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. The unprovoked attack was denounced by governments throughout the world, especially the United States. The administration of Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) in the 1980s may have seen Saddam as a potential ally, but after the invasion of Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush (1924–) essentially severed all ties between the United States and Saddam Hussein. As a result, when the Iraqi leader refused to leave Kuwait, a combined force of U.S. and United Nations (UN) troops stepped in. Fighting lasted a mere six weeks, but after the Persian Gulf War came to an end, casualties topped over eighty-five thousand. Saddam was successfully evicted from Kuwait, but the tensions were not over. Bush ordered U.S. troops to protect Kuwaiti borders, and in his March of 1991 State of the Union address he told the American people, “We all realize that our responsibility to be the catalyst for peace in the region does not end with the successful conclusion of this war.” He called Saddam a brutal dictator “who will do anything, will use any weapon, will commit any outrage, no matter how many innocents suffer.”

The United States versus Iraq In an effort to control Saddam, the cease-fire agreement drawn up between the United Nations and Iraq required the country to destroy all of its chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons. The agreement also stipulated that Saddam had to let UN inspectors oversee the efforts. If Iraq did not comply with the agreement, economic sanctions would be imposed, meaning that all trade with the country would be cut off. Throughout the 1990s the Iraqi leader reportedly concealed the manufacture of weapons from inspectors, and the sanctions continued. Cut off from the world, the people of Iraq suffered. Unemployment rose, agricultural production declined, and the majority of the population suffered from severe malnutrition and lack of medical care. There was U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

325

saddam husseim

increased unrest among the many factions in the country, which prompted Saddam to increase his tactics of repression. When George W. Bush became president of the United States in 2001, one of his first acts upon taking office was an attempt to reinstate economic sanctions, which had been lifted by the United Nations in the late 1990s. World opinion opposed the effort as inhumane; the Iraqi people had suffered far too much. Anti-Saddam sentiment only escalated, however, after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Although the attacks were never linked to Saddam Hussein, Bush insisted that terrorists armed with Iraqi weapons could at any time target the United States. In his State of the Union address in January of 2002, the U.S. president called Iraq part of an “axis of evil,” and claimed that the country “continue[d] to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror.” Time and again Bush publicly accused Saddam of concealing weapons, and by 2002 he threatened to invade Iraq if UN inspectors were not allowed back into the country. Saddam countered that there were no weapons, and opened his doors. Although UN inspectors found nothing, Bush maintained that inspectors had simply not found the well-hidden weapons yet. By early 2003, war with Iraq was looming. In January of 2003 Bush gave Saddam an ultimatum: either totally disarm his country or voluntarily leave Iraq. If neither step was taken, the United States would attack. In February of 2003, in an unprecedented move, Saddam Hussein appeared on television, having agreed to be interviewed by CBS newsman Dan Rather (1931–). The interview was broadcast worldwide, even in Iraq, which meant that the Iraqi people were given a rare glimpse of their reclusive leader who was rarely seen in person. Saddam accused the Bush administration of being part of a “bandwagon of evil,” and continued to insist that Iraq did not have concealed weapons and that it had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks. He also explained that he would not leave Iraq and that Iraqis would fight to protect their country if provoked. “We will die here in Iraq,” he told Rather. “We will die in this country and we will maintain our honor.”

The Saddam regime is toppled Despite massive international opposition, hundreds of thousands of U.S. and British troops stormed Iraq on March 20, 2003. Several air

326


•

volume 2

saddam husseim

strikes specifically aimed at assassinating Saddam Hussein were unsuccessful, and ground troops pushed through the country, heading toward Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. In early April, just three weeks after the invasion, the Saddam regime was toppled. When Baghdad fell, however, the Iraqi president was nowhere to be found. Saddam managed to elude capture throughout the remainder of the year. Reports of Saddam sightings popped up occasionally, but proved to be false. In addition, audiotapes by the ousted leader were released to Arab television networks. Whether they were truly from Saddam remained in question. High-ranking members of the Iraqi government were caught one by one, but Saddam remained at the top of the most-wanted list. In July of 2003 his two sons and political heirs, Uday and Qusay, were killed by U.S. forces. It was thought that perhaps Saddam’s capture would be imminent, but the elusive leader remained on the run for the next five months. Finally, on December 13, 2003, Saddam Hussein was located just nine miles outside of his hometown of Tikrit, hiding in an underground cavern known as a “spider hole.” Disheveled and dirty, with a graying beard and matted hair, he surrendered without resisting. According to commander of U.S. forces Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, as quoted on CNN.com, “He was a tired man. Also, I think, a man resigned to his fate.” The deposed leader was taken into custody by U.S. forces and held in Baghdad until June 30, 2004, when he was officially handed over to acting Iraqi government officials. On July 1 he faced his first legal hearing before an Iraqi Special Tribunal. During the twenty-six minute hearing he was charged with multiple crimes, including the 1988 attack on the Kurdish village of Halabja, the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, and the killings of political and religious leaders during his thirty years in command. Throughout the accusations Saddam remained defiant, claiming that the tribunal was a farce. He also maintained that he was still the true leader of Iraq. “I am Saddam Hussein al-Majid, the President of the Republic of Iraq,” he announced, as quoted in England’s Guardian. “I am still the president of the republic and the occupation cannot take that away.” Following the hearing Saddam remained in custody, where he reportedly spent time writing poetry, reading the Koran (the sacred writings of Islam), and tending to a small garden within the walls of his Baghdad prison. There were also reports that the sixty-seven-yearU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

327

saddam husseim

old former president was in poor health and that perhaps he had suffered a stroke. Such reports were denied by doctors. It seemed that Saddam would be well enough to face his accusers in a trial set to begin in January of 2005. Many speculated on the trial’s outcome, but people in Iraq voiced their clear expectations. Shortly after U.S. forces turned Saddam Hussein over to Iraqi officials, the Iraqi government reinstated the death penalty, which had been temporarily suspended under U.S. occupation. Hamid al-Bayati, the deputy foreign minister of Iraq, was quoted in the Guardian as saying, “Everyone who lost loved ones to Saddam will want to see this.”

For More Information Books “Saddam Hussein.” In Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1998.

Web Sites McCallester, Matthew. “A Day in the Life of Saddam Hussein.” Indian Express (July 27, 2004). http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php? content_id=51826 (accessed on August 3, 2004). McCarthy, Rory. “I am Saddam Hussein, the President of Iraq.” Guardian (England) (July 2, 2004). http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/ story/0,,1252291,00.html (accessed on August 3, 2004). “President George H. W. Bush’s Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union, January 29, 1991.” CSPAN. http://www.c-span.org/executive/transcript.asp?cat=current_event &code=bush_admin&year=1991 (accessed on Augst 3, 2004). “President George W. Bush’s State of the Union Address to the Joint Session of Congress, January 29, 2002.” CSPAN Web site. http://www. c-span.org/executive/transcript.asp?cat=current_event&code=bush_ admin&year=2002 (accessed on August 3, 2003). Rather, Dan. “Interview with Saddam Hussein.” CBS News (February 24, 2003). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/02/24/eveningnews/main 541817.shtml (accessed on August 3, 2004). “The Rise and Fall of a Dictator.” CNN.com: World (December 14, 2003). http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/14/sprj.irq.saddam. profile/index.html (accessed on August 2, 2004). “Saddam Caught Like a Rat in a Hole.” CNN.com: World (December 15, 2003). http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/12/14/sprj.irq. saddam.operation (accessed on August 2, 2003).

328


•

volume 2

Hugh Jackman

October 12, 1968 • Sydney, Australia



•

volume 2

Actor

By the mid-2000s, the press was calling Australian actor Hugh Jackman a jack-of-all-trades. American moviegoers lined up to see him in the X-Men blockbusters, in which he played the ultimate alternative superhero: the brooding, razor-clawed mutant known as Wolverine. On the Broadway stage he received rave reviews for portraying flamboyant Australian song-and-dance-man Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. In 2004 he landed a Tony Award, Broadway’s most prestigious honor, for his role. Whether Jackman was wearing metal claws or clicking castanets, he earned praise from fans and critics alike. Jackman also added another term to his resume, that of America’s favorite leading man.

From journalism to the stage Hugh Jackman was born on October 12, 1968, the youngest of five Jackman children, and the only one born in Sydney, Australia. The entire family had moved to Australia from England in 1967, the year

329

hugh jackman

before his birth. When Jackman was eight years old his parents divorced. His mother returned to England to live and care for her own mother, who was ill; the job of taking care of the five young Jackmans fell to his father, an accountant. In interviews, Jackman cannot say enough about the man who devoted himself to his family. “He’s an extraordinarily selfless, amazing man,” Jackman remarked to Katie Couric on MSNBC News. Although his mother was not a part of his everyday life, Jackman did travel back and forth between Australia and England for visits. It was during those visits that he got his first taste of the theater.

“I act because I have felt in acting some of the most free moments in my life.… I think it’s also one thing that scares me the most.” Jackman loved going to plays with his mother, and he frequently acted in school plays, but he did not consider becoming a professional actor. Instead he majored in communications at the University of Technology in Sydney, with an eye toward journalism. During his senior year, Jackman found himself a few credits short, so he decided to take a drama class, primarily because his friends told him that he was guaranteed an easy “A.” But as it turned out, the class was a lot of work. “I was shocked at how challenging it was,” he admitted to MSNBC News. The class project was to put on a play, and everyone had to take a part. By chance Jackman was cast in the lead, and by the end of the term he was hooked. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree, Jackman realized that he was not truly cut out to be a journalist, so he enrolled at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts in Perth to study drama. The aspiring actor thrived in the experimental environment of the academy, where students were encouraged to work on instinct. As Jackman explained to David Furnish of Interview, “I studied in Perth, where you’re totally isolated and in this bubble of creative fire and risk-taking.” For the next three years Jackman immersed himself in

330


•

volume 2

hugh jackman

The X-Men and Wolverine

The X-Men series was created in 1963 by two Marvel Comics legends, writer Stan Lee (1922–) and artist Jack Kirby (1917–1994). The story originally focused on Professor Charles Xavier, who scoured the earth to find human beings who had been born with a genetic mutation that gave them each a special power. Xavier’s goal was to provide a safe haven for the mutants, who were scorned and feared by society, and to help them harness their potentially dangerous gifts. The core group of X-Men consisted of five teenagers: Cyclops, Angel, Iceman, Beast, and Marvel Girl. The villain in the story was the evil Magneto, who believed that “normal” humans were inferior and had to be punished for their past treatment of mutants. Since then, the series has undergone numerous transformations. Superheroes have been added and subtracted, villains have come and gone, and spin-offs have been created that concentrate on specific characters. One particularly popular character is

Wolverine. Wolverine was created in 1974 by writer Len Wein because Marvel Comics had no Canadian superheroes. He was introduced in an Incredible Hulk comic as a secret agent of the Canadian government who had ultra-super powers. Several months after the Hulk comic was released, Wein was given the task of adding new characters to The X-Men series. As a result, Wolverine found a permanent home. Wolverine is one of the toughest and most ruthless of the X-Men, and his mutant powers are many. He is incredibly strong and fast, and his keen sense of smell allows him to track almost any living creature. One of the most amazing things is that his skeleton has been infused with adamantium, a particularly strong, nearly indestructible metal. Wolverine has retractable claws built into the backs of his hands made from this metal. When the claws project through the skin of his hands, the flesh tears and bleeds, but because of Wolverine’s self-healing powers, he mends quickly.

acting, appearing in plays and taking classes in opera and musical theater. When he graduated in 1994, he had no clear expectations for his future. As Jackman told Furnish, “After I graduated I thought, ‘Well, I’m going to give this everything I’ve got for five years. If nothing happens, I’ll start my own theater company or whatever.… I’m not going to spend my whole life waiting for the phone to ring.’” Jackman did not have to wait by the phone for long. Almost immediately he was offered a plum role on the popular Australian television series Corelli. The program not only gave Jackman his first big break, it also gave him the chance to work opposite his future wife, Australian actress Deborra-Lee Furness. Following Corelli, Jackman appeared in a number of other TV shows. He also began to earn a reputation for his work on the stage in the Australian productions of Beauty and the Beast and Sunset Boulevard. In 1998 Jackman headed to London, where he drew even wider attention for his porU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

331

hugh jackman

trayal of singing cowboy Curly McClain in the Royal National Theatre production of the musical Oklahoma! Critics and theater-goers were so taken with Jackman’s charming performance that he was nominated for an Olivier. The Olivier Award is the most prestigious theater honor in Great Britain, and is named for the renowned British actor Sir Laurence Olivier (1907–1989).

Sharpens claws as Wolverine Just a few short years out of drama school, Jackman had become the hottest actor in Australia. He not only had television and stage credits under his belt, he also found time to appear in two films, Paperback Heroes and Erskineville Kings, both released in 1999. For his turn as Wace in Erskineville, Jackman received a Best Actor nomination from the Australian Film Institute. Although he did not take home the prize, he was given an even bigger honor when he was named the Australian Star of 1999. Jackman may have been the biggest ticket in Australia, but he was not big enough to be considered for an ambitious movie project called The X-Men that was under way at Twentieth-Century Fox in the United States. The X-Men movie was based on characters from a Marvel comic-book series of the same name, and although the characters had legions of followers in the comic-book world, they were not well known by the general public. Executives at Marvel and Fox, however, felt the story had a timeless appeal, especially for a younger audience, since it focused on the exploits of a group of outsiders who are shunned because they are different. There was also the promise of a special-effects spectacular, because what made the X-Men different was that each was born with a special power. For example, Cyclops can fire beams of energy from his eyes. The character slated to be at the center of the movie was Wolverine, a shaggy mutant with keen animal senses and razor-sharp metal claws that spring from his hands. British actor Dougray Scott (1965–) was Hollywood’s first choice to play the brooding Wolverine, but when another film obligation got in the way he was forced to back out. This left the studio in a bind just as the movie was about to begin shooting in October of 1999. Director Bryan Singer decided to take a gamble and tapped newcomer Jackman to replace Scott. When Jack-

332


•

volume 2

hugh jackman

man received the call he was stunned, especially since he had auditioned for the role ten months earlier. As he laughingly told Lori Blackman of CNN.com, “I think I’m in the record books for the longest audition in history.” The gamble paid off when The X-Men far exceeded everyone’s expectations. There was a buzz about the movie months before its debut, and comic-book fans, eager to finally see their favorite superheroes on the big screen, camped out in front of theaters to get tickets. When the film was released in July of 2000, it took in a record-breaking $57 million during its opening weekend, and by the time it went to DVD, worldwide ticket sales totalled almost $300 million. The movie also spawned a lucrative marketing franchise that included video games and action figures. By 2001, it looked like superheroes meant super business.

Big-budget star In the process Hugh Jackman became an overnight celebrity. Diehard X-Men fans praised Jackman for his faithful portrayal of Wolverine. This was quite a compliment, considering the fact that the fictional Wolverine stands five-foot three inches tall, and Jackman is over six feet tall. In addition, Jackman’s chiseled good looks and mutton-chop sideburns made him America’s newest heartthrob. Studios lined up to sign the hunky Australian, and in 2001 Jackman had a banner year, appearing in no less than three movies, including Swordfish, a suspense drama starring John Travolta (1954–). He also co-starred opposite Meg Ryan (c. 1961–) as a time-traveling suitor in Kate & Leopold, and he played the object of Ashley Judd’s (1968–) affections in Someone Like You. Jackman performed admirably in all three films, especially in Kate & Leopold, where he proved he could handle a romantic comedy as well as an actionpacked thriller. None of the movies did well at the box office, however, and critics considered the films to be fairly forgettable. In 2003 it seemed to many that Jackman was back where he belonged when he reprised his role as Wolverine in the X-Men sequel, X2: X-Men United. The movie not only repeated the success of the original X-Men, raking in an astonishing $85 million during its opening weekend, it was also considered by most critics to be even better U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

333

hugh jackman

than the original. Jackman, as Wolverine, was given a lot of the credit even though he was just one of an ensemble cast. Jackman was believed to be such an integral part of the big-budget fantasy’s success that writer-director Stephen Sommers created a movie called Van Helsing specifically for him. As Sommers told Benjamin Svetkey of Entertainment Weekly, “I wrote Van Helsing with Jackman in mind. I’m not sure what I would have done if he had said no.” But Jackman did not say no. He jumped at the chance to play monster-hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, who, in his sweeping duster and broad-brimmed hat, pursues the likes of Dracula, Frankenstein’s monster, and the Wolf Man. When Van Helsing opened in May of 2004, it received mixed reviews. Some critics dismissed it as “summer silliness,” but they also gave kudos to Jackman for his intense performance. Many, like Leah Rozen of People, wondered when the actor was “going to get a movie worthy of his true talent.”

The Boy from Oz Jackman claimed that taking the Van Helsing role was part of his plan to further his career. As he explained to Svetkey, it was a way to “make sure the projects kept getting more and more interesting and the parts more and more challenging.” If some questioned his choice of playing the part of a monster-killer, others questioned Jackman’s choice in 2003—performing on Broadway in The Boy from Oz, a musical about the life and death of singer-songwriter Peter Allen (1944–1992). But Jackman was itching to flex his acting muscles, and Allen was an Australian legend. As Jackman explained to Furnish, “[Allen] may not have been the greatest singer or piano player or dancer in the world, but when he performed, he just lit up the stage.” Beginning in September of 2003, Jackman himself lit up the stage in The Boy from Oz, singing twenty-one songs per show in eight shows per week. Those who had known Allen were amazed by Jackman’s uncanny ability to capture the essence of the exuberant showman. The resemblance was particularly noticeable when Jackman, like Allen, interacted with his audience. For example, during one performance Jackman was interrupted by some latecomers, so he strayed from the script and chatted with the ladies, ultimately forcing them to

334


•

volume 2

hugh jackman

Hugh Jackman poses with his 2004 Tony Award. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

stand up and show off their outfits. When an actor ad-libs, it can be a disaster, but Phil McKinley, the Oz director, called Jackman a dream to work with. And he predicted great things for his leading man. “Hugh’s going to have this amazing career where he truly will be an all-around superstar performer,” McKinley commented to MSNBC News. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

335

hugh jackman

Although critics were not particularly kind to the show, Jackman received the highest marks for his demanding role. He also generated an enormous following. A group of devoted fans, who called themselves the Ozalots, went to see him perform twenty or thirty times in a row. By June of 2004, Jackman had created such a stir that it came as no surprise when he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Time with Oscar In October of 2004, when the run of The Boy from Oz ended, Jackman was only too eager to take a break. As he told Katie Couric, his plans were simple: “As soon as I finish … I’m going to just hang out with Oscar.” Oscar is Jackman’s young son. He also explained that he might find time to fit in some gardening and cooking. Not the most adventurous schedule for a man known for playing dynamic characters on stage and screen, or for the fellow who consistently makes People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list. But those who know Jackman have described him as very relaxed and down-to-earth. That may be because he has studied philosophy for more than ten years, and Jackman has claimed that this helps him put his fame into perspective. As he told Furnish, “My studies have helped me.… To see the rollercoaster quality [of fame]. I mean, success in this business is very much determined by public opinion, and we all know how fickle that can be.”

For More Information Periodicals Furnish, David. “Hugh Jackman: From an X-Man to a Song and Dance Man, Hugh Jackman is Redefining the Words ‘Leading Man.’” Interview (May 2004): pp. 98–104. Scott, A. O. “Full Moon, Romance, and a Demon Rustler.” Review of Van Helsing. New York Times (May 7, 2004). Svetkey, Benjamin. “Monster, Inc. Hugh Jackman Pursues Gruesome Creatures—and the Summer’s First Smash—with Van Helsing.” Entertainment Weekly (March 26, 2004): p. 22.

Web Sites “Big Tony Winners.” CBS News: The Early Show (June 8, 2004). http://www. cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/07/earlyshow/leisure/main621619.shtml (accessed on June 24, 2004).

336


•

volume 2

hugh jackman Blackman, Lori. “‘Wolverine’ Hugh Jackman” CNN.com: Showbiz Today (July 19, 2000). http://www.cnn.com/2000/SHOWBIZ/Movies/07/19/ sbtst.jackman/index.html (accessed on June 24, 2004). “Comics: The X-Men.” Marvel Enterprises Web site. http://www.marvel. com/publishing/showcomic.htm?id=4 (accessed on June 30, 2004). Couric, Katie. “Hugh Jack(Man) of All Trades.” MSNBC News: Dateline NBC (May 7, 2004). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4925357 (accessed on June 24, 2004). “Hugh Jackman Relishes Performing.” MSNBC News: Entertainment (May 11, 2004). http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4893079 (accessed on June 24, 2004). “Hugh Jackman’s Big Year.” CBS News: The Early Show (June 4, 2004). http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/03/earlyshow/leisure/celebspot/main620969.shtml (accessed on June 24, 2004).


•

volume 2

337

Peter Jackson

October 31, 1961 • Pukerua Bay, North Island, New Zealand



•

volume 2

Filmmaker

Peter Jackson made a name for himself in the movie industry with a small collection of gory, low-budget horror films including Dead Alive and The Frighteners. He worked from his native New Zealand, more than six thousand miles from Hollywood. To many, Jackson may have seemed like the least likely person to be chosen to direct one of the most lavish and big-budgeted film projects ever attempted. He may have seemed even less likely to succeed in such a venture, but succeed he did, in grand style. Jackson spent seven years of his life creating the three Lord of the Rings films, which are based on the beloved classic fantasy novels by J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973). Each installment of the trilogy earned the devotion of millions of fans, close to $1 billion worldwide at the box office, and multiple award nominations. With the final film, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Jackson hit the award jackpot. The film swept the 2004 Academy Awards with eleven victories, including best director, best adapted screenplay, and best picture. With these three films, Jackson went from being a

339

peter jackson

filmmaker admired by a select group of fans to one who is regarded by many as one of the world’s top directors.

An active imagination Jackson was born in 1961 on Halloween, October 31, an appropriate birthday for a boy who would grow up to make exceptionally scary, blood-soaked films. Growing up an only child in a town near Wellington, New Zealand, he found his imagination fired by watching such television shows as Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Batman, and old monster movies like the 1933 version of King Kong. At the age of

“To me [the Lord of the Rings trilogy] embodies what I love about movies. I love movies for their escapism, for the fact that you go into the cinema and you just give yourself over to the film and allow it to sweep you away.” eight, Jackson began playing around with his parents’ 8-millimeter camera, making home movies. At age twelve, he and some friends shot a short World War II film, using Jackson’s backyard as the set. Perplexed as to how to create realistic gunfire in the film, Jackson hit upon the idea of making holes in the strip of film in the frames where the guns would be fired; when the film was projected, the holes appeared as a flash onscreen. This special effect was the first of many Jackson would create throughout his career: as a filmmaker he became famous for his elaborate, complicated special effects. When Jackson was seventeen years old, he left school to find a job in New Zealand’s movie industry. To support himself, he took a job as an apprentice, a beginner learning a trade, in the photo-engraving department of a newspaper, the Evening Post. Among his first purchases once he started receiving paychecks was a used 16-millimeter

340


•

volume 2

peter jackson

The Creation of Gollum

Many of the computer-generated creatures in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy have incredibly lifelike features. They seem to live and breathe, in some cases to think and feel. One such creature, Gollum, exhibits as much emotion and complexity as any of the human actors, and for that, actor Andy Serkis (1964–) is responsible. In a unique pairing of human performance and computer-generated images, or CGI, Jackson hired Serkis to provide not just the voice of Gollum, but the creature’s facial expressions and body movements as well. In the films, which depict the long and painful journey of the hobbit Frodo to destroy the One Ring, a ring that makes its bearer all-powerful and must be destroyed to prevent its misuse, Gollum is a deformed, stooped, hairless creature who once was a ring-bearer like Frodo. He began life as a hobbit named Smeagol, and his years possessing the ring corrupted him in both mind and body. Gollum joins Frodo and his friend Sam for a portion of their journey, longing to steal back the ring, which he calls “my Precious.” Serkis originally agreed to the role of Gollum thinking it would involve a few weeks of voice-over work. He told Michael Fleming of Daily Variety, “I remember thinking, a voice-over? Why can’t I get offered a decent acting role in a major movie? … This didn’t seem that involved.” He soon realized, however, that his contributions to the character would go far beyond Gollum’s reptile-like hissings. By the end of the three films’ production, Serkis had worked more hours than any other actor in the films. And his extraordinary

contributions brought him high praise from critics and fans, with many suggesting he should be nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. Serkis began by acting out the role of Gollum with his costars, creating the character’s physical style. Animators observed Serkis’s performance, using his movements as the basis for the Gollum they created on computers. Serkis then went through each of Gollum’s scenes again, this time wearing a high-tech motion-capture suit. Sensors covering the suit transmitted details about Serkis’s every move to the animators’ computers, enabling the graphic artists to digitally recreate Serkis’s physical motions with startling accuracy. Serkis performed his scenes a third time to capture Gollum’s voice and to give the animators a starting point for Gollum’s facial expressions. A team of forty animators then spent untold hours refining the creature’s movements. At Serkis’s Web site, the films’ creature supervisor, Eric Sainden, explained the complexity of the computer-generated Gollum: “There are around 300 different muscles or more on Gollum. He has a full skeleton and a full muscle system that’s all driving what you see on his skin.… The facial system we’re doing has about 250 different face shapes.…” The result is a believable, realistic Gollum, what Peter Jackson described at Serkis’s Web site as “probably the most actor-driven digital creature that has ever been used in a film before.” For Serkis, his months of work creating Gollum have yielded an unusual legacy, summed up in Daily Variety: “The performance is signature Serkis—even though the actor was erased from every scene.”

camera. Soon, with the help of some friends, Jackson had begun making a short film about aliens from outer space who dine on human flesh. He spent weekends and holidays for several years working on U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

341

peter jackson

this film, spending his own money to finance it. It eventually became clear that the film, titled Bad Taste, would be a full-length effort. Jackson cowrote the film and served as director, producer, cinematographer, editor, make-up artist, and even actor. He also served as fundraiser, successfully applying to the New Zealand Film Commission for a grant to complete post-production work. When the movie was completed, the commission felt enough confidence in it to take it to the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in France. Audiences there reacted strongly, some loving it and some despising it. However, even its detractors could see evidence of a unique, talented filmmaker. As Stephen Rebello of Variety wrote in 2003: “Wade through the spilled guts, shove aside the cracked skull and exploding sheep in 1987’s Bad Taste, and you’re bound to see the flair of its twenty-six-year-old director.” Bad Taste was sold for distribution in thirty countries, giving Jackson a big enough paycheck to allow him to quit his job at the newspaper and become a full-time filmmaker.

A blood-spattered film catalog At a screening for Bad Taste, Jackson met Fran Walsh. Finding that they shared a dark sense of humor and similar taste in films, the two began a writing partnership that blossomed into a long-term relationship. They have two children together, Kate and Billy, and have cowritten the screenplays for nearly all of Jackson’s directorial efforts. Jackson’s second film, 1989’s Meet the Feebles, continued his tendency to push the boundaries of good taste. Richard Corliss of Time magazine described it as quite probably “the first all-puppet musical-comedy splatter film,” tipping the kid-friendly world of Jim Henson’s Muppets on its head. The puppets in Meet the Feebles get caught up in drugs, sex, and mass murder. The movie is filled with disgusting displays of bodily functions and fluids. While some moviegoers were no doubt repulsed by the film, others appreciated Jackson’s sick sense of humor. For his next film, Jackson took on a standard of the horror film genre: the zombie movie. In Braindead, which was released in the United States in 1992 as Dead Alive, a woman is bitten by an infected monkey and turned into a zombie. The film features a growing crowd of the walking dead, destroying a town and attacking citizens. Brain-

342


•

volume 2

peter jackson

dead displays extraordinary levels of gore and violence, but the filmmaker never takes himself or the film too seriously, injecting heavy doses of campy humor and silliness. The film’s hero, for example, tackles a herd of zombies with a lawnmower. Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman wrote that the film “manages to stay breezy and good-natured even as you’re watching heads get snapped off of spurting torsos.” Jackson has labeled this blending of comedy and gore “splatstick,” a term that can be applied to most of his early films. In 1994 Jackson directed a film that surprised his hardcore fans. Heavenly Creatures, while still displaying a fascination with the darker side of humanity, is a departure in terms of style, avoiding the over-thetop gore of his other films. Depicting the true story of two New Zealander girls, Pauline and Juliet, whose intense friendship and obsession with the fantasy world they create lead them to kill Pauline’s mother, Heavenly Creatures attracted the notice of critics and filmmakers around the world. Jackson’s fans knew he was intensely creative and skilled at weaving lighthearted humor into scenes of gruesome violence. But with Heavenly Creatures, he revealed an ability to convey subtle and complicated emotions. The story is told from the girls’ point of view, and Jackson draws viewers into their world, creating a sense of identification while also confronting the horror of their actions. Cowritten with Walsh, Heavenly Creatures received an Academy Award nomination for best screenplay. It lost the award to Pulp Fiction, but the film earned such positive attention that it led to greater opportunities for Jackson as a filmmaker. With The Frighteners, Jackson returned to his comedy/horror roots, but this time he had the support of a large Hollywood film studio (Universal), a major star (Michael J. Fox), and a big-name producer (Robert Zemeckis). Determined to stay in his home country, Jackson insisted that the movie be made in New Zealand. His homegrown visual-effects studio, Weta Workshop, created close to six hundred computer-generated special-effects shots for the film. Fox plays a con-man who communicates with the dead and is reluctantly drawn into a hunt for a deadly spirit on a killing spree. Intended as a Halloween release, the film became a victim of schedule juggling and came out in the summer of 1996. It failed to connect on a large scale with audiences, though Jackson’s fans happily added it to the list of reasons to marvel at the New Zealander filmmaker. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

343

peter jackson

A gigantic risk Jackson and Walsh, longtime fans of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, wanted to make a fantasy film and considered the classic trilogy to be the model for all fantasy literature. Wondering why it had not been attempted before, they—and their writing partner Philippa Boyens— began working on a screenplay with the backing of Miramax, the Disney-owned film studio. Problems arose when Miramax became worried about the projected cost, suggesting the trilogy be compressed into one film. Jackson began looking for another studio to finance the film. With a projected cost of nearly $300 million for three films, and with nothing in his past experience to suggest that the New Zealander was the right director for the Tolkien masterpiece, Jackson’s pitch was a tough sell. Taking on a great risk, New Line Cinema agreed to back the films, counting on the widespread fan base for the books to bring people into theaters. It was decided that the three films would be shot at the same time, something that had never before been attempted in the history of film. The decision arose from the studio’s desire to cut costs, but Jackson came to feel it was the best approach: “I felt that in order to do the tale’s epic nature justice, we had to shoot it as one big story because that’s what it is,” he explained at the Lord of the Rings Web site. “It’s three movies that will take you through three very unique experiences but it all adds up to one unforgettable story.” Tolkien’s novels, first published in the 1950s and read by millions of people in many different languages, transport readers to a distant time in an imagined realm called Middle-earth. An epic battle of good versus evil, The Lord of the Rings features a varied collection of creatures, including hobbits, elves, dwarves, and humans, waging war against wickedness. The films boast a huge cast, including Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellan, Liv Tyler, Cate Blanchett, and many others. The actors spent well over a year in New Zealand shooting the film, far away from their homes and families. They learned how to ride horses, sword fight, and speak Elvish, a language invented by Tolkien. Language coaches were brought in to develop a unique accent for a language that had existed only on the page. Jackson and his crew went to great lengths to create the Middleearth universe as described by Tolkien, paying attention to every last detail. “From the beginning I didn’t want to make your standard fantasy film,” Jackson stated in an article at the Lord of the Rings Web site.

344


•

volume 2

peter jackson

“I wanted something that felt much, much more real. Tolkien writes in a way that makes everything come alive and we wanted to set that realistic feeling of an ancient world-come-to-life right away with the first film, then continue to build it as the story unravels.” In the same article, Blanchett, who plays Galadriel, the elf queen, recalled the vivid world the filmmakers had created: “By the time I started working, there was such a strong and real-life sense of the various cultures, their histories, and their hopes for the future. It was really like becoming part of a whole different universe. I’ve never experienced anything like it before.” The special-effects experts at Weta deserve much of the credit for the films’ richly textured universe. The first two installments each have eight hundred special-effects shots, while the third part includes more than fifteen hundred. Such shots are perhaps most crucial to the gigantic battle scenes, which are populated by thousands of computer-generated creatures.

A huge payoff Jackson understood from the beginning that he had a dual purpose with these films. He felt a tremendous obligation to remain faithful to the books, knowing the intense devotion felt by many Tolkien fans. He also knew, however, that the films had to entertain and make sense to moviegoers who had not read the books. At the film’s Web site, Jackson recalled that he, Walsh, and Boyens combed through the books when writing the screenplay; in addition, “every time we shot a scene, I reread that part of the book right before, as did the cast. It was always worth it, always inspiring.” The first part, Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring came out in December of 2001 to great acclaim. Not only were most Tolkien fans impressed by the care Jackson lavished on the film, but millions who had not read the books— and many who had no interest in the fantasy genre—were entranced as well. The film earned more than $850 million at the box office worldwide and garnered numerous award nominations and several victories. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was released one year later, in December of 2002. Despite the challenges of the second film—which starts abruptly where part one left off and ends without any tidy sense of resolution—The Two Towers succeeded phenomenally. Its worldwide earnings exceeded $900 million, and it too received a number of important awards. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

345

peter jackson

Before the release of the third installment, expectations soared. When Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King came out in December of 2003, millions of fans breathed a sigh of relief. The conclusion of the trilogy proved as engrossing as the first two segments, and many reviewers wrote of its intense emotional impact. At the film’s Web site, Jackson acknowledged the satisfying sense of closure the final film gives: “The journeys these characters have been on, what they care about, what they’ve been fighting for, what some of their friends have died for, all leads to the events in The Return of the King.” As many expected, Return of the King swept the 2004 Academy Awards, winning the Oscar in every category in which it had been nominated, including best picture, best director, best adapted screenplay, and best visual effects. The film also won best director and other awards at the Golden Globes ceremony and from the British Academy of Film and Television Awards (BAFTA).

Peter Jackson accepts the Best Director Oscar for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In the midst of the release cycle for the three Lord of the Rings films, Jackson was often asked by journalists what project he would tackle next. He generally replied that he and Walsh were looking forward to working on another small film on the order of Heavenly Creatures. But when the offer came for him to direct a remake of King Kong, hardly a “small film,” Jackson could not refuse. The original 1933 version was the movie that had made Jackson decide, at the age of nine, to become a filmmaker. He had been offered the chance to direct a King Kong remake once before, in the mid-1990s, but funding had fallen through. When the chance came along again, he leaped at it. Having traveled with him to Middle-earth and back, millions of Jackson fans eagerly anticipated the next ride.


For More Information Periodicals Corliss, Richard. “Peter Jackson: Lord of the Cinema.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 100. Fleming, Michael. “Oscar Hopeful Serkis ‘Towers’ over CGI Brethren.” Daily Variety (November 22, 2002): p. 2.

346


•

volume 2

peter jackson Flynn, Gillian. “Gory Days.” Entertainment Weekly (March 22, 2002): p. 63. Gleiberman, Owen. “Dead Alive.” Entertainment Weekly (March 5, 1993): p. 40. McLean, Thomas J. “‘King’ Maker.’ Daily Variety (December 19, 2003): p. A6. Rebello, Stephen. “Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste.” Variety (December 8, 2003): p. S92.

Web Sites “Andy Serkis: The Lord of the Rings.” Andy Serkis. http://www.serkis.com/ cinlotr.htm (accessed August 1, 2004). The Lord of the Rings. http://www.lordoftherings.net (accessed August 1, 2004). “Peter Jackson: The King of the Rings.” BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/ 1/hi/entertainment/film/3429373.stm (accessed August 1, 2004).


•

volume 2

347

LeBron James

December 30, 1984 • Akron, Ohio



•

volume 2

Basketball player

Before LeBron James had completed his sophomore year of high school, basketball scouts were discussing his chances of playing for the National Basketball Association (NBA). Before playing his first regulation game for the NBA, James had signed deals with Nike and other corporations for multimillion-dollar product endorsements. Before he completed his rookie season in the NBA, sportswriters were discussing his chances of joining the most elite players in history in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Comparisons to NBA superstar Michael Jordan (1963–) became common, and some sportswriters began calling James “The Chosen One,” indicating the hope that the rookie phenomenon would revive interest in the NBA that had declined since Jordan’s retirement. LeBron James, by age eighteen, knew a thing or two about dealing with pressure. James’s ability to cope with that pressure has proven to be a critical factor in his success. Sportswriters and his coaches agreed that James has shown uncommon maturity for

349

lebron james

a player his age, handling his newfound fame and the extraordinary expectations of others with grace. During 2003, prior to his graduation from high school, James declared himself eligible for the NBA draft, the annual process by which professional basketball teams select new players to join them for the upcoming season. The Cleveland Cavaliers, one of the worst teams in the NBA, had the privilege of the number-one draft pick. The Cavs chose James, with the obvious expectation that this eighteen-year-old would lead the team to greatness. While James’s first season with the Cavs did not exactly propel them to a championship, he did help his team win twice the number of games as they had the year before, and at the end of the 2003–04 season, James was named Rookie of the Year.

“I don’t want to be a cocky rookie coming in trying to lead right off the bat.… If there’s one message I want to get to my teammates it’s that I’ll be there for them, do whatever they think I need to do.” A team player Born in Akron, Ohio, in 1984, James is the only child of Gloria James, who gave birth to him when she was just sixteen years old. Gloria struggled to provide for James during his childhood. When James was about five years old, he and his mother moved seven times in a year. For a couple of years during elementary school, James lived with a foster family. Gloria’s longtime boyfriend, Eddie Jackson, has acted as a father figure for James, but he was not always around during James’s youth, spending several years in prison for selling drugs and, later, for fraud. Regardless of any troubles they may have had, however, James and his mother have a close and supportive relationship. He told Jack McCallum of Sports Illustrated: “My mother is my everything. Always has been. Always will be.” Taller and more athletic than most other kids his age, James got hooked on basketball early in childhood. Dru Joyce II, who coached

350


•

volume 2

lebron james

Another Rising Young Star: Carmelo Anthony

For

the 2003 draft, the hype surrounding LeBron James nearly eclipsed another young basketball phenomenon: Carmelo Anthony (1984–). The number-three draft pick with just one year of college basketball under his belt, Anthony would have attracted even more attention than he did, had he not been drafted at the same time as James. His one year of college ball, playing for Syracuse University, had resulted in a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship for Syracuse, with Anthony named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, the NCAA championship series. Anthony was drafted by the Denver Nuggets, a team that joined the Cleveland Cavaliers at the bottom of the NBA rankings. Expectations for Anthony, like those for James, were extremely high: the Nuggets would be relying on him to raise them from the depths and eventually make them playoffs contenders. Anthony performed impressively during his rookie season, racking up an average of 21 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game. Perhaps the most significant statistic for his team: the Nuggets went from winning just seventeen games in 2002–03 to winning forty-three games in Anthony’s first season.

Anthony grew up in the rough inner city of Baltimore, Maryland. His father died when he was two years old, and his mother, Mary Anthony, raised Carmelo and his three older siblings by herself. She pushed her son to stay focused and disciplined where basketball was concerned, and she pushed him to attend college before going professional. To fulfill his desire to play for Syracuse, Anthony had to leave his Baltimore high school to attend the prestigious Oak Hill Academy, a Baptist boarding school in Virginia. He studied hard to bring his grades up so he could get admitted to Syracuse, and he practiced basketball as often as possible. He helped the Oak Hill team to a number-three national ranking in 2002, and he earned the grades necessary to take him to Syracuse. Anthony has been described as an unusually mature player who has maintained his down-to-earth style even in the midst of the money, celebrity, and pressure that have come his way. Among the first things he spent his money on after being drafted by the Nuggets were a home for his mother in Baltimore and a youth center there to replace one that was closed down by the police when he was growing up.

James for many of his early years, recalled in an article for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service that, while playing in a summer league during elementary school, James was an aggressive offensive player who “really liked to shoot the ball—a lot.” Joyce remembered advice he gave James at the time: “I started telling LeBron about passing the ball, how great players make their teammates better. I talked about getting his shots in the flow of the game.” Joyce assumed that he would have to repeat this advice many times, reminding the eleven-year-old to be a team player, but he was mistaken. James absorbed every word his coach said and immediately changed his playing style. “That was the last time I ever had to talk about LeBron shooting too much,” Joyce recollected. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

351

lebron james

At the time, James played basketball with his best friends, including Dru Joyce III, the son of his summer-league coach, and Sian Cotton, the son of another summer-league coach, Lee Cotton. Those coaches, both of whom stressed the values of good sportsmanship and being a team player, helped James form the basis of his playing style. James and his pals Joyce III and Cotton, along with Willie McGee, played together every chance they could as kids, and they vowed to stay together all through high school. That childhood promise became a reality as the four boys all attended Akron’s St. Vincent–St. Mary High School, a private school known for its basketball program. At St. Vincent–St. Mary, James not only became the school’s star basketball player, he also played football for three years and maintained solid grades. James’s philosophy about being a team player meant that he spent as much of his playing time passing the ball to teammates and setting up shots as he did taking shots himself, resulting in his extraordinary passing skills. His high school coaches asserted that James could have been a player who averaged fifty to sixty points per game. Instead, his average was closer to thirty points a game, but he helped his entire team play better basketball. Many coaches and sportswriters have described James’s maturity and selflessness as a player; Keith Dambrot, who coached James for his first two years of high school, summed up the key to James’s success in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service article: “LeBron is a basketball genius, there is no other way to say it.”

Fast-track to the NBA Few high school basketball players attract notice outside their home state, but by his junior year, James had caught the attention of basketball fans across the country and earned the intense devotion of fans throughout Ohio. The St. Vincent–St. Mary team won the Division III state championship three of the four years that James attended the school, and in 2002, USA Today named the team number one in the country. James was named High School Boys Basketball Player of the Year by Parade magazine after both his junior year and his senior year; in forty-seven years of giving out this award, Parade has never chosen the same player two years in a row. Sports Illustrated put James on the magazine’s cover in 2002, only the eighth high school basketball player to be on the cover in forty-eight years. Once word got out about James’s extraordinary ability, home games were moved

352


•

volume 2

lebron james

Lebron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers (left) drives around Shandon Anderson during a 2004 game against the New York Knicks. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

to a stadium at University of Akron to accommodate the numerous fans who wanted to see him play. Some of those games were even broadcast to national audiences on ESPN and ESPN2. With all that attention came some mild controversy: James received some negative press after his mother obtained a $100,000 loan to buy him a brandnew Hummer H2. He was briefly declared ineligible to play after accepting a gift of two sports jerseys, valued at $845, from a Cleveland store. The abundant attention he had received for his playing, many observers suggested, had made James—nicknamed “King James”—feel that he was entitled to the financial benefits of a seasoned professional. On the court, however, all agreed that James kept his head and continued to play like the member of a team rather than a basketball superstar. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

353

lebron james

Many observers had wondered, from James’s earliest high school years, whether he would go to college or attempt to be drafted into the NBA straight out of high school. Eager to test his skills at the next level, James considered declaring for the draft as a junior, trying to get an exception to the rule that would have barred him from the draft before his graduation year. He decided instead to complete high school, announcing during his senior year that he would declare himself eligible for the 2003 NBA draft. James’s decision to go professional right out of high school renewed the debate over whether players should be allowed to play for the NBA at such a young age. Supporters argue that if the player possesses the skills, he should be allowed to earn a living playing his sport. Critics suggest that most high school kids would benefit more from going to college first, using those years to improve their playing, acquire an education, and become more mature. Ignoring the debate and following his own instincts, James opted to skip college and head for the NBA. Coming off a terrible season, tying for the worst record in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers had a chance to reshape their future in June of 2003: they had the number-one draft pick. They chose James, pinning their hopes on the eighteen-year-old player to turn their fortunes around. At six-foot-eight and 240 pounds, James certainly looked the part of an NBA player. But many wondered if he could live up to the hype surrounding him and compete in the far more competitive arena of professional basketball. When James made his official NBA debut in the fall of 2003 in a game against the Sacramento Kings, he answered the concerns of many doubters. The Cavaliers lost the game, but James played better than most rookies could hope for in a debut game—and better than any rookie straight out of high school—with twenty-five points, nine assists, six rebounds, and four steals. While he occasionally showed his inexperience and youth, and while he did not live up to the most outrageous expectations that he would play like Michael Jordan right out of high school, James did perform extremely well in his rookie season. He ended the 2003–04 season with an average of 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists per game. He ranked among the top fifteen players in the league in a number of categories, including points per game, total points, assists, and steals. In April of 2004, James was named the

354


•

volume 2

lebron james

Rookie of the Year for the 2003–04 season. Speaking of the rookie’s innate abilities on the court, Cleveland power forward Carlos Boozer told McCallum of Sports Illustrated, “You can only call it court sense. The way he takes advantage of a situation right away can’t be taught. He just has it.”

“I can handle it” Barring injury, James will earn $19 million for his first four years with the Cavs, an amount that seems downright insignificant when compared to his endorsements. In a sponsorship deal that will pay James more than any other basketball player except Michael Jordan, Nike signed the player to a seven-year, $90 million contract—and that contract was signed before James had even inked a deal with the Cavs. He has also agreed to promote Coca-Cola products, including Sprite and Powerade, and Bubblicious bubblegum. Predicting the amount of money James will generate for the Cavaliers, for Nike, and even for other NBA teams, Forbes magazine suggests that those investing in James will be repaid handsomely. During his rookie season, attendance for Cavs home games increased by fifty percent from the prior season. James sparked so much hype that basketball fans around the country sought out tickets for the Cavs’ away games, moving the Cleveland team from last in the league for road attendance to first. As for his corporate sponsors, Nike released the first shoe endorsed by James, the Air Zoom Generation, in December of 2003. At $110 a pair, Nike sold 72,000 pairs in the first month alone. Bob Williams, the CEO of a company that matches athletes with corporations for endorsement deals, described to Sports Illustrated in 2003 the hurdles James will encounter in his first few years in the NBA: “He has to dominate his position, take a downtrodden franchise to the playoffs and eventually to a championship. He will make a lot of money and live happily ever after. But no one has ever had more expectations put on him than this young man right now.” When reporters have asked him about dealing with the enormous pressure placed on him, James has frequently uttered what has become a sort of motto: “I can handle it.” And with one successful season under his belt—both on court and off—many commentators have come to believe that perhaps he can. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

355

lebron james

For More Information Books Jones, Ryan. King James: Believe the Hype—The LeBron James Story. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2003. Morgan Jr., David Lee. LeBron James: The Rise of a Star. Cleveland: Gray and Company, 2003.

Periodicals Badenhausen, Kurt. “Slam Dunk.” Forbes (February 16, 2004): p. 64. Chappell, Kevin. “Can LeBron James Repeat the Jordan Miracle?” Ebony (January 2004): p. 124. Finnan, Bob. “Early to Rise.” Sporting News (October 20, 2003): p. 40. McCallum, Jack. “You Gotta Carry That Weight.” Sports Illustrated (October 27, 2003): p. 68. Pluto, Terry. “LeBron James, Once a Lanky Kid, Has Come a Long Way to the NBA.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (April 20, 2004): p. K1569. Taylor, Phil. “Carmelo Anthony Has a Secret.” Sports Illustrated for Kids (November 3, 2003): p. 24.

Web Sites LeBronJames.com. http://www.lebronjames.com/hsc/hscMain.cfm (accessed August 1, 2004). “LeBron James.” NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lebron_james/ index.html?nav=page (accessed August 1, 2004). “LeBron Watch.” Cleveland.com. http://www.cleveland.com/lebron/ (accessed August 1, 2004). Morgan Jr., David Lee. “The Rise of a Star.” HoopsHype. http://www.hoop shype.com/articles/lebron_morgan.htm (accessed August 1, 2004).

356


•

volume 2

Steve Jobs

February 24, 1955 • California


•

volume 2


CEO of Apple, CEO and chairman of Pixar Animation Studios

Computers had been around long before Steve Jobs entered the field, but his contributions revolutionized the personal-computer industry. As the cofounder of Apple in 1976, Jobs introduced the concept of a small, relatively inexpensive desktop computer that the average person could own and operate. Since that time, Jobs has presided over a number of technological innovations with Apple. He has also made an impact in the field of animated movies as the head of Pixar, the studio responsible for such blockbusters as Toy Story, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo. Jobs headed up yet another innovative success story with Apple’s online music shop, iTunes, and with its portable digital music player, iPod. Jobs has a reputation for being intimidating to employees and difficult with peers, but he is also seen as a visionary who dreams big and enjoys taking risks. While not all of his risks have paid off, those that have succeeded have significantly altered the hightech landscape and paved the way for future advances.

357

steve jobs

Searching for meaning Steven Paul Jobs was born in California on February 24, 1955. His parents, unmarried and unable to care for a baby, put him up for adoption. He was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs, who raised him in a northern California community surrounded by apricot orchards and farm country—a community that has since become the center of technological innovation known as Silicon Valley. When Jobs was in the seventh grade, he encountered troubles at school, the victim of bullies. He refused to return to that school, and his parents decided to move to Los Altos. Jobs attended Homestead High School in Cupertino, California, where he had a reputation as a loner and developed a keen

“I think Apple has had a good hand in setting the direction for the whole industry now, again. And that’s where we like to be.” interest in technology. During a school field trip to the plant of the Hewlett-Packard computer company in nearby Palo Alto, the concept of a desktop computer attracted Jobs’s notice. Later, in pursuit of computer parts for a school project, Jobs went straight to the source, contacting William Hewlett, cofounder of Hewlett-Packard. Jobs got more than just the needed parts; he was also offered a summer job at the company. During his internship at Hewlett-Packard, Jobs met Steve Wozniak (1950–), an electronics whiz who had attended Homestead High School a few years prior. They formed an immediate bond and soon began collaborating on various projects, including a device that would allow users to make free long-distance phone calls. Wozniak supplied the technological know-how, while Jobs dreamed up ways for consumers to use the products they developed. These roles would remain the same years later, when the two men became reacquainted for a new venture. In the meantime, Jobs graduated from high school in 1972 and then enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He dropped out after one semester, but he continued to spend time on

358


•

volume 2

steve jobs

campus, searching for life’s meaning: he studied philosophy and meditation, experimented with drugs, and became a vegetarian.

Apple bites back Jobs returned to California in 1974, restless and looking for work. He answered a help-wanted ad in the newspaper and was hired to work for Atari, a video-game manufacturer that had risen to prominence with Pong, a game that today looks extremely primitive but at the time seemed quite high-tech. According to a profile in Time magazine, Jobs’s intense personality made him few friends at Atari. “His mind kept going a mile a minute,” reported Al Alcorn, the chief engineer at Atari. “The engineers in the lab didn’t like him. They thought he was arrogant and brash. Finally, we made an agreement that he come to work late at night.” After a short time at Atari, Jobs left to take a trip to India, continuing his quest for spiritual fulfillment. After his return to the United States, Jobs traveled for a time and then got involved with the Homebrew Computer Club in 1975. At meetings for this club, computer enthusiasts would gather to share information and technology. Jobs’s friend from Hewlett-Packard, Steve Wozniak, was a member of the club, and in 1975 Wozniak was still working at Hewlett-Packard and trying to build a computer in his spare time.

Steve Jobs in 1984. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Jobs, excited by the prospect of building and selling reasonably priced personal computers, teamed up with Wozniak. While Jobs had a decent grasp on the technology, it was Wozniak who brought the brilliant engineering skills to the partnership. Jobs, on the other hand, was the entrepreneur, the person who understood what they would need to get their business off the ground, how the products would be used, and how to market the products to the public. Jobs and Wozniak formed a company, which Jobs named (he told Jay Cocks of Time: “One day I just told everyone that unless they came up with a better name by 5 P.M., we would go with Apple”), and they released their first product, the Apple I, for the price of $666. At that time, few people outside of computer hobbyists felt the need to own a desktop computer, but Jobs U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

359

steve jobs

The Man behind the Man: Edwin Catmull

While Edwin Catmull’s name may not be as familiar to the average citizen as Steve Jobs’s name, his contributions to Pixar have been unparalleled. “Put simply, computer animation and films like Toy Story would have never have happened without Ed Catmull,” Jobs told Laura Ackley of Variety. As president and cofounder of Pixar, Catmull provides exceptional leadership, hiring talented people to work for him and continually striving to keep his employees productive and happy. He has also made tremendous technological contributions to the company, developing new and better ways to create computer-animated films. Catmull has received numerous awards, including three Scientific and Technical Engineering Academy Awards, for his work at Pixar. Born in 1945, Catmull grew up in Utah. His love for animated movies as a child instilled in him a desire

to become an animator, but he felt he lacked the drawing skills and instead studied physics and computer science in college. While pursuing a graduate degree (he has a Ph.D. in computer science), Catmull became interested in the relatively new field of computer graphics, a subject that allowed him to merge his interest in computers with his love for art. He was determined to use this new tool to make movies. During this time, in the early 1970s, Catmull made several technological innovations, including the invention of an animation technique called texture mapping, which allows for a more realistic depiction of an object’s texture, whether the object is moving or standing still. In 1974 Catmull moved to New York to work for Alexander Schure, a wealthy supporter of technological advancements whose passion for making computer-

set out to change that. In 1977 Apple released the Apple II computer, which was a huge success and established the model for personal computers that all other companies attempted to imitate. Three years later, Apple’s sales reached $139 million. The company then went public, selling shares to those who wished to invest in Apple. In 1979 Jobs oversaw the development of a radically new kind of personal computer, one that required little experience with computers and was the first to incorporate a mouse. Called the Lisa (Local Integrated Systems Architecture), the computer sold for $10,000 when released in 1983, a price that put it out of reach for most consumers. The development of the Lisa did lead to Apple’s next great innovation, however—a computer that was not only affordable but also easy to use, a critical factor at a time when most people considered computers intimidating and foreign. The Macintosh, released in 1984, brought personal computing to the masses, with its easily understood graphics and point-and-click mouse. Rather than typing in complicated commands, users could simply click on an icon, or picture, on the screen. Jobs’s obsession with developing the product, however, had caused

360


•

volume 2

steve jobs animated movies equaled Catmull’s. After several years, Catmull decided to move to California and go to work for the computer-graphics division of Lucasfilm, the company owned by George Lucas, who was then at work creating the first Star Wars trilogy. At Lucasfilm, Catmull continued to develop new technology to improve computer animation, and he established his reputation for hiring the right people. In spite of the great strides made by Catmull’s division, Lucas decided in 1985 that he wanted to sell that segment of his company, and he instructed Catmull to start looking for a buyer. Catmull approached Steve Jobs, who expressed an interest in the division only as a potentially new computer company, not as a movie studio. Disappointed, Catmull kept looking for a buyer who had the same goal he had: to make the first feature film animated completely on the computer.

named the company Pixar after a device invented by Catmull and George Smith, another computergraphics pioneer from Lucasfilm; the Pixar made great strides in increasing the speed of the animation process. Jobs appointed Catmull chief technological officer of Pixar, a position he held until 2001, when he was made president. As a top executive at Pixar, Catmull spent several years presiding over the effort to make the company’s (and the world’s) first featurelength computer-animated movie. That film, Toy Story, was released in 1995, and while it boasted great technical achievements, audiences connected with the warm, funny story and fully developed characters. The movie was a huge success, paving the way for Pixar’s future efforts, each of which boasted more sophisticated technology than the last—and much of that technological development sprang from the mind of Catmull.

One year later, Jobs reconsidered and decided to buy Lucasfilm’s computer-graphics division. Jobs

problems at Apple. Many years and much of the company’s money had been spent on the product’s development, causing many at Apple to wonder whether Jobs had lost sight of the big picture. When Macintosh’s initial sales were lower than expected, Jobs was pushed to resign by the company’s president and CEO, John Sculley. In 1985 both Jobs and Wozniak left the company they had founded.

To infinity and beyond While his departing deal with Apple included millions of dollars in severance pay, Jobs, thirty years old at the time, did not consider taking any sort of extended vacation from the high-tech industry. He formed the NeXT Computer Company, releasing his first product in 1988. While the NeXT computer had a number of desirable features—including fast processing speeds and sophisticated graphics and sound—it did not sell well due to its high price and an inability to network with other computers. Jobs then turned his attention to developing new software and improving operating systems, the programs U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

361

steve jobs

that run all other programs on a computer. During this period, in 1991, Jobs married Laurene Powell; the couple has three children. In 1986 Jobs bought the computer graphics division of the movie studio Lucasfilm Ltd., which had been formed by George Lucas (1944–), the multitalented filmmaker behind the Star Wars movies. With this new company, renamed Pixar Animation Studios, Jobs set out to create a major animated-movie studio. Pixar began by making commercials and short animated films, many of which won prestigious awards. The animation industry quickly understood that this new kid on the block was doing something quite different and doing it exceptionally well. In 1991 Pixar signed a deal with Disney to develop and distribute feature-length animated movies. Four years later Pixar released its debut film, Toy Story, the first movie to be completely computer animated. A huge success, Toy Story earned more than any other movie that year and came to be one of the most successful animated movies in history. It earned several Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. At that point, looking to concentrate on Pixar, Jobs sold NeXT to his former company, Apple, for $400 million. The subsequent Pixar animated movies—A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo—continued in the Toy Story vein, hitting it big at the box office and earning the adoration of fans. Toy Story 2 earned the distinction of being the only animated sequel in history to earn more than the original, and it won a Golden Globe Award for Best Picture—Musical or Comedy. Released in 2003, Finding Nemo broke box-office records, earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Film, and sold an astonishing eight million copies on the first day of the DVD release. During 2003, Jobs and Michael Eisner (1942–), CEO of Disney, began negotiating for a new contract between Disney and Pixar. Ten months later, in early 2004, the two companies ended their negotiations without an agreement and announced the upcoming end to their partnership, which would dissolve after the 2004 release of The Incredibles and the 2005 release of Cars. Jobs had demanded a greater percentage of the films’ earnings (under the previous contract, the two companies evenly split the cost of making the films and then divided revenues in half, with Disney getting an additional fee for distributing the movies). Disney refused, and Pixar began its search for a new distribution partner. Taking into account the multibillion-dollar

362


•

volume 2

steve jobs

earnings of Pixar’s first five films, a number of major studios put in hasty calls to Steve Jobs to talk about a partnership. As Andrew Simons wrote in the Los Angeles Business Journal, “Everyone wants to take Steve Jobs to the big dance.”

Coming full circle When Apple began to struggle in the mid-1990s, Jobs agreed to act as a consultant, offering advice on turning the company around. In 1997 he was named Apple’s interim CEO—a position intended to be temporary until a permanent CEO was found. Three years later, a permanent CEO was named: Steve Jobs. After returning to the helm at Apple, Jobs made a number of decisive moves that immediately improved the company’s fortunes. He simplified the product line, introduced a new version of the Apple operating system, and entered into a cooperative agreement with Microsoft. In 1998 Jobs introduced the iMac. This computer offered sufficiently powerful processors and an affordable price tag, but the key to its success may have been the PC’s streamlined design and array of bright colors. Upon Jobs’s return to Apple, the company pioneered a wireless technology called AirPort, which enables users to surf the Internet and print without having anything plugged into their computers. A number of new products followed, some of which, like the iBook and PowerMac, were extremely successful, and some of which were not—including the G4 Cube, which sported a slick design but an out-of-reach price. Jobs’s endless quest for technological innovation soon led him to tackle the digital music industry. In 2001 Apple launched a sleek new handheld product, a portable digital music player called the iPod. Comparable to MP3 players introduced by other companies, the iPod allowed users to download music from CDs or from online sites. Thanks in part to a memorable advertising campaign and good wordof-mouth, Apple sold three million iPods in less than three years. By 2004, almost half of the digital music players bought by consumers were iPods. Apple’s next move, in 2003, was to open an online music store. The music industry had been in a sales slump, with many concerned that such free file-sharing services as Napster, which allowed users to download songs without paying a penny, would spell doom for CD U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

363

steve jobs

sales. Soon after legal battles complicated the practice of downloading music for free, Jobs opened the iTunes Music Store. Others had attempted online music sales with little success, failing either because they offered a poor selection or because users rejected the notion of paying a monthly subscription fee to download songs. Jobs’s iTunes offered simplicity: with the blessing of the world’s major record labels, customers could download any of the two hundred thousand songs for just ninety-nine cents each. Users could then create their own CDs with the downloaded songs or transfer them to a portable digital music player, to take with them wherever they go. While iTunes did not live up to Jobs’s high expectations of one hundred million downloads in the first year, it did perform astonishingly well. In the first week, one million songs were downloaded, with the total exceeding fifty million after one year. Many observers cautioned that Apple would have to continue to approach online music sales in a creative and aggressive way: while Apple was an early innovator, a number of major players, including Microsoft, Wal-Mart, and some record labels, soon followed suit, offering stiff competition to iTunes. Many industry observers have noted that, for all its innovation and creativity, Apple has never become a powerhouse in terms of sales. Apple commands just a small percentage of the personal-computer market and earns a tiny fraction of the revenues of its primary software competitor, Microsoft. Jobs shrugs off such details, however, suggesting that it’s more important to him to continually create new, original, high-quality products than to become the leader in PC sales. In an interview for Macworld on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Macintosh, Jobs summarized his point of view: “Apple’s market share is bigger than BMW’s or Mercedes’s or Porsche’s [is] in the automotive market. What’s wrong with being BMW or Mercedes?”

For More Information Periodicals Ackley, Laura A. “Pixar’s Deep Talent Pool Lured by Catmull’s Vision.” Variety (July 20, 1998): p. 32. Burrows, Peter. “Pixar’s Unsung Hero.” Business Week (June 30, 2003): p. 68. Burrows, Peter. “Rock On, iPod.” Business Week (June 7, 2004): p. 130. Cocks, Jay. “The Updated Book of Jobs.” Time (January 3, 1983): p. 25.

364


•

volume 2

steve jobs Hawn, Carleen. “If He’s So Smart.… Steve Jobs, Apple, and the Limits of Innovation.” Fast Company (January 2004): p. 68. Quittner, Josh. “Steve Jobs: The Fountain of Fresh Ideas.” Time (April 26, 2004): p. 75. Simons, Andrew. “Studios Anxiously Jockey to Court Pixar As Jobs Patiently Revels in New Control.” Los Angeles Business Journal (April 26, 2004): p. 1. Snell, Jason. “Steve Jobs on the Mac’s Twentieth Anniversary.” Macworld (February 2004).

Web Sites Apple. http://www.apple.com (accessed August 1, 2004). Pixar. http://www.pixar.com (accessed August 1, 2004).


•

volume 2

365

Angela Johnson

June 18, 1961 • Tuskegee, Alabama



•

volume 2

Writer

S

ince 1989 Angela Johnson has been steadily producing exceptional books for young people, ranging from picture books for children to novels, poetry, and short stories for young adults. Her works have earned her the adoration of fans and the admiration of reviewers, many of whom have commented on her exceptional ability to create memorable, real characters who stay in readers’ minds long after the book cover has been closed. In most of her books Johnson addresses personal, everyday subjects: family relationships, the difficulties of growing up, seeking comfort from loved ones during times of struggle. A number of reviewers have noted that, while many of Johnson’s characters are African American, the circumstances they confront and the emotions they express are so true to life that they can be appreciated by all readers. Johnson’s editor, Kevin Lewis, stated in an article for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, “A reader might begin thinking that they have nothing in common with [Johnson’s characters], but by the end they realize that the list of things people share—things like

367

angela johnson

family, friends, struggle, change, love, loss, dreams, and so on—is much more profound [or, meaningful] than the list of our differences.”

The origins of a writer Born in 1961 in Tuskegee, Alabama, Johnson grew up in Alabama and Ohio. Reading and listening to stories was a significant part of her childhood. Her father and grandfather were natural storytellers, and Johnson can pinpoint the moment when she realized that her own fondness for stories was more than a passing interest. As described on the African American Literature Book Club (AALBC) Web site, John-

“Kids and teens are so much more interesting than adults. Life is happening when you are a teenager. One minute you’re a child, the next you’re allowed to go out in the world by yourself. Who knows what will happen?” son recalled hearing a particularly compelling storyteller during her early school years. She realized that the characters of her favorite books had come alive in her mind, becoming as real as the children sitting next to her in school. “That is when I knew,” she remembered. “I asked for a diary that year and have not stopped writing.” One of the ideas that has occupied Johnson as a writer is a child’s search for truth or, rather, the quest to uncover what she calls “the big lie”—the feeling that one’s parents might not be who they seem, or that the things a child has always accepted as reality might not be true. In an interview in the magazine Booklist, Johnson stated: “There’s always that point when kids rifle through their parents’ papers to make sure they weren’t adopted. I was probably about nine or ten when I picked my dad’s lockbox with a bobby pin. And it’s really interesting because I didn’t have that big lie in my life! But I had so many friends

368


•

volume 2

angela johnson

Major Works for Young Adults Toning the Sweep (novel), Orchard, 1993. Humming Whispers (novel), Orchard, 1995.

When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street (short stories), Knopf, 2000. Running Back to Ludie (poems), Orchard, 2001.

Songs of Faith (novel), Orchard, 1998. Heaven (novel), Simon & Schuster, 1998. Gone from Home: Short Takes (short stories), DK Publishing, 1998. The Other Side: Shorter Poems (poems), Orchard, 1998.

Looking for Red (novel), Simon & Schuster, 2002. A Cool Moonlight (novel), Dial, 2003. The First Part Last (novel), Simon & Schuster, 2003.

Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street (short stories), Random House, 1999.

who did.” She went on to say that once she became a writer she realized that “you can get a great story from the big lie.” In the Booklist interview Johnson recalled her “fantastic childhood.” She acknowledged that she became moody and angry as a teenager, and that during high school her writing was extremely personal. She wrote only for herself, as a way of expressing feelings of frustration and alienation. On the AALBC Web site, she described her writing from that period as “punk poetry that went with my razor blade necklace.” She recalled in Booklist, “I wrote the darkest poetry about cityscapes and disintegration and rats. The literary guild at school wouldn’t accept any of my work, which I think nurtured me because it made me even angrier.” While she had been writing since early childhood, Johnson was not very interested in reading until a high school English teacher showed her the works of some of the Beat poets, writers who, during the 1950s, wrote experimental, nontraditional verse to challenge mainstream, middle-class ideas about art and life. In addition to such poetry, Johnson enjoyed reading factual works about real people. She explained in Booklist: “When I was a teenager, I only read nonfiction. I didn’t want to read anything that wasn’t true. I was immersed in people’s lives—Janis Joplin, Malcolm X. I wanted to know the real story.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

369

angela johnson

Finding her path After graduating from high school, Johnson attended Kent State University in Ohio, studying special education. She left college without earning a degree, and from 1981 to 1982 she worked in childhood development as a participant in the program known as Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA. Although she had been writing poetry and stories for many years, Johnson did not think of writing as a realistic career goal. During her college years, though, she met a writer who encouraged Johnson to re-define herself. Working part-time as a babysitter for acclaimed children’s author Cynthia Rylant, Johnson was eventually persuaded to show Rylant some of her writing. Recognizing Johnson’s gifts, Rylant urged her to focus on writing for young people. A few years later, in 1989, Johnson published her first work, a picture book called Tell Me a Story, Mama. Over the next several years Johnson produced a number of wellreceived picture books for young children, including Do Like Kyla, The Leaving Morning, The Girl Who Wore Snakes, and Julius. While she would continue to create picture books for many more years, in 1993 Johnson began to create works with an entirely different focus, releasing her first novel aimed at young adults. Toning the Sweep tells the story of fourteen-year-old Emmie, who journeys with her mother to the home of her Grandmama Ola in the California desert. Ola is dying of cancer, and Emmie and her mother have come to help her make the move to Cleveland, Ohio, where she will spend her final months surrounded by family. While in California, Emmie tags along on her grandmother’s visits with friends, videotaping their conversations and recording the friends’ good-bye messages to Ola. In so doing, she discovers a great deal about her grandmother and about tragic events in her family’s past. Reviewers praised Johnson’s understated, realistic style of storytelling, noting that rather than spelling out every detail, the author encouraged readers to use their imaginations. In 1994 Toning the Sweep won the Coretta Scott King award, an annual honor given by the American Library Association to outstanding works for young people by an African American author. Johnson’s next young-adult novel, Humming Whispers, published in 1995, tackled the difficult subject of mental illness. Sophy, fourteen years old and training to be a dancer, worries about her older sister, Nikki, who suffers from schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder that

370


•

volume 2

angela johnson

dramatically affects feelings, thoughts, and behavior. Nikki first developed symptoms of her illness at age fourteen, and Sophy’s anxieties for her sister also extend to herself: she is concerned that she too will begin to show signs of schizophrenia. Johnson was able to balance the serious and painful subject matter with a strong sense of the strength the characters were able to derive from their family members and friends. A reviewer for Publisher’s Weekly described Humming Whispers as “a story of subtle but real hope, in the form of strong, abiding human connections … and moments of understanding and acceptance.” Family connections also played an important role in Johnson’s 1998 novel Songs of Faith. Set in a small Ohio town in 1976, this book explores the impact of their parents’ divorce on Doreen and her younger brother, Robert. Johnson does not shy away from difficult subjects in her writing, and she portrayed these topics in an honest, realistic light, showing that the love and support of family and friends, while not removing the pain altogether, can help make it bearable. Johnson has applied her considerable talent for relating memorable characters and interesting situations to other genres as well, including short stories and poems. In 1998 she published Gone from Home: Short Takes, a collection of short stories. The following year, she released The Other Side: Shorter Poems, a book of verse written in plain, everyday language. The loosely connected poems, based on recollections of her childhood, capture details of life in the small town of Shorter, Alabama. Yet another book, made up of poems that link together to tell a story, Running Back to Ludie examines a teenage girl’s reunion with the mother from whom she was separated.

Heaven and beyond In her 1999 novel Heaven, another winner of the Coretta Scott King award, Johnson reexamines the meaning of family connections. Fourteen-year-old Marley enjoys a contented, secure life with her parents and brother in a town called Heaven. She goes to school, plays with her friends, and looks forward to the engaging letters she occasionally receives from her traveling uncle. One day she learns that things are not what they seem: her “parents” are actually her aunt and uncle, while her “Uncle Jack” is really her father. Furious that she has been deceived by the people she loves the most, Marley must come to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

371

angela johnson

terms with her feelings of anger and betrayal, and she must redefine her notion of family. In 2003 Johnson set a second novel in the town of Heaven. In The First Part Last, she depicts the life of Bobby, a teenage boy who is single-handedly raising his baby daughter. The First Part Last is a prequel to Heaven, telling a story that takes place before the events that unfold in the 1999 novel. Just sixteen years old, Bobby must abruptly enter adulthood when he takes responsibility for raising his daughter, Feather. The chapters alternate from the past to the present, switching back and forth from the months before his daughter was born to his early struggles as a single father. Kevin Lewis, Johnson’s editor, told the author that a group of sixth graders had said that Bobby was their favorite character from Heaven. When he asked her if she thought Bobby could be the subject of a new novel, Johnson initially said no. Johnson recalled in Booklist, “At first I thought, absolutely not. Usually, when I finish a book, it’s done. The characters have folded up their bags and walked on home.” But one day on the subway in New York, she saw a teenage boy with a baby. Her first thought was that the baby was the boy’s sister, but then it occurred to her that she could be his daughter. She explained in U.S. News & World Report, “I kept thinking about what life would be like for him. Mostly, boys are portrayed as clueless, and they desert their girlfriends. But what about the boy who does the right thing?” From these imaginings, Johnson spun the story of Bobby and Feather, a novel that earned high praise from critics. A Publisher’s Weekly reviewer wrote: “Each nuanced chapter feels like a poem in its economy and imagery; yet the characters … emerge fully formed.” In 2004 The First Part Last earned Johnson her third Coretta Scott King award, as well as the Michael L. Printz Award, given for excellence in young adult literature. In early 2004 Johnson announced that she was at work on a third novel set in the town of Heaven.

Recognition beyond expectation After years of writing books in a variety of forms for a variety of age groups—and earning prestigious awards and high praise from both readers and reviewers—Johnson learned in late 2003 that she was the recipient of an extraordinary honor. She had been named a MacArthur

372


•

volume 2

angela johnson

fellow, receiving a $500,000 grant known as the “genius” grant. The prize came from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, a private organization that, among other things, awards grants to exceptionally talented people in a variety of creative fields. Described by many as humble, shy, and unassuming, Johnson was quite surprised by the news of having won the grant. She explained in Booklist, “I’m still shocked—the award is still not real to me. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t actually had time to think about how this will change my life. And I guess it won’t. I’ll still be the person who wears her PJs all day long.” She went on to say that, while the publicity and recognition stemming from the MacArthur grant were exciting, she looked forward to getting back to her normal writing routine. “It may not be mountain climbing, but sitting in front of the computer does it for me. It’s easy for me to be thrilled.”

For More Information Periodicals Corbett, Sue. “‘Genius’ Label Doesn’t Erase Author Angela Johnson’s Shyness.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (February 25, 2004): p. K4506. Engberg, Gillian. “The Booklist Interview: Angela Johnson.” Booklist (February 15, 2004): p. 1074. “The First Part Last.” Publishers Weekly (June 16, 2003): p. 73. Hallett, Vicky. “When Mr. Mom Is a Teenager.” U.S. News & World Report (January 26, 2004): p. 16. “Humming Whispers.” Publishers Weekly (January 23, 1995): p. 71.

Web Sites “Angela Johnson.” African American Literature Book Club. http://authors. aalbc.com/angela.htm (accessed on March 25, 2004). “Angela Johnson’s Biography.” Visitingauthors.com. http://www.visiting authors.com/printable_pages/johnson_angela_print_info.html (accessed on March 25, 2004).


•

volume 2

373

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

May 2, 1972 • Hayward, California



•

volume 2

Professional wrestler, actor

A lthough Dwayne Johnson is not a superhero out of a comic book, he does have an alter ego. By day he is a somewhat mild-mannered husband and father. But at night when he steps into the ring, he becomes the chair-flinging, wisecracking wrestler known as The Rock. In the late 1990s the charismatic Johnson, with his exotic good looks and signature eyebrow arch, helped make World Wrestling Smackdowns a part of must-see TV. By the mid-2000s, he had such a following that he was dividing his time between the mat and the big screen. Some observers felt that Hollywood had found its next big-budget action idol, and many predicted that Johnson would have no problem filling the shoes of America’s favorite muscleman, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was now busy in his new role as governor of California.

Third generation wrestler Johnson is a third-generation wrestler. His mother’s father, Peter

375

dwayne “the rock” johnson

“High Chief” Maivia, was a professional wrestler of Samoan descent whose heritage served as the basis for his ring persona. Samoa is an island nation located in the South Pacific, and Maivia played the part of an island native, wearing his hair long, wrestling barefoot, and sporting traditional tattoos over most of his body. While on the wrestling circuit he became acquainted with an up-and-coming African American wrestler named Rocky Johnson. During a visit with Maiva’s family, Johnson met High Chief’s daughter, Ata. The two eventually married, and on May 2, 1972, the couple had a son, whom they named Dwayne Douglas Johnson.

“My work, my goal, my life, it’s like a treadmill. And there’s no stop- button on my treadmill. Once I get on, I just keep going.” Johnson was born in Hayward, California, but he grew up all over the country, since the family moved around to accommodate Rocky Johnson’s wrestling career. Because of the family’s frequent moves, young Dwayne had a difficult time making friends. He was also teased by other children about his father’s profession, and about his size—even as a youngster, Johnson was bigger than average. As a result, he had a quick temper, and as Johnson admitted to Samantha Miller of People, he was even arrested several times for fighting. “It was all youth and stupidity,” he explained. In the mid-1980s, however, the Johnsons settled down long enough for Dwayne to begin attending Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, where an interest in sports helped calm the young man down. At Freedom High, Johnson boxed and ran track, but he pursued football with a vengeance, hoping to win a scholarship in order to become the first member of his family to go to college. He was a standout star, and by his senior year he was named to USA Today’s high school All-American team. Before graduation Johnson was recruited by several colleges, but he chose to head to Florida to attend the University of Miami, where he played defensive tackle. He soon

376


•

volume 2


became known for his talents on the gridiron, but was also known for his crazy antics. During one game against San Diego in 1992, millions of people watched on television as he raced around the field chasing the opponent’s mascot, a man in a giant Aztec warrior costume. Johnson’s future in football looked bright until he suffered a back injury during his senior year. He was so depressed that he cut classes and his grade point average (GPA) dropped to a dangerously low 0.7. Not only was he sitting on the bench, he was also on academic probation. Johnson pulled himself together, thanks in part to his future wife, Dany Garcia, a business major he met while in Miami. Garcia encouraged him to hit the books, and in 1995 he graduated with a degree in criminology and a respectable 2.9 GPA.

Enter Rocky Maivia Because of his injury, Johnson was not picked to play for the National Football League (NFL) during the 1995 draft, but he still pinned his hopes on a career in pro football. When he was offered a contract by the Calgary Stampeders, he signed on the dotted line and headed to Canada. Life in Canada was miserable. Johnson saw little field action and was paid less than $200 per week to be a practice-squad player. He rented a tiny, dingy apartment and slept on a mattress he found near a local dumpster. His salary left little room for food, so Johnson took to attending every Stampeder meeting, even though he didn’t have to, because he knew sandwiches would be served. He was determined to stick it out, but in an abrupt move, Johnson was let go by the football franchise to make room for a former NFL player. “That was hard,” he told Zondra Hughes of Ebony. “I was supposed to be reaping the fruits of my labor, and there I was in Canada having to start all over again.” Johnson returned to Florida where both his parents and Dany Garcia lived, and immediately approached his father with a proposal: he wanted to be trained as a wrestler. His decision was made partially out of necessity, but Johnson also had a real love of the sport. After all, he had seen his first wrestling match when he was three weeks old, and when he was six years old his father had taught him such basic moves as the headlock and the armlock. Rocky Johnson, however, had his doubts. He knew that the life of a wrestler was not an easy one and he wanted to spare his son the tough road he had walked. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

377


Rocky finally relented, and for the next few months kept the would-be sparrer on a grueling training schedule. When he felt prepared enough, Johnson contacted a colleague of his grandfather’s, who helped open the door for a tryout with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in Corpus Christi, Texas. Although promoters were impressed enough to sign a contract with him, Johnson still had to pay his initial dues by spending some time in Memphis, Tennessee, performing in the WWF second-tier system, the Unites States Wrestling Alliance. During the summer of 1996 Johnson wrestled in promotional matches using the name Flex Kavana, and earned about $40 per night. In August he was given his second professional tryout, this time pitted against a well-known wrestler named Owen Hart. He did so well that he was transferred to Connecticut where the WWF headquarters and training facility were located. On November 16, 1996, just one year after hitting a low point in Canada, Johnson made his professional wrestling debut at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He performed under the name of Rocky Maivia, a nod to both his father and grandfather. The WWF event was called the Survivor’s Series, and Johnson, as Rocky Maivia, was considered to be a “good guy” or, in wrestling terminology, a “babyface.” His “bad guy” opponent, or the “heel” in the match, was Paul Levesque, more commonly known as Triple H.

The Rock is unveiled Johnson quickly became a hit with wrestling crowds, and in February of 1997 he captured his first WWF championship, making him, at age twenty-four, the youngest wrestler to win a belt. But just a few months later Rocky was being booed during matches. Apparently the fickle audience members were becoming much more interested in rooting for the “bad guys,” and in a business where image is everything, Johnson had some rethinking to do. In mid-1997, after suffering a knee injury, he took some time off to recuperate, to marry his longtime girlfriend Dany Garcia, and to strategize. Wrestling in the late 1990s was not the world of wrestling Johnson’s father had inhabited. In 1979 the regional federations that existed throughout the United States had been consolidated into a single organization known as the World Wrestling Federation, and by the

378


•

volume 2


mid-1980s pro wrestling had evolved from an athletic sport into a form of high-energy entertainment. Wrestlers now admitted that their moves were choreographed and that the outcomes of the matches were pre-determined. Wrestling had become big business, attracting millions of fans and earning millions of dollars for promoters and the main attractions, the wrestlers. Johnson and WWF writers and producers worked long and hard to come up with just the right image for the handsome, six-foot-fourinch, 270-pound newcomer. What finally emerged was a character named The Rock, who would transform the world of wrestling. According to Johnson, who spoke with Sona Charaipotra of People, “The Rock is Dwayne Johnson with the volume turned all the way up.” Wearing black boots, black briefs, and with a tattoo of a Brahma bull on his twenty-two-inch bicep, The Rock was touted as part of the Nation of Domination, a league of “bad boy” wrestlers. He also became a formidable force both inside and outside the ring, especially when he glared at opponents and the press with a menacing lift of his right eyebrow. When The Rock was unveiled on August 11, 1997, in Jackson, Mississippi, the crowd went wild, and over the next several years fans stood in line to catch the next installment in his wrestling storyline. Producers pitted him against various characters in mock grudge matches, and The Rock won, then lost, then regained his federation championship several times. Along the way, Johnson became perhaps the most popular wrestler in the history of the sport. He was known as The People’s Champion, and his signature eyebrow move even took on a name—The People’s Eyebrow. In addition, The Rock became a merchandising gold mine. His image appeared on T-shirts, posters, and Halloween masks; and there were Rock action figures and video games. By the 2000s, according to Gillian Flynn of Entertainment Weekly, the WWF was bringing in $120 million in merchandise sales per year, thanks solely to Johnson.

Pins down the big screen Johnson’s appeal was not limited to wrestling fans, although he is credited with almost doubling the WWF’s female fan base, thanks in large part to his movie-star good looks. He was so popular that in 2000, when he published his autobiography, The Rock Says, the book U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

379


stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for an astonishing twenty weeks. Johnson drew record crowds at book signings, and began popping up on television, both to promote his book and to take on small acting roles. He made several appearances on the late-night comedy program Saturday Night Live, and was featured on such TV shows as DAG, Star Trek: Voyager, and That ’70’s Show. The next logical step was the big screen. In 2001 Johnson appeared briefly in the summer blockbuster The Mummy Returns, for which he was paid, in Hollywood terms, a paltry $500,000. Although he was given only minutes of screen time, producers were impressed enough that they built a movie around Johnson’s Mummy character, called The Scorpion King. The film, which was released in 2002, is an action-adventure movie set in ancient Egypt. Johnson plays Mathayus, a desert warrior who is determined to save his people from an evil conqueror named Memnon. If he succeeds, he will take his rightful place as the Scorpion King. Although the movie was definitely not high drama, considering that Johnson’s character spent most of his time swinging a sword and slashing his enemies, the would-be actor took his role seriously. In fact, he worked closely with an acting coach throughout the shooting of the film. When The Scorpion King hit theaters in April of 2002, it made more than $36 million during its opening weekend. Critics discussed the digitized action sequences and compared the movie to The Mummy, but most focused on Johnson and his million-dollar performance ($5 million, to be exact). In various reviews he was called a big-screen champ and the new face of Hollywood action. As Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly put it, “The Rock commands the screen as naturally as he does the ring.” The Scorpion King opened up a whole new career for Johnson. In 2003 he followed up Scorpion with The Rundown, another action movie, but one with a comedic edge that allowed him more acting freedom. Again, reviewers were pleasantly surprised. They called The Rundown a movie that was a cut above the average shoot-‘em-up blockbuster, and they praised Johnson’s portrayal of Beck, a bounty hunter set loose in the Amazon jungles of Brazil. In particular, critics praised his comedic abilities, which viewers had glimpsed in his television roles. Johnson’s acting coach, Larry Moss, told Gillian Flynn in Entertainment Weekly, “The action roles were obviously what he

380


•

volume 2


Sean William Scott (left) and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a still from the movie The Rundown (2003). Universal/Columbia/The Kobal Collection/Aronowitz, Myles.

was commercially designed to do in the beginning, but he can play real comedy, and I hope he does after all the action-star stuff.”

The most electrifying man in sports By the mid-2000s, Johnson was a full-fledged movie star. In 2004 he made his dramatic debut in Walking Tall, playing Chris Vaughn, a clubwielding sheriff who battles drug dealers and con artists who threaten to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

381


take over his peaceful Washington town. There were also several other movies in the pipeline, including two comedies, Be Cool (2004), a sequel to the 1995 hit Get Shorty, and Instant Karma, slated to open in 2005. Although busy with his many film roles, Johnson still managed to maintain his hectic wrestling schedule. This meant that between filming he was still out on the road, performing and promoting for more than two hundred days a year. Such a demanding schedule was hard on family life, especially considering that Johnson and Dany had their first child, daughter Simone Alexandra, in 2001. Even on the road, however, Johnson claims that he finds the time to call Dany every day, and he still retains close ties to his mother. As Hughes commented, “The Rock is a mama’s boy.” But The Rock is also a very determined man who has pumped-up plans for the future. As he told Hughes, “I want to do more in the WWF. I want to do more in the movie industry. Ultimately, I want to be the most electrifying man in sports entertainment, period.”

For More Information Books Johnson, Dwayne, with Joe Layden. The Rock Says … The Most Electrifying Man in Sports Entertainment. New York: Regan Books, 2000.

Periodicals Charaipotra, Sona. “The Rock Sounds Off.” People (April 19, 2004): p. 30. Flynn, Gillian. “Rock of Ages: Wrestler, Actor, Action Hero?” Entertainment Weekly (May 3, 2002): pp. 10–12. Gleiberman, Owen. “Rock Formation: The Scorpion King, a Bare-Bones Prequel to the Mummy Movies, Gives The Rock a Solid Step toward Stardom.” Entertainment Weekly (April 26, 2003): pp. 117–118. Gostin, Nicki. “Newsmakers: Interview with The Rock.” Newsweek (April 12, 2004): p. 71. Hughes, Zondra. “The Rock Talks about Race, Wrestling, and Women.” Ebony (July 2001): p. 32. Leyner, Mark. “The Rock is an Onion.” Time (April 29, 2002): p. 81. Miller, Samantha. “Bigger, Boulder: Scorpion King’s The Rock, a.k.a. Dwayne Johnson, Wrestles with Fatherhood, Fame—and Flab?.” People (May 6, 2002): pp. 109+.

Web Sites The Rock Official Web site. http://www.therock.com (accessed on July 6, 2004).

382


•

volume 2

Norah Jones

March 30, 1979 • New York, New York



•

volume 2

Singer, songwriter

In 2002 Norah Jones, age twenty-two, released her debut full-length album, Come Away with Me. A low-key, acoustic work that defies categorization but includes hints of jazz, traditional pop, country, and folk; the CD is the kind of recording that would ordinarily have sold several thousand copies, earned admiring reviews in the music press, and then faded from view. In the beginning, that is exactly the path the recording seemed to take. But to the surprise of many, including Jones herself, Come Away with Me continued to sell steadily month after month, thanks to outstanding reviews, positive word-of-mouth, and unexpected radio play. It took nearly a year, but eventually the album reached the number-one position on Billboard’s album chart, selling some three million copies over twelve months. By 2004 it had sold eight million copies in the United States and an additional ten million worldwide. Far less well known than her fellow nominees, Jones earned five nominations for Grammy Awards. On February 23, 2003, the night of the 45th Annual Grammy Awards, she went home with an armload of tro-

383

norah jones

phies, winning for every category in which she was nominated. Her follow-up album, Feels Like Home, followed a different, steeper path when released in 2004: Jones’s second effort shot straight to number one, selling one million copies in its first week alone.

From NYC to Grapevine and back to NYC Jones was born in New York City in 1979. Her mother, Sue Jones, is a nurse and music promoter. Her father, Ravi Shankar, is a worldfamous musician hailing from India. Shankar became widely known for his association with the Beatles and other Western musicians; he

“I’m not soft-spoken and romantic, at all. I must be, somewhere deep down, otherwise I wouldn’t like that kind of music. But I’m only like that when I’m on stage. I’m pretty much just loudmouthed, obnoxious, and silly.” taught Beatles’ guitarist George Harrison how to play the sitar, a longnecked Indian stringed instrument, of which Shankar is considered a master. As early as age three, Jones began showing a keen interest in music, closely watching her father when he played his sitar. At age five she began singing in her church choir. She learned to play several instruments in her youth, primarily studying piano. Shankar and Sue Jones, unmarried when Norah was born, separated when she was still a young child. Sue took her daughter to live in Texas in a suburb of Dallas called Grapevine. Jones lived there for much of her childhood, having no contact with her famous father for ten years. Her musical influences during that time came from her mother’s record collection. She felt especially affected by the works of great jazz, soul, and blues singers, including Etta James, Aretha Franklin, and Billie Holiday. Jones also spent countless hours listening to recordings of musicals such as Cats and West Side Story.

384


•

volume 2

norah jones

Brit Crooner Jamie Cullum

N orah Jones’s surprising success with a style of music that generally doesn’t reach the top of the Billboard charts has paved the way for similar artists, performers who now see the potential for widespread success with their more traditional musical styles, and whose labels are now more willing to invest in their music. One such performer, Britain’s Jamie Cullum, has crafted a jazz-influenced style for his singing and piano playing, a blend of old-time pop standards and cabaret-style jazz with the occasional rock tune thrown in for good measure. With Twentysomething, Cullum has taken his native country by storm, selling more records than any other jazz artist in United Kingdom history, and outselling a number of major pop acts as well. He made a splash in the United States when his album was released there in 2004, with many critics comparing his swinging style to that of Norah Jones and Harry Connick Jr., and to the croonings of another famous performer, the late Frank Sinatra. Just twenty-three years old at the time of his 2003 U.K. release of Twentysomething, Cullum took his newfound fame in stride, considering it the result of many years of working hard and paying dues. He has been playing guitar and piano since age eight, and he began playing for audiences in clubs and bars at about age fifteen. Encouraged in his love of jazz by his older brother, Ben, Cullum grew up admiring jazz greats Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck. In an inter-

view with WWD magazine, he related that he was also heavily influenced by other types of music: “I grew up listening to Public Enemy and Kurt Cobain and the Beastie Boys and Guns N’ Roses. That’s really the influence that pervades what I do.” He studied film and English literature at Reading University in England, releasing his first album, as the Jamie Cullum Trio, at age nineteen. His second release, Pointless Nostalgic, earned considerable airplay on British radio and earned him a dedicated fan base. The success of that album sparked a bidding war among record labels, with Universal Records winning out. Still in his early twenties, Cullum was signed to a multi-album deal worth over one million dollars. Cullum has attracted attention for more than just his recorded music: his live performances indicate a young man with over-the-top showmanship. He does more than just play the piano: he bangs on it with his fists, pounds the keys, and occasionally kicks the keys for additional emphasis. When asked by WWD about his exuberant style, Cullum replied: “It’s a very spontaneous thing. I just let myself go at the expense of looking like an idiot all the time and getting really hot and sweaty and not being very classy.” While some reviewers have criticized Cullum for lacking subtlety, others have praised his boundless energy onstage and applauded his efforts to bring lighthearted fun to music that is usually played with a more serious tone.

During her high school years at Dallas’s Booker T. Washington School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Jones explored her developing passion for jazz. On her sixteenth birthday she gave her first solo performance, singing and playing piano at a coffeehouse on open-mic night, when anyone brave enough can try his or her hand at performing for the public. During that period Jones also played in a band called Laszlo and tried her hand at composing jazz tunes. She earned recogniU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

385

norah jones

tion from the highly respected jazz magazine Down Beat, winning their Student Music Award (SMA) for Best Jazz Vocalist two years running and also winning an SMA for Best Original Composition. After graduating from high school Jones enrolled at the University of North Texas. She spent two years there, studying jazz piano and giving solo performances at a local restaurant on weekends. She also became reacquainted with her father, and the two developed a close relationship. The summer after her sophomore year Jones decided to head to New York City and try her luck making it as a musician there.

Pounding the pavement Working in a restaurant during the day and performing in downtown clubs by night, Jones felt excited to be part of the city’s jazz scene, rather than just studying music in a classroom. She decided to stay in New York, forming a jazz trio, and also performing with other jazz groups, including the Peter Malick Group. While her professional life revolved mainly around jazz, she began listening often to country music. She told Texas Monthly, “It’s funny, but I got into country music when I moved to New York. I was homesick, so I listened to [renowned country singer-songwriter] Townes Van Zandt.” She created a demo recording of her solo work to send to record labels in the hope of getting a deal, but after a year of passing her demo around with no success, she began to feel discouraged. On the evening of her twenty-first birthday, Jones gave a performance that connected deeply with a notable member of her audience. Shell White, an employee in the accounting department of the revered jazz label Blue Note, was so struck by Jones’s talents that she arranged for a meeting between the young singer and the label’s chief executive officer (CEO), Bruce Lundvall. After meeting Jones and hearing her sing, Lundvall signed her to a record deal on the spot. Lundvall explained to Time magazine’s Josh Tyrangiel that such impulsive decisions had been made only twice in his career at Blue Note (the other artist was jazz vocalist Rachelle Ferrell). Lundvall described the essence of Jones’s appeal: “Norah doesn’t have one of those over-the-top instruments. It’s just a signature voice, right from the heart to you. When you’re lucky enough to hear that, you don’t hesitate. You sign it.”

386


•

volume 2

norah jones

“Snorah” Jones makes good Jones began her relationship with Blue Note by releasing a six-song EP, a less-than-full-length recording, called First Sessions. This CD includes several songs that later showed up on Come Away with Me. For her debut full-length recording, Blue Note paired Jones with veteran producer Arif Mardin, who had worked with such legendary performers as Aretha Franklin and Dusty Springfield. When she and Mardin began recording Come Away with Me in May of 2001, Jones showed a preference for a spontaneous style in the studio, aiming to capture the intimate and natural qualities of live performance. She recorded fourteen songs for her debut; Jones wrote a few of the tracks but left most of the composing duties to others, including her boyfriend, bassist Lee Alexander, and New York–based songwriter-guitarist Jesse Harris. She also recorded two songs made famous by musicians legendary in their respective fields: country king Hank Williams (“Cold, Cold Heart”) and revered jazz-pop composer Hoagy Carmichael (“The Nearness of You”). Released in early 2002, Come Away with Me earned positive reviews. Music critics expressed appreciation for her distinctive voice and authentic, understated style. Many critics wrote of Jones as a promising new artist, a refreshing change of pace from the slick packaging of pop stars like Britney Spears. Even the most admiring reviewers, however, did not predict that the album would gradually become a smash hit and that Jones would become Blue Note’s best-selling artist ever. Come Away with Me became so successful that it seemed to be everywhere: on the radio, on television, playing over the public address system in shopping malls. Jones recalled to Tyrangiel that she heard one of the album’s tracks in an unexpected place: “Once on a plane— you know how they play elevator music before you take off?—they played one of the songs.” The album’s exposure became so great that a small backlash arose, with some music journalists declaring that the attention was nothing but hype, and criticizing Jones’s music as bland and boring. Some even started calling her “Snorah Jones,” a nickname Jones found amusing rather than hurtful. She confided to Tyrangiel, “My mom calls me Snorah all the time now.” The “insanity,” as Jones frequently characterized the buzz surrounding her debut, seemed to reach a peak when the album was nominated for eight Grammy Awards. Competing against such high-profile artists as Bruce Springsteen and Eminem, Jones swept the awards cereU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

387

norah jones

Norah Jones holds her five Grammy Awards. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

mony in February of 2003. The album won all eight awards for which it was nominated, with Jones receiving five awards and the three others going to producer Mardin, the album’s engineers, and songwriter Jesse Harris for “Don’t Know Why.” Among Jones’s victories were trophies for Album of the Year and Best New Artist. As the ceremony progressed, Jones began to feel overwhelmed, as she related in Texas Monthly: “I felt like I was in high school and all the popular kids were in the audience and were, like, ‘What’s she doing up there?’ I felt like I had gone in a birthday party and eaten all the cake before anyone else got a piece.” Some aspects of her newfound fame pleased her, especially the positive reception from most critics and her increased ability to control the direction of her career. But for the most part Jones retreated from the spotlight. She preferred the idea of being a member of a group rather than a solo star, telling Billboard’s Melinda Newman, “Deep down, in my gut, all I want to be is part of a band.” In the begin-

388


•

volume 2

norah jones

ning, she didn’t feel entirely comfortable performing in concert, making music videos, or talking to the press. Jones sought a quiet lifestyle, unexpected for such a young musician, preferring low-key get-togethers with her bandmates to late-night partying at clubs.

A homey follow-up When work began on a follow-up album, Feels Like Home, many music-industry insiders speculated that it would take a miracle for the second album to sell as well as the first. Such predictions did not faze Jones. Her primary focus was the music; she was eager to branch out on her second album and explore different styles, having shifted away from jazz and toward country in her listening habits and writing. For Feels Like Home, Jones took a greater role in the songs’ composition, writing or cowriting six of the album’s thirteen tracks. The album was recorded after a series of collaborative sessions with bandmates, with each member contributing to various aspects of the project. Guest artists included country-music mainstay Dolly Parton and, from the influential rock group the Band, Levon Helm and Garth Hudson. After the phenomenal success of her debut, people throughout the industry—record label executives, music retailers, and journalists—as well as millions of fans eagerly anticipated Jones’s follow-up. Released in early 2004, Feels Like Home was snapped up by one million buyers in its first week, resulting in an instant rise to the numberone position on Billboard’s album chart. Determined to let her second album’s reception happen somewhat naturally, Jones pressured Blue Note to devise an understated publicity campaign that wouldn’t blanket the television and radio airwaves with commercials for Feels Like Home. Blue Note CEO Lundvall told Billboard’s Newman, “We’re not hyping the record. We’re not going out there and advertising all over the world.” For her part, Jones remained calm under the intense pressure of following up a debut album that had sold more than eighteen million copies worldwide. She related in Texas Monthly: “It’s funny, but I don’t want to know about sales. I don’t want to read any of the reviews; I don’t want to see any of the articles. I just want to do what I do and have it be as unfussed-with as possible.” Music reviewers varied in their responses to Feels Like Home. Some expressed a wish that Jones would break out of her mellow U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

389

norah jones

approach and make edgier music. David Browne of Entertainment Weekly concluded that “Jones’ voice conveys warmth and contentment but little in the way of urgency or intensity.” Others felt that she had failed to commit to a specific style, instead sampling from a variety of genres. A few complained that Jones had written or chosen too many mediocre songs, relying on her lush vocals to overcome any writing shortcomings. But numerous critics found plenty to love in Jones’s second release. Tom Moon wrote in RollingStone.com, “Far from blanded-out background music, Feels Like Home … is a triumph of the low-key, at once easygoing and poignant.” Matt Collar wrote for All Music Guide that, with Feels Like Home, “You’ve got an album so blessed with superb songwriting that Jones’ vocals almost push the line into too much of a good thing.” At the PopMatters web site, Ari Levenfeld wrote: “While many critics of the album complain about the slow pace of the music, relegating it to little more than background music, it’s hard to believe that they were paying attention. There simply isn’t another singer working in pop music now that holds a candle to Jones.” Millions of fans seemed to agree with Levenfeld’s assessment, finding Jones to be a breath of fresh air in a stale pop landscape. She is a musician who has sought success but not necessarily stardom, and who seems more likely to share the spotlight than grab it for herself. At a time when young pop singers belt out every note with over-thetop passion, Jones opts for subtlety, understanding that a low-key voice stripped to its essence can pack a greater punch than one bellowed out at top volume. Tyrangiel explained, “She never fails to choose simple over flamboyant, never holds a note too long. She may prove to be the most natural singer of her generation.”

For More Information Periodicals Browne, David. “Falling in Lull Again.” Entertainment Weekly (February 13, 2004): p. 70. Burwell, Alison. “The Jazz Singer.” WWD (May 11, 2004): p. 4. Jones, Norah. “No Fuss.” Texas Monthly (April 2004): p. 60. Moon, Tom. “As 2nd CD Is Released, Norah Jones Fights for Control of Her Image.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (February 11, 2004): p. K4996.

390


•

volume 2

norah jones Newman, Melinda. “Norah Jones.” Billboard (January 31, 2004): p. 1. Patterson, Troy. “No Place Like Home.” Entertainment Weekly (February 20, 2004): p. 34. Tyrangiel, Josh. “Come Away Again.” Time (February 9, 2004): p. 64. Tyrangiel, Josh. “Jazzed about Ms. Jones.” Time (March 18, 2002): p. 84. Willman, Chris. “Norah Jones.” Entertainment Weekly (December 20, 2002): p. 36.

Web Sites “The Complete Norah Jones.” RollingStone.com. http://www.rollingstone. com/?searchtype=RSArtist&query=norah%20jones (accessed on June 21, 2004). Levenfeld, Ari. “Norah Jones Hangs Her Hat.” PopMatters. http://www.pop matters.com/music/reviews/j/jonesnorah-feelslike.shtml (accessed on June 21, 2004). “Norah Jones.” All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com (accessed on June 21, 2004).


•

volume 2

391

Dean Kamen

1951 • Long Island, New York



•

volume 2

Inventor, entrepreneur

Dean Kamen is a leading American scientist and inventor whose products include the Segway human transporter (HT) and the iBOT battery-powered wheelchair. His numerous inventions include medical devices and futuristic gizmos that Kamen hopes will revolutionize the way we live and travel. Whenever Kamen introduces a new product, people take notice, and they eagerly anticipate the next one. His newest creation? A nonpolluting, low-power water-purifying system designed for use in underdeveloped countries. Time magazine called it one of the “coolest inventions of 2003.”

A modern-day Edison Dean Kamen was born in 1951, in Rockville Center, Long Island, New York. His father, Jack, was an illustrator for Weird Science and Mad comic books; his mother, Evelyn, was a teacher. Kamen began tinkering with gadgets when he was fairly young. He claims that

393

dean kamen

when he was five years old he invented a way to make his bed without running from one side to the other. However, despite the fact that he was obviously bright and very curious, Kamen did not do well in school. His grades in junior high and high school were only average, and Kamen often found himself at odds with his teachers. This is an experience that many creative people seem to go through. For example, Thomas Edison (1847–1931), who developed the electric light bulb and the phonograph, attended school for a grand total of three months. His teachers considered him to be a slow learner. Instead Edison was taught by his mother at home, where he thrived, reading every book he could get his hands on. Like Edison, Kamen was (and still is) an avid reader of science texts.

“If you start to do things you’ve never done before, you’re probably going to fail at least some of the time. And I say that’s OK.” By the time he was a teenager, Kamen was being paid for his inventions, most of which he built in his parents’ basement. He was hired by local rock bands and museums to design and install light and sound systems. He was even asked to work on automating the giant ball that is lowered in Times Square each year on New Year’s Eve. Before he graduated from high school, Kamen was earning about $60,000 a year, which was more than the salaries of both his parents combined. After high school Kamen attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Massachusetts, but again he was more interested in inventing than attending classes. It was during his early years at WPI that Kamen developed the first of his many medical breakthroughs. His older brother, Barton, who was in medical school, commented to him that patients who needed round-the-clock medication were forced to come into the hospital for treatment. Kamen decided to fix the problem. He came up with the AutoSyringe, a portable device that could be worn by patients and that administered doses of medication. As a result, patients were able to enjoy some freedom.

394


•

volume 2

dean kamen

A Look at FIRST

D ean Kamen established FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) in 1989 because he wanted kids to get excited about science. A science competition seemed like a good idea, but he did not have a run-of-the-mill science fair in mind. Instead, Kamen developed a robotics competition. The first robotics competition took place in a small New Hampshire high school gym and involved only twenty-eight teams. In 2004 there were more than eight hundred teams in the United States and around the world, competing in twentythree regional events and a championship event held in Atlanta, Georgia. But, what is a robotics competition all about? It is a lot like a high school athletic event where teams compete in games of skill, except in robotics, the game changes every year. In early January, FIRST releases the rules of the game, which include how the playing field will be set up and what tasks a robot will be expected to perform to win the most points. For example, in 2004 a robot had to collect balls and deliver them to a human player who shot the balls into a goal.

Teams are then given six weeks to design, build, and test their robots. Companies sponsor local high school teams, providing money to help with costs and technical support to help build the actual robot. The company engineers also serve as mentors to the students throughout the experience. At regional competitions the atmosphere is charged. Teams wear colorful T-shirts and uniforms that they design with their logo; they also cheer and root for their favorite players. Music is played over loudspeakers, and announcers and referees broadcast during the matches. Teamwork is encouraged. As part of the game, teams are paired together during each match. In match thirteen, Team 182 may be partnered with Team 115; in Team 182’s next match they be competing against Team 115. Winners at the regional level move on to the national competition in Atlanta, where ultimately one winning alliance (composed of three teams) takes the title. On the FIRST Web site, however, Kamen explains that winning is not what matters: “Here, whether your robot wins or not, you come away … with an understanding of what is possible in the world.

In 1976 Kamen left Worcester Polytechnic (without graduating) and founded his own company, called AutoSyringe, to sell his medication device. The medical community embraced the AutoSyringe, and among scientists Kamen soon gained a reputation as a maverick inventor. In 1982 Kamen sold AutoSyringe to Baxter International, an international health-care company. The sale made him a multimillionaire.

Kamen wows the world After selling AutoSyringe, Kamen moved to Manchester, New Hampshire, where he launched his new company, DEKA Research & Development. DEKA is a combination of the first two letters of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

395

dean kamen

Kamen’s first and last names: DEan KAmen. The DEKA research facility is a vast network of nineteenth-century brick buildings that sprawl along the banks of the Merrimack River. Over two hundred researchers, engineers, and machinists work there and focus both on developing products for other companies and advancing Kamen’s own projects. For example, in 1993 Kamen and company invented a portable kidney dialysis machine called HomeChoice. A kidney dialysis machine is used to purify the blood of someone whose kidneys do not function properly. Usually a patient must go to the hospital on a regular basis to be treated. Kamen went on to impress the medical world by developing hundreds of inventions. In 1999, however, he wowed the rest of the world when he unveiled the Independence iBOT 3000 Mobility System, a stair-climbing wheelchair. “I just thought the existing wheelchair was a pretty inadequate solution,” Kamen explained to Max Alexander in a Smithsonian interview. The iBOT is a motorized wheelchair that can take on almost any terrain, for example sand, gravel, or grass. It can also climb stairs and curbs, and it raises itself up, balancing on two wheels, so that a user can be level with a standing person. According to Kamen, the stair-climbing capability was great, but for years wheelchair-users had told him they longed to be able to carry on a conversation eye-to-eye. In 2003 the iBOT was finally approved for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is a government agency that researches products to make sure they are safe for people to use. The iBOT went into production in late 2003 and was available at a cost of $29,000. People who bought an iBOT were required to go through special training on how to use the system.

The super scooter If the iBOT caused a media flurry, then Kamen’s next invention, the Segway, created a media blizzard. Kamen had been working on his mystery project for over ten years, and months before it was launched there was a buzz about what it could possibly be. In December 2001, Kamen finally introduced the world to what he called a self-balancing, electric-powered transportation machine. Some observers claimed it looked like a super scooter. In a 2001 interview with John

396


•

volume 2

dean kamen

Dean Kamen rides his invention, the Segway Human Transporter. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Heilemann, however, Kamen claimed that the Segway would “be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy.” The Segway has no brakes, no engine (it is battery-powered, so it needs to be charged), and no steering wheel. It can carry a rider who weighs up to 250 pounds, and cargo up to 75 pounds. And it can travel at speeds up to 17 miles an hour. The amazing thing about the machine is that, like the iBOT, it is totally self-balancing, which U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

397

dean kamen

means it cannot tip over when a person is riding it. Both inventions rely on a system of gyroscopes, computer chips, and electronic sensors that together pick up tiny shifts in the rider’s movements. Basically, the Segway does what you want it to do. For example, if you step off, the Segway comes to a stop. Kamen had high hopes for the Segway. He did not see the Segway as a toy scooter; he believed that it could help solve the problem of overpopulated cities. “Cities need cars like fish need bicycles,” Kamen told Heilemann. The inventor envisioned people in cramped urban areas, like San Francisco, California, or Shanghai, China, scooting around on their Segways. As a result, pollution and congested city traffic would be eliminated. Kamen also predicted that the Segway would be used by postal workers, police officers, factory workers, and even soldiers on battlefields. By 2004 the Segway was not quite as successful as Kamen predicted: only six thousand machines had been sold. Buyers were curious, but not curious enough to pay $4,950 to own one, and problems were cropping up everywhere. The company had to recall, or take back, models because riders were falling off their Segways when the machines’ batteries went low. In addition, laws in several cities, including San Francisco, prevented people from riding Segways on city sidewalks. A major blow came in February of 2004 when Segways were banned from Disney-owned theme parks. It seemed that people were not quite ready for the ride of the future.

A global challenge In 2003 Kamen was ready to tackle another serious problem: contaminated water. During the 1990s he had experimented with a way to power the iBOT and the Segway. He focused on the Stirling engine, which was developed in 1816 by Scottish inventor Robert Stirling (1790–1878), because it produced efficient power that was clean and quiet. It was also complicated and expensive to build. The Stirling engine was not right for his transportation machines, but Kamen believed he could use it to help make clean water. According to the United Nations, an organization of countries working together to keep peace and solve problems, approximately six thousand people die every day from drinking water that is not clean or safe.

398


•

volume 2

dean kamen

After the media hype that surrounded the Segway, Kamen was cautious about predicting the success of his water purifier, nicknamed the Slingshot. It was still costly to produce, but it was small, weighing about one hundred pounds, and it could run on almost any fuel, including wood, grass, or cow dung. Plus, the purifier required little maintenance and would make ten gallons of drinking water an hour. In November of 2003, Kamen told Lev Grossman of Time magazine that he was not sure how to market the Slingshot or how to get it to the people of the world who needed it; what he did know was that it works. In 2004 a determined Kamen visited the African countries of Rwanda and Bangladesh to demonstrate his system. He planned to visit India and Pakistan later in the year.

The pied-piper of technology Throughout his career Dean Kamen has received an amazing number of awards, including the Heinz Award (1998), “for a set of inventions that have advanced medical care worldwide,” and the National Medal of Technology (2000). Kamen’s National Medal acknowledges his inventions, but it also applauds him for “innovative and imaginative leadership in awakening America to the excitement of science and technology.” Kamen’s passion for science has created a need in him to ignite that spark in others, especially young people. According to Max Alexander, he is a “one-man band banging the cymbals of scientific innovation.” In 1989 he founded FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology). The focus of FIRST is an annual competition where high school teams, with the help of corporate sponsors, build robots and face off in regional and national games. The goal of FIRST is to get young people excited about technology. As a result, they might even consider a career in math, science, or engineering to be an appealing option in a society that idolizes actors, rock bands, and sports stars. Kamen told Forbes’s Glenn Rifkin, “We’ll be successful when you can walk up to the average kid on the street and he’ll be able to name a few heroes who … don’t dribble a basketball.” One of those heroes just might be Kamen. Since he unveiled the Segway on national television, Kamen has become something of a celebrity. He is an easily recognizable figure, with his shock of dark U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

399

dean kamen

hair and his trademark uniform of jeans, denim shirt, and work boots. Kamen is also a savvy salesman who tirelessly crows about his inventions. Such salesmanship has made Kamen a very rich man. He lives in an enormous house in Manchester, Connecticut, that is powered by a giant wind turbine and has a fully equipped machine shop in the basement. Out back there is a lighted baseball diamond and a landing pad for his two helicopters, which Kamen helped design. He also owns an island off the coast of Connecticut. And there is no sign that Kamen is slowing down. Unmarried and with no children, his work seems to be his life, but, as he comments on the Segway Web site, “You know, it’s only work if you’d rather be doing something else.”

For More Information Periodicals Alexander, Max. “‘Wow, Isn’t That Cool!’” Smithsonian (September 2003): p. 95. Grossman, Lev. “Water Purifier: Thousands Die Every Day for Lack of Clean Water. Can the Man Who Invented the Segway Save Them?” Time (November 17, 2003): p. 72. Heilemann, John. “Reinventing the Wheel: Here ‘It’ Is.’ Time (December 10, 2001): pp. 70–76. Levy, Steven. “Great Minds, Great Ideas.” Newsweek (May 27, 2002): p. 56. Rifkin, Glenn. “Geek Chic: Dean Kamen Hopes to Encourage Students to Study Sciences and Technology.” Forbes (February 26, 1996): pp. S40–43.

Web Sites For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Web site. http://www.usfirst.org (accessed on May 29, 2004). Science Enrichment Encounters (SEE) Science Center Web site. http:// www.see-sciencecenter.org (accessed on May 30, 2004). Segway Web site. http://www.segway.com (accessed on May 30, 2004).

400


•

volume 2

Beyoncé Knowles

September 4, 1981 • Houston, Texas



•

volume 2

Singer/actress

From her early childhood, Beyoncé Knowles wanted to be more than a performer: she wanted to be a superstar. By the age of twentyone, she had reached that goal, becoming world-famous not just in her chosen field of singing but also as an actress. After attaining wide success with the R&B group Destiny’s Child, Knowles broke out on her own, releasing her solo debut, Dangerously in Love, in 2003. The single “Crazy in Love,” featuring her boyfriend, rapper Jay-Z, was one of the biggest hits of the summer of 2003. The song propelled the album to multimillion-unit sales and earned Knowles a number of awards, including a Grammy Award and an MTV Video Music Award. In 2002 she displayed her acting abilities in the third installment of Mike Myers’s Austin Powers series Austin Powers in Goldmember, starring as Foxxy Cleopatra. The following year she appeared opposite Academy Award–winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in The Fighting Temptations. Knowles also nabbed a number of high-profile endorsement deals, acting as a spokesperson for Pepsi and for the cosmetics com-

401

beyoncé knowles

pany L’Oréal. For all her money, fame, and critical recognition, Knowles has managed, according to friends, family, and even journalists, to hold on to her warm, genuine nature.

The search for stardom Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born and raised in Houston, Texas, along with her younger sister, Solange, who would later follow her sister into the entertainment industry. Her father, Mathew, worked for many years as a sales representative selling medical equipment, while her mother, Tina, worked in a bank and later opened her own beauty salon, which

“My main accomplishment is achieving peace and happiness. Sometimes you think it’s success, and you think that it’s being a big star. But I want respect, and I want friendship and love and laughter, and I want to grow.” became one of the most successful salons in Houston. As a young child, Knowles was shy and had few friends. Her parents signed her up for a dance class when she was seven years old, “to make friends more than anything else,” as Tina Knowles described to Essence. The first time Beyoncé’s parents saw her perform, they were stunned. “When we saw her on stage for the first time, it was incredible. I’d never seen her so alive and confident,” Tina recalled. Beyoncé had found a way to break out of her shyness, and along the way she discovered she had real talent. She began singing in—and winning—local talent contests, and soon her parents realized that performing made their daughter happy, and that she was gifted enough to have a shot at success. In 1990, at the age of nine, Knowles auditioned for a singing group called Girl’s Tyme. She won a spot with the group and began performing with them at local events. Knowles’s cousin, Kelly Row-

402


•

volume 2

beyoncé knowles

Solange Knowles: Joining the Family Business

Talent runs in the Knowles family. Right on the heels of Beyoncé is her little sister, Solange, who, like her more famous sibling, has wanted to be an entertainer for as long as she can remember. She started her life as a professional performer at age thirteen when she began touring with Destiny’s Child as a backup dancer. She broke into the music business soon after, releasing her first album, Solo Star, in early 2003. Solange has also participated in the theater since early childhood, acting in a number of plays. She made her big-screen debut in 2004’s Johnson Family Vacation, appearing with Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams, and rapper Bow Wow. Solange was born on June 24, 1986, in Houston, Texas. She performed in a children’s dance troupe at the age of four and can clearly remember loving the attention and admiration she got from the audience. She was hooked, and knew from that moment on that she wanted to entertain people. She began writing songs since the age of seven, and at age thirteen she asked her parents to allow her to pursue a professional singing career. They suggested she wait until she was a little older. That same year, when one of the backup dancers for Destiny’s Child had to drop out just before the start of a tour, Solange

was chosen to fill in. She embarked on a two-year worldwide tour, accompanied by her father, the manager of the group, and her mother, the group’s stylist. Her parents watched her closely, observing how Solange handled the hard work and pressures of being on tour. By its conclusion, they had decided their younger daughter was mature enough to begin her own singing career. Solange knew her way around a recording studio, having spent time with her sister when Destiny’s Child was recording. She had learned how to write and produce songs, and she put those skills to use in crafting her debut album, Solo Star. With songwriting and production help from such notable artists as the Neptunes, Timbaland, and big sister Beyoncé, Solange created a pop R&B album that showed the influence of reggae, hip-hop, and even country. The album features guest appearances from Da Brat, Lil’ Romeo, and B2K. In early 2004 Solange, at age seventeen, took a break from her career path to wed Daniel Smith, a college football player from Houston. With the rest of the Knowles family looking on, the couple were married in the Bahamas.

land, was also a member of Girl’s Tyme, and when Rowland and her mother encountered financial problems, the Knowles family took Kelly in. The members of Girl’s Tyme felt that success was close by when they participated in the television talent competition Star Search in 1992, but they did not win the contest. Believing that he could improve their chances of getting a record deal, Mathew Knowles became the group’s manager and persuaded the group not to give up on their dream. Eventually he quit his job to manage the group fulltime, taking them to talent competitions in Los Angeles, California, and elsewhere. He poured his energy, his time, and the family’s U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

403

beyoncé knowles

money into the project, forcing the family to sell their house and move into an apartment. The stress of their reduced circumstances caused problems in Tina and Mathew’s marriage. “I felt like the group was more important to him than his family,” Tina told Essence. The couple separated for a short period, but soon realized they were miserable when apart. They reunited and have been together ever since.

Felt like Destiny The girls’ group, performing under such names as Somethin’ Fresh, the Dolls, and Destiny, completed a demo recording to send to record labels. They performed wherever they could, practiced singing and dancing all the time, and, particularly for Knowles and one other girl in the group, they endured strict diets to keep their weight down. The joy they felt when they were signed to a deal in 1995 with Silent Partner Productions, a division of Elektra Records, turned to bitter disappointment when the deal fell through. In 1997, however, Columbia Records signed the group, which had settled on the name Destiny’s Child. They started by recording “Killing Time,” a song that appeared on the soundtrack for the blockbuster hit Men in Black. Soon they began working on their first album. In 1998 Destiny’s Child—consisting of Knowles, Rowland, LaToya Luckett, and LaTavia Roberson— released their self-titled debut. Their first single, “No No No,” found a huge audience, quickly selling over one million copies and reaching the top of the R&B charts. While not a smash hit, the album performed well overall, selling enough to encourage the girls to return to the studio to record a second album. After the release of the first Destiny’s Child album, the group was one among many all-female R&B groups jockeying for success, but with The Writing’s on the Wall, released in 1999, they shot to superstardom. The first track, “Bills, Bills, Bills,” hit number one on the R&B chart and on the pop charts as well. A subsequent song, “Say My Name,” performed even better, and in 2000 Destiny’s Child won two Grammy Awards. Their newfound success, however, was not enough to keep the group together. Problems concerning money and decision-making powers drove them apart, and Roberson and Luckett left Destiny’s Child. They later sued the group and manager Mathew Knowles, a move that created a stir in the media. The new Destiny’s

404


•

volume 2

beyoncé knowles

Child, now including Farrah Franklin and Michelle Williams, felt frustrated that so many media reports focused on the band’s troubles rather than their music. In the end, however, the wave of publicity generated by the controversy resulted in more album sales for the group, and The Writing’s on the Wall eventually sold more than eight million copies. Franklin quit Destiny’s Child after only a few months, leaving the group a trio. One of the problems voiced by departing members was what they considered Mathew Knowles’s unfair emphasis on his daughter’s career rather than that of the whole group. Whether because of her father or because of her own talent and ambition, Beyoncé had emerged as the group’s most visible member. For the third album, Survivor, she took an expanded role in the writing and producing, and her increased involvement paid off. When the album came out in the spring of 2001, it shot straight to number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, spawning two hit singles with the title track and with “Bootylicious,” and winning another Grammy Award. Destiny’s Child soon announced that each member would pursue solo projects, although the group, which had sold more than thirty-three million records worldwide, voiced no plans to separate permanently.

Beyoncé Knowles performs at the 2003 Nelson Mandela AIDS Benefit Concert in South Africa. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Spreading out In addition to beginning work on a solo album, Knowles began pursuing acting jobs. In 2001 she appeared as the title character in an MTV production called Carmen: The Hip-Hopera, a modern retelling of the nineteenth-century opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. Her next acting job exposed her to millions of filmgoers all over the world. Playing the sassy 1970s-era character Foxxy Cleopatra, Knowles helped Mike Myers capture the bad guys in Austin Powers in Goldmember in 2002. She then obtained a more substantial role in The Fighting Temptations, released in 2003. While the film did not achieve blockbuster status, it did earn more than $30 million at the box office, thanks in large part to Knowles’s massive fan base. Aware of the mixed track U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

405

beyoncé knowles

record of other pop stars crossing over to film, Knowles took her acting seriously, working hard to improve her skills and sincerely hoping to turn in a quality performance. In an article in People, Jonathan Lynn, director of The Fighting Temptations, recalled of Knowles: “On the first day of filming she was a little nervous. She was aware that I might be treating her with kid gloves, so she took me aside and said, ‘Make sure you’re happy with what you get from me.’” Also in 2003, Knowles released her debut solo recording, Dangerously in Love. With a list of impressive collaborators including Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Sean Paul, and Big Boi of the hip-hop duo OutKast, Knowles used the album to display a side of herself not previously seen by Destiny’s Child fans—more mature, more adventurous, and with songs like “Naughty Girl” and “Baby Boy,” more sensual. The breakout single, “Crazy in Love,” peppered the airwaves, becoming a huge summer hit in 2003. Featuring the rapping of Jay-Z and describing the giddy feeling of falling hard for someone, the song fueled speculation that Knowles and Jay-Z were romantically linked, but the pair kept the relationship under wraps, determined to keep their personal lives private. Entertainment Weekly’s Nancy Miller praised Knowles for exploring a variety of styles on her solo outing, opting to take chances rather than simply continue in the Destiny’s Child mode. “While living Dangerously in Love,” Miller reported, “[Knowles] birthed contagious hip-hop dance tracks, ’70s-R&B-flavored jams, and garment-rending ballads.” The album, released in June of 2003, sold close to three million copies in the United States in its first six months. Knowles was a smash hit overseas as well, with both the “Crazy in Love” single and the album reaching the top of Billboard’s European sales charts. Knowles earned a slew of awards after the release of Dangerously in Love, taking home five Grammy Awards in 2004, including Best Contemporary R&B Album. Her five statues put her in fine company: only Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, and Norah Jones had won that many Grammy Awards in a single year. During 2004 the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) nominated Knowles for five Image Awards, giving her their Entertainer of the Year honor. Knowles’s accomplishments have been considerable, but so are her expectations. In an interview with CosmoGirl! she explained that her ultimate goal is to be thought of as a legend. In

406


•

volume 2

beyoncé knowles

response to the question of what makes a celebrity into a legend, Knowles told CosmoGirl!: “When you say her name, what you think about is her star quality. She is a good person, has good spirit, and is more than just a person who performs and sells records. She’s a person who will change your life.” Knowles may be too young to be described as a legend, but she has joined the elite ranks of Madonna, Cher, and other single-named stars, becoming known to millions of fans simply as “Beyoncé.”

For More Information Periodicals Chocano, Carina. “Destiny Awaits.” Entertainment Weekly (May 30, 2003): p. 34. Feiwell, Jill. “Working on a Dual Destiny.” Daily Variety (March 5, 2004): p. A8. Mayo, Kierna. “Beyoncé Unwrapped.” Essence (August 2003): p. 122. Miller, Nancy. “Beyoncé: Love Child.” Entertainment Weekly (December 26, 2003): p. 32. Rosenberg, Carissa. “Above and Beyoncé.” CosmoGirl! (September 2002): p. 139. Sexton, Paul. “Charts Show Europe’s ‘in Love’ with Beyoncé.” Billboard Bulletin (July 25, 2003): p. 1. Tauber, Michelle. “Destiny’s Woman.” People (October 6, 2003): p. 87.

Web Sites “About Solange.” Solange. http://www.solangemusic.com/ (accessed June 26, 2004). “Beyoncé.” All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com (accessed on June 24, 2004). “Biography.” Beyoncé. http://www.beyonceonline.com/ (accessed on June 25, 2004).


•

volume 2

407

Daniel Libeskind

May 12, 1946 • Lodz, Poland



•

volume 2

Architect

From a very young age, Daniel Libeskind (pronounced LEE-buhskinned) exhibited a sharp intellect and extraordinary talents. As a child in Poland, he discovered that he had considerable musical talents; he appeared on live Polish television at the age of six, playing the accordion. As a young man, having immigrated to the United States during his teen years, Libeskind abandoned his musical ambitions, devoting himself to a different type of creative expression: architecture. After studying to become an architect, he spent many years teaching and developing his theories of design rather than actually creating buildings. By the start of the twenty-first century, with one building to his credit—the Jewish Museum Berlin—Libeskind had proven that he could translate his teachings and ideas into a work of tremendous significance, and he came to be considered one of the world’s most innovative architects.

409

daniel libeskind

A Childhood Propelled by Music Libeskind was born in Lodz, Poland, on May 12, 1946, the year after World War II (1939–45) ended. Libeskind’s parents, Jews living under the dangerous regime of Nazi Germany, had separately fled Poland when the war began. After reaching the border of the Soviet Union, both were arrested by the Soviets. They met and married in 1943, while in exile from their native Poland. After the war, they returned to Libeskind’s father’s hometown, Lodz, to find that nearly every relative, eighty-five people in all, had been killed during the Holocaust, Nazi Germany’s systematic attempt to destroy the entire Jewish population of Europe. Like many Jews in postwar Eastern Europe, the

“I arrived by ship to New York as a teenager, an immigrant, and like millions of others before me, my first sight was the Statue of Liberty and the amazing skyline of Manhattan. I have never forgotten that sight or what it stands for.” Libeskinds found that the formal end of the Holocaust did not bring an end to violent anti-Semitism, or hatred of Jews, in their city. Libeskind told Stanley Meisler of the Smithsonian: “Anti-Semitism is the only memory I still have of Poland. In school. On the streets. It wasn’t what most people think happened after the war was over. It was horrible.” His parents wanted him to play an instrument, but moving a piano through the courtyard of their apartment complex would have aroused the hostility and resentment of the neighbors. Instead, Libeskind’s parents bought him an accordion, an instrument that could be concealed in a briefcase. He excelled in his musical studies and earned some measure of fame at a very early age. When Libeskind was eleven, he, his parents, and his older sister immigrated to Tel Aviv, Israel. Upon moving to Israel, he switched instruments and began playing piano. Two years later, in 1959, he won

410


•

volume 2

daniel libeskind

Buildings by Daniel Libeskind

The following list indicates the architectural projects, both completed and ongoing, of Daniel Libeskind. The building name is followed by Libeskind’s name for or description of the project, the location of the building, and the years of development; the projects are listed in chronological order. Jewish Museum Berlin, “Between the Lines,” Berlin, Germany, 1989–1999. Felix Nussbaum Haus, “Museum ohne Ausgang,” Osnabrëck, Germany, 1995–1999. Danish Jewish Museum, “Mitzvah,” Copenhagen, Denmark, 1996–2003. Extension to the Victoria & Albert Museum, “The Spiral,” London, England, 1996–2006. Imperial War Museum North, “Earth Time,” Manchester, England, 1997–2002.

Studio Weil, Private gallery for Barbara Weil, Port d’Andratx, Mallorca, Spain, 1998–2003. Jewish Museum San Francisco, “L’Chai’m: To Life,” San Francisco, CA, 1998–2005. Maurice Wohl Convention Centre, Bar-Ilan, “The Book and the Wall,” Bar-Ilan University, Tel Aviv, Israel, 2000–2004. Extension to the Denver Art Museum, “The Eye and the Wing,” Denver, CO, 2000–2005. London Metropolitan University Post-Graduate Centre, “Orion,” London, England, 2001–2003. World Trade Center Site Plan, “Memory Foundations,” New York, NY, 2002–.

an America-Israel Cultural Foundation scholarship, which enabled the family to move to the United States. They settled in a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Libeskind continued to study music and to perform, but as he matured, he found music to be less and less satisfying. He told Paul Goldberger of the New Yorker, “Music was not about abstract, intellectual thought—it was about playing. I didn’t find it interesting enough. I couldn’t see spending my life on a stage.” Craving a different kind of creative and intellectual exploration, Libeskind enrolled in the Bronx High School of Science.

Transition to Architecture Not long after completing high school, in 1965, Libeskind became a naturalized American citizen. That same year, he chose to study architecture, enrolling at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Libeskind told Cathleen McGuigan of Newsweek that U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

411

daniel libeskind

his pursuit of architecture seemed like a natural progression, as it is a field that “combines so many of my interests. Mathematics, painting, arts. It’s about people, space, music.” When the World Trade Center was under construction, Libeskind used to wander down to the site, as he related to Devin Leonard of Fortune magazine: “We used to come down here at lunch when the trade center was being built. It was the most incredible building in New York.” During his college years, Libeskind married Nina Lewis, who would later become his business partner as well, running nearly every aspect of his firm as it grew in size and importance over the years. The couple would go on to have three children: Lev, Noam, and Rachel. After graduating from Cooper Union in 1970, Libeskind studied the history and theory of architecture at Essex University in Colchester, England, earning a master’s degree there in the early 1970s. After completing his education, he briefly held jobs with standard architectural firms, but he felt stifled by what he viewed as a conformist attitude in such offices. He did not want to imitate other people’s design ideas and architectural theories; he wanted instead to develop his own notions and encourage other young architects to think independently as well. He decided to pursue teaching. He taught at the University of Kentucky, and at universities in Toronto, Canada, and London, England, before accepting the job, at age thirty-two, as director of the prestigious Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. In 1985, after seven years as director of Cranbrook, Libeskind moved to Milan, Italy, to found his own small school, Architecture Intermundium. According to Libeskind, as quoted by Stanley Meisler of the Smithsonian, he wanted the school to offer “an alternative to traditional school or to the traditional way to work in an office.… The school was between two worlds, neither the world of practice nor of academia.” Libeskind was the only professor at his school, teaching about a dozen students at a time.

The Jewish Museum Berlin By the end of the 1980s, Libeskind had been teaching architecture for close to twenty years but had yet to actually create the design for a building. His ideas, and his reputation as a thinker and teacher, however, were sufficient to win him an invitation for the competition to design

412


•

volume 2

daniel libeskind

“Reflecting Absence”: The World Trade Center Memorial the nights following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, architect Michael Arad, a New York resident who grew up in Israel, the United States, and Mexico, found himself walking the streets of the city, unable to sleep. He was surprised and moved to find impromptu memorials springing up all over the downtown area, evidence of New Yorkers’ intense feelings of grief and loss. Within a few months, he had begun thinking of a way to design a public memorial to honor those who died in the attacks. His initial idea involved creating voids, empty spaces, in the Hudson River near the World Trade Center site. When he heard the announcement that a competition would be held to choose the designer for the World Trade Center memorial, Arad decided to enter.

Arad’s design involves converting the footprints, or foundations, of the destroyed twin towers into thirty-foot-deep reflecting pools. From ground level, the pools will appear as empty spaces, signifying the loss and absence of those who died there. Visitors will be able to descend to the underground memorial, where the names of those who died will be randomly arranged around the reflecting pools; the names of rescue workers will be highlighted with a special symbol. Beneath the reflecting pools, an interpretive center will be built that will house exhibitions and artifacts of 9/11, including personal belongings recovered from Ground Zero and crushed steel beams. The memorial will also include a private room where relatives of the victims can go to pay their respects.

Well over five thousand people submitted entries for the competition. The jury, including noted architect Maya Lin (1959–), designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., narrowed the entrants down to eight finalists. In January 2004, Arad’s design was selected. Suddenly, the thirty-fouryear-old architect was faced with a tremendous task. He was responsible for what could arguably be described as the most delicate aspect of the complicated World Trade Center redevelopment. His memorial, a highly public place that would be visited by millions every year, would also have to convey a sense of quiet intimacy for the many thousands of people who lost loved ones in the attacks.

Upon leaving the underground memorial, visitors will enter a large public plaza. Initially Arad had designed this plaza to be fairly bare, and his design struck many as being too severe. After being selected as a finalist in the memorial design competition, Arad joined with California-based landscape architect Peter Walker (1932–) to refine his design. Among other changes, Walker greatly increased the number of trees and other vegetation that would fill the memorial plaza, the area surrounding the memorial. The park-like space will be filled with a variety of deciduous trees and other plants, reminders of the continuation of life in the midst of tragedy, as well as numerous park benches that will allow for rest and contemplation.

In

the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany’s capital city. Libeskind won the competition, and in 1989 he began work on the museum, a project that would take a decade to complete. While the museum would present the entirety of Jewish history in Berlin, Libeskind believed that the Holocaust, a defining event for Germany and particularly for German U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

413

daniel libeskind

Jews, would have to be significantly represented. At the Daniel Libeskind Web site, the architect explains that he realized “the necessity to integrate physically and spiritually the meaning of the Holocaust into the consciousness and memory of the city of Berlin.” Having lost so many relatives to the Holocaust, Libeskind felt a special connection to the project. The form the building takes—a long, angular zigzag—represents a sort of flattened, rearranged version of the six-pointed Jewish Star, or Star of David, which millions of Jews in Germany, Poland, and elsewhere were forced by the Nazis to wear on their clothing as a means of identification. The shape of the building was also derived from the locations of the homes of some important Berlin Jews. Libeskind plotted out these addresses, drew lines connecting them, and used the resulting shape as inspiration for the building’s design.

The Jewish Museum in Berlin, Germany, designed by Daniel Libeskind. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Libeskind encountered numerous delays in the planning and construction of the building, which was finally completed in 1999,

414


•

volume 2

daniel libeskind

only to stand empty for two years as various decision-making groups in Berlin argued over the exact purpose of the museum. During that period, more than three hundred thousand people came simply to walk through the empty building, drawn to Libeskind’s startling, unusual design. On September 9, 2001, the museum, now filled with exhibits, opened to the public, becoming one of Germany’s most-visited museums by the end of 2002. Made of reinforced concrete and covered in zinc, the Jewish Museum Berlin boasts many unique features. Libeskind conceived of an area known as the Voids, empty rooms that run the length of the building, separate from the exhibition halls. According to the Jewish Museum Berlin Web site, “The line of Voids, a series of empty rooms … expresses the emptiness remaining in Europe after the banishment and murder of its Jews during World War II. The Voids stand for the deported and exiled masses, and for the generations that were never born. They make their absence visible.” The museum also includes the Garden of Exile and Emigration, commemorating the hundreds of thousands of Jews who were forced out of Germany during the Nazi reign and acknowledging those who were able to make new lives in Israel. The garden contains forty-eight pillars filled with soil from Berlin; the number recalls the year, 1948, in which the state of Israel was established. A forty-ninth pillar contains soil from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel. Planted in each pillar are olive branches, a symbol of peace. Another part of the museum is the Holocaust Tower, an area found at the end of a hallway. After visitors enter the tower, a heavy gate clicks shut behind them, emphasizing the sense of finality and loss evoked by the Holocaust exhibits. The walls are bare concrete and the space is not heated, reminding visitors of the raw, inhumane conditions of the Nazi prison camps in which millions of Jews died. McGuigan of Newsweek described the Jewish Museum Berlin as “a slash, a wound in the cityscape—a zinc-covered zigzag, its windows diagonal slits. Inside, the spaces are haunting and disorienting.” The museum drew international attention and acclaim to Libeskind, and he came to be counted among the most interesting and important architects in the world. In the Smithsonian, Meisler explained that “Libeskind is usually described in architectural books as a ‘deconstructivist’—an architect who takes the basic rectangle of a building, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

415

daniel libeskind

breaks it up on the drawing board and then reassembles the pieces in a much different way.” Meisler noted that Libeskind himself does not consider himself a deconstructivist; he points out his emphasis on “preconstruction as well as construction.” In other words, Meisler wrote, “Libeskind collects ideas about the social and historical context of a project, mixes in his own thoughts, and transforms it all into a physical structure.” His ability to create a building that has a practical purpose as well as a deep symbolic meaning contributed to the recognition he received for his innovative design of the Jewish Museum Berlin and also played an important role in future commissions.

Triumph and Trouble at Ground Zero After completing the Jewish Museum Berlin, Libeskind received important commissions to design buildings all over the world, including the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester, England; an extension, known as the Spiral, to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England; the Danish Jewish Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark; and the Felix Nussbaum Haus, a museum devoted to a Jewish artist killed during the Holocaust, in Osnabrück, Germany. However, the accomplishment that brought Libeskind to the attention of millions in the United States and elsewhere was his victory in the contest to become the master site planner of the new development at the World Trade Center site, known as Ground Zero, in New York City. Competing against many of the world’s most accomplished architects, Libeskind conceived a design that incorporated, in its every aspect, the significance of the tragedy that took place at that site on September 11, 2001, when terrorists crashed two jetliners into the twin towers of the World Trade Center. “But,” he explained to Richard Lacayo of Time magazine, “we also want to reassert [the area’s] vitality.” While the jury that had been formed to award the commission did not actually vote in favor of Libeskind, choosing instead the team known as Think, led by Rafael Vinoly and Frederic Schwartz, Governor Pataki (1945–) and other important players, including the families of victims of the attacks, felt a strong connection to Libeskind’s design, and he was declared the winner in February 2003. Libeskind’s plan, titled Memory Foundations, included a number of features, all interconnected and serving to express his vision of the site as a tribute to the victims of 9/11 and as a landmark architectural project for

416


•

volume 2

daniel libeskind

New York and the entire United States. His original design designated large areas of open space, including the Park of Heroes as a tribute to those police, fire fighters, and rescue workers who lost their lives on 9/11. Another open space was called the Wedge of Light, a triangular area that, every September 11, would be bathed in natural light, unobscured by shadows from the surrounding buildings, between 8:46 A.M., when the first plane struck one of the twin towers, and 10:28 A.M., when the second tower collapsed. Libeskind’s design specified that the seventy-foot-deep “footprints,” or foundations, of the collapsed towers—where hundreds worked for many months after September 11, 2001, removing debris and searching for remains—would be left intact as sunken memorial space. Libeskind also wanted to leave standing the slurry walls, which made up part of the foundation of the twin towers, the only part of those buildings to survive the collapse. At the Web site of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the organization that sponsored the search for the site plan designer, Libeskind is quoted as saying, “The foundations withstood the unimaginable trauma of the destruction and stand as eloquent as the Constitution itself, asserting the durability of Democracy and the value of individual life.” His concept included a series of buildings to hold offices, residences, a performing arts center, and shopping centers; the tallest building was to be 1,776 feet, a number chosen by Libeskind to recall the year the United States gained independence from Britain. The shape of the building, which was to be topped by a tall spire, would echo that of the nearby Statue of Liberty. Upon winning the commission, Libeskind—the architect at that point of a handful of buildings, not one of which was a skyscraper— was faced with the enormous task of overseeing the design of a sixteen-acre parcel of land. These were no ordinary sixteen acres, however. Any major development in a large urban area like New York City presents a challenging array of obstacles for an architect, including political concerns, financial needs, the complications of working in a crowded city, and the wishes of the city’s residents. The World Trade Center development added a new dimension to this complexity: for the families of the victims of 9/11, and for many others as well, the ground at this site is sacred, and the process for developing that land is charged with strong opinions and deeply felt emotions. When he was announced as the new developer of the master site plan, Libeskind was abruptly thrust into the limelight. The press folU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

417

daniel libeskind

lowed his every move, photographers snapped his picture, and his name appeared in the headlines of every major newspaper. Once the excitement died down, Libeskind was forced to confront the complexity of his role. He had to please a number of different factions, or groups, including the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the transit management group that owns the land; developer Larry Silverstein, who holds the lease on the property and who would be the recipient of the insurance payout from the twin towers’ collapse; Governor Pataki and New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (1942–), both of whom considered the development of the site as a key part of their political legacies; the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the government agency that had been created to oversee the rebuilding of Ground Zero; and the families of the victims.

Daniel Libeskind (center) stands behind the model for his design to replace the World Trade Center. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Libeskind found that, in addition to pleasing many different parties, he would also have to cooperate with other architects on the

418


•

volume 2

daniel libeskind

design of the entire complex. He had been chosen to develop the master plan for the site, but he had not been charged with actually designing the different parts of that plan. Silverstein had previously hired architect David Childs (1941–) to design the tallest tower of the site, which has been dubbed the Freedom Tower. Regardless of the fact that Libeskind had submitted his own design for the tower as part of his overall plan for the site, he was forced to collaborate with Childs on a design that would result in both men compromising their initial visions. The memorial at the site would also be handed over to a different architect. An international contest was held to determine the designer of the memorial, and Michael Arad (1969–), a thirty-fouryear-old architect, was chosen in early 2004. Within a year of winning the opportunity to oversee the new World Trade Center complex, Libeskind’s original plan had undergone dramatic changes. His tall tower had been changed completely by Childs; his suggestions for memorial space had been overridden by the design of Arad; plans for the slurry walls to remain standing had been scrapped due to engineering concerns; and his proposal for the Wedge of Light plaza had been incorporated as an element of Spanish-born architect Santiago Calatrava’s design for the new transportation station. While the reality of the World Trade Center commission turned out to be far more complex and tangled than Libeskind may have bargained for, and while he surely will have to compromise far more than he would like, the project still offers him the opportunity to be at the helm of one of the most significant building projects in American history. The new World Trade Center could benefit greatly from Libeskind’s unique ability to take lofty ideas and powerful emotions and translate them into the physical forms of buildings.

For More Information Periodicals Cockfield, Errol A., Jr. “Arad’s Vision Reshapes Lower Manhattan.” Newsday (February 23, 2004). Eylon, Lili. “Libeskind Zigzag in Berlin.” Architecture Week (November 7, 2001). Goldberger, Paul. “Urban Warriors.” New Yorker (September 15, 2003): p. 73. “An Interview with WTC Memorial Designer Michael Arad.” Architectural Record (March 2, 2004).


•

volume 2

419

daniel libeskind Lacayo, Richard. “O Brave New World!” Time (March 10, 2003): p. 58. Leonard, Devin. “Tower Struggle.” Fortune (January 26, 2004): p. 76. McGuigan, Cathleen. “Daniel Libeskind Takes Home the Prize.” Newsweek (March 10, 2003): pp. 58–60. Meisler, Stanley. “Daniel Libeskind: Architect at Ground Zero.” Smithsonian (March 2003): p. 76. Novitski, B. J. “Libeskind Scheme Chosen for WTC.” Architecture Week (March 5, 2003).

Web Sites Daniel Libeskind. http://daniel-libeskind.com/daniel/index.html (accessed on May 30, 2004). Jewish Museum Berlin. http://www.jmberlin.de/ (accessed on May 30, 2004). “Memorial Design.” Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. http:// www.lowermanhattan.info/rebuild/memorial_design/default.asp (accessed on May 30, 2004). “Studio Daniel Libeskind.” Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. http://www.lowermanhattan.info/rebuild/new_design_plans/firm_d/ default.asp (accessed on May 30, 2004).

420


•

volume 2

Lindsay Lohan

July 2, 1986 • New York, New York



•

volume 2

Actress

L indsay Lohan was introduced to filmgoers in 1998 when she faced the difficult task of filling the shoes of beloved child actress Hayley Mills in a remake of The Parent Trap. Lohan offered herself up for comparison again five years later when she starred in Freaky Friday, another classic teen film from a generation ago. Remakes can be tricky, having to live up to the expectations of fans of the original while also appealing to those seeing the film for the first time. In both of these films, Lohan offered a fresh perspective on her characters while staying true to the spirit of the originals, earning the admiration of a broad spectrum of viewers and the adoration of her teenage and preteen fans. Lohan was crowned one of the new teen queens, with her freckled face suddenly appearing on magazine covers everywhere. She hosted Saturday Night Live in May of 2004 and the MTV Movie Awards the following month. More than just a pretty face, Lohan had become an in-demand actress, appearing in two 2004 films, Confes-

421

lindsay lohan

sions of a Teenage Drama Queen and Mean Girls, with plans to star in no fewer than four films in 2005.

A childhood spent in front of cameras Born on July 2, 1986, Lindsay Morgan Lohan was a member of a family with close connections to show business. Her father, Michael, a former child actor, has dabbled in a number of careers; he owned a pasta business, worked in finance as a Wall Street trader, and produced films. Lohan’s mother, Dina, has also proven to be multitalented. The former professional dancer, one of the world-famous Radio

“I’m not as hard on myself as I used to be. But that’s what happens when you’re growing up—you don’t like things about yourself that much. I didn’t like my body or my freckles or my red hair. I still don’t like my freckles that much—they just bug me.” City Music Hall’s Rockettes, also worked as a Wall Street analyst and then became her daughter’s manager. Lohan’s younger brother, also named Michael, is an actor as well, having made his feature-film debut in a small role in The Parent Trap. Lohan has two other younger siblings, Aliana and Dakota. With her striking red hair and green eyes, Lohan has been turning heads from an early age. She began modeling at age three, represented by the prestigious Ford Modeling Agency. She appeared in more than sixty television commercials during her childhood, advertising such brands as Pizza Hut, Wendy’s, the Gap, and Jell-O. At age ten Lohan was cast as Alli Fowler on the soap opera Another World, a role she played from 1996 to 1997. In early 1997 the young actress learned that she had been chosen from a group of thousands of girls to star in a major film, Disney’s remake of its 1961 classic The Parent Trap. Just

422


•

volume 2

lindsay lohan

as in the original, the role of the twin girls was played by a single actress, with Lohan doing the double duty first performed by Hayley Mills (1946–). Lohan successfully met the challenge of playing two different parts, skillfully portraying the girls’ different personalities and even different accents. In the film, twin sisters Hallie and Annie are separated during their infancy when their parents divorce. Each grows up, one in the United States and the other in England, not knowing of the other’s existence until they meet by chance at a summer camp. After initially clashing, the girls form a tight bond, and their newfound relationship leads to a master plan to reunite their mother and father. Somewhat overwhelmed and tired out from her hard work in The Parent Trap, Lohan took a break from acting, resuming her “normal” life of going to school and spending time with friends. In 2000 she returned to show business, acting in LifeSize, a made-for-television Disney movie starring model and actress Tyra Banks. That same year Lohan was cast in a new sitcom, Bette, starring comedian, singer, and actress Bette Midler. But when the production for the show moved from New York to Los Angeles, Lohan chose to stay on the East Coast and left the show. Disney came calling again soon after, casting Lohan in Get a Clue (2002), a movie made for broadcast on the company’s cable station, the Disney Channel.

Lindsay Lohan (right) and Jamie Lee Curtis at the premeire of Freaky Friday. Albert L. Ortega/ WireImage.com.

Drama queen rules comedies Lohan’s breakthrough role came in 2002, when she was cast as teenager Anna Coleman in another Disney remake, Freaky Friday. Lohan plays a teenage girl embroiled in constant conflict with her widowed mother, Tess Coleman, portrayed by Jamie Lee Curtis (1958–). Anna and Tess have little understanding of one another. Tess complains about her daughter’s loud music, punk-rock clothing, and taste in boys. Anna resents her mother’s plans to remarry, her attempts to control details of her daughter’s life, and her refusal to take Anna’s musical ambitions seriously. After dinner at a Chinese restaurant one U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

423

lindsay lohan

night, Anna and Tess receive identical messages in their fortune cookies, a signal of the mysterious occurrence that results in mother and daughter waking up in each other’s bodies the following morning. In a role originated in 1976 by acclaimed actress and director Jodie Foster (1962–), Lohan gracefully handled what amounts to a dual role: Anna the teenager and Tess the mother trapped in a teenager’s body. The film, released in 2003, became a hit, its combination of wacky comedy and touching family ties winning over adults as well as its younger target audience. Her success in Freaky Friday launched Lohan to a new level of fame and made her a must-have actress for young-adult comedies. Lohan once again joined forces with Disney for Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, released in early 2004. The movie, about a drama-loving teenager coping with her family’s move from the big city to the suburbs, earned lukewarm reviews, although many took note of Lohan’s magnetic presence. She fared better in her next film, released a few months later. In Mean Girls, written by (and costarring) Saturday Night Live head writer Tina Fey, Lohan played Cady, a teen who grew up traveling the world with her scientist parents. Having been home-schooled all her life, Cady is unprepared for the viciously competitive world of high school cliques. With the help of some new friends, Cady takes on the school’s most popular girls, a group known as the Plastics. Mean Girls charged ahead of its competitors at the box office, reaching number one in its first weekend of release. Michelle Tauber wrote in People magazine that this film marked a defining moment in Lohan’s career: “Thanks to the critical and financial success of Mean Girls … Lohan has zipped straight to the head of the class.” Before her eighteenth birthday, Lohan had a number of successful, high-profile film roles under her belt, with more in the works, including yet another revisiting of a Disney classic (1968’s The Love Bug) with Herbie: Fully Loaded, as well as the comedy Dramarama. Her visibility has meant that every step of her transition to adulthood has been documented by the media. Commenting on her physical development in her late teen years, some critics speculated that Lohan had surgery to increase her breast size, a rumor she denounced as ridiculous. A well-publicized tiff with fellow teen queen Hilary Duff revealed Lohan’s tough, self-confident nature and, according to

424


•

volume 2

lindsay lohan

Tauber in People, “established Lohan’s reputation for making waves.” Many news reports have suggested that Lohan heartily enjoys the nightlife, and she has been frequently spotted in clubs, dancing the night away with other young celebrities. Lohan has refused to apologize for her youthful behavior, telling People that “I’m 17. I’m learning, and I’d rather make my own mistakes and learn from them than have to be sheltered my whole life.” Not content to spend all of her time acting, Lohan has also begun developing a singing career. Crafting a style that combines pop, rock, and hip-hop, Lohan started working on her first album in 2003, having earlier signed a multi-album production deal with Emilio Estefan Jr. (1953–), a highly respected producer and the husband of singer Gloria Estefan (1957–). Lohan performed the song “Ultimate” for the soundtrack of Freaky Friday, helping the album reach Billboard magazine’s top twenty. The young actress, filled with self-confidence, seems determined to explore her potential on a number of fronts. In numerous magazine articles, including a 2004 profile in Girls’ Life, Lohan has explained the reasons behind her career choices and the decisions she makes in her personal life, by expresseing her go-for-it philosophy: “Life is way too short”—too short to worry about what other people think about her, too short to stay at home when she could be out dancing, and too short to settle for starring roles in films when she could become a pop star as well.

For More Information Periodicals Bryson, Jodi. “Confessions of a Teen Queen.” Girls’ Life (April-May 2004): p. 44. Gostin, Nicki. “Newsmakers.” Newsweek (February 23, 2004): p. 67. Leydon, Joe. “Freaky Friday.” Daily Variety (July 21, 2003): p. 6. “Lindsay Lohan.” People (May 10, 2004): p. 26. Tauber, Michelle. “Teen Star with a Twist.” People (May 24, 2004): p. 79.

Web Sites “Lindsay Lohan.” Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/name/ nm0517820/ (accessed on June 28, 2004). “Lindsay’s Biography.” LLRocks.com. http://www.llrocks.com/index.php?a =bio.html&b=blank.html (accessed on June 28, 2004).


•

volume 2

425

Stella McCartney

September 13, 1971 • London, England



•

volume 2

Fashion designer

While some may think that being the daughter of one of the world’s most famous, respected, and wealthy rock stars would lead to plentiful advantages when building a career, British designer Stella McCartney might not completely agree. McCartney, daughter of Sir Paul— who happens to be a former member of the Beatles, perhaps the most popular and influential rock band ever—has talent and ambition to spare, but her fame-by-association has caused many to speculate that it is her family connections rather than her design collections that have propelled her career. Being a McCartney has its advantages— through family acquaintances, a teenaged Stella made important connections in the design world—but had she been lacking in talent and business sense, such connections would have been meaningless. Instead, McCartney proved that her combination of creativity, sense of style, and understanding of the fashion industry could make her a powerful force in fashion regardless of her parentage.

427

stella mccartney

In 1997, less than two years after graduating from college, McCartney made headlines when she was hired as the creative director for Chloe, a respected design house in Paris, France. She spent four years at Chloe, helping to redefine the company’s image and increasing the company’s sales by appealing to young, hip consumers. In 2001 McCartney left Chloe to start her own company in partnership with the celebrated Gucci Group. She spent the following years issuing new collections, opening boutiques in New York, London, and Los Angeles, and, in 2003, launching a new fragrance line called Stella.

“I have a vision for the way I want a woman to dress, perhaps because I’m a woman and know what I like to wear.… It’s not about what it looks like in the studio or on the runway. It’s what it looks like on a real person that matters.” Down on the farm McCartney was born in London in 1971, not long after the breakup of the Beatles. Her father, a musician of exceptional talent, went on to form the band Wings, in which her mother, Linda, played keyboards and sang backup. Linda McCartney also became known for her skilled photographic portraits of musicians and other subjects, and was an outspoken advocate for animal rights as well as an accomplished vegetarian cook and cookbook writer. While the McCartneys led an unconventional life, traveling around the world on tour with the band with their children in tow, they were determined that their home base would be a tranquil refuge from the rock-and-roll lifestyle. The family, including Stella, her half-sister Heather (from Linda McCartney’s first marriage), sister Mary, and brother James, moved to a farm by the time Stella was ten years old. Living in a modest farmhouse, the family raised sheep, rode horses, and grew organic produce. Stella was heavily influenced by the family’s back-to-nature lifestyle and

428


•

volume 2

stella mccartney

Next-Generation Jagger

J ade Jagger, jewelry designer and famous offspring, has encountered much of the same skepticism that Stella McCartney has faced. As the daughter of Mick Jagger (1943–), lead singer of the Rolling Stones, and Bianca Jagger, a symbol of high fashion, Jade has struggled to establish an identity separate from that of her world-famous parents. Even as she has forged a successful design career, she still has critics suggesting that her professional accomplishments are due to her fame as a Jagger rather than her own talent. Born in 1972, Jagger certainly had an unconventional upbringing as the daughter of one of rock music’s most notorious bad boys. Her father has provided material for tabloid newspapers for most of his adult life, with one high-profile and stormy relationship after another (Mick and Bianca divorced around 1980). As a teenager Jade acquired a reputation for being a bit wild herself. She made headlines in 1988 when she was expelled from a prestigious private school in England for sneaking out to meet her boyfriend. And she was known for throwing, and attending, great parties. Jagger’s lifestyle mellowed a bit when she became a mother in the early 1990s; she now has two daughters, Assisi and Amba. Jagger has done some modeling and has long been a part of the fashion scene, but her vocation is

designing jewelry. Jagger started her own company, Jade Inc., in 1998, creating and selling fine jewelry with a modern twist. In 2002 Jagger was hired as the creative director for the upscale British jewelry company Garrard. Once the Crown Jewelers—those responsible for crowns, tiaras, and other decorative items worn by British royalty—Garrard is a longestablished traditional company that was formerly known as Asprey & Garrard. When those controlling the company split the brands into two separate firms, it was decided that Garrard, while remaining a provider of expensive luxury items, would also try to reach out to a younger and more informal crowd. Jagger was seen as the right person to navigate the company through this new territory. In a 2002 article in WWD, Samantha Conti wrote that Jagger’s goal at Garrard was to “blend the classic and the avant-garde, which means that blue diamond tiaras sell alongside funky gold dog tags, the rocks on some rings roll—literally—in a see-saw motion, and pendants are inspired by hip-hop and heraldry.” Jagger designed a line of jewelry that playfully incorporated royal symbols such as crowns and family crests. While Jagger will never completely escape associations with her famous dad, she has forged a successful career independent of her family connections, earning praise for her funky and fashionable creations.

her parents’ values, becoming a vegetarian herself as well as a committed animal rights activist. McCartney had known ever since her early teen years that she wanted to be a fashion designer; she was designing and making clothes by age thirteen. At age fifteen she had a brief internship in Paris with acclaimed designer Christian LaCroix. Later, during her university years, McCartney became an apprentice to tailor Edward U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

429

stella mccartney

Sexton, learning the finer points of tailoring on London’s famed Savile Row, home to numerous traditional and highly respected custom clothing companies. She briefly worked at the French company Patou, makers of expensive custom-made clothes, but left the company in objection to their use of fur in some of their products. McCartney attended Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London. Along with her fellow design students, McCartney designed a line of clothing to be displayed in a student fashion show as part of a graduation project. Like many of the other students, McCartney enlisted some friends to model her clothing during the show. Unlike her peers, however, McCartney’s friends were supermodels Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss. Her models’ fame, as well as her own celebrity stemming from her family ties (and the presence of her famous parents in the audience), attracted hordes of reporters and photographers from all over the world to the student show. Many of the other students resented the circus atmosphere and the fact that the press left the show immediately after McCartney’s clothes had been shown. Some in the media and the fashion industry speculated that the extraordinary attention the young designer received had everything to do with her last name and little to do with her talent as a designer. But buyers for a number of upscale department stores, including Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus, disagreed, buying McCartney’s line for sale in their stores.

A rapid rise After her 1995 college graduation, McCartney opened her own boutique in London to sell her designs. Her designs featured a mix of crisp tailoring with lacy, romantic pieces, a combination that conveyed a sense of strong femininity. Her specialties were slip dresses and luxurious swishy silk skirts. “My mom always collected thriftshop stuff—especially Italian slips,” McCartney related to Time magazine’s Ginia Bellafante. “I’ve always loved underwear and antique fabrics and lace for all their soft texture.” Her designs were snapped up by fashion-conscious shoppers, including models, actresses, and musicians. In December of 1996, a man came into McCartney’s boutique describing himself as the owner of a clothing store in Rome, Italy. He asked extensive questions about her collection and her ideas

430


•

volume 2

stella mccartney

on how to sell fashions to women of all ages, and was impressed by McCartney’s thorough understanding of quality clothing as well as the marketing of such items. He later introduced himself as Mounir Moufarrige, president of the long-admired Parisian design firm Chloe. Moufarrige, eager to revive his struggling company by appealing to consumers younger and hipper than Chloe’s traditional customers, had traveled to McCartney’s shop to meet the woman who had been generating so much buzz.

Stella McCartney (center) acknowledges applause after a Paris fashion show in 2000. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Weeks later, Moufarrige offered the twenty-five-year-old designer a job as creative director of Chloe. Many in the fashion industry, including esteemed designer Karl Lagerfeld, who had previously held McCartney’s position at Chloe, felt outraged that Moufarrige had hired a young and untested designer for such a significant position. McCartU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

431

stella mccartney

ney soon silenced her critics, however, by bringing tremendous visibility and success to Chloe. Beginning with her first successful show with Chloe, in the fall of 1997, McCartney displayed her signature style of clean lines combined with delicate and sexy pieces. Critics acknowledged that her designs were not terribly bold or innovative, but they held tremendous appeal for consumers. McCartney not only improved the fortunes of Chloe, she also helped usher in a new trend in women’s clothing that favored romantic, flirtatious styles over the plainer, nofrills look popular in the early 1990s. Just two years after she joined Chloe, Robin Givhan wrote in the Washington Post that under McCartney’s direction, “Chloe has not just gotten substantially better. It has been transformed.” McCartney’s professional success, however, was tempered by personal tragedy during this period. In 1998 her mother died after a three-year battle with breast cancer. In 2000 McCartney won the VH1/Vogue Fashion and Music Designer of the Year Award. During that same year, she designed a bridal gown for one of the most high-profile weddings in the celebrity world—that of pop superstar (and McCartney pal) Madonna to filmmaker Guy Ritchie. During 2001 McCartney led Chloe in a new direction, overseeing the introduction of a more casual, less expensive clothing line called See. Her success at Chloe and increasing name recognition as a designer to watch generated numerous rumors that McCartney would not stay at the Paris company much longer. Her rapid rise through the ranks of the fashion industry led many to believe that she would soon strike out on her own and, after four years with the Paris firm, McCartney did in fact leave. She had struck a deal with the renowned Gucci Group to start her own design house.

The ups and downs of independence McCartney wasted no time creating the first line for her new company, which bears her name and is half owned by Gucci. Just a few months after striking out on her own in the fall of 2001, she showed her first collection. The reception was not exactly favorable. McCartney deviated from her signature style, as reported by Lisa Armstrong at New York Metro.com: “McCartney, who’d become a reliable source of lovely, easy-on-the-eye garments, chose this moment to replace her stock-in-trade flirtiness with something more hard-core.” Armstrong

432


•

volume 2

stella mccartney

pointed out that the timing of the show did not help matters; it took place one month after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York City and Washington, D.C., a time when people sought comfort, not confrontation. Fashion journalists wrote harsh reviews of the show, with McCartney’s critics reiterating their opinion that the designer was famous simply because of her name. With her next few collections, however, McCartney once again proved her critics wrong. She returned to her roots, focusing on designing clothes that made women feel and look good. In the fall of 2002 McCartney opened her first store, in New York City, to feature her new company’s designs. Her second store opened the following spring in London, with a third opening in the Los Angeles area in the fall of 2003. In the stores, which are called simply “Stella McCartney,” she sells her clothing as well as shoes, bags, and other accessories, including her own perfume, a scent called Stella. All of her products reflect McCartney’s dedication to animal rights and other causes. In her clothing designs she emphasizes cottons and silks. Not one of her products, including shoes and bags, is made out of leather or fur. The company manufacturing her fragrance is prohibited from using genetically modified materials—that is, plants that have been altered by humans—and will not accept plants that were harvested by children or that are on any endangered species list. McCartney attributes her socially conscious attitude to the earthy styles of her parents, particularly her mother. She has also credited her mother with informing her fashion sensibility: the confidence to wear clothes she loves rather than following trends, a combination of vintage and modern looks, and the choice of a natural look over a highly polished one. Describing her mother’s naturalness to Shane Watson of Harper’s Bazaar, McCartney noted: “You look at people in her position now, and they’re all manicured and their hair’s straightened, and she was so not that, ever. She never waxed her legs, never dyed her hair, and that is so rare.… I mean, my mum really was the coolest chick in the world.” While the loss of her mother was devastating, McCartney has also experienced much personal and professional happiness in recent years. In August of 2003 she wed magazine publisher Alasdhair Willis in a small but elaborate ceremony. Taking place on a three-hundredacre estate on the Scottish island of Bute, the wedding featured truckloads of white roses imported from the Netherlands, a bagpipe band, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 2

433

stella mccartney

and a fireworks display. Guests—including such celebrity pals as Gwyneth Paltrow, Liv Tyler, and Madonna—were transported in carriages pulled by Clydesdale horses. A large team of security guards kept the press at bay, ensuring a calm and private affair. On the professional front, McCartney has achieved increasing success with each new collection. Tom Ford, the former creative director of Gucci, told Armstrong why he has so much confidence in McCartney: “She has everything it takes to be successful—the drive, the will, and the intelligence. She has great style, great taste.”

For More Information Periodicals “And I Love Her.” People (September 15, 2003): p. 66. Bellafante, Ginia. “Tired of Chic Simple? Welcome to the New Romance.” Time (April 6, 1998): p. 66. Conti, Samantha. “Jagger’s New Jewels.” WWD (September 16, 2002): p. 17. Diamond, Kerry. “Stella’s Sexy New Scent.” Harper’s Bazaar (September 2003): p. 248. Fallon, James. “Life with Gucci.” WWD (July 3, 2001): p. 1. Givhan, Robin. Washington Post (January 29, 1999): p. C1. Watson, Shane. “Twenty-four Hours with Stella McCartney.” Harper’s Bazaar (September 2002): p. 426.

Web Sites Armstrong, Lisa. “Stella Nova.” New York Metro.com. http://www.newyork metro.com/shopping/articles/02/fallfashion/stellanova/ (accessed on July 14, 2004). Stella McCartney. http://www.stellamccartney.com/ (accessed on July 14, 2004). “Who’s Who: Stella McCartney.” Vogue.com. http://www.vogue.co.uk/ whos_who/Stella_McCartney/default.html# (accessed on July 14, 2004).

434


•

volume 2



volume

3 three

McL–Rodd










contents

volume

1

one



•

volume 3


v

contents volume

2

two


vi


•

volume 3

contents volume

3

three



•

volume 3

vii

contents volume

4

four


viii


•

volume 3



•

by •

volume 3

•

field of endeavor



ix

field of endeavor


x


•

volume 3

field of endeavor




•

volume 3

xi

field of endeavor




xii


•

volume 3

field of endeavor




•

volume 3

xiii

reader’s guide




•

volume 3

U



xv

reader’s guide



xvi


•

volume 3


Betsy McLaughlin

c. 1962 • California


•

Courtesy of Betsy McLaughlin.

volume 3

CEO of Hot Topic

A s a teenager, Betsy McLaughlin had a plan for her life. She intended to become the chief executive officer (CEO) of a company. She counted on working hard to achieve success, and she expected to make a good living thanks to her hard work. As an adult, McLaughlin has accomplished those goals. Before turning forty, she became the CEO of Hot Topic, a company running a chain of hip, alternative clothing stores for teenagers. She oversaw the tremendous growth of her company, which in 2004 boasted nearly five hundred stores in shopping malls all over the United States. During 2001 McLaughlin led her company’s expansion into a new line of stores, called Torrid, which offer plus-size teens the same types of trend-setting fashions sold at Hot Topic. Within two years Hot Topic had opened more than fifty Torrid stores. Named one of Fortune magazine’s one hundred fastest-growing companies for several years in a row, Hot Topic has succeeded in tapping into the desires of millions of teenagers by energetically seeking out new trends and capitalizing on them before they become too mainstream.

435

betsy mclaughlin

Betsy’s life goals Elizabeth M. McLaughlin was born around 1962 and grew up in Orange County, California. She was an excellent student, earning straight A’s at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa. By the time she graduated from high school in 1978, McLaughlin had mapped out her goals, written on a piece of paper she has carried with her for many years. Among “Betsy’s Life Goals,” as she termed them, were improving her vocabulary, becoming a CEO by age forty, and learning to be comfortable by herself in social settings. As she told Tiffany Montgomery of the Orange County Register, “I knew I’d be working so much I’d need to be OK traveling alone, going to dinner alone.”

“I don’t think we know best. I think we’re going to learn so much from [a] customer when that customer walks into our store.” Her first step in accomplishing her goals was taking a part-time salesperson job at Broadway, a chain of department stores, when she entered college at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). By age twenty, she was an assistant manager at Broadway. After graduating from UCI with a degree in economics, McLaughlin moved up to Broadway’s corporate offices, working in the financial and planning departments. She then went to work for Miller’s Outpost, a chain of retail specialty stores, and by age twenty-nine she had been named a divisional merchandising manager, making critical decisions about the items being sold in the stores. In 1993 McLaughlin decided to take a job with Hot Topic, a company she admired. She began as vice president of operations, and spent the next several years working to expand Hot Topic into more and more malls around the United States. In 1992 Hot Topic had fifteen stores; in just over ten years, that number approached five hundred. Her success at Hot Topic led to a series of promotions, with McLaughlin being named president of the company in February of 2000 and CEO just a few months later. Hot Topic appeals to teenagers and young adults who

436


•

volume 3

betsy mclaughlin

reject a mainstream look and opt for more rebellious, edgy styles, and the culture of the company reflects this unconventional outlook as well. McLaughlin, unlike most executives, does not have a secretary, nor does she have an office. Her desk sits in the middle of a large room, and she works surrounded by the desks of her employees. “Out here,” she told Montgomery, “I get the pulse of what’s going on.” Founded by Orv Madden in 1989, Hot Topic came about as the result of Madden’s conviction that for many teens, clothing preferences are determined by music. Music is still the driving force behind many of Hot Topic’s buying decisions. Monitors displaying television music channels like MTV and Fuse can be found throughout Hot Topic’s corporate offices. The company will pay for any employee’s concert tickets as long as that employee writes up a report about the fashions seen at the show, both onstage and off. McLaughlin explained to Kristin Young of WWD, “If [lead singer of No Doubt] Gwen Stefani colors her hair cupcake pink and puts a bindi [a colorful dot often worn by Indian women] on her forehead, we’re going to have it first because we were there and saw it first.” Hot Topic sells clothing, shoes, and a vast assortment of accessories including jewelry, bags, hats, and posters. All Hot Topic merchandise is influenced by a variety of alternative music scenes, with about half of the items in the stores—and at the Web site, www.hottopic.com—being licensed merchandise sporting a band’s name or logo. Critical to Hot Topic’s success has been an ability to spot trends that are on the rise and to quickly have those trends represented in the stores. By featuring merchandise with the logo of a hot new band that has a small but loyal following, Hot Topic stays current and hip. McLaughlin understands that the moment a trend becomes too popular, her core audience will lose interest. Whenever possible, she tries to arrange for exclusive licensing agreements, which specify that for a period of several months, only Hot Topic can sell the official merchandise of a particular band. In addition, she has cultivated relationships with U.S.-based suppliers that result in a much faster turnaround time than that of many other retail stores. It takes anywhere from two to eight weeks from the moment Hot Topic orders a batch of T-shirts or jackets until the time those items appear in stores. For many other kinds of stores, that process can take several months. This speedy ordering time means that Hot U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

437

betsy mclaughlin

Topic can offer customers the next big thing well before it gets so big that it is no longer seen as cool. Hot Topic walks a fine line between selling merchandise that appeals to rebellious teenagers and selling items that parents and teachers might strongly object to. The stores do not sell items that encourage drug use or violence, and they avoid merchandise with any kind of religious symbol—aside from those that appear as part of a band logo—in order to prevent the appearance of favoring one religion over another.

Customers speak One of Hot Topic’s most important avenues of information about what teenagers want comes from the customers themselves. Hot Topic’s Web site asks visitors for feedback on a number of issues, from the store’s current merchandise to the customer’s favorite bands. In the stores, next to the cash registers, customers can find comment cards to mail in to corporate headquarters. McLaughlin spends hours each weekend reading hundreds of comment cards, from which she has gained invaluable information. She told the Orange County Register, “The wonderful thing about teenagers is, if you ask, they’ll answer. You just have to listen.” One thing many customers requested over and over again was a greater selection of plus-size clothing. With a significant and growing number of teenagers struggling with weight problems, and few stores offering stylish, youthful clothes in larger sizes, Hot Topic recognized a need and leapt to fill it. McLaughlin described to Brent Hopkins of the Los Angeles Daily News the limited options available to a young, plus-sized consumer: “She could shop at Lane Bryant and look like her mom, shop at a department store and look like her grandmother, or buy men’s clothes and look like her father.” Understanding that many teenagers wanted another option, Hot Topic launched a new chain of stores in 2001 called Torrid. Featuring some of the same styles seen at Hot Topic stores, Torrid caters to larger teenagers and young adults, with the typical Hot Topic emphasis on music-influenced trends. The first Torrid store opened in April of 2001 in Orange County’s Brea Mall, and dozens of other Torrid stores opened soon thereafter. The new chain was an instant hit with customers. McLaughlin told People

438


•

volume 3

betsy mclaughlin

magazine: “Some people thought we had staged customers because when they went into a store, they saw a mom or daughter screaming with joy or crying.” Mary Barker, a Torrid store manager in Northfield, California, explained to Hopkins: “We get an emotional response. We’re not just selling clothes, we’re really empowering people.” McLaughlin had personally experienced the difficulty of buying clothes in larger sizes, and she felt a deep connection to the development of the Torrid chain, becoming closely involved in its launch. Her attentiveness to her customers’ needs has paid off, as have as her flexible business practices and devotion to fostering a creative corporate culture for her employees. The company has shown sales that other retailers can only dream of. Even as mall traffic has slowed, Hot Topic continues to attract ever-larger numbers of shoppers, propelling the company to several years of record growth. McLaughlin occasionally loses sleep worrying about possible pitfalls, such as failing to spot a hip new trend, or confronting a new competitor that swoops in and steals Hot Topic’s customers. In an interview with Wall Street Corporate Reporter, however, McLaughlin acknowledged the sunny side of her life as Hot Topic CEO: “I am very energized by the chance to lead an organization that gives the customers what they want. Each day of work is filled with high energy and a fast pace. Hot Topic is really a fun place to work.”

For More Information Periodicals Allers, Kimberly L. “Retail’s Rebel Yell.” Fortune (November 10, 2003). Fosse, Lynn. “Betsy McLaughlin.” Wall Street Corporate Reporter (November 1, 2000). Hopkins, Brent. “Hopes High for Torrid Sales.” Los Angeles Daily News (May 1, 2002). People (May 26, 2003): p. 153. Young, Kristin. “Hot Topic’s New Flame.” WWD (February 1, 2001): p. 16B.

Web Sites Montgomery, Tiffany. “Hot Topic’s Latest Venture Finds Big Niche.” Orange County Register. http://www.ocregister.com/news/torrid00303 cci4.shtml (accessed on July 15, 2004). Weintraub, Arlene. “Hotter Than a Pair of Vinyl Jeans.“ BusinessWeek Online. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_23/b3836 716.htm (accessed on July 20, 2004).


•

volume 3

439

Mike Mignola

c. 1962 • California


•

© Vaughn Youtz/ZUMA/Corbis.

volume 3

Comic book author/illustrator

When first starting out on his career path, Mike Mignola had a modest goal. “All I really want to do is draw monsters,” he told Christopher Brayshaw of the Comics Journal. Drawn to the comic book industry, one of the few fields where people can create monsters for a living, Mignola figured that, as he told Brayshaw, “maybe after eighty or ninety years I’ll have been around long enough that someone will let me do a story.” It took far less time than that for Mignola to establish himself as one of the hottest properties in the comics industry, a talented artist who doubles as an intensely creative writer. Mignola’s reputation rests largely on his role as the creator of the Hellboy series, which features an unusual hero. Sporting red skin, the remains of horns on his forehead, and a tail, Hellboy is a demon—one with very human qualities—who hunts down monsters and other supernatural bad guys. Featured in a number of comic books as well as in several graphic novels, which are book-length comic books that tell an entire story from start to finish, Hellboy also starred in a major

441

mike mignola

motion picture in 2004. Amidst his abundant success, Mignola remains a humble artist who simply wants to spend his life drawing monsters. His efforts just happen to provide extraordinary entertainment for legions of fans.

Monsters galore Mignola was born around 1962. He grew up in the Bay Area of California, developing an early passion for monster stories, particularly those in comic books. He experienced a defining moment when, as a sixth grader, he read Bram Stoker’s classic horror novel Dracula. In an

“Basically, it’s taking everything I’ve been reading since high school, everything I ever liked, everything I ever read, old movies, tons of pulp magazines and stuff I read in college, fairy tales— all that stuff I’ve read, going back to Dracula in sixth grade, all that stuff I’ve been thinking about since then, I boiled it all down and made it into Hellboy.” interview with Neda Ulaby on National Public Radio’s (NPR) Morning Edition, Mignola recalled: “When I read Dracula, I said, ‘I’m done. I’m done picking that other stuff. I found my thing.’” He explained to Brayshaw, “It’s not just that I started liking monsters—it’s that I started liking monsters to the exclusion of everything else.” His reading choices thereafter consisted of ghost stories and other tales of the scary and supernatural, as well as myths, or ancient stories handed down through the generations, from cultures all over the world. Mignola knew even during childhood that he wanted to grow up to be a comic book artist. He even knew he wanted to live in New

442


•

volume 3

mike mignola

York City. Growing up in California, Mignola never learned to drive. He explained to Brayshaw that he figured, “‘Eventually you’re going to live in New York, so don’t bother learning how to drive. They have taxis there.’” His lifelong goal—to simply find a job drawing monsters—may seem modest, but Mignola pursued that goal with a passionate intensity. After graduating from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 1982, Mignola headed straight for New York. He had some connections in the comics industry, having done a short inking job for Marvel Comics. His first attempts at finding work were mildly successful, but after six months he returned to California, hoping to obtain long-distance freelance work from the New York-based comics companies. When those offers dwindled, Mignola headed back to the East Coast again, and his persistence finally paid off. He began to get regular work illustrating comic books and covers. In 1983 Mignola got his first series work as the penciler—the person creating a comic’s initial drawings based on the writer’s plot— for Marvel’s Rocket Raccoon, a four-issue work featuring the title character, a time-traveling law enforcement officer. Mignola also worked on several superhero titles and did some illustrating for The Incredible Hulk comic books. In 1988 Mignola left Marvel to work for rival DC Comics. At that time, with the 1986 start of Alan Moore’s The Watchmen and Frank Moore’s The Dark Knight Returns series, DC had made great strides in the field of comic books and graphic novels aimed at adult readers. The dark, often violent subject matter of such comics appealed to Mignola, and at DC he established his reputation as an exciting and notable artist. He provided illustrations for Jim Starlin’s Cosmic Odyssey and created the covers for the series Batman: A Death in the Family. One of his projects at DC involved plotting a Batman story in which the superhero confronts a ghostly villain. He enjoyed crafting the story’s plot as well as creating its images, and began thinking he would like to try it again. A few years later he got that opportunity.

A demon is born When film director Francis Ford Coppola began production on the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), he called on Mignola to help craft the movie’s appearance. Dark Horse, a small, independent comics U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

443

mike mignola

It Takes a Team

Sometimes

a comic book or graphic novel reflects the effort of one multitalented person who wrote the story’s plot and dialogue and created the illustrations and the lettering. In many cases, however, a comic book is a team effort, with a number of players adding key elements in order to create a vibrant, original work. Each role is dependent upon the other. A glitch at any stage of the process can turn a good story into one that is confusing or sloppy. But when the members of the team work well together, coordinating their creative skills and striving to understand what the others intend to accomplish, the finished product can be magnificent. Below are the primary jobs involved in producing a comic book. Writer. Generally the work begins with the writer, who creates the story, mapping out the details and creating the characters’ speech. Often the writer will offer directions about the visual aspects of the

story, indicating his or her ideas for how the characters should look or what their movements should be for each panel. Penciler. The illustration work for the comic book begins with the penciler. Just as the writer has used words to tell the story, the penciler must use images. The penciler has a great deal of input on the story’s rhythm and pacing, determining, for example, if an action sequence will be spread over just a few panels or over several pages. The penciler also makes decisions concerning the light sources—sunlight streaming through a window, perhaps, or a dark room illuminated by just a desk lamp—and the angle at which the viewer sees the action, whether head-on, from above, and so on. He or she must establish the scene in each panel, carefully choosing which details to draw so that a great deal of information can be communicated without the panel looking overcrowded.

publisher known for creating comic books based on films, signed on for a comic book adaptation of the film, and Mignola was hired to provide the art. With that project, he began a long-running relationship with Dark Horse that would lead to his signature series called Hellboy. Mignola had long been toying with the idea of creating a new character. He told Brayshaw, “I wanted to do some kind of monster paranormal investigator,” a good-guy creature that would hunt down and get rid of evil creatures. The result was Hellboy, a musclebound demon complete with devilish red skin, horns, and a tail. Raised by decent people, Hellboy thinks of himself as human and is governed by a sense of justice. Part of Mignola’s reason for making the main character a monster was to keep up his own interest in drawing the character over and over again; he worried that if he had to draw the same human character repeatedly, he would get bored. In addition, Mignola felt that an otherworldly creature like Hellboy could easily fit into a number of different story lines, and Mignola

444


•

volume 3

mike mignola Inker. After the penciler is finished the work goes to the inker, whose job varies tremendously depending on the style of the penciler. Some pencilers leave a great deal of interpretation up to the inker, while others provide detailed and complete drawings. Generally the inker’s job is to finish, polish, or clarify the penciler’s work. For example, the inker may take a spherical object drawn freehand by the penciler and use tools to make it perfectly round. The inker provides texture, filling in elements such as hair and fabrics, and depth, which gives readers a sense of each object’s position in relation to every other. The inker also adds or elaborates on a drawing’s depiction of light and shadow. As suggested by their titles, the penciler creates the image’s outlines with pencil, while the inker goes over the existing lines and adds extensive new details in ink. Colorist. Another significant member of the comic book team is the colorist, who, as the name implies, “paints” the images with color. Performing a job that involves far more than simply coloring in, the colorist must study color theory and have an excellent

grasp of the depiction of light and shadow. The colorist has a great deal of creative input, making choices that can have a tremendous impact on the book’s overall look and mood. While some comic books are still painted by hand, most are colored using a computer. The common use of computers means that colorists, in addition to their painterly skills, must also possess extensive technical knowledge, mastering various software programs and developing techniques for using the technology to its best effect. Letterer. One of the final stages in producing a comic book is the lettering. Lettering involves a number of skills, both artistic and technical. The letterer can act as editor, correcting any mistakes in spelling or grammar. He or she also has input on the font, or the style of the letters, used. The letterer selects the shape of the balloons the words go in, whether it is round, oval, or perhaps square with rounded edges. The letterer also influences the position of the word balloons in each panel, taking care to smoothly guide the reader’s eye from one panel to the next.

wanted to incorporate mythologies and folk tales from around the world into the Hellboy series. He told Gary Butler of Rue Morgue, “From the very start, I wanted to use Hellboy as a device to investigate folklore.” Mignola also mixes in healthy helpings of traditional horror stories, particularly those by masters of the genre Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849) and H. P. Lovecraft (1890–1937), as well as elements from monster comics of decades past. Hellboy initially came about as part of a new imprint, or section, of Dark Horse called Legend. Mignola, along with a group of wellknown comic book writers and artists including Frank Miller, Art Adams, and John Byrne, approached Dark Horse with the idea that the new imprint could feature a number of original “creator-owned” series—that is, series that were originated by the writer or artist, rather than new installments of an existing series like Batman. Mignola told Arune Singh of Comic Book Resources that his alliance with the more U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

445

mike mignola

established figures in the comics world made it far easier for him to launch Hellboy: “I was the one guy kinda along for the ride, and so you had this high-profile group of people, with the spotlight shining on them because of this Legend imprint, so my book got seen. Without the Legend thing, it might have just been another mini-series from Dark Horse and people saying, ‘Oh, there was this demon thing, we don’t know what the hell it was.’” When it came to actually writing the first Hellboy installment, Mignola felt he needed assistance. He had come up with plots before but had never written an entire comic book. He enlisted the help of Byrne, providing him with detailed notes about plot, design, and even dialogue. While he has acknowledged that Byrne’s support and writing help were invaluable, Mignola explained that much of the first book, Hellboy: The Seeds of Destruction, came from his own imagination. When it came to writing the second installment, Byrne and Mignola agreed that Mignola would attempt it on his own. In Seeds of Destruction, published in 1994, readers were introduced to Hellboy and given a brief summary of his beginnings. A demon created in hell, the infant Hellboy was summoned to be used as a tool to fight for the Nazis, the ruling party of Germany during World War II, in their quest for world domination. Rescued by American agents from the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, or B.P.R.D., Hellboy was taken back to the United States and raised among humans. In Mignola’s universe, the B.P.R.D. is a secret agency that investigates paranormal episodes, or supernatural events that have no logical or scientific explanation. Endowed with a strong sense of duty and fairness, the adult Hellboy combs the globe, investigating these unusual events and hunting down nasty creatures. Hordes of fans were instantly drawn to the Hellboy series, attracted not just by the action-packed episodes but by Hellboy’s decent, caring nature and mild-mannered, often humorous, approach to life. Mignola told Singh that in some ways Hellboy is based on his father, “who had all these jobs building cabinets and came home busted up, with dry blood all over him, and he was so matter of fact, saying, ‘Oh yeah, I got my hand stuck in this machine and all chewed off.’” Mignola spent the next several years writing and illustrating numerous Hellboy issues, gradually revealing details about his demon hero’s past. At the beginning of the series, Hellboy refuses to dwell on his evil origins, focusing instead on fighting for good. Over time he is

446


•

volume 3

mike mignola

forced to question his true nature, leaving readers to wonder whether he can ultimately escape his fate as a demon created to destroy humanity. Hellboy is aided in his quest by a team of supporting characters, including Abe Sapien, Roger the Homunculus, Johann Krauss, and Liz Sherman.

Mignola’s expanding universe In addition to commanding a huge audience, Mignola has also earned numerous Harvey Awards and Eisner Awards, prestigious honors in the comics industry. He has continued to write and illustrate Hellboy issues, while also occasionally handing over the reins to others. The 2004 issue, Hellboy Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm, marked the ten-year anniversary of the Hellboy series. Mignola also collaborated with author Christopher Golden on several graphic novels featuring Hellboy, including Hellboy: The Lost Army (1997) and Hellboy: The Bones of Giants (2001). Hellboy: Odd Jobs (1999) is a collection of illustrated short stories written by a variety of authors. With the aid of Golden and several artists, Mignola created a spinoff series focusing on the B.P.R.D. Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth and Other Stories (2003) showcased the work of artists such as Ryan Sook and Derek Thompson in a collection of stories highlighting the series’ supporting characters. While Hellboy has been the centerpiece of Mignola’s professional life, he has also explored other artistic avenues. When work began on Disney’s 2001 animated adventure film Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the filmmakers initially studied Mignola’s work, hoping to imitate his style in the design of the film. Instead they hired the man himself, naming Mignola the film’s production designer. His contributions included the design of the characters and input on the film’s overall look. The following year Mignola again took a break from Hellboy to create The Amazing Screw-On Head, a bizarre and amusing story of a mechanical head summoned by President Abraham Lincoln to save the world. An interviewer for bookmunch described the work as “one of the finest slices of super-hero surrealism you’ll find on your shelves,” and labeled it “happily deranged.” While Amazing Screw-On Head was adored by fans, Mignola refrained from turning the stand-alone comic into a series or adapting it for any other medium, fearful that the magic would be lost. He told Arune Singh, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

447

mike mignola

“There’s no plan for more Amazing Screw-On Head because I was so happy with what I did with [it] that I’m afraid of spoiling it. I’m very proud of that book.” When the film adaptation of Hellboy, directed by Guillermo del Toro, became a reality, Mignola found the notion difficult to believe, because so many earlier plans to film a Hellboy movie had fallen through. But the film, based on Hellboy: Seeds of Destruction, was finally approved by Revolution Studios and given a hefty $60 million budget. With del Toro as a vocal champion of the film, Mignola had found a dream-come-true partner. The two men clicked from the moment they met, finding that they had surprisingly similar views on how to adapt Hellboy to the big screen. Mignola described del Toro to Singh as “probably the only guy out there who loves Hellboy more than I do.” From the outset of the project, del Toro insisted on Mignola’s close involvement in the film, and requested his approval concerning any departure from the comics version. “The particulars of the story are different,” Mignola reported to Murray Whyte of the Toronto Star, “but the feel of the thing is the same, and the personality of the character is closer to the personality in the comic than I could have ever dreamed possible.” While fans of the Hellboy comics were passionate and fairly numerous before the film was released in the spring of 2004, the film brought the oversized red-skinned hero to the attention of millions, a circumstance Mignola found difficult to grasp. “When I drew the comic, I did it entirely for myself,” he told Whyte. “Of course, I hoped people would buy it, but I didn’t have commercial potential in mind— if I did, I wouldn’t have called it Hellboy.” The film’s release brought an unusual amount of attention to the comics creator, who told Whyte that following the excitement of the film’s premiere he planned to return to his everyday existence and work on new story lines for Hellboy and other characters: “The main difference is I’ll now live in a world where people actually know who Hellboy is.”

For More Information Periodicals Brayshaw, Christopher. “Between Two Worlds: The Mike Mignola Interview.” Comics Journal (August 1996): p. 65.

448


•

volume 3

mike mignola “Hellboy Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm.” Publishers Weekly (March 15, 2004): p. 57. “Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth and Other Stories.” Publishers Weekly (July 21, 2003): p. 176. Whyte, Murray. “Success Comes to Hero from Hell.” Toronto Star (April 3, 2004).

Web Sites Butler, Gary. “Mike Mignola’s Hellboy.” Rue Morgue. Appears at SuicideGirls.com http://suicidegirls.com/words/Mike+Mignola+on+Hellboy/ (accessed on July 25, 2004). Hellboy.com. http://www.hellboy.com (accessed on July 25, 2004). “Mike Mignola.” bookmunch. http://www.bookmunch.co.uk/view.php?id= 772 (accessed on July 21, 2004). Server, David. “Interview: Mike Mignola.” CountingDown.com. http:// www.countingdown.com/features?feature_id=2855916 (accessed on July 21, 2004). Singh, Arune. “A Hell of a Time: Mike Mignola Talks Hellboy.” Comic Book Resources. http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem. cgi?id=3217 (accessed on July 21, 2004). Smith, Frank. “Thumbnail: Mike Mignola.” Ninth Art. http://www.ninthart. com/display.php?article=787 (accessed on July 21, 2004).

Other Ulaby, Neda. “Interview: Mike Mignola Discusses Hellboy and His Inspiration for Starting the Comic Book.” Morning Edition, National Public Radio (April 5, 2004).


•

volume 3

449

Isaac Mizrahi

October 14, 1961 • Brooklyn, New York



•

volume 3

Fashion designer

Isaac Mizrahi holds the distinction of being one of today’s bestknown American fashion designers. His fame comes from far more than his runway creations, however: Mizrahi is a bona fide celebrity who has applied his abundant energy to a number of diverse projects. In 1995, early in his career as a designer, he was the subject of a widely praised film documentary titled Unzipped. During 1997 he published a collection of three comic books under the title Isaac Mizrahi Presents the Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel. Two years after the 1998 closing of his high-priced clothing design business, Mizrahi explored his love of theater by crafting and starring in a one-man OffBroadway cabaret show called Les Mizrahi. The following year he began hosting his own offbeat talk show, fittingly called The Isaac Mizrahi Show, on the cable network Oxygen. During 2004 Mizrahi returned to his fashion-design origins with the launch of two new ventures appealing to very different members of the buying public: an affordable yet fashionable line of clothing for discount retailer Target,

451

isaac mizrahi

and Isaac Mizrahi to Order, a company creating high-end custommade clothing for consumers willing to spend $20,000 on a single dress. Through all of his various projects, Mizrahi has displayed a fun-loving, humorous, and adventurous style, proving that even high fashion need not take itself too seriously.

Mizrahi as student Mizrahi was born in Brooklyn and raised in Ocean Parkway, New Jersey, in a fairly religious Jewish household. He recalled being obsessed with fashion from a very young age, an interest he came by naturally.

“There is one common philosophy, one thing that you can do no matter who you are or what you look like: You can actually get passionate instead of remaining cool or instead of trying to look like everybody else. You can—you must— immerse yourself passionately in who you are if you want to have style.” His father, Zeke, manufactured children’s clothes, and his welldressed mother, Sarah, often took her youngest child shopping with her in New York’s finer shops, including Bergdorf Goodman and Saks Fifth Avenue. In Unzipped, Sarah Mizrahi recalled a four-year-old Isaac becoming transfixed by the artificial daisies decorating a pair of her shoes. At the age of eight Mizrahi moved with his family back to Brooklyn. Two years later, after his father bought him a sewing machine, Mizrahi began making clothes for puppets worn during neighborhood birthday parties. By age thirteen he had graduated to making clothes for humans, including himself, his mother, and his mother’s friend, Sarah Haddad.

452


•

volume 3

isaac mizrahi

Mizrahi’s parents wanted him to get a religious education, and they enrolled him at a nearby yeshiva, a private Jewish school. The somewhat rebellious and flamboyant Mizrahi did not exactly fit in at the conservative school, and he was repeatedly suspended or expelled for impersonating the rabbis and drawing fashion sketches in Bibles. The teachers “thought I was sacrilegious,” he told Bridget Foley of WWD. “They told my parents I was very abnormal.” His parents supported his interest in fashion, but they were determined that he give the yeshiva a chance. Foley explained that “after each of his expulsions, his mother would unzip the high-style creation she had on that day, remove the red nail polish and jewelry, dig up some dowdy dress, and go to the Yeshiva, where she would shake her head and, putting on a pathetic look, make a plea for sympathy.” Each time, Mizrahi would be accepted back. Eventually, however, he left the yeshiva to pursue an opportunity much closer to his heart, enrolling at New York’s High School for the Performing Arts. There he studied drama, music, and dance, and, after losing seventy-five pounds during his first semester, he developed the confidence to express himself. Mizrahi soon realized that while he loved the performing arts, his true passion was for fashion design. He began taking evening classes at the highly respected Parsons School of Design. He later studied full-time at Parsons, immediately attracting notice for his sophisticated design skills. After his junior year, Mizrahi landed a part-time job with the esteemed designer Perry Ellis, and worked fulltime for Ellis after graduating. Mizrahi worked long hours for Ellis, learning all he could about every aspect of the fashion industry. Though at the time he thought that Ellis asked too much of him, Mizrahi later realized that he owed his mentor, who died in 1986, a great deal. “He was a poet, a real artist,” he told Foley. “In retrospect I know I took so much and he gave everything—from exposing me to the fabric market, to teaching me not to be too concerned with what the press expects from you.” After leaving Perry Ellis, Mizrahi worked for designers Jeffrey Banks and Calvin Klein.

Mizrahi as design superstar In 1987 he started his own business with the financial support of Sarah Haddad Cheney, formerly Sarah Haddad, the family friend who had U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

453

isaac mizrahi

been a beneficiary of the teenaged Mizrahi’s earliest design efforts. He started slowly, crafting his clothes in a rented loft in SoHo, a neighborhood in New York, and delivering his designs from the backseat of Cheney’s car. These early designs attracted the notice of many in the industry, and Mizrahi gained the backing of additional investors. He gave his first major show in the spring of 1988, an event attended by only a few members of the press who had taken a chance that something interesting might come from this relatively unknown designer. Those in attendance soon realized that this chance had paid off, as they witnessed the unveiling of a major new talent. His line was widely praised for its fresh approach, combining glamour and elegance with unassuming simplicity. He mixed unusual colors and made use of patterns, including tartan plaid, not generally associated with high fashion. Mizrahi became an overnight sensation, winning the best newcomer award in 1988 and the 1989 award for best women’s designer from the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA). He went on to win CFDA’s prized Designer of the Year award three times. Throughout the early 1990s Mizrahi continued to earn praise for his clever, creative designs, while also exploring his love for the performing arts by designing costumes for ballets and other productions. His preparations for the fall line in 1994 were filmed for the documentary movie Unzipped, which was released in 1995. Directed by Douglas Keeve, who at the time was romantically involved with Mizrahi, Unzipped combined photos and home movies from Mizrahi’s childhood with footage of the world-famous designer busily preparing for his upcoming show. In an article written for Entertainment Weekly, actress and former model Lauren Hutton declared that Unzipped “is the definitive movie about the fashion industry.” She went on to report that “it’s impossible to resist getting caught up in Isaac’s talent and enthusiasm.” While some reviewers complained that Mizrahi comes off as annoying and that he and the supermodels who wear his clothes appear whiny and spoiled, others praised the film for its honest look at both the glamour and the competitiveness of the fashion business. The film certainly raised Mizrahi’s profile among the general public, transforming him from a successful young designer into a celebrity. Mizrahi explored other facets of his creativity with the 1997 publication of his book, Isaac Mizrahi Presents the Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel. Consisting of three separate comic books

454


•

volume 3

isaac mizrahi

packaged together, Sandee the Supermodel tells the tale of a beautiful girl from Bountiful, Utah, who is discovered by fashion designer Yvesaac Mizrahi, a character quite similar to the book’s author. On her way to becoming a world-famous supermodel, Sandee encounters petty and competitive behavior from her fellow models and struggles with drug problems and an eating disorder. Not long after the book’s publication, Mizrahi began working on a film based on the Sandee stories. As his fame spread and fashion editors continued to praise his designs, Mizrahi seemed to have it all. But in 1998 Mizrahi shut down his design business after Chanel, his financial backer, pulled out due to concerns about low sales figures. Upon learning of Chanel’s decision to withdraw funding, Mizrahi realized that he had three choices, as he explained to People magazine: “One was operating on a shoestring. Another was finding other backers. The third was closing. I thought, ‘Move on, darling. Move on.’” And move on he did, choosing as his next adventure a completely new form of self expression.

Mizrahi as performer In the fall of 2000 Mizrahi drew on his theatrical education to create a one-man cabaret act, an intimate performance that might be seen in a small nightclub or restaurant. Mizrahi’s show, performed in an OffBroadway theater, combined personal stories with gossip about the fashion industry and classic songs—with lyrics altered to fit Mizrahi’s life—from Broadway musicals. Mizrahi also displayed his design skills during the show, drawing quick sketches and using an old-fashioned sewing machine to create articles of clothing. While critics acknowledged that Mizrahi’s singing was not his strong suit, many were charmed by his open, engaging, and energetic manner. Such skills came in handy when, the following year, Mizrahi became host of his own television talk show on cable’s Oxygen Network. With a steady stream of celebrity guests from the fashion and entertainment worlds, Mizrahi offered audiences an amusing and sometimes odd array of activities. A typical sampling of the shows during the third season featured Mizrahi taking late-night talk show host Conan O’Brien shopping for ties, and teaching Six Feet Under star Lauren Ambrose how to knit a hat. While his television and theater work provided creative satisfaction and, in some respects, offered a welcome relief from the intensity U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

455

isaac mizrahi

of owning a design business, Mizrahi eventually returned to fashion in 2004 with two very different projects. Bringing high fashion to the average, costconscious consumer, Mizrahi launched a line of affordable clothing with a stylish twist, in partnership with Target, the discount retailer. With prices beginning at around $10 and topping out at around $70, Mizrahi’s Target line signalled a clear departure from his earlier high-priced designs. For those who wish to spend outrageous sums on clothing, however, Mizrahi began a new service called Isaac Mizrahi to Order. Operating through the upscale department store Bergdorf Goodman, Mizrahi’s business offers custom-designed pieces, with prices starting at about $5,000. With a June 2004 show highlighting the Target line as well as newer, high-end items, Mizrahi once again enchanted fashion editors and journalists, reminding observers of what had been lacking during the time when he was absent from the scene. Philip D. Johnson of Lucire stated that Mizrahi’s return “brought back the keen sense of fun that has been sorely missing in fashion in recent years.” Both the Target line and the made-to-order service have allowed Mizrahi the freedom to design clothes without having to worry about managing every aspect of a fullfledged design business. The arrangement has freed him up to continually explore new avenues of expression. In the midst of his return to the design industry, for example, Mizrahi prepared to direct his first film, The Extra Man, based on a novel by Jonathan Ames.

Isaac Mizrahi at the launch of his new Isaac Mizrahi Boutiqe for Target. Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage.com.

For More Information Periodicals Adato, Allison, and Fannie Weinstein. “A Second Act.” People (August 18, 2003): p. 105. “Down, Not Out.” People (October 19, 1998): p. 113. Foley, Bridget. “Isaac Mizrahi: Setting out for Stardom.” WWD (April 18, 1988): p. 9. Hutton, Lauren. “Unzipped.” Entertainment Weekly (March 8, 1996): p. 73. “Isaac Mizrahi.” Esquire (March 2000): p. 192.

456


•

volume 3

isaac mizrahi Isherwood, Charles. “Les Mizrahi.” Variety (October 30, 2000): p. 34. Yee, Amy. “Target Hopes to Turn Heads off the Catwalk.” Financial Times (October 21, 2003): p. 11.

Web Sites Johnson, Philip D. “The Crown Prince Is Back.” Lucire. http://www.lucire. com/2003/fall2004/0719fe0.shtml (accessed on July 27, 2004).


•

volume 3

457

Michael Moore

April 23, 1954 • Flint, Michigan



•

volume 3

Filmmaker, author, activist

R egardless of whether they agree with his views or not, most people have a strong opinion about Michael Moore. The provocative and controversial social activist has aroused the passionate support of millions, and the equally passionate anger of millions more, with his documentary films, best-selling books, and investigative television shows. Moore has spent his career finding creative ways to address what he sees as the ills of American society: morally irresponsible corporations and a government that responds to small and privileged segments of the population rather than to the needs of the country as a whole. All of Moore’s works have sparked controversy and conversation, but his 2004 film Fahrenheit 9/11 brought a firestorm of heated debate. The film presents Moore’s criticism of President George W. Bush, particularly Bush’s response to the terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on September 11, 2001, as well as his invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq in 2003. The controversy over Fahrenheit 9/11 began with cries of censorship when the Walt Disney Compa-

459

michael moore

ny blocked Miramax, which it owns, from distributing Moore’s politically explosive film. As the movie went on to break box office records, the controversy continued, with audiences deeply divided over whether Moore is a creative genius and hero to the average citizen or a manipulative liar and an embarrassment to his country.

Making a difference Michael Moore was raised in a working-class family in Davison, a suburb of the economically depressed city of Flint, Michigan. His father worked on the General Motors assembly line for thirty-three

“I think it would make the founding fathers proud to see the country still survives in their first belief, that’s why it’s their First Amendment, that somebody has the ability to express themselves and criticize the top guy. That’s the country they created.” years, putting together car parts such as spark plugs and oil filters. Moore grew up in a devout Catholic family and attended Catholic primary and middle schools. He was a member of the Boy Scouts and enjoyed such outdoor sports as hunting, even becoming a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), which he criticized many years later in his film Bowling for Columbine. In an interview with Jack Newfield in Tikkun, Moore explained that his parents were not especially political, “but they were people who believed in the importance of acting on conscience and standing up for what you believe in.” Such principles guided Moore from early on, and while in high school his political activism began to flower. He opposed the Vietnam War (1954–75) and greatly admired the work of the Berrigan brothers, two activist Catholic priests who vigorously protested U.S. involvement in the Southeast Asian conflict. As a teenager

460


•

volume 3

michael moore

Documentaries: The New Popcorn Movies

In

recent years, the documentary film has enjoyed a surprising rise in popularity. Due in part to the success of films like those of Michael Moore, which are shown in hundreds of theaters all over the country and attract huge numbers of viewers, filmgoers have come to realize that documentaries are not necessarily dry and academic. They can be every bit as entertaining and transporting as a fictional feature film, with certain compelling differences. Documentaries show the lives of real people in real-life situations, with no professional actors and no special effects. In addition, documentaries often have an educational component, bringing to life another time or another place. And documentary films, such as those made by Michael Moore, can bring to viewers a filmmaker’s unique point of view. Below is a sampling of documentary films of the early twenty-first century that have attracted critical notice and large crowds in theaters. Capturing the Friedmans (directed by Andrew Jarecki, 2003): A disturbing examination of a suburban, middle-class American family torn apart by accusations that the father and one of his sons sexually molested several neighborhood boys. Control Room (directed by Jehane Noujaim, 2004): An in-depth examination of the widely diverging news coverage of the 2003 war in Iraq originating from two sources: the American government and the Middle Eastern network Al-Jazeera, the most popular news source in the Arab world. Noujaim sets out to show that Al-Jazeera, though demonized by the American government as biased and manipulative, strives to present balanced coverage.

The Corporation (directed by Jennifer Abbott, Mark Achbar, 2003): An analysis of the far-reaching effects of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the legal rights of an individual, and which shows numerous examples of corporate misdeeds and misinformation. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (directed by Errol Morris, 2003): An Academy Award–winning reflection, through interviews with the subject and historical footage, on the impact of decisions made by McNamara, the former U.S. Secretary of Defense and one of the architects of the Vietnam War. Metallica: Some Kind of Monster (directed by Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky, 2004): A film that began as a making-of documentary and turned into a frank examination of the therapy undergone by heavy metal supergroup Metallica. Examines the band’s efforts to maintain their integrity as rebellious rockers as they cope with aging and sobriety. Spellbound (directed by Jeffrey Blitz, 2002): An unexpectedly gripping tale of the run-up to the 1999 U.S. National Spelling Bee. Tracks the lives of several young finalists as they prepare for the big contest. Super Size Me (directed by Morgan Spurlock, 2004): A humorous and offbeat film chronicling Spurlock’s thirty-day diet consisting exclusively of food from McDonald’s. Examines the high rates of obesity in the United States and the role fast-food chains play in such statistics.

Moore believed that entering the priesthood would enable him to make a difference in society just as the Berrigan brothers were attempting to do, and he entered a Catholic seminary to study for the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

461

michael moore

priesthood. He did not complete his study for the priesthood, opting instead to find other ways to effect change. Upon graduating from high school in 1972, Moore decided to run for a position on the school board in Davison. One of his primary campaign promises was that if elected, he would fire the high school principal. Upset by his tactics, a number of people entered the race hoping to push Moore out of the running. The abundance of candidates served to divide the votes, however, enabling Moore to win the race and become the youngest school board member ever elected in the United States. Moore attended the University of Michigan in Flint for a time, but he did not graduate. He devoted his time to various projects designed to bring to the local citizens a point of view not found in major newspapers or on the television news. He started a weekly alternative newspaper called Flint Voice (which later became known as Michigan Voice) and established an alternative radio show called Radio Free Flint. In 1976 he also opened a crisis intervention center. Moore stayed with the Flint Voice as the paper’s editor until 1985. He gained exposure on a national level with occasional commentaries on National Public Radio’s afternoon news show All Things Considered. During 1986 Moore spent four months as an editor at Mother Jones, a respected liberal magazine reporting on social issues.

Entering the national spotlight After his brief stint at Mother Jones, Moore returned to the Flint area. While watching television one day, he saw an announcement from Roger Smith, the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of General Motors, or GM, one of the “Big Three” American car companies. Smith announced massive layoffs at a GM plant that would result in many more Flint-area residents joining the ranks of the jobless. The company had closed down Flint plants in favor of opening new plants in Mexico, putting thousands of Michigan residents out of work and devastating the area’s economy. Angry about the damage GM’s actions had caused in Flint, Moore was determined to do something about it. Knowing absolutely nothing about filmmaking, he nonetheless set out to make a documentary film about the economic problems in Flint, problems that were echoed in many industrial communities all over the country. Moore sought filmmaking help from established documentarians and began raising money to pay for production. He held garage sales, hosted bingo

462


•

volume 3

michael moore

tournaments, and eventually sold his house to help finance the film, which took two and a half years to make and cost $250,000. Roger & Me, released in 1989, caused an immediate stir. Moore has made no claim that his films are objective documentaries; rather, they reflect his strong opinions and personal point of view. With Roger & Me and every nonfiction film he has made since, Moore has attempted to provoke audiences to think about and discuss the issues covered, whether they agree with him or not. He has used his sharp wit and assertive personality to showcase what he feels are the evils plaguing society, appealing to viewers’ emotions to win support for his causes. In Roger & Me Moore spent time with those who had lost their automotive jobs, and examined the bleak economic conditions in Flint following the collapse of much of the area’s industry. Moore also sought out a one-on-one interview with Roger Smith, hoping to confront him about the impact the plant closings had had on the community. His inability to secure a meeting with Smith provided many of the film’s most humorous moments, and Moore managed to make Smith seem unsympathetic and ridiculous. Many reviewers praised Moore’s debut film, admiring his unique and highly entertaining approach to documentary filmmaking, a genre often accused of being too dry and uninteresting. Many also felt that Moore had examined important social issues and highlighted the price paid by individuals as the result of corporate actions. Others criticized the filmmaker for his obvious bias in favor of average working-class citizens and against corporate executives. Even some who agreed with his politics disapproved of his tendency to make his opponents look foolish on camera, though Moore countered that such people were capable of looking foolish without his help. The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, one of the most significant film critics of the twentieth century, issued a strong condemnation of Roger & Me, offended by what she felt was Moore’s tendency to talk down even to the out-of-work Flint laborers. Regardless of the debates raging in the media, audiences flocked to the film, which earned more money at the box office than any previous documentary.

Moore of the same Moore’s next project involved a similar style of crusading for society’s underdogs and exposing official wrongdoing. With TV Nation Moore U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

463

michael moore

tackled numerous subjects over several television episodes aired during the summer of 1994 and again during the summer of 1995. He conducted surprise interviews, staged bizarre stunts with comic results, and generally attempted to make viewers laugh and at the same time feel angry enough about injustices that they might be motivated to act. Several years later, in 1999, Moore returned to television with a comparable program, The Awful Truth, which went after such targets as health insurance companies denying patients coverage for critical medical procedures. In the mid-1990s Moore also tackled new types of projects. He directed his first (and so far, only) fictional feature film, Canadian Bacon (1995), which starred the late comedic actor John Candy (1950–1994). Moore also wrote his first book, Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American (1996), which described what he saw as inexcusable corporate greed and the mistreatment of American workers. Moore later published other extremely successful books, including Stupid White Men, and Other Excuses for the State of the Nation (2002) and Dude, Where’s My Country? (2003). While on a book tour promoting Downsize This!, Moore shot his next documentary film, The Big One, which was released in 1997. The Big One covers much of the same territory as Roger & Me, with Moore criticizing large corporations for shutting down factories in the United States and moving jobs to countries overseas where labor is far cheaper. The film includes interviews with working-class citizens who lost their jobs due to factory closures or downsizing, which is a term used by businesses to refer to large-scale layoffs intended to reduce that company’s workforce. Moore’s goal throughout The Big One was to interview the CEO of a large company and discuss the impact that the company’s actions had on ordinary working citizens. In typical Moore fashion, he pursued such interviews by showing up at CEOs’ offices unannounced and trying to argue his way past security guards and secretaries. Phil Knight, the CEO of the athletic goods company Nike, became Moore’s primary target, and ultimately Moore was successful in obtaining an interview. He asked Knight about the morality of having all Nike sneakers manufactured outside of the United States. His particular focus was on Indonesian factories, where inadequate or poorly enforced laws allow for child labor and poor working conditions, and where workers earn just a few dollars a day. Knight responded that he felt the factories improved the Indonesian economy and that

464


•

volume 3

michael moore

he felt sure Americans did not want jobs making shoes. Soon after the film’s release, Nike changed its policies in Indonesian factories, requiring that employees be at least eighteen years old.

Taking aim at guns and the president Moore’s fame, and his ability to provoke debate, reached a new level with his documentary film Bowling for Columbine (2002). Focusing primarily on the gun culture in the United States, Bowling for Columbine examines the issue of gun violence and asks why the rates of gun-related crime are so much higher in the United States than in several other countries where gun ownership is also common. The centerpiece of the film is the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. Two students, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, entered the school that day armed with guns and explosives, and proceeded to kill twelve students and a teacher before turning their weapons on themselves. In the film, Moore criticizes the wide availability of guns and ammunition, and attacks the NRA for its powerful support of gun ownership and its opposition to any form of gun control. As with his previous films, Bowling for Columbine inspired passionate responses. Many reviewers offered enthusiastic praise for the film, saying that Moore had tackled an important subject cleverly, intelligently, and even at times humorously. Others condemned him for twisting facts through creative editing, leading audiences to reach conclusions that were not necessarily true. For example, the film gives the impression that Charlton Heston, actor and president of the NRA, held a pro-gun rally in Moore’s hometown of Flint very soon after a little girl was shot and killed by another child. In fact the rally took place several months after the shooting, and was held in support of the Republican candidate for president, George W. Bush. Many critics and viewers, even those who praised Moore’s ability to make a compelling film about important issues, criticized him for his occasionally underhanded tactics, particularly for his tendency to humiliate his opponents on-camera. Many observers also felt that Moore had become a relentless self-promoter, inserting himself into his films whenever possible and taking advantage of every opportunity to get free publicity for his films. Moore has denied that he appears in his films to satisfy his ego. In a 2002 interview with Daniel Fierman of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

465

michael moore

Michael Moore poses with his Palme d’Or award for Farenheit 9/11 at the Cannes Film Festival. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Entertainment Weekly, Moore, who is a heavyset man known for his somewhat sloppy appearance, asked: “Who thinks that someone who looks like me wants to see himself blown up forty feet on a movie screen? I cringe when I see myself in the movies.” Whether because of the controversy or simply because it addressed a compelling issue, Bowling for Columbine drew people to movie theaters in a way few documentary films had ever done before. It won the 2002 Anniversary Prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Fes-

466


•

volume 3

michael moore

tival, where audiences gave the film a fifteen-minute standing ovation after it was screened. Bowling for Columbine also won one of the most sought-after awards in the film industry: the 2003 Academy Award for best documentary film. Moore proved himself to be a first class button-pusher when he accepted the award, giving a speech that spoke of his frustration with the disputed results of the 2000 U.S. presidential election. He described President Bush as a “fictitious president” and claimed that the United States had begun the 2003 war with Iraq for “fictitious reasons.” While some in the audience cheered his rebellious remarks, others booed. In a 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly’s Fierman, Moore described the general public’s reaction to his controversial comments: “For the next couple of months I could not walk down the street without some form of serious abuse. Threats of physical violence, people wanting to fight me.… People pulling over in their cars screaming. People spitting on the sidewalk. I finally stopped going out.” Moore may have felt under attack at the time, but public disapproval did not stop him from undertaking his next hot-button film. In Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004), Moore’s target was none other than the president of the United States. In the film Moore takes issue with President George W. Bush’s response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. He asserts that the Bush administration took advantage of the American people and offered misleading information to justify the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The controversial nature of the film’s subject matter concerned Disney, which is the parent company of Miramax, the studio that financed Moore’s film. Disney blocked Miramax from distributing the film, leading to accusations of censorship. Bob and Harvey Weinstein, the heads of Miramax, hastily formed a partnership with other companies to distribute the film, which broke box-office records. In its first weekend it earned more money than any other documentary had made in its entire theatrical run, breaking the record set by Moore’s previous film Bowling for Columbine. Fahrenheit 9/11 also won the coveted Palme d’Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, in 2004. Once again Moore’s detractors insisted that he blew some facts out of proportion and fabricated others altogether, a charge Moore has denied. He told Richard Corliss of Time magazine: “There is not a single factual error in the movie. I’m thinking of offering a $10,000 U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

467

michael moore

reward for anyone that can find a single fact that’s wrong.” Moore was also accused of being a traitor and failing to support America’s troops serving in the armed services in Iraq. Conservative groups attempted to pressure movie theaters into refusing to screen the film. Moore’s fans, on the other hand, cheered his efforts to tell a story that had not been adequately covered by the mainstream news media. Many applauded his message, though not all of his fans appreciated his approach. Some of Moore’s supporters have felt that he occasionally goes too far, but Moore remains unapologetic. He does not claim that his films are detached observations of American life; he proudly acknowledges his point of view and owns up to his intention of using film as a medium for change. J. D. Heyman of People magazine quoted Moore’s comment to ABC news commentator George Stephanopoulos regarding Fahrenheit 9/11: “I’m not trying to pretend this is some sort of … fair and balanced work of journalism. I would like to see Mr. Bush removed from the White House.”

For More Information Books Authors and Artists for Young Adults, vol. 53. Detroit: Gale Group, 2003.

Periodicals Corliss, Richard. “The World According to Michael.” Time (July 12, 2004): p. 62. Fierman, Daniel. “Michael Moore.” Entertainment Weekly (October 25, 2002): p. 43. Fierman, Daniel. “The Passion of Michael Moore.” Entertainment Weekly (July 9, 2004): p. 30. Gates, David, and David Jefferson. “Agent Provocateur.” Newsweek (June 28, 2004): p. 28. Heyman, J. D. “Burning Bush.” People (July 5, 2004): p. 69. Newfield, Jack. “An Interview with Michael Moore.” Tikkun (November/ December 1998): p. 25.

Web Sites Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com (accessed on July 29, 2004). MichaelMoore.com. http://www.michaelmoore.com (accessed on July 29, 2004).

468


•

volume 3

Frankie Muniz

December 5, 1985 • Wood-Ridge, New Jersey



•

volume 3

Actor

Frankie Muniz initially became famous in 2000 as Malcolm, the boy genius in the Fox comedy Malcolm in the Middle. Prior to that role, he had performed in plays, television commercials, and even a few movies. Since the start of Malcolm in the Middle, Muniz has spent as much time as possible working, squeezing feature film roles into the months when the television series takes a break. This hectic pace satisfies the teenager, who has energy to burn and claims to hate inactivity. He told Barry Koltnow in a 2002 article for the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service that he had had only three days off in the year prior, “and I was never so bored in my entire life. I had no idea what to do with myself for those three days.” In addition to his role as Malcolm, Muniz has garnered attention for his role as a junior James Bond in two kid-oriented spy movies, Agent Cody Banks (2003) and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London (2004).

469

frankie muniz

Show-business childhood Francisco James Muniz IV was born in 1985 in Wood-Ridge, New Jersey. His family—which includes dad Frank, mom Denise, and big sister Christina—moved to North Carolina when Frankie was four years old. A few years later, when he was eight, he watched his sister perform in a local play. He knew immediately that he wanted to perform, and soon after that, he earned his first role, that of Tiny Tim in a regional production of English author Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Additional theater work followed, and Muniz began acting in television commercials as well. He started winning parts in films, including the television movies To Dance with Olivia and What the Deaf Man Heard, both

“I don’t consider myself a good actor at all. I just do what I want to do, and I’m just having fun doing it.” broadcast in 1997. At the age of eleven, Muniz moved back to New Jersey with his mother and sister, after his parents had decided to separate. At the same time, he stopped attending school and began to be homeschooled by his mother, an arrangement that gave him the flexibility to accept acting jobs without having to worry about a school schedule. The acting jobs arrived one right after another, with Muniz appearing as a guest on several sitcoms, including Spin City. He began earning more film roles, and appeared in his breakthrough film in 2000. Cast as the young Willie Morris—the author of the autobiographical book the movie was based on—Muniz appeared in My Dog Skip alongside Kevin Bacon, Diane Lane, and Luke Wilson. The film, set in the 1940s-era South, depicts the pleasures, fears, and sorrows of Morris’s childhood, focusing on the lessons he learned from his beloved dog Skip. While some critics felt the film was a bit sappy and melodramatic, many acknowledged the touching relationship between the boy and his dog. Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle praised Muniz’s performance: “Frankie Muniz, with vulnerability and wide-eyed innocence, charms as young Willie.”

470


•

volume 3

frankie muniz

Muniz as Malcolm My Dog Skip was released during the same year that Muniz began his stint on Malcolm in the Middle. When he auditioned for the role, he felt certain he would not get it. Thirteen years old at the time, he thought he was too old to play the much younger Malcolm. The show’s producers, on the other hand, knew instinctively that he was the right person for the job. They had prepared themselves for a difficult search to find an actor who could project Malcolm’s unusual intelligence and wisdom and yet still be believable as a regular kid with regular kid problems. The show’s creator and executive producer, Linwood Boomer, told Brian Raftery of Entertainment Weekly that he had asked himself, “Where are we going to find a kid who can do all this?”After seeing Muniz, Boomer knew the search was over: “It was so obvious [it would be Muniz] right from the get-go.” Audiences and critics agreed with Boomer, quickly warming to the young star and appreciating the show’s offbeat sense of humor and fresh take on family life. The members of the fictional Wilkersons family included the eldest brother, Francis, who had been sent to military school when the series began; Reese, whose violent tendencies cause many of Malcolm’s problems; Malcolm, whose IQ test places him in the genius range and sets him uncomfortably apart from his friends and the rest of his family; and Dewey, who often plays the role of unaffected observer when the family circus reaches catastrophic levels. The constantly squabbling children are led by their father, Hal, who behaves as much like a child as do his children, and their mother, Lois, who rules the household with an iron fist and a raised voice. As Malcolm, Muniz is the voice of reason in an otherwise unhinged family. He often speaks directly to the camera, describing his frustration when things go wrong and his amazement when he gets away with something. Muniz inhabited his character very comfortably right from the start, impressing audiences with his intelligent, wisecracking ways.

Big-screen adventures After wetting his feet with Malcolm and earning a nomination for an Emmy Award in 2001, Muniz returned to the big screen, starring in Big Fat Liar with fellow teen star Amanda Bynes. Muniz plays Jason, a boy from Michigan who enjoys stretching the truth and occasionally U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

471

frankie muniz

takes his tales a bit too far. In trouble with his parents and teachers, Jason attempts to fix things by hastily writing a story for school called “Big Fat Liar.” Before he has the chance to turn it in, the story is stolen by a once-successful Hollywood producer desperate for a hit. When Jason discovers that his story is the basis for a new movie, he and pal Kaylee (Bynes) take off for Los Angeles, to seek revenge as well as credit for Jason as the story’s writer. The film earned many positive reviews, with journalists singling out Muniz for his natural acting and comedic timing. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle described the young actor as “spunky and likable, with no weird Hollywood vibe about him.”

Frankie Muniz (right) and Anthony Anderson in a movie still from Agent Cody Banks 2 (2004). © MCM Pictures/Corbis.

In his next film, Deuces Wild (2002), Muniz plays a young wannabe tough guy caught up in gang conflicts in 1950s-era Brooklyn. The film was not a critical or box office success, but Muniz made up for the disappointment with his next film, Agent Cody Banks, released in 2003. Playing the teenaged spy of the film’s title, Muniz added to his acting skills with the action-filled role. He spent

472


•

volume 3

frankie muniz

weeks physically preparing for the role, lifting weights and learning martial arts moves. Muniz plays a character who secretly becomes a CIA agent at the age of thirteen. He has at his disposal a number of nifty gadgets and cool vehicles, but his assignment nonetheless proves difficult, requiring him to excel in his one area of weakness: talking to girls. Banks must befriend an attractive girl, played by teen queen Hilary Duff, to get his hands on her father’s invention—which has the power to cause serious global damage if it falls into the hands of the bad guys. Muniz and the film itself were so successful that the studio, MGM, called for a sequel, with Muniz once again playing Banks. Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London sent the youthful spy across the Atlantic Ocean to once again attempt to save the world from power-hungry villains. Young Agent Banks is paired, to comic effect, with comedian/actor Anthony Anderson, and he once again must navigate conversations with a beautiful girl in the form of British secret agent Emily, played by Hannah Spearritt. The two films combined earned nearly $75 million at the box office, prompting many to speculate on the possibility of a third Cody Banks picture. Receiving $5 million for the second Agent Cody Banks, Muniz is enjoying his wealth and his active lifestyle. He is an avid basketball player and golfer, and has been playing the drums for many years. He has also attracted attention with his passion for cars. Even before he had gotten his driver’s license, Muniz had purchased several cars. Among his stable of vehicles is the Volkswagen Jetta driven in the movie The Fast and the Furious (2001), which the actor purchased for $100,000, and a rare Porsche that cost the actor $250,000. Once he turned eighteen, Muniz began thinking more and more about what people had been telling him for years: that he would soon have to make the transition to more adult-oriented fare in order to have a long-term acting career. In a 2004 interview with Cinema Confidential’s Shawn Adler, Muniz confessed that he wasn’t sure how to proceed or which project to pursue next. “It’s tough choosing the right one. It really needs to be something different, but I can’t go totally away from my core audience of twelve to eighteen. So it’s got to be the right movie that people will look at and not just say, ‘Oh, that’s him trying to be dramatic. That’s him trying to make the transition.’ I need to be very believable.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

473

frankie muniz

For More Information Periodicals Bark, Ed. “No Stature of Limitations for Malcolm Star Frankie Muniz.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (August 13, 2001): p. K4035. “Brainiacs and Maniacs.” Time (January 17, 2000): p. 89. Koltnow, Barry. “Malcolm in the Middle’s Star Tries His Hand at BigScreen Comedy.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (February 7, 2002): p. K3059. LaSalle, Mick. “Big Fat Liar.” San Francisco Chronicle (February 8, 2002). Peters, Jennifer L. “Muniz Plays Malcolm.” Know Your World Extra (February 22, 2002): p. 4. Raftery, Brian M. “Frankie Goes to Hollywood.” Entertainment Weekly (January 14, 2000): p. 38. Stack, Peter. “Uplifting Skip Takes a Boy and His Dog into Fresh Territory.” San Francisco Chronicle (March 3, 2000): p. C1.

Web Sites Adler, Shawn. “Interview.” Cinema Confidential. http://www.cinecon.com/ news.php?id=0403092 (accessed on July 27, 2004). Gallagher, Todd. “10 Burning Questions for Frankie Muniz.” ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/questions/muniz.html (accessed on July 27, 2004).

474


•

volume 3

Takashi Murakami

1962 • Tokyo, Japan



•

volume 3

Artist

The works of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami have inspired both admiration and confusion. Inspired primarily by anime, Japanese animation, and manga, Japanese comics, Murakami’s paintings and sculptures feature bright, candy-colored images of cartoon-like characters, with large eyes and exaggerated body parts. His works are often decorated with smiling flowers, round, blinking eyes, and colorful mushrooms. Murakami’s creations defy traditional classifications, breaking down numerous barriers. He blurs the line between so-called high art— the kinds of works normally seen in museums and galleries—and “low” art, like that seen in cartoons or advertisements. He also contradicts the traditional idea of an artist toiling away in a studio to painstakingly create one-of-a-kind works. Murakami employs a large staff of assistants who help him churn out his designs. Some of his works are extremely high-priced creations intended for a gallery or art collectors, but he also mass-produces merchandise, such as mugs, keychains, and T-shirts, featuring the characters he has created. Murakami is often classified as

475

takashi murakami

a pop artist. Pop artists are inspired by popular culture, choosing subjects from such sources as cartoons, billboard advertisements, and consumer goods. He longs for—and in large measure has achieved—a kind of success that few artists realize: he has earned the respect of many in elite art-world circles while also making a good living and becoming hugely popular with the general public.

A traditional education Born in Tokyo, Japan, in 1962, Murakami grew up in a household that placed a high value on art. His younger brother, Yuji, also became an

“I have learned in Europe and America the way of the fine-art scene. Few people come to museums. Much bigger are movie theaters. The museum, that space is kind of old-style media.” artist. Japanese popular culture informed his outlook, but he also felt the impact of Western society, particularly the popular culture of the United States. Murakami became exposed to some aspects of American life during a time when his father worked at an American naval base, and he also absorbed a great deal through imported movies and music. “Only recently did I realize how much I’ve been influenced by Steven Spielberg,” Murakami told Interview magazine in 2001. “In his films there is a tension between the children’s world and the adults’ world.” Many of Murakami’s works capture that tension between the innocence of childhood and the experience of adulthood, with his cartoon-like images sometimes displaying a dark and slightly creepy undertone. Murakami wanted to be an artist when he grew up. He was particularly interested in animation and comics, and he felt that studying art would help him improve his drawing skills. He enrolled in the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in the early 1980s.

476


•

volume 3

takashi murakami

Pop Art

Pop art, a movement that reached the peak of its influence during the 1960s and 1970s in New York, originated as a rebellion against what some artists saw as a pretentious, elitist art world. Pop artists turned to subjects that had previously been considered unworthy of fine art: consumer products, cartoon characters, and commercial art like that seen on billboards or in magazine advertisements. Pop artists sought to return art to everyday life—or to bring everyday life into the world of art—borrowing images that the general public saw at the grocery store, on the television, or in newspapers. The person most often associated with pop art is Andy Warhol (1928–1987), an eccentric and ingenious artist who stunned observers with his paintings of Campbell’s soup cans and the legendary blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962). His most famous works involve the repetition of one image with slight variations—the type of soup in 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans, for example, and the colors in Marilyn Monroe. He had a crew of assistants that helped create his works at his studio, known as the Factory. Warhol often used photographs as the basis for his paintings and reproduced his works using mass-production techniques rather than working by hand. During his lifetime Warhol was alternately dismissed as merely a commercial artist and embraced as one of the most daring avant-garde rebels of his time. In the years since his death, his tremendous influence on modern art has become widely accepted.

Another successful pop artist was Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), best known for his comic-stripstyle paintings. Lichtenstein borrowed images from newspaper comics of couples kissing or objects exploding in battle. He used thick, black lines and bright primary colors as well as speech bubbles and sound-effect words like “pow!” to create paintings that divided critics but were hugely popular with the public. Keith Haring (1958–1990), a successful and somewhat controversial artist in the 1980s, also exemplified the principles of pop art. Using grafitti art as his inspiration, Haring created a collection of familiar images—his radiant baby and barking dog, for example—that he used in numerous works, with slight variations. Like many other pop artists, including Takashi Murakami, Haring caused collisions between high art and low art, creating both museumquality works and mass-produced merchandise. Working in a variety of styles and employing a multitude of methods, pop artists have all had one thing in common: the struggle for critical acceptance. Because they refused to accept limited definitions of the types of subjects that are appropriate for works of art, pop artists have been dismissed by some critics as merely illustrators or commercial artists—designations meant to belittle their abilities and demean their work. Over time, however, acceptance of pop art as a legitimate form of fine art has spread, and the pop art movement has, to a large degree, succeeded in bringing popular culture into the realm of high culture.

There he studied Nihonga, a nineteenth-century style of Japanese painting that combines Japanese subject matter with European painting techniques. He earned his bachelor of fine arts degree in 1986 and then continued his studies to earn a master’s degree in 1988 and a PhD, or doctorate, in 1993. Even while studying Nihonga, Murakami U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

477

takashi murakami

began to wonder how meaningful that style was to modern-day Japan. During the early 1990s he continued painting and began to teach drawing, working in the traditional style he had studied at the university while also searching for his own style. Murakami had become increasingly drawn to the world of manga and anime, and he was also fascinated by the concept of kawaii, a Japanese term that translates roughly to “cuteness.” Murakami sought ways to incorporate these popular trends into his works to create something of lasting value, as he explained in a 2001 essay, quoted in Wired magazine: “I set out to investigate the secret of market survivability—the universality of characters such as Mickey Mouse, Sonic the Hedgehog, Doraemon, Miffy, [and] Hello Kitty.”

Cuteness meets high art In Japan, the United States, and elsewhere, kawaii has proven to be extremely popular, particularly with children and young adults. Japanese characters such as Pokemon and Hello Kitty are used to sell tremendous amounts of merchandise. According to a 2003 article in U.S. News & World Report, Hello Kitty appears on some 20,000 products, and annual sales of such products total about $500 million. Anime and manga, both of which often feature wide-eyed, childlike characters pursuing fantastic adventures, are also connected to the kawaii phenomenon. Like Hello Kitty, these cartoons and comics have spawned abundant products—toys, action figures, clothing, and much more—leading to an intensely competitive collecting frenzy. Die-hard collectors not only acquire the merchandise but also accumulate detailed knowledge of the cartoons and comics themselves. This devotion to anime and manga and to collecting related merchandise is shared by a large community of fans referred to as otaku. That term, in combination with “pop,” as in pop art, has resulted in a new term, “poku,” which could be used to describe Murakami’s recognizable artworks. These works, primarily paintings and sculptures, feature cartoon-like characters painted in bright colors with a shiny, almost plastic-looking surface. Murakami’s best-known character is known as Mr. DOB, a mouselike creature with a round head and large, circular ears. Based on a monkey-like cartoon character originally created in Hong Kong, Mr. DOB has appeared in numerous artworks as well as on such

478


•

volume 3

takashi murakami

Commuters look overhead at fiberglass sculptures by Takashi Murakami on display in Grand Central Station, New York City, in 2001. © Reuters/Corbis.

merchandise as mousepads, postcards, and T-shirts. Beginning in the mid-1990s, Murakami’s works were featured in solo exhibits at galleries and museums throughout Japan as well as in the United States, France, and elsewhere. Some art critics were unsure what to make of these unusual creations: they are highly original, beautifully executed, visually appealing—but can they be considered fine art? Some dismissed Murakami’s works, suggesting that they are lovely but lack substance; they please the eye but do not make viewers think. Many others, however, have applauded Murakami’s adventurous approach, particularly his ability to bridge the worlds of high and low art and to create works that appeal to a broader audience than most fine art. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

479

takashi murakami

Murakami has been particularly praised for his public art— works displayed where they can be seen by all—that inspires a childlike pleasure in viewers of all ages. In the fall of 2003 Murakami installed a public art display called Reversed Double Helix at the Rockefeller Center plaza in Midtown Manhattan. The display featured two thirty-three-foot balloons, a number of jewel-colored mushroom sculptures that doubled as seats for visitors, and a twenty-three-foot tall sculpture of Murakami’s character Mr. Pointy, known in Japanese as Tongari-kun. Sporting a large round head that comes to a point, multiple arms, and a brightly colored body, Mr. Pointy was described by People magazine as “the whimsical love child of Hello Kitty, a Buddha, and a portabello mushroom.” Murakami sold the Mr. Pointy sculpture to the owner of the esteemed auction house Christie’s for $1.5 million. Two years earlier he had startled and delighted commuters in Vanderbilt Hall, part of New York City’s Grand Central Terminal, with Wink, a display of mushroom sculptures and huge heliumfilled balloons hovering thirty feet off the floor—all of which were decorated with brightly colored eyes of all shapes and sizes as well as spirals and other designs.

High art meets commerce While Murakami had become well known in art circles in Japan and the United States by the beginning of the twenty-first century, it was his astonishingly successful handbag designs for Louis Vuitton in 2003 that made him a celebrity—especially in Japan, where he suddenly achieved rock-star-like status. Created in conjunction with designer Marc Jacobs, who was heading up a clothing line for Louis Vuitton, Murakami’s designs reinvigorated the stately luxury-goods company, making Louis Vuitton bags the hot new must-have item for the wealthy and fashionable. Murakami applied his trademark use of bright, fresh colors to the traditional intertwined “LV” logo, also incorporating some of his signature images, like wide-open cartoon eyes and smiling blossoms. The first Murakami-designed bags sold out even before they reached stores, and over the next several months the bags—priced in the thousands of dollars—flew off the shelves. Tens of thousands of customers put their names on waiting lists to receive Murakami items from future shipments, and numerous imitation versions sprouted up on big-city street corners and Web sites.

480


•

volume 3

takashi murakami

Sales for the Murakami bags made up about ten percent of Louis Vuitton’s yearly revenues, totaling well over $300 million in 2003. Murakami paid a price for his success with the Louis Vuitton bags, however: he had achieved widespread fame, but as a designer of purses rather than as an artist. In an interview with Jim Frederick of Time International in the spring of 2003, Murakami said: “I need to rebuild the wall between the commercial art and the fine art I do. I need to focus on the fine-art side of me for a while.” Murakami has received almost as much attention for the way his works are produced as for the works themselves. In a style reminiscent of one of pop art’s most famous practitioners, Andy Warhol (1928–1987), Murakami calls his studios factories. With one factory located outside of Tokyo and one in Brooklyn, New York, Murakami creates his paintings, sculptures, and merchandise with the help of dozens of assistants. He begins by sketching a design, which he then scans into a computer. He refines the picture on-screen, choosing colors and adding his own trademark images—the mushrooms, happy blossoms, eyeballs, and others—which are selected from a digital file of clip art. The picture is then printed onto paper and handed off to the assistants. They silk-screen the outline onto canvas and begin the laborious process of painting. To achieve the candy-shell high gloss of a Murakami work, the assistants must apply layer after layer of acrylic paint, working with anywhere from seventy to eight hundred different colors for one work. Murakami supervises the assistants’ painting but rarely applies it to the canvas himself. He told Frederick of Time International that in 1998 he and thirty assistants would spend six months on one large work; five years later, the factories were producing forty works in one year. Murakami’s method of producing paintings results in works that have no depth or perspective—the images seem flat and two-dimensional. Murakami has dubbed this style “superflat,” which is, in part, a tribute to the two-dimensional style of some Japanese cartoons. Murakami has also explained the style as a reference to such hightech devices as flat-screen televisions and computer monitors. The term also reflects the smashing of distinctions between fine art and commercial art, between high culture and low. Murakami told Interview, “In Japan, there is no high and there is no low. It’s all flat.” Jeff Howe wrote in Wired that “Murakami likes to flaunt that he can make U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

481

takashi murakami

a million-dollar sculpture and then take the same subject and crank out a bunch of tchotchkes [trinkets].” While his aggressive marketing of his own images and his practice of selling inexpensive knickknacks alongside his high-priced original works have aroused some controversy in the art world, Murakami sees no reason to change. He told Howe that to him, art is “more about creating goods and selling them than about exhibitions.” Undoubtedly he will continue to produce valuable works of fine art as well as inexpensive trinkets, working toward a future where the distinction between the two will be gradually diminished.

For More Information Periodicals Adato, Allison. “Mr. Pointy.” People (September 15, 2003): p. 75. Frederick, Jim. “Move Over, Andy Warhol.” Time International (May 26, 2003): p. 42. Howe, Jeff. “The Two Faces of Takashi Murakami.” Wired (November 2003). Pagel, David. “Takashi Murakami.” Interview (March 2001): p. 188. Rubinstein, Raphael. “In the Realm of the Superflat.” Art in America (June 2001): p. 110. Socha, Miles. “The It Bag.” WWD (December 9, 2003): p. 15. Terrell, Kenneth. “Art That’s Seriously Cute.” U.S. News & World Report (December 29, 2003): p. 72.

Web Sites “Mr. Pointy (and Takashi Murakami) Comes to Rockefeller Center.” The Gothamist. http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2003/09/08/mr_pointy _and_takashi_murakami_comes_to_rockefeller_center.php (accessed on August 5, 2004). Wakasa, Mako. “Takashi Murakami.” Journal of Contemporary Art. http:// www.jca-online.com/murakami.html (accessed on July 29, 2004).

482


•

volume 3

Walter Dean Myers

August 12, 1937 • Martinsburg, West Virginia

Author


•

volume 3

Walter Dean Myers is a pioneer of young adult fiction. His novels about urban teens and the challenges they face have won him both a devoted readership and dozens of book awards. His eighty-plus titles include Monster, Scorpions, and a memoir of his own youth, Bad Boy. Once thought to have been aimed at the so-called “at-risk” reader, Myers’s books have stood the test of time as “poignant, tough stories for and about kids who don’t appear in most storybooks,” asserted Sue Corbett in a Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service report. “Children whose fathers are absent or jailed. Children who share playgrounds with drug dealers and gangs. Teens struggling to maintain their dignity while living with poverty, violence and fear.”

Raised by another family Born in 1937, Myers’s own early life was marked by challenges, but they were those of a different era. He was born in the midst of the Great

483

walter dean myers

Depression (1929–41), and spent the first few years of his life in a hardscrabble West Virginia town called Martinsburg. It was about ten miles away from the former plantation on which his ancestors had once toiled as slaves. His family was extremely poor, and his mother died when he was a toddler, while giving birth to another child. A married woman who had been a friend of his mother’s, Florence Dean, adopted him. Such informal adoptions were not unusual during the era. Though he was christened Walter Milton Myers, he later substituted “Dean” for his middle name in honor of the foster family who raised him.

“I’m not interested in building ideal families in my books. I’m more attracted to reading about poorer people, and I’m more attracted to writing about them as well.” The Deans soon moved to New York City and settled in Harlem, the northern Manhattan neighborhood that was the center of black life in the city. His foster father, Herbert, worked as a janitor and also in factories, often holding down two jobs to make ends meet. Both he and his wife had little formal schooling, but Florence had taught herself to read, and she then taught her adopted son by letting him read the True Romance magazine stories she liked. He progressed to reading comic books, but a teacher discovered him with one in class at P.S. 125 one day. “She grabbed my comic book and tore it up,” Myers recalled on a biography that appeared on the Scholastic Web site. “I was really upset, but then she brought in a pile of books from her own library. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.” He became a bookworm, and regularly checked books out of his local library—but he carried them home in a paper bag so that other kids would not tease him.

A caring community Although Harlem would later become a violent, drug-troubled area, it was a far more balanced community when Myers was growing up

484


•

volume 3

walter dean myers

Major Works by Myers Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (novel), Viking Press, 1975.

Harlem: A Poem, illustrated by Christopher Myers, Scholastic, 1997.

Mojo and the Russians (novel), Viking Press, 1977.

Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom (nonfiction), Dutton, 1998.

Hoops (novel), Delacorte Press, 1981.

At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England (nonfiction), Scholastic, 1999.

Fallen Angels (novel), Scholastic, 1988. The Great Migration: An American Story (poems; paintings by Jacob Lawrence), HarperCollins, 1993.

Monster (novel; illustrated by Christopher Myers), HarperCollins, 1999. 145th Street: Short Stories, Delacorte Press, 2000.

Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (biography), Scholastic, 1993.

The Blues of Flats Brown (picture book; illustrated by Nina Laden), Holiday House, 2000.

The Glory Field (novel), Scholastic, 1994.

Bad Boy: A Memoir, HarperCollins, 2001.

Slam! (novel), Scholastic, 1996.

Handbook for Boys (novel), HarperCollins, 2002.

there. Because neighborhoods elsewhere were not welcoming to African Americans, Harlem was home to black judges, doctors, and other professionals, as well as to ordinary working families. Myers even lived near the poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967). Hughes was one of the leading names of the Harlem Renaissance, the flourishing of African American music, literature, and other forms of art that began in the 1920s. Myers once spied the famous writer sitting on his front steps “drinking beer, but I didn’t think much of him,” he told Jennifer M. Brown in a Publishers Weekly interview. “He didn’t fit my stereotype of what serious writers should be. He wasn’t writing about Venice.” Myers retreated into books in part because he suffered from a speech impediment. When other kids made fun of him, he sometimes hit them. One teacher realized he could read aloud in class with little difficulty if he was reading words that he had written himself, and encouraged him to write more. Another teacher found a speech therapist for Myers, and also channeled the child’s bossy nature into a role as the class leader. “He gave me permission to be a bright kid, permisU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

485

walter dean myers

sion to be smart,” a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article by Jim Higgins quoted Myers as saying. During his teens Myers became disillusioned over his lot in life. He continued to get into trouble at school, and realized that not many avenues would be open to him once he left high school. Even though he was a bright student, he knew there were few resources available for blacks. “My folks couldn’t send me to even a free college,” he told Amanda Smith in Publishers Weekly. “There were days when I didn’t have clothing to wear to high school, and I just didn’t go.” He dropped out of Stuyvesant High School, and, on his seventeenth birthday in 1954, he enlisted in the Army. He served three years and returned to New York City to take a series of low-paying jobs. He worked in the post office, as a messenger, and as a factory interviewer for the New York State Bureau of Labor.

Entered writing contest Myers had been writing since his school days, and had even won awards for his work. He had never thought that his short stories could provide a career for him, but in the 1960s he began to submit his work to magazines. He also found freelance work for publications like the National Enquirer. In 1968 he entered and won a competition sponsored by the Council on Interracial Books for Children for AfricanAmerican writers. His winning entry became a picture book, Where Does the Day Go? Its simple, charming plot involves a walk in the park led by a kindly African American dad; he takes along several children from different ethnic backgrounds, and all offer their various ideas about the sun, moon, and passage of time. In the early 1970s Myers wrote several other picture books for young readers, including The Dragon Takes a Wife and How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World. He was hired at the Bobbs-Merrill publishing house, and spent seven years there learning the book business from the editorial side. He went on to earn a college degree from Empire State College. His first novel for teens, Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff, was published in 1975. It came about entirely by accident, thanks to a short story he had submitted to his agent, who sent it on to an editor. The editor assumed it was a chapter in a book, and when she ran into Myers at a party she asked how the rest of the project was

486


•

volume 3

walter dean myers

going. As he recalled in the interview with Smith, “I said, ‘It goes like this,’ and I made it up on the spot. She offered me a contract.” Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff tells the story of the summer when Francis, a.k.a. “Stuff,” moves to 116th Street in Harlem. He and his friends, Clyde and Sam, shoot baskets and try to steer clear of the dangers on the streets. The book became a classic of young adult fiction, praised by readers for its humor, and taught in schools for its message about self-esteem and community. Myers found a steady market for his novels after that, and began publishing one every year. His 1979 title The Young Landlords, about a group of teens who are given an apartment building to manage on their own, was the first of his works to win a Coretta Scott King Award from the American Library Association. The annual honor is given to the top book for young readers by an African American author.

Teen titles won devoted audience Myers would win the King award several more times for other books. Motown and Didi: A Love Story was the next to earn the honor. The 1985 novel is set in Harlem, where Didi and her boyfriend, Motown, fall in love. He wants to find a good job, while Didi hopes to go to college, but their more immediate goal is to keep her brother out of trouble and away from the local drug kingpin. Four years later, Myers won again for Fallen Angels, about a Harlem teen who enlists in the Army during the Vietnam War (1954–75). Myers called upon his own recollections of military service to write it, but the work was really written in honor of his younger brother, Sonny, who followed in Myers’s footsteps and enlisted in the Army in 1968. Sonny was sent to Southeast Asia at the height of American involvement in the Vietnam conflict, and was killed in combat on his first day. Like most of Myers’s works, it became a staple on school and public library bookshelves. Years later, he said the best letter he ever received from a reader was from a young man who had wanted to enlist in the military because of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. “He was so excited he couldn’t wait until he turned 17 to join up,” Myers recalled in the interview with Smith. “He read my book and changed his mind.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

487

walter dean myers

Scorpions, which also appeared in 1988, recounts the story of Jamal, a middle-schooler who unwisely accepts a gun when an older teen asks him to hold onto it for him. The plot was inspired by a truelife tale: Myers and his sons once played ball in their neighborhood park with another kid, who later disappeared. They later learned he was involved in a shooting. Somewhere in the Darkness, which won the King award in 1993, is a characteristic Myers tale, both in its challenging fictional premise and in the compelling story the author weaves around it. This novel involves Jimmy Little, who lives in Harlem with his foster family. His father, Crab, has just been released from prison, and arrives to take Jimmy on a road trip. On their journey down South, Jimmy begins to realize his father is fatally ill and wants to clear his name of the crime that sent him to prison.

Collector of vintage images Myers has written historical fiction as well as his contemporary novels for young adults. He has also written poetry and compiled photo albums that feature images of African American families over the generations. Myers collects these historical photos from rare book dealers and antiques stores during his book tours across the United States. One of these works is One More River to Cross: An African-American Photograph Album, which depicts families’ journeys, from the slavery era to the migration to northern cities in the early years of the twentieth century. The idea for these books, Myers said, came when he was teaching writing to youngsters in a Jersey City elementary school near his home. As an assignment, he had them bring in images of their grandparents when they were children. “The kids loved the photographs,” he explained to Brown. “They wanted to learn why their grandparents would wear those kinds [of] clothes, shoes, what kind of house they lived in.” Myers has worked with his son, Christopher, who illustrated Harlem: A Poem, another Coretta Scott King award-winner. His 1999 novel Monster won that award, as well as the Michael L. Printz Award, another honor from the American Library Association. Monster recounts the terrible chain of events that lands sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon on trial for murder. Steve, who comes from a stable household and had hoped to become a filmmaker, was asked by some tougher kids in his neighborhood to serve as lookout during a store

488


•

volume 3

walter dean myers

robbery. The owner is killed, and the teens are arrested. Myers spares no detail when describing Steve’s fear of being preyed upon by the veteran teen criminals with whom he is housed. Patty Campbell, in a review for Horn Book, compared Myers’s latest work to the classics Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, S. E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, and others. She asserted that Myers’s “stunning new novel … joins these landmark books. Looking backward, Monster is the peak achievement of a career that has paralleled the growth of the genre.” Myers has written dozens of books over the years, including biographies of Malcolm X (1925–1965) and Muhammad Ali (1942–). He finally chronicled his own fascinating life story in Bad Boy: A Memoir, which appeared in 2002. He dedicated it to the sixth-grade teacher who found him professional help for his speech difficulty. Myers writes of his teen years in Harlem, and his flirtations with the criminal element, but also details his path to becoming a successful author. His story is all the more remarkable when he reveals that his foster father never learned to read—a discovery Myers made only after the man died. “Sometimes my father would have me read something to him,” Myers wrote in his autobiography, “telling me it was because of his weak eyes.” Many years later, when his father was dying, Myers gave him a book on which he and his son had collaborated, but his father never commented on it. “After his death, I went through his papers and saw the childlike scrawl that he used to fill out forms, and the misunderstandings he had of those forms.… Other correspondence indicated that his business affairs were being supervised by a friend at his job. It was then I realized that he had never commented on any of my books because he couldn’t read them”

For More Information Periodicals Brown, Jennifer M. “Walter Dean Myers Unites Two Passions.” Publishers Weekly (March 22, 1999): p. 45. Campbell, Patty. “Monster.” Horn Book (January 2000): p. 42. Corbett, Sue. “Walter Dean Myers Has Been Writing Poignant, Tough Stories for and About At-Risk Kids.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (January 26, 2000): p. K6508. Gallo, Don. “A Man of Many Ideas: Walter Dean Myers.” Writing! (February-March 2004): p. 10.


•

volume 3

489

walter dean myers Higgins, Jim. “Former ‘Bad Boy’ Taps into Youths’ Minds, Struggles.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (May 26, 2002): p. 1. McElmeel, Sharron L. “A Profile: Walter Dean Myers.” Book Report (September-October 2001): p. 42. Smith, Amanda. “Walter Dean Myers: This Award-Winning Author for Young People Tells It Like It Is.” Publishers Weekly (July 20, 1992): p. 217. “Somewhere in the Darkness.” Publishers Weekly (March 9, 1992): p. 58.

Web Sites Myers, Walter Dean. “Author Studies Homepage.” Scholastic Books. http:// www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/authorstudies/author home.jhtml?authorID=67&collateralID=5250&displayName=Biography (accessed on July 15, 2004).

490


•

volume 3

Donna Jo Napoli

February 28, 1948 • Miami, Florida

Reproduced by permission of Donna Jo Napoli.


•

volume 3

Author

Donna Jo Napoli moonlights from her job as a professor of linguistics at a Pennsylvania college to write books for children and young adults. Her stories range from magical retellings of ancient or medieval folktales, like Zel and The Magic Circle, to realistic, emotionally wrenching tales of kids confronting divorce and death in their family, such as The Bravest Thing. An essay on her career in the St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers commended Napoli’s “belief in the ability of ordinary people to overcome and to survive.”

Lost home more than once Napoli never planned to become a writer. Born in 1948, she grew up in an Italian American family in Miami, Florida, the youngest of four children. She suffered from an eye problem that was not diagnosed until she was ten, but once it was corrected, she became an avid reader. But there were still other challenges in her early life. “We had no books in the house,” she recalled in an interview published on the DownHome-

491

donna jo napoli

Books.com Web site. “My father bought the paper—but only to read the betting sheets and any news that might affect his chances to win bets.” In an article she wrote for Horn Book she revealed that her father was a compulsive gambler: “When he’d make money at work, he’d gamble it—sometimes completely away. Then we’d get kicked out of where we were living and my parents would fight and I’d go sit in a tree and read a book and live in the world I created inside my head.” Napoli was a talented student in her teens, and was accepted at Harvard University. During her first year there she took a required

“I try hard to give my readers other places—to let them experience via my stories cultures and lands that they might not be able to experience otherwise—to give them what I sought in books.” composition class, which had one fiction assignment. After her professor read the assignment, she suggested that Napoli could pursue a career as a novelist. “I decided then and there never to take another English course,” she wrote in the Horn Book article. “I simply was not going to be lured into a vocation that was so financially unstable.” After earning an undergraduate degree in mathematics, Napoli decided to study Romance languages in graduate school. These are Italian, French, Spanish, and other languages descended from Latin. She went on to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1973. She also spent a year studying linguistics, which is the scientific study of languages and their structure, sounds, meanings, and relation to human culture. During her college years she married and began a family that would eventually number five children.

Math trained her to write Napoli spent the next dozen years living and working in a number of college towns, from Northampton, Massachusetts, to Ann Arbor,

492


•

volume 3

donna jo napoli

Michigan. She became a professor of linguistics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania in 1987, and also served as chair of its linguistics department. She is the author of five books in her professional field. Her first book for children, The Hero of Barletta, was published in 1988. Its story is based on an Italian folktale about a giant who works to save the village where he lives from an invading army. But Napoli’s second career as a writer did not come about quickly. “I spent fourteen long years gathering letters of rejection before an editor finally bought one of my stories,” she noted in the Horn Book article. Her early training in mathematics had served her well, she believed. “To do math problems, you have to focus and work and work.… So mathematics teaches persistence. And there may be no more important quality for a writer than persistence.”

Napoli’s Major Works for Young Adults The Magic Circle, Dutton, 1993.

Napoli only turned to writing fiction as a second job after she experienced a personal loss. For months afterward she exchanged letters with a friend, who came to her a year later, letters in hand, and suggested they would make a terrific novel. “That’s when I realized I really love to write,” Napoli told an audience of young readers, according to Winston-Salem Journal reporter Kim Underwood. Not surprisingly, many of her books deal with a loss or challenge, and often feature characters who are coming to terms with a change or disruption in their lives. Soccer Shock was one of Napoli’s more fantastical early works. It was also her first children’s story that was not a folktale retold. Its hero is Adam, a ten-year-old who is jolted by an electric shock. As a result, his freckles now talk to him, and Adam tries to use his newfound power to become the winning athlete on his soccer team. Napoli wrote two other novels in which Adam confronts various challenges, Shark Shock and Shelley Shock.

Zel, Dutton/Penguin, 1996. Song of the Magdalene, Scholastic, 1996. Stones in Water, Dutton/Penguin, 1997. Sirena, Scholastic, 1998. Crazy Jack, Delacorte, 1999. Beast, Simon and Schuster/Atheneum, 2000. Three Days, Dutton, 2001. Daughter of Venice, Random/ Wendy Lamb Books, 2002.

Overcoming phobias was the theme of Napoli’s 1994 book When the Water Closes Over My Head. Mikey, age nine, is terrified of taking swimming lessons, and his older sister teases him about it, but he eventually learns to overcome his fear. Booklist’s Hazel Rochman liked the fact that Napoli’s characters debunked gender stereotypes— Mikey cooks better than his sister, and his little brother likes to play dress-up. When their grandmother disapproves, Mikey defends his brother. Rochman also noted the way Napoli had the characters interact at several levels, where they “bicker about breakfast cereal and also confront elemental issues of grief and rivalry and love.” U•X•L newsmakers

Breath, Simon and Schuster/Atheneum, 2003. The Great God Pan, Random/Wendy Lamb Books, 2003.

•

volume 3

493

donna jo napoli

Napoli also wrote about a young man with agoraphobia, or the fear of leaving one’s home. The title character in Albert struggles to leave the house day after day, but is unable to do so. One day he sticks his hand out of the window to check the weather, and a bird begins building a nest for her eggs in it. Now he has to remain at the window day after day, but in the process he begins to observe the world outside. When the eggs hatch and the birds leave their nest, Albert realizes he, too, is ready to leave and explore the world.

Her favorite book Napoli has said that The Bravest Thing, one of her books for readers age eight to eleven, is her favorite among the works she has authored. The story deals with multiple sorrows: ten-year-old Laurel has a pet rabbit named Bun Bun who has a litter, but Bun Bun refuses to nurse her babies and they die. Laurel decides to mate her again, and the same thing happens. In the meantime, Laurel also learns her beloved aunt has cancer, and that she herself has scoliosis, or a curvature of the spine that will require her to wear a brace. Napoli’s handling of the difficult subject matter, noted a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, “inspires the reader to believe that obstacles, no matter how daunting, can be made smaller through courage.” Napoli’s five children often provided story ideas in an indirect way. One of her daughters, Eva, once asked her mother during a readaloud moment why there were so many mean women in fairy tales. The question prompted Napoli to write The Magic Circle, a twist on the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel. It is also the first of her books directed at young adult readers. In the original tale, two children are abandoned in the forest on the orders of their stepmother during a time of starvation in the land. They become lost but discover a delightful house made of candy. An elderly woman lures them in and feeds them lavishly, but then plans to bake them in an oven and eat them. In Napoli’s story, the dreadful witch had once been a respected midwife and healer, but was condemned as a witch by her community during a wave of religious fervor in late 1600s Germany. She made a deal with the dark forces in order to save her daughter, but was tricked by them and now must live a solitary forest life. The Magic Circle was named Best Book of the Year in a 1993 Publisher’s Weekly round-up, and won several other awards as well.

494


•

volume 3

donna jo napoli

Besieged medieval village A summer spent working on a farm when her children were very young inspired some of the plot of Breath, Napoli’s 2003 novel for young adults. The story’s kernel, however, is another reworking of a classic fairy tale. In this case, the fairy tale was based on a real event: in 1284, bothered by a rat infestation, the town of Hameln, Germany, paid a musician to lead the vermin away. When the city then refused to pay the piper the money he was due, he led the town’s children away, too. Napoli read about Hameln and was intrigued by the idea that the town may have experienced a bout of ergot poisoning at the time. Ergot infests stores of rye and other grains, and causes stillborn children, hallucinations, bouts of twitching, and livestock deaths. Modern historians believe the ergot poisonings brought on the odd behavior that incited witch hunts in many places throughout the ages. Breath is narrated by Salz, a twelve-year-old boy who has cystic fibrosis. This is a genetic disorder that causes the lungs to fill with mucus; it has no cure and only in modern times did its sufferers live to reach adulthood. Napoli based her character on an old version of the tale, in which one boy does not go with the other children to their deaths, and hints he was left behind because he is disabled. In Napoli’s story, the townspeople come to believe that Salz, who coughs incessantly, is a witch, since he has not succumbed to the strange disease that has overtaken many. This is because he has not drunk any of the beer made from the ergot-infested rye. Susan P. Bloom, reviewing Breath for Horn Book, called it an “intriguing tale” that could have stood on its own without the Pied Piper story, “so compelling are the portraits of its protagonist and family and the horrific events that beset them.”

Re-imagines fairy tales Many of Napoli’s books are retellings of classic folktales or myths. These include Zel, the story of Rapunzel, and Sirena, a romantic twist on the Sirens who were said to have lured Greek sailors to their deaths in the ancient world. Beast reworks the classic Beauty and the Beast story, and adds a language lesson. It begins in Persia in the 1500s, and features a prince who is turned into a lion as punishment. He makes his way to France, where he knows there is a woman, Belle, and a rose garden that will save him. “On this grueling trip the reader feels the prince’s loss of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

495

donna jo napoli

humanity,” noted Bloom in a Horn Book review. The critic also noted that the story turns compelling when Belle finds him in the abandoned castle where he is hiding. The Beast leaves it only to hunt his own food, which repulses him. “Getting past her initial fear, the courageous Belle cleans the Beast’s muzzle of blood,” notes Bloom, and the two read together from The Aeneid, an epic Latin masterpiece from the first century B.C.E. Persian, Arabic, and French words appear elsewhere in the story, and Napoli provides a glossary at the end for readers. Napoli still teaches at Swarthmore, but also likes to visit schools and meet her young readers in person. She has written books with others, including How Hungry Are You? with mathematician Richard Tchen. With her son, Robert Furrow, she wrote Sly and the Pet Mysteries, which was published in 2004. She has also collaborated with her daughter, Eva, on Bobby the Bonobo, a book about a pet monkey that is scheduled for publication in 2006.

For More Information Books St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers. Second edition. Farmington Hills, MI: St. James Press, 1999.

Periodicals Bloom, Susan P. “Beast.” Horn Book (September 2000): p. 577. Bloom, Susan P. “Donna Jo Napoli: Breath.” Horn Book (January-February 2004): p. 85. “The Bravest Thing.” Publishers Weekly (October 30, 1995): p. 62. DeCandido, GraceAnne A. “The Great God Pan.” Booklist (April 15, 2003): p. 1464. Napoli, Donna Jo. “ What’s Math Got to Do with It?” Horn Book (January 2001): p. 61. Rochman, Hazel. “When the Water Closes over My Head.” Booklist (January 1, 1994): p. 827. Underwood, Kim. “ Just Watch; Author Recommends Close Observation Followed Up with a Fertile Imagination.” Winston-Salem Journal (November 12, 2001): p. D1.

Web Sites “Author interviews: September 2003: Donna Jo Napoli.” DownHomeBooks.com. http://www.downhomebooks.com/napoli.htm (accessed on July 15, 2004). “Biography.” Donna Jo Napoli.com. http://www.donnajonapoli.com/ biography.html (accessed on July 15, 2004).

496


•

volume 3

Gavin Newsom

October 10, 1967 • San Francisco, California



•

volume 3

Politician

Just before Valentine’s Day weekend in 2004, recently elected San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom ordered the county clerk to begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples who applied at San Francisco City Hall. Newsom’s daring move allowed more than four thousand couples to get married that weekend in his city. He became a hero to the gay and lesbian community for his defiance, but he claimed he was simply acting in good conscience after President George W. Bush (1946–) criticized court challenges that had defended same-sex unions in other states. “I’d just taken an oath as mayor of the most diverse city, where people are living together and prospering together across every conceivable difference,” People journalist J. D. Heyman quoted him as saying. “And for the President to try to deny millions of Americans the same rights that he and I have just didn’t seem right.”

497

gavin newsom

Suffered from dyslexia The youngest mayor of San Francisco since 1897 was born Gavin Christopher Newsom on October 10, 1967. He was a fourth-generation San Franciscan, and came from a politically well-connected family. His grandfather was a friend of a California governor in the 1960s, and his father, William, served as a California appeals court judge for many years. Newsom’s father was also a boyhood pal of one of San Francisco’s richest citizens, Gordon Getty (1933–). The elder Newsom and the billionaire oil heir had known one another since their high school days in the 1940s. When a Getty grandson, Jean Paul III (1956–), was abducted by kidnappers in Italy in 1973, Newsom’s

“My reward at the end of the day is that I can live with myself. I did my job and had a conscience. That’s more powerful than being mayor.” father and others traveled there to pay the ransom money after the teenager’s ear was cut off and sent to a newspaper. Newsom’s parents had divorced by then. He and his younger sister, Hilary, were raised primarily by their mother, Tessa, although they remained close to their father and also to the Gettys. Newsom’s mother worked as a bookkeeper, waitress, and secretary to make ends meet, and Newsom later admitted that his school years were difficult because of his dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes writing and spelling difficult. He went to a French-American bilingual academy, then to the Notre Dame de Victoire school in San Francisco. After graduating from Redwood High School in Marin County, he won a partial baseball scholarship to Santa Clara University, graduating in 1989 with a political science degree.

Opened wine business Newsom’s family connections helped get him a job in the office of a well-connected San Francisco real estate mogul, but the position paid

498


•

volume 3

gavin newsom

San Francisco’s First Lady Lives in New York

S an Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is the husband of television legal commentator Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom. During his election campaign in 2003, she took a leave of absence from her job in the prosecutor’s office in San Francisco to avoid any conflict of interest. She began appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live as a legal commentator during episodes devoted to the case of Laci Peterson, a pregnant woman from California who disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002. Like her husband, Guilfoyle Newsom is a lifelong San Franciscan with Irish roots. Her Irish-born father was a cop and real estate investor, and her mother, who died when Guilfoyle Newsom was ten, was of Puerto Rican heritage. She attended the University of California’s Davis campus, and then helped put herself through law school at the University of San Francisco by working as a model. After a stint in the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, she

returned to take a similar job in her hometown. She rose to national prominence in 2001, some two years before her husband, when she was assigned to a notorious dog-mauling case in which a large dog attacked Diane Whipple, a lacrosse coach. Guilfoyle Newsom won a murder conviction against Whipple’s neighbors, a pair of attorneys who owned the dog. Guilfoyle Newsom married her husband in December of 2001, when he was still serving on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Their wedding reception was hosted by longtime friends Gordon and Ann Getty at their art-filled home in the Pacific Heights section of the city. In January of 2004, when her husband became mayor, Guilfoyle Newsom resigned from her prosecutor’s job for good. She was hired by the cable channel Court TV as the co-host of a daily trial coverage program called Both Sides. The job forces her to spend most of her week in New York City, and to commute in order to see her equally busy husband.

just $18,000 a year. In 1992 he and Getty’s son, Billy, a friend since childhood, decided to open a wine business. They called their Fillmore Street store the PlumpJack Wine Shop. Their venture was financed by the elder Getty, and named after an opera Gordon Getty had written, based on a character from Shakespeare. The wine store proved a success, and became the basis for an entire PlumpJack empire. They opened the PlumpJack Cafe, also on Fillmore Street, in 1993, followed by a Napa Valley winery in 1995. Their companies expanded in 1996 to include the Balboa Café and the MatrixFillmore nightclub three years later. Newsom was busy running these ventures, but agreed to host a 1995 fundraiser for San Francisco’s Democratic mayoral candidate, Willie L. Brown Jr. (1934–), at one of his San Francisco venues. When Brown won the election, he gave Newsom a post as the city’s parking and traffic commissioner. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

499

gavin newsom

In 1997 Brown named Newsom to fill a vacancy on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the equivalent of its city council. A year later, Newsom ran for election to keep the seat, and won. He went on to gain some notoriety in the city for a controversial ballot proposal called “Care Not Cash.” For some years, the famously liberal city had been offering welfare payments to San Francisco’s homeless, prompted in part by the famously high cost of housing. Newsom’s bill ended the cash payments and gave the homeless vouchers for shelter, counseling, and treatment instead. The referendum passed, but was contested in the courts and later overturned.

A heated campaign San Francisco has term limits for mayors, and Brown was prohibited from seeking a third term in 2003. Newsom cast his hat into the ring for the mayoral race in November of 2002. The field was soon crowded with a number of other Democrats in the left-leaning city, and some of them tried to make an issue of his ties to the Getty oil fortune. But Newsom was honest in disclosing his financial records to the press, and sold his real estate development business to his father and Gordon Getty in order to avoid a conflict of interest. He also stepped away from the dayto-day management of his other ventures for the same reason. His foes painted him as a well-heeled socialite with political connections, but Newsom stressed his business experience over the last decade and promised to run City Hall the same way if elected. “I started every one of those businesses,” he said in an interview with San Francisco Chronicle writers Chuck Finnie, Rachel Gordon, and Lance Williams. “Conceived of them, wrote the business plans, got all the investors, and by no means are the investors exclusive to the Getty family.” It was a tough campaign with several experienced opponents, but Newsom emerged as a leader as the November election date neared. Though he had a strong finish in the balloting that day, no candidate received more than fifty percent of the vote, and a run-off election was held a few weeks later. In that contest, he bested Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez (1965–). When he was sworn in on January 8, 2004, he was just thirty-six years old. It made him the city’s youngest mayor since 1897, and one of the youngest to lead a major American city at the time.

500


•

volume 3

gavin newsom

In his first weeks in office, Newsom fulfilled his campaign pledge to voters that he would be fiscally conservative in budget matters but liberal on social matters. He appointed San Francisco’s first female fire chief and female police chief, and cut his own $168,900 salary by fifteen percent to help reduce a budget deficit estimated at $330 million. On January 20 he was in Washington, D.C., for President Bush’s annual State of the Union address. In it, Bush condemned what he described as “activist” judges, who were undermining the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. DOMA denied federal recognition of same-sex marriages, and also allowed states the right to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that had taken place in other states. At the time, Vermont allowed same-sex unions, and in late 2003 the Massachusetts Supreme Court issued a ruling that paved the way for same-sex couples to wed in that state.

Made International Headlines Back home, Newsom began doing some legal research. He looked into California’s Proposition 22, which state voters had approved in 2000. This law defined marriage as a contract between a man and a woman. Newsom then checked the state’s constitution, which had an “equal protection” guarantee—meaning that the state’s laws should apply equally to all citizens. Believing that Proposition 22 was unconstitutional in his state, he decided to challenge it. He first called California’s leading Democrat politicians in Washington, who advised the new mayor against taking such a politically controversial stance. On his thirty-sixth day in office, Newsom instructed City Hall to begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples who came to apply for them. The decision was timed with what had become an annual protest by gay-rights activists at City Hall, called the “Freedom to Marry” rally. Newsom convinced two prominent activists, Del Martin, age eighty-three, and her seventy-nine-year-old partner, Phyllis Lyon, to apply for a license and become the first to marry in the city. They agreed, and it set off a rush to City Hall. Over the holiday weekend, same-sex San Franciscan couples arrived to apply for licenses, and then television news cameras from across the United States began filming the long lines of couples waiting to apply. Some U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

501

gavin newsom

flew in from across the country, including television personality Rosie O’Donnell (1962–) and her longtime partner.

Mayor Gavin Newsom stands between two newlyweds who were able to marry after the city of San Francisco, CA, began issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

Newsom timed the event perfectly: Martin and Lyon were married on February 12, a day the courts were closed, and the next day was the start of a three-day weekend. Conservative Christian groups immediately filed motions to halt the same-sex unions, but two city judges denied their requests. The judges said it should be decided when the courts opened on the next business day. Newsom allowed City Hall to stay open round the clock through the weekend to handle the demand for marriage licenses, and many employees even volunteered their hours. By Monday, February 16, 2,340 weddings had taken place, including that of Newsom’s chief of staff, as well as another involving his policy director, at which he officiated.


Challenged governor, even president On Sunday, February 22, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (1947–) told the media that Newsom had stepped out of line.

502


•

volume 3

gavin newsom

According to an article by Jeremy Quittner in the Advocate, Schwarzenegger said, “In San Francisco it is license for marriage of same sex. Maybe the next thing is another city that hands out licenses for assault weapons and someone else hands out licenses for selling drugs; I mean, you can’t do that.” On February 24 President Bush asserted that he would support a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriages in the United States. Newsom quickly called a press conference to challenge the President’s remarks. Bush has “tried to divide this country in order to advance his political career by messing with the Constitution,” Newsom told reporters, according to an article by Gordon and her San Francisco Chronicle colleague Simone Sebastian. “I can’t believe people of good conscience, from any ideological perspective, can honestly say that the Constitution should be used to take rights away from people when the Constitution was conceived to advance the rights of people in this country,” Newsom asserted. “It is a terrible day because of what the president of the United States has decided to do to divide the United States of America. That, I think, is shameful.” The proposed amendment to ban same-sex marriages was defeated in Congress in July of 2004. On March 11 California Supreme Court justices ordered San Francisco to stop issuing licenses for same-sex couples. Over four thousand couples had already been wed in the city. Newsom was a hero to many, but was criticized in other quarters. Hosts of radio callin shows and television pundit-fests condemned him, and his office received negative e-mails as well. Newsom had been termed one of the Democratic Party’s most exciting new names, and had once even declared his intention to make a bid for the White House someday. Some believed he had risked his political future by supporting samesex unions. However, his City Hall predecessor, Mayor Art Agnos (1938–), signed the first domestic partnership bill in the United States into law in 1988. Back then, Agnos was also warned against taking such a stance, but a decade later such bills were commonplace in municipalities and companies throughout the United States. Newsom has said he was merely putting his city at the forefront once again. “We will look back in 15 to 30 years in disbelief that we were ever having this kind of debate,” he told Quittner. “Of that I am absolutely certain.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

503

gavin newsom

For More Information Periodicals Finnie, Chuck, Rachel Gordon, and Lance Williams. “Newsom’s Portfolio; Mayoral Hopeful Has Parlayed Getty Money, Family Ties and Political Connections into Local Prominence.” San Francisco Chronicle (February 23, 2003): p. A1. Gordon, Rachel. “Newsom Asks: What Do You Need?; In Door-to-Door Visits, S.F. Workers Extend Helping Hand to Crime-Weary Residents.” San Francisco Chronicle (June 11, 2004): p. A1. Gordon, Rachel, and Simone Sebastian. “Same-Sex Marriage Ban of ‘National Importance’; Feisty Mayor: Newsom Calls Bush Reaction Shameful.” San Francisco Chronicle (February 25, 2004): p. A1. Heyman, J. D. “The Marrying Man: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom Grants Marriage Licenses to Gay Couples—And Sparks a National Movement.” People (March 29, 2004): p. 93. Medina, Marcy. “Pet Project. (San Francisco Prosecutor Kimberly Guilfoyle).” WWD (April 9, 2001): p. 16. Murphy, Dean E. “Left Faces Left in San Francisco Runoff Vote for Mayor.” New York Times (Dec 7, 2003): p. A26. Quittner, Jeremy. “Gavin’s Gay Gamble: Mayor Gavin Newsom Makes San Francisco a Mecca for Gay Marriage. What Was This Straight Guy Thinking?” Advocate (March 30, 2004): p. 28. Said, Carolyn. “Win for Bottom Line; S.F. Mayor-Elect Brings Commercial Smarts to His Job.” San Francisco Chronicle (December 11, 2003): p. B1. Sandalow, Marc, and Rachel Gordon. “Newsom Now a National Figure; Same-Sex Marriage Decision Turns Him into Lightning Rod.” San Francisco Chronicle (Feb 29, 2004): p. A1. Taylor, Chris. “I Do … No, You Don’t! Why San Francisco’s Brash Mayor Is Taking on Schwarzenegger and Bush over Gay Marriage.” Time (March 1, 2004): p. 40. Zinko, Carolyne. “A Wedding to Remember; Newsom-Guilfoyle Nuptials Talk of the Town.” San Francisco Chronicle (December 16, 2001): p. E5.

504


•

volume 3

Jenny Nimmo

January 15, 1942 • Windsor, Berkshire, England

Writer


•

volume 3

British author Jenny Nimmo writes about spell-casting cats and youngsters who inherit magical powers. The author of more than four dozen books for children and young-adult readers, Nimmo did not begin writing in earnest until she became a mother, though she had always written far-fetched, sometimes gory tales when she was in her teens. “A lot of people, my teachers particularly, used to throw my books back at me and tell me not to write such rubbish,” she once recalled in an interview that appeared on the HarperCollins Web site. “I took them at their word and I stopped writing. Perhaps if I’d persevered then I might have started writing earlier, but I didn’t have the confidence.”

Sent to boarding school Nimmo has lived in Wales for years, and some of her best-known fiction draws upon ancient Welsh legends. But she is English by birth, a native of the Berkshire district, where she was born in 1942. An only

505

jenny nimmo

child, she was sent to live with relatives after her physicist-father died when she was five. Her uncle, who ran a free-range chicken farm, taught her to read, with the help of her favorite book at the time, The Bear That Never Was. As she remembered in the HarperCollins interview: “It was about a bear who comes out of hiding and is put to work in a factory because no-one believes that he is a bear, they all think he’s a silly man who doesn’t want to work! That was the book that taught me how to read.” Around the age of nine, Nimmo was sent to a boarding school. Teachers there encouraged her talent for drama, and she also developed

“Her writing is powerful and as musical as the Welsh culture about which she is writing.” St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers

musical abilities. She remained a voracious reader. When she read through the entire library at her middle school, she was given special permission to check out books from the high-school library shelves. It was during this time that she began writing her own murder-mystery stories that her teachers criticized. After leaving school, Nimmo put her dramatic skills to use by working with the Theatre Southeast, a company in Sussex and Kent counties. She appeared in its productions and also served as an assistant stage manager for three years. In 1963, Nimmo took off for Amalfi, Italy, a picturesque Mediterranean coastal area south of Naples. She worked as a governess there for a year, teaching English to a family of Italian youngsters. When she returned to England, she landed a job with the television production arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in London. She worked as a photographic researcher for two years, and then served as an assistant floor manager for a time. In 1970, she became a director and writer on the staff of a long-running BBC children’s program, Jackanory. It was one of the most popular children’s television shows in British history, featuring tales told by well-known stage and screen personalities. Nimmo’s job as a writer was to adapt children’s books for its teleplay format.

506


•

volume 3

jenny nimmo

Major Works by Nimmo The Bronze Trumpeter, Angus & Robertson, 1975.

The Witch’s Tears, Collins, 1996.

The Snow Spider, Methuen, 1986, Dutton, 1987.

Seth and the Strangers, Mammoth, 1997.

Emlyn’s Moon, Methuen, 1987, published as Orchard of the Crescent Moon, Dutton, 1989.

Delilah Alone, Mammoth, 1997.

The Chestnut Soldier, Methuen, 1989, Dutton, 1991.

Gwion and the Witch, Pont Books, 1996.

The Dragon’s Child, Hodder & Stoughton, 1997.

Toby in the Dark, Walker, 1999. Esmeralda and the Children Next Door, Methuen, 1999, Houghton, 2000.

Ultramarine, Methuen, 1990, Dutton, 1992.

Something Wonderful, Collins, Harcourt, 2001.

Delilah and the Dogspell, Methuen, 1991.

Midnight for Charlie Bone, Egmont, Orchard, 2002.

Rainbow and Mr. Zed, Methuen, 1992, Dutton, 1994. The Stone Mouse, Walker, 1993.

Beak and Whisker, Egmont, 2002. Invisible Vinnie, Corgi, 2003.

Imagined a talking statue Nimmo thought of her own idea for a story, based on her time in Italy, about a statue that comes to life in the garden of a villa. As she recalled in the HarperCollins interview, she decided to “set it in Sicily in 1915, during the First World War. I gave it to my producer and she said that it was, ‘No good for television but it would make a wonderful book. Go away and lengthen it, make it into a full-length novel’ and so I did.” The Bronze Trumpeter was published in 1975 to some excellent reviews. Its plot centers on a young boy who is befriended by the statue of a musician on the grounds of a Sicilian villa that comes to life for him. The lonely boy learns much from his friendship with the Trumpeter, who even helps him uncover a scheme cooked up by his frosty governess, Fraulein Helga. But Nimmo would not publish another book for almost a decade. In 1974, she married artist and illustrator David Wynn Millward, and soon began a family that would number three children. They settled in Wales, and Nimmo did not begin writing again until her youngest child began preschool. She wrote a children’s book titled U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

507

jenny nimmo

Tatty Apple, about a boy named Owen and his green-and-brown rabbit, Tatty Apple, who has magical powers. In 1986, Nimmo earned terrific reviews for her next book, The Snow Spider, which also became the first of an acclaimed fantasy-fiction trilogy of the same name. The young-adult novel won the Tir na n-Og Award for best children’s book either in the Welsh language or set in Wales, given by the Welsh Books Council the following year. It borrowed many elements from an old Welsh saga, the Mabinogion, for the modern-day plot. The Mabinogion dated back to the medieval era, but its tales were thought by scholars to be even hundreds of years older than that. Its intertwined stories involved princes, far-off lands, magical spells, and giants.

Boy struggles with powers The Snow Spider chronicled the tale of Gwyn Griffiths, a ten-year-old boy in Wales whose sister has recently disappeared while walking in the hilly Welsh countryside. She is presumed dead. Gwyn’s mother is grief-stricken, and his father blames him for the loss. But Gwyn’s wise grandmother gives him five odd gifts for his birthday: a brooch, a pipe, some seaweed, the broken figurine of a horse, and a scarf his sister once wore. These items help him uncover his magician’s gifts. It turns out that Gwyn is the descendant of Gwydion, a powerful magician, but the family’s gifts have grown weaker over the generations. Gwyn’s grandmother wants to help him unlock his secret talents. He tosses the brooch, for instance, and it returns to him as Arianwen, a silver spider. Arianwen becomes his helpmate, and shows him how to make contact with his sister, who may not really be dead at all. Nimmo continued the saga of Gwyn in Emlyn’s Moon, which was published in the United States as Orchard of the Crescent Moon. Its plot revolves around his neighbor and friend, Nia, who hopes to rescue her friend, Emlyn. Along the way, Gwyn learns that he and Emlyn are cousins, but the branches of their families have a longstanding grudge against one another involving Emlyn’s mother, who vanished many years before. The last of Nimmo’s trilogy is The Chestnut Soldier, which features Gwyn on the verge of turning fourteen. He has learned much about his powers over the years, but fails to use them wisely at times.

508


•

volume 3

jenny nimmo

One of his decisions puts a soldier in danger. The man has returned to the village to recuperate, after serving with the British army in Northern Ireland. In this final work, which features an epic struggle between the forces of light and dark, Gwyn finally unlocks the riddle of the broken-horse statue. An essay in the St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers called this trio of books “a stunning achievement. Nimmo explores Gwyn’s dual existence as ancient magician and young boy through five years, by turns showing his enthusiasm and weariness for his role as his awareness grows, and also his final acceptance of what he is.”

Wrote underwater mystery Nimmo returned to the fantasy/psychological-thriller format for teen readers with Ultramarine in 1990. In it, a brother and sister are sent to stay with older relatives they’ve never met. The seashore visit uncovers many intriguing stories about Ned and Nell’s family, including the events surrounding their mother’s death by drowning. They also come to realize that their real father may have been a mysterious sea creature known as a kelpie, a shape-shifting water devil of Gaelic lore who takes the shape of a horse to lure its victims. But their father tried to use his powers for good, by serving as a protector for other sea creatures. Ned and Nell learn some of this when they befriend a local eccentric who also rescues sea creatures. In the end, Ned departs for his other home—underwater. Nell’s story continues solo in Rainbow and Mr. Zed, which finds her living with her aunt and grandmother. “Rainbow,” it turns out, is Nell’s real name, while Mr. Zed—“zed” is British English for “zero”—is the wicked uncle who hopes to use Nell’s powers to further his own ambitions. Talking animals, whether stuffed, stone, or real, always seem to appear in many of Nimmo’s books. These include The Stone Mouse, in which a brother and sister discover a talking stone mouse. She has also written a comical series beginning with Delilah and the Dogspell in 1991. It features a spell-casting cat who uses her powers to harass the local dogs. A 1994 book, Griffin’s Castle, features a plot that involves the carved animals decorating the walls of Wales’s famed Cardiff Castle. Dinah is upset about her mother’s plan to sell their old house, and asks the animals to help her thwart the plan. Toby in the Dark, published in 1999, is a teddy bear who helps the three children living in the home of a mean-spirited foster parent. Family strife also U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

509

jenny nimmo

runs through Nimmo’s books. The plot of Milo’s Wolves, which appeared in 2001, begins when a father confesses to his three children that they have a brother, Gwendal, who has been in a clinic for many years, but is now coming home.

More tales of magic Nimmo began another series in 2002, “The Children of the Red King.” It kicked off with Midnight for Charlie Bone, about a ten-yearold who discovers that he has inherited supernatural powers, and is sent off to a special academy to refine them. The series had echoes of the successful “Harry Potter” books by British author J. K. Rowling, but Charlie, unlike Harry, possesses the unique gift of being able to look at a photograph and suddenly hear the conversations and thoughts that took place at the time it was taken. The series continued with Charlie Bone and the Time Twister and Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy. Not all of Nimmo’s books have appeared in print outside of Great Britain. Her popular “Snow Spider” and “Charlie Bone” series, as well as the two Ultramarine books and Griffin’s Castle, have been published for American readers. Other works issued by New York City publishing houses have been Esmeralda and the Children Next Door, about the star in a family of circus performers, little Esmeralda, who possesses a super-strength that is a hit with audiences but embarrasses her in real life. Other children tease her because she can lift both her parents and carry them around. In Something Wonderful, Little Hen is a shy, hesitant hen that is the runt of her farm. Dejected when she learns she cannot take part in a special competition for the other chickens, she finds some eggs in the woods that have been accidentally left behind by the others. She stays with them until they are hatched, even braving a storm, and returns with the baby chicks to the farm and a hero’s welcome. “Youngsters will enjoy and identify with this story about one small animal’s special gift,” noted a School Library Journal review from Anne Parker. Nimmo’s children are grown now, but she remains busy at her home in Llangynyw, which is named Henllan Mill. She and her husband run a summer art academy which includes lodgings and meals. She finds it hard to write during these weeks when the guest-students

510


•

volume 3

jenny nimmo

are around, but described it as a kind of vacation from the necessary discipline of being a full-time writer. “It’s a mental break I suppose,” she said in the interview that appeared on the HarperCollins Web site, “which is sometimes a good thing.”

For More Information Books St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers. Detroit, MI: St. James Press, 1996.

Periodicals “Children’s Notes.” Publishers Weekly (July 12, 2004): p. 65. Parker, Anne. “Something Wonderful.” School Library Journal (September 2001): p. 202.

Web Sites “Authors … An Interview with Jenny Nimmo.” HarperCollins. http://www. harpercollins.co.uk/authors/interview.aspx?id=495&aid=4283 (accessed on July 26, 2004). “Nimmo, Jenny.” Contemporary Authors Online. http://web1.infotrac.gale group.com/itw/infomark/313/94/49940612w1/purl=rc1_CA_0_H1000 073184&dyn=8!xrn_3_0_H1000073184?sw_aep=itsbtrial (accessed on July 26, 2004).


•

volume 3

511

Indra K. Nooyi

October 28, 1955 • Madras, India


•

© Najlah Feanny/Corbis SABA.

volume 3

Executive

Indra K. Nooyi is the president and chief financial officer of PepsiCo. Best known for its Pepsi soft drinks, the international powerhouse that Nooyi oversees is actually one of the world’s largest snack-food companies. Its makes and sells dozens of other products, including Doritos-brand chips, the Tropicana juice line, and Quaker Oats cereals. Nooyi is one of the top female executives in the United States, and is also believed to be the highest-ranking woman of Indian heritage in corporate America.

Joined Rock Band Nooyi was born in Madras, India, in 1955, and was a bit of a rule breaker in her conservative, middle-class world as she grew up. In an era in India where it was considered unseemly for young women to exert themselves, she joined an all-girls’ cricket team. She even played guitar in an all-female rock band while studying at Madras Christian

513

indra k. nooyi

College. After earning her undergraduate degree in chemistry, physics, and math, she went on to enroll in the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta. At the time, it was one of just two schools in the country that offered a master’s in business administration degree, or M.B.A. Nooyi’s first job after earning her degree was with Tootal, a British textile company. It had had been founded in Manchester, England, in 1799, but had extensive holdings in India. After that, Nooyi was hired as a brand manager at the Bombay offices of Johnson & Johnson, the personal-care products maker. She was given the Stayfree account, which might have proved a major challenge for

“Behind my cool logic lies a very emotional person.” even an experienced marketing executive. The line had just been introduced on the market in India, and struggled to create an identity with its target customers. “It was a fascinating experience because you couldn’t advertise personal protection in India,” she recalled in an interview with the Financial Times’s Sarah Murray. Nooyi began to feel that perhaps she was underprepared for the business world. Determined to study in the United States, she applied to and was accepted by Yale University’s Graduate School of Management in New Haven, Connecticut. Much to her surprise, her parents agreed to let her move to America. The year was 1978. “It was unheard of for a good, conservative, south Indian Brahmin girl to do this,” she explained to Murray in the Financial Times. “It would make her an absolutely unmarriageable commodity after that.”

Could Not Afford Suit Nooyi quickly settled into her new life, but struggled to make ends meet over the next two years. Though she received financial aid from Yale, she also had to work as an overnight receptionist to make ends meet. “My whole summer job was done in a sari because I had no

514


•

volume 3

indra k. nooyi

Pepsi v. Coke

The rivalry between Pepsi, the flagship product of Indra Nooyi’s company, and its Atlanta, Georgia-based competitor, Coca-Cola, is one of corporate America’s longest-running marketing battles. In the United States alone, the soft-drink industry is a $60 billion one, with the average American consuming a staggering fifty-three gallons of carbonated soft drinks every year. The battle between Coke and Pepsi dates back almost as long as each company’s history. Both emerged as key players in early decades of the twentieth century, when soft drinks first came on the market in the United States. In the 1920s, Coca-Cola began moving aggressively into overseas markets, and even opened bottling plants near to places where U.S. service personnel were stationed during World War II. Pepsi only moved into international territory in the 1950s, but scored a major coup in 1972 when it inked a deal with the Soviet Union. With this deal, Pepsi became the first Western product ever sold to Soviet consumers.

The battle for market share heated up after 1975, when both companies stepped up their already lavishly financed marketing campaigns to win new customers. Pepsi’s standard cola products had a slightly sweeter taste, which prompted one of the biggest corporate-strategy blunders in U.S. business history: in 1985, Coca-Cola launched “New Coke,” which had a slightly sweeter formulation. Coke consumers were outraged. The old formula was still available under the name “Coca-Cola Classic,” but the New Coke idea was quickly shelved. This incident is often studied by businessschool curriculums in the United States and elsewhere, along with many other aspects of what is known as “the cola wars.” Coke is the leader in market share for carbonated colas, but soft drinks remain its core business. Pepsi, on the other hand, began acquiring other businesses in 1965 when it bought the Texas-based Frito-Lay company, and has a larger stake in the food industry.

money to buy clothes,” she told Murray. Even when she went for an interview at the prestigious business-consulting firms that hired business-school students, she wore her sari, since she could not afford a business suit. Recalling that the Graduate School of Management required all first-year students to take—and pass—a course in effective communications, she said in the Financial Times interview that what she learned in it “was invaluable for someone who came from a culture where communication wasn’t perhaps the most important aspect of business at least in my time.” Nooyi did not earn a second M.B.A. from Yale. Instead, her degree was a master of public and private management, which she finished in 1980. After commencement, she went to work at the Boston Consulting Group, a prestigious consulting firm. For the next six U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

515

indra k. nooyi

years she worked on a variety of international corporate-strategy projects, and went over to Motorola in 1986 as a senior executive. She remained there for four years, leaving in 1990 to join Asea Brown Boveri Inc. as its head of strategy. ABB, as the company was known, was a $6 billion Swiss-Swedish conglomerate that made industrial equipment and constructed power plants around the world. Nooyi’s skill in helping ABB find its direction in North America came to the attention of Jack Welch, the head of General Electric. He offered her a job in 1994, but so did PepsiCo chief executive officer Wayne Calloway. As she told a writer for Business Week, the two men knew one another, but Calloway made an appealing pitch for Nooyi’s talent. He told her, she recalled, that “‘Welch is the best CEO I know.… But I have a need for someone like you, and I would make PepsiCo a special place for you.’” Nooyi chose the soft-drink maker, and became its chief strategist. Soon, she was urging PepsiCo to reshape its brand identity and assets, and became influential in a number of important decisions. She was also a lead negotiator on the high-level deals that followed. The company decided to spin off its restaurant division in 1997, for example, which made its KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell holdings into a separate company. She also looked at the successful plan by Pepsi rival Coca-Cola, which had sold of its bottling operations a decade earlier, and had been rewarded with impressive profit margins on its stock performance. Pepsi followed suit, and the 1999 initial public offering of the Pepsi bottling operations was valued at $2.3 billion. The company kept a large share of stock in it, however.

Pointed Pepsi in the Right Direction At PepsiCo, Nooyi has been the chief dealmaker for two of its most important acquisitions: she put together the $3.3 billion-dollar-deal for the purchase of the Tropicana orange-juice brand in 1998, and two years later was part of the team that secured Quaker Oats for $14 billion. That became one of the biggest food deals in corporate history, and added a huge range of cereals and snack-food products to the PepsiCo empire. She also helped acquire the edgy beverage maker SoBe for $337 million, and her deal beat the one submitted by Coca-Cola.

516


•

volume 3

indra k. nooyi

Indra Nooyi (left) and other PepsiCo and Quaker Oats executives pose with products from both companies. PepsiCo purchased Quaker Oaks in 2001. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

For her impressive dealmaking talents, Nooyi was promoted to the job of chief financial officer at PepsiCo in February of 2000. It made her the highest-ranking Indian-born woman among the ranks of corporate America. A year later, she was given the title of president as well, when her longtime colleague, Steven S. Reinemund, advanced to the position of board chair and chief executive officer. Reinemund had said he would only take the job only if Nooyi came onboard as his second in command. “‘I can’t do it unless I have you with me,’” she recalled him telling her, according to Business Week. Upon taking over as president and chief financial officer in May of 2001, Nooyi worked to keep the company on track with her vision: “For any part of the day we will have a little snack for you,” she told Business Week in 2001. The company sold a dazzling range of snack foods and beverages, from Mountain Dew to Rice-a-Roni, from Captain Crunch cereal to Gatorade-brand sports drinks. It also owned the makers of Doritos-brand snacks and Aquafina bottled water.

One of Corporate America’s Top Visionaries Nooyi’s success in the business world landed her on Time magazine’s list of “Contenders” for its Global Business Influentials rankings in 2003. Many watchers predict that she will someday head one of the company’s divisions, such as Frito-Lay, or its core brand, PepsiCo U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

517

indra k. nooyi

Beverages North America. In early 2004, there were mentions in the press that Nooyi, who still wears the occasional sari to work, was being considered for the top job at the Gucci Group, but she denied rumors that she had been talking with the Italian luxury-goods giant. Nooyi serves on the board of trustees at the Yale Corporation, the governing board of Yale University. She lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, not far from PepsiCo’s headquarters across the state line in Purchase, New York. At home, she maintains a puja, or traditional Hindu shrine, and once she flew to Pittsburgh after a tough session with Quaker Oats executives to pray at a shrine there to her family’s deity. Her predictions that her American graduate education would hamper her marriage prospects proved untrue, for she married an Indian man, Raj, who works as a management consultant. They have two daughters who are nearly a decade apart in ages, and Nooyi occasionally brings her younger child to work. The former rock guitarist is still known to take the stage at company functions to sing. Her job, however, remains a top priority. She watches championship-game replays of the Chicago Bulls to study teamwork concepts, for example, and admitted to Forbes journalist Melanie Wells that she strategizes 24-7 sometimes. “I wake up in the middle of the night,” she told the magazine, “and write different versions of PepsiCo on a sheet of paper.”

For More Information Periodicals Kretchmar, Laurie. “Indra K. Nooyi, 35.” Fortune (May 6, 1991): p. 112. Murray, Sarah. “From Poor Indian Student to Powerful US Businesswoman.” Financial Times (January 26, 2004): p. 3. “Nooyi Denies Gucci Talks.” WWD (February 27, 2004): p. 2. Pandya, Meenal. “No Going Back: Indian Immigrant Women Shape a New Identity.” World and I (May 2001): p. 204. “A Potent Ingredient in Pepsi’s Formula.” Business Week (April 10, 2000): p. 180. “The Power of Two at Pepsi.” Business Week (January 29, 2001): p. 102. Thottam, Jyoti. “The ‘Iron Woman’ Is Ready to Rock.” Time (December 1, 2003): p. 73. “A Touch of Indigestion.” Business Week (March 4, 2002): p. 66. Wells, Melanie. “A General in Waiting?” Forbes (January 20, 2003): p. 74.

518


•

volume 3

and

Mary-Kate Ashley Olsen •

Mary-Kate Olsen June 13, 1986 • Sherman Oaks, California

Entertainer

Ashley Olsen AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.


•

volume 3

June 13, 1986 • Sherman Oaks, California

Entertainer

Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have been in front of the cameras since before they could walk or talk. With a career that began on television in 1987, the Olsens went on to star in their own series of video movies, which sold millions of copies each and gave them a devoted fan base among American girls aged four to fourteen. They created a brand identity for themselves, and oversaw an empire that ranged from their own magazine to “marykateandashley” toothpaste long before they took their college-board exams. Each has an estimated net worth of $150 million, but both remained modest about the subject of their wealth. “That’s not interesting to us,” Mary-Kate told CosmoGirl! writer Lauren Brown. “Because we would never be like, ‘Oh yeah, we’re worth such-and-such.’ If we don’t care, no one else should.”

Their first and only audition The Olsen twins’ birthday is a well-known one: June 13, 1986. Ashley

519

mary-kate and ashley olsen

was born first, followed a few minutes later by Mary-Kate. They grew up in Sherman Oaks, California, in the San Fernando Valley, and had an older brother, Trent. Their father, Dave, worked as a mortgage banker, and their mother, Jarnette, had once danced with the Los Angeles Ballet corps. One day, their mother met a friend’s friend, who was a casting agent, and mentioned that she had twin daughters. The agent asked to see a photograph, and then arranged an audition for the girls for a new ABC sitcom called Full House. Because child-labor laws restrict the amount of hours a minor may work, television series or films often hire a set of identical twins so that the production schedule can continue along uninterrupted. The Olsens were not identical twins but rather fraternal, but they looked enough alike to win the job.

“If we feel strongly enough to say no to something, then that’s what happens. It’s our line, it’s our names and our brand—it’s coming from us, MaryKate and Ashley. I’ve learned that ‘No’ is a full sentence.” Mary-Kate Olsen, CosmoGirl!, May 2003.

Full House first aired in September of 1987, and the reviews were not kind. The show starred Bob Saget as a recent widower with a large brood; his brother-in-law and a friend move in to help out. The twins were cast as Michelle Tanner, the youngest member of the household, and the Olsens’ first on-screen appearance came when John Stamos, who played the friend, Jesse, carried one of them into the room. No one remembers which twin it was that day. During the first two years on the air, Full House did not even make it into the Top 30 list of most-watched television shows. By the 1989–90 season, however, it did, and climbed to the No. 14 spot the next year. It peaked at No. 7 by the end of the 1991–92 season. Little Michelle’s cuteness factor seemed to boost the show’s popularity, but the Olsens’ par-

520


•

volume 3


ents were still show-business novices. The twins were still earning Screen Actors’ Guild “scale,” or minimum wages, which amounted to about $4,000 per episode. Reportedly, parents of other children who were on the show suggested they negotiate for a higher fee. Dave and Jarnette found an entertainment lawyer, Robert Thorne, who had cut deals for pop superstar Prince, and he got them a higher rate.

Made 48 hit video movies Thorne wound up becoming the Olsen’s agent, and later their business manager. He suggested they branch out with a pop record, Brother for Sale, which was released in 1992. A television movie, To Grandmother’s House We Go, was also released in 1992. It was an adventure yarn set during the Christmas holidays. As the twins’ popularity and starpotential increased, Thorne created the Dualstar Entertainment Group in 1993 to manage their careers. To Grandmother’s House was followed by a slew of other films, nearly four dozen in all, that went directly to video as planned. Nearly all of them caught on with the legions of young girls who were the Olsens’ most devoted fan base, the four-to-ten-year-old set. Then their fan base began to grow up along with them, and in some cases the later movies like Passport to Paris and Our Lips Are Sealed were among the top-selling titles that year on the kids’ video charts. The Olsens’ first feature film, It Takes Two, grossed $19 million at the box office in 1995, but took in almost four times that in video sales. Full House ended its eight-season run that same year, and the twins remained off the small screen until ABC gave them their own shortlived sitcom, Two of a Kind, in 1998. Meanwhile, their multimedia empire continued to expand. Offers came pouring in, when executives of other companies began to realize that nearly anything that had their name and image would sell, and usually sell very well. A series of Olsen twins adventure novels, published by Scholastic, sold in the millions, and they also branched out into a clothing line, introduced at WalMart in 2001. When Mattel began selling a line of Mary-Kate and Ashley dolls, only the company’s flagship product, Barbie, outsold them. The Olsens had become immensely rich even before they entered their teens. At the age of ten, they were the youngest millionaires in America whose wealth had not been inherited. They began to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

521


receive executive-producer credit on their films, and usually worked about five months of the year. The rest was spent at a private school in the Los Angeles area. In press interviews, they stressed that they led average lives and liked to take part in the same activities—sleepovers, horseback riding, dance classes—as their friends and fans. Their life was not without stress, however: in the mid-1990s, their parents divorced. The girls, their brother, Trent, and younger sister, Lizzie, divided their time between both parents’ homes, but reportedly only one of them attended the ceremony when their father remarried.

In the spotlight In 2003, Mary-Kate and Ashley began their senior year of high school. It was also their most profitable year to date, with their clothing lines at Wal-Mart and related ventures bringing in $1 billion in sales at cash registers across America. Their official Web site received about two billon hits annually, and a slew of other Web sites were devoted to their stardom. Surprisingly, the twins also found a new group of fans as they grew into young adults: teenaged boys and young men. Even business journalists began to profile the duo and their company, Dualstar, and the fact that long before they had earned their high-school diplomas, each had an estimated net worth of $150 million. Thorne, who ran their company, confirmed reports that both Mary-Kate and Ashley were actively involved in every aspect of their business. They signed off on each item in the clothing line, for example. As Thorne told People’s Michelle Tauber, “It’s always two calls” he needed to make for any deal. “And I very rarely get, ‘Let my sister handle that.’ They’re equally voracious to know what the company is up to.” The Olsens have been described as one of just a handful of child stars who managed to maintain their appeal as they grew up. Their access to the media had been strictly controlled, but that began to change after they earned their drivers’ licenses and received matching Range Rover sport-utility vehicles for their sixteenth birthdays. The twins also seemed inseparable, and many wondered if they would head to different colleges in the fall of 2004. They both chose New York University, and readied for the school year by purchasing a fourbedroom apartment in the West Village for $3 million. Both noted that they would concentrate on their academic careers for the next few years, putting their other activities on hold.

522


•

volume 3


Mary Kate (right) and Ashley Olsen in a movie still from New York Minute (2004). © Warner Bros./

In the lead-up to that, however, the Olsens had a memorable rush of PR buzz in the spring of 2004, both good and bad. Their longawaited next feature film, New York Minute, tanked at the box office, and was drubbed by critics. They graduated from high school on June 7, and turned eighteen six days later, but there were reports that only Ashley had been seen with friends at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool that day. She then reportedly headed to Mexico with pals for a celebratory vacation jaunt.

Zuma/Corbis.

Rumors of drug abuse Days later, the news broke that Mary-Kate’s father had forced her into a treatment center just before she turned eighteen, when he could still legally do so. It was described as a “health-related” disorder, which seemed to confirm rumors over the past few months that the darkerhaired Olsen twin was suffering from an eating disorder. Both twins are thin, but a backless dress Mary-Kate wore to one well-photographed U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

523


event that spring revealed a near-skeletal frame. Other reports surfaced that Mary-Kate had a drug problem, especially when it was learned she had entered the Cirque Lodge in Sundance, Utah, a drug- and alcoholabuse treatment facility. But company executives, the Olsen family, and even Ashley herself denied the cocaine-addiction rumors. She was released from the facility in late July, reportedly six pounds heavier. Mary-Kate and Ashley were looking forward to their new college adventures in New York City. Mary-Kate was considering fine arts as possible major, while Ashley was leaning toward studying psychology. There had been fears that their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores would be leaked to the press, but they had remained sealed. They did reveal to People, however, the topics of their admissions essays. Mary-Kate had explored “a big fear that I have. It was a lyric by Ben Harper that said, ‘When you have everything, you have everything to lose.’” Ashley used a work by the late Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock to discuss her outlook on life for her essay, especially her life in the spotlight for the past eighteen years. The dense color swirls of Pollock’s Number 1, she explained to Tauber in the same article, allowed the viewer “to get exactly what you want out of it, and it’s kind of like our life has been, being in the public eye. People can judge it whatever way they want.”

For More Information Periodicals Bowers, Katherine. “Take Two: The Olsens Grow Up; Mary-Kate and Ashley Have Come a Long Way Since ‘Full House.’” WWD (September 19, 2002): p. S6. Brown, Lauren. “Mary-Kate and Ashley.” CosmoGirl! (May 2003): p. 136. Brown, Scott. “Tween Queens: Wonder Twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Use Their Cuteness Powers to Achieve World Domination.” Entertainment Weekly (November 24, 2000): p. 52. Corliss, Richard. “Olsens in Bid to Buy Disney: Actually, No. But at 17, the TV Twins Are Powerful, Rich and the Stars of Their Very Own, Very Bad Movie.” Time (May 17, 2004): p. 78. David, Grainger. “The Human Truman Show: The Olsen Twins Were Born on TV 16 Years Ago. Now They’re Worth More than You.” Fortune (July 8, 2002): p. 96. Kennedy, Dana. “Twin Peaks: Since Leaving ‘Full House,’ the Olsens Have Spun Their Cute Shtick into a Showbiz Empire. Is It Too Much Too Soon?” Entertainment Weekly (May 17, 1996): p. 38.

524


•

volume 3

mary-kate and ashley olsen Louie, Rebecca. “Twin Tycoons Are Worth $300 Million—And They’re Just 17.” New York Daily News (November 24, 2003). Ramsay, Carolyn. “The Olsens Inc.” Los Angeles Times (January 30, 2000). Rich, Joshua. “Twins Peaked? Tween Queens Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Cope with a Box Office Dud.” Entertainment Weekly (May 21, 2004): p. 8. “Sister To Sister: While Her Sister Mary-Kate Battles an Eating Disorder, Ashley Olsen Pledges Her Support and Talks About the Twins’ Plans for the Future.” People (July 12, 2004): p. 19. Tauber, Michelle. “Two Cool: Boyfriends. Parties. Money. College. America’s most Famous Freshmen-to-Be, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Talk Candidly About Becoming Adults—And Making the Move from Tween Queens to Movie Stars.” People (May 3, 2004): p. 108. “Twins Peak: Ashley & Mary-Kate Are the City’s Hot New Sister Act.” New York Post (April 15, 2004): p. 65. Udovitch, Mim. “The Olsen Juggernaut.” New York Times Magazine (May 27, 2001): p. 22.


•

volume 3

525

OutKast André Benjamin (André 3000) May 27, 1975 • Georgia

Musician

Antwan “Big Boi” Patton February 1, 1975 • Savannah, Georgia AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.


•

volume 3

Musician

OutKast’s exuberant, infectious single “Hey Ya!” helped push sales of their 2003 release Speakerboxxx/The Love Below past the threemillion mark. This Atlanta, Georgia-raised duo, who use the professional tags “André 3000” and “Big Boi,” are rap music’s most unusual set of collaborators. While André 3000 favors outrageous outfits and listens to jazz, Big Boi remains more of the old-school style of rap megastar. Their dual personalities were showcased on Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, which was actually a pair of solo records. It became one of the top-selling records of 2003, and also won them the Grammy Award for album of the year.

Making music in high school OutKast met as high school students in Atlanta. “André 3000” was born André Benjamin in 1975. His father, Lawrence Walker, was a collections agent, while his mom, Sharon Benjamin Hodo, sold real

527

outkast

estate. Antwan “Big Boi” Patton was the same age, and the son of a Marine Corps officer dad and a mother who worked as a retail supervisor. Both enrolled at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia, a school geared toward students hoping for a career in the performing arts. They stood out from the other students, they recalled, initially because of their unusually preppy clothing choices. It was music, however, that cemented their early friendship: both were fans of the more daring vein of hip-hop artists, such as De La Soul, the Brand Nubians, and A Tribe Called Quest; they also loved 1970s funk from the likes of George Clinton and Sly and the Family Stone.

“We’re from the hood, but that’s not where our music stayed.” André Benjamin, New York Times, September 7, 2003.

Benjamin and Patton began writing their own raps, which they turned into mix tapes. They initially named their outfit “2 Shades Deep,” but learned it had already been taken by another group. They renamed themselves the Misfits, which they also discovered was being used. Looking up “misfit” in the dictionary, they found the synonym “outcast,” and decided to use that but keep the dictionary’s phonetic “k” spelling. Benjamin and Patton admitted later to having a bit of a wild streak as teens, and Benjamin dropped out of Tri-Cities High after his junior year. Their ambitions were strong, however, and they looked for a way into the music business. They found it when they met an Atlanta-area production team, Organized Noize, which had worked in-studio with TLC to produce their hit 1994 single “Waterfalls.”

Debut single went to number 1 OutKast’s first single, “Player’s Ball,” was released as a cassette single on LaFace Records in 1993, and on vinyl the next year. The record climbed to the top of the Billboard rap singles chart and stayed at No. 1 for six weeks. They became the first hip-hop act signed to LaFace,

528


•

volume 3

outkast

Rosa Parks vs. OutKast

OutKast has the dubious distinction of being sued by American civil-rights heroine Rosa Parks (1913–). The first single from their 1998 release Aquemini bore her name, though its lyrics did not mention her. Its chorus referred to her historic 1955 refusal to move to the back of a Montgomery, Alabama bus, where African Americans were expected to sit, which sparked a year-long bus boycott and virtually launched the civil-rights era in the United States. OutKast’s song is about the entertainment industry, but its lyrics urge, ”A-ha, hush that fuss/Everybody move to the back of the bus.” Parks sued in federal court, naming André (“André 3000”) Benjamin, Antwan (“Big Boi”) Patton,

and their label, Arista, in her suit. Her lawyers argued that by using her name without her permission, OutKast had defamed her and violated her publicity and trademark rights in their song. Lawyers for OutKast and Arista counter-argued that the song was not false advertising, and had not violated her publicity rights; they also claimed that the First Amendment guaranteed the song protection under the freedom of speech rule. Parks’ federal suit was dismissed in 1999, but the U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, reinstated some of it, and OutKast’s lawyers appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court to block the case from going any further. In December of 2003, Supreme Court justices declined to intervene in the matter, paving the way for the a trial set to begin in January of 2005.

the Atlanta label run by Antonio “L.A.” Reid (c. 1958–) that was part of the Arista Records empire. Though they were straightforward rap artists at this early stage in their career, Benjamin and Patton were determined to shake things up. “When I look at the rap videos, it’s pretty much the same video over and over,” Benjamin explained once to Newsweek writer Allison Samuels. “A bunch of women in swimsuits and the guys rapping about money or jewels. Me and Big Boi wanted to change that.” OutKast’s first full-length record, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, was released in 1994, and made it to No. 3 on the Billboard R&B/hip-hop albums chart. They emerged as one of a slew of Atlanta-based groups that were gaining national attention at the time. “Just as Ice Cube had narrated a Westside story and KRS-One told an Eastside version, OutKast … slanged parables” about their hometown, noted L.A. Weekly writer Michael Datcher. The pair gained even more listeners in 1996 with ATLiens, their follow-up. It featured more of a live-studio sound, favoring real instruments over hi-tech production effects, and had a hit single with “Elevators (Me and You).” It also had a more spaceship-esque mood, which linked them back to ClinU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

529

outkast

ton’s 1970s-era masterpieces with Parliament-Funkadelic. “When we started doing the more experimental rap, started talking about aliens, that’s when more and more white people started coming to the shows,” Benjamin told New York Times writer Lola Ogunnaike. In keeping with the New-Age vibe, Benjamin and Patton formed their own boutique label, which they named “Aquemini.” The word was made up from a combination of their respective astrological signs, Gemini and Aquarius. They also used it for the title of their third LP. Aquemini reached the double-platinum sales mark, thanks in part to the single, “Rosa Parks.” Benjamin and Patton began heading in a new direction in the late 1990s, ditching some of the hallmarks of rap style for a more soulful sound. Though both had previously worn baggy jeans and athletic jerseys onstage, Benjamin began sporting far more flamboyant outfits, which included long blond wigs, trousers made of fur, turbans, boas, and checkered-print suits in dazzling colors. He also adopted “André 3000” instead of his longtime “Dre” tag. They remained in partnership with Reid, who took them along when he became president of Arista Records.

Stankonia won rap Grammy OutKast’s major crossover achievement came finally in 2000 with their fourth release, Stankonia. The record had a certain psychedelic feel, and produced several hits, among them “Mrs. Jackson,” a homage to the grandmother of Benjamin’s son with singer Erykah Badu written in the aftermath of a breakup. “I probably would never come out and tell Erykah’s mom, ‘I’m sorry for what went down,’” he explained about the song’s origin in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution interview with Craig Seymour. “But music gives you the chance to say what you want to say. And her mom loved it. She’s like, ‘Where’s my publishing check?’” Stankonia also put Atlanta on the musical map for good, with the numerous references to the neighborhoods of East Point and Decatur where they grew up. Critics everywhere wrote enthusiastically of it. It even earned a mention in Newsweek, with music writer Lorraine Ali asserting that it “continues OutKast’s journey into the weird with a sound that lies somewhere between the jamming madness of Parliament-Funkadelic, the creme de menthe vocals of Al Green and the bumping beats of A Tribe Called Quest.”

530


•

volume 3

outkast

Antwan Patton and André Benjamon of OutKast pose in front of the three awards they won at the 2004 Grammy Awards. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Stankonia was released in late October of 2000, just after the deadline for releases hoping to be considered for a Grammy Award nomination that year. In early January of 2002, however, it was nominated in five categories, including album of the year. Weeks later, they took home Grammy statues for best rap album of 2001, and best song by a rap duo or group for “Mrs. Jackson.”

Released acclaimed dual CD Nearly three years went by before OutKast released another studio effort. The long-awaited Speakerboxxx/The Love Below made it into U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

531

outkast

stores in late September of 2003, just before the all-important Grammy deadline. It was richly rewarded the following February, winning Grammys for album of the year, best rap album of 2003, and best urban/alternative performance for “Hey Ya!” The dual CD, however, was essentially two separate releases from each OutKast member. Patton’s Speakerboxxx was a more traditional rap record, and had a hit that made it onto several charts, “The Way You Move.” Andre’s The Love Below was the funkier record of the two. It originally started out as a soundtrack project that Benjamin began for a film, a love story set in Paris. Though some critics faulted it for mixing too many musical styles, others commended both records for their big-picture vision. “With Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, [Benjamin’s] lonely Day-Glo lothario and Big Boi’s wise-thug MC have made an LP that offers an outsize artistic vision, not focus-group ‘perfection,’ as the route to a mass audience,” declared Entertainment Weekly writer Will Hermes. The concept-album effort was overshadowed, however, by the massive success of “Hey Ya!” It quickly emerged the biggest hit from The Love Below, and became the No. 1 downloaded song on the Internet. Its success boosted the double-album’s sales to 3.5 million copies. Much of the rest of Benjamin’s effort was reflective. As he explained to a writer for London’s Guardian newspaper, Alexis Petridis: “In hip-hop, people don’t talk about their vulnerable or sensitive side a lot because they’re trying to keep it real or be tough— they think it makes them look weak. That’s what the Love Below means, that bubbling-under feeling that people don’t like to talk about, that dudes try to cover up with machismo.”

No plans for solo careers Some OutKast fans worried that the dual-album release marked the beginning of the end for the pair, with each too apart musically now to come together again. Both Benjamin and Patton stressed, however, that they were still a team. As Patton explained to Marti Yarbrough in Jet, “Both records are OutKast records. They’re just from two different perspectives.” The former high-school pals worked well together, with Patton overseeing the business side of the partnership from his home in Fayetteville, Georgia. Benjamin, meanwhile, had Hollywood

532


•

volume 3

outkast

ambitions: he appeared in Hollywood Homicide in 2003, and was part of an all-star cast for an adaptation of an Elmore Leonard crime novel, Be Cool, released in 2005. Both Benjamin and Patton had also teamed with an Atlanta filmmaker, Bryan Barber, to work on a musical set in a jazz club during the 1920s. Benjamin and Patton are both fathers. Benjamin’s son with Badu, Seven Sirius, divides his time between his parents’ homes. Patton has a daughter and two sons. Patton realizes that OutKast’s music might reach listeners in unexpected ways, as he told Datcher in the L.A. Weekly interview. Once, after a concert, a fan approached him and recounted a story of not “going to class, he just wasn’t feeling motivated. He told me he listened to [Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik’s] ‘Git Up, Git Out’ every morning, and that would get him out of the crib so he could go to class,” Patton recalled. “He said it helped him graduate from college. That makes me feel good, that we’re touching people by just being ourselves and telling our own story.”

For More Information Periodicals Ali, Lorraine. “So Superfunkyfragelistic! On the Edge with the Weird and Wonderful OutKast.” Newsweek (October 30, 2000): p. 88. Arnold, Chuck. “Grammy’s Fun Couple: With Six Nominations, Great Beats and Kaleidoscope Clothes, OutKast—The Hottest Act in America—Is Anything But.” People (February 16, 2004): p. 87. “Court Gives Rosa Parks the Go-Ahead to Sue Over Rappers’ Lyrics.’ Jet (January 5, 2004): p. 32. Datcher, Michael. “OutKast’s Southern-Fried Hip-Hop Breaks Through.” L.A. Weekly (December 4, 1998). Hermes, Will. “Fully Funktional: OutKast Propel Hip-Hop to New Heights with Their Madly Ambitious, Soul-Sparking Solo CDs.” Entertainment Weekly (September 19, 2003): p. 83. Lester, Paul. “Friday Review.” Guardian (London, England) (May 18, 2001): p. 6. Ogunnaike, Lola. “Outkast, Rap’s Odd Couple: Gangsta Meets Granola.” New York Times (September 7, 2003): p. AR87. Petridis, Alexis. “The Friday Interview.” Guardian (London, England) (November 7, 2003): p. 8. Samuels, Allison. “Twins Beneath The Skin: The Two Guys Who Make up the Quirky Hip-Hop Unit Outkast Couldn’t Be More Different—And on Their New Album, Each One Gets His Own Disc. Can This Marriage Be Saved?” Newsweek (September 22, 2003): p. 86.


•

volume 3

533

outkast Seymour, Craig. “Steps to Success.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution (February 26, 2002): p. E1. “Southern-Fried Hip-Hop: Down-Home Lyrics and Strong Dance Grooves Are Ingredients of a Tasty Menu.” Ebony (January 2004): p. 74. Tyrangiel, Josh. “Dysfunktion Junction: OutKast, the Planet’s Best Rap Duo, Is One Odd Couple.” Time (September 29, 2003): p. 71. Yarbrough, Marti. “OutKast: Music’s Favorite Odd Couple Breaks the HipHop Mold.” Jet (February 2, 2004): p. 58

534


•

volume 3

Larry Page and Sergey Brin •

Larry Page c. 1973 • East Lansing, Michigan

Entrepreneur

Sergey Brin August 21, 1973 • Moscow, Russia

Entrepreneur

engine, while they were graduate students at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Since its founding in 1998, Google has become one of the most successful dot-com businesses in history. Both Page and Brin were reluctant entrepreneurs who were committed to developing their company on their own terms, not those dictated by the prevailing business culture.


•

volume 3

Larry Page and Sergey Brin founded Google, the Internet search

Not instant best friends Page grew up in the East Lansing, Michigan, area, where his father, Carl Victor Page, was a professor of computer science at Michigan State University. The senior Page was also an early pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence, and reportedly gave his young son his first computer when Larry was just six years old. Several years later Page entered the University of Michigan, where he earned an undergraduate degree in engineering with a concentration in computer engineering.

535

larry page and sergey brin

Larry Page (left) and Sergey Brin. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

His first jobs were at Advanced Management Systems in Washington, D.C., and then at a company called CogniTek in Evanston, Illinois. An innovative thinker with a sense of humor as well, Page once built a working ink-jet printer out of Lego blocks. He was eager to advance in his career, and decided to study for a Ph.D degree. He was admitted to the prestigious doctoral program in computer science at Stanford University. On an introductory weekend at the Palo Alto campus that had been arranged for new students, he met Sergey Brin. A native of Moscow, Russia, Brin was also the son of a professor, and came to the United States with his family when he was six. His father taught math at the University of Maryland, and it was from that school’s College Park campus that Brin earned an undergraduate degree in computer science and math. Brin was already enrolled in Stanford’s PhD program when Page arrived in 1995. As Brin explained to Robert McGarvey of Technology Review, “I was working on data mining, the idea of taking large amounts of data, analyzing it for patterns and trying to extract relationships that are useful.” One weekend Brin was assigned to a team that showed the new doctoral students around campus, and Page was in his group. Industry lore claims they argued the whole time, but soon found themselves working together on a research project. That 1996 paper, “Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine,” became the basis for the Google search engine.

536


•

volume 3


A hit with fellow students Page and Brin created an algorithm, or set of step-by-step instructions for solving a specific computer task. Their algorithm searched all the hypertext documents in cyberspace, which are the basis for Web pages on the Internet. A typical search engine such as Hot Bot, which was popular at one time in the mid-1990s, worked by looking for a term the user entered—“New York Yankees,” for example—in all of those documents. If the phrase “New York Yankees” was written into one Web site’s hypertext code several dozen or even a hundred times, that document would come up first in the search results. But it might just turn out to be an Internet store that sold sports memorabilia.

“I hope they will be able to return answers, not just documents.… In the future, Google will be your interface to all the world’s knowledge—not just web pages.” Sergey Brin, Guardian (London, England), November 23, 2000.

Page and Brin wanted to create a search tool that would find the most relevant Web page first. If someone typed in “New York Yankees,” for example, the official Yankees site would be the first result returned. Their algorithm analyzed the “back links” in a hypertext document, or how many times other sites linked to it—the more links, the higher the relevancy of the page. As an article in Time explained, their search technology was the first to “treat the Internet as a democracy. Google interprets connections between websites as votes. The most linked-to sites win on the Google usefulness ballot and rise to the top of the search results.” The search engine with Page and Brin’s unique algorithm was initially named “Backrub,” but they later settled on “PageRank,” named after Page. It soon caught on with other Stanford users when Page and Brin let them try it out. The two set up a simple search page for users, because they did not have a web page developer to create anything very U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

537


Google Pranks

The freewheeling corporate culture at Google has produced the occasional prank since its founding. The company had been known to post fake press releases around April 1, or April Fools’ Day. In 2000, for example, it launched “MentalPlex,” which offered Google site visitors the ability to “search smarter and faster” by peering into a circle with shifting colors. In 2003 Google explained its novel search technology “PigeonRank” in an April Fools’ Day inser-

tion on their Web site that offered a behind-thescenes glimpse into “the technology behind Google’s great results.” It was pigeons, the page explained, that helped deliver such quick and accurate search results. In a FAQ, or Frequently Asked Questions, section of the page, it addressed the question, “Aren’t pigeons really stupid? How do they do this?” Google responded, “While no pigeon has actually been confirmed for a seat on the Supreme Court, pigeons are surprisingly adept at making instant judgments when confronted with difficult choices.”

impressive. They also began stringing together the necessary computing power to handle searches by multiple users, by using any computer part they could find. As their search engine grew in popularity among Stanford users, it needed more and more servers to process the queries. “At Stanford we’d stand on the loading dock and try to snag computers as they came in,” Page recalled to McGarvey. “We would see who got 20 computers and ask them if they could spare one.”

Maxed out credit cards During this time Page and Brin were running the project out of their dorm rooms at Stanford. Page’s room served as the data hub, while Brin’s was the business office. But they were reluctant entrepreneurs, not wanting to shelve their Ph.D. studies and join the dot-com rush of the era. In mid-1998 they finally relented. “Pretty soon, we had 10,000 searches a day,” Page told Newsweek’s Steven Levy. “And we figured, maybe this is really real.” They initially set out just to defray their costs. “We spent about $15,000 on a terabyte [one million megabytes] of disks,” Brin explained to McGarvey. “We spread that across three credit cards. Once we did that, we wrote up a business plan.” Page and Brin had the idea to license their PageRank technology to other companies to pay off their credit card debt, but none were inter-

538


•

volume 3


ested. David Filo (1966–), another Stanford graduate who had started Yahoo.com, suggested they form a search-engine company. They named their company “Google,” after the mathematical term Googol, which specified the number one followed by a hundred zeros. They took it to Andy Bechtolsheim (1956–), a Stanford graduate and co-founder of Sun Microsystems. One of their professors set up an in an early morning meeting with Bechtolsheim. They showed him their Google demo, but Bechtolsheim had another meeting on his schedule that morning, and needed to leave. He liked their idea, however, and offered to write them a check on the spot for seed money. It was for $100,000, and was made out to “Google.” In order to deposit it, Page and Brin first needed to open a bank account with their company name on it. Page and Brin went on to raise more money from friends, family, and then from venture capital firms that funded new businesses. By the end of 1999 they had set up headquarters in an office park in Mountain View, and had officially launched the site. In June of 2000, Google reached an important hallmark: it had indexed one billion Internet URLs, or Uniform Resource Locators. A URL is the World Wide Web address of a site on the Internet. Reaching the one-billion mark made Google the most comprehensive search engine on the Web.

Hired industry pro In their first years in business, Brin served as president, while Page was the chief executive officer. The company continued to grow exponentially during 2001. Google even became a verb—to “Google” someone or something meant to search for it via the engine, but it was most commonly used in reference to checking out the Web presence of potential dates. Page and Brin’s company was the subject of articles in mainstream publications, but they continually rejected offers to go public—make their company a publicly traded one on Wall Street. They did, however, hire Eric Schmidt (1955–) as chief executive officer and board chair in 2001. Schmidt was a veteran of Sun, where he had served as chief technology officer. As Brin explained to Betsy Cummings in Sales & Marketing Management, “Larry and I have done a good job,” but conceded that “the probability of doing something dumb” was still likely. “It’s clear we need some international strategy, and Eric brings that.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

539


Google kept expanding in cyberspace. It added search capabilities in dozens of languages, and began partnering with overseas sites as well. It also attracted legions of devoted new employees. Its headquarters were informally known as the “Googleplex,” and workers were relatively free to make their own hours, with the idea that employees should be able to work when they felt they were most productive. Google staff were also encouraged to use 80 percent of their work hours on regular work, and the other 20 percent on projects of their own design. One of those side projects emerged as Orkut.com, a harder-to-join version of the socialnetworking phenomenon Friendster.com. Orkut was named after the Google engineer who created it, Orkut Buyukkokten.

The homepage for the Google News web site. © James Leynse/Corbis.

Page and Brin strove to keep Google’s corporate culture relaxed in other ways, which they felt benefited the company in the long run. Its perks were legendary. There was free Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, an on-site masseuse, a ping-pong table, yoga classes, and even a staff physician. Employees could bring their dogs to work, and the company cafeteria was run by a professional chef who used to work for the rock band the Grateful Dead. Brin discussed his management philosophy with Cummings. “Since we started the company, we’ve grown twenty percent per month. Our employees can do whatever they want.”

Long-awaited IPO By early 2004 Google was one of the most-visited Web sites in the world. Its servers handled some 138,000 search queries per minute, or about two hundred million daily. Analysts believed it was taking in approximately $1 billion in revenues annually, and the company finally announced plans to become a publicly traded company with an initial public offering (IPO) of stock. Theirs, however, would utilize a unique online auction process to sell its first shares to the public. This meant that the large Wall Street firms that handled the IPO underwriting—which investigated the company’s books and then placed a monetary value on it—would not be able to give the first shares out to their top clients as a perk. It was estimated that Google was going to be valued at least at $15 billion, and possibly even as high as $30 billion.

540


•

volume 3


Page and Brin each own thirty-eight million shares of Google stock. They would become overnight millionaires when Google began trading on the NASDAQ, or National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation system, sometime in 2004. Business journalists were calling it the most hotly anticipated IPO of the post-dot-com era. Many other Internet companies had quickly become publicly traded ones in the late 1990s, but began to crash when the economy slowed over the next few years. Just prior to launching their IPO, Google entered a legally required “quiet period,” in which they were not allowed to discuss their plans or strategies with the press. Brin told Levy in Newsweek just before that period that he and Page were content to keep tinkering with their research-paper idea. “I think we’re pretty far along compared to 10 years ago,” he said. “At the same time, where can you go? Certainly if you had all the world’s information directly attached to your brain, or an artificial brain that was smarter than your brain, you’d be better off. Between that and today, there’s plenty of space to cover.”

For More Information Periodicals Cummings, Betsy. “Beating the Odds: Now That Frivolity Has Killed Many a Start-Up, Relaxed Management, On-Site Restaurants, and InHouse Massages Seem Like Dot-Com Death Wishes. Google.com Proves Otherwise—Thanks to Top-Rate Technology, a Rare Sales Model, and an Aggressive Vision for What’s Ahead.” Sales & Marketing Management (March 2002): p. 24. Flynn, Laurie J. “2 Wild and Crazy Guys (Soon to Be Billionaires), and Hoping to Keep It That Way.” New York Times (April 30, 2004): p. C6. Helmore, Edward. “Float Revolution: Google Takes the High Road: The Founders of the Internet Phenomenon Have Announced Flotation Plans — But They Are Determined to Go Public in Their Own Inimitable Fashion.” Observer (London, England) (May 2, 2004): p. 3. “In Search of Google: Watch out, Yahoo. There’s a Search Engine Out There with Uncanny Speed and Accuracy. And It’s Way Cool.” Time (August 21, 2000): p. 66. Keegan, Victor. “Online: Working It Out: Searching Questions: Sergey Brin Is the President and Co-Founder of the Search Engine Google, Which Was Set Up in 1998.” Guardian (London, England) (November 23, 2000): p. 4. Levy, Steven. “All Eyes on Google; In Six Short Years, Two Stanford Grad Students Turned a Simple Idea into a Multibillion-Dollar Phenomenon


•

volume 3

541

larry page and sergey brin and Changed Our Lives. Now Competitors Are Searching for a Way to Dethrone the Latest Princes of the Net.” Newsweek (March 29, 2004): p. 48. Levy, Steven. “The World According to Google: What If You Had a Magic Tool That Let You Find Out Almost Anything in Less than a Second? Millions of People Already Have It—and It’s Changing the Way We Live.” Newsweek (December 16, 2002): p. 46. McGarvey, Robert. “Search Us, Says Google.” Technology Review (November 2000): p. 108. Poliski, Iris. “Page Revs up Google’s Engine: The Google Search Engine is Virtually a Household Name among Computer Users, and Larry Page, Its Developer, Was Voted R&D’s Innovator of the Year for Bringing It to Fruition. Not Only Is Google a Powerful Finder, Its Spinoffs May Change Computing History.” R & D (November 2002): p. 40. Sappenfield, Mark. “A Culture of Idealists Creates Startup Success Google Founders Hold Firm to Their Geeky Roots.” Seattle Times (April 30, 2004): p. E4. Waters, Richard. “Idealists Bound for Reality: Men in the News Sergey Brin and Larry Page: As Google Prepares For Its Stock Market Debut, Richard Waters Asks How the Men Who Founded the World’s Most Popular Search Engine Will Cope with the Transition from Internet Visionaries to Corporate Billionaires.” Financial Times (October 25, 2003): p. 15.

Web Sites “The Google Timeline.” Google.com. http://www.google.com/corporate/ timeline.html (accessed on July 13, 2004). “Our Search: Google Technology.” Google.com. http://www.google.com/ technology/pigeonrank.html (accessed on July 13, 2004).

542


•

volume 3

Christopher Paolini

1984


•

Photograph by Denay Wilding.

volume 3

Author

A uthor Christopher Paolini not only writes about fantasy, he lives it. When he was a mere fifteen years old, he penned a sweeping epic called Eragon, which was eventually discovered by a New York publisher—and by thousands of readers. In 2003 the book nestled comfortably on bestseller lists, and by 2004 a movie based on the magnificent tale of a boy and a brilliant blue dragon was poised to take flight. Paolini was also hard at work writing the second and third installments in the Inheritance trilogy. In a teenreads.com interview, the author and boy wonder promised fans that future books would include the same “breathtaking locations, thrilling battles, and searching introspection as Eragon—in addition to true love.”

A reluctant reader In 1984, when Christopher Paolini was born, his mother, Talita, quit her job as a Montessori preschool teacher to devote her time to raising

543

christopher paolini

her new son. Montessori is a system of learning developed by Italian educator Maria Montessori (1870–1952); some of its features include a focus on individual instruction and an early development of writing skills. Talita used the Montessori method to teach Christopher at home, and two years later when sister Angela came along, she, too, became part of the Paolini classroom. Since some of the materials in a Montessori school are expensive, Talita experimented and came up with creative alternatives to inspire and educate her children. She was so successful that by the time Christopher, and later Angela, turned three years old, they were both comfortably working at a first-grade level.

“I enjoy fantasy because it allows me to visit lands that have never existed, to see things that never could exist, to experience daring adventures with interesting characters, and most importantly, to feel the sense of magic in the world.” When Christopher was old enough to attend public school, his parents were worried that he would be bored by a traditional curriculum, so they thought long and hard and decided to educate him at home. In fact, focusing on their children was such a top priority that the Paolinis made a deliberate choice to live simply, drawing small salaries from Kenneth Paolini’s home-based publishing company. In interviews Paolini has talked about the nurturing environment his parents created for him, and he credits them for being his inspiration. He has also admitted that he was not always a receptive student. A particularly interesting note is that Paolini was a reluctant reader. When he was about three or four, he refused to learn to read, but his mother worked patiently with him until one day a door opened that would change his life. That door was his first visit to the library. In his essay titled “Dragon Tales,” Paolini described going to the library with his mother and being attracted to a series of mystery books with colorful spines. He

544


•

volume 3

christopher paolini

The Wonderful World of Teen Authors

Christopher Paolini was indeed a boy wonder, writing his first book at age fifteen, but American publishing is filled with stories written by young authors. Some have been published quite recently, while others go back a number of years. The following is just a short list of teen writers; the age listed indicates how old the author was when he or she wrote their first work. Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (14 years old): In the Forests of the Night (1999); Demon in My View (2000); Shattered Mirror (2001); Midnight Predator (2002); Hawksong (2003); Snakecharm (2004). Walter Farley (15 years old): The Black Stallion (although the book was published in 1941, Farley wrote the first draft of Stallion while still a student at Erasmus High School in New York City). Miles Franklin (16 years old): My Brilliant Career (1901). Kimberly Fuller (16 years old): Home (1997).

S. E. Hinton (16 years old): Outsiders (1967); That was Then, This is Now (1971); Rumble Fish (1975); Tex (1979); Taming the Star Runner (1988); Hawks Harbor (2004). Gordan Korman (14 years old): Korman is a prolific writer who began his popular Macdonald Hall series with This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (1977). Benjamin Lebert (16 years old): Crazy (2000; first American translation from the German). Megan McNeil Libby (16 years old): Postcards from France (1998). Dav Pilkey (19 years old): World War Won (1987); Pilkey went on to achieve fame as the author of the well-known Captain Underpants series. Trope, Zoe (15 years old): Please Don’t Kill the Freshman: A Memoir (c. 2003).

took one home and, according to Paolini, something clicked. He was spellbound by the characters, the dialogue, and the fascinating situations. “From then on,” wrote Paolini, “I’ve been in love with the written word.” He went on to devour books of all kinds—classics, myths, thrillers, science fiction, anything that seemed interesting. In particular, he was drawn to the fantasy genre and to writers who wrote tales about heroes and elves, swordfights and quests and, especially, dragons.

A writer of dragons Paolini often found himself daydreaming about dragons when he was riding in the car, when he was taking a shower, when he was supposed to be doing his homework. While he was growing up he captured U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

545

christopher paolini

some of his daydreams on paper, writing poems and short stories that featured dragons and were set in magical places. Paolini did not take a real stab at writing a longer piece until he graduated from high school in 1999, at the age of fifteen. According to Paolini, he did not set out to get published; instead, he viewed writing a book-length work as a kind of personal challenge. Paolini had ideas swimming around in his head, but he realized that he knew very little about the actual art of writing—for example, how to construct a plot line. So he set out to do some research. He studied several books on writing, including Characters and Viewpoint (1988) by Orson Scott Card and Robert McKee’s Story (1997), which helped him to sketch out a nine-page summary. Paolini then spent the next year fleshing out his story, writing sporadically at first, but then picking up the pace. The task went much more quickly after he learned how to type. As Paolini explained in “Dragon Tales,” he tried to imbue his story with the same elements he found most compelling in books: “an intelligent hero; lavish descriptions; exotic locations; dragons; elves; dwarves; magic; and above all else, a sense of awe and wonder.” In particular, he drew upon the works of some of his favorite fantasy authors for inspiration, including J. R. R. Tolkien (1892–1973), author of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Anne McCaffrey (1926–), an American writer famous for her Dragonriders of Pern series. The result was a book called Eragon. Eragon follows the adventures of a fifteen-year-old farm boy who finds a mysterious gemstone covered with white veins. It is actually a dragon’s egg, and when the egg hatches and a magnificent blue dragon emerges, the boy’s life is changed forever. Eragon names the dragon Saphira, and the two become so inseparable that they share their innermost thoughts and feelings. Their bond is challenged, however, by an evil tyrant named King Galbatorix. A hundred years earlier, Galbatorix had outlawed dragons and destroyed the Dragon Riders, the lodge of dragon-riding warriors who protected them. When the king becomes aware that Eragon is the first of a new generation of Dragon Riders, he has his family killed and plots to capture the boy and his blue-scaled companion. Eragon and Saphira embark on a journey of escape and revenge, and along the way meet up with a wise magician, elves, dwarves, and several beautiful maidens.

546


•

volume 3

christopher paolini

Polishing up his prose Paolini spent the bulk of 2000 reworking his first draft, smoothing out problems and fine-tuning such things as language and landscape. The young author introduces no less than three languages in Eragon: the elves speak a language based on Old Norse (the languages of medieval Scandinavia), which Paolini spent months studying; and the dwarves and Urgals (the fanged army of King Galbarotix) each speak a language made up entirely by Paolini. To help readers along, Paolini created a glossary that appears at the end of the finished book. For the mythical setting of Alagaësia, Paolini turned to the natural landscape of his own home state. The Paolinis live in Livingston, Montana, located in the scenic Paradise Valley just north of Yellowstone Park. Years of hiking through such rugged and beautiful terrain helped Paolini create a vivid world that is both fantastic and true-tolife. For example, the Beor Mountains that are featured in Eragon are an exaggerated version of the Beartooth Mountains of Montana. By 2001 Paolini had a second draft, but he was still not satisfied, so he turned the book over to his parents for editing. They helped him streamline some of the plot sequences, clarify some of the concepts, and pare back some of what Paolini called “the bloat.” Kenneth and Talita Paolini were so impressed by the finished product, and believed in the manuscript so much, that they decided to throw themselves into publishing it. Instead of going the traditional route and shopping the book around to established publishing houses, they decided to publish it themselves. As Paolini told teenreads.com, “We wanted to retain financial and creative control over the book. Also, we were excited by the prospect of working on this project as a family.” Kenneth formatted the book on his computer, and the young Paolini, who is also a budding artist, drew the maps to accompany the text. He designed the book’s front cover and produced a self-portrait to grace the back cover.

The fantasy comes true In 2002 the Paolinis had Eragon published privately, and with ten thousand copies in hand, they set out to promote the book for the rest of the year. Paolini and his mother became the marketing masterminds, but the entire family traveled across the country, stopping at bookstores, schools, libraries, and fairs. Paolini even decided to forego college to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

547

christopher paolini

promote his book. He had previously been accepted to Reed College in Portland, Oregon. In an interview with Kit Spring of The UK Guardian Unlimited, Paolini described the book’s promotion as a stressful experience. The young author gave presentations dressed as a medieval storyteller, and he found himself spending entire days talking ceaselessly about his book. The nonstop tour was exhausting, but Paolini also felt the added pressure of becoming his family’s breadwinner. As he explained to Spring, “Selling the book meant putting food on the table.” Sales were going well, but not well enough, and by the end of 2002, the Paolinis were afraid that they might have to sell their home to make ends meet. Just when things looked bleak, providence stepped in by way of a famous fan. Author Carl Hiaasen (1953–) and his family were on vacation in Montana, and when they stopped at a local bookstore, Hiaasen’s stepson picked up a copy of Eragon. He loved it so much that he showed it to Hiaasen, who promptly sent the book to his editor at Alfred A. Knopf Publishers in New York City.

Christopher Paolini reads during a book signing at Borders in Birmingham, MI. Photograph by Denay Wilding.

Knopf purchased the book for an undisclosed six-figure sum, along with the rights to the next two books in the trilogy. Paolini had always envisioned Eragon as the first in a series of three books. When the book was released in August of 2003, it debuted at number three on the New York Times children’s bestseller list, and Paolini was off on another whirlwind round of promotions. This time, however, things were a bit different, since he was appearing on such high-profile television programs as the Today Show, and being interviewed by national magazines including People Weekly, Newsweek, and Time. In 2004, Paolini extended his tour to Great Britain. Eragon was also making the rounds of critics, who gave the book mixed reviews. Some focused on flaws and weaknesses, claiming that the book was a novelty and that its success was actually the result of the author’s young age. Others pointed out faults, but still felt that Eragon was an appealing fantasy novel that showed great promise. For example, Liz Rosenberg of the New York Times Book Review claimed that the “plot stumbles and jerks along, with gaps in logic.” But she also admitted that “for all its flaws, [the book] is an authentic work of great talent.”

548


•

volume 3

christopher paolini

Future flights of fiction Fans agreed with Rosenberg’s final pronouncement, and Eragon quickly developed a cult following. In mid-2004 it remained at the top of the New York Times bestseller list, flip-flopping between the number one and the number two spots, vying for the top spot with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, by popular British author J. K. Rowling (c. 1966–). The privately published editions of Eragon became hot collectors’ items, bringing up to $1,000 per copy. Even the first Knopf edition became sought after, selling for close to $300. Throughout his many interviews, Paolini seemed thrilled by all the attention, but the slightly built, bespectacled young man still kept his feet firmly planted on the ground. After all, he had to stay focused because he had two books in the wings: Eldest, which was expected to be released in August of 2005, and Empire, slated to be published in the fall of 2006. In the meantime, Paolini was also hard at work writing the screenplay for Eragon, tentatively scheduled to hit theaters in time for Christmas of 2005. Although the pressure was on to perform, the financial pressure was lightened and the Paolinis were living comfortably. Again, Christopher Paolini kept things in perspective. He claimed that he has allowed himself one extravagance, a replica Viking sword, which he carries with him around the house. He told Book Browse, “There’s no guarantee it will last.… Readers have fallen in love with [Eragon], thousands of people are reading it. I can’t really ask for more.”

For More Information Books Paolini, Christopher. Eragon. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2003.

Periodicals Paolini, Christopher. “How I Write: Interview with Christopher Paolini.” Writer (March 2004): p. 66. Rosenberg, Liz. Review of Eragon. New York Times Book Review (November 16, 2003): p. 58.

Web Sites “Author Profile: Christopher Paolini.” teenreads.com (September 2003). http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-paolini-christopher.asp (accessed on July 12, 2004).


•

volume 3

549

christopher paolini “Christopher Paolini: Biography and Interview.” Bookbrowse.com (September 2003). http://www.bookbrowse.com/index.cfm?page=author& authorID=934 (accessed on July 12, 2004). Eragon. http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/eragon (accessed on July 12, 2004). Paolini, Christopher. “Dragon Tales: An Essay on Becoming a Writer.” Eragon. http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/eragon/dragontales.htm (accessed on July 12, 2004). Spring, Kit. “Elf and Efficiency.” UK Guardian Unlimited (January 25, 2004). http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/childrenandteens/ story/0,6000,1130351,00.html (accessed on July 12, 2004). Weich, David. “Author Interviews: Philip Pullman, Tamora Pierce, and Christopher Paolini Talk Fantasy Fiction.” Powells.com (June 31, 2003). http://www.powells.com/authors/paolini.html (accessed on July 12, 2004).

550


•

volume 3

Linda Sue Park

March 25, 1960 • Urbana, Illinois


•

volume 3

Clarion Books.

Author

Linda Sue Park began writing when she was in kindergarten, and became a professional writer when she published her first poem at age nine. She went on to become a journalist, a food critic, and an English teacher, but Park did not test her hand at writing fiction until she was in her mid-thirties, at the same time that she began to explore her Korean heritage in earnest. Her research resulted in a treasure trove of children’s books, each of which delves into a different piece of Korean history. In 2002 Park was awarded the Newbery Medal for her third novel, A Single Shard, which follows the adventures of a twelfth-century orphan named Tree-ear. The Newbery is awarded by the American Library Association, and is given to the most distinguished American children’s book published in the previous year. Park became the first Korean American to take home the honor.

A maniacal reader Linda Sue Park was born on March 25, 1960, in Urbana, Illinois, the

551

linda sue park

daughter of Eung Won Ed, a computer analyst, and Susie Kim, a teacher. Her parents were Korean immigrants who moved to the United States in the 1950s; they were among the first wave of Koreans to migrate to America following World War II (1939–45). Once in the United States, the Parks did their best to assimilate to their adopted country and leave the past behind. As a result, Linda Sue grew up knowing very little about her family’s background. As she explained in a Time for Kids interview, “My parents thought the best way to help us succeed was to become very American, which meant only speaking English at home. We celebrated certain holidays and upheld a few traditions, but I don’t actually speak Korean.”

“One of the best things about writing is that it makes you a better observer—pay attention to people and things because you never know what might inspire a story.” One way that Park was introduced to American culture was through books. In several interviews, she fondly remembered her father taking her to the library every two weeks beginning when she was very young. Because of those visits, Park became what she called a “maniacal reader.” “It was by far my favorite activity,” she told Cynthia Leitich Smith in an interview. Park read everything from Nancy Drew mysteries to award-winning children’s books, and “everything in between.” She also described herself as a re-reader, someone who comes back to old favorites again and again. Some of her all-time favorite writers were Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957), author of the Little House series, and award-winning contemporary author E. L. Konigsburg (1930–). Reading was not Park’s only passion; she also loved to write. She began to scribble stories and poems when she was still in kindergarten, and when she was just nine years old she had her first poem published in a magazine called Trailblazer. The poem was a haiku, a form of Japanese nature poetry that is unrhymed and composed of

552


•

volume 3

linda sue park

Korean Kite Fighting

In

Korean history, kite flying can be traced back to 637 C.E., during the first year of the reign of Queen Chindok of Silla, when a Korean general named Kim Yu-Sin used a kite to subdue a revolt. His army refused to follow his lead because they had seen a shooting star, which they believed to be a bad omen. To rally his troops, the general launched a kite carrying a burning ball; the superstitious soldiers thought the star (or bad omen) was returning to heaven, so they joined in the fight and defeated the rebels. Over time, kites were used for various military purposes, but eventually kite flying became a popular sport among Koreans both young and old. To this day, kite festivals are especially popular around holidays such as the Lunar New Year.

Kite festivals gave birth to kite fighting. The purpose of a kite-fighting competition is to bring down all other kites—the last one remaining is the winner. A fighter kite is usually small and rectangular in shape. It looks quite simple in design, but it is actually very tough. The most popular type of kite, called a shield kite, is made from five bamboo sticks and covered with traditional Korean mulberry paper. Such combat kites are tail-less; it is the kite string that is the most important component since it is the key to a competitor’s attack strategy. The silken string is reinforced with a layer of adhesive, such as rice glue or varnish. It is then coated with glass powder, ground pottery, or even knife blades—anything sharp enough for a flyer to cut his opponent’s line and bring down his kite.

three lines containing a certain number of syllables: the first line has five syllables, the second has seven, and the third has five. Park was paid one dollar for her poem, which she gave to her father as a Christmas present. He framed the check, which still hangs over his office desk. Park continued to be published in magazines for children throughout elementary and high school. Park has claimed that she never consciously set out to become a professional writer, but she does admit that every decision she made revolved around her love of reading and writing. After graduating from high school she headed to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, where she majored in English. “I majored in English,” Park told Smith, “so I could read and write all the time.” Not all of her time, however, was spent pouring over books. Park also participated in sports, and was an accomplished gymnast.

Children’s author in the making In 1981 the aspiring author graduated from Stanford and took a job as a public relations writer for Amoco Oil Company. It was not exactly U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

553

linda sue park

the kind of writing she had in mind, but it did give Park her first taste of professional life. While working at Amoco, she also met her future husband, a journalist from Ireland named Ben Dobbin. In 1983, when Dobbin returned to Ireland, Park decided to go with him. The two lived in Dublin, where Park studied literature at Trinity College. Park and Dobbin married in 1984 and moved to London, where Park attended Birkbeck College, earning a master’s degree in 1988. The London years were busy ones. In addition to taking classes, Park had two children, Anna and Sean. She also taught English as a Second Language to college students, and tried her hand at a number of writing jobs. At various times Park worked as a copywriter at an advertising company and as a writer of restaurant reviews. And, of course, she continued to write poetry. In 1990 Park and her family moved back to the United States because of Dobbin’s job. She taught English, and her poems were regularly published in small reviews. By the mid-1990s, however, she began to experiment with longer works of fiction. Park had dabbled in fiction before, but a turning point took place when she started to do some real research into Korean history. She was partly motivated to explore her roots because of her children, since she wanted to make sure they would have a chance to connect with both their Irish and Korean grandparents. It was also a personal journey. As Park explained to Cecelia Goodnow of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “It definitely was a personal sort of search for me.” Park interviewed family members, and also dipped into her own memories, which included a visit to Korea that took place when she was eleven years old. Park was particularly inspired by a collection of Korean folktales that she had read as a child, called Tales of a Korean Grandmother by Frances Carpenter. Park began by writing short stories based on these Korean folktales, but an original story was taking shape in her head. She did not know whether it was meant to be a picture book or a short story, or something much longer. Several thousand words later it became evident that she was producing a novel-length book for children. That book would eventually become her first published work of fiction, Seesaw Girl. Writing a book for children seemed to come naturally to Park. After all, she had spent so much of her life reading children’s books that, as she commented to Cynthia Leitich Smith, “the structure of those books got sort of ‘hard-wired’ into my brain.” Park also felt that her

554


•

volume 3

linda sue park

years of writing poetry served as the perfect training ground for writing for children. “Children’s books and poetry have a nice merging point which is no fat,” she explained in an interview with the Alsop Review. “You can’t write a lazy line or a line with too many words.” Writing may have come easily to her, but publishing a manuscript did not. Without an agent or any connections in the publishing industry, Park initially sent her work out willy-nilly. As she told Smith, she “did absolutely everything wrong.” By the time she finished her first long manuscript, however, Park had learned how to approach publishers in a professional manner. She submitted sample chapters of Seesaw Girl to six publishing houses; all six asked to see a complete manuscript. The book was eventually published by Clarion Books in 1997.

Seesaws and kites Seesaw Girl is the story of Jade Blossom, a twelve-year-old girl growing up in an aristocratic household in seventeenth-century Korea. The custom of the times forbade young girls of social standing from leaving their family compounds until they were married. As a result, Jade is curious about the world outside, especially when Willow, her best friend and aunt, marries and leaves her behind. Jade arranges a day of escape, but what she encounters is not all beautiful, and she realizes that her family home provides not so much imprisonment as protection. When she returns to her family, she understands she must be content with catching glimpses of the world thanks to a stand-up seesaw built close to the compound walls. Critics especially praised Park for her faithful depiction of daily life in seventeenth-century Korea. As Barbara Scotto of School Library Journal commented, “Like Jade’s stand-up seesaw, Park’s novel offers readers a brief but enticing glimpse at another time and place.” Park drew upon family experiences to flesh out aspects of Seesaw Girl. When Park was young, for example, her mother built a Korean seesaw for Park and her brother in their backyard. A Korean seesaw is similar to an American seesaw in that a plank of wood is balanced across a central point; the difference is that players stand on each end (instead of sitting) and jump. “It takes some practice,” Park explained to Julie Durango on By the Book Web site in 2000. “The U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

555

linda sue park

timing is quite precise—the ‘jumper’ has to take off at the exact moment that the ‘flyer’ lands.” In her next book, The Kite Fighters (2000), Park again turned to family stories for inspiration, this time creating a work that would be a tribute to her father. At the center of the story is the rivalry between two kite-flying brothers, Kee-sup and Young-sup, who live in Seoul, Korea, in 1473. Kite fighting was a popular sport in the late fifteenth century, and each brother has his own unique talent. Older brother Kee-sup is gifted at kite design and construction, while Young-sup is a masterful kite flyer who has the ability to make kites dance in the wind. When the boy-king of Korea learns of their skills he enlists the boys to create a perfect kite for the all-important New Year’s competition. In the book Park not only described the intricate world of kite fighting, but also explored the traditional roles the boys played, based on their position in the family. Park researched the art of kite design and the sport of kite fighting, but she especially relied on her father’s expertise, since he had been a devoted kite flyer as a boy. After the manuscript was finished, Eung Won read over the text to make sure the descriptions were accurate; he also served as the book’s illustrator, contributing the decorations that open each chapter. In addition, Park’s father offered insight into his experience as a second son in a traditional Korean household. Reviewers paid particular attention to the fact that although Park’s story takes place in medieval Korea, her characters face many of the problems siblings face today. The author was quick to point out, however, that historical accuracy is important. As she explained to Writer’s Digest, “I want readers to be able to relate to the characters, but at the same time I want the characters to be grounded in their place and time.”

Newbery winner Park spends many hours on the Internet and at the library doing research for her books, and along the way she tucks away notes and idea for future stories. Back in 1996, while investigating the background for Seesaw Girl, she came across references to celadon, a type of pottery introduced in Korea that is considered to be among the finest in the world. “I liked that,” Park commented to Writer’s Digest, “the idea of a little tiny country being the best at something.” As a result, in

556


•

volume 3

linda sue park

2001, celadon pottery formed the basis of her award-winning book A Single Shard, which, like her previous works, takes place in early Korea. This time the action is set in the twelfth century and follows the adventures of an orphaned boy named Tree-ear, who becomes an apprentice to Min, a master potter in his village of Ch’ulp’o. In an interview with Alsop Review, Park called A Single Shard her “once in a lifetime ‘muse’ experience,” explaining that the book just poured out of her, page after page. Readers and reviewers agreed that Shard was indeed magical, and in 2002 Park was awarded the Newbery Medal, one of the highest honors in the nation for a children’s book. She spent the better part of the next year traveling around the country, appearing at book signings and giving readings. She also became quite famous in Korea, making headline news and receiving congratulations from Korean well-wishers. The experience was all very “thrilling and humbling,” Park told Durango. She had little time, however, to rest on her laurels, since Park was busy putting the finishing touches on her next book, which many claim is her most powerful yet, perhaps because it was a labor of love. When My Name was Keoko, published in 2002, is based on her parents’ memories of growing up in Korea during the Japanese occupation of their country. After taking control of Korea in 1910, the Japanese government attempted to erase Korean traditions and customs, going so far as to make Koreans take Japanese names. “Keoko was my mother’s Japanese name,” Park explained in the Time for Kids interview. “That’s where the title comes from.” When Park was a young girl, her parents did not talk about their painful experiences, but after she began her research they opened up. “I asked them about their experiences,” she told Durango, “and they did start talking. And talking … and talking.” Although based on her family, Keoko is a work of fiction that takes place in Korea in 1940. It is told from the perspective of a brother and sister, thirteen-year-old Tae-yul and ten-year-old Sun-hee, each of whom responds to their situation in very different ways. As World War II approaches, their lives are further threatened and their loyalty to family and country are increasingly challenged. It was a difficult story for Park to tell, and for her parents to revisit, but as she explained to Durango, “Your past is a huge part of what makes you you, and exploring the past can help you better understand the present and future.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

557

linda sue park

Future possibilities In the mid-2000s Park continued to explore Korea’s past and present in several new books that were aimed at a younger audience. The Firekeeper’s Son, published in 2004, gave readers a look at Korea in the 1800s, while Mung-Mung, also published in 2004, was a foldout book that introduced very young readers to the world of animal sounds. (Mung-mung is Korean for woof-woof.) In addition, Park kept up a steady pace of travel, visiting libraries and giving book readings. Her schedule, however, was much less hectic than it had been immediately following her Newbery win, which meant she could spend more time at home in upstate New York, a home that she shares with her husband, two children, a dog, a hamster, and eight tadpoles. When Durango asked Park if there were more books on Korean history in store for readers, the author replied, “I feel like I’ve only dipped my big toe into the possibilities of stories from Korean history! Like most writers, I have a lot of other interests as well—I don’t know yet which of those will lead to books, but I can’t wait to find out!”

For More Information Books Park, Linda Sue. The Kite Fighters. New York: Clarion Books, 2000. ———. Seesaw Girl. New York: Clarion Books, 1999. ———. A Single Shard. New York: Clarion Books, 2001. ———. When My Name was Keoko. New York: Clarion Books, 2002.

Periodicals Scotto, Barbara. “Review of Seesaw Girl.“ School Library Journal (September 1999): p. 228.

Web Sites Durango, Julie. “A New Book and a Newbery for Linda Sue Park.” By the Book (April 23, 2002). http://www.geocities.com/juliadurango/ btbpark2.html (accessed on July 23, 2004). Durango, Julie. “Seesaws and Kites: An Interview with Linda Sue Park.” By the Book (July 8, 2000). http://www.geocities.com/juliadurango/ btbpark.html (accessed on July 23, 2004). Goodnow, Cecelia. “A Moment with … Linda Sue Park, Children’s Author.” Seattle Post-Intelligencer (March 17, 2003). http://seattlepi.nwsource. com/books/112580_mome17.shtml (accessed on July 26, 2004).

558


•

volume 3

linda sue park “Interview with Linda Sue Park.” Alsop Review. http://www.alsopreview. com/aside/lsparkinterview.html (accessed on July 26, 2004). Linda Sue Park Official Web Site. http://www.lspark.com (accessed on July 22, 2004). “Linda Sue Park Who-File.” Time for Kids. http://www.timeforkids.com/ TFK/specials/story/0,6079,199125,00.html (accessed on July 23, 2004). “Q&A with Newbery Winner Linda Sue Park.” Writer’s Digest Magazine. http://www.writersdigest.com/articles/interview/linda_sue_park.asp?se condarycategory=Children’s+Subhome+Page (accessed on July 23, 2004). Smith, Cynthia Leitich. “Interview with Children’s and YA Book Author Linda Sue Park” (March 2002). http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/ auth-illLindaSuePark.htm (accessed on July 26, 2004).


•

volume 3

559

Richard Parsons

April 4, 1948 • Brooklyn, New York


•

Kevin Mazur/Wire Image.com.

volume 3

Chairman and CEO, Time Warner

Business executive Richard Parsons has been called a teddy bear, a master diplomat, and a charmer, but perhaps the best description that has been applied to him is “friendly giant.” Standing at 6 feet 4 inches, with broad shoulders, he is a physically impressive man who could fill any boardroom. But, in this case, Parsons sits at the helm of one of the largest media companies in the world, Time Warner. When Parsons was named chief executive officer (CEO) in 2002 and chairman in 2003, he became one of the most powerful executives in the United States, but he also inherited a mountain of problems. A 2001 merger between Internet icon America Online (AOL) and Time Warner, a leader in the entertainment industry, had proven to be a failed experiment. As a result, the company struggled to maintain its credibility, its stock prices tumbled, and it faced $27 billion in debt. By the mid2000s, however, analysts reported that Time Warner was on a definite upswing: employee morale was high, investors were newly confident, and the monstrous debt had been significantly slashed. And most

561

richard parsons

agreed that friendly giant Richard Parsons had been just what the fractured titan needed.

The Rockefeller Republican Although Richard Dean Parsons regularly makes Fortune magazine’s annual list of the most powerful people in business, and he is considered to be one of the most respected African American executives in the country, he came from an average working-class background. He was born on April 4, 1948, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in the New York borough of

“I always knew I’d rise to the top; it never occurred to me that I couldn’t.” Queens. Parsons, however, was an extremely bright young man, who went on to graduate from high school when he was just sixteen years old. After graduation, he attended college at the University of Hawaii, where he excelled both academically and socially; Parsons was a varsity basketball player and the social chairman of his fraternity. While in Hawaii, he also met his future wife, Laura Bush. Parsons had no clear idea what direction to take after college, but at the prompting of Laura, he decided to go to law school. According to Bush, it was the most logical decision since Parsons enjoyed arguing so much. Apparently it was the right decision. Parsons worked part-time as a janitor to pay his way through the University of Albany Law School in New York, and when he graduated in 1971, it was at the top of his class. That same year, he scored the highest marks out of the nearly four thousand lawyers who took the New York State bar examination. Just twenty-three years old, and fresh out of law school, Parsons landed a job as an aide on the legal staff of Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979), the governor of New York. He became such a trusted adviser that in 1974, when Rockefeller headed to Washington to serve

562


•

volume 3

richard parsons

as vice president, Parsons was invited along. In Washington, the young lawyer also worked directly with President Gerald Ford (1913–), first as general counsel and then as an associate director of the domestic council. Thanks in part to such associations Parsons became what he frequently describes as a Rockefeller Republican, a person who is conservative when it comes to economic matters, and more liberal concerning social issues. For example, during his Washington years, the social-minded Parsons was chairman of the Wildcat Service Corporation, an organization that provides job training for people who have difficulty finding work because of past criminal records, addictions, or poverty.

Lawyer turned banker Parsons’s tenure with Rockefeller and Ford opened up many doors for him and brought him to nationwide attention as an up-and-coming young executive. So, in 1976, when President Ford lost his re-election bid to Jimmy Carter (1924–), Parsons did not lack for opportunities. In 1977, he returned to New York, and at the request of former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Harold R. Tyler Jr., he joined the law firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler. He quickly became a star in the firm and in just two years was named partner. In his eleven years with Patterson, Parsons cemented his reputation as a skilled negotiator. He also expanded his web of connections, taking on such high-profile clients as Happy Rockefeller (1926–), the widow of Nelson Rockefeller, and cosmetics giant Estée Lauder. In addition, Parsons provided legal counsel to several major U.S. corporations, including the Dimes Savings Bank of New York, the largest savings and loan institution in the state. In 1988, just when it seemed that Parsons was poised to become head of his law firm, the news was announced that he had accepted the position of chief operating officer (COO) of the Dime. In doing so, he became the first African American to head a lending institution of such proportion. Many, however, questioned the appointment since Parsons had no real experience in the banking industry. Skeptics also wondered how Parsons would fare in his new job considering the bank was facing financial ruin. As a result of the savings and loan crisis of the mid-1980s, the Dime had lost some $92.3 million; it was also under scrutiny from federal regulators. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

563

richard parsons

Parsons lost no time in putting his years of Washington dealmaking into action. He also set out to streamline the bank’s operations. As part of his management restructure, Parsons opted to lay off almost one-third of the Dime’s staff. It was a drastic move, but he also kept communications open with his employees every step of the way. As a result, Parsons became known as the consummate gentleman executive. “He is a persuader, not a dictator,” a former colleague told CNET News.com. “He intellectualizes outcomes and gets people to agree with his outcomes.” His tactics paid off, and in just a few years, Parsons had reduced the amount of the Dime’s bad debts from $1 billion to $335 million. After taking on the job of chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the Dime in 1990, Parsons continued to set the bank on its comeback course. In fact, in 1995 he was key in orchestrating the successful merger between the Dime and Anchor Savings Bank. As a result, Dime Bancorp became the largest thrift institution on the East Coast and the fourth largest in the United States. With the bank on solid ground, Parsons set his sights on a new enterprise.

Banker becomes media mogul In 1994, Gerald Levin (1939–), chairman of Time Warner (TW), openly recruited Parsons to take over as president of the company. Again, the business community was rocked by the news. True, Parsons had proven to be flexible enough to succeed in the banking world, but he had absolutely no background in media and entertainment. Many doubted that he could succeed at Time Warner, which was considered to be a media giant, controlling virtually all aspects of the industry, including television (CNN, HBO, Turner Classic Movies, WB Network); film (Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema); publishing (magazines such as Time, People, and Sports Illustrated); and music (Warner Music Group). Levin, however, felt that Parsons was the right man for the job, and some business insiders were not that surprised. After all, Parsons had sat on the company’s board of directors for several years, and had developed close ties with top TW executives. Parsons assumed his post as president of Time Warner in January of 1995, a job that came with a reported multi-million dollar salary. For the next six years, he served as the number-two executive

564


•

volume 3

richard parsons

at the company, and as Gerald Levin’s right-hand man. Although Levin was effectively in charge, it was Parsons who consistently took on the tough assignments and it was Parsons who employees turned to for guidance. “Whenever we had a problem with one of the units, Parsons was always the guy who would solve it,” former co-chairman of Warner Brothers Robert Daly explained to Business Week. “And he would do it in a way that everyone would feel good about the outcome.” In addition, any time that trouble reared its head over regulatory issues in Washington, Parsons came to the rescue by turning to one of his many political contacts. Time Warner faced its biggest challenge in 2000 when it announced plans to merge with America Online (AOL), which by the late 1990s had evolved into the nation’s leading Internet provider. Levin had been in negotiations with Steve Case (1958–), AOL’s CEO, for several years. The hope was that by combining forces they would make the most successful merger in history: AOL would have access to Time Warner’s massive media content and it would be able to reach even more users thanks to TW’s cable television operations. In turn, Time Warner would have unlimited access to the ever-expanding Internet pipeline. The merger was made official in 2001, when AOL purchased Time Warner for a reported $168 billion. It did make history as the largest corporate purchase ever, but it also became known as perhaps the most failed megamerger on record.

Richard Parsons poses with Bugs Bunny in 2004. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

After the deal was made, AOL Time Warner’s board responsibilities were split directly in half, with one exception: Levin became the sole CEO in charge of operations; Case retained a backseat role as chairman. Parsons took on the role of co-COO, sharing the job with Robert Pittman (1953–), former president of AOL. To many, it seemed that Pittman took on most of the plum assignments in the company, considering he was in charge of the high-profile AOL operations. But it was Parsons who oversaw the units that brought in the most revenue, including Warner Brothers, New Line Cinema, and Time Warner Trade Publishing. He was also in charge of the legal department and human resources. Still, when Levin announced, in late 2001, that U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

565

richard parsons

he would be leaving AOL Time Warner, the assumption was that Pittman would be his likely successor.

AOL Time Warner struggles In a December 2001 press conference, Levin stunned the industry when he named Parsons as AOL Time Warner’s next CEO. As reported in Jet magazine, Levin commented, “I have the greatest confidence in Dick Parsons’ ability to lead the company forward, coalesce its diverse interests, and work with our strategic partners to achieve our ambitious goals.” Once again, Parsons made history, becoming what Adam Cohen of Time called the “first African American to lead the world’s most influential media company.” The world’s most influential media company, however, was struggling. AOL Time Warner’s various operating units were still far from achieving a full integration. In addition, thanks to an industry-wide technology slump, AOL, which had promised big revenues, had failed to deliver. Just before Parsons officially took over from Levin in May of 2002, the company posted a quarterly loss of $54 billion, the largest in U.S. history. Parsons remained optimistic, but he proceeded cautiously. As he told Cohen, “Ideally, you want to underpromise and overdeliver. To the extent that we’ve lost credibility, repairing it is important.” Parsons’s critics were not impressed by this middle-of-the-road philosophy, but his supporters pointed out that underlying the nice-guy image was a savvy businessman. As one AOL shareholder told Business Week, “Dick is the right guy to be running the company right now.” In this case, Parsons was forced to tap into both sides of his personality. With a calm, cool-headed resolve, he doggedly tackled the problems that lay ahead. When Robert Pittman stepped down as COO in June of 2002, Parsons quickly reorganized the company’s top ranks by promoting some of Time Warner’s former division chiefs. And, after taking over as chairman from Steve Case, who stepped down in January of 2003, Parsons went to work to repair the damage from the AOL merger. In mid-2003, he sold off parts of the company that were considered to be noncore assets, including the sports teams, the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers. In his biggest move to trim the $27 billion debt, Parsons sold Warner Music Group in November of 2003 for a reported $2.6 billion.

566


•

volume 3

richard parsons

In spite of its debt, the company reported an overall increase in revenue (6 percent) in early 2004, thanks to three of the Time Warner divisions: film, cable, and network advertising. The biggest boost came from the film division, which had experienced an enormous success because of the Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings series. The drag on the company continued to be AOL, which consistently floundered. In September of 2003, Parsons made a surprising announcement: AOL Time Warner was undergoing a name change, and would in the future be known as simply Time Warner. “Renaming our company will strengthen the identity of the AOL brand name among consumers,” the CEO said in a written statement reported on CNNMoney.com. “America Online is an important part of our company and we expect it to continue to make major contributions to our success in the future.”

A giant of a role model Analysts wondered about the future of AOL even as Parsons continued to play peacemaker, overseeing Monday morning meetings with his various managers and promising harmony between teams. “It’s a collaboration,” he told Anthony Bianco and Tom Lowry of Business Week. “Getting your team together is the more important thing.” At the same time people speculated about what role Parsons would play in Time Warner’s future. In the same Business Week interview, the CEO revealed, “I take this job seriously. It’s important I do it well.… But it’s not my life. I exist apart from this job.” Some predicted a future in politics for Parsons. In addition to his work for Rockefeller and the Ford administration, the lawyerturned-banker-turned media executive served in various political roles throughout his career. When Rudolph Giuliani (1944–) was elected mayor of New York in 1993, Parsons headed his transitional council; he served on the transition team when Michael Bloomberg (1942–) became the mayor of New York in 2001; and that same year, he was named co-chair of President George W. Bush’s Social Security Commission. Parsons also remained a committed leader in other areas of public and community service. He serves on the board of several cultural institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center. He also serves as chairman of the Upper Manhattan EmpowU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

567

richard parsons

erment Zone Development Corporation, which was established to spur the development of business and the growth of job opportunities in Harlem. Whether he remains with Time Warner or runs for public office, or goes in a totally different direction, Parsons will continue to be a role model in the African American community. He frequently downplays race as a factor or handicap in his success. As he once told the New York Times, as reported by CNNMoney.com, “For a lot of people race is a defining issue. It just isn’t for me. It is … like air. It’s like height. I have other things I’m focused on.” Regardless, Parsons is consistently applauded by various groups for the inspiration he provides to young people everywhere. In 2004, he was awarded the Better Chance Corporate Award, an annual honor bestowed by the organization A Better Chance, which, according to Hispanic PRWire, “identifies, recruits, and develops leaders among academically gifted students of color.” According to Better Chance president Sandra Timmons, as quoted by Hispanic PRWire, “Richard Parsons serves as a role model for aspiring executives of all races, but his success has earned him a special leadership role among African Americans.”

For More Information Periodicals Cohen, Adam. “Can a Nice Guy Run This Thing?” Time (December 17, 2001). Hayden, Thomas. “The Man Who Keeps the Peace: AOL Time-Warner’s Richard Parsons.” Newsweek (January 24, 2000): p. 36. McClellan, Steve. “AOL Time Warner Still Fixing Holes.” Broadcasting & Cable (July 28, 2003): p. 8. Mehta, Stephanie. “Richard Parsons: Profile.” Fortune (August 8, 2004). “Reeling Like a Bad Movie: AOL Time Warner.” The Economicst (April 19, 2003). “Richard D. Parsons Named New CEO of AOL Time Warner.” Jet (December 24, 2001): p. 6.

Web Sites Bianco, Anthony, and Tom Lowry. “Can Dick Parsons Rescue AOL Time Warner?” BusinessWeek Online (May 19, 2003) http://www.business week.com/magazine/content/03_20/b3833001_mz001.htm (accessed on July 29, 2004).

568


•

volume 3

richard parsons Hu, Jim. “Parsons Faces Major Test in Unifying AOL Time Warner.” CNET News.com (April 3, 2002) http://news.com.com/2009-1023-873910. html (accessed on July 29, 2004). Isidore, Chris. “Time Warner Drops AOL Name.” CNNMoney.com. (September 18, 2003) http://money.cnn.com/2003/09/18/technology/aol_ name (accessed on July 31, 2004). “Parsons the Man: Public Service as Much as Private Sector Success Define AOL Time Warner’s New CEO.” CNNMoney.com (December 5, 2001) http://money.cnn.com/2001/12/05/ceos/parsons_profile (accessed on July 29, 2004). “Time Warner’s Chairman and CEO Richard D. Parsons Honored by a Better Chance.” Hispanic PRWire (June 11, 2004) http://www.hispanic prwire.com/news_in.php?id=2478&cha=6&PHPSESSID (accessed on July 31, 2004).


•

volume 3

569

Nancy Pelosi

March 26, 1940 • Baltimore, Maryland



•

volume 3

Politician

Nancy Pelosi is the first woman in American history to lead a political party in Congress. She has served the U.S. House of Representatives since 1987, when voters in San Francisco chose her to represent them in Washington. In 2002 her fellow Democratic Party lawmakers voted to make her House minority leader. She is the first woman ever to hold such a post. Republicans sometimes call Pelosi a “latte liberal” for her politically progressive views on the environment, women’s reproductive rights, labor unions, and other issues. Pelosi has been outspoken in her criticism of President George W. Bush (1946–).

The mayor’s daughter Nancy Pelosi began her career in politics at a young age. Her father, Thomas “Tommy” J. D’Alesandro Jr., was a popular local politician from the Little Italy section of Baltimore, Maryland. Just a year before Pelosi was born, her father won election to the same U.S. House of Representatives in which she would serve many years later.

571

nancy pelosi

Pelosi was born Nancy Patricia D’Alesandro on March 26, 1940, in Baltimore. She was the last of six children, and the first daughter. The family lived on Albemarle Street in Little Italy. Their neighborhood was a loyal Democratic Party stronghold in Maryland politics. Little Italy was a working class and largely Roman Catholic neighborhood, located near the city’s main harbor. The local church, St. Leo’s, and the nearby Democratic Party office were the centers of social and economic life for Italian-American families. Pelosi’s father was well-known in Little Italy, and went on to become a Baltimore legend. When she was seven years old, he became the city’s first Italian-American mayor. He served three terms, and so Pelosi was known as the mayor’s daughter for most of her

“Any one of us who decides to put our young people in harm’s way carries a responsibility for the consequences.” childhood and teens. She often worked on his campaigns, as did her five brothers. In 1952, when Pelosi was just twelve years old, she was allowed to attend her first Democratic National Convention, where delegates choose their party’s presidential candidate. Pelosi’s family were dedicated Democrats, and her parents were strict Roman Catholics as well. For a son or daughter to enter one of the Church’s religious orders was considered a great honor for the family. Not surprisingly, her mother hoped that her daughter might do so, but Pelosi was not interested. “I didn’t think I wanted to be a nun, but I thought I might want to be a priest because there seemed to be a little more power there,” she said years later in an interview with Joe Feuerherd of the National Catholic Reporter.

Five children in six years During the 1950s many devout Roman Catholic families placed restrictions on their children, and Pelosi’s early family life was no dif-

572


•

volume 3

nancy pelosi

ferent. She attended the Institute of Notre Dame High School in Baltimore, a school for young women. When it came time to choose a college, her parents permitted her to travel only as far as Washington, D.C., which was less than fifty miles from Baltimore. She entered Trinity College, a Roman Catholic college for women. It was an entirely new world for her. For someone who had grown up in Little Italy, she compared it to “going to Australia with a backpack,” as she joked in a People interview with journalist J. D. Heyman. Pelosi earned her degree from Trinity in 1962, and then served as a congressional intern for a Maryland senator. She thought about law school, but followed the more traditional path for a young woman of her era, that of marriage. Her husband, Paul Pelosi, was a recent Georgetown University graduate and a native of San Francisco. The couple settled in the New York City area, where Pelosi’ new husband worked as a banker. She began raising a family, and was the mother of five by 1969, the same year the family moved across the country to San Francisco. Pelosi was a homemaker for a number of years. Her youngest daughter, Alexandra, told People that she and her siblings were not an easy crew: “We were like the kids from The Simpsons—she couldn’t get anyone to babysit.” No matter how busy she was at home, Pelosi always volunteered for the Democratic party during election campaigns. In 1976 she worked for the presidential campaign of California’s popular governor, Jerry Brown (1938–). Because of her political connections back in Maryland, she was asked to organize a “Brown for President” campaign there. Brown went on to win an unexpected primary victory in Maryland, thanks to Pelosi. Later that year he lost the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination to Georgia’s governor, Jimmy Carter (1947–). The experience boosted Pelosi’s reputation as a behind-thescenes dynamo. In 1977 she became chair for the northern section of the California Democratic Party, and four years later became the chair for the entire state. She later served in a national party post as the finance chair for the 1986 congressional elections. Known for her top skills in recruiting candidates and getting them elected, Pelosi had never considered running for office herself. That changed when one of her longtime political allies was diagnosed with cancer and suggested that Pelosi run for the seat in the coming special election. It was not a local or state office—it was for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

573

nancy pelosi

Daughter Films Bush on Campaign Trail

Nancy Pelosi’s youngest daughter, Alexandra, is a journalist and filmmaker who brought a camcorder with her when she covered the 2000 presidential election for NBC News. Pelosi wanted to document what the campaign looked like from her seat on the bus that carried the press corps. The result was a fascinating behind-thescenes documentary film, Journeys with George. Alexandra Pelosi was born in 1969 and grew up in a family that regularly pitched in to help during Democratic political campaigns. She graduated from Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles in 1991, and went to work for NBC News after attending graduate school at the University of Southern California. She was a producer for Dateline, and then covered Congress for the network. In early 2000 she was named to the campaign

press corps team and assigned to the bus that followed Texas Governor George W. Bush around the country in his bid for the Republican nomination. Pelosi’s camcorder captured a side of the candidate that was rarely seen in regular news coverage. He joked with the journalists, though he sometimes criticized their reporting, liked to eat Cheeze Doodles, and played with a Magic 8 Ball. He even asked it to predict the election results, and the answer came back, “Outlook not so good.” Bush even suggested the film’s title to Pelosi. “My mother used to rip his father’s policies on the House floor,” Pelosi said in a WWD interview with Rosemary Feitelberg. It gave her and the Texas governor some unusual common ground, she felt. “I covered [Capitol] Hill for six years,” she pointed out. “I have an

San Francisco’s Washington voice Pelosi won the 1987 special election as well as the next regular election in 1988. San Francisco voters regularly returned her to the seat, often by margins of 80 percent. As a member of Congress representing California’s Eighth Congressional District, she served a population known as liberal and progressive, and she spoke for it in Congress. She argued for and won increased government funding for AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, which reduces the body’s ability to fight off infection) research. The city had a disproportionately large number of residents who were HIV-positive (diagnosed with Human Immunodeficiency Virus, the virus that causes AIDS). There was a large Asian immigrant community in the city, and Pelosi made no secret of her distaste for a new American foreign policy that sought to forge new economic ties with China, which had been under authoritarian Communist Party rule for decades and was still accused of drastic violations of its citizens’ human rights. In 1991, on a visit to the same Tiananmen Square where the Chinese army had killed protesters two years earlier, Pelosi held up a protest sign.

574


•

volume 3

nancy pelosi aversion to all that seriousness. I think he does, too. That’s the irony.” After the election Pelosi quit her job at NBC and went to work editing the film in her New York City apartment. It aired on the HBO cable network just before her mother was elected House minority leader in the fall of 2002. The White House press office made a few rumbles about it, but quickly backed down from a fight. When Pelosi promoted the film she tried to stay away from talking about her own political views. “I come from a political family,” she explained to Feitelberg. “I think you should let people make their own judgements.” Other articles noted that she was indeed a liberal-leaning Democrat, much like her mother. But Pelosi insisted that her goal in making the film was to make a kind of home movie. “I do think you shouldn’t vote for someone who you wouldn’t feel comfortable having

Nancy Pelosi (left) and her daughter Alexandra Pelosi, pose with a poster for Alexandra’s documentary, Journeys with George. Arun Nevader/WireImage.com.

in your living room,” she said in the WWD interview. “Some people think this humanizes him and makes him look like a fun person to go on a road trip with. Others say it confirms their worst suspicions.”

Pelosi’s leadership abilities emerged in the mid-1990s, when Republicans gained a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in forty years. Many of the new Republican legislators were drastically conservative in their views. For example, some believed that the federal government should promote a healthy economy by reducing the financial penalties that corporations paid for polluting the environment. In response Pelosi began to assume a more public profile in opposing their legislation. In October of 2001 she was elected as minority whip in the House, when a vacancy arose. The whip’s job was to make certain that Democrats, who were in the “minority” among the 435 lawmakers in the House of Representatives, would vote with their party on specific pieces of legislation. She also worked to find Republican legislators willing to cross party lines and vote with Democrats on certain issues. Pelosi became the first woman to hold such a post in Congress. A year later Pelosi won another important first when House minority leader Richard A. Gephardt stepped down from the job. In this job Gephardt had served as the official leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives. Pelosi ran for the post against fellow lawU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

575

nancy pelosi

maker Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee, but House Democrats chose Pelosi by a vote of 177 to 29. As House minority leader, Pelosi led the 206 Democrats in opposing various policies of the Republican White House and Congress. She was an outspoken critic of President Bush’s economic policies, and also voiced concerns about a planned war in Iraq.

The “latte” liberal On other matters Pelosi emerged as a progressive voice inside a party that had begun to take a more moderate political tone during the 1990s. She is still critical of China because of its human rights record, and supports women’s reproductive rights. Her Republican counterparts often refer to her as a “San Francisco Democrat,” which is a code word in conservative politics for someone who is ultra-liberal. In the spring of 2004 the year-old American-led occupation of Iraq had become increasingly deadly on both sides. In May, U.S. military planes attacked a rural gathering that was said to have been a wedding celebration, and forty Iraqi civilians died. In her regular weekly press conference, Pelosi issued harsh words for the president. “Bush is an incompetent leader,” the San Francisco Chronicle’s Marc Sandalow quoted her as saying. “In fact, he’s not a leader. He’s a person who has no judgment, no experience and no knowledge of the subjects that he has to decide upon.” She asserted that U.S. soldiers were ill-equipped, despite the several billion dollars in funds that Congress had approved. She noted, for example, that parents of soldiers were sending their sons and daughters Kevlar lining, a bulletresistant material that the Pentagon had not issued to all personnel.

Poised to take another first Pelosi also predicted that Bush would not win election to a second term in November of 2004 because of the war, which she estimated might end up costing U.S. taxpayers as much as $250 billion. A Democratic victory in November could give Pelosi’s party a majority in the House once again. In that case, she might become the new Speaker of the House, or the floor leader of the majority party. The position would make her third in the line of presidential succession, after the vice president. Pelosi’s name was also mentioned as a possi-

576


•

volume 3

nancy pelosi

ble vice presidential candidate for Democratic Party candidate John Kerry (1943–). Kerry selected North Carolina senator John Edwards (1943–) as his running mate in July of 2004. Known in Washington for her ready smile and stylish suits, the grandmother of five puts in long hours at work. Staffers claim they can hear their boss coming down the hallways by the rapid “clickclick” of her heels. “As the first woman to lead a party in Congress, Ms. Pelosi, elegant and energetic, has the kind of star quality that many say makes them again excited to be Democrats,” noted New York Times writer Sheryl Gay Stolberg. Pelosi claims she does take time out to relax, sometimes at a Napa Valley home she shares with her husband. Completing the challenging New York Times crossword puzzle is one of her favorite hobbies.

For More Information Periodicals Chaddock, Gail Russell and Mark Sappenfield. “Pelosi Shatters a Marble Ceiling.” Christian Science Monitor (November 14, 2002): p. 1. Clymer, Adam. “A New Vote Counter—Nancy Patricia Pelosi.” New York Times (October 11, 2001): p. A18. Feitelberg, Rosemary. “Showtime for Pelosi and Curious George.” WWD (March 5, 2002): p. 15 Feuerherd, Joe. “Roots in Faith, Family and Party Guide Pelosi’s Move to Power.” National Catholic Reporter (January 24, 2003): p. 3. Feuerherd, Joe. “The Gospel in a Catholic’s Political Life.” National Catholic Reporter (January 24, 2003): p. 4. Firestone, David. “Getting Closer to the Top, and Smiling All the Way.” New York Times (November 10, 2002): p. 30. Heyman, J. D. “House Proud: Adept at Both Politics and Politesse, Democrat Nancy Pelosi Becomes the Most Powerful Woman in Congress.” People (December 2, 2002): p. 217. Samuel, Terence. “She’s Cracking the Whip.” U.S. News & World Report (June 17, 2002): p. 18. Sandalow, Marc. “Nancy Pelosi / Holding Out for Dreams.” San Francisco Chronicle (June 9, 1996): p. 3/Z1. Sandalow, Marc. “U.S. Kills 40 Civilians in Village Attack.” San Francisco Chronicle (May 20, 2004): p. A1. Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. “With Democrats Divided on War, Pelosi Faces Leadership Test.” New York Times (April 1, 2003): p. B13. “Transcript of Today’s Pelosi Press Conference.” America’s Intelligence Wire (May 20, 2004).


•

volume 3

577

nancy pelosi Tresniowski, Alex. “Bush Tracker: George W. Bush Untamed! Filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi Captures the Candid Candidate.” People (March 25, 2002): p. 89.

578


•

volume 3

Michael Phelps

June 30, 1985 • Baltimore, Maryland



•

volume 3

Swimmer

Young American swimmer Michael Phelps has broken several world records in his sport. Even his record breaking has broken new records: he was the first swimmer ever to shatter two world records in individual events during a single day, and was the first to swim five new fastest times at a world championship meet. Phelps, whose best stroke is the butterfly, is said to possess the perfect build for competitive swimming. He stands more than six-foot four inches in height, and his wingspan, as it is called, is even longer: from finger to finger he measures six-foot seven inches across. These attributes have given him an edge in the highly competitive sport, but those who know him say that it is his inner drive, focus on achieving goals, and likeable personality that make him a winner.

Discovered Olympic potential Phelps was born on June 30, 1985, and grew up in the Baltimore suburb of Towson. His mother, Debbie, is an administrator with the Balti-

579

michael phelps

more County school system. He has two older sisters, and began swimming when they joined a local swim team. “At first, I was a little scared to put my head underwater, so I started with the backstroke,” Phelps told Frank Litsky, a sportswriter for the New York Times, adding, “I was still scared because I don’t think I had goggles.” Phelps’s parents quickly recognized their son’s talent. When he was eleven years old, they brought him to a top swim coach, Bob Bowman (c. 1964–). After watching him swim, Bowman agreed to take over his training at a Baltimore-area swim club. Bowman predicted that Phelps would be Olympic-caliber material by the time he was fifteen, and might look forward to going to the 2000 Summer Games

“It’s when your body is not in the best situation, your mind is not in the best situation and things are against you those are the times that really count and really matter you overcome and rise to the occasion.” in Sydney, Australia. Phelps was thrilled by the idea, especially since one of his sisters had qualified for the U.S. women’s swim team at the 1996 Summer Games but was sidelined by an injury. When Bowman told Phelps that he had Olympic potential, the twelve-year-old gave up his other sports, which were soccer, lacrosse, and baseball, in order to bring all his energy to daily pool practice. He began winning every competitive event he entered. The first time he lost, however, he was so upset that he threw down his goggles. Bowman warned him about his unsportsmanlike conduct, and since then Phelps has taken his handful of setbacks in stride. Those setbacks included his first-ever U.S. national championships, in the summer of 1999. He finished in last place in the 200meter butterfly. He bounced back at the 2000 U.S. spring nationals to take a third place finish, and then became a surprise qualifier for the

580


•

volume 3

michael phelps

Swim Legend Mark Spitz

At

the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany, a young California athlete by the name of Mark Spitz became an international celebrity and Olympic legend. Brash, confident, and phenomenally fast, Spitz beat out the other world-caliber swimmers to win seven gold medals in the sport. No other athlete has ever attained such a feat during a single Olympics. Born in 1950, Spitz was a talented swimmer in his teens, much like Michael Phelps. Before he competed in the 1968 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City, Spitz predicted he would win six gold medals, but went home with just two. His confidence was viewed by some as arrogant and unsportsmanlike, and he said little after returning to an intense training schedule for the 1972 Olympics. But Spitz became the star of the Munich Summer Games. He won his first gold medal in the 200meter butterfly, setting a world record. He went on to enter six other events, and set world records in each of

them. In just eight days he set seven world records and won seven gold medals, including one for the 100meter freestyle, which was considered his weakest stroke. No other Olympic athlete has ever accomplished such a feat, in either Winter or Summer events. During the second week of the Games, a group of hooded men associated with an Arab political organization took several Israeli athletes hostage in the Olympic Village. They demanded that Israel release Palestinian prisoners in return. The standoff ended tragically with a botched rescue attempt. The nine Israeli men died, as did several of the hostage takers. Spitz was forced to leave Munich earlier than planned because of the crisis—he was Jewish, and Olympic officials were worried about his safety. Spitz enjoyed lucrative endorsement contracts after his Munich performance. His dark good looks and mustache made him an early 1970s heartthrob, and he was one of the first Olympic athletes to earn a small fortune from such contracts.

Sydney Olympics later that year. When he arrived with the rest of the U.S. swim team, he was the youngest American male swimmer to enter an Olympic contest since 1932. He had qualified for just one event, the 200-meter butterfly, and finished in fifth place.

Began setting new records A few months later, in early 2001, Phelps surprised everyone once again. At the U.S. spring nationals, he became the youngest male swimmer to set a world record. The event that marked this accomplishment was the 200-meter butterfly. He was just fifteen years and nine months old at the time. At the age of sixteen, he decided to give up his chances for a college athletic scholarship by signing an endorsement deal with swimsuit maker Speedo. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

581

michael phelps

Phelps soon began breaking world records in every event he entered. In August of 2002, at the U.S. National Swimming Championships in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, he set a world record in the 400meter individual medley. The following April, at the 2003 U.S. spring nationals hosted by Indiana University, he beat his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley. Rocky Mountain News journalist Jody Berger wrote that Phelps “flies across a pool like water is someone else’s problem. He doesn’t punch his way through the wet stuff but hydroplanes across its surface at a speed few humans can match.”

Micheal Phelps competes in the 200-meter mens’ butterfly event of the 2003 FINA World Swimming Championship in Spain. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

The official Indiana meet was followed by a special contest between American and Australian swimmers billed as the “Duel in the Pool.” The United States and Australia have each produced several top swimmers in the modern era of the sport, and there is an intense national rivalry between the two countries. But Phelps’s biggest rival, Australian champion Ian Thorpe (1982–), was ill with meningitis-like symptoms and did not compete, creating much interest in what would happen in a contest between the two swimmers at the World Championships in Barcelona, Spain, in July of 2003.

582


•

volume 3

michael phelps

Thorpe, three years older than Phelps, is a huge star in Australia. Sportswriters there call him “Thorpedo.” He won three gold medals at the 2000 Sydney Games, and was also a world record holder. Their rivalry heated up in June of 2003, when Thorpe’s coach told the press that Phelps was not yet a serious threat. “The promise with Phelps is there, but for people saying he’s going to outdo Thorpie, I live to see that day,” Sports Illustrated writer Brian Cazeneuve quoted coach Don Talbot as saying.

Called the next Mark Spitz Phelps bested Thorpe in nearly every contest in Barcelona in late July of 2003, and it made the American the new star in competitive swimming. He won five medals and set an astonishing five world records. The first came in the 100-meter butterfly semifinal, and the next came when he broke his own record in the 200-meter individual medley, besting Thorpe by a large margin in that contest. His own American teammate, Ian Crocker (1982–), broke Phelps’s 100-meter butterfly record in the finals, but Phelps went on to take part in two relay races that each won a gold medal. His last two world records were set in the 400-meter individual medley and the 200-meter butterfly. Phelps was seemingly unstoppable. Just a short time later, at the U.S. summer nationals in College Park, Maryland, he won five of the fourteen gold medals awarded, becoming the first male swimmer ever to do that at a U.S. nationals event. With such a promising start, the eighteen-year-old was called the next Mark Spitz (1950–). Phelps had heard the name before, as he recalled in an interview with Elliott Almond that appeared in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. He told Almond that he asked his coach, “‘Why are they asking me about Mark Spitz? What did he do?’” he told Almond. Bowman explained to him that Spitz was an American swimmer who was the star athlete of the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich, Germany. Spitz set seven world records in Munich, and returned home with seven gold medals. Phelps’s interest in matching Spitz’s legendary performance intensified when Thorpe asserted that no one could ever repeat Spitz’s feat. Late in 2003 Phelps signed a new contract with Speedo that showed the company’s faith in him: it ran until 2009, and included a U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

583

michael phelps

$1 million bonus if he matched Spitz’s seven gold medals at the coming 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In the buildup before the Athens Games, Phelps was predicted to become the star American athlete. But he tried not to make any predictions. “If you get caught up in it, your mind will take over and control you,” told Litsky in a New York Times article. “I have to make sure I’m in control.” Phelps did not worry about the other problems he might face at the Athens Games. In one interview Phelps was asked if he was concerned that the roof over the new Olympic pool had not been completed with only three months to go before the Games’ opening ceremonies. It would not matter to him or to his performance, he told Duncan Goodhew in the Financial Times. “A pool’s a pool. Water, lane lines, starting blocks,” he remarked. “We are all in the same boat. We all swim under the same sun.” Phelps did not match Spitz’s record, but he did take home six gold medals and two bronze medals.

Uses rap songs to focus Phelps is known for his perseverance and concentration in the pool. He swims twenty thousand meters on some days. Kevin Clements, a friend at the Baltimore area club where Phelps practices, told the New York Times’s Litsky that Phelps “likes to train. He’s never satisfied. Outside the pool, he’s a normal guy to hang out with. He likes to tease and fool around with other people on the team, which is natural in this atmosphere. But he’s mature in ways, too. He kind of makes training fun.” Rap music helps Phelps focus on his goals. Before every meet, he swims his warmup laps, then changes into a new swimsuit and puts his headphones on for the entire thirty-minute period before the race is set to start. He likes Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, and Eminem. He also listens to music every day while he drives to practice. “When I get out of the car, the last song stays in my head,” he explained to Dallas Morning News journalist Cathy Harasta, in an article that appeared in the Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service. “It’s there all during practice, in my head.” His car is a Cadillac Escalade sport utility vehicle, which he bought used with the $25,000 bonus he earned from the U.S. Swimming Federation when he began breaking world records in 2003. His mother allows him to buy something with his winnings every time he sets a new world record. One treat was a 47-inch television for his

584


•

volume 3

michael phelps

bedroom. Another time, he installed new subwoofer speakers in the Escalade, to create a better bass sound for his favorite rap songs.

Headed to University of Michigan Phelps graduated from Towson High School in 2003, but delayed college plans to concentrate on training for the 2004 Olympics. In April of 2004, Bowman was hired as the new men’s swim coach at the University of Michigan, which had produced several top athletes in the sport over the years. Phelps was not allowed to swim for the school because he had turned professional by accepting the Speedo endorsement in 2001. He went out and bought two U-M caps for himself and for Bowman, however, and planned to enroll there as a student so they could continue to train. In 2004 he said that he plans to swim for another ten years. In his spare time Phelps likes to play video games. He makes appearances for Speedo and also serves as the national spokesperson for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. Later in life, he has said, he would like to have a career in either sports marketing or in some technical field. He told Goodhew he hoped his own success as a champion swimmer would boost the sport’s profile. “One of my big goals is to improve the knowledge of the sport. Not many people know about swimming and (I want) to be able to take it to a new level and hopefully, in the US, get in with sports like basketball (or) football, where people see (swimmers) on the street and know who they are.”

For More Information Periodicals Ackert, Kristie. “Phelps Wins Sullivan Award.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (April 13, 2004): p. K5446. Almond, Elliott. “Swimmer Phelps Vying for Lucky Seven.” Knight Ridder/ Tribune News Service (May 22, 2004): p. K4972. Barnas, Jo-Ann. “Bowman Named U-M Swim Coach.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (April 2, 2004): p. K6521. Berger, Jody. “Phelps Toys with Competition: U.S. Swimmer Has Eyes on Collection of Olympic Medals.” Rocky Mountain News (April 5, 2003): p. 16B. Cazeneuve, Brian. “World Beater: Teenage Sensation Michael Phelps Dominated the World Championships.” Sports Illustrated (August 4, 2003): p. 74.


•

volume 3

585

michael phelps DeArmond, Mike. “Phelps: ‘I’m Nowhere Near Perfect.’” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (May 16, 2004): p. K1670. Goodhew, Duncan. “Phelps Ready to Make an Almighty Splash.” Financial Times (May 19, 2004): p. 14. Harasta, Cathy. “In Chasing Spitz, Phelps Could Sparkle in Olympic Limelight.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (May 4, 2004): p. K1690. Hersh, Philip. “Phelps Eyeing Spitz’s Record.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (February 11, 2004): p. K5980. Kelly, Dan. “How to Build a Champion: These Four Teenage Athletes Have What It Takes to Succeed in Sports—And in Life.” Boys’ Life (March 2002): p. 26. Layden, Tim. “A Real Gold-Getter: Heading into the Olympic year, 18year-old Michael Phelps Lowered Five World Records and Raised Expectations to Positively Spitzian Levels.” Sports Illustrated (December 29, 2003): p. Z16 (Special). Litsky, Frank. “American Nearly Wins Meet by Himself.” New York Times (April 7, 2003): p. D2. ———. “Good Morning, Mr. Phelps. Next Mission: Olympics.” New York Times (February 16, 2004): p. D10. ———. “Phelps Sets His Sights On Spitz’s Achievement.” New York Times (February 11, 2004): p. D4. ———. “Youngster Quickly Joins Elite.” New York Times (November 30, 2001): p. S7. Lord, Craig. “Phelps Puts Brake on Thorpedo but Spitz Hype Dims; Swimming: World Championships.” Times (London, England) (July 28, 2003): p. 34. Noden, Merrell. “Catching Up With … Mark Spitz.” Sports Illustrated (August 4, 1997): p. 11.

Web Sites NBCOlympics.com. http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/index.html (accessed on September 2, 2004).

586


•

volume 3

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy Cast •

•

Bravo Television’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is a reality makeover show that became the surprise television hit of 2003. In each episode the “Fab Five” team of five gay men make a visit to a heterosexual man’s home. They redecorate it, take him shopping for a new wardrobe, provide grooming tips and date suggestions, and teach him how to cook a meal that will wow his girlfriend, wife, or party guests. The five specialists are Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Filicia, Carson Kressley, and Jai Rodriguez. Each became an overnight celebrity after the show debuted in the summer of 2003.

Who are the “Fab Five”?

1965 • Indiana

Television host


•

volume 3

Ted Allen

Each cast member of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy brings his own area of expertise to the show. Food and wine expert Ted Allen is the oldest of the Fab Five. Born in 1965, he grew up in Carmel, Indiana, and was known to occasionally take over his family’s kitchen for cooking projects. He settled in Chicago after college, where he wrote feature stories for Chicago magazine. In 1997 he was hired by Esquire magazine to be its food critic. He learned of the Queer Eye auditions when a friend of his in New York City called to tell him about it. “It cost $200 to fly to New York,” Allen recalled in an inter-

587

queer eye for the straight guy cast

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast, from left: Ted Allen, Carson Kressly, Jai Rodriguez, Thom Filicia, and Kyan Douglas. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

view with Crain’s Chicago Business writer Jeremy Mullman. “It just seemed like a lark at the time.”

Kyan Douglas 1970 • Florida

Television host Queer Eye’s grooming guru Kyan Douglas is usually described as the most handsome of the Fab Five. A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Douglas was named “Edward” when he was born in 1970, but later changed his name to Kyan. As a teenager he experimented with making his own skin care products in a food processor at home. That interest in natural ingredients led him to Aveda, a line of plant-based hair and skin care products. He worked at the Aveda Institute as a certified cosmetologist before joining the staff of Manhattan’s Arrojo Studio as a colorist. One of his clients suggested that he audition for Queer Eye.

Thom Filicia 1969 • New York

Television host Interior designer Thom Filicia grew up in the suburbs of Syracuse, New York. His father was an engineer and his mother sometimes took him along to the houses she was selling as a real estate broker. In 1976,

588


•

volume 3


when he was seven years old, his parents permitted Filicia to redecorate his bedroom in shades of orange and lime green. After he graduated from Syracuse University he worked at three Manhattan interior design firms before starting his own in 1998. In September of 2002 the elevator in his apartment building stalled, and he and his dog were stranded inside for a hour with another passenger. She was a talent manager, and called him the next day about auditioning for Queer Eye.

“There are a lot of people in the rest of the world that aren’t even familiar with the word queer being a positive word for us now. And being an inclusive word.” Ted Allen, Advocate interview, September 3, 2003.

Carson Kressley 1969 • Pennsylvania

Television host Fashion stylist Carson Kressley quickly became the breakout star of the Fab Five, thanks to his quick wit. Born in 1969, he grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and once helped his older sister pick out her prom dress. She went on to win the prom queen title. He studied finance and fine art at Gettysburg College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He was working as a freelance fashion stylist for Polo Ralph Lauren in New York City when a colleague told him about the Queer Eye auditions.

Jai Rodriguez June 22, 1977 • Brentwood, New York

Television host Born in 1977, Jai Rodriguez is the youngest of the cast. The “culture vulture” is sometimes described as the most underutilized Fab Five U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

589


Behind the Scenes of Queer Eye

The makeover event shown on each episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy seems to happen in one day, but actually takes three or four to finish. The show usually opens with the experts in their sport utility vehicle, with its “Fab 5” vanity plate, as they are driving to surprise their next guest star. The dossier on the man, which they discuss on-camera, is generally all they have been told about their new client. Often the living quarters are even worse than expected. “People always ask us, ‘Are the places really that bad when you get in there, or is it staged?,’” Kressley told Daily Variety journalist Amy Dawes. “Listen, it really is that bad. If you could only smell it.” Douglas said he once carved the resident’s name in the dirt of a bathtub with a knife, and “one place was so dirty we had to get inhalers,” Filicia told People writers Allison Adato and Mary Green.

The show’s producers try to keep each shopping and renovation budget under $10,000. The Fab Five have noted that it is important to make changes that the man can easily adapt to, and not introduce a high-maintenance new situation. Some of the goodies are thanks to savvy product placement or sponsorship deals. Filicia said that his role on the show is more satisfying in some ways than his work as interior decorator to affluent clients in the New York City area. “In my world, I can spend millions of dollars on somebody’s living room, and they’ll still ask me why the light switch in the corner by the piano isn’t perfectly straight,” he told Entertainment Weekly’s Nicholas Fonseca. “And now, all of a sudden, these people with a living room full of Pottery Barn objects can’t thank me enough.”

expert. A Long Island native of Italian and Puerto Rican heritage, he was a talented musical theater star in high school. After college he relocated to New York City, where he landed a role in the hit Broadway musical Rent, playing Angel, a drag queen. Rodriguez actually joined Queer Eye midway through its second episode, after the producers decided to replace the original culture expert.

Idea for show came by accident Queer Eye’s beginnings hark back to an incident at a Boston art gallery. Television producer David Collins overheard a woman scolding her husband because of his sloppy clothes. She pointed out a group of well-dressed men and wondered why he couldn’t dress more like they did. The men overheard, and came over to offer some friendly tips. After listening to the exchange, Collins dreamed up a television show along the same lines, where five openly gay men would give advice and help to a straight man in need of a makeover.

590


•

volume 3


Each of the five would have an area of expertise, including fashion, grooming, interior design, food and wine, and culture. Collins pitched the idea to cable’s Bravo Network, who agreed to it in early 2002. It took nearly a year and a half before the first episode aired. Collins and the show’s other executives auditioned several hundred men to find the right mix of experts with the perfect on-screen chemistry. They also had some trouble lining up advertisers, who seemed nervous about the title. When the first episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy aired on July 15, 2003, it set a record for the most-watched debut show ever to appear on the Bravo cable channel. Its Tuesday night 10 P.M. time slot went on to set new records each week after that. The show’s format is a relatively simple one. The Fab Five surprise their latest victim at his door. They go through his apartment and closet, poking fun at much of it. They come up with an improvement plan on the spot, and take their new “client” shopping. Visits to a hair salon and furniture store are usually required, too. Meanwhile, they keep him out of his home until Filicia and his team have renovated the living quarters. The “reveal,” in reality TV lingo, happens when the man is allowed back into his home to see the results. He is often overwhelmed by the changes, and is clearly thrilled. Kressley has him model some of the new clothes, Allen takes him into the kitchen for a primer on making a special meal, and Douglas sets him up with a new range of men’s grooming products. Finally, Rodriguez gives suggestions on how to make a special party or date even more unique. On occasion Rodriguez has even taken his protégé to a workout studio and provided dance lessons. Near the close of the hour-long show, the Fab Five gather in a living room elsewhere and watch what happens when their “made-over” subject’s girlfriend, wife, or guests arrive to see the new and improved straight guy.

The feel-good makeover show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy earned rave reviews. The New Yorker’s Nancy Franklin liked the non-threatening way the experts helped each style-challenged subject. “Instead of making him feel ashamed of his bad habits, they storm his domestic prison with humor and set U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

591


The cast of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy at a book signing in New York City. © Nancy Kaszer-

him free into a new life, giving him the know-how to make him competent and confident,” she noted. Newsweek writers Devin Gordon and B. J. Sigesmund also liked the show’s upbeat approach. “The real secret to the show’s success,” they noted, was due to the way it set itself apart from other reality TV shows. They wrote that while “programs like ‘Extreme Makeover’ leave a residue of self-hatred, ‘Queer Eye’ is surpassingly sweet.”

man/Corbis.

There was also some criticism of Queer Eye. A few conservative commentators borrowed U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (1936–)’s term “culture war” to describe what they viewed as an onslaught of gay-positive images in popular culture. Some in the gay community also disapproved of the show. They worried that the show played into stereotypes about gay men as campy interior decorator or hairdresser types. In the end, however, few had anything genuinely harsh to say about the show and its five new icons. “By playing into gay stereotypes, the Fab 5, paradoxically, lay them to rest,” noted the

592


•

volume 3


Advocate’s Bruce C. Steele. “They’re so personable and sharp and real that the cliches they embody are magically reconstructed as richly human, without the tiniest swatch of shame.” Queer Eye made it onto Bravo’s parent company, NBC, for a special half-hour version that drew six million viewers. It spawned a soundtrack and book, and an order for forty new episodes. The Fab Five noted that they were stunned by the popularity of the show, and found it even more amazing that teens were tuning in. Some wrote to express thanks, or thanked them in public. Nearly all of the Fab Five recalled the painful adolescent years before they told friends and family that they were gay. “The toughest part of my life was junior high,” Kressley told Daily Variety journalist Amy Dawes. “It was really stressful. I used to get threatened. I’d puke in the bathroom at school.… So I thought, I’ll just be funny, because when people are laughing, they’re not trying to beat you up.” That humor found an ideal outlet on television, and Kressley has delivered many of the show’s funniest quips. “This place screams women’s correctional facility,” he once commented after surveying a particularly bleak living room. Rodriguez, who recorded an album of songs after the first Queer Eye season, had a tough time telling his parents that he was gay, partly because they were born-again Christians. It was only when they wanted to come and see his performance in Rent that he was able to tell them he was gay. “Our parents work very hard to make our lives charmed, and when there is any deviation from the plan, they worry,” he explained in an interview with Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Delma J. Francis. “But because of the show’s success and people they know are so accepting of me, they’re happy.” Both Kressley and Filicia had once worried that their career choices would upset their parents. Kressley recalled to Newsweek writer Marc Peyser that as a child, “I so wanted to be an interior designer or a fashion designer, and it didn’t seem like an option because it was too gay, too out there.… I wasted a lot of years.” Douglas pointed out that times had changed in the years since they were teenagers, and remarked that each of the Fab Five now had a number of heterosexual male friends not unlike their show’s guest stars. “It’s very validating to hang out with straight guys and be accepted,” Douglas told Michael Giltz in the Advocate. “So many of us, we were not accepted when we were younger by straight persons in high school.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

593


For More Information Periodicals Adato, Allison, and Mary Green. “Designing Guy: With a Thriving Home Design Biz and a New Commercial Gig, Thom Filicia Sets His Sights Beyond Queer Eye.” People (May 3, 2004): p. 99. Dawes, Amy. “Saving Straight Guys: Couture Crusader Went from Indie Styling to Mainstream.” Daily Variety (March 26, 2004): p. A8. Doonan, Simon. “Queer Eye, My Eye! Cast Harasses Hairy Heteros.” New York Observer (October 27, 2003): p. 31. Evans, Matthew W. “Queer Eye Guy Aims to Heal.” WWD (April 23, 2004): p. 8. Fonseca, Nicholas. “They’re Here! They’re Queer! And They Don’t Like Your End Tables!” Entertainment Weekly (August 8, 2003): p. 24. Francis, Delma J. “Bravo for ‘Queer Eye’; 15 Minutes with Thom and Jai.” Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN) (March 9, 2004): p. 1E. Franklin, Nancy. “Keeping Up Appearances. (’Nip/Tuck’) (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy).” New Yorker (July 28, 2003): p. 92. “The Gift of Fab: On Bravo’s Surprise Hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Five Gay Makeover Maestros Radically Transform Style-Challenged Heteros: Drab Clothes Give Way to DKNY, Messy-Closet Cases Get Tidied, and the Beast Finally Visits the Beauty Salon. Don’t forget to ‘joozh’ that hair!” People (August 11, 2003): p. 54. Giltz, Michael. “Queer Eye Confidential: The Firings! The Budgets! The Filthy Bathtub! Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s Fab 5 and Their Two Equally Fab Producers Spill the Beans on How Reality TV’s Queerest Twist Turned into the Hottest Show of the Summer.” Advocate (September 2, 2003): p. 40. Gordon, Devin, and B.J. Sigesmund. “Queen for a Day: Bravo’s ’Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’ Has Exploded. It’s a Makeover Takeover.” Newsweek (August 11, 2003): p. 50. Hamashige, Hope. “Review of Music For Every Occasion, Jai Rodriguez.” People (March 1, 2004): p. 51. Kanner, Melinda. “Questions for Queer Eye.” Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide (March-April 2004): p. 35. Larson, Megan. “Bravo Announces Queer Eye Spin-Off During ’04 upfront.” Mediaweek (April 12, 2004): p. 4. Mullman, Jeremy. “Ted’s Fab Journey; Talk About a Makeover: ‘Queer Eye’ Transforms Chicago Journalist Ted Allen into the Toast of TV Land.” Crain’s Chicago Business (Sept 22, 2003): p. 1. Paoletta, Michael. “His Eye’s Now on His Debut Album.” Record (Bergen County, NJ) (February 13, 2004): p. 36. “Pepperidge Farm Hires ‘Queer Eye’ Star as Spokesman.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (April 13, 2004). Peyser, Marc. “The Fashion Policeman.” Newsweek (August 11, 2003): p. 51.

594


•

volume 3

queer eye for the straight guy cast “Review: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: The Fab 5’s Guide to Looking Better, Cooking Better, Dressing Better, Behaving Better, and Living Better.” Publishers Weekly (April 5, 2004): p. 22. Steele, Bruce C. “The Gay Rights Makeover (Commentary).” Advocate (September 2, 2003): p. 40. Wolfe, Alexandra. “Power Punk: Carson Kressley.” New York Observer (December 15, 2003): p. 1.


•

volume 3

595

Daniel Radcliffe

July 23, 1989 • London, England



•

volume 3

Actor

While there may be a number of people in the world who do not recognize the name of Daniel Radcliffe, many millions do know the name of the character he plays: Harry Potter, boy wizard and hero of the best-selling books and blockbuster films. Radcliffe had minimal experience as an actor—he had scored small roles in a television movie and one feature film—when he was chosen, at the age of eleven, to portray on film one of the most popular characters in the history of literature. The Harry Potter films have been record-breaking successes, with each earning close to $1 billion at box offices worldwide. Radcliffe, meanwhile, has gone from childhood to adolescence in front of the camera, a transition that has paralleled the increasingly adult situations Harry must confront. While some observers have wondered whether Radcliffe will mature too quickly to be convincing as the young Harry Potter in the final movies of the series, millions of fans cannot imagine any other actor wearing Harry’s trademark round glasses and brandishing his magic wand.

597

daniel radcliffe

Debut role: monkey Daniel Jacob Radcliffe was born in London, England, in 1989, less than ten years before the publication of author J. K. Rowling’s first Harry Potter novel. His parents, Alan Radcliffe and Marcia Gresham, had been involved in the entertainment industry, both having worked as actors at one point. Alan went on to become a literary agent, helping authors get publishing deals, and Marcia became a casting director, helping filmmakers find performers for film and television roles. Alan would later put his own career on hold to manage that of his son. Daniel Radcliffe, an only child, wanted to be an actor from an early age, but his parents would not allow him to audition for professional

“I like playing someone who is a complete underdog. Harry is a huge hero, but he’s not perfect. He’s completely awkward around girls. He’s not a perfect student. He just scrapes by.” roles. He did perform in a school play at age six—cast as a monkey— and enjoyed the experience so much that he continued to ask his parents to let him try out for other shows. When casting began for a film adaptation of nineteenth-century English author Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist, Radcliffe renewed his pleadings with his parents. They initially refused to let him audition, concerned that he was too young. By the time they had changed their minds, it was too late—the film had been cast. Another opportunity arose when, in the late 1990s, a television production based on another classic Dickens novel, David Copperfield, was searching for an actor. Radcliffe auditioned for the role of the young David Copperfield, and he won the part, thus beginning his career as a professional actor. The film, which was jointly produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States, aired in 1999 and earned positive reviews. Radcliffe’s performance was praised, in a review at

598


•

volume 3

daniel radcliffe

The Other Kids: Ron and Hermione

While not as front-and-center as Harry Potter is, his best pals Ron and Hermione are nonetheless critical elements of the stories. Rupert Grint plays the part of Ron Weasley, Harry’s anxiety-ridden redheaded friend. A huge fan of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books, Grint desperately wanted to be chosen to portray Ron when casting began for the first film. He felt they shared much in common: both have red hair and come from big families; both love sweets and are terrified of spiders. His passion paid off when Grint was selected from among thousands of boys to play the part. Grint was born August 24, 1988, in the small English town of Hertfordshire. He is the eldest of five children and, when not filming, attends an all-boys school. He loves studying science and playing sports and videogames. For his fourteenth birthday, Grint asked for and received a unicycle. He has told reporters that he loves making films and would like to continue in the role of Ron for as long as possible. As for life beyond Harry Potter, Grint speculated in an article in People magazine: “When I was a kid I wanted to be an ice-cream man. That still seems like a cool job.” While she shares Hermione Granger’s tendency to be a bit bossy as well as her self-confidence and intense loyalty to friends, Emma Watson also

points out that there are many ways in which she departs from the character she portrays. She performs well in school but is not nearly as academically disciplined as her on-screen counterpart. Watson’s friends are mostly girls, unlike Hermione’s, and she spends her free time hanging out with friends, playing such sports as field hockey and rounders (similar to American softball). Watson pointed out another difference in an interview with Time for Kids: “I am also much more obsessed with clothes and shopping whereas Hermione has no fashion sense at all.” Born April 13, 1990, Watson lives in Oxford, England, home of the famed Oxford University. Before auditioning for the role of Hermione, she had acted in several school plays but had not performed professionally. Just as her costars did, Watson beat out thousands of other hopefuls trying out for her role. She loves the camaraderie on the set, joining in with her costars to play pranks on the other actors. In an article for the Asia Africa Intelligence Wire, Watson insisted that her life has not changed dramatically since winning the part of Hermione: “I mean, obviously I’m recognized on the way from home a lot more and, let’s face it, I have an action figure of myself. But apart from that I’m just trying to keep my life as normal as possible.”

the Web site culturevulture.net, for being believable and down-toearth: “Daniel Radcliffe has a naturalistic presence—rare enough in child actors—and he seems like a real boy.” Radcliffe later earned a small role in the feature film The Tailor of Panama (2001), portraying the son of characters played by Geoffrey Rush (1951–) and Jamie Lee Curtis (1958–). Starring Pierce Brosnan (1953–) and directed by John Boorman, the film—which was based on a book by esteemed spy novelist John LeCarré—was modestly successful at the box office and earned the admiration of a number of reviewers. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

599

daniel radcliffe

When Curtis, Radcliffe’s costar and screen mom in The Tailor of Panama, initially met the young actor, she made a connection between him and the ultrapopular character Harry Potter, immediately imagining Radcliffe portraying the boy wizard in the yet-to-be-made first film. She told Entertainment Weekly in 2000: “The first time I laid eyes on this kid, I said, ‘He’s Harry Potter. He should be Harry Potter.’ He’s the perfect choice.” The man chosen to direct that upcoming film, Chris Columbus, also had his eye on Radcliffe, having seen the boy’s performance in David Copperfield. Concerned about the intensity of attention their son would certainly receive if he portrayed Harry Potter, Radcliffe’s parents at first declined. Then one evening the Radcliffes, accompanied by their son, ran into their friend David Heyman at the theater. Heyman was sitting with Steve Kloves, the writer who had written the screenplay for the first Harry Potter film. Radcliffe could not help but notice that the two men repeatedly turned around to look at him during the performance. Heyman, who also happened to be the film’s producer, took one look at Daniel Radcliffe and felt the long search for an actor to portray Harry Potter was over. “Right then,” Heyman told Terry Lawson of Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service, “I knew I had found our Harry.” He spoke to the Radcliffes about his feelings, and they eventually reconsidered, allowing Daniel to try out for the role. In spite of the director and producer’s hunch about Radcliffe being right for the role, the actor still had to go through three rounds of auditions before being cast. Radcliffe was taking a bath one evening when his father told him he had won the role. “I cried,” he recalled to Stephen Schaefer of the Boston Globe. “It was so cool.”

Instant fame Radcliffe went overnight from being a boy who dabbled in acting to the instantly famous actor who would embody Harry Potter in a highly anticipated film adaptation. The first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in England and Canada), had made a literary superstar of author J. K. Rowling. Millions of fans all over the globe were ready to shower their intense Potter devotion to the film—or to condemn it to obscurity if it betrayed the spirit of the beloved novel. To the relief of the book’s fans, Rowling was involved in the film’s casting and other

600


•

volume 3

daniel radcliffe

aspects of production. As reported by Dana Harris in Variety, the author gave Radcliffe her seal of approval: “Having seen Dan Radcliffe’s screen test, I don’t think Chris Columbus could have found a better Harry.” In the midst of his newfound celebrity, Radcliffe began shooting the first film, joined by a cast of notable English actors and fellow novices Rupert Grint and Emma Watson portraying Harry’s best pals Ron and Hermione. Released in November of 2001, the first film in the series scored a huge success at the box office, earning close to $1 billion worldwide. The movie chronicles Harry Potter’s journey from his unhappy life with an emotionally abusive aunt and uncle to his enchanted existence as a young wizard learning his trade at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Thrilled at the prospect of seeing Rowling’s vividly described world come to life on the big screen, millions of fans in countries all over the world flocked to theaters. Some fans, and many critics, left theaters somewhat disappointed, complaining that the film was competent and faithful to the book but lacked sparkle and imagination. Mindful of the importance of staying true to the muchloved book, the filmmakers had tread carefully, creating a film that many described as a slavish imitation. Time magazine’s Richard Corliss expressed the feelings of several reviewers when he wrote, “The film lacks moviemaking buoyancy—the feeling of soaring in space that Rowling’s magic-carpet prose gives the reader.” Even many who found the film lacking approved of the casting and praised the actors’ performances, including Newsweek’s David Ansen: “His eyes dancing with intelligence, Daniel Radcliffe is a mercifully unsentimental Harry Potter, likable and inquisitive but slightly aloof, his selfpossession the necessary defense of an orphan raised by hostile Muggles [non-magical humans].” The second chapter in the projected seven-film series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, was released one year later, in November of 2002. Again approaching the $1 billion mark in global boxoffice tallies, the film intensified Pottermania while drawing some of the same criticism that had been aimed at the first. Some reviewers praised the actors and filmmakers for what they perceived as an increased confidence and adventurousness in the second film. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, described the film as “visually alive,” concluding his review with the exclamation, “What a glorious movie.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

601

daniel radcliffe

Others, however, felt that for all its faithfulness to the original work, this film failed to capture the wonder and glory of Rowling’s book. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Mick LaSalle wrote: “It’s still possible, at times, to tell that Chamber of Secrets has, at its foundation, a work of extraordinary imagination and spiritual generosity. But just as often the film is as monotonous and despair-inducing as three hours on an airplane with nothing to read but the in-flight magazine.” Regardless of any negative reviews, Chamber of Secrets increased the media and fan frenzy surrounding Radcliffe. Even as he was recognized and approached by fans more and more often, however, the young actor tried hard to continue his normal life, getting together with friends and attending school whenever he wasn’t filming.

Richard Harris (left) as Dumbledore and Daniel Radcliffe in a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. © The Kobal Collection.

Time to change A year and a half after the release of Chamber of Secrets, the third installment of the film series was released, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban signalled a number of significant changes. A new

602


•

volume 3

daniel radcliffe

director, Alfonso Cuaron, had taken over, replacing Columbus, who needed a break after the intense workload of the first two films. Cuaron had achieved fame—and won an Academy Award—for his racy Mexican coming-of-age film Y Tu Mamà Tambièn (2001), but he won the Harry Potter job in part because of his direction of the film A Little Princess, a 1995 children’s film that happened to be one of Rowling’s favorites. While Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson were initially devastated by Columbus’s departure from the series, they eventually embraced Cuaron and credited him with expanding their acting abilities. Cuaron began his acquaintance with the young actors by asking them to write an essay about their characters, prompting them to think about their characters’ personality and motivation in ways they had not done with the first two films. Other major changes involved Radcliffe and his fellow “child” actors, all of whom had grown up considerably during the time between Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. In spite of the filmmakers’ best efforts to complete the films quickly, the young actors were maturing faster than the characters, causing tremendous speculation about whether they would be able to continue in their roles for all seven films. For the time being, however, the actors’ plunge into adolescence suited the darker material in Prisoner of Azkaban, which brings to the fore the sense of frustration and isolation felt by so many during the transition from childhood to adulthood. In Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry is forced to confront complex and sometimes unpleasant realities—about himself, his parents’ murders, and the possible betrayal of his parents by their friend Sirius Black. Radcliffe explained to Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly that his deep discussions with Cuaron about Harry’s emotional state helped him immeasurably. “I’ll forever be in his debt,” Radcliffe told Jensen. “It [Cuaron’s guidance] basically affected the way I approached everything after that.” The series’ new direction earned a higher degree of praise from critics and continued to draw in record-breaking crowds at theaters around the world. Opening on June 4, 2004, Prisoner of Azkaban earned nearly $100 million in its first weekend alone. Radcliffe’s fame continued to swell, with his every move making headlines. The press wrote that he had surpassed singer Charlotte Church to become the second wealthiest teenager in Britain, behind Prince Harry, grandson of the queen of England. Asked by the Cincinnati Post how it feels to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

603

daniel radcliffe

grow up in the public eye, Radcliffe shared his strategy for retaining normalcy: “I never read the articles or read what people are saying about me on the Internet. If you read all that you just become so selfconscious.” Instead of fretting about the lack of privacy that accompanies fame, Radcliffe focuses on the benefits of his association with Harry Potter. He has had the opportunity to meet and work with many actors he admires, he learned from Prisoner of Azkaban costar Gary Oldman (1958–) how to play the bass guitar, and his grades have actually improved since he became a film star. He has developed a passion for movies and thinks about one day becoming a writer or director. Cuaron speculated to Jensen that Radcliffe would grow up to be either an actor, a director, or a rock star. When asked which career he thought he might choose, Radcliffe displayed the self-confidence he has acquired in recent years, querying, “Can’t I be all three?”

For More Information Periodicals Ansen, David. “The Trouble with Harry.” Newsweek (November 19, 2001): p. 70. “A Conversation with … Daniel Radcliffe.” Cincinnati Post (June 5, 2004). Corliss, Richard. “Wizardry without Magic.” Time (November 19, 2001): p. 136. De Vera, Ruel S. “On the Magic Broomstick of Fame, Harry Potter Kids Keep Feet on the Ground.” Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (November 10, 2002). Ebert, Roger. “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.” Chicago SunTimes (November 15, 2002). Fierman, Daniel. “Casting a Spell.” Entertainment Weekly (September 1, 2000): p. 16. Harris, Dana. “Potter Waves Wand over Brit.” Variety (August 28, 2000): p. 10. “Hogwarts 2004.” People (June 14, 2004): p. 126. Jensen, Jeff. “Lucky Thirteen?” Entertainment Weekly (June 11, 2004): p. 32. LaSalle, Mick. “Tortured Chamber.” San Francisco Chronicle (November 15, 2002). Lawson, Terry. “Young Actor Daniel Radcliffe Takes His Starring Role in Stride.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (November 14, 2001). Schaefer, Stephen. “Harry Comes, Ready or Not.” Boston Globe (November 8, 2001). “TFK Q&A.” Time for Kids (May 7, 2004): p. 8.

604


•

volume 3

daniel radcliffe

Web Sites The Official Harry Potter Website. http://harrypotter.warnerbros.co.uk/ main/homepage/home.html (accessed on August 12, 2004). Wake, Bob. “David Copperfield.” culturevulture.net. http://www.culture vulture.net/Television/DavidCopperfield.htm (accessed on August 11, 2004).


•

volume 3

605

and •

Michael Ramsay James Barton Michael Ramsay c. 1950 • Scotland

Company executive

James Barton c. 1958 • United States Michael Ramsay. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.


•

volume 3

Company executive

Michael Ramsay and Jim Barton are the founders of TiVo, the company that makes the revolutionary digital video recorder (DVR) for television. Ramsay and Barton fought tough battles with competitors and other opponents during their first decade in business. TiVo, meanwhile, gained a cult following among users. Some called it the next frontier in television viewing because of the freedom it allowed viewers. TiVo’s founders met when both were top executives at Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). The Mountain View, California-based company was an early pioneer in the development of computer workstations. These were desktop machines with immense computing power. In the early 1990s SGI also became a leader in developing the software used in producing special effects for movies. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park and the tornadoes in Twister were two of its biggest successes.

607

michael ramsay and james barton

Silicon Valley success stories Michael Ramsay was born in Scotland, in the early 1950s. He grew up in Sighthill, a poor section of Edinburgh. After earning a degree in electrical engineering at the University of Edinburgh, he moved to California around 1976. He first worked for computer maker HewlettPackard and another company called Convergent Technologies. Both were located in the so-called “Silicon Valley” hub of high-tech businesses near the California cities of San Jose and Palo Alto. SGI became one of Silicon Valley’s biggest success stories during the 1980s, and Ramsay rose to become senior vice president and general manager of its visual systems group. He was later involved with

“TiVo is the first and only post-Internet Big Idea.” Michael Ramsay, Fortune, March 19, 2001.

another division in the company called Silicon Studio, which created interactive digital media applications. Jim Barton also studied electrical engineering during his undergraduate days. His degree was from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he earned an advanced degree in computer science. His first jobs were with Bell Laboratories and Hewlett-Packard. At SGI he served as vice president and general manager of the systems software division. TiVo’s roots date back to an infamous failure of the mid-1990s. Ramsay and Barton had both been involved in SGI’s work on an exciting new cable television experiment in Orlando, Florida. SGI worked with Time-Warner Cable to help create a two-way cable television system called Full Service Network. It offered four thousand Orlando households some five hundred television channels and a new kind of remote control that allowed viewers to program their favorites. It even took users to a site where they could order a pizza delivery with the click of a button. But the much-hyped Full Service Network never caught on, and reportedly cost Time-Warner $100 million. It was touted as the next generation of online access, but the World Wide

608


•

volume 3


Web took off in earnest in 1995, and users discovered they would rather surf the Web from their desktop computers than from their television screens. Barton served as the lead system software architect for the Full Service Interactive software, but moved on to a project between SGI and AT&T Network Systems. This was called Interactive Digital Solutions Company, and Barton was its chief technology officer. He eventually left the company and founded Network Age Software, becoming its president and chief executive officer.

Dreamed of futuristic “home network” Ramsay and Barton joined forces after Ramsay left SGI in May of 1997. Because of their combined work history, it was easy for them to get appointments with venture capital firms in Silicon Valley. These investment companies provided start-up money to new businesses in exchange for a stake in future profits. With a venture capital check for $3 million in the bank to start their own company, they began brainstorming ideas for consumer products. They first tried to come up with a way to connect appliances in a home with a computer and Internet access. In their “home networking” vision, a sensor in the refrigerator could tell when a carton of milk was going bad, and automatically order a fresh delivery to the home from a grocery service. A resident would be able to turn his thermostat up or down from his home office chair. But Ramsay and Barton realized the idea presented too many potential roadblocks. As they later told New York Times Magazine writer Michael Lewis, “When you build a company around a technology and someone says, ‘Tell me again what this thing does?’ you need to be able to say, ‘It does this.’ We found that we couldn’t say what home networking did.” Ramsay and Barton had come up with the company name “Teleworld,” and kept that name when they changed their vision to that of working solely with the most-used home appliance—the television. Their idea was a “personal television receiver.” It would use a digital chip to give television viewers a ground-breaking degree of control over what they watched and when they watched it. The personal television receiver sat on top of the television, much like a VCR or cable box, and was linked to the outside world via a telephone line. They came up with a quirky brand name, “TiVo,” and an animated logo. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

609


They asked the venture capital firms for another $300 million, and used the money to launch their company in earnest. Although the TiVo box looked a little like a VCR, it was much easier to program. It could store up to forty hours of programming if instructed, and had an innovative “Season Pass” feature. The Season Pass would record an entire season’s worth of a series with just one or two clicks of the remote. A TiVo user could then watch what had been recorded, with the ability to fast-forward through commercials. TiVo also let viewers pause during a live program. TiVo contained a unique “smart” feature that could tape shows based on what a user had previously recorded. As Lewis wrote in the New York Times Magazine article, the company now had a clear idea to sell to investors: “When someone asked Barton or Ramsay, ‘Tell me again what this gadget does?’ they now had a simple answer: ‘It lets you watch anything you want to watch when you want to watch it.’”

Company struggled in early years The first TiVos were introduced in the United States in early 1999. They sold for about $500 each. Buyers also committed to a $9.95 monthly subscription fee to use TiVo’s unique features. An initial public offering of stock by the new company later in 1999 was a great success. There was tremendous early buzz about TiVo, along with rumors that it would forever change the public’s viewing habits. Still, the company struggled for the next few years, and posted huge financial losses. Some of those losses came because it sold the digital video recorder, called a “DVR,” below cost in order to lure new users. Still, TiVo was slow to catch on with consumers. By the end of 2000, it was in just 150,000 U.S. households. The company also made a mistake with some of its first advertising campaigns, one of which cost $50 million. That first generation of TiVo television commercials, marketing experts claimed, did not explain the innovative new technology well enough. Despite the early financial worries, many saw the potential in Ramsay and Barton’s idea. The partners struck deals with America Online (AOL), DirecTV, Comcast, and Walt Disney. “TiVo’s courtship of investors … was impressive,” wrote Fortune’s Christine Y. Chen. “By venture capital standards, it wasn’t exactly a big draw.

610


•

volume 3


The company had an expensive business model and was creating a new consumer electronics category. It was subsidizing its hardware, was service- and subscription-oriented, and was unlikely to become profitable for years. But Ramsay and Barton’s vision for customized television ultimately proved too strong to resist.” Ramsay and Barton decided to stop spending money on big advertising campaigns and let TiVo take hold through word of mouth instead. In time, a minor cult of enthusiastic TiVo users sprang up, and articles on the new programming device began to fuel the public interest. One such article was a 2000 New York Times Magazine cover story by Michael Lewis. The writer compared the importance of the date that TiVo was founded, August 4, 1997, to that of November 10, 1994, the founding date of online retailer Amazon.com. And Lewis further argued that TiVo had the potential to forever change commercial television broadcasting. As Ramsay told Lewis, “One question our investors did ask us is ‘How long will it take for the TV networks to hate you so much that they shut you down?’”

TiVo affects advertising Ramsay and Barton met several other challenges over the next halfdecade. There was competition with Replay TV, a rival. There were also patent violation lawsuits. But as TiVo began to catch on, television networks did indeed become fearful that the end was near. Major broadcast networks like CBS and Fox were able to sell advertising slots for Survivor, American Idol, and other top-rated TV shows for millions of dollars per minute. And TiVo users were said to especially love the ability to skip over commercials. But Ramsay and Barton pointed out that TiVo actually offered new potential markets for media companies and advertisers: TiVo could collect data on viewers and offer it for sale to marketing companies. It also launched a new “showcase” feature, where a viewer could click a button on the remote control and request more information on an advertised product. Ramsay gave up one of his job titles when TiVo hired longtime NBC executive Marty Yudkowitz to guide the company as its new president. Ramsay became board chair and chief executive officer, while Barton served as TiVo’s chief technology officer. The company reached its one-millionth subscriber mark in November of 2003. But U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

611


it was also facing renewed competition from Microsoft, Sony, and even hackers posting how-to guides on how to triple the memory space in the boxes on a do-it-yourself basis. Ramsay and Barton hoped that TiVo would be in thirty million households by 2007. In the spring of 2004 they announced a new venture that would allow TiVo users to download movies and music from the Internet. But their original idea has become so common that “TiVo” even began to be used as a verb. Barton’s favorite shows to “TiVo” are Star Trek reruns and Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. One of Ramsay’s favorite shows is the real-time thriller 24. Journalist Frank Rose in Wired, compared Ramsay to the hero of that very series, played by Kiefer Sutherland. “Like Jack Bauer,” wrote Rose, Ramsay “pinballs from one crisis to another as powerful enemies, shifting alliances, and relentless plot twists conspire to do him in. The specter of betrayal lurks behind every encounter. The clock is ticking. Any minute his bigger, better-financed adversaries—major cable carriers, PC and consumer electronics giants—will arrive on the scene to blow him away.”

For More Information Periodicals Bevens, Nick. “Times Are Changing as TiVo Looks to Kill the Video.” Evening News (Edinburgh, Scotland) (August 22, 2001): p. B4. Carnoy, David. “Anthony Wood and Mike Ramsay Are at War.” Success (March 1999): p. 52. Chen, Christine Y. “TiVo Is Smart TV (But Hey, Brains Aren’t Everything.).” Fortune (March 19, 2001): p. 124. Coppa, Matt. “The Tao of TiVo: Wisdom from the Men Who Changed How the World Watches TV.” Men’s Fitness (May 2004): p. 78. Einstein, David. “SGI Reorganizes, 2 Execs Depart.” San Francisco Chronicle (May 6, 1997): p. C1. “Here’s the Next ‘Next Big Thing.’” Business Week (August 9, 1999): p. 38. “Is TiVo’s Signal Fading?” Business Week (September 10, 2001): p. 72. Lewis, Michael. “Boom Box.” New York Times Magazine (August 13, 2000): p. 36. Markoff, John. “New Service by TiVo Will Build Bridges From Internet to the TV.” New York Times (June 9, 2004). McHugh, Josh. “TiVo’s Turning Point: It Redefined Television. Now Comes Competition.” Wired (October 2003).

612


•

volume 3

michael ramsay and james barton Pitta, Julie. “Interactivity: The Great White Whale.” Forbes (September 21, 1998): p. 60. Rose, Frank. “The Fast-Forward, On-Demand, Network-Smashing Future of Television.” Wired (October 2003). St. John, Warren. “Friend Or Foe? The Cult of TiVo Cometh.” New York Times (April 20, 2003): p. 1. Taub, Eric A. “How Do I Love Thee, TiVo?” New York Times (March 18, 2004): p. G1. Turner, Nick. “If TiVo Succeeds, Will It Attract Many Suitors?” Investor’s Business Daily (January 3, 2002): p. A6. Woolley, Scott. “Zap!” Forbes (September 29, 2003): p. 76.

Web Sites “Management Team: Jim Barton.” TiVo.com. http://www.tivo.com/5.2.3.asp (accessed on June 1, 2004). “Management Team: Michael Ramsay.” TiVo.com. http://www.tivo.com/ 5.2.1.asp (accessed on June 1, 2004). Stone, Brad. “TiVo’s Big Moment.” MSNBC. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ id/4208945/ (accessed on June 1, 2004).


•

volume 3

613

Raven

December 10, 1985 • Atlanta, Georgia

Chris Weeks/Wire Image.com.

Teen actress Raven stars in the hit Disney Channel series That’s So Raven. Many fans of her show, however, may not be old enough to recognize Raven from her first television role. In the early 1990s Raven charmed audiences as the youngest member of the Huxtable clan on the last few seasons of the top-rated NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. At the time, she was known by the stage name Raven-Symoné, which she later shortened.


•

volume 3

Actress

Starred in television commercials Raven was born Raven-Symoné Christina Pearman in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 10, 1985. Her parents, Christopher and Lydia Pearman, believed their infant daughter had star power at an early age, and she landed a modeling contract before her second birthday. Soon the family relocated to New York City to boost her chances. There the toddler appeared in television commercials for products such as Cool

615

raven

Whip and Ritz Crackers, among others. Her talents led to an audition for a part in a Bill Cosby (1937–) film called Ghost Dad, but she did not win the role. The audition, however, impressed Cosby, a veteran actor and comedian. Since 1984 he had headed the cast of the The Cosby Show, the hit NBC series that was said to have revived the sitcom format. In it, Cosby played Heathcliff Huxtable, a likable physician. “Cliff” was married to a no-nonsense attorney, Clair, played by Phylicia Rashad (1948–), and they had five children. The Huxtable kids ranged from college student Sondra, played by Sabrina LeBeauf, to pre-schooler Rudy, played by Keshia Knight Pulliam (1979–).

“I just want to represent my people well. I’m not going to be ghetto on the show. I don’t want people to think that’s all we can do.” Even at a young age, Raven was familiar with The Cosby Show. As her father told Ebony journalist Douglas C. Lyons, Raven liked to watch little Knight Pulliam’s Rudy character, and “would always say, ‘I can do that. Why can’t I be on The Cosby Show?’” Her chance came in 1989, when the second Huxtable daughter, played by Lisa Bonet (1967–), returned to the show. Bonet had left to star in a spin-off, set at college, called A Different World. She left both series for a time, and her return to Cosby came as the newly married Denise Huxtable. Denise’s husband was a single parent and Navy officer who was often away at sea, and Denise returned to her parents’ Brooklyn brownstone home with her husband’s toddler daughter, Olivia Kendall, played by Raven.

Found steady work Raven was an immediate hit as Cosby’s newest cast member. She soon became a celebrity at the young age of five. She recalled being thrilled the first time a fan requested an autograph. “And I signed my whole name right,” she boasted to Lyons. She played Olivia for the

616


•

volume 3

raven

The Cosby Phenomenon

The Cosby Show was a major television event of the 1984 season. From its debut, the show’s mix of comedy and gentle moral lessons appealed to audiences of all colors. Critics called it the show that helped renew faith in the half-hour situation comedy on network television. The Cosby household included eldest daughter Sondra, who was often away at college; Denise, the fashionably dressed teen rebel; Theo, the sole son and a prankster; drama-queen Vanessa; and Rudy, an adorable kindergartner. With popular comedian Bill Cosby cast as a New York City obstetrician with an attorney wife, Cosby was said to be the first television series to show a black middle-class family. But their skin color, others noted, was beside the point. The Huxtables’ problems were similar to those of any family. Cliff and Clair struggled to make sure their children understood the importance of their education. They dealt with the occasional discipline problem firmly and with a sense of humor. The series, noted Time critic Richard Zoglin, “initiated a healthy new attitude toward race on TV by building a show around an upper-middle-class family that just happened to be black. And it set a standard for wholesome TV families that inspired backlash (Married … with Children) as well as imitation (Family Matters).”

The Cosby Show held the number-one spot in television ratings for four years in the late 1980s. It was the most successful sitcom of the decade, and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Raven joined the show as it was nearing the end of its run. She debuted on it in 1989 as Olivia Kendall, stepdaughter to a newly married Denise. She seemed cast to fill the “cute” slot occupied earlier by Keshia Knight Pulliam’s Rudy, and she did so admirably for the final three seasons, trading lines with Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable and winning some of the biggest laughs in each episode. But as the other Huxtable children grew into their teens and adulthood, the show’s writers struggled to keep its plots fresh. It began losing ratings to a new series from the Fox Network, The Simpsons, and its final episode aired in the spring of 1992.

Raven’s little Olivia lives on in reruns of The Cosby Show. She occasionally catches glimpses of herself as a scene-stealing five-year-old, but finds it to be a strange experience. “It’s funny, when I watch the show I don’t think of Olivia as being me,” Raven told WWD writer Julee Greenberg. “I sort of think of her as someone else, since I was too young to remember so much of it.”

final three seasons on Cosby, which ended its run in 1992. In 1993 she landed a role in another top sitcom, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, playing the part of Nicole Lee. She also made her feature film debut in 1994 in a remake of The Little Rascals. A bigger movie role came in 1998 when she appeared as Eddie Murphy (1961–)’s daughter in the box office hit Dr. Dolittle, and she also appeared in its 2001 sequel. During the 1990s Raven divided her time between school and show business. Child labor laws required her to have a tutor if her teleU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

617

raven

vision and movie parts were being shot during the months when school was in session. She also went into the recording studio, and her debut album, Here’s To New Dreams, was released in 1993, the same year she turned eight. She had reportedly been the youngest solo artist ever signed to the MCA label. She was a teenager by the time her second album of pop and R&B tunes, Undeniable, appeared in 1999. Raven was hired by Disney as she neared the end of her high school years at Atlanta’s North Springs High. She was originally cast in a supporting role on a new show called Absolutely Psychic, but executives were impressed by her talent and decided to rework the script with her in the lead. That’s So Raven debuted on the Disney Channel in January of 2003, and from the start proved to be a hit with viewers in the nine-tofourteen age group. Raven plays Raven Baxter, a San Francisco high school student who struggles with her psychic abilities. Only her two best friends and her parents know about her secret gift. Raven’s character is a likable, normal teenager who is a bit of a klutz, but “her visions give her a real mysteriousness,” the actress told Suzanne MacNeille in an article in the New York Times. Raven explained, “They are the one thing that makes her humble.” She added that her character tries to keep her special talent from intruding on her normal teenage life. “Raven doesn’t want just anyone to know about her visions,” she told MacNeille. “She’s afraid people will think she’s a freak.”

Raven signs autographs at the premiere of Cheetah Girls, in New York City. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

Newest “tween” star Though the veteran teen actress no longer had to make a special effort to spell her entire name correctly for autographs, she was in turn amused by her young fans. “Little kids are coming up to me asking me ‘What’s my future?’” she told Jet “‘I’m not really psychic,’” she explained to them, as she told the magazine. “And they are like, ‘No, what’s my future?’And I am like, ‘OK, you are going to have a good future.’” Raven was hailed as a member of the new “tween” actor category, and as the Disney Channel’s next big star. There were many comparisons to Lizzie McGuire, the Disney hit that propelled Hilary Duff (1987–) to fame. Nicholas Fonseca in Entertainment Weekly declared that Raven’s

618


•

volume 3

raven

“quick rise may herald a new era at the network, one with a curvy, sassy black girl as its poster child.” Like Duff, Raven also began appearing in other Disney projects. She was cast in the lead in The Cheetah Girls, a cable movie that aired in the summer of 2003. It won the highest rating for a cable show that week, with more than six million viewers tuning in. The Cheetah Girls was based on a series of young adult novels, and Raven starred as Galleria Garibaldi, an ambitious New York City high school student who leads a singing group of three friends. In the movie the girls head for stardom in the midst of drama, excitement, and a lot of animal-print fashion. Laura Fries, writing in Daily Variety, gave the show a mixed review: “Ironically, ‘Cheetah Girls’ supposedly denounces manufactured pop music and marketing over artistry, yet it plays like a twohour fashion commercial and culminates in a ridiculous lip-synching extravaganza.” Yet Fries also noted that the cable movie “does have a few things going for it, namely Raven, an appealing and versatile young actress who has charm and skill.” The Cheetah Girls seemed good preparation for Raven to appear as the lead in upcoming Hollywood movies. She was cast in Sparkle, a remake of a 1976 musical film about three sisters who form a girl group. The original starred a young Irene Cara (1959–), who later appeared in the hit movie Fame. Raven would take the Cara role as the youngest Sparkle sister. It was a part once planned for Aaliyah (1979–2001), before her untimely death in a plane crash. Raven was also slated to star in All-American Girl, a 2004 movie based on a book by Meg Cabot (1967–), the author of The Princess Diaries. In it, she is cast as a teenager who inadvertently saves the U.S. president’s life. There is also a third pop album in the works.

“I’m not your normal girl” Raven has always remembered the advice that veteran actor Bill Cosby gave her: “‘Stay professional and always stay sweet,’” she recalled to an interviewer for Jet. She had a difficult time in one scene during her first season of That’s So Raven, she told the New York Times. The script called for her to let a boa constrictor snake be wrapped around her neck. She was so frightened of the reptile that she began crying, and “the sick faces I’m making are for real,” she confessed to MacNeille. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

619

raven

Raven eventually moved out of her parents’ home to share a place with another tween star, Lindsay Lohan (1986–). They live in Los Angeles, where Raven’s Disney series is taped. A food lover, she has said that she would like to attend culinary school some day, if her schedule permits. She admits that her figure is curvier than normal for actresses on television and in films. “I’m not your normal girl that you see on television,” she told Palm Beach Post writer Kevin D. Thompson. “I’m not 95 pounds.… But when you look at the movies and you look at all the girls who are hot now, I wonder if I could’ve been in those movies if I was skinny.” She also discussed her figure in an interview with WWD’s Julee Greenberg. Raven said she has considered offers to launch her own makeup or apparel line, but “if I was to do my own clothing line, I would do it for girls who are built like me,” she told Greenberg. “When I shop for myself it’s very hard to find clothes. I’m curvy and there should be more clothes out there for curvy girls.”

For More Information Periodicals Fleming, Michael. “Raven Flocks to Pic: Young Thesp to ‘Sparkle’ in Thrush Tale Redo.” Daily Variety (August 18, 2003): p. 5. Fonseca, Nicholas. “The New Tween Queen: Former Cosby Show-Stealer and Current Disney Channel Icon Raven is So Not Lizzie McGuire.” Entertainment Weekly (October 17, 2003): p. 42. Fries, Laura. “The Cheetah Girls. (Movie Review.)” Daily Variety (August 15, 2003): p. 8. Greenberg, Julee. “Quotes From Raven; With ‘The Cosby Show’ Behind Her Raven Prepares to Be a Cheetah Girl.” WWD (August 7, 2003): p. 12. Lipton, Michael A. “Cos and Effect: All Grown Up, the Cosby Show Kids Recall the Landmark Show That Celebrated a New Kind of TV Family.” People (May 20, 2002): p. 140. Lyons, Douglas C. “Show Biz Kids: Pre-Teen Stars Find That Success in the Spotlight Is Not All Fun and Child’s Play.” Ebony (May 1990): p. 106. MacNeille, Suzanne. “Visions of Peril Dance in Her Head (But It’s a Secret).” New York Times (January 12, 2003): p. 59. Moses, Michael. “Raven.” Teen People (February 1, 2004): p. 93. “Raven Cute ’Cosby’ Kid Turns Sassy TV Starlet at 17.” Jet (September 8, 2003): p. 60. “Raven-Symone Releases Her Debut Pop Album.” Jet (July 5, 1993): p. 61. Thompson, Kevin D. “Raven Wonders If ‘Thicky-Thick’ a Liability.” Palm Beach Post (July 13, 2003): p. 5J.

620


•

volume 3

raven Wright, Heather Keets. “Raven Wins Raves: This Former Cosby Show Cutie Is Now a Disney Diva with Her Own Sitcom!” Essence (October 2003): p. 148. Zoglin, Richard. “The Cosby Show.” Time (May 4, 1992): p. 76.


•

volume 3

621

Condoleezza Rice

November 14, 1954 • Birmingham, Alabama


•

volume 3

© Brooks Kraft/Corbis.

National security adviser

Condoleezza Rice became one of the most influential women in the world of global politics when President George W. Bush (1946–) named her as his national security adviser in December of 2000. Her role became extremely important after the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York City and the Pentagon in Washington. Rice has played a crucial part in shaping the most aggressive U.S. foreign policy in modern history, with wars launched against Afghanistan and Iraq during her time in office.

Became kindergarten piano prodigy Rice grew up during a deeply segregated era of American history. She was born in 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama, to parents who were both educators. Her father, John Wesley Rice Jr., was a football coach and high school guidance counselor at one of Birmingham’s black public schools. He was also an ordained Presbyterian minister in Birming-

623

condoleezza rice

ham’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, which had been founded by his own father, also a minister. Rice’s mother, Angelena, was a teacher and church organist. Angelena loved opera, and so named her only child after an Italian-language term, con dolcezza. It is used in musical notation and means “to play with sweetness.” Birmingham was clearly divided into black and white spheres during Rice’s childhood, and the two worlds rarely met. But her parents were determined that their only child would grow up to be an accomplished and well-rounded young woman. Rice began piano lessons at the age of three, and gave her first recital a year later. She became somewhat of a musical prodigy in the Birmingham area,

“I find football so interesting strategically. It’s the closest thing to war. What you’re really doing is taking and yielding territory, and you have certain strategies and tactics.” performing often at school and community events. In addition to long hours spent practicing the piano, she also took French and Spanish lessons after school, and later became a competitive figure skater. “My whole community was determined not to let their children’s horizons be limited by growing up in segregated Birmingham,” Rice recalled in an interview with television personality Oprah Winfrey (1954–) for O, The Oprah Magazine. “Sometimes I think they overcompensated because they wanted their kids to be so much better.” Not surprisingly, Rice earned good grades in school, even at an early age. Attending segregated schools in Birmingham, she skipped the first grade entirely and was later promoted from the sixth directly into the eighth grade. Her city became a battleground during the emerging civil rights movement in the late 1950s, and the strife directly touched Rice’s early life. In 1963 the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, situated in the middle of Birmingham’s black community, was

624


•

volume 3

condoleezza rice

“The Most Powerful Woman in the World”

U.S.

national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has sometimes been described as the most influential woman in global politics. A university professor and expert on Russian history, Rice is known for her cool, calm manner. When Bush appointed her to the job in 2000, some wondered if she was qualified for it. But Janne Nolan, a friend of Rice’s from her early days as a Stanford University professor, told New Yorker writer Nicholas Lemann that Rice had a solid track record for proving herself. “I’ve watched it over and over again—the sequential underestimation of Condi,” Nolan told Lemann. “It just gets worse and worse. She’s always thought of as underqualified and in over her head, and she always kicks everyone’s butt.” A job such as Rice’s requires nerves of steel, and the French- and Russian-fluent academic, whose friends and family call her “Condi,” fits the bill. She explained in an interview with Essence writer Isabel Wilkerson, “My parents went to great lengths to make sure I was confident. My mother was also a great

believer in being proper.” As an African American and a professional, Rice has experienced the occasional racial snub. She recalled one occasion when she asked to see some of the nicer jewelry in a store, and the saleswoman mumbled a rude remark under her breath. As Rice recalled to Wilkerson, she told the woman, “‘Let’s get one thing clear. If you could afford anything in here, you wouldn’t be behind this counter. So I strongly suggest you do your job.’” The confidence that Rice’s parents instilled in her comes out in other ways, too. She favors suits by Italian designer Giorgio Armani, but the trim, fit national security adviser prefers her skirts to hit just above the knee. Her favorite lipstick comes from the Yves Saint Laurent cosmetics counter. When asked about her offduty hours, Rice told Wilkerson that she watches sports and goes shopping. Wilkerson wondered about the Secret Service security detail that accompanies Rice in public, but Rice responded with a humor rarely on display in public, “They can handle shopping.”

the site of a tragic firebombing that killed four little girls who were attending Sunday school. Rice knew two of them.

Finished high school at fifteen Rice’s family moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, around 1965, when she was eleven years old. Her father had taken a job there as a college administrator. They later settled in Denver, Colorado, where she attended an integrated public school for the first time in her life, beginning with the tenth grade. She finished her last year of high school and her first year at the University of Denver at the same time. For years Rice dreamed of becoming a concert pianist. At the University of Denver she was originally a music major, but eventually gave up on her dream after spending a summer at music camp. “TechniU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

625

condoleezza rice

cally, I can play most anything,” she explained to Winfrey about her decision to change majors. “But I’ll never play it the way the truly great pianists do.” She fell in love with political science and Russian history after she took a class taught by Josef Korbel (1909–1977), a refugee from Czechoslovakia. In the 1990s Korbel’s daughter, Madeleine Albright (1937–), became the first female U.S. Secretary of State. Rice began taking Russian-language and history courses, and became fascinated by Cold War politics. The term refers to the hostilities between the United States and the world’s first Communist state, Soviet Russia, in the years following World War II (1939–45). Each “superpower” tried to win allies to its brand of politics, and in the process each side built up a large arsenal of nuclear weapons. After she graduated from the University of Denver in 1974, Rice enrolled at Notre Dame University in Indiana, where she earned a master’s degree in government and international studies.

Drifted for a time Years later Rice admitted, in the interview with Winfrey, “I am still someone with no long-term plan.” To begin her post-college career, she lined up a job as an executive assistant—in other words, a secretary—to a vice president at Honeywell, a large electronics corporation. But a company reorganization ended that career possibility. For a time she gave piano lessons. Then her former professor, Josef Korbel, suggested that she return to school, and she began work on a Ph.D. degree at the University of Denver. Rice was a promising new talent in her field even before she earned a doctorate in 1981. Her dissertation investigated the relationship between the Czechoslovak Communist Party and its army. Soon she was offered a fellowship at Stanford University. No other woman had ever been offered a fellowship to its Center for International Security and Arms Control. She eagerly accepted, and the following year she was hired by Stanford to teach political science. Rice became a tenured professor at Stanford in 1987. She was also a rising star in U.S. foreign policy circles. She served as the informal campaign adviser to a Colorado Democrat, Gary Hart (1936–), during his 1984 bid for the White House. She came to know a foreign policy expert, Brent Scowcroft (1925–), and was offered her

626


•

volume 3

condoleezza rice

first official job in government. Scowcroft had been named national security adviser by George H. W. Bush (1924–), who was elected president in 1988. Scowcroft then hired Rice as a staff member on the National Security Council.

Served in first Bush White House The National Security Council helps analyze data and plan American foreign policy. It looks at potential global threats from hostile nations, and works to make strategic alliances with friendly ones. Rice eventually became a special assistant to the first President Bush, serving as his expert on Soviet and East European affairs. It was an important time in American foreign policy. The political system of the Soviet Union was crumbling, and by 1991 the Communist governments allied with Soviet Russia had been peacefully ousted throughout the Eastern Bloc (as the communist nations in Eastern Europe were known). But Rice tired of the toll the White House job took on her personal life, and she resigned in 1991. She went back to teaching at Stanford, and in 1993 became the university’s first-ever female provost, which essentially made her second-in-command at the school. She was also the first African American to be selected for the position. “That was the toughest job I ever had,” she told Nicholas Lemann in a New Yorker profile. She was charged with eliminating a large budget deficit, and the university had also been accused of misusing government grant money intended for military research. There was internal turmoil as well, and some faculty members complained about Rice’s no-nonsense manner. “I told people, ‘I don’t do committees,’” she explained to Lemann. Rice remained on friendly terms with the Bush family and came to know one of the sons, George W., during visits to the Bush summer home in Kennebunkport, Maine. In 1999 George W. Bush decided to try and win the Republican Party’s nomination as its presidential candidate for 2000. He hired Rice to lead his team of foreign policy advisers, and she quit the Stanford job. She began working closely with Bush, who was governor of Texas at the time and had very little other political experience, especially in foreign relations. Bush won his party’s nomination and later was declared the winner of a hotly contested November election. The president-elect U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

627

condoleezza rice

immediately named Rice as his national security adviser. Though she was not the first African American ever to hold the post—Bush’s new Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell (1937–), had held the job for a year in the late 1980s—she was the first woman ever to serve in the position. The national security adviser helps shape American foreign policy, both on the public front and behind the scenes, in strategy sessions with the president and his team.

Plotted strategy from underground bunker Rice’s duties also included coming up with ideas to combat threats to American interests at home and overseas. This became an important part of her job on the morning of September 11, 2001. She was in a meeting at the White House when an aide notified her that a plane had struck the World Trade Center. She quickly ended the meeting and notified the President, who was in Florida. After a second plane crashed into the other tower of the New York landmark, she and other key personnel gathered in what is known as the White House “Situation Room.” When a third plane crashed into the Pentagon Building, which is the command center for the U.S. Armed Forces, Rice and the others retreated to an underground bunker. The attack was the deadliest ever to occur on American soil. Rice worked long days in the months afterward to shape U.S. foreign policy. The first order of business involved Afghanistan, which was suspected of harboring the shadowy Islamic fundamentalist group known as Al Qaeda. It was founded by a Saudi exile, Osama bin Laden (1957–), who quickly took responsibility for the 9/11 attacks. Less than a month later, U.S. forces invaded Afghanistan. Rice also worked to create a new policy for dealing with longtime Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (1937–). The Bush White House believed that Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that could be used against the United States. In March of 2003 the United States invaded Iraq. The fourth year of the Bush Administration was a difficult one for Rice and other top White House and Pentagon personnel. Though Hussein had been captured and the war in Iraq was officially declared over, U.S. troops stationed in Iraq had become the target of repeated attacks by insurgents. And American military operatives had yet to capture bin Laden. In April of 2004 Rice was called to testify before a

628


•

volume 3

condoleezza rice

special panel that had been set up to investigate the 9/11 attacks, namely whether or not the attacks could have been prevented and how the emergency response to such an attack could be improved. There were charges that U.S. intelligence officials may have come across suspicious information but failed to put the pieces together. Rice sat before the official 9/11 Commission, in front of a barrage of television cameras, and held her ground. “There was nothing demonstrating or showing that something was coming in the United States,” she asserted, according to the New York Times. “If there had been something, we would have acted on it.”

Condoleezza Rice testifies before the 9/11 Commssion, April 8, 2004. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Dreams of top NFL job Rice lives in a luxury apartment complex in Washington known as Watergate. Her mother died in 1985, and her father died the same month that Bush named her to the national security adviser post. She attends church regularly, and is known to be close to the President and U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

629

condoleezza rice

his wife, Laura (1946–). At the Maryland presidential retreat known as Camp David, she has been known to watch hours of televised sports with President Bush. Both are dedicated football fans, and Rice has also been known to spend an entire day on her own watching college and pro football games. Rice’s name has been mentioned as a possible future vice-presidential candidate. Although she has joked that she would love to serve as commissioner of the National Football League, she has also said that she looks forward to returning to teaching once her service to the Bush White House comes to an end. “I miss my kids,” she said in the interview with Winfrey. “In a class of 20, there are always two or three for whom the lights go on. When that happens, I think I’ve done for them what Dr. Korbel did for me.”

For More Information Periodicals Bumiller, Elisabeth. “A Partner in Shaping an Assertive Foreign Policy.” New York Times (January 7, 2004): p. A1. “Condi Rice Can’t Lose: George W. Bush’s Foreign-Policy Adviser Is a Future Superstar. But Can She Save Bush from Himself?” Time (September 27, 1999): p. 51. Lemann, Nicholas. “Without a Doubt. (National-Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice).” New Yorker (October 14, 2002). Lewis, Neil A. “Bush Adviser Backs Use of Race in College Admissions.” New York Times (Jan 18, 2003): p. A14. Oppel, Richard A. Jr. “Bush Adviser Gets National Security Post.” New York Times (December 18, 2000): p. A1. Sciolino, Elaine. “Compulsion To Achieve—Condoleezza Rice.” New York Times (December 18, 2000): p. A1. “Sticking to Their Scripts.” New York Times (April 9, 2004): p. A1. Wilkerson, Isabel. “The Most Powerful Woman in the World: As National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice Has the Ear of the President. So Who Exactly Is This Daughter of 1960’s Birmingham, and What Does She Bring to the Table?” Essence (February 2002): p. 114. Winfrey, Oprah. “Oprah Talks to Condoleezza Rice: Our Calm, Cool, Collected National Security Adviser on Downtime (Piano, Football, Shopping) and Uptime (Faith, Unity, Power)—And Why the Terrorists Have Already Lost. (The O Interview).” O, The Oprah Magazine (February 2002): p. 118.

630


•

volume 3

Andy Roddick

August 30, 1982 • Omaha, Nebraska



•

volume 3

Tennis player

Tennis player Andy Roddick had just turned twenty-one when he won the men’s U.S. Open tennis title in September of 2003. The Florida athlete’s rugged good looks and down-to-earth personality have helped make him one of the sport’s newest celebrities, but it is his athleticism and powerful serve that have propelled him to the highest world rankings in men’s tennis. Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim asserted that Roddick has a new style, far from “the unimaginative, topspin-heavy baseline tennis that, lamentably, has characterized the U.S. juniors over the past 15 years.… Roddick plays Smash Mouth tennis. Armed with a bludgeon for a forehand and with a serve that regularly eclipses 125 [miles per hour], he just, as he puts it, ‘whales away out there.’”

Followed older brother into game Roddick was born on August 30, 1982, in Omaha, Nebraska, and was the youngest of three boys. His father, Jerry, owned several Jiffy Lube

631

andy roddick

automobile maintenance franchises. The family eventually settled in the Austin, Texas, area, where a very young Roddick took tennis lessons in a group that included two future professional athletes: Chris Mihm (1979–), later of the Boston Celtics, and Drew Brees (1979–), who became a quarterback for the San Diego Chargers. Both, Roddick has joked, were much better players than he was at the time. Roddick was not the first tennis prodigy in his family. One of his older brothers, John, played on the junior circuit and made it into the top ten in the rankings during his teens. The family even relocated from Austin, Texas, to Florida so that John could train year-round. John was about six years older than Andy, and went on to run a tennis

“For whatever reason, I play well when it matters most. Toughness has never been a weakness of mine.” academy in San Antonio, Texas, after retiring from competition because of a back injury. Roddick came from a well-to-do family that could easily afford the expensive lessons and equipment necessary for early training in tennis. He picked up a racket to follow in his brother’s footsteps, and was intensely focused from an early age. He begged his mother to let him have a rebound net in the garage. “It had springs. You’d hit the ball and it came back to you,” he explained to Neil Harman, a journalist for the London Times. “I’d spend hours on it and Mum would ask: ‘What did you do today?’ I’d say: ‘I beat Lendl, Becker, Edberg,’” citing the names of three greats from the men’s tennis circuit during the 1980s—Czech player Ivan Lendl (1960–), Boris Becker (1967–) of Germany, and Stefan Edberg (1966–) of Sweden. For his ninth birthday in 1991, Roddick’s parents took him on a trip to Flushing, New York, where they watched the U.S. Open from the stands. “He would wear tennis clothes every day he came here,” his mother, Blanche Roddick, recalled to Wertheim. “He got into the

632


•

volume 3

andy roddick

The Next Sampras

Sportswriters often compare Andy Roddick to Pete Sampras, the American champion who also began beating some of the world’s top-ranked players at a very young age. Roddick has often said that Sampras was one of his idols when he was growing up, and his rise has been almost as quick as Sampras’s, who won his first U.S. Open tournament at the age of nineteen in 1990. Sampras went on to win a record total of fourteen Grand Slam singles titles over the course of his career. Watching a young Roddick play, many sportswriters have compared him to Sampras. Both had similar physiques, forceful serves, and a strong forehand that unnerved opponents. Roddick had actually beat-

en Sampras the first time they ever went up against one another on the court, in March of 2001 at the Ericsson/Lipton ATP tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida. When Roddick won his first U.S. Open title, in 2003, sportswriters called the event the passing of the torch: Sampras had announced his retirement from professional tennis at the age of 32. He was honored for his achievements at a ceremony that took place on the first day of the Open. Thirteen days later, Roddick won the men’s title that Sampras had taken four times before him. “Andy is the future,” Sampras told W writer Robert Haskell a few months before he retired. “His serve is devastating, and he’s got all those intangibles required to be a great player.”

players’ lounge with no credentials.” At the age of fourteen, Roddick attended a tennis camp in Tampa, Florida, but did not like the intensely competitive atmosphere. Nor did he attend one of the well-known Florida tennis academies that train champions during their teen years. Instead he went to a private school near the Roddicks’ Boca Raton home, and played on its basketball team.

Turned pro in 2000 Roddick’s talent as a tennis player began to gain attention in late 1999, not long after his seventeenth birthday. He won two juniors titles in Florida, the Orange Bowl and the Eddie Herr International. In January of 2000, he traveled thousands of miles to play in the Australian Open. He was still in the juniors rankings, and surprised many when he became the first American male player since 1959 to win the junior men’s title. Though many colleges tried to recruit Roddick for their tennis programs, he decided to turn professional instead. This also allowed him to sign endorsement contracts with sportswear makers, tennis U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

633

andy roddick

racket manufacturers, and other companies. In just the second match that Roddick ever played as a pro, he made a surprisingly good showing against one of his heroes, Andre Agassi (1970–), at the Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. Agassi beat Roddick, but many sportswriters hailed the teen as the next big star of American tennis. During the 2001 season Roddick struggled to fulfill that promise. There were several highlights, including the moment when he eliminated another one of his heroes, Michael Chang (1972–), early in the French Open in May. It was a long game that lasted nearly four hours, and halfway through it Roddick began suffering from leg cramps. He seemed to play more fiercely then, commentators noticed. He admitted at the post-match press conference that he had been determined to come out on top. “You don’t play three and a half hours to lay down and die when it gets tough,” he was quoted as saying by New York Times reporter Selena Roberts. “I was telling myself, ‘Give it your all until the last ball is over.’” Roddick failed to advance much further during the 2001 French Open. He was eliminated at Wimbledon and in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open later that year. Both Opens, along with Wimbledon and the Australian Open, are known as tennis’s “Grand Slam” titles. They are the toughest and most prestigious tournaments, watched by millions around the world, and also come with generous cash prizes for a firstplace win. In 2002 Roddick once again failed to win any of the Grand Slam titles.

Changed coaches In May of 2003, after a disappointing performance in the first round of the French Open, Roddick replaced his longtime French coach, Tarik Benhabiles, with a new pro. Benhabiles had been a strict coach with the teenage Roddick when he needed firm discipline, but Roddick was now twenty years old. He was dating actress-singer Mandy Moore (1984–) at the time, and it was rumored that Benhabiles was trying to limit Roddick’s social life in order to keep him focused on his game. But the tactful Roddick claimed that he switched coaches only because he needed more help learning to play on grass courts like Wimbledon. “Our friendship was getting scarred,” the athlete told Sports Illustrated, “because we weren’t getting along tenniswise.”

634


•

volume 3

andy roddick

Andy Roddick, during a semifinal match at the 2004 Siebel Open.

Roddick began working with Brad Gilbert, Agassi’s former coach, in June of 2003, and began a winning streak almost immediately. Later that month he made it to the semi-finals on Wimbledon’s grass, but was ousted by Roger Federer (1981–) of Switzerland. The next big match-up was in August at the U.S. Open, held in New York at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Though the tournament was repeatedly delayed by rain-outs, Roddick steadily beat his opponents and then eliminated Juan Carlos Ferrero (1980–) of Spain. At the time, Ferrero was the number one-ranked men’s player.


In November of 2003 Roddick played admirably in the Masters Series Cup, and finished the 2003 season as the world’s top-ranked men’s player. He hosted the NBC series Saturday Night Live that same month. In May of 2004, he traveled to Rome, Italy, to play in another Masters Series tournament, where he was awakened by the smell of smoke at his hotel at five A.M. Roddick alerted other guests at the Grand Hotel Parco dei Principi, and took them onto his sixth-floor balcony to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 3

635

andy roddick

await rescue. He also helped others down from the balcony above his. He was the last one to be rescued by firefighters, and was praised for his heroics during the early morning blaze that killed three guests.

“The biggest dork” Later that month, Roddick was dampened by a loss to Olivier Mutis of France at the French Open. At Wimbledon, he broke his own speed record for a serve-153 miles per hour-and made it to the Wimbledon finals for the first time. On July 4, he lost to Federer over four sets. “Roger just played too good today,” the New York Times’s Christopher Clarey quoted him as saying. “I threw the kitchen sink at him, but he went to the bathroom and got his tub.” Roddick was anticipating defending his U.S. Open title come August of 2004. He realizes that one injury could end his career, which happened with his brother, but his goal is to win a year’s worth of Grand Slam titles and help America capture a Davis Cup win. He remains close to his parents, and has used some of the prize money from his winnings to buy a house near both of his older brothers in Austin, Texas. He has legions of fans, and has been the subject of numerous magazine features and photo spreads, but claims to be anything but cool. “You can ask anyone who knows me,” he told Roberts. “I’m still the biggest dork that ever lived.”

For More Information Periodicals Adkins, Greg. “Splitting: Mandy Moore & Andy Roddick.” People (March 29, 2004): p. 26. Battista, Judy. “One Shot Is What Roddick Needed.” New York Times (April 2, 2004): p. D6. Bierley, Stephen. “Wimbledon 2003: The 117th Championships: Roddick Brings New Power to His Elbow and His Aces: The Young American Has Acquired the Look of a Champion.” Guardian (London, England) (June 23, 2003): p. 1. Bricker, Charles. “Boca Raton’s Roddick Is the Teenager of the Hour.” Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service (June 3, 2000): p. K5516. Clarey, Christopher. “Federer’s 2nd Title Just as Sweet.” New York Times (July 5, 2004): p. D1. Clarey, Christopher. “Henin-Hardenne and Roddick Ousted.” New York Times (May 27, 2004): p. D1.

636


•

volume 3

andy roddick Dicker, Ron. “Rah-Rah Roddick Happy to Be Part of New Generation in the Davis Cup.” New York Times (February 9, 2004): p. D7. Harman, Neil. “Roddick Takes His Place Among the Great Names.” Times (London, England) (September 9, 2003): p. 35. Haskell, Robert. “Hot Roddick: With a Potent Game, Heartthrob Looks and a Personality That Fills Stadiums, Andy Roddick May Be the Savior of Men’s Tennis.” W (April 2003): p. 270. John, Elton. “Andy Roddick: The Two Stadium-Packin’ Headliners—One a Legendary Tunesmith, the Other, Tennis’s Next Legend in the Making—Talk Work and Play. (Elton John interviews tennis player).” Interview (July 2003): p. 56. Roberts, Selena. “After Opponent’s Rant, Roddick Shows Class.” New York Times (August 31, 2003): p. SP4. Roberts, Selena. “No. 1 Is a Role Roddick Is Playing for Keeps.” New York Times (November 14, 2003): p. D3. Roberts, Selena. “Roddick Conquers Cramps, and Childhood Hero.” New York Times (May 31, 2001): p. D5. “Roddick’s Fire Rescue.” People (May 17, 2004): p. 18. Vecsey, George. “A Brash Young American Comes of Age, and Cries.” New York Times (September 8, 2003): p. D11. Wertheim, L. Jon. “Andy Roddick Is Just Like You: Well, Except for Being the U.S. Open Champion and Being Ranked No. 1 in the World and Dating Mandy Moore. Other Than That, He’s Everyman.” Sports Illustrated (November 10, 2003): p. 72. Wertheim, L. Jon. “Long Live The King: Andy Roddick, the Crown Prince of the American Game, Finally Assumed the Throne with a Commanding Victory in the U.S. Open Final.” Sports Illustrated (Sept 15, 2003): p. 56. Wertheim, L. Jon. “Rare Specimen Found in Florida: Andy Roddick Is the First American Boy to Win the Australian Junior since 1959.” Sports Illustrated (Feb 21, 2000): p. R6 .

Web Sites Andy Roddick Official Web site. http://www.andyroddick.com/ (accessed on June 9, 2004).


•

volume 3

637



volume

4 four

Rodr–Z










contents

volume

1

one



•

volume 4


v

contents volume

2

two


vi


•

volume 4

contents volume

3

three



•

volume 4

vii

contents volume

4

four


viii


•

volume 4



•

by •

volume 4

•

field of endeavor



ix

field of endeavor


x


•

volume 4

field of endeavor




•

volume 4

xi

field of endeavor




xii


•

volume 4

field of endeavor




•

volume 4

xiii

reader’s guide




•

volume 4

U



xv

reader’s guide



xvi


•

volume 4


Alex Rodríguez

July 27, 1975 • New York, New York



•

volume 4

Baseball player

Baseball fans say that Alex Rodríguez may just break a number of career records in the game. Before he joined the New York Yankees in 2004 he had already achieved the famous “40-40” number: forty home runs and forty stolen bases in one season. He was the first infielder in the history of the game to achieve it. But “A-Rod,” as fans call him, also broke another significant record off the baseball diamond. In 2000 the Texas Rangers signed him to a record $252 million, ten-year contract. It made him the highest paid athlete in American sports history.

Father left the family The future baseball great was born Alexander Emmanuel Rodríguez in New York City in 1975, and had two older siblings. His father, Victor, had been a baseball player back in the Dominican Republic, but was running a shoe store in Manhattan by the time the third Rodríguez child

639

alex rodríguez

was born. In 1979, when Rodríguez was four years old, Victor retired and took his family to the Dominican Republic. The family lived there for three years, and moved back to the United States when Rodríguez was seven. They settled in Miami, Florida, but Victor, who had taught his son the basics of baseball, left the family a few years later. With the family finances tight, Rodríguez’s mother, Lourdes, had to work two jobs. By day she was a secretary at the local immigration office. At night she waited tables in a restaurant. “When Mom got home, I’d always count her tip money to see how good she did,” Rodríguez recalled in an interview with People writer Alex Tresniowski. “She taught me the meaning of hard work and commitment.”

“I don’t get caught up in the hype. I’d play even if I had to pay someone to let me play.” Lourdes also encouraged her son’s love of baseball. He played for the local Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami teams, where a coach, Eddie Rodríguez (no relation to the family), pushed him to excel and came to serve as a father-figure. At Miami’s Westminster Christian High School, Rodríguez emerged as an outstanding athlete in both football and baseball. Scouts for Major League Baseball (MLB) teams came to see him play, and he became the top pick in the June draft of 1993.

Made it through tough rookie year Rodríguez was signed by the Seattle Mariners, but he and his mother had also hired a hard-nosed agent, Scott Boras, to hammer out the details of his contract. The negotiations lasted all summer. He was all set to put his backup plan in motion and enter the University of Miami, but just hours before his first class was about to start, the Mariners agreed to a $1.3 million, three-year contract. During his first season Rodríguez played for all the teams in the Seattle organization. He first played in Appleton, Wisconsin, and then

640


•

volume 4

alex rodríguez

A-Rod’s Dad

Alex Rodríguez was nine years old when his father, Victor, left the family. The former Dominican Republic ball player and shoe store owner reportedly wanted to move back to New York City, while Rodríguez’s mother, Lourdes, wanted to stay in Miami. The boy was not told at first about the split, although his older brother and sister knew the truth. “I kept thinking my father would come back, but he never did,” Rodríguez recalled in an interview with Sports Illustrated writer Gerry Callahan. Rodríguez inherited his love of baseball from his father. But because his mother worked two jobs to support the family, it was hard for her to come to watch his youth league games. Rodríguez recalled the sadness he felt when he saw his teammates’ fathers cheer their sons. “After a while, I lied to myself,” Rodríguez admitted in a 1998 Seattle Times interview. “I tried to tell myself that it didn’t matter, that I didn’t care. But times I was alone, I often cried. Where was my father?” Rodríguez emerged as a talented high school player and was drafted by the Seattle Mariners. The news of the draft was chronicled in the newspapers,

and Rodríguez’s father finally contacted him that same week. “I didn’t even know where he was calling from,” Rodríguez told the Seattle Times. “I didn’t know what to think. It was nice, but it didn’t make much impression on me, not after all that time.” The next year, when Rodríguez had been sent down to the Dominican Republic to play in its winter baseball league, his father showed up one day at batting practice. “When this man told me who he was, I almost broke down,” Rodríguez told the Seattle Times. They talked and made plans to meet the next day, but Rodríguez cancelled their lunch appointment. But Victor Rodríguez also read the Seattle Times article, and was saddened. The superstar athlete also felt a little bit of remorse, and arranged to have a satellite television dish delivered to his estranged father’s house so that he could watch the Mariners’ games. They met the following winter, and had another reunion that took place on Father’s Day of 2000. “I wish I could tell you I had planned it that way,” Rodríguez told the Seattle Times afterward, about the symbolic holiday meeting. “But I only thought that it was time, that I was ready and that I wanted to see my dad.”

went on to a Class AA team in Jacksonville, Florida. Then the Mariners’ coach, Lou Piniella (1943–), decided to bring him in for his first Major League game. Rodríguez was just eighteen years old when he played in his first MLB game at Fenway Park in Boston on July 8, 1994. He was the youngest player in ten years to make his Major League debut. After a few more Mariners’ games, Rodríguez was sent to play winter baseball in the Dominican Republic for extra practice. He did poorly in that 1994-95 season, batting just .179, and went up against many young and talented players from around the world. “It was the toughest experience of my life,” he told Sports Illustrated’s Gerry U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

641

alex rodríguez

Callahan. “I just got my tail kicked and learned how hard this game can be. It was brutal, but I recommend it to every young player.” Rodríguez played again with the Mariners during the 1995 season. He was thrilled when they beat the New York Yankees for the American League East title, though he made few post-season appearances on the field. He finished the year with a batting average of .232. But in 1996 Rodríguez began to shine as the Mariners’ shortstop in his first full season in the majors. He also was the season base leader in the League that year, at 379, breaking a record that had held since 1955. In the Most Valuable Player (MVP) contest, one of the League’s most coveted awards, he lost out by just three votes to Juan González (1969–).

Dubbed “A-Rod” However, the sports journalists who cast their ballots for the MVP award also began to describe Rodríguez as one of the most promising new athletes in the game. Sports Illustrated magazine featured him on the cover in July of 1996, and in the accompanying article Gerry Callahan wrote that the six-foot, three-inch Rodríguez was “195 pounds of pure skill and grace, an immensely gifted shortstop who routinely leaves baseball people drooling over their clipboards. He can run, hit, hit for power and make all the plays in the field.” Sporting News named him Player of the Year after the regular season finished. Shortstop Ernie Banks (1931–), who had set the 379 bases record back in 1955, was enthusiastic about Rodríguez’s future. “Alex Rodriguez is going to do things I never came close to doing,” Banks told Sporting News writer Rob Rains. “I don’t want to put pressure on him, but he’s going to set a new standard for shortstops.” With such numbers, Rodríguez—now known among baseball fans by his nickname “A-Rod”—and his agent had little trouble negotiating a new contract with the Mariners, one that gave the player $10.6 million over the next four years. But Rodríguez hit a rough patch the next year, with just a .300 batting average and only 23 home runs for the season, although the Mariners finished the 1997 season once again in first place in the American League West. He had a better year in 1998: he became only the third player in MLB history to achieve the 40-40 number, with 42 home runs and 46 stolen bases. Only Jose Canseco (1964–) and Barry Bonds (1964–) had attained

642


•

volume 4

alex rodríguez

40-40 before him, and Rodríguez was also the first infielder in baseball history to hit that mark. Rodríguez’s second contract expired at the end of the 2000 season and he became a free agent, which left him free to sign his own deal with any other team. There was talk that he might join the New York Mets, but the negotiations stalled. He was on a December vacation in Las Vegas with some friends when Boras, his agent, phoned him to tell him the news that made headlines soon afterward: Boras had negotiated a contract for Rodríguez with the Texas Rangers that gave him $252 million over ten years. It was a baseball and professional sports record that amounted to about $170,270 a game for Rodríguez.

The Rangers’ new hope But Rodríguez was joining a troubled team that usually finished in last place in their league’s division, the American League West. The Arlington-based team was owned by a Dallas investor named Tom Hicks. In 1998 Hicks had paid $250 million for the Rangers. He bought the team from a group of investors that included Texas Governor George W. Bush (1946–). Rodríguez’s record salary deal was announced in December of 2000, just as Bush was about to leave the governor’s office for the White House. The newest Texas Ranger was the talk of Texas, and even the president-elect weighed in on the matter. “When you pay more for your shortstop than you paid for your team, that ought to be a warning sign that your labor costs are out of control,” Bush told Texas Monthly’s Paul Burka. Rodríguez was deemed the man to lead the team to victory in 2001. The Rangers, it was said, were buying not only Rodríguez’s impressive athletic talents, but also some of the A-Rod star power that would bring more fans to games at the Rangers’ ballpark in Arlington. Others criticized him for setting an entirely new record in baseball as the highest paid player in a sport that already signed astronomical paychecks. At the Rangers’ first game at Safeco Field, his former Seattle fans jeered him. Some even held up signs with nasty comments and a new nickname: “Pay-Rod.” The Rangers did poorly, despite Rodríguez’s impressive statistics. The team remained in fourth place in the American League West U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

643

alex rodríguez

Alex Rodriguez fields a ball during practice with the New York Yankees. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

standings, finishing 73-89 in 2001 and 72-90 in 2002. Meanwhile Rodríguez continued to set home run records. He reached number forty-eight in September of 2001, a new League record for home runs hit by shortstops. On April 30, 2002, he became the second youngest player in baseball history to hit 250 career home runs.

Back in hometown But Rodríguez’s talents could not save a struggling team, and attendance at the ballpark plummeted during 2003. With ticket sales down,

644


•

volume 4

alex rodríguez

Hicks was forced to trade Rodríguez, whom he could no longer afford to keep. There was talk that Rodríguez might sign with the Boston Red Sox, but instead the Rangers traded him to the legendary New York Yankees in February of 2004. Since his friend, Derek Jeter (1974–), was already the shortstop for the New York team, Rodríguez was hired to play third base at the famous Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. New York’s large Dominican-American community was overjoyed by the news. Rodríguez had spent the first four years of his life in Washington Heights, the section of Manhattan where a large number of Dominican Americans live, and had cousins who still lived in the area. He was also happy to be playing for a powerhouse team. The Yankees’ owner was a fierce, vastly wealthy business mogul named George Steinbrenner (1930–), and the team was known as the richest in baseball. Steinbrenner regularly sought to sign the top players in the game, and it showed. Since 1996 the Yankees had made it to six World Series playoffs and won four of those contests. Rodríguez is married to Cynthia, a school teacher, and has said that he still hopes to earn his college degree and perhaps even a graduate business degree some day. One of his dreams is to own a small Italian restaurant. Fast Company writer Alan Schwarz asked Rodríguez, the son of immigrants from one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, if he thinks he is “living the American dream.” The highest paid athlete in professional sports said no, not yet. “To me,” he replied, “the American dream is all about having a family, raising kids, spending time with them at the end of the day, and sending them to college.”

For More Information Periodicals Burka, Paul. “Spare the A-Rod.” Texas Monthly (February 2001): p. 7. Callahan, Gerry. “The Fairest of Them All.” Sports Illustrated (July 8, 1996): p. 38. “For Alex, Move to New York Has Taste of Home.” New York Daily News (February 16, 2004). This article can also be found online at http:// www.nydailynews.com. Knisley, Michael. “All A-Rod All the Time.” Sporting News (June 28, 1999): p. 12.


•

volume 4

645

alex rodríguez “Missing Dad in the 13 Years Since His Father Left, Alex Rodriguez Has Found Fortune and Fame in Seattle, But Has Been Unable to Reconcile with the Man Who Vanished. (Sports.)” Seattle Times (March 22, 1998): p. D1. Rains, Rob. “A New Standard. (Player of the Year Winner Alex Rodriguez.)” Sporting News (October 14, 1996): p. 19. Ribowsky, Mark. “The Ancient Mariner?” Sport (July 2000): p. 32. “Rodriguez, Estranged Father Take Steps to Restore Bond.” Seattle Times (June 23, 2000): p. D8. Schwarz, Alan. “60 Seconds with Alex Rodriguez.” Fast Company (September 2003): p. 44. Stein, Joel. “Lord of the Swings: It’s Hard Not to Like A-Rod, Baseball’s Best, Best-Paid and Most Diplomatic Player. Except That He’s a Yankee.” Time (April 5, 2004): p. 68. Tresniowski, Alex. “Golden Guy: The Big Bucks Stop Here, in the Sure Hands of Texas Shortstop Alex Rodriguez.” People (April 16, 2001): p. 83. Verducci, Tom. “Stumbling Start: Already Paying Dividends for the Rangers off the Field, Alex Rodriguez Tripped All over Himself During His Debut with Texas.” Sports Illustrated (April 9, 2001): p. 56. Verducci, Tom. “The Lone Ranger: Everyone Knows Alex Rodriguez Is Baseball’s Highest-Paid Player, but Unless You’re a Die-Hard Fan of Last-Place Texas, You Might Not Realize He’s the Best Player in the Game.” Sports Illustrated (September 9, 2002): p. 34.

Web Sites “Timeline: Alex Rodriguez.” SI.com: Sports Illustrated. http://sports illustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/features/Rodriguez/timeline/ (accessed on June 12, 2004).

646


•

volume 4

Burt Rutan

June 17, 1943 • Portland, Oregon



•

volume 4

Aerospace engineer

Burt Rutan designed the first privately financed spacecraft to carry an ordinary citizen into space. On a June morning in 2004, Rutan’s innovative SpaceShipOne rose from the Mojave Desert in California, flown by test pilot Mike Melvill (c. 1942–), climbed through the clouds, and entered space. It was an important date in the history of aviation, and Rutan hoped it would be the start of a new era of adventure travel—that of space tourism.

Built model airplanes Rutan and his brother, Richard (1938–), a former U.S. Air Force combat pilot, have been aviation pioneers for nearly all of their adult lives. Born Elbert L. Rutan on June 17, 1943, in Portland, Oregon, Rutan grew up in Dinuba, a town in California’s Central Valley area. The Rutans’ father, a dentist, had a pilot’s license and owned a small plane. Both Rutan and his brother were fascinated by air travel as young-

647

burt rutan

sters. Dick was five years older than Burt and sometimes refused to let him play with his collection of model aircraft. In response, Burt began building his own. The Rutan brothers entered model plane contests in the area, and Burt soon became known as a clever designer. One race involved mimicking the fighter planes that land on aircraft carriers. “Burt built a plane that looked like a contemporary Navy fighter,” Dick recalled in an interview for Smithsonian with Edwards Park. “Then he worked out how to do a power stall with it. The thing would almost hover over the deck, tail down, engine full on, until he dropped it at exactly the right spot and engaged the arresting gear. He always won.”

“I don’t care about taking the risk that something won’t succeed. That’s the big difference between me and the engineers who work in aerospace. Or the managers of the engineers who work in aerospace. They’re absolutely frightened of failure.” Before he obtained his own driver’s license, Rutan often had his mother take him out on the back roads near their home with one of his new model airplane designs. He instructed her to drive fast, so that he could test the aerodynamics of his latest model plane by holding the plane out the window. Aerodynamics is a scientific term that refers to the study of the effect of air and other gases on objects in motion. When he was in college at California State Polytechnic University, Rutan even built his own small wind tunnel, a device that scientists use to conduct tests in aerodynamics. He installed it atop his Dodge Dart station wagon to help him refine his designs. These experiments led him to build his first full-size plane, which he called the VariViggen.

648


•

volume 4

burt rutan

Breaking Earth’s Bounds September 9, 1908: U.S. Army Lieutenant Frank P. Lahm becomes the first passenger to travel in an airplane. Lahm rides along on a six-minute flight with airplane co-inventor Wilbur Wright at Fort Meyer, Virginia. March 16, 1926: American rocket pioneer Robert Goddard makes first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket, in Auburn, Massachusetts.

Kincheloe and his smaller Bell X-2 rocket plane peaked at 126,500 feet above Earth and landed safely. He died in another test flight two years later. March 30, 1961: American test pilot Joe Walker reaches an altitude of 169,600 feet in an X-15 rocket plane. April 12, 1961: Yuri Gagarin of the Soviet Union becomes the first human to orbit Earth.

October 14, 1947: American pilot Chuck Yeager is recorded as the first human to break the sound barrier of 660 miles per hour in a Bell SX-1 rocket plane.

April 12, 1981: The Columbia space shuttle becomes the first winged vehicle in orbit, and also makes the first runway landing of a spacecraft in history.

September 7, 1956: U.S. test pilot Iven C. Kincheloe becomes first person to reach space after being launched from a B-50 U.S. Air Force plane.

April 12, 2001: American Dennis Tito buys a seat on the Russian Soyuz craft and becomes the first tourist in space.

Founded own company In 1965 Rutan graduated third in his class at Cal State Polytechnic with an aeronautical engineering degree. He went to work as a civilian flight test project engineer at Edwards Air Force Base, the U.S. military facility near Mojave, California, which is the site of nearly all of the aviation records set in the latter half of the twentieth century. During his seven years there, Rutan helped fixed a troubling flaw in the F4 fighter jet. The U.S. military had spent a small fortune to build it, but the F-4 sometimes went into flat spins and crashed. Rutan came up with a way to give it better in-flight stability and devised a recovery system for the times it went into a spin. Rutan left Edwards in 1972 to become the director of flight testing for the Bede Aircraft Company in Newton, Kansas. He also continued to work on his own plane designs. But Rutan felt that his innovative ideas would never reach others if he tried to work with traditional airplane manufacturing companies. In June of 1974 he founded the Rutan Aircraft Factory (known as RAF) in Mojave. It produced and sold designs for the VariViggen and other light aircraft that could U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

649

burt rutan

be built at home by do-it-yourself enthusiasts. RAF quickly became a leader in aviation design, and Rutan a hero among the engineers and pilots who liked to build their own small planes. His VariEze aircraft, for example, was made out of lightweight composite material and had a small extra wing in the nose called a canard. If a plane experienced a problem in mid-flight, the canard lost lift first, not the main wing. This allowed the pilot to stabilize the plane. For many years Rutan tested his planes himself, or had his brother pilot them. They showed off the newest RAF models at annual Experimental Aircraft Association shows. But Rutan had some near-misses, and quit testing planes after a friend of his died in 1978. His brother, however, was eager to take on one of the final challenges left in aviation: a non-stop, around-the-world flight. Over dinner one evening in 1981, Rutan sketched on a napkin his idea for a new kind of plane. It would have space for enough fuel to make the 24,986-mile trip without stopping to fill the tank. Previously, the distance record was held by a U.S. B-52 bomber, which flew from Okinawa, Japan, to Madrid, Spain, in 1962, without refueling or stopping. U.S. Air Force planes had made similar trips in the 1940s and 1950s, but were refueled in mid-air.

Nine-day flight The plane that Rutan designed, the Voyager I, made its historic flight in December of 1986. It carried 7,011 pounds of fuel in tanks that looked similar to a pair of outriggers on a canoe. Its cabin, with room for Rutan’s brother and his co-pilot, Jeana Yeager (1952–), was the size of a small closet. They had to be in a reclining position to fly the plane, which was as loud as a lawn mower. The flight took nine days. During the entire time, Rutan kept in contact with his brother and Yeager from a command center at Edwards Air Force Base. He talked them through more than one bout of bad weather, including a typhoon over the Pacific Ocean. “Our own data said that the Voyager flight was probably not going to happen,” Rutan told Andy Meisler of the New York Times several years later. “We had seven major failures in the 340 hours the plane had flown, and we were planning a 225-hour single flight, almost all over oceans. As far as the pilots’ fatigue and their ability to stand up under even moderate levels of turbulence and so on, our data showed they would not even get to the Philippines.”

650


•

volume 4

burt rutan

But the Voyager I successfully completed its flight and touched down safely on December 23, 1986. Rutan donated it to the Smithsonian Institution, and then moved on to new challenges. In 1982 he founded another company, Scaled Composites Inc., which was an aerospace prototype development firm. It created prototype models for new aircraft, but Rutan also took on other interesting jobs that required solving aerodynamics challenges. He designed an eighty-five-foot rigid sail that was used on the winning yacht in the 1988 America’s Cup race. In 1992 he created an “Ultralite” show car for General Motors Corporation, which was made of lightweight plastics composites. In 1996 he rolled out the Boomerang, a unique asymmetrical twin-engine plane capable of speeds of three hundred miles per hour. He designed an adjustable-wing aircraft capable of high altitudes, called the Proteus, which made its first flight on July 26, 1999.

Became the first company in space Rutan spent the next several years working on a new pet project, which he called SpaceShipOne. It was funded by Paul Allen (1953–), a co-founder of Microsoft, and cost an estimated $20 million. SpaceShipOne was a passenger rocket that could be carried aloft by a larger plane, also built by Rutan and his company, called the White Knight. The passenger rocket and its test pilot could then be launched into space once it reached a certain altitude. Rutan and Allen were trying to win the Ansari X Prize with SpaceShipOne. The new aviation challenge had been announced in 1996, and had a deadline of January 1, 2005. A $10 million award would be given to the first privately funded group to fulfill the following requirements: that their craft hold three people, reach the 62.5mile-high sub-orbital flight, and repeat the launch again within a twoweek period. Sub-orbital space is where the laws of gravity that govern Earth’s physical properties end and weightlessness begins. Rutan’s longtime dream of conquering space with one of his planes came true on June 21, 2004. Mike Melvill, a pilot and employee of Rutan’s, climbed aboard SpaceShipOne, which was then launched by the White Knight. After a successful flight, the plane landed safely on an airstrip at the Mojave Airport. Melvill told reporters at a press U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

651

burt rutan

Aircraft designer Burt Rutan’s privately-funded spacecraft flies upside down over Mojave, California, April 18, 2003. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

conference immediately afterward that he had been able to see the curve of Earth, and that he also tossed some M&M candies he had carried aboard in his pocket. He was delighted to see them spin in front of him instead of dropping, since the laws of gravity no longer applied. This was the first successful test flight of a privately funded spacecraft, and made headlines around the world that day.

Imagined ultimate daredevil ride Rutan watched the successful SpaceShipOne voyage from the ground in Mojave. He hoped that a new niche in adventure travel would begin thanks to his company’s extraordinary feat. He imagined that space tourists might pay to visit “a kind of astronauts’ training school, if you will,” as he explained to Daily News writer Deborah Hastings. “In some place like Cancun. It would be like a regular two-week vacation with great food and things to do at night. It’s kind of like a ride at Magic Mountain.… It isn’t just a roller coaster ride. You are officially added to the list of astronauts.”

652


•

volume 4

burt rutan

Much of Rutan’s work takes place at hangars near his unique pyramid-shaped home in Mojave, California. After the notorious disasters that occurred on two U.S. space shuttle flights, he was even more firmly convinced that his company’s planes would serve the twenty-first century’s next generation of pioneers. “Entrepreneurs developed the airplane,” he reminded New York Times journalist Andrew Pollack, “not governments.”

For More Information Books Encyclopedia of World Biography Supplement. Vol. 20. Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2000.

Periodicals Bailey, John. “Rutan’s Racer Has Wraps Removed.” Flight International (April 10, 1991): p. 5. Bigelow, Bruce V. “Rocket Plane Source of Pride for Designer, Poway, Calif., Firm.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (December 18, 2003): p. ITEM03352173. Bigelow, Bruce V. “San Diego-Area Aircraft Designer Has a Qwest to Bring Space within Reach.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (April 29, 2003): p. ITEM03119032 . Bostwick, Charles F. “Rutan Unveils Privately Funded Spacecraft.” Daily News (Los Angeles) (April 19, 2003): p. N1. Carreau, Mark. “Privately-Financed Team Will Try to Send Man into Space.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (June 3, 2004): p. ITEM04155061. Costello, Carol and Miles O’Brien. “The Rutan Brothers.” America’s Intelligence Wire (from CNN News) (December 17, 2003). This article can also be found online at http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0312/17/lad.12.html. Hastings, Deborah. “Iconoclast of Aircraft Design Refuses to Work by the Book.” Daily News (Los Angeles, CA) (July 8, 1996): p. SC1. Lemonick, Michael D. “Voyager’s Triumph; A Flying Fuel Tank Sets Records.” Time (July 28, 1986): p. 53. Meisler, Andy. “Slipping the Bonds of Earth and Sky.” New York Times (August 3, 1995): p. C1. O’Brien, Miles, Bruce Burkhardt, and Kathleen Koch. “Wright Stuff; A Century of Flight-Part 1.” America’s Intelligence Wire (from CNN News) (December 13, 2003). This article can also be found online at http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0312/13/nac.00.html. Park, Edwards. “The Voyager’s Bid to Girdle the Globe Is No Mere Canard.” Smithsonian (February 1985): p. 72.


•

volume 4

653

burt rutan “Pilot Guides Private Plane Out of Atmosphere, a First.” New York Times (June 21, 2004). Pollack, Andrew. “A Maverick’s Agenda: Nonstop Global Flight and Tourists in Space.” New York Times (December 9, 2003): p. G5. “Private Rocket Plane Unveiled by Burt Rutan.” Advanced Materials & Composites News (May 5, 2003). Schwartz, John. “Private Space Travel? Dreamers Hope a Catalyst Will Rise from the Mojave Desert.” New York Times (June 14, 2004). Skeen, Jim. “Private Spaceship Makes Supersonic Flight from Mojave, Calif., Airport.” Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News (December 18, 2003): p. ITEM03352038. Stone, Brad. “Let’s Go to Space! One Hundred Years After the Wright Brothers’ Famous Flight, a New Breed of Entrepreneur Is Pushing New Technologies to Their Limits, Turning Science Fiction into Reality.” Newsweek (October 6, 2003): p. 54. Sugar, Jim. “Boomerang!” Popular Mechanics (November 1996): p. 50. “Tier One: Rutan Enters the Space Race with a Radical Design Now in Testing.” Popular Science (December 1, 2003): p. 42.

654


•

volume 4

Josh Schwartz

August 6, 1976 • Providence, Rhode Island



•

volume 4

Screenwriter

The Fox network introduced The O.C. in August of 2003 as something of an experiment. The television show about a high school kid from the wrong side of the tracks who moves into the ultra-posh world of Orange County, California, seemed like a soap opera long shot. Critics predicted The O.C. would be another Fox clunker, and doubted that the show would make it past its first seven episodes. Audiences proved them wrong. After the very first episode, fans of all ages were hooked, and soon Fox had a runaway hit on its hands. Some chalked up the show’s success to its good-looking cast, but most realized that the true star was Josh Schwartz, The O.C.’s hip, young creator and executive producer. When his show hit the small screen, Schwartz, at twenty-six, was the youngest person ever to create a one-hour drama for network television.

Tons and tons of movies The writer who captures life in southern California week after week for television was actually raised, along with his two younger broth-

655

josh schwartz

ers, in Rhode Island. Josh Schwartz was born August 6, 1976, in Providence, Rhode Island, to Stephen and Honey Schwartz. Josh may have gotten some of his early interest in popular culture from his father, since Stephen Schwartz was a toy inventor and president of Hasbro’s Playskool division. Growing up, Schwartz spent most of his time watching movies, “tons of movies,” according to brother Dan, who spoke with Suzanne Ryan of the Boston Globe. “I remember him sitting in his room all the time, quoting lines and doing impersonations. He could tell you anything about any movie.” By the seventh grade, Schwartz was writing scripts that focused on the lives of his friends. He also proved he had a

“I’m not a teen but I’m not 50 either. I remember distinctly what it was like to be 16.” knack for acting, appearing in such school plays as You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Amadeus. Schwartz attended the Wheeler School, a private, progressive school in Providence. He was so good in Wheeler productions that he attracted a following. As one of his former neighbors told Ryan, “My daughters and I used to call ourselves the Joshettes. We were his fan club. He had so much charisma.” After graduating from Wheeler in 1995, Schwartz packed up his bags and headed for the West Coast, the land where movies are made. “The thought of coming to Southern California, to Hollywood, was incredibly intoxicating,” Schwartz explained to Jiby Kattakayam in a 2004 interview. “It was always my dream to come here.” Schwartz enrolled at the University of Southern California (USC) School of Cinema-Television, a famous film school whose alumni include such Hollywood heavyweights as directors Ron Howard (1954–) and George Lucas (1944–).

From USC to The O.C. Schwartz thrived in the creative environment of USC, spending time with fellow students who loved the movies just as much as he did. He

656


•

volume 4

josh schwartz

was also an incredibly dedicated student, who earned high praise from his professors. “I thought he was exceptional,” Schwartz’s writing teacher told Suzanne Ryan. He was so exceptional that the first screenplay he wrote at USC won the school’s Jack Nicholson Scholarship Award, named after American actor Jack Nicholson (1937–). Schwartz was thrilled, especially since the scholarship award was for $5,000. Unfortunately, the scholarship was taken away because he had not read the fine print: only students who were juniors or above could enter, and Schwartz was just a sophomore. The screenplay, called Providence, was based on Schwartz’s own experiences as a high school senior in Rhode Island. He shopped the script around, and the executives at Columbia Pictures bit. At the beginning of his junior year, Columbia purchased Schwartz’s script for close to $1 million. The script was never made into a movie, but it did open doors for the young filmmaker, who decided to quit school and go to work. Schwartz zeroed in on television, and sold several pilots, which are samples of television shows, to ABC and the WB. He also talked with Fox about creating a television series that would focus on working at a New York gossip magazine. Again, nothing came of the scripts, but Schwartz had caught the attention of Fox executives. Schwartz had been developing a fish-out-of-water script based on how he felt as a student from Rhode Island meeting the California culture. Fox liked the idea, and Schwartz fleshed out the show’s concept with Joseph McGinty Nichol, known as McG (1969–), director of the Charlie’s Angels movies. McG, like Schwartz, was not a California native. He originally hailed from Michigan, but grew up in Newport Beach, in Orange County. Part of McG’s goal in working on The O.C., was to accurately portray what it feels like to be an outsider.

Another Beverly Hills 90210? Fox approved the project in spring 2003 and placed a lot of trust in the untried writer. One reason is that they hoped to strike gold a second time with younger audiences. The network had scored an enormous hit during the 1990s with the long-running teen drama Beverly Hills 90210, which centered on a brother and sister from Minnesota who are transplanted to glitzy Beverly Hills. The O.C. had the same sort of feel. As Peter Johnson, a Fox senior vice president, explained to Ryan, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

657

josh schwartz

Adam Brody: America’s Favorite Geek

When The O.C. first premiered, most of the press focused on actor Benjamin McKenzie, and the character he played on the show, brooding rebel Ryan Atwood. McKenzie, a newcomer to Hollywood, was applauded by critics for his cool, understated acting. People even compared him to 1950s acting legend, James Dean (1931–1955). Girls thought he looked like a young Cameron Crowe (1957–), and everyone predicted there was a new heartthrob in town. As more episodes aired, however, the character of Seth, Sandy and Kirsten Cohen’s geeky son, started to draw more of our attention. He was quirky, he delivered great oneliners, and he was adorable. As a result, the spotlight started shifting from Benjamin McKenzie to Adam Brody, the actor who plays Seth. Adam Brody was born on April 8, 1981, in San Diego, California. While growing up, Brody spent much of his time at the beach, swimming and surfing. At one

point, he actually thought about becoming a professional surfer. However, in the back of his mind, his secret dream was to become an actor. One day, while floating on his surfboard, he devised a plan to make his dream come true. Brody talked his parents into letting him go to college in Los Angeles. He moved to L.A. in 1999, but instead of taking college courses, he hired an acting coach and starting auditioning for roles on television and in film. Within a year, Brody snagged the lead in the television movie Growing Up Brady, playing actor Barry Williams (1954–), star of the popular TV series The Brady Bunch. Following Growing Up Brady, Brody had bit parts in films such as American Pie 2 (2001) and The Ring (2002). He also gained his first minor success on the WB television show, Gilmore Girls, playing David Rygalsky during the 2002–03 season. In 2003, when he was cast in The O.C., Brody had more experience than his

“We’ve been wanting to do something that harkens back to the success of ‘90210’ and do it in a way that is obviously contemporary. Josh has a voice that feels authentic.… He really is a big talent.” The O.C. was slated to debut in late summer. As a result, Schwartz worked night and day to pound out twenty-seven episodes. He was helped by a staff of six writers who locked themselves in a room to sketch out characters and break down storylines. They also had to cast the show. Directors ultimately went with new faces, although one of the show’s stars is veteran actor Peter Gallagher (1955–), who plays public defender Sandy Cohen, the father at the heart of The O.C. In the pilot episode, Cohen brings home one of his clients, sixteen-year-old Ryan Atwood who has nowhere else to go. Cohen and his wife, Kirsten, a real-estate developer, live in swanky Newport Beach, Orange County; Ryan is from, to quote one of the show’s teen characters, “Chino, ew.” Although he was arrested for stealing a car,

658


•

volume 4

josh schwartz younger co-stars, but he was still relatively unknown. That fact would soon change as the press started to knock at his door. It seemed that Brody had a lot of fans who wanted to know more about the darkhaired actor and his alter-ego, Seth Cohen. But where does Seth Cohen begin and Adam Brody leave off? “As the show goes on, Seth is becoming more like me,” Brody told Maxine Shen of Fox News. “I like to think I’m steadier on my feet with girls, but other than that, we’re into the same things.” Brody credits the show’s creator, Josh Schwartz, for integrating real-life Brody-isms into his O.C. character. For example, Brody constantly says “dude,” and Schwartz began writing that in to Seth’s dialogue. Seth was originally supposed to love sailing, but when Brody told Schwartz he would have a lot more fun surfing, surfboards appeared in Seth’s bedroom. Brody’s favorite band is Death Cab for Cutie, and in one episode Seth is listening to one of their songs. And, Seth, like Brody, is definitely into comic books.

Adam Brody of The O.C. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Ryan is not a criminal. He is a sensitive soul, wise beyond his years, who just happens to live in the wrong zip code. Ryan tries to fit in with the pampered set, but it is an uphill battle. His hot temper puts him at odds with the resident jock, Luke Ward. Atwood eventually bonds with Seth Cohen, the dorky, comic-book-loving son, and there are romantic sparks between him and beautiful, yet troubled, girlnext-door Marissa Cooper.

Best TV of 2003 The O.C. debuted on Tuesday, August 5, 2003, and viewers tuned in. It was the twenty-seventh most-watched television program in the United States and was Fox’s highest-rated show. Critics either loved it or hated it. Some, like Tom Shales of the Washington Post, dismissed it as a predictable drama “about rich young brats,” and prayed that it would be cancelled. Others, like James Poniewozik of Time, agreed U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

659

josh schwartz

that the show followed the predictable formula of a soap opera, complete with pretty people, flashy clothes, and high drama. But, as Poniewozik observed, the formula was delivered with “so much style and believability that it feels new again.” The O.C. rose steadily in the ratings, and by September it had reached number one. Fox briefly took it off the air until after the major league baseball playoffs, but the fan base was so strong that viewers waited patiently for its return at the end of October. Web sites devoted to the show sprang up by the thousands, and the show’s young stars became overnight celebrities. By the end of 2003, The O.C. was an undisputed hit. It was named one of the ten best shows of the year by Entertainment Weekly magazine, and Time included the teen soap in its 2003 “Best of TV” list. However, it seemed that not just teens were tuning in to watch Seth, Ryan, and Marissa. Young viewers were hooked, but so were their parents. According to Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel, the reason why The O.C. was so successful, why it was different, was not just because of the hip dialogue and the hunky stars. The appeal was that the show “manages to make the adults every bit as compelling as the teens.” Sandy Cohen does not just disappear after he brings Ryan home to Newport Beach. He is an integral part of the storylines, a laid-back father who plays video games with his kids and surfs to clear his head. As Schwartz told Boedeker, “There’s a lot of my dad in that character. There’s a lot of Peter Gallagher in the character. Both guys are really wonderful fathers. They have a sense of humor and get it. Sandy gets it.… He’s cool. He’s compassionate.”

Schwartz’s clear vision The first season of the The O.C. ended in May of 2004, and the Fox network was only too happy to pick up the show for a second season. Fox executives gave Schwartz all the credit. In interviews, however, the young man from Rhode Island was quick to acknowledge the contributions of director McG, and his staff of writers, most of whom were seasoned veterans. Marcy Ross, Fox senior vice president, insisted Schwartz was behind the show’s popularity. As she explained to Boedeker, the reason for The O.C.’s success is Schwartz’s clear vision: “He never wavers from it. That’s why the show has captured the imagination of so many young people.”

660


•

volume 4

josh schwartz

Schwartz has also never wavered from the goal he had growing up. According to his father, Stephen, who spoke with Suzanne Ryan in 2003, “Josh has known he wanted to be a screenwriter since he was eight years old.” Less than twenty years later, Schwartz had achieved his goal. At the age of twenty-six, he created his first television program. At twenty-seven, he was the driving force behind a television phenomenon.”

For More Information Periodicals Boedeker, Hal. “‘O.C.’ Creator Schwartz Adds Laugh, Lust and Love to Hit Show.” Orlando Sentinel (April 20, 2004). Chocano, Carina. “Orange Crush: Welcome to the O.C.” Entertainment Weekly (August 15, 2004): p. 61. Poniewozik, James. “The Same Young Story: The Appealing Teen Drama ‘The O.C.’ Proves That Piling on Soap-Opera Cliches Isn’t Always a Bad Thing.” Time (August 11, 2003). Ryan, Suzanne C. “At 26, Josh Schwartz Is Living His Childhood Goal in L.A. as Creator of Fox’s New Teen Drama.” Boston Globe (August 5, 2003): p. E1. Shales, Tom. “‘The O.C.’: Land of the Brooding Teen.” Washington Post (August 5, 2003): p. C01.

Web Sites Kattakayam, Jiby. “Josh Schwartz Interview.” USC CN-TV Web site. (March 11, 2004). http://www.cntvalumni.net/displaypost.cfm? PostType=AlumNews&PostingID=1861 (accessed on May 30, 2004). The O.C. Web site. http://www.fox.com/oc (accessed on May 30, 2004). “‘The O.C.’: Television Review.” PopMatters Web site. (November 4, 2003). http://www.popmatters.com/tv/reviews/o/oc.shtml (accessed on May 30, 2004). Shen, Maxine. “Adam Brody Talks about Being the Nerd of ‘The O.C.’” Fox News: Fox Life. (September 17, 2003).http://www.foxnews.com/ story/0,2933,97551,00.html (accessed on May 30, 2004).


•

volume 4

661

Arnold Schwarzenegger

July 30, 1947 • Graz, Austria



•

volume 4

Actor, politician, bodybuilder

Most people successfully pursue one or two careers throughout their lives. By the age of fifty-six, Arnold Schwarzenegger had tackled at least three—bodybuilding, acting, and politics. It is difficult to break into any one of these professions, yet Schwarzenegger managed to excel in each and every one. He earned thirteen world bodybuilding championships, is considered one of the most influential actors in Hollywood, and, in 2003, without ever running for political office before, he became the governor of California. If Schwarzenegger had listened to his many critics along the way, he never would have succeeded. However, with discipline, determination, and drive, he proved that an Austrian-born immigrant can achieve the American dream.

The need to succeed Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger was born on July 30, 1947, the second son of Gustav and Aurelia Schwarzenegger. He was raised, along with older brother Meinhard, in the tiny village of Thal, just outside of Graz,

663

arnold schwarzenegger

Austria. Schwarzenegger’s father, Gustav, was the local police chief, and the family lived above the police station where Gustav worked. The Schwarzenegger home was a humble one. In fact, they did not have indoor plumbing until Arnold was a teenager. This was not uncommon at the time, however, since families all over Europe were just beginning to recover from the effects of World War II (1939–45). Before joining the police force, Gustav Schwarzenegger was a military officer, and he ran his household in strict military fashion. Both Arnold and Meinhard were required to get up before sunrise to tend to their chores. After chores came a rigorous exercise routine, followed by breakfast. Gustav also instilled a love of sports in his

“I learned something from all these years of lifting and training hard.… What I learned was that we are always stronger than we know.” sons. Meinhard, who died when he was twenty-three years old in a car accident, was a boxing champion. Arnold showed promise as a soccer player. It was while performing exercises to strengthen his legs for soccer that Schwarzenegger turned to the sport that would eventually make him famous: bodybuilding. Arnold Schwarzenegger pursued weightlifting and bodybuilding with a passion. He trained for hours a day, both at a local gym and at home where he set up a training area in a room that had no heat. He also studied anatomy and nutrition to understand how to become physically fit. His parents worried that he was obsessed with training, but Schwarzenegger had his eyes on a goal; that goal was to leave his little village behind and become a success in America.

Mr. Universe In 1965, after he graduated from high school, Schwarzenegger joined the Austrian army. Just one month after enlisting, he won his first

664


•

volume 4


The Ronald Reagan Comparison

Arnold Schwarzenegger was not the first celebrity to hold public office. For example, professional wrestler Jesse “The Body” Ventura (1951–) was governor of Minnesota from 1998 until 2002, and from 1986 to 1988 actor/director Clint Eastwood (1930–) was mayor of Carmel, California. The best-known celebrity-turned-politician, however, may be Ronald Reagan (1911–2004), former governor of California (1967–1975) and president of the United States (1981–1989). Throughout his run for governor, Schwarzenegger was constantly compared to Reagan for some obvious reasons: both were actors, both were very charismatic speakers, and both were new to politics when they ran for office. But, are there other similarities? • Age: Schwarzenegger and Reagan were both fifty-six years old when they became governor of California. • Nicknames: Reagan was known as “The Great Communicator” while Schwarzenegger was dubbed “The Oak” because of his strength and concentration.

Arnold Schwarzenegger poses with a bronze bust of President Ronald Reagan. Mike Guastella/WireImage.com.

• Sports: Both men shared a love of sports and got their start in the world of athletics. Schwarzenegger was a bodybuilder; Reagan played football and was a swimmer. Reagan also got his first break into show business as an announcer for football and baseball games in Iowa.

bodybuilding title, Mr. Junior Europe. The competition was held in Germany, and Schwarzenegger had left his army base without permission to compete. As a result, he spent the next year in the brig, which is a holding area for people in the military who have committed offenses. After he was released, Schwarzenegger resumed his training with gusto, often spending up to five hours a day in the gym. His grueling schedule paid off in 1967, when, at the age of twenty, Schwarzenegger won his first Mr. Universe title. The Mr. Universe competition is an annual event sponsored by the National Amateur Bodybuilders Association (NABBA). Competitors are judged on such things as size and definition of muscles, balance and proportion of body parts, and overall presentation. The youngest person to ever U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

665


win the competition, Schwarzenegger was confident that he would keep his title the following year. He was also excited because his dream of traveling to the United States was about to come true since the 1968 Mr. Universe competition was to be held in Miami, Florida. Although he did not win the 1968 title in Miami, Schwarzenegger was noticed by fitness pioneer Joe Weider (1922–). Weider was so impressed by the young bodybuilder that he invited him to stay in the United States and live and train with him in Los Angeles, California. Schwarzenegger jumped at the chance. Weider became Schwarzenegger’s mentor, and from the late 1960s through the 1970s, Schwarzenegger devoted himself to training and competing. He reclaimed his Mr. Universe crown in 1969, and went on to dominate every major bodybuilding competition, including Mr. Universe, Mr. World, and Mr. Olympia. In addition to being a star bodybuilder, Schwarzenegger helped popularize the sport. He wrote articles about his unique training methods for Weider’s fitness magazines; he also was featured in a 1977 documentary about bodybuilding competitions, called Pumping Iron. The documentary was quite popular and gave Schwarzenegger his first taste of Hollywood celebrity. In 1980, at the age of thirty-three, he officially retired from bodybuilding to devote himself to a new career: acting.

Box-office gold Schwarzenegger made a few low-budget movies in the 1970s, cast mostly in small roles that required big muscles, not big talent. In 1982 he was tapped to play the lead in Conan the Barbarian, based on the comic-book hero of the same name. Again, Schwarzenegger’s strength was in his biceps, not his acting skills. Critics panned his performance, claiming that it was nearly impossible to understand his German-accented English. Audiences, however, loved the movie, which turned out to be a box-office hit. Two years later, in 1984, Schwarzenegger cemented his box-office appeal when he appeared in the movie The Terminator. In The Terminator, Schwarzenegger played a violent cyborg (part robot, part human) who is sent from the future to exterminate the

666


•

volume 4


mother of humankind’s future leader. He spoke seventy-four words in the movie, all delivered in a monotone, robotic voice. Audiences did not mind the lack of acting ability, and they flocked to see Schwarzenegger in the sci-fi thriller. The movie was so popular that Schwarzenegger became known for his character’s famous one-liner: “I’ll be back,” or as Schwarzenegger pronounced it, “Awl be buck.” Action movies like The Terminator proved to be wildly popular with people of all ages, and Schwarzenegger proved to be the perfect action hero. He followed The Terminator with a string of movies, including Commando (1985), Predator (1987), Total Recall (1990), and True Lies (1994). He also continued the Terminator movies, starring in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), which produced the famous line, “Hasta la vista, baby,” and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003). For his role in Terminator 3, Schwarzenegger was paid $30 million. In addition to playing the tough-as-nails hero, Schwarzenegger starred in a number of comedies, including three movies made by director Ivan Reitman (1946–): Twins (1988), Kindergarten Cop (1990), and Junior (1994). Moviegoers embraced the “lighter side of Arnold,” and critics admitted that Schwarzenegger was growing as an actor. Everyone agreed that he was box-office gold. In fact, in 1993, he was recognized as the International Box Office Star of the Decade. By 2004 Schwarzenegger had appeared in nearly thirty movies, and he brought his unique style to each role. One thing he never lost was his accent. Comedians and critics made countless jokes about the way “Ah-nuld” talked, but Schwarzenegger seemed to take it in stride. He also explained in a 1991 interview with Pat Broeske that he did not want to get rid of his accent completely because it had become, Broeske noted, “his trademark, his signature.”

The family man Schwarzenegger’s trademark made him a very wealthy actor, and he used his money wisely, investing in real estate and several businesses, including the restaurant chain Planet Hollywood. He was also a devoted family man. Schwarzenegger met his wife, television journalist Maria Shriver (1955–), in 1977. The couple married in 1986; they U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

667


Arnold Schwarzenegger supports Willie McKinney during the bench press competition of the 1999 Special Olympics World Games. AP/ Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

have four children, two boys and two girls. Shriver was no stranger to celebrity, considering she is part of one of the most famous families in the United States. Her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1921–), is the sister of U.S. president John F. Kennedy (1917–1963). Most people thought that the couple made a very odd pair. He was a brawny bodybuilder turned actor. She was a “brain” who graduated from Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and was coanchor of CBS Morning News. He was a well-known supporter of the Republican Party. The Republican Party is considered to be the more conservative of the two major political parties in the United States.

668


•

volume 4


Shriver, as part of the Kennedy clan, was a Democrat to the core. Members of the Democratic Party are traditionally considered to be more liberal. Those closest to the couple, however, say they are a perfect match. Both have competitive drives; both are committed to their family; and both share a wacky sense of humor. The Schwarzeneggers also share a commitment to politics and to social causes. Since 1979 they have been devoted to the Special Olympics, helping to raise funds and awareness. Established by Eunice Shriver in 1968, Special Olympics provides year-round sports training and sponsors annual athletic competitions for children and adults with mental retardation. There are Special Olympics programs in almost 150 countries; Arnold serves as the Special Olympics International Weight Training Coach. In 1990 Schwarzenegger was given an incredible opportunity to spread his message about the importance of fitness when President George H. W. Bush (1924–) appointed him chairman of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (PCPFS). According to the PCPFS Web site, the goal of the council is to “promote, encourage and motivate Americans of all ages to become physically active and participate in sports.” Schwarzenegger was the perfect spokesman. With high energy and unlimited enthusiasm, he traveled across the country spreading the word that it was “hip to be fit.” When Democrat Bill Clinton (1946–) took over the presidency in 1993, Schwarzenegger resigned from the council.

The “Collectionator” Schwarzenegger had been such a dynamic public figure in the Bush administration that people wondered if he was heading for a future in politics. Schwarzenegger denied the rumors for years, claiming he was too busy being a businessman and family man. In 2002, however, he spent a good deal of time campaigning in California for state grant money to fund after-school programs for children. And, in 2003, when California governor Gray Davis (1942–) was threatened by a recall, the buzz was strong that Schwarzenegger would throw his hat in the ring. The year 2003 was a strange one in California politics. Democrat Gray Davis, who had over twenty years of experience in politics, was governor, and had been since 1998. Throughout his first term in U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

669


office, however, Davis faced a number of problems, including an outof-control budget, a sagging state economy, and electricity blackouts that left most of the state without power for some time during 2001. Californians were not happy, and they blamed Davis for the sad state of affairs. In 2002, just months into his second term of office, citizens started a campaign to recall Davis as governor. This meant that Davis, through a special election, would possibly be replaced. The election led to media frenzy since it was the first time in California’s history that a governor faced a recall. In addition, people came out of the woodwork to campaign for Davis’s job. On August 6, 2003, Schwarzenegger fueled the frenzy by announcing that he, too, was going to run for governor. He made his announcement during an interview on the late-night television program The Tonight Show. Schwarzenegger spent the next several months campaigning in rather untraditional ways. For example, he chatted with Oprah Winfrey (1954–) on her afternoon talk show, and he was interviewed by disc jockey Howard Stern (1954–), who is known for his outrageous radio antics. Schwarzenegger peppered his interviews with references to his movies, promising to say “Hasta la vista” to new taxes and calling himself the “Collectionator,” since one of his goals was to ask the federal government for funds to bail California out of its economic crisis.

Arnold to the rescue All of the media attention prompted voters to turn out in droves, and on October 8, 2003, the citizens of California elected Arnold Schwarzenegger governor with 48.6 percent of the vote. On November 17, during his swearing-in ceremony, Schwarzenegger commented, “It is no secret that I’m a newcomer to politics. I realize I was elected on faith and hope. And I feel a great responsibility not to let the people down.” The public may have felt they needed an action hero to come to their aid, but political commentators had their doubts. Schwarzenegger was able to campaign on catchy phrases, but what would he do once in office? According to political consultant David Axelrod in a 2003 Time article, “This isn’t the movies. No one is going to throw him a ray gun so he can blow up the deficit.” Schwarzenegger’s first days in office were watched closely. He made good on several of his campaign promises, including lowering

670


•

volume 4


car taxes. He was also applauded for trying to get California Democrats and Republicans to work together to help solve the state’s budget problems. Schwarzenegger, however, was just beginning to flex his political muscles. His state still faced a staggering amount of debt, and he tried to figure a way out without hurting social programs like education and health care. In March 2004, voters passed Schwarzenegger’s Proposition 57, which would allow the state to use bonds (low-interest, long-term loans) to slash $15 billion from the ever-growing debt. Politicians considered the proposition to be a daring move, but Schwarzenegger was used to taking chances, and he had faith that the voters would believe in him. In a rally held just after the vote, and reported on CNN, he reassured the public that his borrowing plan would “make California the golden state that it once was.” Just months into office, people began to speculate once again what was next for Arnold Schwarzenegger, family man, businessman, actor, and now governor. When he appeared on the television program Meet the Press, in February 2004, host Tim Russert wondered if perhaps Schwarzenegger had his eye on the White House. Schwarzenegger shooed away the question, commenting that he had been too busy tackling California’s problems to think about his next move. “I have no idea,” he commented, “I haven’t thought about that at all.” But, can we believe him, since that is exactly what Schwarzenegger said when asked if he would ever run for political office? He faces one big obstacle, however. According to the U.S. Constitution, only citizens who were born in the United States are eligible to be president. Although Schwarzenegger became a citizen in 1983, he was born in Austria. A change, or amendment, to the constitution has been proposed that would make it possible for anyone who has been a U.S. citizen for at least twenty years to seek the presidency. And, as Ah-nuld has proven time and again, anything is possible.

For More Information Periodicals Boss, Suzie. “Hey, Kids, Get Physical!” Newsweek (August 27, 1990): pp. 62–64. Broeske, Pat H. “Arnold Schwarzenegger.” Interview (July 1991): p. 85.


•

volume 4

671

arnold schwarzenegger Streisand, Betsy. “Reality Check: Effect of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Government.” U.S. News & World Report (January 12, 2004): p. 26. Tresniowski, Alex, et al. “What Makes Them Run?” People Weekly (August 25, 2003): pp. 50–58. Tumulty, Karen, and Terry McCarthy. “All That’s Missing Is the Popcorn.” Time (August 18, 2003): pp. 22–30.

Web Sites Russert, Tim. “Interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Ralph Nader.” NBC News’ Meet the Press (February 22, 2004). http://msnbc.msn. com/id/4304155 (accessed on May 30, 2004). Schwarzenegger.com: The Official Web site. http://www.schwarzenegger.com (accessed on May 30, 2004). “Schwarzenegger’s Inauguration Speech.” CNN.com: Inside Politics. http:// www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/11/17/arnold.speech (accessed on May 31, 2004). “Schwarzenegger Wins Budget Test.” CNN.com: Inside Politics (March 3, 2004). http://www5.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/03/03/california. proposition.ap (accessed on May 30, 2004).

672


•

volume 4

Ryan Seacrest

December 24, 1974 • Atlanta, Georgia



•

volume 4

Entertainer

R yan Seacrest’s career did not begin on American Idol, but the popularity of the televised talent search contest on Fox helped make him a household name by 2003. Before taking the American Idol job, Seacrest hosted a highly rated radio show in Los Angeles that dominated the afternoon drive-time slot. His career began to flourish in 2004 with the debut of his daily daytime television show, On-Air with Ryan Seacrest.

High school DJ Born in 1974, Seacrest grew up in Dunwoody, Georgia, where his father, Gary, was a lawyer. He was an overweight child, teased by others, and preferred to stay indoors listening to the radio. His fascination with the medium evolved into making his own radio show tapes, and he would give the cassettes to his parents to play in their cars. “I thought it was a hobby,” his homemaker mother, Connie, told Allison

673

ryan seacrest

Glock in a New York Times Magazine profile. “But people would call my answering machine just to listen to his voice. They thought I had a professional doing it. That’s when I thought, This might be bigger than I think it is.” At age fourteen Seacrest became the “Voice of Dunwoody High School,” as his school’s regular morning public-address system announcer. He was still anything but a star there, he told another New York Times writer, Hilary De Vries. “I wore braces and glasses and was fat and got teased about it,” Seacrest said, “but I was always very ambitious.” He eventually lost weight by cutting out nearly everything in his school lunch except for the oranges his mother had packed for him. In

“Ryan has the appeal of a dog that has been rescued from the pound. That is his secret. He’s grateful. He’s happy. Always, always. If he had a tail, he’d wag it.” Simon Cowell, New York Times Magazine, May 23, 2004.

1991, the year he became a junior at Dunwoody High, he landed a hard-to-get internship at Atlanta pop music station WSTR-FM. One night the regular DJ called in sick and asked Seacrest to take his shift. Both thought the station owner was out of town, but he wasn’t, and Seacrest received a surprise telephone call on the studio hotline during his live debut. Assuming he would be fired, he went to see his boss the next day in order to apologize. Instead, the station owner told Seacrest that, though he was not a professional, his stint of the night before hadn’t been too bad. The boss offered to start training him, and soon Seacrest was given the weekend overnight shift at WSTR.

Headed for Hollywood After graduating from Dunwoody High in 1993, Seacrest stayed at the station and began taking journalism classes at the University of Geor-

674


•

volume 4

ryan seacrest

British Pop Idol Hosts

Ryan

Seacrest has hosted American Idol since its debut in 2002, but the show is a remake of a British hit that premiered in the fall of 2001. The ITV Network’s Pop Idol also featured Simon Cowell as a judge, but it was hosted by a pair of English comedians named Ant and Dec. Unlike Seacrest, they were already widely known in their country, thanks to their popular Saturday morning children’s show. Ant and Dec are Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. Both were born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1975. They met when cast in a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) soap opera for teens called Byker Grove in 1990. Their characters, PJ and Duncan, were popular, but McPartlin lost his part when the show’s writers had him maimed in a freak paintball accident. The two went on to release a series of pop music albums, and in 1995 became hosts of their own short-lived BBC series, The Ant and Dec Show. It was followed by Ant and Dec Unzipped in 1997, but the two boyish, energetic personalities only hit their stride with SM:tv Live, a Saturday morning show aimed at young viewers on ITV. Their antics made them popular with their target audience, but older viewers began tuning in as well. On their show, Ant and Den spoofed the Byker Grove paintball episode,

gave away their pop records to guests—joking they still had boxes of them left—and mercilessly teased youngsters who called in to the show. Ant and Dec hosted SM:tv until Pop Idol came calling. Like Seacrest, their easy banter and likable personalities provided relief from Cowell’s cutting remarks. Once they even played one of their wellplanned pranks on Cowell, after the show became a success in the United States as American Idol: they donned wigs, fake beards, and prosthetic makeup and auditioned as two of the thousands of hopefuls who tried out. Ant and Dec are often referred to as Britain’s favorite “Geordies,” a nickname for those from the north of England, who have a distinct accent. In 2002 they became hosts of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, which was set to make its American TV debut in late 2004 on the Fox Network. There were no plans to air the prank they played on Cowell, in which they sang a Paula Abdul song with American accents. “Thank god the American audiences didn’t see that,” Donnelly told Sam Wonfor and Alison Dargie in the Journal of Newcastle, England. “I don’t think it would be the best way for us to introduce ourselves to them. Maybe we’ll show them one day.”

gia. He also made his television debut as host of an ESPN show for kids called Radical Outdoor Challenge. When he was nineteen, he quit the Atlanta radio station and moved to Los Angeles, enrolling at Santa Monica College. He had a hard time finding work in the highly competitive radio market in southern California, but he did land some television jobs. He was a weekend anchor on the entertainment-news show Extra, and hosted series like Gladiators, Sci-Fi Channel’s The New Edge, and The Click, a teen quiz show. He also worked as an overnight radio DJ and eventually took over the drive-time slot on U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

675

ryan seacrest

Ryan Seacrest (left) on stage with American Idol 2003 winner Ruben Studdard. Steve Granitz/WireImage.com.

KYSR, an alternative music station, with the highly-rated “Ryan Seacrest for the Ride Home.” By 1999 Seacrest’s show had become the top-rated Los Angeles-area radio program in its time slot. He continued to take the occasional television job, and in 2002 came under consideration for a seat on the judging panel of a new reality-TV series, American Idol. The Fox Network show was based on a hit British series of the previous year called Pop Idol. In both shows unknown hopefuls competed for a chance at a record contract, and viewers could phone a special number and cast their votes for their favorite performer that week. One by one, the singers would be eliminated. Simon Cowell (1959–), a British record executive who made the Spice Girls a success, brought the show across the Atlantic. Cowell and others felt that the likable Seacrest might be better suited for the job of host. “They asked if I thought I could handle live TV,” he recalled in the interview with Glock, and “I said, ‘Of course,’ even though I had no idea.” American Idol debuted in the summer of 2002 and was a phenomenal success almost from the start. Seacrest’s on-screen enthusiasm made him an overnight sensation, and the show was seen by some twenty-six million viewers weekly. As American Idol grew in popularity, Seacrest, Cowell, fellow judges Paula Abdul (1962–) and Randy Jackson (1956–), as well as the final contestants, all became

676


•

volume 4

ryan seacrest

household names. Seacrest was sometimes described as the antidote to Cowell, who often judged the contestants’ talents harshly. “I think we’re showing that there is more than one way to launch a star,” Seacrest said, when De Vries asked him about why American Idol had captured the nation’s attention. “It could have been a great TV show, but not have any validity in the record-buying world. But we’ve proven to be very successful that way.” Sometimes Seacrest and Cowell traded insults on the air. Cowell later penned a book on the American Idol phenomenon in which he claimed that Seacrest, known for his perfectly coiffed hair, sometimes spent three hours in the hair and makeup room before a taping. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration,” Seacrest said, when Atlanta Journal-Constitution staff writer Rodney Ho asked him about it. “My hair, makeup and wardrobe takes about 14 minutes. I don’t have three hours in my life to do anything.”

Given daily TV show Seacrest’s schedule became even busier in early 2004, when he began hosting On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, a syndicated daytime television talk show. He described its core audience to one interviewer as young adults who had spent their teen years watching MTV’s Total Request Live and were now ready for more grown-up fare. The show was a mix of entertainment news, in-studio performances by guests like Missy Elliott (1972–), and live performances outside its studio at the Hollywood & Highland complex in Los Angeles, a tourist mecca. The host also bantered with guests like Donald Trump (1946–), and segued to reports from the show’s remote correspondents. Fox Television built Seacrest a new studio for the television and radio show of the same name, a facility that cost a reported $10 million. By then, Seacrest was thought to make about that same amount of money yearly. Around the same time his new television show debuted, Seacrest also began hosting the weekly radio staple American Top 40. He replaced longtime host Casey Kasem (1932–), who had retired from the top-rated chart hits countdown show heard on hundreds of radio stations across the United States each week. Kasem had been one of Seacrest’s radio idols when he was growing up, along with Dick Clark (1929–), host of the weekly music show American Bandstand from U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

677

ryan seacrest

1956 to 1987. Seacrest once asked Clark for some career advice, and Clark told him the business had changed dramatically over the decades. A stake in ownership was important to have, Clark believed, and so Seacrest negotiated a piece of the ownership pie for the televised On-Air. He hoped that it might become “a brand name that could live forever,” he explained to De Vries. “So maybe in 20 years it will still be called ‘On Air,’ with someone else hosting the show, but I can still produce it. Because, let’s be honest, you don’t know how long people are going to let you into their homes.” Seacrest’s own home is a three-story Italianate villa in the Hollywood Hills. He began dating actress and singer Shana Wall in 2003, which seemed to put an end to persistent rumors about his sexual orientation. In interviews, he readily admitted he had “metrosexual” tendencies, using the catchphrase of 2003 for straight guys who exhibited some of the stylishness commonly associated with gay men. Well before the metrosexual term came into common usage, Seacrest used to talk on his L.A. radio show about getting his eyebrows waxed. He once confessed to celebutante Paris Hilton that his flatiron was also a cherished possession in his household. “What can I do about it?” he asked Entertainment Weekly journalist Nicholas Fonseca, about his love of hairstyling products and well-tailored shirts. “I could lie and pretend that I hunt and camp, but that wouldn’t be me. Clothes? Shopping? That’s stuff I like!”

For More Information Periodicals “£10m Bid for Ant ‘n’ Dec.’ Birmingham Evening Mail (Birmingham, England) (May 12, 2004): p. 6. Curtis, Nick. “What Makes These Two the Hottest Stars on TV?” Evening Standard (London, England) (October 26, 2001): p. 31. De Vries, Hilary. “His Feet in ‘American Idol,’ and Reaching to Be a Star.” New York Times (January 11, 2004): p. AR30. Fonseca, Nicholas. “The Music Man: American Idol Host Ryan Seacrest’s Blond Ambition Has Earned Him a New Talk Show and Makes Him Hair, We Mean Heir, Apparent to Dick Clark.” Entertainment Weekly (January 9, 2004): p. 46. Glock, Allison. “Bland Ambition.” New York Times (May 23, 2004): p. 20. Ho, Rodney. “Life of Ryan: Atlanta-Born Ryan Seacrest Hopes His New TV Talk Show, Starting Today, Is the Springboard to a Media Empire.” Atlanta Journal-Constitution (January 12, 2004): p. B1.

678


•

volume 4

ryan seacrest Lipton, Michael A. “Fast Forward: American Idol’s Hyper Host Ryan Seacrest Makes Room for Talk TV, a Radio Gig—And Romance.” People (January 19,2004): p. 69. Moir, Jan. “‘Yes, We Are Rather Middle-Aged.’” Daily Telegraph (London, England) (December 6, 2001): p. 22. “Movie for Ant and Dec.” Evening Chronicle (April 2, 2004): p. 2. Poniewozik, James. “Shallow like a Fox: Ryan Seacrest of American Idol and On-Air Hopes to Turn Pop Fluff into an Empire. Go Ahead and Laugh.” Time (January 26, 2004): p. 62. Singh, Anita. “Ant and Dec’s Audition Fools Pop Idol’s Mr Nasty.” Europe Intelligence Wire (January 9, 2003). Wonfor, Sam, and Alison Dargie. “Ant and Dec Bid to Be Idols in US.” Journal (Newcastle, England) (November 3, 2003): p. 7.


•

volume 4

679

Terry Semel

February 24, 1943 • Brooklyn, New York


•

Arun Nevader/WireImage.com.

volume 4

CEO, Yahoo! Inc.

Do you Yahoo? Millions of computer users Yahoo every single day, but when Terry Semel took over as chief executive officer (CEO) of Yahoo! Inc. in 2001, he was not one of them. In fact, Semel knew very little about computers. When he received an e-mail, one of his assistants would print it out and Semel would scrawl out a written reply. Nevertheless, when Yahoo, one of the biggest Internet service providers, was struggling to survive in the cutthroat on-line industry, it turned to Semel. His more than thirty-year track record as an entertainment executive was unparalleled. By 2004, after a string of shrewd mergers and a creative organization redesign spearheaded by Semel, Yahoo was back in the game. Its stock prices were on the rise and analysts predicted a healthy future. Semel, the man who had barely ever surfed the Net, was given all the credit.

681

terry semel

A bored accountant goes Hollywood The man who resurrected Yahoo was born on February 24, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Benjamin Semel, was a women’s coat designer; his mother, Mildred, was an executive at a bus company. In 1964 Semel earned a degree in accounting from Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York. He briefly worked as an accountant, but soon became bored. When a friend told him about a sales training program offered by Warner Brothers, one of the top movie studios in the United States, Semel did not hesitate to change careers. As he explained to Fred Vogelstein of Fortune magazine, the Warner program offered him a “chance to learn about marketing and sales,

“We’re not going to be crushed by anyone but our own ineptitude.” which I was interested in.” Semel simultaneously attended City College of New York in New York City, where he earned a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) in 1967. Semel’s early days at Warner were spent on the road as a movie salesman. He traveled across the country with a list of upcoming Warner features, and talked theater owners into buying what hopefully would be the next box-office hit. Semel was such a whiz at sales that he caught the attention of other entertainment companies. In 1971 he became domestic sales manager at CBS-Cinema Center Films. Two years later he was named vice president and general sales manager of Buena Vista, a division of Walt Disney. In 1975 Semel was lured back to where he had begun: Warner Brothers. That same year he met Robert Daly, the man who would become his future business partner. At first Semel was in charge of Warner distribution. Within five years he and Daly were running the entire studio. In 1982 Semel was named the company’s president and chief operating officer (COO). In 1994 he became co-chair and co-chief executive officer (CEO) at Warner, sharing the duties with Daly. From the late 1970s to the late 1990s, Semel and Daly were known as one of the most powerful duos

682


•

volume 4

terry semel

in Hollywood, and were responsible for turning Warner Brothers from a successful movie studio into an entertainment giant. As Vogelstein commented, “The twenty years that Semel and Daly ran Warner will probably go down as one of the longest and most successful partnerships in Hollywood history.”

The dynamic duo In the 1970s, before Semel and Daly took the helm, Warner Brothers was bringing in about $1 billion a year, with most of the studio’s revenue coming from its films and its record label, Warner Brothers Music. Semel and Daly changed all that, effectively transforming the way movies were made and marketed, and how studios functioned. The duo expanded Warner Brothers into international markets, extended the music division to include hit record labels such as Elektra and Maverick, and broadened the company’s entertainment arm to embrace television. Warner Brothers Television was responsible for producing many popular network TV series, including China Beach, E.R., and Friends. In 1995 Semel and Daly went one step beyond and launched the Warner Brothers (WB) Network, which created original series aimed at a younger audience. Perhaps the most revolutionary thing that Semel and Daly accomplished was to turn Warner Brothers into a brand name. Warner Brothers Studio Stores popped up across the United States and carried all kinds of merchandise, from shirts to hats to neckties featuring well-known Warner Brothers animated characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Scooby-Doo. Semel and Daly also saw the potential in movies as merchandise, and began selling various products related to the movies they made. In 1989 they took a chance on an unknown director named Tim Burton (1958–), and brought Batman to the big screen. The film was incredibly expensive to make, but it became one of the most successful movies of all time. It was also a merchandising gold mine, setting the standard for the way filmmakers of the future would finance and market their movies. By the late 1990s, under Semel and Daly’s guidance, Warner’s annual revenues had grown from $1 billion to approximately $11 billion. The company had expanded as never before, and its film division was in peak form. In addition to Batman, Semel and Daly had greenU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

683

terry semel

David Filo and Jerry Yang: Chief Yahoos

Yahoo was founded in 1994 by two friends at Stanford University, David Filo and Jerry Yang. Filo, like Terry Semel, is very quiet and avoids the limelight, rarely giving interviews. Yang is the more outgoing of the two and acts as the company’s cheerleader. Both men still take an active part in the company, although Filo prefers to focus on the technology end of things. His title is key technologist. Yang sits on the board of directors and works closely with Semel to direct the company’s business focus. The title the two men share and the one they gave themselves is that of Chief Yahoo. David Filo was born in 1966 in Wisconsin to Jerry and Carol Filo; Jerry was an architect and Carol an accountant. The family soon moved to Moss Bluff, Louisiana, where they lived in an alternative community setting along with several other families. In 1988 Filo earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Tulane University in New Orleans. He then moved to Palo Alto, California, to study at Stanford University, where he met future friend and business partner Jerry Yang. Yang was born Chih-Yuan Yang in Taiwan in 1968. His father died when he was only two years old and he, along with younger brother, Ken, were raised

by his mother, Lily, an English and drama teacher. When Yang was ten, Lily moved her family to the United States, settling in a suburb of San Jose, California. At first Yang spoke only Chinese, but he learned English quickly, and earned straight A’s in school. After graduating from high school he attended Stanford where, in 1990, he simultaneously earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering. While they were doctoral students, Filo and Yang shared an office at Stanford. The “office” was a trailer filled with pizza boxes, golf clubs, and dirty laundry. Of course the office also housed their computers, which they nicknamed Akebono and Konishiki, after their favorite Sumo wrestlers. This was in the early days of the Internet, and Filo and Yang were soon hooked on the new technology, often spending hours surfing the Net instead of focusing on their Ph.D. studies. The World Wide Web, however, was difficult to navigate, because it was a mishmash of uncategorized data. Because they used the Internet so much, Filo and Yang decided to create an index of their favorite Web sites, a kind of roadmap that would help them get to their sites more easily. They designed some simple software that organized the Web pages by subject, and they

lighted some four hundred films. Some were blockbusters like the scifi thriller The Matrix (1999); at least thirteen were nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award; and three actually took home the top honor. Semel and Daly were the toast of Hollywood, and were consistently named to the power lists of the entertainment business. In 1999, however, the dynamic duo’s tenure came to an end. Semel and Daly had survived many twists and turns in the Warner Brothers organization, including the company takeover by Time, Inc., in 1989 and the Time Warner merger with Turner Broadcasting in 1996. But in July of 1999, during contract negotiations, the pair decided to leave the company. Some insiders claimed that they were forced out after a string of

684


•

volume 4

terry semel launched their own Web site, called “Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web.” Since the Web site resided on the Stanford server, Stanford students quickly began to use the helpful new tool. Other users stumbled on it, and within months the site was attracting thousands of people who were looking for a way to locate their favorite Web pages. Because their site was visited so often, Filo and Yang decided to change the site name to something a little simpler. After searching through the dictionary they found the word yahoo and decided to poke fun at themselves, since a yahoo is an unsophisticated person. The newly-named Yahoo continued to attract more users, and began to attract the attention of on-line companies such as America Online (AOL), who offered to buy the service. Filo and Yang, however, retained ownership of their creation, and continued to work up to twenty hours a day to make Yahoo an even better search engine. In 1995 the pair received backing to start their own company, and a friend from Stanford helped them write a business plan. They left Stanford, rented office space, and in 1996 the company went public, which means that its stock was offered for sale to the public for the first time. Filo and Yang became instant millionaires. They also became examples of the modern-day executive: young, anti-

David Filo (left) and Jerry Yang. © Ed Kashi/Corbis.

corporate entrepreneurs who wore jeans to the office and worked barefoot late into the night. Along the way, Filo and Yang forever changed the way people view the Internet. Yahoo eventually grew from a search engine to becoming an Internet portal for people to access the World Wide Web. Today, Yahoo offers personalized Web pages, e-mail, chat rooms, and message boards. Users can log on to get any kind of information imaginable, from finance reports to a song by a favorite music artist—all in a fun, slick environment. And the thanks go to Filo and Yang, just a couple of Yahoos.

less than successful movies. Others speculated that Semel and Daly were not happy with the diminished role they were expected to play at Time Warner in the 2000s. Nevertheless, when they called it quits, it was the end of a Hollywood era. As Time Warner president Richard Parsons commented in Time magazine, “It’s kind of like the ’98 Yankees. It was a beautiful season. And every season comes to an end.”

An unlikely combination After he left Warner, almost every major studio set its sights on Semel, who was known in the business as a master negotiator. Semel, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

685

terry semel

however, was embracing his newfound freedom. As he told John Greenwald of Time, “For the first time in my life I will not have a contract, a road map to follow. This could be the first time I can choose what direction I’m going in.” The direction he chose was the Internet, a new medium with untapped potential. Semel launched his own technology investment company called Windsor Media and immersed himself in his newfound field. When Yahoo went looking for a new CEO in 2001, Semel was not the man who came to most people’s minds. The company was established in 1994 by two graduate students, David Filo (1965–) and Jerry Yang (1968–), who were looking for a way to organize the maze of Internet addresses on the World Wide Web. Over the years Yahoo had become a successful provider of Internet and Web-based services, and its owners were millionaires many times over. But with competitors such as Google nipping at their heels, and the bottom dropping out of the computer industry in the late 1990s, Yahoo was feeling the crunch. In January of 2000 Yahoo stock was valued at $235 a share; by mid-2001 it had plummeted to less than $11 per share. When Semel replaced Tim Koogle as CEO in April of 2001, it may have come as quite a shock to many, but it seemed the logical choice for Jerry Yang. Yang had met Semel in 1997 at an annual media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. Semel wanted to learn more about the Internet and Yang was impressed by Semel’s keen business sense. The two became fast friends, and Semel became something of an unofficial Yahoo advisor. Yang knew that bringing Semel into the fold would cause controversy, but he believed it was worth it. “Everyone talks about what [Semel] did with movies and entertainment,” Yang remarked to Fortune, “but what he really did was pioneer how to take a piece of content and get it out there. He had a distribution mentality, which at the end of the day is what Yahoo does on the Internet.” Semel did not immediately jump at Yang’s offer. He met with company executives and board members, and considered the option carefully. He obviously did not need the money; when he left Time Warner he was a multimillionaire. According to former partner Robert Daly, who spoke with Jim Hu on the CNET News Web site, “Terry was not looking for a job, he was looking for a challenge.” Indeed, Semel likened Yahoo to the early challenges he faced at Warner Brothers. As he told Hu, “I think Yahoo has great, strong core assets, and it was

686


•

volume 4

terry semel

those assets that fascinated me and brought me to the table. I love building things and I will look forward to building those assets into a much larger and more diversified company throughout the world.”

Yahoo grows up When the fifty-eight-year-old Semel took the helm of the Sunnyvale, California-based company, he faced a major culture shock. For starters, he was twice as old as the average Yahoo employee. The Yahoo headquarters was something of a giant college campus. A purple cow greeted visitors in the lobby; there was a cubicles-only rule, which meant that all employees from the top down worked in the same equal-sized space; and meetings were usually free-form. The buttoned-down Semel quickly changed the rules. He created his own private office space and he rarely popped in to so say “howdy” to fellow employees the way former CEO Tim Koogle did. Not surprisingly, many employees were suspicious of the non-techie stranger in their midst. Perhaps their suspicions were well-founded, since Semel lost no time in trimming the ranks. He laid off more than 12 percent of the Yahoo workforce and reduced the number of divisions from forty-four to only four: media and entertainment; communication; premium services; and search. He discontinued the many free-form meetings, where ideas had been launched with no coordination across the company. He created the Product Council, a sort of executive sounding board through which all new ideas had to pass. This ensured that each division head knew about every proposed initiative, and that each initiative was in line with company standards and policies. During all the changes, Semel took time to learn the lingo. Onehour meetings turned into six-hour marathon sessions, as Semel went over and over the technology terminology. As Jeff Mallett, Yahoo’s former president, told Fortune, “He’d stay in that conference room for hours until he got it. I think he learned three years of information in six months.” So, while he may not have been making great friends in the company, Semel was earning the respect of his colleagues.

Investors say Yahoo Semel quickly proved that his vision for the company was sound, as he expanded into new areas. When he came on board, 90 percent of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

687

terry semel

Yahoo’s revenues came from on-line advertising, which Semel thought was a shortsighted and rather dangerous way to do business. When the stock market becomes shaky, advertisers tend to pull their advertising, and this greatly contributed to Yahoo’s downward spiral in 2000. Semel focused his energies on offering premium services to on-line customers that would require them to pay extra fees. For example, in late 2001 he struck a deal with phone company SBC Communications to offer high-speed Internet access to Yahoo customers. In addition, Semel made some bold acquisitions. In December of 2001 he launched a takeover of Hotjobs.com, a deal that cost an estimated $436 million, but one that made Yahoo a formidable force in the lucrative world of on-line classifieds. In 2003 Semel positioned Yahoo to take on Google, the monster of all search engines, when he purchased Inktomi and Overture Services, two leaders in the Web search business. Yahoo executives were eager to launch the new Yahoo search engine, a tool that helps on-line users search for information on the World Wide Web, but Semel proceeded with his usual caution. He insisted that company engineers test and retest the system before offering the product to Yahoo customers. He told Fortune, “We didn’t get into search to do what everyone else is doing. We got into search to change the game.” By mid-2004, only three years after Semel joined Yahoo, the company was in a complete turnaround on all fronts. Its annual revenues doubled from $717 million to $1.4 billion; stock prices rose to more than $40 per share; and for the first time ever, the company appeared on Fortune magazine’s annual list of the thousand largest corporations in the United States. The new-and-improved Yahoo was attracting 133 million registered users a month, and more than 150,000 advertisers had come on board. Semel the media mogul had become Semel the on-line mastermind, and as BusinessWeek proclaimed in late 2003, investors were once again saying “Yahoo!”

For More Information Books “David Filo Biography.” Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 2. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002. “Jerry Yang Biography.” Business Leader Profiles for Students. Vol. 2. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.

688


•

volume 4

terry semel

Periodicals Greenwald, John. “Out of the Pictures: Warner Brothers’ Legendary Bosses Semel and Daly Exit Time Warner.” Time (July 26, 1999): pp. 68–69. Stone, Brad. “Learning the Ropes.” Newsweek (July 30, 2001): p. 38. Vogelstein, Fred. “Bringing Up Yahoo.” Fortune (April 5, 2004): p. 220.

Web sites Hu, Jim. “Semel: The New Yahoo on the Block.” CNET News.com (April 17, 2001). http://news.com.com/2100-1023_3-255995.html (accessed on May 28, 2004). Hu, Jim, and Stephanie Olsen. “Guiding Yahoo from Adolescence to Adulthood.” CNET News.com. http://news.com.com/1200-1070-959427.html (accessed on May 28, 2004). “Terry Semel, Yahoo!” BusinessWeek Online (September 29, 2003). http:// www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/03_39/b3851604.htm (accessed on May 31, 2004). Yahoo! http://www.yahoo.com (accessed on May 31, 2004).


•

volume 4

689

Nisha Sharma

c. 1982 • India



•

volume 4

Activist

In any culture, a cancelled wedding can be a great embarrassment (particularly to the bride), but when Nisha Sharma called off her wedding at the last minute, she not only made front-page headlines in her native India, but became a role model for young women in India and across the world. Shortly before the ceremony, her future husband’s family suddenly demanded an illegal dowry payment of $25,000 from her father. An angry Sharma called the police, and the groom was later sentenced to a jail term.

Placed personal ad Sharma comes from a middle-class Hindu family. She was born in the early 1980s and grew up in Noida, a city near Delhi, which is India’s capital. Her father, Dev Dutt, is the owner of a factory that makes car batteries. Sharma was studying computer science when her parents decided to seek a husband for her. In March of 2003 they placed a classified ad in a Delhi English-language newspaper.

691

nisha sharma

Such ads are common in India, where parents arrange marriages for their adult children. Many Indians believe their most important duty as parents is to find worthy spouses for their children, and the honor of the family is often at stake. Sharma and her parents interviewed the candidates who responded to the ad. They were impressed by Munish Dalal, a twenty-five-year-old computer engineer. All parties agreed to the marriage, and the Dalals initially said that no dowry was necessary. Sharma’s father, however, gave the Dalals a gift of cash at the engagement party. The dowry is a centuries-old tradition in India, though it has been prohibited by law since the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act. It per-

“My message to all young girls is ‘Don’t give them a penny.’” sists in the form of lavish gifts given to the newlyweds and the groom’s family by the bride’s parents, and sometimes there is cash exchanged. Traditionally, a dowry was the price that the groom’s family paid to the bride and her family. It was given because the woman would leave her parents’ household and become an income-earner for her in-laws’ household instead. The amount was considered compensation for this economic setback. Dowries persisted into the modern era with a reverse twist: college-educated men with professional jobs are now considered highly eligible spouses, and a woman’s parents would offer household goods, including electronics and appliances, to sweeten the deal when they arranged the match. Such items are not called dowry payments, but rather gifts for the newlyweds to start their first home in style. When such gifts are given directly to the bridal couple, they are not considered illegal. Parents often save up for years to be able to afford the items, which can even include real estate and cars. An Indian sociologist, Ashis Nandy, told journalist Ian MacKinnon in the London Times that, although the dowry may seem out of place in a modern society like India’s, it was “easy money.” Nandy commented, “Once

692


•

volume 4

nisha sharma

Dowry Prohibition Act of 1961

Nisha Sharma cancelled her own wedding just before it was set to take place, in May of 2003. She called the police, and her father filed a complaint against the groom and his parents for demanding a dowry. Under India’s 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act, gifts or cash given to either the bride or groom by the other’s family are illegal if they are made in connection with the marriage. This law was passed to help put an end to the rising number of deaths of young brides at the time. As a widower, the man was then free to marry once again and collect another dowry from another family. Dowries differ from the “bride-price,” and are tied to India’s caste system. The caste system placed everyone in a class. The Vaishyas and Shudra castes were obligated to perform only manual-labor jobs. The marriage of a son in such a caste meant that an additional person—his new wife—would be joining the household and bringing in more earnings. Therefore a “bride-price” was paid to the bride’s family to compensate for the loss of her labor. In contrast, a dowry was common among the upper castes, the Brahmins and Kshatriyas. The dowries went by the name sthreedhan, or woman’s share of her parents’ wealth. Over the years, this became corrupted into a form of payment made directly to the groom or his family. Even though India emerged as a modern country with a growing number of educated, profes-

sional young people, the dowry endured. Much of the reason for this, critics of the practice have explained, was the high demand for consumer goods among India’s growing middle class. Television commercials, for example, show parents giving consumer goods to their overjoyed daughters for their wedding. Such cash or gifts are given to help the newlyweds begin their life together comfortably. Such practices exist in many cultures. In North America wedding showers are held before the ceremony, where invited guests give appliances, dishes, and other household items to the bride and groom, chosen from a gift registry. In contemporary India, the amount of cash and gifts given is tied to the groom’s profession. This comes from the idea that the man’s family had spent money to educate him. The higher his professional status, the more eligible a marital prospect he became on the marriage market. In India, young men who work for the country’s civil service command the highest price, followed by engineers and doctors. In India, if such gifts are given without being demanded or tied to the actual wedding vows, then they are not considered illegal. In Sharma’s case, however, her fiancé’s family asked for an additional $25,000 in cash just before the ceremony began. Munish Dalal and his mother faced up to a ten-year jail sentence and stiff fines for their greed.

Indian families paid to win the bride. Now it’s the other way round.… We are left with the belief that women are an economic burden.” Sharma’s father had been putting money aside for her weddinggift package for ten years. He arranged to give the Dalals two of each gift: two televisions, two home-theater sets, two refrigerators, two air U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

693

nisha sharma

Nisha Sharma, at her home in India, sits in front of boxes of goods bought as her wedding gift. AP/ Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

conditioners, and one car. The second set of goods was for Munish’s older brother, who became head of the Dalal household after their father died. “I wanted Nisha to get on well with her in-laws,” Dev Dutt told London Times journalist Lucy Ash. “I thought it would help if they started off with the same stuff.” Vidya Dalal, Sharma’s future motherin-law, went so far as to specify the brands of appliances she wanted.

Groom’s mother slapped bride’s father The wedding ceremony was scheduled for a May weekend. Sharma arrived, dressed in the traditional red bridal sari. Her hands and feet were painted with henna, another bridal custom. The guest list was enormous: newspapers reported it as between 1,500 and 2,000 invitees. They waited for the ceremony to begin. Behind the scenes, however, Vidya Dalal asked Sharma’s father for a $25,000 cash payment. Dev Dutt recalled in the Times interview, “When I said I didn’t have that kind of money, Mrs. Dalal asked, ‘Well, what have you brought us here for?’ and slapped me hard across the face.” Their argument erupted into a loud fight, and Mrs. Dalal’s sister-in-law spit in Dev Dutt’s face, according to the police report. Sharma learned of the trouble on her way to the ceremony, thanks to a phone call from her brother. When she arrived and found

694


•

volume 4

nisha sharma

the two families arguing, she was outraged. People quoted her as saying, “I thought, ‘Has he come to marry me or for the money?’” Knowing the Dalals were breaking the law, she then took the daring step of calling the local police. When they arrived, the police were stunned at what a turn the happy day had taken. They tried to persuade Dev Dutt to let the marriage take place. But Sharma was adamant. “I’ve never spoken to Dad like that,” she told Ash. “Why should anyone else? If they treated him so badly, they probably would have done the same to me, or worse.” Sharma had reason to worry. In India, deaths of young married women were commonplace, and even increasing in number. Some new wives were badly burned in suspicious “kitchen fires.” In 2001 alone, there were seven thousand deaths of young women that were linked to their husbands or to members of his family. Experts on domestic violence have claimed that the actual number may even be higher. Such homicides have been tied to resentment over a dowry that is considered too stingy. In other cases, the husband’s family demands more goods after the wedding. One women’s rights group in India has asserted that three to five women are brought to Indian hospitals every day with suspicious burns. In Delhi, where Sharma lived, there were 130 deaths of young married women in 2002. The Dalals and their guests fled the wedding ceremony. Sharma’s side, however, stayed on through the night to show their support for Sharma and her family. Dev Dutt went to the local police station and made a formal complaint. News organizations learned of this, and Sharma’s cancelled wedding made headlines across India the next day. Thanks to the media coverage, the police went to arrest Munish in the early morning hours. His mother was later arrested as well. Sharma was praised as a hero, an icon, and as the symbol for a new generation of modern Indian women. Women’s-rights organizations were quick to defend her actions, and newspapers and other media outlets commended her courage. “It Takes Guts to Send Your Groom Packing,” noted one Times of India headline, according to a New York Times report. The cancellation of a wedding was no minor incident, according to Sanjeev Srivastava, the Delhi correspondent for the BBC News. “Especially when the circumstances are as dramatic as the bridegroom’s party being sent away,” reported Srivastava. “It is always the bride’s family which faces ridicule and is looked down upon.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

695

nisha sharma

There were no regrets about her decision, Sharma asserted in the numerous interviews she gave to the press in the days afterward. “I’m not remorseful at all,” Sharma she told MacKinnon. “It was the right decision. As Munish was leaving the wedding garden he told people he didn’t even like me. He was only marrying me for the money and would have thrown me off a balcony in three or four weeks.” She was also grateful to her father for taking her side in the matter. Dev Dutt said that he had done so out of concern for her safety. “People say now it will be very difficult to marry my daughter again,” Dev Dutt told New York Times writer James Brooke. “But I thought, if trouble is starting today, tomorrow may be worse. It could be killing. I thought, let the money go.”

Scorned groom spread rumors Dalal and his mother were also interviewed. They claimed that Sharma had had an affair with another man, and hinted that she showed symptoms of venereal disease. But Sharma’s family said that the Dalals had lied on many occasions. Munish had said he was a computer engineer, when he was only a computer instructor—a job with far less status. Sharma’ family also claimed that Dalal’s mother had said she was the vice principal of a school, when in reality she was only a physical education instructor. Sharma’s cancelled wedding remained one of the top stories in India for days. Several more women followed her example that month, calling off weddings at the last minute and reporting the grooms to the police after financial demands on the women’s families had been made. Newspaper stories also noted that Sharma had immediately received marriage proposals from other young men because of her new celebrity status. She was offered a part in a film, and there was even talk of a comic book series that would feature her as an action hero. Six months later she married a computer hardware engineer. There was no elaborate wedding with hundreds of guests this time, just a few dozen invitees. There was also no dowry. Sharma hoped that her actions would inspire other young women. “I can only call on every Indian girl to refuse to give dowry,” Asia Africa Intelligence Wire quoted her as saying. “My experience has strengthened my belief.”

696


•

volume 4

nisha sharma

For More Information Periodicals Ash, Lucy. “ Killing in the Name of Dowry.” Times (London, England) (July 21, 2003): p. 10. “The Bride Says No: Nisha Sharma Stops Her Wedding—and Becomes a Symbol—over a $25,000 Dowry.” People (June 23, 2003): p. 65. Brooke, James. “World Briefing Asia: India: Anti-Dowry Woman Weds.” New York Times (November 20, 2003): p. A8. Brooke, James. “Dowry Too High. Lose Bride and Go to Jail.” New York Times (May 17, 2003). Jana, Reena. “Arranged Marriages, Minus the Parents.” New York Times (August 17, 2000). Kumar, Lalit. “ Nisha Sharma Takes Pheras Happily.” Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (November 21, 2003). MacKinnon, Ian. “Dowry Bride’s Last-Minute Walkout Delights India.” Times (London, England) (May 16, 2003): p. 19. “Mumbai needs a Nisha Sharma.” Asia Africa Intelligence Wire (May 29, 2003).

Web Sites Amanpour, Christiane. “For Love of Money.” CBSNews.com. http://www. cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/03/60minutes/main576466.shtml (accessed on June 11, 2004). Kak, Smitri. “Common Girl with Uncommon Grit.” Tribune Online Edition. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030525/herworld.htm (accessed on date June 27, 2004). Srivastava, Sanjeev. “Delhi Girls Rebel over Dowries.” BBC News. http:// news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3040681.stm (accessed on June 11, 2004).


•

volume 4

697

Russell Simmons

October 4, 1957 • New York New York



•

volume 4

Business executive

Russell Simmons heads an empire built by rap music. As cofounder of the pioneering record label Def Jam in the 1980s, he helped launch the careers of a number of important artists, such as Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys. His empire includes a clothing line and even an energy drink, but it is his social activism that has caused some to say he might one day make an ideal mayor of New York City. Simmons is often described as the man who made black urban culture a part of the mainstream, but Newsweek’s Johnnie L. Roberts noted that “in the view of many, he is now emerging as potentially the most credible and effective leader of the post-civilrights generation.”

Neighborhood was on borderline of rough Russell Simmons was born in 1957 in Jamaica, a part of Queens in outer New York City. He was the second of three sons in his family,

699

russell simmons

and both his parents were graduates of Howard University in Washington, D.C. His father was a teacher who eventually became a professor of black history at Pace University, and his mother worked for the New York City Parks Department as a recreation director. The Simmons family moved to the Hollis neighborhood of Queens when Simmons was eight years old. Their home was near a corner that was a known meeting place for drug users and their dealers. His older brother, Danny, was pulled in by the scene and became a heroin addict. Russell seemed headed down a similarly sad road. He began selling marijuana while still in middle school, and for a time was a member of a local gang called the Seven Immortals. When he

“Black culture or urban culture is for all people who buy into it and not just for black people. Whether it’s film or TV or records or advertising or clothing, I don’t accept the box that they put me in.” was sixteen, he shot at someone who tried to rob him. He was arrested twice on other charges and received a term of probation. Danny, however, wound up serving a stint in jail for drug use. In 1975, when he was eighteen, Simmons began taking classes at Manhattan City College. He found a job at an Orange Julius outlet in Greenwich Village, but at some point he also financed his clubgoing lifestyle by selling fake cocaine. If he was caught by the police, he reasoned, he was not doing anything illegal, but Simmons of course faced a bigger threat from angry customers. During these years he hung out at the dance clubs of New York’s outer boroughs, where the music was predominantly disco. But then a new movement filtered in, one that had come out of the roughest Bronx and Harlem neighborhoods: performers sang their own rhymes over a classic track, such as “Flashlight” from George Clinton (1941–). Simmons was at one such club in 1977 when he saw how wild the crowd went

700


•

volume 4

russell simmons

Krush Groove

The

1985 film Krush Groove was loosely based on Russell Simmons’s life up until that point. It featured an array of top music acts from the era, from Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys to LL Cool J and a young Bobby Brown when he was still a member of New Edition. It was directed by Michael Schultz (1938–), who made two earlier cinematic classics of African American urban life, Cooley High and Car Wash. Simmons was one of the film’s producers. Two decades after its release, Krush Groove has become a cult classic, a snapshot of the early days of rap music when cultural critics and record company

executives predicted the style was simply a fad. A then-unknown actor named Blair Underwood (1964–) was cast in the role of New York City music promoter Russell Walker, owner of the label Krush Groove. One of his acts has a surefire hit, but Walker does not have the funds to press the records, and enters into a dangerous financial arrangement with local drug dealers and loan sharks. He also battles with one of his stars over another artist, Sheila E. (1957–), whom both want to date. The plot of the movie, however, was beside the point: Simmons wanted to showcase the array of young talent emerging from New York’s black music scene, and depict its vibrancy, too.

over one song from an early rapper and DJ named Eddie Cheeba, and he decided that this was the sound of the future. His future, in particular. Simmons quit the fake drug business, and eventually left City College just a few credits short of a degree in sociology. He began promoting concerts, and then formed his own management company for artists, which he called Rush Management, after his childhood nickname. Some of the first rap songs ever played on radio were from his acts, including “Christmas Rappin’” from Kurtis Blow (1959–). He also managed Whodini, but it was the group that his teenaged brother, Joey (1964–), joined back in Hollis that put Simmons and his company on the map.

Launched rap’s first serious label Joey was the “Run” in Run-D.M.C., which had a spare, hardcore style of rapping that was also full of clever humor and incisive social commentary. The group’s first single, “It’s Like That,” was released in 1983 and set the tone for the rest of the decade. Simmons helped make his brother’s group immensely successful, especially after he teamed with a white college student from Long Island, Rick Rubin (1963–), to launch Def Jam Records in 1985. With their first office U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

701

russell simmons

located in Rubin’s dormitory room at New York University, they emerged as the first big players on the rap music scene. The label’s first single was from LL Cool J (1968–), “I Need A Beat,” and helped bring Simmons and Rubin a distribution deal with CBS Records. During the mid-1980s Simmons became known for his sharp ear and ability to predict the next big thing in music. He helped bring the Beastie Boys to a wider audience, and even revived the careers of the fading rock act Aerosmith, when Run-D.M.C. covered their 1975 hit “Walk This Way.” The two groups even made a video together, which became a classic of MTV’s first decade on the air. As Fast Company writer Jennifer Reingold explained, by 2003 “the marriage of hard rock and rap seems natural, two strands of the same teenage angst and anger. But in the mid-1980s, the idea that black street kids and white suburbanites could like the same music was shocking.” Simmons went on to shepherd such performers as Will Smith (1968–), when he was still the rapper known as “Fresh Prince,” as well as Public Enemy, to mainstream success. When asked by model/writer Veronica Webb in an article in Interview whether he had “invented” the rap genre, he said no. “I didn’t invent it,” he explained, “but I was the first to believe that the artist was bigger than the song. Other labels believed that artists only live record to record. I didn’t have that disco mentality that you threw the artists away after the song hit.” He and Rubin dissolved their business partnership in the late 1980s, but Simmons moved on to conquer audiences elsewhere. He launched Def Comedy Jam, which introduced comedians like Martin Lawrence (1965–) and Bernie Mac (1958–) in the early 1990s, and it became one of the top-rated shows on HBO. In 1992 Simmons founded Phat Fashions, a clothing line, which began growing at a rate of about thirty percent annually over the next decade.

Expanded empire to serve community Rush Communications became the umbrella group for all of Simmons’s ventures. At one point early in the 2000s, these included an energy soda called DefCon3, a wireless phone he designed for Motorola that sold for $549, a joint venture with a top Manhattan advertising agency, a sneaker company with his brother, and the Rush Card, a prepaid Visa debit card aimed at the forty-five million Americans who do not have checking account or access to credit cards.

702


•

volume 4

russell simmons

Simmons said the idea for the debit card came after someone suggested the idea of a prepaid phone card. While the pitch he heard sounded profitable, it was also a rip-off for the users. “I will turn away a deal.… Because people have dollar signs in their eyes,” he told Business Week Online writer David Liss. “Making money is a pedestrian activity. The challenge is in creating a product or service that the world really needs.”

From left, rapper Eminem, Russell Simmons, Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, CEO of the Hip-Hop Summitt, backstage at the 2003 Detroit Hip-Hop Summitt. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

As committed as he is to building an empire that keeps him at the top of the lists of black-owned entertainment companies in America, Simmons is also interested in moving forward on several new fronts. He launched the Def Poetry Jam, which was also carried by HBO and even became a Tony-Award-winning Broadway show in 2003, and he serves as board chair of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. The summits are held in various American cities, and mayors regularly appear along with special guests like Snoop Dogg U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

703

russell simmons

(1972–). They aim to raise political awareness among young Americans, and also serve as a voter registration event. The political power that Simmons was suddenly holding brought all the major presidential hopefuls of the Democratic Party—from John Kerry (1943–) to Al Sharpton (1954–)—to his summit to discuss issues late in 2003.

Devotee of yoga and Deepak Chopra Simmons sold his remaining stake in Def Jam in 1999 for $120 million. Four years later, his empire was estimated to be bringing in sales of $530 million annually. Much of that came from his clothing line, which he expanded with his wife, former model Kimora Lee Simmons (1975–), to include Baby Phat and Phat Farm Kids. They sold a stake in their company in early 2004 for $140 million, in an attempt to bring it into more department and specialty stores. “When I started,” he told New York writer Vanessa Grigoriadis in 1998, “they wanted to put me in the ethnic part of the department store. But Phat Farm’s best-selling item is a pink golf sweater—it’s not a grass skirt or a dashiki.” Since then, Simmons has made Phat Farm competitive with such clothing lines as Polo Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger. In his 2002 autobiography, Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money and God, Simmons recounts his business successes and the personal philosophies that keep him grounded. A vegan, he practices yoga daily and makes all his employees read The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra (1946–) and then submit a report on the book. Some of his top executives began as interns at the company long ago. “I surround myself with people that share the same spirituality that I believe in,” he told Liss. “People who are focused on living better and not just on being out for themselves. I want to be around people who aren’t just money-oriented but are focused on how they can give back to the community.” Simmons enjoys a lifestyle that mirrors that of the most successful of his music legends, but it is also one that puts him in the same categories as corporate New York’s biggest players. He has an office on the forty-third floor of a midtown Manhattan skyscraper, spends summer vacations in the Hamptons, and lives with his wife and two young daughters in a 35,000-square-foot mansion in Saddle River, New Jersey. He and his wife hosted a fundraiser for Hillary

704


•

volume 4

russell simmons

Clinton (1947–) during her successful bid for a New York State Senate seat in 2002, and he has also worked to overturn the harsh New York State statutes known as the Rockefeller drug laws. These date back to 1973 and the term of Governor Nelson Rockefeller (1908–1979), and force courts to give even first-time drug users long jail terms. Simmons has met with New York Governor George E. Pataki (1945–), and has traveled often to the state capital in Albany to convince legislators to replace these laws with more balanced sentencing guidelines. Governor Pataki is just one of many high-profile New Yorkers who respect Simmons. According to Newsweek’s Roberts, fellow rap mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs (1971–) said that “Russell is raising the bar for us with our power to be responsible, not just for ourselves but for our people.” Real estate mogul Donald Trump (1946–) told Reingold that “I consider him one of the great entrepreneurs out there today. He’s a fabulous guy with a tremendous understanding of business.” Simmons is sometimes mentioned as a future New York mayoral candidate, but he claims to have no political ambitions—other than using his platform to raise awareness about timely issues. These range from the war in Iraq to the New York City school budget. “I’m not telling people anything that’s a shock,” he said in an Inc. interview with Rod Kurtz. “Maybe I’m telling them things they’ve already heard before. But maybe because of my luck and success, they believe me.”

For More Information Periodicals Berfield, Susan. “The CEO of Hip Hop; Impresario Russell Simmons Has Brought Urban Style to Mainstream America—And Helped Other Big Marketers Do The Same. An Inside Look at His Growing Influence.” Business Week (October 27, 2003): p. 90. Espinoza, Galina. “Phat Cats: Russell and Kimora Simmons Are a Volatile Duo—But They’re Coolly Confident about Phat Fashions, Their Hot Hip-Hop Clothing Empire.” People (July 1, 2002): p. 97. Greenberg, Julee. “Keeping It Real.” WWD (April 10, 2003): p. 6. Grigoriadis, Vanessa. “Russell Simmons: Hip-Hop Honcho.” New York (April 6, 1998). This article can also be found online at http://www. newyorkmetro.com. Kurtz, Rod. “Russell Simmons.” Inc. (April 1, 2004).


•

volume 4

705

russell simmons Lewis, Miles Marshall. “Russell Simmons’s Rap.” Nation (January 13, 2003): p. 21. Liss, David. “Tapping the Spirit of Success; Entrepreneur Russell Simmons Thanks Yoga’s Philosophy for Giving Him the Principles to Operate His Ever-Growing Hip-Hop Empire.” Business Week Online (January 13, 2004). Reingold, Jennifer. “Rush Hour.” Fast Company (November 2003): p. 76. Reynolds, J. R. “Rapping with Russell: A Q&A with the CEO.” Billboard (November 4, 1995): p. 32. Roberts, Johnnie L. “Beyond Definition: Through His Def Jam Record Label, Russell Simmons Made Hip-Hop into an Unstoppable Cultural Force. Now He’s Turning up the Volume in Politics and Business.” Newsweek (July 28, 2003): p. 40. Roberts, Johnnie L. “Mr. Rap Goes to Washington: Russell Simmons Helped Take Hip-Hop Mainstream. Can He Make Politics Cool?” Newsweek (September 4, 2000): p. 22. Schlosser, Julie. “Russell Simmons Wants You—To Vote.” Fortune (May 17, 2004): p. 41. Webb, Veronica. “Happy Birthday to ‘Huge Hefner.’” Interview (November 1995): p. 72.

706


•

volume 4

Jessica Simpson

July 10, 1980 • Richardson, Texas


•

© Nancy Kaszerman/Zuma/Corbis.

volume 4

Singer

Pop star Jessica Simpson’s career has been something of a roller coaster ride, rife with stomach-lurching highs and lows and unexpected turns. She began singing Christian music professionally as a preteen and earned a record deal in her early teens. After several disappointments, she made the transition to pop music. Her star never quite reached the heights that Britney Spears achieved—not until she and husband Nick Lachey appeared in their own reality television series, Newlyweds. Then Simpson’s career took off with the release of her most successful album to date, In This Skin, the launch of her own line of beauty products, and a sitcom in the works.

Sang in church Jessica Simpson was born on July 10, 1980, in Richardson Texas, north of Dallas. Her father, Joe, was a psychologist and a youth minister. Simpson’s first singing experiences were in the church choir. Her

707

jessica simpson

talent was evident at an early age and she had begun performing publicly on the gospel circuit by age eleven. When the budding performer found out in 1992 that the Disney Channel was holding auditions for the New Mickey Mouse Club, she jumped at the opportunity. Simpson tried out at a regional audition in Dallas and was selected out of more than thirty thousand other contestants as a finalist for a cast position. She lost out to Britney Spears (1981–) and Christina Aguilera (1980–). Although she was disappointed, Simpson’s close-knit family encouraged her not to give up on her dream of becoming a singer. Simpson persisted and a year later, at age thirteen, she was discovered while singing at church camp. The camp’s guest speaker, who

“I’m such a sucker for big sappy songs. I’m a big romantic and I love love. I love singing about it and listening to songs about it.” was in the process of launching a record label, saw her belting out an a cappella version of “Amazing Grace.” He quickly signed her to the fledgling gospel label, Proclaim Records, and Simpson began working on her first album, Jessica. But once the album was completed, Proclaim Records folded, leaving Simpson with a record but no one to sell it. Once again her family urged her to keep fighting for her dream, and Simpson’s grandmother put up the money she needed to release Jessica herself. To promote the album, Simpson and her father hit the Christian music circuit. Joe Simpson would preach to young adults and Jessica would be the featured musical performer. Afterward, Jessica would sell her CD to moved listeners. Simpson became popular on the circuit and proceeded to open for such well-known spiritual performers as CeCe Winans and Kirk Franklin. Simpson also took her album to several other Christian record companies, but was turned away again and again. The primary reason for her rejection was her beauty and curvy figure. “They said it could cause guys to lust,” Simpson explained to the Knight/Ridder Tribune

708


•

volume 4

jessica simpson

Ashlee Simpson

A shlee

Simpson may be following in her older sister’s footsteps, releasing a record and starring in her own reality television show, but she is paving her own road to success. While Jessica Simpson has made a name for herself with several pop albums, Ashlee prefers rock music and cites such influences as Janis Joplin (1943–1970) and Chrissie Hynde (1951–). Jessica, who performed on VH1’s Divas Live in 2004, is the glamorous sister, with her long, blond hair in waves. Ashlee’s style is more punk; she frequently wears jeans and lets her hair—dyed brunette—hang straight and loose. Ashlee Nicole Simpson was born on October 3, 1984, in Texas. She began taking dance lessons at age three. At age eleven, Ashlee was the youngest person ever admitted to the prestigious School of American Ballet. The Simpson family moved to Los Angeles when Ashlee was 14, and she performed with her sister as a background dancer. She then began to pursue an acting career, winning a guest

appearance on Malcolm in the Middle. In 2002 Simpson earned a regular role on the WB’s 7th Heaven, playing Cecilia Smith for two years. Simpson’s first musical break came in 2003 when her song “Just Let Me Cry” was selected for the soundtrack of Freaky Friday. She then signed a record deal with Geffen Records and began work on her debut album. MTV cameras followed Simpson as she met with record executives, co-wrote songs, and recorded tracks. The resulting series, The Ashlee Simpson Show, aired in June of 2004. Viewers watched as Simpson went through the process of trying to find the right producers and the right focus for her album, which she hoped to make a reflection of herself and not her famous sister. “[Jessica] is an amazing artist with a beautiful voice,“ Ashlee told Chuck Taylor of Billboard. “But I have never listened to the kind of music that she does. We’re both doing music—but in very different ways, and it‘s cool.” The junior Simpson’s debut album, Autobiography, was released in 2004.

News Service. “…I didn’t understand why they were passing judgment on me, especially since I walked in in overalls, nothing revealing.” Unable to obtain a record deal in Christian music, Simpson decided to branch out into pop music. In order to help their daughter make this transition, the Simpson family hired entertainment attorney Tim Medlebaum, who proceeded to set up meetings with nine record labels. When she met with and sang for Sony Music executive Tommy Motolla, he signed her on the spot. Now, with the backing of a major label, Simpson was ready to record her pop debut.

Released debut pop album Sweet Kisses was released in 1999. The album contained catchy ballads and pop tunes, all emphasized by the singer’s expressive vocal ability. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

709

jessica simpson

Jessica Simpson performs at VH1 Divas concert, April 18, 2004. Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com.

The album climbed the charts and eventually reached platinum status. The same year Simpson also recorded “Did You Ever Love Somebody” for the soundtrack to the popular television show Dawson’s Creek. Simpson, well on her way to becoming a major star, toured to promote her album, opening for well-known artists such as Latin pop star Ricky Martin and boy band 98 Degrees. “It was an amazing time for me,” Simpson commented on her Web Site. “I was 17 and seeing the world, doing what I loved and doing it in a way that felt right.” Simpson also began dating Nick Lachey (1973–), a member of 98 Degrees.

710


•

volume 4

jessica simpson

Simpson shortly found herself a major player in the teen pop arena, sharing chart space and magazine covers with other female hit makers including Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Mandy Moore (1984–). The Texas-born vocalist was able to distinguish herself by both exercising her talent and presenting a sexy, though wholesome image. “My whole thing is that I think innocence is sexy. That’s my image—that you can be sexy and innocent,” Simpson told Ray Rogers in Interview. Simpson was an advocate for premarital abstinence and worked hard to be a positive role model for teen girls. In 2000 she turned down the lead in the film Coyote Ugly because a particular sex-inclusive scene conflicted with her values. In 2001, Simpson released her sophomore effort, Irresistible, which was a more sophisticated record that reflected the singer’s maturity. “This record is about who I am now,” she told Cosmopolitan. “The music is edgier, and I’m all gown up.” Now twenty-one years old, Simpson had learned who she was as a person and an artist. This album, however, did not fare as well commercially as Sweet Kisses. Branching out into acting, Simpson made a guest appearance on That ’70s Show in 2002, reprising this role twice more in 2003. She also appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone. She then took on a role that would bring her both personal happiness and professional success: the role of wife. Although she and Lachey had broken up for a period of six months in 2001, in part because Simpson, who was eighteen when she began dating Lachey, needed some time on her own to learn who she was independent of a relationship. But the pair soon realized that they belonged together. On October 26, 2002, the two were married. MTV chronicled their lives as a newly married couple with Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, which debuted in August of 2003. The reality show became a huge hit, with 2.7 million viewers tuning in each week. “Going into the show, we both were very clear to each other that we wanted it to be raw and natural and we weren’t going to be afraid to fight,” Lachey told Entertainment Weekly. And so, in addition to the adjustments that came with married life, the couple also had to adjust to the presence of cameras. But they soon got used to the cameras. “We don’t have anything to hide.… We wanted people to know how normal we are—that we get frustrated dealing with newlywed things,” Simpson told Redbook. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

711

jessica simpson

Chicken or fish? Their normalcy is part of what attracted viewers to the show. Simpson and Lachey argued over bills and housekeeping chores, went on a camping trip together, and adjusted to living with each other. As Lachey told Redbook, “It‘s an adjustment getting used to the things she does and her getting used to things that I do. She‘s sloppier than I would like. She leaves towels lying around and doesn’t turn off lights.… It’s about finding a middle ground.” Viewers have also enjoyed the comic moments of their lives, especially the more ditzy comments that Simpson has made. Her most infamous “dumb blond” moment occurred when, after opening a can of Chicken of the Sea brand tuna, she wondered if she was eating chicken or tuna. Now a television star, Simpson released her third album, In This Skin. The song “With You” was the fastest-rising single of her career. Fans of Newlyweds particularly enjoyed her sense of humor about her image, as demonstrated in the music video for “With You,” which featured Simpson eating tuna fish. “It’s okay to stick your foot in your mouth,” she told Entertainment Weekly, “just laugh at yourself with everybody else.” An expanded version of In This Skin was released in the summer of 2004 and included footage from Newlyweds. Simpson then went on tour to support her new album. Building on the success of Newlyweds (a second season aired in January of 2004), after her concert tour Simpson tackled several other projects. ABC tapped Simpson and Lachey for the Nick & Jessica Variety Hour, which aired in April of 2004. Also in April, Simpson launched a line of kissable, tasteable beauty products, called Dessert Beauty. She also had a sitcom in the works, and was being considered for several movie roles. Simpson has persevered through early career disappointments to achieve her dream of becoming a professional singer, and has surpassed that dream, achieving stardom as a television personality. “I think my definition of true success is success within myself,” Simpson told Lance Bass in Interview. “People can talk about how many albums you’re supposed to sell, or what your videos are supposed to look like, but who are they? If I feel confident about what I’m doing, then I feel successful.”

712


•

volume 4

jessica simpson

For More Information Books Contemporary Musicians, volume 34. Gale, 2002.

Periodicals Armstrong, Jennifer. “Married … With Cameras: MTV’s Nick and Jessica Are Good Singers, but Better Newlyweds—and They’re Not Too Chicken (or Is it Fish?) to Admit It.” Entertainment Weekly (January 26, 2004). Bass, Lance. “Jessica Simpson.” Interview (August 2001). Dykstra, Katherine. “Jessica & Nick’s True Love Story: in an Exclusive Interview, They Reveal Their Most Heartbreaking Day, the Night that Sealed Their Love, and the Secret Thing She Does Very Well.” Redbook (March 2004). “Despite Sexy Image, Jessica Simpson Stays True to Her Gospel Roots.” Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service (August 27, 2001). Kizis, Donna. “Jessica Simpson Sizzles.” Cosmopolitan (June 2001): p. 182. “Want a Taste …? Jessica Simpson, Randi Shinder Launch Dessert Beauty First-Ever Kissable, Tasteable Fragrance and Body Care Collection to Be Unveiled This Month.” PR Newswire (April 26, 2004). Rogers, Ray. “Jessica Simpson.” Interview (December 1999). Taylor, Chuck. “Singing’s Not an Act for Simpson.” Billboard (July 17, 2004).

Web Sites “Ashlee Simpson Biography.” All Music Guide http://www.allmusic.com/ cg/amg.dll?p=amg&searchlink=ASHLEE|SIMPSON&uid=MIDMR04 08231148&sql=11:z8de4j176wa4~T1 (accessed on August 23, 2004). “Ashlee Simpson.” Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/name/ nm1249883 (accessed on August 23, 2004). Jessica Simpson http://www.jessicasimpson.com (accessed on August 23, 2004). “Jessica Simpson Biography.” All Music Guide http://www.allmusic.com/ cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=CADMR0408231401&sql=11:rhuf6j377190 ~T1 (accessed on August 23, 2004).


•

volume 4

713

Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler)

1970 • San Francisco, California

AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission


•

volume 4

Author, poet

M

any writers publish their work under a pseudonym, or alternate name. But Daniel Handler, a.k.a. Lemony Snicket, may be the only writer to have three identities. As Catherine Mallette of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram explained, Handler is “an author who is simultaneously a fictional character named Snicket, a representative of a fictional character named Snicket, and a best-selling writer.” Under his given name, Daniel Handler, he has published two novels for adults, The Basic Eight and Watch Your Mouth. In addition, he has published eleven of the planned thirteen books in a series for children called A Series of Unfortunate Events under the name Lemony Snicket. Snicket, however, continually misses his public appearances, due to some unforeseen disaster, and Handler must step in and inform the masses of children who have come to see Snicket that they will have to settle for Snicket’s representative—Handler.

715

lemony snicket (daniel handler)

Preferred dark fiction as a youth Daniel Handler was born in 1970 in San Francisco, California, the son of an accountant and a college dean. An avid reader, he hated books that were overly happy. “If a book had a syrupy ending, he’d toss it aside,” Handler’s father, Louis, recalled to James Sullivan of Book. “It drove him crazy.” Instead, Handler preferred darker works by such writers as Roald Dahl (1916–1990) or Edward Gorey (1925–2000). He attended Lowell High School, a prestigious San Francisco school, graduating in 1988. For college, he selected Wesleyan University. He began writing poetry and won the 1990 Poets Prize from the Academy of American Poets. But he soon turned toward the longer form of fic-

“What I think has rankled some people about the books is that they show that if you’re good, you’re not necessarily rewarded.” tion. After graduating from Wesleyan he won an Olin Fellowship, the funding from which allowed him to write his first novel. Handler spent the mid-1990s working on his novel, and also wrote comedy sketches for a national radio show. He then moved to New York City, where he worked as a freelance book and movie critic. The Basic Eight was published in 1999. The book takes the form of a diary, written by the character Flannery Culp while she is in prison for the murder of a teacher and fellow high school student. In her journal, she recalls the events of her senior year at Roewer High School that led to the murders. Reviews for Handler’s debut novel were mixed. Publishers Weekly noted that the author’s “confident satire is not only cheeky but packed with downright lovable characters whose youthful misadventures keep the novel neatly balanced between absurdity and poignancy.” The New Yorker, however, noted that “the book is weakened by his [Handler’s] attempt to turn a clever idea into social satire.” Handler’s next novel, Watch Your Mouth, (2000) was the tale of Joseph, a college junior who lets his studies slide after falling in love.

716


•

volume 4


After finishing one class with a grade of incomplete (given when a student does not complete all the requirements of a class), his girlfriend, Cynthia, whom he calls Cyn, invites him to spend the summer with her family in Pittsburgh. Joseph is delighted at the chance to spend this summer with Cyn. But after he meets her family, a dark suspicion builds in his mind—that Cyn’s family is involved in incest. Handler’s second effort again received mixed reviews. Some critics praised the quirky quality of the book, while others found the story too twisted for their taste.

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Series

Lemony Snicket is born According to the Lemony Snicket Web site, “Lemony Snicket was born before you were, and is likely to die before you as well.” Snicket’s birth date may be unclear, but he was first conceived as Handler’s first novel was being published. Since the novel was set in a high school, it was sometimes mistakenly sent to editors of children’s books. Editor Susan Rich saw real potential for Handler as a children’s author and approached him about trying to write for a younger audience. At first Handler was resistant, but he then pitched an idea for the kind of story that he would have enjoyed as a kid: a dark tale about three orphans who have lost their parents in a fire and are sent to live with a distant cousin, Count Olaf, who wants nothing more than to steal the children’s inheritance. Handler never expected his idea to receive the publisher’s support, but Rich loved it and soon Handler was at work on the first of A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Below are the first eleven books of the planned thirteen in the series. The Bad Beginning, 1999. The Reptile Room, 1999. The Wide Window, 2000. The Miserable Mill, 2000. The Austere Academy, 2000. The Ersatz Elevator, 2001.

The story of the three Baudelaire children—Violet, Klaus, and Sunny—is told by Lemony Snicket, a name Handler first invented in order to keep himself off of unwanted mailing lists. The biography of Snicket on the Lemony Snicket Web site notes that he was born in a country that is now underwater and has been researching the lives of the Baudelaire orphans for “several eras.” Snicket is described on the Web site as “eternally pursued and insatiably inquisitive, a hermit and a nomad.” Readers who wish to learn more about the life of Lemony Snicket can turn to Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography. Published in 2002, the autobiography features thirteen chapters of notes, songs, letters, photos, newspaper clippings, and other documents. The book additionally includes more information about the characters U•X•L newsmakers

The Vile Village, 2001. The Hostile Hospital, 2001. The Carniverous Carnival, 2002. The Slippery Slope, 2003. The Grim Grotto, 2004.

•

volume 4

717


in A Series of Unfortunate Events. The book also suggests that there is a connection between the Snicket family and the Baudelaires. Handler, as Snicket’s representative, wrote the preface to the book. A Series of Unfortunate Events starts with The Bad Beginning, published in 1999. On the first page, Snicket lets his readers know what kind of story they are in for: “If you are interested in stories with happy endings,” he writes, ”you would be better off with another book. In this book, not only is there no happy ending, there is no happy beginning, and very few happy things in the middle.” Regardless of the lack of “happy” material, The Bad Beginning and each subsequent installment of the series was embraced by readers of all ages. Handler was dumbfounded by the huge success of the Snicket books. “I thought [Susan Rich and I] were two crazy people,” he told Mallette. “Then I thought the publishing house was a bunch of crazy people. Now, it seems everyone’s crazy. The books just failed to fail.” Indeed, by 2003 the books had sold more than thirteen million copies, had been translated into thirty-seven languages, and had been sold in over forty countries.

Success comes as a surprise Part of the success of the books is due to the fact that Snicket does not talk down to his young readers. He uses big words, and humorously inserts vocabulary lessons. Some readers, however, have objected to Snicket’s books. These critics consider them too dark for children and disapprove of the fact that every adult the children meet is, according to Mallette, “completely clueless and incompetent.” The books have even been banned in Decatur, Georgia. But Handler argues that the message of the Snicket books is true to life: good behavior is not automatically rewarded, but you should always try to do the right thing anyway. The Baudelaire children must rely on their wits to escape each disaster, rather than expecting that good things will come their way simply because they are good. A movie based on the first three books in the series was set for release in December of 2004. The film stars Jim Carrey (1962–) as the evil Count Olaf and features Meryl Streep (1949–) as Aunt Josephine. Jude Law (1972–) narrates the film in the role of Snicket. Fans of the books eagerly awaited the film, but the Lemony Snicket Web site warned, “Unless you have a taste for dark rooms, sticky floors, stale popcorn, and unhappy endings, steer clear of the movie.”

718


•

volume 4


Lemony Snicket’s Inspiration: Edward Gorey

The first book that Daniel Handler bought with his own money was The Blue Aspic by Edward Gorey. Born in Chicago in 1925, Gorey was a writer and illustrator who published more than one hundred books. Like Handler’s books, Gorey’s work appeals to a wide age group. His children’s books create a dark world where children are not safe from unhappy events. Alison Lurie, writing in New York Times Review of Books, noted that children in Gorey’s books “fall victim to natural disasters, are carried off by giant birds, or are eaten by comic monsters.… Yet somehow the overall effect is not tragic but comic.” After graduating from high school, Gorey served in the U.S. Army from 1944 to 1946. He attended Harvard University, earning a degree in French. Gorey then went to work for the publishing company Doubleday in 1953, serving as illustrator for several books. His first book, The Unstrung Harp, was also published that year. He later left Doubleday, forming his own independent press. His first children’s book was The Doubtful Guest (1957), in which a family finds themselves hous-

ing a most unusual guest—a creature that looks like a cross between a penguin and an anteater and wears high-top sneakers and a flowing scarf. One of his most notorious children’s books, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, was published in 1962. This alphabet book chronicles the deaths of twenty-six children, all in rhyming order: “A is for AMY who fell down the stairs / B is for BASIL assaulted by bears.” Although many of his books were intended for children as well as adults, they were not all published as children’s books. To this day, critics argue if Gorey’s work can be considered children’s literature, given the dark subject matter and “unfortunate events” that happen to children in these stories. It is this very belief that children need to be protected from unhappy events that the Lemony Snicket books reject. In addition to writing and illustrating, Gorey also designed sets for theatrical productions, beginning with a 1977 version of Dracula for which he received a Tony Award. Gorey, who never married, died of a heart attack in April of 2000.

Daniel Handler is married to Lisa Brown, a graphic artist. The couple has one child. Lemony Snicket dedicates each book to a woman named Beatrice. The details of Beatrice’s relationship to Snicket remain a mystery. When asked about Beatrice’s identity he responded on the Lemony Snicket Web site, “This answer is so terrible that I cannot even begin to say it without weeping. O Beatrice! My Beatrice!”

For More Information Books “Edward Gorey.” Authors and Artists for Young Adults, Volume 40. Gale Group, 2001. “Lemony Snicket.” Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2004.


•

volume 4

719


Periodicals Fierman, Daniel. “Lemony Snicket.” Entertainment Weekly (April 23, 2004): p. 58. Lurie, Alison. “On Edward Gorey (1925–2000).” New York Times Review of Books (May 25, 2000): p. 20. Mallette, Catherine. “Tracking Lemony Snicket. The True Story (Well, Mostly) of the Mysterious, Fugitive, Best-Selling Author of A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas) (September 24, 2003). “Review of The Basic Eight.” Publishers Weekly (March 1, 1999): p. 59. “Review of The Basic Eight.” New Yorker (June 21, 1999). Scott, Laura. “Review of Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiograhy.” School Library Journal (July 2002): p. 124. Sullivan, James. “He’s Having a Baby: This Halloween, After Four Years of Torturing Children, Superstar Author Lemony Snicket is Getting Exactly What He Deserves.” Book (November–December 2003).

Web Sites LemonySnicket.com. http://www.lemonysnicket.com (accessed on August 25, 2004).

720


•

volume 4

Annika Sorenstam

October 9, 1970 • Stockholm, Sweden



•

volume 4

Golfer

S wedish golfer Annika Sorenstam is one of the best golfers to set foot on the green. She won the first two U.S. Opens that she competed in and has been inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. “I‘m very proud about what I’ve done and pleased about my career,” she told Golf World. By June of 2004 she had fifty-two victories to her credit, ranking her in sixth place among the best players in golf history. With such impressive achievements behind her, she began to consider the possibility of retiring in the next few years.

Chose golf over tennis Annika Sorenstam was born on October 9, 1970, in Stockholm, Sweden. Her father, Tom, was an executive for IBM. Both her parents were athletically inclined, and participated in several sports including track and field, handball, basketball, and golf. As a youth Sorenstam most enjoyed playing tennis. She participated in her first tennis tour-

721

annika sorenstam

nament at age five, but by age sixteen she began to feel burned out on the sport. She had begun playing golf at age twelve, and now turned her energies toward this sport. Golf, she found, suited her better than tennis. “In tennis, you always have to have a partner.… In golf, I could be on my own,” she told SI.com. She qualified for the Swedish junior national team, and her career took off from there. In 1990 Sorenstam was offered an athletic scholarship to the University of Arizona at Tuscon. In her freshman year she won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) golf championship and was also named College Player of the Year. She left school after her second year in order to play golf professionally. She went to

“I am a person that’s all or nothing. If I can’t be on top, because I have been there, then I don’t know if I can handle that. I don’t like finishing in the middle. I never have.” Europe, qualifying for the European Women’s Tour in 1993. She was named Rookie of the Year on that tour. The following year she qualified for the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) and earned the title of Rookie of the Year. In 1995 Sorenstam finished in the top ten for seven of the eleven tournaments and then won the U.S. Women’s Open, which is the most prestigious event in women’s golf. That same year she was awarded the Vare Trophy, given to the player with the lowest scoring average of the season, and was named LPGA Player of the Year. After working so hard for all her achievements in the early 1990s, Sorenstam needed a break. She gave herself until mid-March of 1996 before returning, refreshed, to the golf circuit. Once again, she won the Women’s Open, as well as the Vare Trophy—this time with the second lowest score ever (70.47), next to Beth Daniels who finished 1989 with an average score of 70.38. She also won the Samsung World Championship of Golf and the CoreStates Betsy King

722


•

volume 4

annika sorenstam

Annika Sorenstam hits from the sand trap during the Bank of America Colonial. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Classic. Sorenstam made the top ten in fourteen tournaments and finished in the top five seven times.

Failed to win a three-peat No women’s golfer had ever won at the U.S. Open three times in a row. In 1997 the pressure was on Sorenstam to do just that. Although she performed admirably that year, with six wins—the Chrystler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions, the Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open, the Longs Drug Challenge, the Michelob Light Classic, the CoreStates Betsy King Classic, and the ITT LPGA Tour Championship—she could not pull off another Women’s Open win. Her top rival that year was Kerrie Webb, who took the 1997 Vare Trophy. But the competition inspired Sorenstam to work harder, and she was once more named the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year. In 1998 Sorenstam reclaimed the Vare Trophy, breaking Beth Daniels’ record by finishing the year with an average score under seventy. She won five more championships: the Safeco Classic, the Michelob Light Classic, the ShopTire LPGA Classic, and the JAL Big Apple Classic. The following year she won only one tournament, but in 2000 she performed at top level, winning five championships. In 2003 Sorenstam became the first woman to play in a Professional Golf Association (PGA) event in fifty-eight years. That May she competed in the Bank of America Colonial. However, not all of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

723

annika sorenstam

her fellow players appreciated her presence. Two weeks before the tournament, Vijay Singh said, according to SI.com, “I hope she misses the cut.” Although Sorenstam did fail to make the final cut, she found the experience invaluable, feeling that she had come away from the Colonial a better player. She called the event “the greatest thing that will ever happen to me, golfwise,” as quoted by Steve Elling of the Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service. “The pressure I was under, I figured if I can handle that, I should be able to handle everything.”

Inducted into Hall of Fame That same year Sorenstam was inducted into the World Gold Hall of Fame, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to the Hall. For her, 2003 was “definitely the most memorable year I’ve had,” according to Elling. Indeed, after winning three of the four major LPGA tournaments and participating at Colonial, 2003 could easily be considered her best season yet. Yet the Women’s Open title still eluded her. After her two initial wins, she failed to claim another U.S. Open title. She had come close several times but, as she told Hank Goal of the Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service, “A lot of the time I get in my own way. I want it so badly that I screw up.” But Sorenstam did not let this get her down. “The competition is tough; the courses are tough,” she told Gola. “But I’ve learned a little bit the last few years.” Her game-plan for future U.S. Opens was, as she told Gola, “to go back to basics, playing my own game, taking it one day at a time and one shot at a time.” By 2004 Sorenstam had begun to talk about the possibility of retirement. Her desire is to keep playing as long as she still enjoys the game and pushing herself to perform at top level. But, as she told David Teel of the Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service,“The competition is getting tougher every year. So the question is how much longer can I do that? I think that will determine how long I play.” Sorenstam married David Esch in January of 1997. In her free time, she enjoys computers, cooking, and music.

For More Information Books “Annika Sorenstam.” Great Women in Sports. Visible Ink Press, 1996.

724


•

volume 4

annika sorenstam

Periodicals Elling, Steve. “Sorenstam Makes It to Hall.” Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service (October 20, 2003). Gola, Hank. “Sorenstam Struggling Heading into U.S. Open.” Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service (July 2, 2004). Sirak, Ron. “Let the Debate Begin: As Annika Sorenstam Adds Seventh Major Trophy to Her Collection, Some Peers Ask: Is She the Best Female Golfer Ever?” Golf World (June 18, 2004). Teel, David. “When Sorenstam Exits LPGA, It Will Be on Her Terms.” Knight/Ridder Tribune News Service (May 6, 2004).

Web Sites “Daddy Knows Best: Sorenstam Owes Success to Father’s Early Lessons.” SI.com (October 18, 2003). http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2003/golf/ 10/18/bc.glf.sorenstam.ssucce.ap/index.html (accessed on August 26, 2004).


•

volume 4

725

Gary Soto

April 12, 1952 • Fresno, California



•

volume 4

Author

G ary Soto is a man who writes from experience. He grew up in one of the many barrios (poor Mexican American neighborhoods) of Fresno, California, and since the mid-1970s he has borrowed from that community to create an astonishing number of works. Soto, however, does not see himself as strictly a Chicano author. True, in his over twenty books of poetry and prose for adults and in over thirty books for younger readers, he focuses on the daily trials and tribulations of Spanish-speaking Americans. But, through crisp, clear imagery and his true-to-life characters, Soto connects with readers of all ages and backgrounds. As he explained in his Scholastic Booklist biography, “Even though I write a lot about life in the barrio, I am really writing about the feelings and experiences of most American kids.” As a result, Soto is considered to be one of the most important contemporary authors in the United States.

727

gary soto

Life in the barrio Gary Soto was born on April 12, 1952, the second child of Manuel and Angie Soto. The family lived in Fresno, California, and like many Mexican Americans Soto’s parents and grandparents worked as laborers in the surrounding San Joaquin Valley, the agricultural center of the state. Typical jobs included picking oranges, cotton, and grapes for very little pay, or working in the often dangerous packing houses of local businesses, such as the Sunmaid Raisin Company. When Soto was just five years old, his father was killed in an accident while working at Sunmaid. Manuel Soto’s death had a devastating effect on his family, both emotionally and economically. Gary was hit particu-

“Of poetry or prose, I prefer poetry as part of my soul. I think like a poet, and behave like a poet.” larly hard and spent years brooding over the accident. And Angie Soto was left with three small children to raise: oldest son Rick, middle child Gary, and Debra, the youngest. After Manuel Soto’s death, the family moved to a rough neighborhood in an industrial area of Fresno. To make ends meet, Angie Soto and the children’s grandparents took what jobs they could find. As Gary and his siblings grew older they, too, worked in the fields and factories of Fresno. Regardless, the family struggled. Working left little time for school, and when Soto did go, he made very poor marks. While attending Roosevelt High School, he maintained a D average, and spent more time chasing girls than doing his homework. Soto received little encouragement from home to do better. As he explained in interviews, education was simply not part of their culture—the culture of poverty. “Our shelves were not lined with books,” Soto told Quill editors, “they were lined with menudo.” Menudo is a type of spicy Mexican soup. Although Soto was not encouraged to read at home, he was exploring the world of books on his own at the school library. Some of his favorites were by American authors such as Ernest Hemingway

728


•

volume 4

gary soto

United Farm Workers of America

G ary Soto is the Young People Ambassador for the United Farm Workers of America (UFWA), which means that during his many visits to libraries and schools, he introduces kids to the legacy of the United Farm Workers organization. The UFWA is the largest organization of farm workers in the United States. Through bargaining agreements, contract negotiations, and other tactics, its members work to improve the wages and working conditions for all agricultural workers in America. This includes fighting for such basic rights as a living wage, access to clean drinking water and bathrooms, and safe working conditions. The beginnings of the UFWA can be traced to the 1950s when the bracero program was in effect in the United States. Following World War II (1939–45), there was a shortage of field laborers in California and Texas where agriculture was a key industry. As a result, an agreement was made between Mexico and the United States, where U.S. growers were allowed to offer short-term work contracts to Mexicans. Eventually, growers became dependent on these seasonal laborers, who were willing to take on back-breaking work for little pay, work that most Americans were not willing to do. Because they were not citizens of the United States, because they usually spoke little English, and because they were not organized under a union, conditions for Mexican laborers were poor. Their temporary housing often lacked indoor plumbing, and children were often forced to work in the

fields in order to help their family survive. By the mid1960s, there were hundreds of thousands of laborers living and working in such substandard conditions. In 1966, the National Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) was founded by two leaders in the Mexican American community who had been fighting for labor rights for years, Cesar Chávez (1927–1993) and Dolores Huerta (1930–). Their first combined effort involved organizing Chicano and Filipino workers in the California grape-picker strike of 1965–66. After a bitter battle between growers and workers, the UFWOC secured contracts with two of the largest grape growers in California; the contracts included among other things, a promise to ban the use of harmful pesticides, access to washing facilities, and rest periods. This was first successful bargaining agreement between farm laborers and growers in the United States. Since then the organization has continued to fight for the rights of workers in all types of agricultural industries, from grapes to lettuce, from strawberries to mushrooms. Today, according to the UFWA Web site, farm workers who are employed by companies that accept UFWA contracts enjoy decent pay, family medical care, pensions, and other similar benefits. Unfortunately, the site also reports that the majority of farm laborers in California and the rest of the country still do not enjoy these basic protections. This means that the battle continues, carried on by the next generation.

(1899–1961) and John Steinbeck (1902–1968). Soto was especially inspired by one book in particular, To Sir with Love, a novel written by E. R. Braithwaite (1920–) about a teacher who devotes himself to students at a school in the East End working-class district of London, England. Reading that novel prompted Soto to enroll at Fresno City College after graduation. He was not sure exactly what he would U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

729

gary soto

study in college, perhaps geography or paleontology (the study of fossils). Soto, however, was sure that he did not want to be a farm worker. And, although he loved to read, the thought of becoming a writer did not even cross his mind.

Poet of the people But, once again, a chance encounter in the library would change Soto’s course. When he was nineteen and in his second year at Fresno College, the young student discovered a collection of contemporary poetry. As Soto remarked to Quill, “I thought that poetry had to be about mountains and streams and birds and stuff.” But one poet, Edward Field (1924–), was a native of New York and his poems, which were about “trash and smog,” hit a chord. As Soto further explained, “Field wrote in a voice that was real common and I didn’t know poetry could be like that.” After Field, Soto stumbled upon the works of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904–1973). “I was bitten.” he commented in a “Between the Lines” interview, “I wanted to do this thing called writing poetry.” Soto transferred to California State University, Fresno, and in 1972 he took his very first poetry-writing class. From 1972 until 1973 he studied with noted Detroit, Michigan, poet Philip Levine (1928–), who was known for his poems about working-class people. Levine taught Soto not only how to take apart and analyze poems, but also about the nuts and bolts of writing his own poetry. In 1974, Soto graduated from Cal State with a bachelor’s degree in English. The following year he began working on a master’s degree in creative writing at the University of California, Irvine. That same year he married Carolyn Oda, the daughter of Japanese American farmers. The couple has one daughter, Mariko Heidi Soto. In 1977, with master’s degree in hand, Soto began teaching Chicano studies at the University of California at Berkeley. He remained at the university until 1993, as an associate professor of both Chicano studies and English. While still a student, Soto began publishing poems and winning prizes, and in 1977 he released his first book of poetry, called The Elements of San Joaquin. Most of the poems paint a bleak picture of Mexican American life in central California, and Soto received widespread praise for his vivid descriptions, which were sometimes dis-

730


•

volume 4

gary soto

turbing, but always truthful. The young poet was immediately recognized as an emerging talent, and his following books of poetry further cemented his reputation and garnered him a countless number of prizes. In 1978, Soto released his second collection, The Tale of Sunlight, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, one of the highest honors in the United States given each year for achievement in journalism or literature. He was one of the first Mexican Americans to be so honored.

Soto the master storyteller By 1985 Soto had produced four books of poetry and been published in numerous poetry magazines. That same year he branched out and published his first book of prose, called Living Up the Street: Narrative Recollections. Considering Soto’s poems often had a storytelling feel to them, the jump to prose seemed natural. And, just as in his poetry, Soto mined his childhood memories of life in Fresno to fuel his work. Living Up the Street, was followed by three other collections of autobiographical essays: Small Faces (1986), Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets (1988), and A Summer Life (1990). In 2001, several of these essays, along with some new material, were compiled in a single volume called The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy. In all of his autobiographical works, readers are introduced to Soto’s neighborhood through snapshot descriptions of family, friends, sights, sounds, and smells. In fact, Soto was praised for having a seemingly photographic memory of such ordinary things as “my grandmother sipp[ing] coffee and tearing jelly-red sweetness from a footprint-sized Danish” or a jacket that was the “color of day-old guacamole.” In a 1988 BookPage interview, Soto explained his ability to write with such clarity: he grew up in a blighted area of South Fresno, and “these are the pictures I take with me when I write. They stir up the past, the memories that are so vivid.” Such clear recollections of his youth served Soto well in the 1990s when he turned to writing stories aimed specifically at young readers. Soto claimed, in his BookList biography, that he began writing for children because he wanted to “start Chicanos reading.” He also wanted to remedy the fact that there were very few books available to young people that featured Mexican Americans. As Rudolfo Anaya remarked in World Literature Today, “Entire generations of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

731

gary soto

Mexican American schoolchildren went through elementary school without ever having read a story about their culture and their communities.” Soto set out to change all that in his first collection of stories for children, called Baseball in April, published in 1990. Baseball features a different character in each of the eleven stories, but all are set in poorer districts of central California. In one story a young girl named Yollie laments the fact that she doesn’t have a new dress to wear to the eighth-grade dance; in another, two young boys play baseball for the neighborhood Hobo team because they don’t make the Little League team for the third year in a row. Although Soto writes the stories in English, he sprinkles Spanish expressions and phrases throughout, a trend he continued in future works. Sometimes he even includes a glossary of Spanish terms to help his non-Spanish speaking readers. And, although the stories have a distinct Latino flavor, they appeal to all types of children. As Diane Roback of Publisher’s Weekly commented, “The conflicts and feelings expressed are universal.”

Famous children’s author Soto was always a very prolific writer, but after he left teaching in 1993, his pace picked up even more. By the mid-1990s, he was producing as many as three children’s books per year. In addition, he dabbled in all types of writing for young readers of all ages. There are books of poetry, including A Fire in My Hands (1991), Canto Familiar (1995), and Fearless Fernie (2002); picture books for very young children, such as Too Many Tamales (1992), If the Shoe Fits (2002), and the Chato the Cat tales; as well as chapter books for kids in middle school, which include The Skirt (1992), The Pool Party (1993), and Boys at Work (1995). Soto also writes young adult novels aimed at older teens. As Susan Marie Swanson wrote in a Riverbank Review profile, “A child could grow up on Soto’s books.” Soto’s poetry for children is much lighter in tone than his adult works; as he does in his autobiographical prose, he celebrates small moments from his childhood that can be understood by any young person growing up anywhere. For example, he writes about such everyday activities as running through a lawn sprinkler on a sunny, summer afternoon, going on a first date, or feeding the birds. Some of his middle school novels, such as Summer on Wheels (1995) are also

732


•

volume 4

gary soto

lighter fare and show off the silly, quirky side of Soto. On the other hand, several of Soto’s novels are hard-hitting, with characters facing some very tough issues. In Taking Sides (1991), for example, eighthgrader Lincoln Mendoza moves from his inner-city neighborhood to a suburb of Fresno that is predominantly Anglo, or white; as a result his loyalties for his old friends are challenged. When Soto writes for older teens, the topics can be quite complex. One example is the novel Jesse (1994), which the author claims is his personal favorite, perhaps because, as Soto has revealed, it is the most autobiographical. The story takes place in the early 1960s and is set against the turbulent backdrop of the Vietnam War (1954–75) protests and the beginning of the United Farm Workers movement, an organization that was established to fight for the rights of farm laborers in California. Sixteen-year-old Jesse leaves home to escape an abusive father, but when he moves in with his older brother he ends up facing a host of other problems, including racism both at his new school and at work. Soto further explores the pressure of growing up as a young Mexican American in 1997’s Buried Onions, which chronicles the story of Eddie, a young man struggling to escape poverty and gang life by going to school and staying far away from his cholos, his gang friends. Soto picks up the story of gang life in the novel’s sequel, The Afterlife, published in 2003. But, whereas Buried Onions was described by critics as bleak, Afterlife, was considered to be “filled with hope.” An ironic comment, considering the main character, seventeen-year-old Chuy, is tragically killed on page two of the book by a knife-wielding stranger. In death, however, Chuy is given the opportunity to explore his life. The story is told from his ghostly perspective, as he roams the streets of the Fresno barrios and visits friends who mourn his passing and family members who seek to avenge his death. As Chuy’s ghostly body begins to disappear, he realizes that his life, no matter how brief, was worth living.

Connects with readers By the mid-2000s, Soto gave no indication that he was slowing down. He continued to publish books for both adults and children, and when not pursuing other interests such as reading, traveling, or gardening, he was at his desk writing for at least four to five hours per day. Soto U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

733

gary soto

also spent a good deal of time on the road, visiting schools and libraries in order to connect with fans of his books and would-be readers. In his Booklist biography, he describes playing basketball and baseball with young people who come to his readings, singing songs with them, and even acting in skits. “I do these things because I want to make sure kids get excited about reading,” Soto explained. In 2004 plans were in the works to make Buried Onions into a movie, with an expected release date of late 2005. As a result, publishers expect sales of Soto’s books to soar even more. When asked by Quill why his books have such a universal appeal considering most focus on the specific community of Fresno, California, Soto replied: “I think we are all the same. We might change in dress, we might change in dance or music, we might change in skateboarding or little things like that. But basically, we have the same motive. We like to eat, we like to love, we like to enjoy our free time and friendship. Those things don’t change, no matter what.”

For More Information Books “Gary Soto.” Major Authors and Illustrators for Children and Young Adults. 2nd ed. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002.

Periodicals Roback, Diane. “Review of Baseball in April.” Publisher’s Weekly (March 30, 1990): p. 64. Swanson, Susan Marie. “Gary Soto.” Riverbank Review (Fall 1999): pp. 16–18.

Web Sites Anaya, Rudolfo. “Gary Soto of the United States.” World Literature Today (November 2002) http://www.ou.edu/worldlit/NSK/Soto.htm (accessed on August 10, 2004). “Gary Soto Biography.” Scholastic Books: Author Studies Homepage. http://www2.scholastic.com/teachers/authorsandbooks/authorstudies/a uthorhome.jhtml?authorID=89&collateralID=5285&displayName=Bio graphy (accessed on August 10, 2004). Gary Soto Web site. http://www.garysoto.com/ (accessed on August 10, 2004). Pham, Thy and Camile Orillaneda. “Interview with Gary Soto.” (May 7, 2003) Quill Web site http://mpnet.esuhsd.org/quill 2003/132.pdf (accessed on August 10, 2004).

734


•

volume 4

gary soto Soto, Gary. “Between the Lines: Interview with Gary Soto.” (September 2003) Harcourt Trade Publishing Web site http://www.harcourtbooks. com/authorinterviews/bookinterview_Soto.asp (accessed on August 10, 2004). United Farm Workers of America, AFL-CIO Web site. http://www.ufw.org/ (accessed on August 11, 2004). Wilson, Etta. “Gary Soto: A Mexican-American Voice that Speaks for All.” (May 1988) BookPage Web site http://www.bookpage.com/9805bp/ gary_soto.html (accessed on August 10, 2004).


•

volume 4

735

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson •

Ben Stiller November 30, 1965 • New York City, New York

Actor, director, writer, producer

Owen Wilson November 18, 1968 • Dallas, Texas Owen Wilson (left) and Ben Stiller. ©Lisa O’Connor/Zuma/Corbis.


•

volume 4

Actor, director, writer

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson are considered to be one of the top comic duos of the 2000s. But, they are also compared to such legendary comedians as Bud Abbott (1900–1974) and Lou Costello (1906–1959), who appeared as Abbott and Costello in a bevy of films in the 1940s. As Joel Stein of Time remarked, “Stiller updates Lou Costello with an agitated everyman quality, while Wilson does the smartest dumb guy ever.” The pair has appeared together in six films, including The Royal Tenenbaums, Zoolander, and Starsky & Hutch, and if they have their say, their run will continue indefinitely. As Stiller told Shaun Adler of Cinema Confidential, “We just enjoy each other’s company and have fun working together. As long as people seem to allow us to work together, I think it will kinda keep going.”

Comedy in the genes Ben Stiller was born on November 30, 1965, in New York City to leg-

737

ben stiller and owen wilson

endary comedians Jerry Stiller (c. 1927–) and Anne Meara (1929–). As a comedy team the couple often performed on the popular 1960s variety program The Ed Sullivan Show. Meara went on to star in her own shortlived TV series Kate McShane; she was also regularly featured on such 1970s sitcoms as Rhoda and Archie Bunker’s Place. To modern audiences, Jerry Stiller is probably best known for his role as Frank Costanza on Seinfeld. Because of his parents’ work, Ben and older sister Amy basically grew up in show business. They hobnobbed with celebrities and they frequently traveled to set locations, which Stiller enjoyed far more than staying home and hanging out with kids his own age. When he was very young it was obvious that Stiller would someday follow in his famous family’s footsteps. He and his sister

“I don’t think it’s very easy to be funny. I’m just not a naturally cheery person.” Ben Stiller, Interview, April 1996.

regularly wrote and performed their own skits. They also put on plays based on scenes from Shakespeare, which meant that Ben had to wear his sister’s tights. In addition, Stiller showed an early knack for directing. At age ten, he began shooting films using a Super-8 camera. The plots of his movies usually followed the same storyline: a bully would pick on young Stiller and he would seek a swift and awful means of revenge. When he was eight years old, the budding actor/director made his first television appearance, playing the violin on The Mike Douglas Show. Just two years later, when he was ten, Stiller landed a guest spot on his mother’s TV series. In 1983, after graduating from the Calhoun School in New York, Stiller headed west to attend the School of Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles. He lasted only nine months. Eager to be out of the classroom and working in show business, Stiller returned to New York where he cut his teeth in theater. He worked as a busboy and waiter until 1986 when he won a small role in the Broadway play The House of Blue Leaves. The play featured veteran actor John Mahoney (1940–), who would later costar as Martin

738


•

volume 4


Crane in the long-running sitcom Frasier. During production, Stiller collaborated with Mahoney on a short film spoof of the 1986 drama The Color of Money, which is about an up-and-coming young pool shark and his older mentor. In Stiller’s send-up, he and Mahoney play two conmen who instead of frequenting pool halls, go to bowling alleys and hustle lunch money from school kids.

A show of his own Stiller and Wilson: On-Screen Duo

In the late 1980s, Stiller made some guest appearances on TV; he also made his big screen debut in 1987 in Empire of the Sun. In 1989, however, he got his first real break when his Money spoof was purchased by Lorne Michaels (1944–), longtime producer of the late-night comedy program Saturday Night Live (SNL). Michaels also hired Stiller to join the show as a writer and cast member. Stiller, however, was not happy at SNL, primarily because he was not allowed the freedom to create his own short films. After less than one season he quit the show and headed to Los Angeles where he was hired by MTV. At first, Stiller directed a comedy program called Colin Quinn: Back to Brooklyn, but MTV executives were so impressed they pulled Stiller off the show to develop a series of his own.

Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have appeared in six movies together. They are: The Cable Guy, 1996. Permanent Midnight, 1998. Meet the Parents, 2000. Zoolander, 2001.

The Ben Stiller Show debuted on MTV in 1990 and was, as Josh Wolk of Entertainment Weekly called it, a “pastiche of pointed popculture satire.” It aired only briefly, but was picked up by Fox Network in 1992. The half-hour sketch comedy featured Stiller and cast mates doing parodies of everything from infomercials to bad 1970s TV to modern movies. The inspiration for the show came from SCTV, an ensemble-based sketch series that featured Canadian comics such as John Candy (1950–1994), Eugene Levy (1946–), and Martin Short (1950–). As Stiller remembered in a BBC interview, he used to spend hours watching SCTV as a kid: “It was one of the shows that my parents and I could watch together and enjoy.”

The Royal Tenenbaums, 2001. Starsky & Hutch, 2004.

Stiller’s series may have been short-lived (it consisted of only thirteen episodes), but it definitely served as the launching pad for the young entertainer’s career. It also helped launch the careers of several other hip, young comics, including Andy Dick (1965–) and Janeane Garofalo (1964–), who would collaborate with Stiller on many future projects. In addition, Stiller’s directing skills were honed. As his thenU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

739


girlfriend Jeanne Tripplehorn told Jess Cagle of Entertainment Weekly, “I always thought the Fox show was Ben’s film school. When he would do those [film parodies], he would research the exact style of the directors and learn how they worked.” The show was cancelled in 1992, but Stiller felt somewhat vindicated a year later, when he nabbed an Emmy Award (the highest achievement in television) for best writing in a variety or music series. His Emmy win cleared the way for Stiller’s big-screen project of 1994, Reality Bites, a film about a group of twenty-somethings in Houston, Texas, who face the trials and tribulations of life after college. Stiller directed the movie and co-starred in it along with Ethan Hawke (c. 1970–), Winona Ryder (1971–), and pal Garofalo. The film received mixed reviews and did poorly at the box office, but it was embraced by younger fans who saw it as a very real look at the post baby-boom generation, known as Generation X. It became a video cult classic and Stiller earned a reputation as a promising young independent film director. An independent film (also known as an indie film) is one that is low budget and usually made outside the big Hollywood studio system.

Stiller gives Wilson his first movie role Over the next several years Stiller proved that he could work equally well on independent or big-budget projects, although he received the most acclaim for his indie affiliations. For example, the studio-backed If Lucy Fell (1996), which he co-starred in with Sarah Jessica Parker (1965–), was considered to be forgettable, but critics felt that Stiller gave a shining performance in the much smaller Flirting with Disaster, also from 1996. That same year, the actor returned to the director’s chair and put a dark spin on a movie that what was supposed to be a goofy comedy, The Cable Guy. Originally written as another wacky vehicle for comic Jim Carrey (1962–), Stiller originally passed on the project. But, after Judd Apatow (c. 1968–), a former writer for The Ben Stiller Show, came on board, he and Stiller retooled the script and turned it into a darker, edgier film. Fans, however, were not expecting such a dark performance by Carrey and Cable Guy sagged at the box office. The Cable Guy also featured Owen Wilson in his first film role. Owen Cunningham Wilson was born on November 18, 1968, in Dallas, Texas, the middle son of Robert, an ad executive, and Laura, a

740


•

volume 4


photographer. Older brother Andrew and younger brother Luke would also one day go into show business. The Wilsons, however, were not sure what would become of young Owen, who was a self-described troublemaker. He earned horrible grades in school, had his famous nose broken in the ninth trade, and was expelled from school for cheating. As a result, Wilson was shipped off to a military academy in New Mexico. “At that point,” he admitted to Amy Longsdorf of the Morning Call, “my mom and dad never thought I’d amount to anything.” After high school, Wilson attended the University of Texas at Austin where he majored in English. He also met his future writing partner, Wes Anderson (1969–). In 1992 Wilson and Anderson wrote, directed, and produced a short film called Bottle Rocket, about three friends who set out on a crazy crime spree. The movie was accepted at the Sundance Film Festival (an annual festival in Utah that supports emerging and independent films), and eventually made its way to the desk of veteran producer and writer James L. Brooks (1940–). Brooks agreed to back a full-length version of Bottle Rocket, which was released in theaters in 1996. The movie made only $1 million at the box office, but it was widely praised by critics. Based on Bottle Rocket’s poor showing, Wilson almost decided to throw in the towel. Friends in the industry, including Ben Stiller, convinced him otherwise. In 1996, Stiller offered Wilson a role in The Cable Guy. That same year, Wilson and Anderson collaborated as writers for the second time, which resulted in the critical and box-office success Rushmore. In 1997 Stiller signed a multimillion-dollar deal with Fox to direct at least two feature films for their Fox 2000 division, and in the late 1990s Stiller seemed to have his pick of movie roles. The parts he chose were wildly different, and showed that the actor definitely had a range of styles. In 1998, for example, he co-starred in Permanent Midnight, a disturbing film based on the life of TV writer Jerry Stahl (c. 1954–), who also happened to be a heroin addict. The movie received so-so reviews, but Stiller was singled out for his role. As People Weekly enthused, Stiller turned in an “intense, take-no-prisoners performance.” Midnight made friends out of Stiller and Stahl, who would work together again in the 2000s; the movie also featured Wilson in a small role. The year 1998 also saw Stiller in There’s Something About Mary, an over-the-top comedy written, produced, and directed by the Farrelly U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

741


Owen Wilson (left) and Ben Stiller in a still from the movie Zoolander (2001). Paramount/NVP/Red Hour/ Village R’Show/The Kobal Collection/Gordon, Melinda Sue.

Brothers, known for such creations as Dumb and Dumber (1994). Most critics felt it was nothing more than a gross-out comedy that depended on crude jokes and physical humor, but moviegoers disagreed and turned it into the sleeper hit of the year. It was also the first project that Stiller was attached to that brought in big bucks at the box office; Mary took in $130 million during its first two months in theaters.

A “royal” partnership Following the success of Rushmore, Wilson remained firmly planted in Hollywood. Known for his unconventional good looks and his unique, low-key acting style, he was cast in movie after movie, including The Haunting (1999), Shanghai Noon (2000), and Behind Enemy Lines (2001). By the time Wilson co-starred with Stiller in 2004’s Starsky & Hutch, he was bringing in $10 million per picture. The former troublemaker from Texas also continued to add to his writing credentials. In 2001, he and Anderson penned their third film, The Royal Tenenbaums. Into the 2000s, Stiller appeared in a string of comedies, the first of which was the hit Meet the Parents (2000), in which Wilson also had a role. He then joined Wilson for The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), playing Chas Tenebaum, the financial wizard in a family of child prodigies. Wilson’s brother, Luke, appeared as Richie Tenenbaum, a tennis champion, and Gwenyth Paltrow rounds out the Tenenbaum siblings as the adopted sister Margot, a gifted playwright. Veteran actor Gene Hackman plays

742


•

volume 4


their father, Royal, who, after having deserted his family years ago, returns to make peace with his ex-wife and children. The film earned Wilson an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay. Stiller in turn tapped Wilson for Zoolander (2001), which Stiller also directed and co-wrote. The story, which Lisa Schwarzbaum of Variety called “90 minutes of elaborate comedic silliness,” is a parody of the modeling world that centers on male model Derek Zoolander, a character originally created by Stiller in 1996. Although Schwarzbaum acknowledged that Stiller was a master at “skewering showbiz fabulousness,” she, like most critics, also panned Zoolander for being a “feature-film dud.” Although Zoolander did not fare well in theaters, it did prove that Stiller was a master at creating a stellar ensemble cast of friends and family members, a trend that would continue throughout the 2000s. In addition to Wilson, who co-starred as Hansel, Stiller’s rival, the movie featured Stiller’s parents, sister Amy, wife Christine Taylor (whom he married in 2000), and a slew of acting buddies, including Andy Dick, Vince Vaughn (1970–), and Will Ferrell (1968–). Based on Stiller’s star power, the DreamWorks film studio inked a three-year deal with the hot young comedian who now operated his own production company called Red Hour Films. As a result, in 2004 Stiller’s plate was more than full. He starred in four movies, Along Came Polly, Envy, and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. His fourth film of 2004 was Starsky & Hutch, which co-starred Wilson. By the end of 2004, Stiller had completed Meet the Fockers, the sequel to the 2000 hit Meet the Parents. He was also hard at work on a project that had been a dream of his for several years, a screen adaptation of the novel What Makes Sammy Run, written by Bud Schulberg. In 2004 Wilson wrapped up production on The Wendell Baker Story, a family affair since Wilson wrote the script with brother Luke. The movie was also co-directed by Luke and older brother Andrew. He also teamed with director Wes Anderson once again for The Life Acquatic (2004).

For More Information Periodicals Cagle, Jess. “Master of ‘Disaster’ Ben Stiller.” Entertainment Weekly (April 19, 1996): pp. 50–54.


•

volume 4

743

ben stiller and owen wilson Dargis, Manohla. “Interview with Ben Stiller.” Interview (April 1996): pp. 40–43. Longsfort, Amy. “Interview with Owen Wilson.” Morning Call (Allentown, PA) (February 14, 1999): p. F1. “Review of Permanent Midnight.” People Weekly (September 28, 1998): p. 39. Schwarzbaum, Lisa. “Pret-a-Passe: Ben Stiller’s Clueless Male Model Tries to Play Hero in Zoolander, a High-Fashion Comedy That’s So Last Year.” Entertainment Weekly (October 5, 2001): p. 107. Stein, Joel. “He’s With Him: Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson Have Made Six Films Together. In Hollywood, Some Marriages Don’t Make It That Far.” Time (March 8, 2004): p. 70. Wolk, Josh. “Stiller Standing.” Entertainment Weekly (December 5, 2003): p. 75.

Web Sites Adler, Shaun. “Interview: Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller of Starsky and Hutch.” Cinema Confidential News (March 1, 2004) http://www. cinecon.com/news.php?id=0403011 (accessed on August 20, 2004). Papamichael, Stella. “Ben Stiller: Starsky and Hutch.” BBC Online: Films (March 12, 2004) http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2004/03/12/ben_stiller_ starsky_and_hutch_interview.shtml (accessed on August 20, 2004). Stiller, Ben. “Interview with Ben Stiller.” By Todd Gilchrist. Blackfilm.com (June 2004) http://www.blackfilm.com/20040618/features/benstiller. shtml (accessed on August 20, 2004).

744


•

volume 4

Patricia Head Summitt

June 14, 1952 • Henrietta, Tennessee



•

volume 4

Women’s basketball coach

Pat Summitt, head coach of Tennessee University’s women’s basketball team, the Lady Vols, is one of the most successful coaches in collegiate basketball history. She has won six NCAA titles—only John Wooden, former coach of the men’s basketball team at UCLA has won more, with ten NCAA championships to his credit. Summitt began her career as a college basketball player, later playing in two Olympics. Hard work, drive, and determination have led her to over eight hundred career wins in less than thirty years.

Learns work ethic on the farm Summit was born Patricia Head on June 14, 1952, in Henrietta, Tennessee. She was the fourth child and only daughter of Richard and Hazel, who ran a farm. Summitt participated in all the chores necessary on a farm, and learned how to hold her own against her older brothers. She also learned basketball from them. Most evenings, after

745

patricia head summitt

completing their chores, she and her brothers would climb the twentyfoot barn ladder to the top of the hayloft and play two-on-two basketball. She loved the game but, once she reached high school, she found out that her school district did not offer girls’ basketball. Her father, supportive of her talent, moved the family across the county line to a school district that had girls’ basketball. Summit graduated from Cheatham County High in Ashland, in 1970. She then attended the University of Tennessee-Martin, earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1974. As a college student, she played with the Lady Pacers, the university’s women’s basketball team. As a junior she played in the U.S. World University Games, held

“I tell kids … ‘If you’re lazy, stay as far away from me and our program as you can because you’ll be miserable.’ We work hard.” in the Soviet Union, winning the silver medal. She hoped to play on the U.S. Olympic team, but those hopes were nearly dashed when, during her senior year, she suffered a knee injury. An orthopedic surgeon told Summitt that she would not be able to play basketball again. But Summitt would not give up. Strengthened by her father’s insistence that the doctor “needed to fix her knee because she was going to the Olympics,” Summit told her best friend, according to Sports Illustrated, “That doctor’s crazy as heck if he thinks I’m not going to play ball again!” The upcoming 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, would be the first time that women would play Olympic basketball, and Summitt did not want to miss out in this historic opportunity. After graduation, she was offered a job as the women’s basketball assistant coach for her alma mater. After the head coach quit to pursue Ph.D. studies, Summitt, just twenty-two years old, was made head coach. She had never coached a game before and had no assistant coach. But she pushed her fear aside and threw herself into this new challenge. In addition to coaching, she also worked on her mas-

746


•

volume 4


ter’s degree and taught physical education courses. At the same time, she worked on healing her knee and training herself for her Olympic dream. She worked out twice a day, losing twenty-seven pounds. Within a year, her knee was well enough for her to compete in the 1975 Pan American Games. The U.S. team won the gold medal. She was then named to the U.S. Olympic team and selected co-captain. The team claimed the silver medal in Montreal.

Wins first NCAA Championship Summitt returned to her duties as head coach of the University of Tennessee-Martin’s Lady Volunteers (often called simply the Lady Vols), guiding the team to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Final Four. The Lady Vols finished 16-8 that season. Summitt continued to play herself throughout the rest of the 1970s, playing in the World Championships and the Pan American Games. She looked forward to the 1980 Olympics in Moscow, but was forced to sit this Olympics out, since the United States boycotted the 1980 games in protest of the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. But in 1984 Summitt went to the Olympics once again, this time as a coach. The U.S. team won the gold medal, securing its place in history as the first U.S. women’s basketball team to take home the gold. Her coaching success continued at the University of Tennessee, where she won the NCAA championships in 1987 and 1989. She was then granted the Basketball Hall of Fame’s highest honor, the John Bunn Award. This 1990 award marked the first time that a woman had been so honored. In the 1990s the Lady Vols won four NCAA championships: 1991, 1996, 1997, and 1998. The team became the first women’s basketball team ever to win three NCAA titles in a row. With six NCAA championships under her belt, Summitt was recognized with numerous awards. She was named coach of the year three times by the Southeastern Conference (SEC)—1993, 1995, and 1998. She became the first women’s college basketball coach to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1997. The following year she was named both the Naismith Coach of the Year and the Sporting News Coach of the Year. In 1999 she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. Summitt was subsequently inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000, only the fourth women’s basketball U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

747


Pat Summitt (center), with the Tennessee Lady Vols after her 800th career win, January 14, 2003. AP/ Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

coach to be inducted. Also in 2000 she was named the Naismith Coach of the Century. Despite all these awards, Summitt would not accept full credit for the success of the Lady Vols. “It bothers me that there is so much focus on me.…” she told Antonya English of the St. Petersburg Times. “It’s about players; put the focus on the players.”

Expects much from her players The success of her players, however, is due in part to the high expectations Summitt has for them. She demands that they perform well

748


•

volume 4


academically, and insists they sit in the first three rows of their classes. Every player who has stayed with the Tennessee program has graduated. Her players describe Summitt as a harsh taskmaster, but also very caring. She pushes them to excel, and instills in them the same strong work ethic that she first learned on the family farm. According to her profile on the University of Tennessee Women’s Collegiate Athletics Web Site, she “constantly challenges them to reach their potential as a student and an athlete.” In January of 2003 Summitt became the first female coach to win eight hundred games. The following season she coached her onethousandth game. Summitt is also the coauthor of two books; Reach for the Summitt (1998) is a motivational book, and Raise the Roof (1998) chronicles the Lady Vols’ undefeated 1998 season. More than that, the book, said Summitt according to Sports Illustrated, “is about trading in old, narrow definitions of femininity for a more complete one. It’s about exploring all the possibilities in yourself.” Ron Fimrite noted in Sports Illustrated that the book “represents a gratifying breakthrough in the literature of women’s sports.” Additionally, Summitt is involved in numerous community organizations. She is a spokesperson for the United Way, Juvenile Diabetes, and Race for the Cure. She also serves as spokesperson for Verizon Wireless’ HopeLine Program, which collects used cell phones, resells or recycles them, and donates the proceeds to victims of domestic violence. In 1980 she married R. B. Summitt, a bank executive. The couple lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with one son, Ross Tyler Summitt.

For More Information Periodicals English, Antonya. St. Petersburg Times (March 9, 1999): p. 1C. Fimrite, Ron. “Sky’s the Limit.” Sports Illustrated (November 16, 1998): p. 15. Smith, Gary. “Eye of the Storm.” Sports Illustrated (March 2, 1998).

Web Sites “Pat Summitt Profile.” University of Tennessee Women’s Collegiate Athletics. http://utladyvols.collegesports.com/sports/w-baskbl/mtt/summitt_ pat00.html (accessed on August 25, 2004).


•

volume 4

749

patricia head summitt “Patricia Head Summitt.“ Biography Resource Center Online. Gale Group, 1999. http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/BioRC (accessed on August 25, 2004).

750


•

volume 4

Amber Tamblyn

May 14, 1983 • Santa Monica, California



•

volume 4

Actress

Most people talk to God in the privacy of their own homes, but when Amber Tamblyn talks to God she does it while eleven million other people watch. As the star of the surprise CBS television hit Joan of Arcadia, the twenty-one-year-old Tamblyn plays Joan Girardi a normal teenager who just happens to have the extraordinary ability to have one-on-one conversations with the “man upstairs.” Considering the onslaught of reality-based programming, Joan was considered to be a refreshingly intelligent drama, and its star was viewed as one of the most promising newcomers on TV. Tamblyn, however, was actually a television veteran who virtually grew up on the small screen where, from age eleven to age seventeen, she played Emily Quartermaine on the long-running daytime soap opera, General Hospital. In the mid-2000s, Tamblyn was also broadening her fan base because of her activism. A vocal advocate for such diverse causes as autism and voting, she redefined the definition of what it means to be a modern celebrity.

751

amber tamblyn

Showbiz family Amber Tamblyn’s show biz connections go way back. Her paternal grandfather, Eddie Tamblyn, was a vaudeville headliner and a film star of the 1930s; her father, Russ Tamblyn, (1935–) is a legendary song-and-dance man known for his roles in such movie musicals as Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and West Side Story (1961). Prior to becoming a teen counselor, mother Bonnie pursued a career as an artist and sang lead in a rock band called Blue Heaven and the Rainbow Girl. As Tamblyn commented to Soap Opera Weekly, “All you have to do is smush them together and you have me.”

“I think young girls should have someone to look up to who has a brain and ideas.” When Amber Rose Tamblyn was born on May 14, 1983, in Santa Monica, California, she not only inherited her parents’ show business genes, she also inherited an extended family in the form of her parents’ celebrity friends. Tamblyn grew up around such Hollywood heavyweights as actor Dennis Hopper (1936–) and music great Neil Young (1945–), and listening to their stories, and those of her famous father, fueled an early interest in performing. From the age of five she attended an experimental school in California called the Santa Monica Alternative Schoolhouse, also known as SMASH. It was a creative arts center, with a focus on theater. While a student at SMASH, Tamblyn appeared in over thirteen plays, including a starring turn as Pippi Longstocking when she was in the fourth grade. Longstocking is the pigtailed character featured in books by children’s author Astrid Lindgren (1907–2002). It was this particular play that helped launch Tamblyn’s own celebrity. Longtime family friend and casting agent Sharon Debord caught a performance of the play, and was so impressed that she urged the Tamblyns to let Amber go out on a few auditions. At first Russ Tamblyn was reluctant. He knew about the pitfalls of the business and did not want his daughter to be hurt or disappointed. “I wanted her to

752


•

volume 4

amber tamblyn

Joan of Arc: Patron Saint of France

Joan of Arcadia is a very modern twist on the story of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl-turned-soldier who lived in France during the 1400s. Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d’Arc in French, was born circa 1412, the third child of Jacques D’arc, a farmer, and his wife, Isabelle de Vouthon. Joan had a very ordinary childhood. She spent her days tending her father’s sheep, studying religion, and learning housekeeping skills from her mother. But, when she was twelve years old, she began to hear voices, which she believed came from messengers of God. According to Joan, these messengers told her that it was her mission to help free her country from English rule. At the time England dominated a portion of the country and the infant English king Henry VI (1421–1471) was proclaimed ruler of France. The voices ordered Joan to cut her hair, dress in a soldier’s uniform, and take to the battlefield. The

people of France were convinced that her mission was divinely inspired and Joan was named a captain in the French army. In 1429 she led her troops to victory in the battle of Orleans, where the English were defeated and ultimately Charles VII (1403–1461) assumed his rightful role as the French monarch. At his coronation, Joan was given a place of honor. In 1430, however, she was captured and sold to the English. The next year, 1431, the young heroine was accused of being a witch and a heretic (someone who challenges the beliefs of the Church). After fourteen months of being questioned and tortured she was found guilty by the English court. On May 30, 1431, at the age of nineteen, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. She was eventually found to be innocent of all charges, and she was made a saint of the Roman Catholic Church in 1920. Today she is considered to be a patron saint of France and is known as the Maid of Orleans.

grow up first,” he explained to Anne Marie Cruz of People. “I thought auditions would burn her out.” But, after some persistent nagging from Debord, Russ relented, and within just a few months Tamblyn had landed small roles in three indie films: Biker Poet (1994), Rebellious (1995), and Live Nude Girls (1995).

A soap opera favorite In the winter of 1994, when she was just eleven years old, Tamblyn auditioned for the daytime soap opera General Hospital (GH).The role of Emily Quartermaine was originally supposed to be short-term, but Tamblyn quickly became a favorite of fans and she ended up spending the next seven seasons playing the sweet, but often rebellious Emily. Going from California schoolgirl to full-time actress was not easy at first. “I couldn’t play or go to birthday parties anymore,“ Tamblyn revealed to Cruz. “It was hard not to have relations with kids my age.” As she grew U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

753

amber tamblyn

older trying to maintain a balance between working and being a regular teenager became even harder. Life on the soap meant getting up at dawn, going to work at 6 A.M., and not returning home until about 8 o’clock at night. Given such a grueling schedule, Tamblyn’s regular life was not so regular. While she attended public school some of the time, Tamblyn also had a teacher on the set. And, instead of going to pep rallies and proms like most kids, Tamblyn was busy promoting the soap at special events around the country and giving interviews to the press. At the same time Tamblyn was growing by leaps and bounds as an actress. Emily was regularly featured in prominent storylines, many of which involved hard-hitting topics. First her mother died of cancer, and later a teenage Emily battled a drug addiction. Fans of all ages responded positively to the character’s ups and downs, and eventually Tamblyn became one of the most popular actresses on GH. In addition, critics regularly praised Tamblyn for her insightful and mature performance. As Linda Susman of Soap Opera Weekly commented, “Since her early days on the soap, Tamblyn has consistently demonstrated a grasp of material that might be tricky for someone so young. She has elevated herself from child actor to peer in a cast of exceptionally talented players.” Tamblyn also received several honors for her portrayal of Emily, including two awards given by the Hollywood Reporter for Best Young Actress in a Daytime Series. In 2001, just before she turned eighteen, Tamblyn faced a triple whammy: she graduated from high school, she moved out of her parents’ house to live on her own, and she decided to leave the comfort of her TV family on General Hospital. The decision was not an easy one since had been with the show since she was eleven years old. But, after going back and forth with her agent and her mother, Tamblyn made up her mind that it was time to go. “There comes a point in every actor’s life,” she explained to Rosemary Rossi of Soaps in Depth, “where they reach a stepping stone, and they have a choice to go around it or step up on it to see what the higher land can bring them.” She also added, however, that the step was a bit frightening. “I’m coming out of the nest” she told Rossi. “Big time.”

The divine Miss Joan Toward the end of her General Hospital stint, Tamblyn had auditioned for roles on film and television, but her hectic schedule forced her to

754


•

volume 4

amber tamblyn

pass on more than one choice offer. Once free of her contract, she quickly landed guest spots on several prime time television shows, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Boston Public, and CSI: Miami. Tamblyn also snagged a small role in the big-screen thriller The Ring (2002). In spring of 2002, however, the actress hit the jackpot when she joined the cast of a new television drama called Joan of Arcadia. “I was going to do another project,” Tamblyn told James Brady of Parade, “but I was blown away by the script. I fell in love with Joan at first sight.” The show premiered in September of 2003, and became an immediate, and unexpected, hit for CBS. Critics were surprised because of the slightly bizarre premise: an average teenager named Joan Girardi becomes not so average when she develops the ability to talk directly to God, who appears each week in the guise of a different person. God could be the lunch lady, a TV newscaster, and once God was even played by Tamblyn’s real-life father, Russ. Also in the cast were veteran actors Mary Steenburgen (1953–) and Joe Mantegna (1947–), who portrayed Joan’s parents, Helen and Joe Girardi, newcomer Michael Welch as younger brother Luke, and Jason Ritter, who played older brother Kevin. Ritter is the son of late comedic actor John Ritter (1948–2003). Producing a show about religion could have been dicey. As Tamblyn remarked to Lynette Rice of Entertainment Weekly, “As soon as the word God comes out of your mouth, people are like, ‘Uh-oh.’” But creator Barbara Hall, who was also responsible for launching the CBS program Judging Amy, had a very specific vision in mind: nothing preachy and something that would connect with young viewers. Joan is a typical modern teenager who doubts a great deal of things, but when she is directed by “God” to perform such simple acts as building a boat in her family’s garage, the outcome is usually unexpected. Finding just the right person to portray the skeptical but open-minded Joan might also have been a challenge. “This girl’s got to come off like a high schooler with the mind of a 50-year-old,“ Joe Mantegna explained to Rice. Apparently Tamblyn fit the bill perfectly. By 2004 eleven million viewers were tuning in each week to catch Joan chatting with God, and critics were heaping praise on the show and its young star. The program captured both the People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Dramatic Series and was named a top 10 TV Program of the Year by the American Film Institute. In December of 2003, Tamblyn was U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

755

amber tamblyn

The cast of Joan of Arcadia pose backstage with their Favorite New TV Dramatic Series People’s Choice Award. Pictured left to right: Jason Ritter, Amber Tamblyn, Joe Mantegna, Mary Steenburgen, and Michael Welch. AP/

nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television series and in July of 2004, she snagged an Emmy nomination as Best Actress in a Series (Drama). At twenty-one, Tamblyn became the second-youngest actress to be nominated in this category. Claire Danes (1976–) was nominated for the award in 1995 for her work on My So-Called Life; she was sixteen at the time.

Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Amber the activist Although she achieved fame and fortune at a young age, Tamblyn is not the usual Hollywood celebrity. In interviews she is described as mature and wise beyond her years, and, instead of discussing fashion or film and television roles, she tends to steer the conversation to other topics. One such topic is politics, which Tamblyn is particularly passionate about. In 2004, she was able to vote for the first time in a presidential election and she took it very seriously. “We are so lucky to live in a country where we can have a say,” Tamblyn commented to Alex Simon of Venice. “I call it the Power of One.” The young activist

756


•

volume 4

amber tamblyn

was so inspired that she worked closely with MTV and its Rock the Vote campaign, which is targeted at getting young people interested in voting. Tamblyn also made a special appearance at the Rock the Vote party held in Boston, Massachusetts, on the eve of the Democratic National Convention. In addition to her political involvement, in 2004 Tamblyn became a spokesperson for the Achievable Foundation, a Los Angeles-based group that offers support to people who are developmentally disabled, as well as to their families. This includes individuals who suffer from autism (a brain disorder that causes an inability to communicate or socially interact) or cerebral palsy (a brain disorder that affects communication between the brain and the muscles). When not acting or working for a favorite cause, Tamblyn takes time to pursue her wide-range of hobbies, including writing and singing. She has already self-published two small books of poetry, Of the Dawn and Plenty of Ships, and has a longer volume in the works. Tamblyn also recorded a single called “God and Me,” which was inspired by her television series. In the immediate future, the young star plans to continue her acting career. Her first starring role will be in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, based on the popular novel of the same name, and slated for a 2005 release. What’s next for the multitalented Tamblyn is anyone’s guess. Perhaps college. As she laughingly remarked to Alex Simon, “Maybe when I’m about 30, after I’ve conquered the world, ended the war, and stopped world hunger, maybe I’ll be able to take a few classes then!”

For More Information Periodicals Cruz, Anne Marie. “Hollywood and Divine: Amber Tamblyn, a Free Spirit in Real Life, Communes with God on the New Drama Joan of Arcadia.” People Weekly (October 27, 2003): p. 93. “Performer of the Week: Amber Tamblyn.” Soap Opera Digest (February 2001): p. 12. Rossi, Rosemary. “Growing Up and Moving Out.” Soaps in Depth (July 24, 2001): pp. 98–101. Rice, Lynette. “Holy Roller: Joan of Arcadia is a Heaven-Sent Gift for CBS and Its Fetching Young Star—and an Act of God for Its Creator.” Entertainment Weekly (November 7, 2003): p. 36.


•

volume 4

757

amber tamblyn Simon, Alex. “Artist, Actor, Activist: Amber of Arcadia Raises the Bar.” Venice (March 2004): pp. 63–65. Susman, Linda. “Applause, Applause: Amber Tamblyn.” Soap Opera Weekly (July 1, 1997): p. 29.

Web Sites Amber Tamblyn Official Homepage. http://www.amtam.com/ (accessed on August 14, 2004). Brady, James. “In Step with Amber Tamblyn.” Parade Magazine: Parade Archive (January 11, 2004) http://archive.parade.com/2004/0111/0111 _instepwith.html (accessed on August 14, 2004).

758


•

volume 4

Lonnie Thompson

July 1, 1948 • Gassaway, West Virginia

Paleoclimatalogist


•

volume 4

Scientist Lonnie Thompson is an authority on ice. For more than thirty years, he has crossed every type of terrain, weathered blistering heat and teeth-rattling cold, and climbed some of the world’s highest mountains in order to collect and study ice. Thompson studies ice cores from mountaintops because they provide an historical map of the climate of a region; cores also give a glimpse into the future of our planet’s health. In the mid-2000s, the paleoclimatologist (a scientist who studies past climates through geological history) made a startling discovery: ice caps on mountains such as Kilimanjaro in Tanzania were melting at an alarming rate, and could completely disappear in the very near future. As a result, in the late 2000s Thompson and his team raced to Africa, Asia, and South America in order to retrieve samples of endangered ice. As NASA director James Hansen explained to Science magazine, “If [Thompson] wasn’t doing it, we’d lose those records forever. He’s a sort of hero.”

759

lonnie thompson

From coal country to ice caps Lonnie G. Thompson was born on July 1, 1948, in Gassaway, a tiny city in a poor rural area of West Virginia. His parents never went to school beyond eighth grade, but young Lonnie had bigger aspirations. From a very early age he showed an interest in science and displayed the kind of curiosity that would serve him well as an adult. For example, Thompson set up a weather station in his family’s barn and would make bets using his lunch money on whether or not it would rain. In the late 1960s, the budding scientist enrolled at Marshall University, located in Huntington, West Virgina, which meant he was the first member of the Thompson family to attend college. In 1970 he graduat-

“What we’re doing is cashing in on a bank account that was built over thousands of years but isn’t being replenished. Once it’s gone, it will be difficult to reform.” ed with a degree in geology with the intent of becoming a coal geologist. The decision was a practical one; Thompson told Kevin Krajick of Science magazine, “I hated poverty, and West Virginia’s full of coal.” While at Marshall, Thompson also met his future wife, Ellen Mosley, who would one day become his research partner and who eventually became a renowned scientist in her own right. Following graduation, Thompson and Mosley headed to Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus to pursue graduate degrees in geology. Thompson soon became involved in a research project at OSU’s Institute of Polar Studies (later renamed the Byrd Polar Research Center) where scientists were analyzing ice cores brought back from polar regions, including Greenland and Antarctica. This was a field that was just in its infancy, and Thompson and Mosley were fascinated. By studying layers of ages-old ice, researchers were able to analyze the gases, chemical elements, and dust concentrations that had been captured over the course of thousands of years. The collected data revealed

760


•

volume 4

lonnie thompson

The Day After Tomorrow: Fact or Fiction

In 2004 Hollywood tackled the problem of global warming in the action-packed thriller The Day After Tomorrow, starring Dennis Quaid as a paleoclimatologist who tries to save his son from weather gone out of control. Because of global warming there has been an abrupt climate change, which creates catastrophic natural disasters around the globe: grapefruit-size hail pelts Tokyo, Japan; blizzards hit New Delhi, India; and overnight, the temperature in New York City swings from hot to freezing, causing the ocean to swell up and swallow Manhattan. All of the weather shifts mark the beginning of the next Ice Age. Film fans appreciated the movie’s stunning special effects, but scientists took an interest in the film for another reason. Lonnie Thompson saw The Day After Tomorrow twice, and, as he said to Maren Dougherty of National Geographic, “It’s definitely over the top. But at least it forces the American public to think about the climate.” And the public was curious about how much truth there was hidden in the fiction. Stefan Lovgren of National Geographic spoke with Tom Prugh, a senior editor at the Worldwatch Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based research center that focuses on the environment. According to Prugh, “There is a kernel of truth” in the movie, “although it has been ‘Hollywoodized’.” Prugh went on to explain that global warming does indeed exist and that over the last one hundred

years the temperature of Earth has increased about 1° Fahrenheit. That may not sound like a great deal, but according to Prugh it is a significant amount of warming that could potentially have serious consequences. Temperature changes cause such things as a rise in ocean levels (water expands as it heats), an increase in the number and intensity of storms, and major flooding. Indirectly, climate changes may also result in the extinction of an entire species (of plants, insects, or animals.). Prugh was quick to point out that, unlike the movie, such drastic climate changes do not occur overnight. But he also added that humans are “stepping on the accelerator” by adding to the gases that are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. Burning coal, oil, and gasoline are some of the major culprits. So, even though The Day After Tomorrow is just a movie, climate change is a very real issue. And Prugh hopes that moviegoers will take something away from the theater: “I hope people understand that climate change is happening now. It’s affecting everyone who is alive on the planet, and it will inevitably affect their children and their children’s children.” Prush also offered some simple everyday fixes. One suggestion is to turn off the light when you leave a room. Since more than half of the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal, turning off a light reduces the amount of carbon released in the air. Just think what would happen if a million people stopped to turn off the lights.

much about the history of a region, including what the air temperature was during a certain period, how wet or dry an area was, what kind of volcanic activity took place, even what kind of plants were prevalent based on the type of pollen that was floating around. Because the field was so new and there were so few polar drilling expeditions, competition was fierce. Mosley managed to U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

761

lonnie thompson

carve a spot for herself in the OSU geology department and eventually became a senior investigator on Antarctic drilling projects. But Thompson decided to forge into an even newer area of exploration, which involved collecting ice samples from tropical regions of the planet. At the time, no one believed that such areas could yield anything valuable; tropical ice simply was not old enough or stable enough to hold long-term records. Thompson, however, was convinced that even in warmer climates, the elevation of ice caps was so extreme that layers of snow and ice probably stay frozen long enough to reveal all kinds of data. So, in 1974, he struck out for the Peruvian Andes to take on his first project: the ice cap of Quelccaya.

Across five continents With an elevation of over 18,000 feet, very few people (except local sheepherders) had ever been near Quelccaya, and no one had ever actually explored the massive ice mound. As he climbed higher and higher, Thompson experienced firsthand the dangers of working at such an extreme elevation; dangers that included horrendous headaches, difficulty breathing, and searing heat from the sun. In addition, the novice explorer faced another obstacle: the drills used in polar exploration could not be used; they were too heavy and had to be powered with a generator. Undaunted, Thompson worked with a Nebraska engineer named Bruce Koci to design a lighter drill that would run on solar energy. He also appealed to other researchers to collaborate with him. In 1983 Thompson, Koci, and several other scientists made their way to the top of Quelccaya. The expedition also included forty mules, donkeys, and horses. By the end of ten weeks, Thompson’s team had successfully extracted two ice cores that contained enough dust and debris to document regional weather back to 470 C.E. It was the first deep-core drilling of a tropical glacier and the first real tropical ice record. Researchers in other fields sat up and took notice of the discovery. Archaeologists, in particular, were pleased because Thompson’s research helped scientifically validate theories about ancient cultures (such as the Tiwanuka) who they believed had lived in the area. Geologists were interested, but not overly impressed; a fifteen-hundred-yearold core was nothing compared to centuries-old polar ice. But Thomp-

762


•

volume 4

lonnie thompson

son was far from finished. Over the next fifteen years he went on countless expeditions to prove his point that tropical ice exploration was valid. And, accompanying him on his trips were the core members of his Quelccaya crew, including Koci and climatologist Keith Mountain. As Mountain told Kevin Krajick, “We’ve all lost enough skin and blood that no one needs to be told what to do. Something breaks, we fix it. Trouble comes, we know to get out of the way.” Thompson and his team traveled to fifteen countries over five continents, climbing to some of the highest elevations ever to be explored. Along the way they encountered countless hurdles. In 1991 and 1992, while tackling the Guliya ice cap in western China, samples had to be carted across the Ghobi Desert in ancient trucks and kept cool with ice cream. A 1993 hike to Peru’s highest peak, Huascarán, was so treacherous that the team ended up living at the drill site for fifty-three days, which resulted in perhaps the record for the longest time spent living at high elevation. And in 1997, before climbing to the Sajama ice cap in Bolivia, Thompson and crew had to participate in a ceremony with local tribesmen who believed it was necessary to appease the mountain deities. All of the efforts were worth it, however, as Thompson began to bring home ice cores that were full of information.

Amazing discoveries and bleak predictions In late 1997 Thompson made what would prove to be his most important expedition to date when he led of team of researchers from the United States, China, Peru, Russia, and Nepal to explore the Dasuopo Glacier in Tibet. At 26,293 feet, it was, and remains, the world’s highest ice-core project. Samples taken from the site yielded an amazingly comprehensive record of the region that spanned over one thousand years. Of particular note were the records that detailed the history of the South Asian Monsoon, which is a climate event that occurs in annual cycles across India, Pakistan, and west toward Africa. Changes in the monsoon cycle can lead to catastrophic droughts or flooding. Thompson’s data indicated that a major shift occurred in 1790, which led to a significant drought that lasted for seven years. As a result, more than six hundred thousand people died in India alone. In February of 2001, Thompson presented his amazing findings at an annual gathering of the American Association for the Advancement U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

763

lonnie thompson

of Science. But he had just returned from an expedition to Mount Kilimanjaro in West Africa and he also had some alarming news to share: the ice cap on the mountain was disappearing at an incredible rate. According to Thompson’s data, 82 percent of the ice cap had melted between 1912 and 2000, and the rate of disintegration was accelerating. He predicted that by 2015 the cap would be gone. Thompson also revealed that the same phenomenon was happening in other tropical areas as well. At Quelccaya, for example, the cap had shrunk by about one-fifth since he took his first trip there twenty-eight years before. Some scientists claimed that the melting was due to a combination of natural and man-made factors. Thompson, however, directly linked the melting to accelerated global warming, which is the increased temperature of the earth caused by an increased density of gases (such as carbon monoxide) in the earth’s atmosphere. “There is no question in my mind,” Thompson explained in his report, which was featured in Time magazine, “that the warming is in part, if not totally, driven by human activity.” He pointed to the fact that samples revealed a four-fold increase in dust trapped in the ice and a doubling of carbon monoxide concentrations. Thompson’s most troubling revelation was that, based on the analysis of the ice from both Tibet and Africa, the last decade had been the warmest in one thousand years.

Thompson’s personal mission Although Thompson’s findings come from the tropics, he feels that his predictions have a wide-reaching effect. “These tropical glaciers are an early-warning system for the climate of the Earth,” he told Maren Dougherty of National Geographic. He went on to explain that addressing global warming is the responsibility of everyone: “It’s just a matter of time before everyone will realize that we have to do something if we want to maintain the type of civilization we live in.” As a result, Thompson and his wife have made it their personal mission to educate people from kids in grade school to university researchers that humans are warming the earth, but that it is not too late to do something about it. Thompson also made it a personal mission to make marathon expeditions to endangered ice cap sites. “We’ve got to get these archives before they’re gone,” he commented to Ned Rozell of Alaska

764


•

volume 4

lonnie thompson

Science Forum. In late 2004, Thompson returned to Quelccaya and the Himalayas, and he and his team scouted out at least thirteen other sites around the world, including peaks in Russia and one on Heard Island, a tiny spot in the Indian Ocean that has never been explored before. Although the science community finally acknowledged that tropical regions are crucial areas of research, funding for such projects was still hard to come by. As a result, Thompson began to seek some nontraditional methods of funding. For example, he has approached private donors such as media mogul Ted Turner (c. 1938–) and companies that focus on outdoor gear, including Lands’ End. In the meantime Thompson and his researchers at Ohio State University, where he is a full professor, study the ice samples that are housed in cold storage. The OSU storage facility is approximately 2,100 square feet and holds ice cores that, if laid end-to-end, would stretch over four miles. It is important to keep them, Thompson explained to National Geographic, because they are living archives. Such archives prove valuable to other researchers at other institutions, and they are important for the future. “Because it’s clear,” Thompson added, “that in as few as 15 years, you will not be able to go out into the real world to recover that record.”

The Indiana Jones of scientists Thompson’s discoveries have made him a very famous man. He makes national headlines on a regular basis, he has been invited to the White House to share his expert opinions, and environmentalists consider him to be a spokesman for the planet. Fellow scientists sometimes doubt the exact timing of his predictions, but they also acknowledge Thompson as a geologist who is fiercely dedicated to his work. According to Harvard University geochemist Daniel Schrag, who spoke with Krajick, “He’s the closest living thing to Indiana Jones.“ A strange description for the quiet, bespectacled Thompson, who does not consider himself to be an adventurer. “I only want the data,” he admitted to Krajick. And Thompson seems determined to get the data regardless of his own personal safety. He has a minor heart-valve defect and in 1996 he was diagnosed with severe asthma. Both conditions could prove fatal for someone who climbs to elevated heights. But, as Ned Rozell put it, “Thompson will not rest while the ice is still there.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

765

lonnie thompson

For More Information Periodicals Krajick, Kevin. “Ice Man: Lonnie Thompson Scales the Peaks for Science.” Science (October 18, 2002): pp. 518–522. Merrell, Lolly. “The Vanishing World of Lonnie Thompson.” National Geographic Adventure (August 2004). Reaves, Jessica. “The Dusty Rocks of Kilimanjaro Just Doesn’t Have the Same Ring.” Time (February 19, 2001).

Web Sites Dougherty, Maren. “High-Climbing Ice Expert Gets to Core of Climate Change.” National Geographic Adventure (July 27, 2004) http://news. nationalgeographic.com/news/2004/07/0727_040727_globalwarming. html#main (accessed on August 16, 2004). Lovgren, Stefan. “Day After Tomorrow Ice Age Impossible, Researcher Says.” National Geographic News (May 27, 2004) http://news.national geographic.com/news/2004/05/0527_040527_DayAfter.html (accessed on August 17, 2004). Rozell, Ned. “Where Science and High Adventure Meet.” Alaska Science Forum (April 22, 2004) http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ ASF16/1695.html (accessed on August 17, 2004). “Time Magazine, CNN Name OSU Geologist One of ‘America’s Best.’” Ohio State University Press Release. (August 13, 2001) http://www. osu.edu/osu/newsrel/Archive/01-08-13_Lonnie_Thompson_TimeCNN.html (accessed on August 17, 2004). Wong, Kate. “Himalayan Ice Cores.” Scientific American Web site (September 18, 2000) http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=000D4 E78-7113-1C61-B882809EC588ED9F (accessed on August 17, 2004).

766


•

volume 4

Justin Timberlake

January 31, 1981 • Memphis, Tennessee



•

volume 4

Singer, songwriter

In late 2002 Justin Timberlake managed to make the leap that many young stars never accomplish—the leap from teen idol to full-fledged, adult artist. In the late 1990s, he was one-fifth of the wildly popular boy band ’N Sync, considered to be the cute, funny one, and a headline maker thanks mostly to his on-again, off-again romance with pop princess Britney Spears. But, having hit the ripe old age of twenty-one, Timberlake decided to leave the safety of his supergroup to launch a solo career. His debut CD, called Justified, was released in December of 2002, and its funky mix of hip-hop and R&B clicked with both old fans and new. More importantly, Timberlake gained the respect of critics and peers. In 2003 he took home several awards for his freshman effort, including three MTV Video Music Awards, and in February of 2004, Timberlake snagged two Grammies, considered the highest achievement in the music industry. It seemed the pop idol had grown up, and as Jenny Eliscu commented in Rolling Stone, Timberlake “attained the one thing he wanted more than anything else: credibility.”

767

justin timberlake

From singing toddler to Mouseketeer Justin Randall Timberlake was born on January 31, 1981, in Memphis, Tennessee, considered to be the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll. From the very beginning, Timberlake’s mother, Lynne, knew her son would be a performer. He was dancing along to the radio when he was just a toddler, and by the age of two and a half, Timberlake (nicknamed Curly) could sing in perfect harmony. As Timberlake later recalled in a Time for Kids interview, “Ever since I was a little boy I always sang. So I figured out that was sort of my calling.” When Timberlake was three his parents divorced. He remained friends with his father, but he grew up with his mother and his stepfa-

“I know people have an image of me in their head, but I want them to be able to see past that. I want them to see the musicality of what I’m doing.” ther, Paul Harless, who Lynne married when Timberlake was five years old. Young Justin was, and is, extremely close to his mother. In fact, he has a small tattoo on his back of an angel holding a banner that bears her initials. In addition, Lynne later became her son’s manager. Timberlake started out singing in the church choir; he began his stage career by performing in countless local talent contests. In 1992, after several years of voice lessons, he appeared on Star Search, a televised tournament-style talent competition that helped launched the careers of many top entertainers. The eleven-year-old sang under the name of Justin Randall, and although he received high marks from the judges, he did not win the contest. Timberlake was not discouraged. He continued to make the rounds of auditions, and in 1993, at age twelve, he landed a spot on The Mickey Mouse Club, a half-hour show for kids that blended singing, dancing, and comedy sketches. Competition to be a Mouseketeer was high, considering thousands of hopefuls tried out

768


•

volume 4

justin timberlake

The Justin Timberlake Foundation

Pop

idol Justin Timberlake may spend his money freely on clothes, cars, and plenty of bling, but he is also committed to helping youngsters fulfill their dreams. In 2000 Timberlake established the Justin Timberlake Foundation, with the goal of funding and supporting music programs in public schools. As the performer told Time for Kids, “This is about an opportunity that every young person should enjoy, no matter what career they aspire to. I want to do everything I can to make sure other people can benefit from music education.” In May of 2000, the foundation’s first grant was awarded to Timberlake’s own Memphis elementary school, E. E. Jeeter. In addition to money, the pop performer donates his time to help schools integrate music into the curriculum. He also helps others raise funds for what he considers to be an important initiative. For example, the foundation regularly auctions off items online, including Timberlake concert tickets and some of the star’s own belongings, such as his sneakers.

In 2002, the Timberlake Foundation joined forces with the American Music Conference (AMC), a national, nonprofit organization, which according to its Web site at http://www.amc-music.org, is “dedicated to promoting the importance of music, musicmaking, and music education to the general public.” That same year, Timberlake partnered with AMC to urge Congress to support music education in U.S. schools. Thanks to Timberlake’s involvement, millions of people visited the AMC Web site, kids and adults wrote letters to their congressmen, and by late 2002, Timberlake’s mother, Lynn Harless, delivered a petition containing thousands of signatures to Capitol Hill. As Timberlake explained on the AMC Web site: “The main purpose of this petition drive is to show the people on Capitol Hill how important music education is to the people they’re working for. The publicity that surrounded the petition has reached millions of people and gotten them talking. I think we’ve laid a foundation for more public activism in the future, and I hope people start in their own home towns.”

for the show, and Timberlake was thrilled to be added to the program. He and his mother moved to Orlando, Florida, where the series was produced, and for two years he appeared as a regular along with fellow cast members, including up-and-coming stars, Britney Spears (1981–), Christina Aguilera (1980–), and future bandmate Joshua Scott (J. C.) Chasez (1976–). When the show was cancelled in 1994, Timberlake was disappointed, but he already had his sights on his next move. He and Chavez had been contacted by a young singer named Christopher Kirkpatrick (1971–) who had seen them on Mickey Mouse and now wondered if the two ex-Mouseketeers would be interested in joining a band he was putting together. Timberlake and Chavez joined forces with Kirkpatrick, Joseph (Joey) Fatone (1977–), and Jason Allen Alexander (1981–) to become one of the most successful pop groups ever, ’N Sync. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

769

justin timberlake

Boy band history The five young men formed instant friendships and it was clear that their harmonizing styles blended together perfectly. As a result, because they were so in sync, Timberlake’s mother came up with the band’s appropriate name. In addition, ’N Sync was formed from the last letter of each member’s first name (Justin, Chris, Joey, Jason, and J. C.). When Lance Bass (1979–) replaced Jason Allen, the boys jokingly called him Lansten so he would fit into the group’s acronym. In need of financial backing, the band turned to Lou Pearlman of the Trans Continental management company. Pearlman quickly put the boys in touch with Johnny and Donna Wright, who became ’N Sync’s tour managers. The Wrights were music veterans with just the right experience; they had previously managed 1980’s teen heartthrobs New Kids on the Block, and they had recently helped form the Backstreet Boys, another five-member teen vocal combo, and one that would be constantly compared to ’N Sync. The rest is boy band history. ’N Sync began by touring extensively in Europe where they honed their vocals and on-stage choreography. In 1998 they released their self-titled debut album in the United States, as well as a Christmas album, Home for Christmas, and for the next three years they topped the pop charts, packed stadiums, and sold millions of records. Critics generally dismissed them as cookie-cutter bland, but millions of fans, most of them pre-teen girls, gobbled up everything ’N Sync. They plastered their walls with posters, bought ’N Sync dolls, bopped to dance numbers, such as “I Want You Back,” and swooned over sugary-sweet ballads, including “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time On You.” Thousands of Web sites and fan magazines popped up overnight and every girl had a favorite band member. Timberlake, in particular, was a fan favorite, perhaps because he was the youngest of the group. Or, maybe because of his much publicized relationship with Britney Spears, which made for constant tabloid fodder. In 1999, after a bitter dispute, the band broke from Pearlman, who was accused of mismanaging funds. ’N Sync signed with Jive Records, and released two more albums: No Strings Attached (2000), which broke industry records when it sold 2.4 million copies in its first week of release, and Celebrity (2001), a blend of electronica, R&B (Rhythm and Blues), and country. The “boys” were definitely growing up, taking control, and proving that they had true staying

770


•

volume 4

justin timberlake

power. They were also branching out on projects of their own. Bass and Fatone were acting in TV, film, and theater, Kirkpatrick launched a clothing line, and Chasez wrote and produced tracks for other recording artists. In 2001, however, when they officially took time out from the band to pursue individual ventures, Timberlake was the first to release a solo album.

Justin is justified In interviews Timberlake reported that he wanted to do a solo record because he needed the freedom to express himself. He also claimed that the impetus was the breakup of his almost four-year relationship with Spears. “It was angst in the form of heartbreak,” he told Jon Wiederhorn of MTV.com. “Writing a couple of songs on the record helped me deal with things. It was like a whole big spa treatment.” Timberlake had the emotion, he had the singing chops, and he had some writing experience since he had penned several ’N Sync songs, including “Gone” and “Girlfriend.” But he still needed collaborators, and although he was connected with Jive Records, producers still needed convincing to become connected with the boy with the bubble-gum past. Timberlake was fortunate to snag some of the biggest names in the business, including Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes, producers of such hip-hop artists as Jay-Z, Mystikal, and Ludacris; Tim ‘Timbaland’ Mosely; Andre Harris; and Vidal Davis. Although these industry giants definitely laid the blueprint for the album, and their urban styles are evident in such tracks as “Nothin’ Else” and “Last Night,” Justified was undeniably Timberlake’s own. He co-wrote each of the thirteen songs, and he injected his own sense of soul into each and every one. “As a kid, I gravitated toward Stevie Wonder, Al Green, and Marvin Gaye” the singer explained to Meredith Lerner of VH1.com, “and that stuff’s still with me.” By the end of the six weeks of recording, Timberlake’s collaborators recognized that talent. As producer Scott Storch told Jon Wiederhorn, “[Timberlake] has a passion for classic soul music, and he’s learned lots of tricks from back in the day that he’s applying to modern music. He’s sort of a return to blue-eyed soul.” Justified was released in November of 2002, and a nervous Timberlake wondered how it would be received. “I kind of feel like everyU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

771

justin timberlake

Justin Timberlake performs in London, England. AP/Wide World

body has their magnifying glasses out,” he confessed to MTV.com. Critics, however, had nothing but praise for his solo effort. Polly Vernon of the Guardian Unlimited called it “inventive and instant…a truly great record,” and described Timberlake’s voice as “honeydipped and sweet.” Jon Wiederhorn praised, in particular, the track “Cry Me a River,” stating that it “marked [Timberlake’s] transformation from doe-eyed teenybopper to pained and relevant singer/songsmith.” Reviewers also compared Timberlake to a young Michael Jackson (1958–) and many, including Jenny Eliscu of Rolling Stone, dubbed him the new king of pop.

Photos. Reproduced by permission.

All grown up Timberlake had a whirlwind 2003, which he spent on the road performing and relentlessly promoting his album. In the summer he traveled throughout the United States and Europe with Christina Aguilera

772


•

volume 4

justin timberlake

as part of the sold-out Justified and Stripped tour. He took a brief break to play a benefit concert in Toronto, Canada, sharing the stage with such legendary bands as the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, the Guess Who, and Rush. Timberlake was also a regular on the talk-show circuit and continued to make headlines, not as Britney Spears’s boyfriend, but as the most popular performer of the moment. It seemed every move he made hit the news: he hosted Saturday Night Live in October of 2003, became part-owner of a Los Angeles-based restaurant in November of 2003, and of course his love life was not off limits. The twenty-two-year-old was romantically linked with actress Cameron Diaz (1972–), who is nine years his senior. Timberlake also popped up on every music industry awards show imaginable, from the MTV Video Music Awards to the MTV Europe Music Awards to the American Music Awards, where he took home the prize for favorite pop album of the year. In February of 2004 the new solo artist even landed two surprise Grammy wins, including best pop vocal album and best male pop vocal performance for “Cry Me a River.” In the latter category, he was up against such music mainstays as Sting (1951–), Michael McDonald (1952–), and George Harrison (1943–2001). Timberlake’s Grammy glory was almost overshadowed by an event that took place earlier in the month: while performing with Janet Jackson (1966–) during halftime at Super Bowl XXXVIII, Timberlake stunned audiences when he yanked off the top of Jackson’s outfit. Both artists later apologized and reported that it was a mistake caused by a costume malfunction. By the end of 2004, there was no rest for Timberlake. When he did manage to take a few days off he went traveling with girlfriend Diaz, or headed to Memphis, where his parents still live in the brick Tudor-style house Timberlake grew up in. While there, he hangs out with his dogs Bearlie and Bella, plays pinball and Halo on his Xbox, and hits a few rounds of golf, which is his latest passion. Timberlake was also fielding offers from movie producers, who were keen on tapping into his talent. He signed on to make two movies, slated for released in 2005. The first, called Edison, features Timberlake as a young journalist who teams up with two veteran investigators played by Morgan Freeman (1937–) and Kevin Spacey (1959–). The second movie is Wanna-Be, which will star Timberlake as a college baseball prodigy. Rumors also abounded about whether or not the pop starU•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

773

justin timberlake

turned actor would be joining his ’N Sync bandmates on a new album. Timberlake remained noncommittal, telling the press that he was not sure if he was contractually obligated.

For More Information Periodicals Eliscu, Jenny. “The New King of Pop.” Rolling Stone (December 25, 2003). Hedegaard, Erik. “The Bachelor: Pop’s Mr. Heartbreak Goes It Alone.” Rolling Stone (January 23, 2003).

Web Sites “Justin Timberlake: Wanna Be Starting Somethin’.” VH1.com: Artists (June 16, 2003) http://www.vh1.com/artists/interview/1472671/ 06132003/timberlake_justin.jhtml (accessed on August 23, 2004). Justin Timberlake Web site. http://www.justintimberlake.com/ (accessed on August 23, 2004). Klueber, Jill. “Justin’s Solo Act.” Time for Kids: Kid Scoops (November 11, 2002) http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kidscoops/story/0,14989, 389161,00.html (accessed on August 23, 2004). Lerner, Meredith. “Justin Timberlake: Work in Progress.” VH1.com: Artists (November 18, 2002) http://www.vh1.com/artists/interview/1458752/ 11182002/timberlake_justin.jhtml (accessed on August 23, 2004). Vernon, Polly. “Boy Wonder.” Guardian Unlimited (UK) (October 6, 2002) http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,11913,804933,00.html (accessed on August 23, 2004). Wiederhorn, Jon. “Why is Justin Timberlake the Only Youngster Who Can Stand Up to Sting?” MTV.com: News (February 2, 2004) http://www. mtv.com/news/articles/1484705/20040202/story.jhtml (accessed on August 23, 2004).

774


•

volume 4

Gabrielle Union

October 29, 1973 • Omaha, Nebraska


•

Steve Granitz/WireImage.com.

volume 4

Actress

W hile many who have seen her perform mention her beauty, natural ability, and star quality, Gabrielle Union did not set out to be an actress. After an internship in the office of a modeling agency during her college years, Union was invited to get in front of the camera. She gave it a try, and the modeling soon led to small roles in television shows. Those in turn led to small roles in feature films, and by 2000, just a few years after her first television appearances, Union had won a major role in the popular movie Bring It On, starring Kirsten Dunst (1982–). Since then she has been offered significant parts in a steady stream of films, including Two Can Play That Game (2001), Deliver Us from Eva (2003), and Breakin’ All the Rules (2004). She costarred alongside Martin Lawrence (1965–) and Will Smith (1968–) in the 2003 blockbuster Bad Boys II. Not a bad resume for someone who had never studied acting and who once told Jeffrey Epstein of E! Online that she used to think acting was a “cheesy profession.” Her list of accomplishments is even more impressive considering the gen-

775

gabrielle union

eral lack of decent roles for African American actors. In spite of poor odds, Union has forged a successful career, scoring one good role after another while at the same time maintaining a level head and a sharp sense of humor.

A Midwestern gal Gabrielle Monique Union was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1973, the middle child in a family of three daughters. Her parents, Sylvester and Teresa, both worked as managers for the telecommunications company AT&T; her father also served in the military, reaching the rank of

“Hey, I’m just riding this train as long as I can. As long as I’m having fun, I’ll do it. When it stops being fun, I’ll try something else. Maybe I’ll open up a chain of Popeye’s Chicken.” sergeant. Union’s early childhood years were spent as part of a rich black community and as part of a large family that had been in the Omaha area for many generations. Her sense of belonging and connection to the community changed when Union was about eight years old. In 1981 her father was transferred, and the family moved to Pleasanton, a predominantly white suburban neighborhood in northern California. Union’s mother made sure her daughters received an education in black culture and history, but Union still longed to have the companionship of other black girls. She told Savoy magazine, in an article that appeared on the Gabrielle Union Fan Club Web site, “I wanted the camaraderie. I can tell you anything you want to know about any [black] writer or about any event, but I didn’t have the friendships.” Her parents felt strongly that their daughters should hold onto family ties, and they often returned to Nebraska during her childhood summers. In spite of the fact that she has spent most of her life in California, Union still considers herself a Midwesterner.

776


•

volume 4

gabrielle union

During her high school years Union was a talented, hard-working athlete, excelling at soccer, track, and basketball. She also performed well in the classroom, making the dean’s list at Foothill High in Pleasanton. Much of her motivation for success came from her father, who continually pushed her to improve. She recalled to Clarissa Cruz of Entertainment Weekly the type of lecture she often heard from her father: “You are the only black person in your whole class. You’re gonna have to prove to them every day that you’re just as smart, if not smarter. Just as good, if not better. Just as fast, if not faster.” This placed twice the pressure on Union to succeed, as she told Entertainment Weekly, “So not only am I trying to beat all my classmates, I’m trying to prove to my dad that I’m living up to his expectations.” After graduating, Union returned to her childhood hometown, attending the University of Nebraska in Lincoln (UNL). She went back to California after one semester, however, finding it hard to fit in socially at UNL. She attended one semester at Cuesta College in Southern California, but then dropped out, unsure what direction her life would take. In 1992, while trying to figure out what to do next, she took a summer job at a Payless shoe store, which would become the site of a horrifying incident. One evening, as Union and another employee were closing the store, an armed man entered the store, emptied the cash register, and sexually assaulted Union at gunpoint. At one point she was able to get the gun, and attempted to shoot her attacker. The gun jammed, however, and the man beat her and then left the store. He later turned himself in, and Union eventually learned that he was an employee of another Payless store who had robbed several stores and previously raped another Payless employee. He was convicted of his crime against Union, and she went on to successfully sue Payless for their negligence and failure to warn employees of the man’s prior crimes and his potential danger to other female workers. Traumatized by the attack, Union sought comfort from her oldest friends. She began meeting with a group of other sexual assault survivors, and for many years she gave talks in support of other victims.

Graduating to the silver screen Union then moved on to complete her college education, graduating from the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1996. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

777

gabrielle union

During her senior year at UCLA, Union sought to add additional credits to her regular class schedule by finding an internship. She became a temporary office worker at a modeling agency, where clients repeatedly mistook her for one of the models. After she graduated, the agency invited her to sign on with them as a model and Union agreed, eager to begin paying off her student loans before entering law school. She soon found herself gracing the pages of publications such as Teen magazine. After modeling for a short time, Union decided to try her hand at acting. Her first audition, in 1996, resulted in a guest part on the television show Saved by the Bell: The New Class. Over the next few years, Union won a succession of guest roles on such programs as Moesha, Sister, Sister, and ER. She had a recurring role on Seventh Heaven, and in 2001 made a landmark appearance on the long-running sitcom Friends. Union, playing a woman who dates both Joey and Ross, had the distinction of being the first minority love interest on the show. In the midst of her steady television appearances, Union also began winning small roles in feature films. She appeared in a string of teen-oriented movies, including She’s All That, 10 Things I Hate about You (both released in 1999), and Love and Basketball (2000). With her role as cheerleading captain Isis opposite Kirsten Dunst in Bring It On (2000), Union crossed over into movie-star territory. She trained hard for the role—gaining new respect for cheerleaders—and brought to the character a sense of uncompromising inner strength. The movie was a big hit, and Union found herself with millions of new fans. Around the same time she scored a lead role on the shortlived television series City of Angels. Union enjoyed her character, a surgical resident in a Los Angeles hospital, but when the series was canceled, her schedule could more easily accommodate film roles. And the roles kept coming, with Union appearing in two major films in 2001. Both films, The Brothers and Two Can Play That Game, featured black casts and dealt with issues of romance, commitment, and faithfulness. In the midst of her busy schedule, Union managed to fit in her wedding to Chris Howard, a former running back for the Jacksonville (Florida) Jaguars. Howard had moved to Los Angeles after his football career ended, in order to be closer to Union. He became a sports therapist and worked for the Fox Sports network. Union encountered another busy year in 2002, appearing in two films. In Welcome to Collinwood, which stars Luis Guzmán, William

778


•

volume 4

gabrielle union

H. Macy, Isaiah Washington, and Patricia Clarkson, Union portrays a young blind girl named Michelle. To research the role, she spent time with a blind woman at the Braille Institute. In Abandon, a campus thriller starring Katie Holmes and Benjamin Bratt, Union portrays a friend of Holmes’s character. While both movies offered Union a chance to explore new types of roles, she longed for a more significant movie part. The following year she got that role, playing the title character in Deliver Us from Eva. The film, loosely based on the play The Taming of the Shrew by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), tells the story of eldest daughter Eva, who takes over as guardian of her three younger sisters after the death of their parents. She continues to exert control over their lives even as they reach adulthood, much to the dismay of their husbands and boyfriends. The men hatch a plot to stop Eva from meddling in their affairs. They pay a local ladies’ man, portrayed by rapper/actor LL Cool J, to date Eva, make her fall in love with him, and then take her out of their lives. Naturally the plan is complicated when the playboy falls in love with Eva, and she with him. While reviewers offered only lukewarm praise for the film, it met with success at the box office, earning close to $20 million. The film’s director, Gary Hardwick, offered warm praise for Union in an article in Jet: “She’s a wonderful actress, very gifted and with marvelous comic timing. She’s sexy, and she can make you laugh or she can make you cry. You want to watch her to see just exactly what she’s going to do next. She has all the tools of a leading lady.” Also in 2003, Union appeared in Cradle 2 the Grave, an action movie starring martial arts star Jet Li, rapper DMX, and comedian Anthony Anderson. She also scored a significant role in Bad Boys II, one of the biggest hits of the summer of 2003, in which Union played the role of Syd, the half-sister of Martin Lawrence’s character and the love interest for Will Smith’s character. Union returned to the romantic comedy genre in 2004 with a starring role in Breakin’ All the Rules. Also featuring Jamie Foxx and Morris Chestnut, Rules is a mistakenidentity romp that examines the absurd behavior of those desperate to maintain or get out of a relationship. Joe Leydon listed Union’s charms in a Daily Variety review of Rules, writing that “Union once again evidences (as in Deliver Us from Eva) impressive range and star presence as she comes off smart and sexy, feisty and vulnerable.” U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

779

gabrielle union

Gabrielle Union (center) poses with Will Smith (left) and producer Jerry Bruckheimer at the Germany premiere of Bad Boys II. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

Despite her increasingly high profile, Union has retained her down-to-earth personality. She appreciates the salaries she earns for her film roles and the recognition given for her work, but has tried to keep things in perspective. She shared advice for other young actors with Lori Talley of Back Stage West: “Don’t just concentrate on the business.… Have a life outside of this and have other interests, because those are the things that keep you working.” Cruz praised Union’s “Midwestern-girl-next-door sensibility that sets her apart from the fleet of glamourous starlets that regularly dock on Tinseltown shores.” Union and her husband share a modest Los Angeles home with a mortgage that will still be manageable if the film roles suddenly dry up. She told Tom Gliatto of People: “If I had to go work as a social worker, I could still afford it. We squirrel away a lot. I don’t live for today. I live for twenty years down the road.” While Union prepares for plan “B”—saving money for her post-acting days—many fans and industry insiders look ahead with certainty to the day in the near future when Union will rise to the position of an A-list movie star.

For More Information Periodicals Cruz, Clarissa. “And They Call It Buppie Love.” Entertainment Weekly (April 25, 2003): p. 70.

780


•

volume 4

gabrielle union Gliatto, Tom. “Union’s Dues.” People (August 11, 2003): p. 75. Leydon, Joe. “Breakin’ All the Rules.” Daily Variety (May 14, 2004): p. 2. “LL Cool J & Gabrielle Union Star in Romantic Comedy Deliver Us from Eva.” Jet (February 17, 2003): p. 58. Talley, Lori. “Proud Model.” Back Stage West (March 29, 2001): p. 7.

Web Sites Epstein, Jeffrey. “Gabrielle Union: Bring It On.” E! Online. http://www. eonline.com/Celebs/Who/gu.html (accessed on August 12, 2004). “Gabrielle Union.” Savoy (February 2000). Appears at Gabrielle Union Fan Club. http://www.gabrielleunionfanclub.com/articles/savoy.htm (accessed on August 12, 2004).


•

volume 4

781

Peter Vitousek

January 24, 1949 • Honolulu, Hawaii

Ecologist


•

volume 4

When he began his studies as a young man, Peter Vitousek had no plans to become one of the world’s leading ecologists. The Hawaii native started out as a political science major, switching to ecology when he came across a book about the damage done to certain regions when new species of plants and animals are introduced and take over. After completing his education and becoming a university professor and research scientist, Vitousek eventually ended up in his home state, studying vegetation and wildlife in the hopes of preserving ecosystems—the interworkings of organisms and their surrounding environment—in Hawaii and around the world. One of the issues Vitousek has focused on involves the problem of too much nitrogen in the environment. Nitrogen is an element that occurs naturally, but it also enters soil and water through its use in fertilizers and as a by-product of the burning of fuels such as gasoline. An excess of nitrogen upsets the biological balance of the entire planet. Chosen by Time magazine in 2001 as one of the United States’s best scientists, Vitousek has used

783

peter vitousek

his ground-breaking research in Hawaii to demonstrate the interconnectedness of ecosystems all over the world.

Childhood hobby becomes lifelong passion Vitousek was born in 1949 in Honolulu, which is on Oahu, one of several islands that constitute the state of Hawaii. As a child, he was not especially interested in ecology or other environmental sciences, but he did enjoy spending time outdoors, exploring the island. He told Environment Hawaii, “[I] spent a lot of time hiking in the Ko’olau as a kid, not knowing what I was looking at very much, but liking being

“A tremendously important challenge is making people aware of just how extraordinary a place [Hawaii] is … not just for people in Hawaii appreciating what we have, but as an opportunity for people in the rest of the world to come and see and appreciate.” outside a lot.” His family spent part of each year in Kona, a coastal region on the island of Hawaii. Vitousek’s father had grown up in that area, and his grandmother still lived there. During those trips to Kona, Vitousek spent time with some of his father’s childhood friends, many of whom were ranchers and knew the land intimately. He learned a great deal about Hawaii’s native vegetation and cultivated a love for his state’s natural beauty. When it came time to choosing a major in college, Vitousek chose a field that had little to do with his interest in exploring the outdoors. He began studying political science at Amherst College in western Massachusetts. He took an English course on the literature of science, a class that would alter his life’s course. The class was

784


•

volume 4

peter vitousek

assigned a book written by a British ecologist, Charles Elton, that detailed the impact of biological invasions. Sometimes, when a species of plant or wildlife is introduced to an area where that species does not ordinarily grow or live, it can take over, or invade, the area’s ecosystem, having a tremendous and often damaging effect. The descriptions in Elton’s book about the biological invasions in Hawaii ignited a spark in Vitousek. He recalled to Environment Hawaii: “A lot of things just came together for me then. I had that experience, seeing it and then reading about it and realizing that it fit somewhere in the context of conservation and of biology. I got really excited about doing something.…” Vitousek began taking biology classes at Amherst. While he graduated in 1971 with a degree in political science, that subject had taken a back seat to other kinds of science in terms of his passion. After leaving Amherst, he enrolled in a postgraduate program at Dartmouth College, in Hanover, New Hampshire, earning his PhD in biological sciences there in 1975. Vitousek began his career teaching and conducting research at Indiana University and at the University of North Carolina. In 1984 he became a professor at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. That university’s location brought him closer to home, with Hawaii being just a few hours by plane from California. During the first few years he worked at Stanford, Vitousek spent more and more time conducting research in Hawaii. By the early 1990s, Vitousek was working almost exclusively in Hawaii, fulfilling his long-time goal of returning home. In 1990 he won a grant, known as a fellowship, from the Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation. This grant enabled him to study the effects of the introduction of nonnative grasses on Hawaii’s local ecology. As part of his fellowship, he also helped to educate the public about environmental changes taking place around the world.

It’s a small world after all Based at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Vitousek and his colleagues examine, as he told Environment Hawaii, “how whole ecosystems work, how the relationship between plants and soils works on large scales of space and time.” Hawaii is an ideal testing ground for ecologists because it is so geographically isolated. Few species of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

785

peter vitousek

plants occur naturally in Hawaii, and these few have had to adapt to the variety of climates and environments found there. Rather than trying to bring back to vitality areas that have been damaged, Vitousek’s approach to protecting Hawaii’s ecosystems consists of concentrating on the relatively unspoiled areas, working to keep these protected areas in the best shape possible. Such areas have been protected by organizations like the Nature Conservancy, which devotes itself to the preservation of plants and wildlife, as well as by national and state park systems. These areas have been saved from real estate development and have been monitored carefully to keep invasive species out and allow native species to thrive. “Those are places that are like no other places on earth,” Vitousek told Environment Hawaii. “They are unique.” Vitousek considers invasive species to be the greatest threat to ecosystems in Hawaii and elsewhere. Time magazine pointed out that such “biological invasions” have been responsible for tremendous ecological damage in Hawaii: “All of Hawaii’s twenty species of flightless birds have vanished, and half the flying ones as well. Onesixth of the native plants are gone, and 30 percent of remaining ones are threatened.” One significant aspect of Vitousek’s research has involved the study of how ecosystems thousands of miles apart can interact with and affect each other. He and his colleagues examined the chemical makeup of soil and rock at volcanic sites, which are abundant in Hawaii. Some of the sites were relatively young—just three hundred years old—and there, the plants derived their nutrients from the hardened lava. At the older sites, some as ancient as 4.1 million years, the scientists discovered that plants had been fed by minerals from another place entirely. The nutrients at these sites had arrived via ocean spray and dust, some of which had originated thousands of miles distant, in central Asia. Vitousek concluded, as he told Time, that “no ecosystem is entirely isolated.” Vitousek feels that one way to ensure that Hawaii’s unspoiled areas are protected in the future is to educate people all over the world about what a special place Hawaii is. He told Environment Hawaii, “in terms of appreciating how the world works, evolutionarily, ecologically, culturally—there’s nothing like Hawaii. And people who come here should see more of that, appreciate more of that, enjoy it more.” Vitousek recognizes that many people think only of beautiful

786


•

volume 4

peter vitousek

beaches and palm trees when they think of Hawaii, but he considers it vitally important to inform potential visitors that Hawaii has far more to offer. He wants to promote Hawaii as an ideal destination for ecotourists, travelers who are passionate about visiting areas of extraordinary natural beauty. Vitousek understands that an increased number of tourists visiting Hawaii’s remote, protected ecosystems could take a toll on those areas, but he feels the benefits outweigh the threats. As ever greater numbers of people come to feel as passionately as Vitousek does about preserving the world’s natural treasures, the chances that such treasures will survive for generations to come increases tremendously.

Correcting an imbalance In addition to finding ways to protect ecosystems, Vitousek has also focused his research on the issue of excess nitrogen in the environment. Nitrogen makes up 78 percent of Earth’s atmosphere, but far more nitrogen than what naturally occurs has been found in water and soil throughout the world in recent decades. Some of the excess nitrogen is introduced through the burning of fossil fuels, which are extracted from the ground and come from the ancient remains of plants and animals. Fossil fuels include coal, natural gas, and crude oil. Crue oil is used to make gasoline and diesel fuel, which are burned by the engines of cars, trucks, and airplanes, among other machines. Another major source of excess nitrogen comes from fertilizers used in the growing of crops. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants, and since the 1950s, farmers have increasingly used fertilizers that contain large quantities of synthetic, or human-made, nitrogen. While Vitousek recognizes that advancements in farming—including improvements made to nitrogen-containing fertilizers—have helped to feed billions of people, he asserts that the use of nitrogen should be carefully monitored to avoid upsetting the delicate balance of nature. That balance has been disturbed by excess nitrogen. Nitrogen from fertilizers gets washed into rivers and lakes, eventually ending up in oceans and other large bodies of water. The presence of this nitrogen causes the explosive growth of certain types of algae, which are plants or plantlike organisms that grow in water. These algae “blooms” can be vast, and when they die, beginning to decay as they U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

787

peter vitousek

sink, they absorb oxygen in the water. The lack of oxygen then results in widespread suffocation among other marine plants and animals. Scientists have noted with great concern a large algae bloom—the size of the state of New Jersey—in the Gulf of Mexico. This bloom, believed to be the result of excess nitrogen, has been labeled a “dead zone” because of the inability of many species to survive in that area. The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is one of about fifty such areas in coastal waters worldwide. These dead zones have begun to pose a significant threat to marine ecosystems and, in some cases, have devastated a region’s fishing industry. Scientists have also noted a problem concerning nitrogen levels in soil. Some of the nitrogen released into the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels returns to the earth as part of acid rain, which is rain, snow, or fog that contains harmful levels of acid resulting from air pollution. When it becomes part of the soil, this type of nitrogen attracts important nutrients like potassium, magnesium, and calcium, taking those nutrients away from plants that need them. Excess nitrogen in the soil may lead to explosive growth among some plant species, but it can suffocate others. Vitousek has worked to spread the word about the problems of excess nitrogen and the many harmful effects of this imbalance. He also educates people about what can be done to counteract this environmental problem. One way to improve the situation is more moderate use of nitrogen-based fertilizers on farms worldwide. Farmers can measure the amount of nitrogen in the soil and apply only as much fertilizer as absolutely necessary. In addition, farmers can plant more “nitrogen-fixing” plants such as soybeans, alfalfa, and peas, all of which are effective at converting the nitrogen that exists in the air into a usable nutrient, thereby reducing the need for fertilizers. Vitousek and many other environmental scientists also advocate a reduction in the burning of fossil fuels, which can be accomplished by the widespread use of more fuelefficient cars. Vitousek has devoted his life to studying the inner workings of ecosystems and then applying his knowledge to recommend improvements in the global environment. Vitousek’s colleague, Jane Lubchenco, a marine ecologist, told Time what makes the Hawaiian ecologist so unique: “Peter is a real visionary. It’s unusual to have someone who is simultaneously interested in the big picture and in taking a very detailed look at the processes themselves.”

788


•

volume 4

peter vitousek

For More Information Periodicals “Ecosystems Analyst.” Time (August 20, 2001): p. 44. Moffat, Anne Simon. “Ecology: Global Nitrogen Overload Problem Grows Critical.” Science (February 13, 1998). Nesmith, Jeff. “Nitrogen Used in Fertilizer Tips Delicate Balance.” Palm Beach (FL) Post (November 3, 2002).

Web Sites “An Interview with Peter Vitousek.” Environment Hawaii. http://www.environment-hawaii.org/701an.htm (accessed on August 16, 2004). “Pew Fellows.” Pew Fellows Program in Marine Conservation. http:// 161.58.251.199/pewFellowsDirectoryTemplate.php?PEWSerialInt= 3563 (accessed on August 16, 2004).


•

volume 4

789

The White Stripes Jack White July 1975 • Detroit, Michigan

Guitarist, pianist, singer, songwriter

Meg White c. 1974 • Grosse Pointe, Michigan Reproduced by permission.

Jack White and Meg White of the White Stripes. AP/Wide World Photos.


•

volume 4

Drummer

Instantly recognizable in their stark red-and-white outfits, the White Stripes have become a worldwide phenomenon with their energetic blend of blues, punk, folk, and country. Consisting solely of Jack White on guitar and vocals and Meg White playing the drums, the Detroit-based White Stripes have been among the most visible groups connected to a revival of the loosely defined style known as garage rock—a usually fast-paced rock ‘n’ roll style favoring short songs with intense drumming and memorable lyrics. The White Stripes, however, bear the mark of a number of influences—not just the passionate, in-your-face Detroit signature sound they were raised with— including old-time country and traditional blues. With the release of their 2001 album White Blood Cells, the White Stripes graduated from regional success story to international stars. Their following release, Elephant (2003), further cemented their status, earning hordes of new fans, enthusiastic reviews from the music press, and a Grammy Award in 2004 for best alternative music album.

791

the white stripes

Even in the midst of tremendous recognition and fame, the group has insisted on maintaining a strong degree of independence and control, holding on to their unique vision. They tightly control how much and what kind of information the press receives about their personal lives, creating an aura of mystery. When they first began to receive national attention, Meg and Jack White told reporters that they were siblings. Later, it was revealed that their relationship was not one of brother and sister but rather ex–husband and wife. Even after proof of their relationship surfaced in the form of a marriage certificate and divorce documents, Jack White continued to insist, as he told Entertainment Weekly’s Tom Sinclair, that “we will

“I consider everything about the songs— except the storytelling—to be a trick. If you’re successful, and people love the songs, then you’ve successfully tricked them into liking the story.” Jack White, Guitar Player, June 2003.

be brother and sister till the day we die.” White additionally maintains control by producing every album the band makes. In an interview with Guitar Player’s Darrin Fox, White explained his reason for acting as producer: “I didn’t want to argue with anybody about how we should sound. It’s not an ego thing—I just wanted to be as in touch with the original idea as I could.”

Meet the White Stripes Born John Gillis, Jack White is one of ten children in a musical family raised in southwest Detroit. He started playing drums in elementary school. He first picked up one of his older brothers’ guitars after receiving a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He started playing the guitar simply to record some basic tunes to accompany his drumming. Jack told Fox in the Guitar Player interview that he thinks starting as a

792


•

volume 4

the white stripes

drummer helped him become a better guitarist: “A lot of guitarists I respect, like Dick Dale, started off as drummers. I think it’s interesting how rhythms are already in your head before you even know how to play guitar.” He attended Cass Technical High School, also known as Cass Tech, a highly respected public school in downtown Detroit. As a teenager, Jack became intensely interested in the blues, delving into the music of such legendary artists as Blind Willie McTell, Robert Johnson, and Howlin’ Wolf. While still in high school, he got a job working part-time at an upholstery company called Muldoon studio. He and the owner, Brian Muldoon, often jammed together, and Muldoon dipped into his extensive record collection to introduce White to the music of a number of influential bands. In 1994 Jack became the drummer for country-punk outfit Goober and the Peas. In 1996 Jack and his girlfriend, Megan White, were married. Jack took his wife’s surname, ever after being known as Jack White. The story of the band’s origin involves Meg one day simply picking up drumsticks and playing along with Jack on guitar. “She was playing so childishly,” Jack told Andrew Perry of Mojo magazine, intending the description as a compliment to Meg’s simple, minimalist, untrained style. “So when Meg started playing that way, I was like, ‘Man, don’t even practice! This is perfect.’” Two months after Meg first picked up drumsticks, in 1997, the duo began playing gigs all over Detroit. They recorded two singles for the Detroit label Italy Records, “Let’s Shake Hands” and “Lafayette Blues.” They struggled for recognition, gradually winning over a small group of fans with Jack’s songwriting and their passion for the music. During this time, Jack was invited to play guitar with the Detroit-based garage band the Go, an emerging band in the garage-rock scene. He joined the band, playing on their debut record. When the Go got a recording contract with the Seattle label (and former home to Nirvana) Sup Pop, Jack found himself at a crossroads. He felt that signing a contract with a band would compromise his freedom. He would not be the band’s leader, and he knew that would not suit his personality. With the White Stripes, Jack would have the freedom to continually experiment, working in tandem with just one other performer: Meg. He left the Go and, by 1999, was completely focused on the White Stripes. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

793

the white stripes

The White Stripes take off The Stripes recorded their self-titled debut album in 1999. Made for about $2,000, the album was released by the independent Sympathy for the Record Industry label, located in California. The album, recorded in part in the attic of Jack’s parents’ house, captured the raw, stripped-down power of the White Stripes’ live show, but it also showcased Jack’s poetic, heartfelt lyrics. Writing for All Music Guide, Chris Handyside singled out the words to the White Stripes’ songs, suggesting that it was the lyrics that set them apart: “The White Stripes are grounded in punk and blues, but the undercurrent to all of their work has been [a] striving for simplicity, a love of American folk music, and a careful approach to intriguing, emotional, and evocative lyrics not found anywhere else in … modern punk or garage rock.” Looking back on their debut during a 2003 interview with Guitar Player, Jack White said, “I still feel we’ve never topped our first album. It’s the most raw, the most powerful, and the most Detroit-sounding record we’ve made.” In the fall of 1999, the White Stripes were invited to tour with Pavement and Sleater-Kinney, two bands that had earned critical praise and were fixtures of the independent-rock scene. During the summer of 2000, not long after Jack and Meg White got divorced, the White Stripes released De Stijl, which means “the style.” The title refers to an early twentieth-century art movement that emphasized simplicity and abstraction, or the depiction of objects in a way that makes them unrecognizable. Critics praised the White Stripes’ second album for its primitive, basic style and the variety of songs, both originals and covers. In Rollingstone.com Jenny Eliscu described the album as “blues-tinged rock & roll scaled back to its most essential elements—one guitar, a simple drum kit, and sneering vocals.” Heather Phares summed up De Stijl in All Music Guide: “As distinctive as it is diverse, De Stijl blends the Stripes’ arty leanings with enough rock muscle to back up the band’s ambitions.”

Stars and Stripes For their third release, White Blood Cells (2001), the White Stripes laid down some ground rules before recording began. First, they decided to avoid the genre they felt most passionate about: the blues. Jack explained to Fox in Guitar Player that he had always felt conflicted

794


•

volume 4

the white stripes

The White Stripes perform at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2003.

about playing the blues, a genre that originated among African Americans in the South in the early twentieth century. Jack worried that fans might think his own interpretations of the blues—coming from a white man living in Detroit in the twenty-first century—were phony and inauthentic. So, as he told Fox, the White Stripes thought, “‘What can we do if we completely ignore what we love the most?’” In addition to the “no blues” rule, they also, as Jack told Fox, “decided to record the album in three days, take no guitar solos, avoid slide guitar, and banish covers.” The result was a CD featuring the Stripes’ simple, tight arrangements and lyrics ranging from viciously angry to innocently sweet. White Blood Cells marked the band’s arrival as an international favorite with both audiences and critics. The Stripes made the rounds on late-night talk shows, and their video for “Fell in Love with a Girl”—featuring animation of LEGO characters—went into heavy rotation on MTV. The video earned three MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) in 2002. The album showed up on numerous critics’ “top ten” lists for the year.

Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com.

The Stripes continued their upward climb with their next album, Elephant, which was released in the spring of 2003. Heather Phares of U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

795

the white stripes

All Music Guide wrote: Elephant overflows with quality—it’s full of tight songwriting, sharp, witty lyrics, … judiciously used basses and tumbling keyboard melodies that enhance the band’s powerful simplicity.” The album showcases the female half of the duo more than previous releases had, with Meg contributing not just her telltale strong-but-simple drumming but also vocals on such songs as “In the Cold, Cold Night.” Increasing numbers of critics and fans were won over by the Stripes’ intensity and sincerity, somewhat unusual in an age where many artists feel that detachment is far cooler than passion. Writing in Esquire, Andy Langer expressed his appreciation for Elephant: “In the end, Elephant is an album destined for a long shelf life.… But its importance couldn’t be any simpler or any more worth repeating: There are fourteen blistering songs on this record with Jack and Meg White’s blood, sweat, and tears all over them. And every single one of them matters.” The album certainly mattered to Grammy Award voters in 2004, who designated Elephant the best alternative music album of the previous year. While keeping busy recording and touring with the Stripes, Jack White also tried his hand at acting with a small role in the 2003 film Cold Mountain, starring Nicole Kidman, Jude Law, and Renee Zellweger. He contributed several songs to the soundtrack. Most were covers of traditional songs, while one track, “Never Far Away,” was composed by White. This soundtrack allowed White to further demonstrate his versatility and talent, prompting John Mulvey of NME.com to assert that “Cold Mountain proves what most of us have long suspected: when the White Stripes end, White will be far from finished.” Many fans of the White Stripes feel the band’s power comes across best in live performances. Jack’s guitars are old, inexpensive, beat-up instruments, and Meg’s drum kit is small and simple. They rely very little on technology for their performances and recordings, instead banking on their energy, anger, and earnestness to carry their message forward. Jack told Fox in Guitar Player: “We put a lot of pressure on ourselves live. We don’t have a set list, we don’t rehearse, and we don’t play the tunes exactly like on the album. We’re just two people on stage with nothing to fall back on. But, that way, if something good comes out of it, we can really be proud because we know we did it for real.”

796


•

volume 4

the white stripes

For More Information Periodicals Fox, Darrin. “White Heat.” Guitar Player (June 2003): p. 66. Langer, Andy. “The White Stripes’ Elephant Is a Rock ‘n’ Roll Record So Rousing, You Won’t Mind Paying for It.” Esquire (May 2003): p. 80. McCollum, Brian. “A Definitive Oral History.” Detroit Free Press (April 13, 2003).

Web Sites The White Stripes. http://www.whitestripes.com/ (accessed on August 17, 2004). “The White Stripes.” All Music Guide. http://www.allmusic.com/ (accessed on August 17, 2004). “The White Stripes.” Launch. http://launch.yahoo.com/artist/default.asp? artistID=1042272 (accessed on August 17, 2004). “White Stripes.” NME.com. http://www.nme.com/artists/173888.htm (accessed on August 17, 2004). “The White Stripes.” Rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com (accessed on August 17, 2004).


•

volume 4

797

Meg Whitman

1957 • Cold Spring Harbor, New York


•

volume 4


Chief executive officer

M eg Whitman is the president and chief executive officer (CEO) of eBay, Inc., the online auction site that became one of the World Wide Web’s most surprising success stories. She took over the position from its founder, Pierre Omidyar, who remains active in the company, and has guided it into a commercial enterprise on a par with Amazon.com. Unlike other online sites, however, eBay enjoys impressive profits, thanks to its “virtual” presence. In essence, there is no warehouse, no sales staff, just a brand name and a collection of servers that connect buyers and sellers. In her posistion at eBay, Whitman is the first woman to become a billionaire thanks to stock holdings in an Internet company, and she freely admits that she learns as she goes. “Every week, there is a different set of issues, a different challenge, something new to think about,” she told Business Week writer Robert D. Hof. “Probably at least a couple times a week, I go, ‘Huh! I didn’t know that.’”

799

meg whitman

Abandoned medical school dreams Margaret “Meg” Whitman was born in 1957, the youngest of three children. She came from a well-to-do clan with ties to some of Boston’s oldest families, and grew up in Cold Spring Harbor, a posh waterfront community in Long Island, New York. Her father, Hendricks, had his own loan business. Her mother, also named Margaret, was a homemaker, but when Whitman was in her teens her mother traveled to China as part of a women’s delegation that had been invited for a visit. This was in the early 1970s, and the Asian nation had been closed to foreigners for many years until that point. Though Whitman was still in high school, her mother’s achievement was an

“We’re a different company every three months. I ask myself from top to bottom, do we have the right people in the right place at the right time …? I even ask myself if I’m the right person for the right time.”

important part of her life. “When my mother came home after this great adventure,” Whitman recalled in an interview with Christian Science Monitor journalist Patrick Dillon, “she told me what this experience taught her. She realized she could do anything she wanted and she wanted me to recognize that I could do the same.” Whitman was a talented athlete in high school, serving as captain of her swim team. She also played field hockey, lacrosse, and basketball. She entered Princeton University in 1973, just a few years after it began admitting undergraduate women for the first time. Planning on becoming a doctor, like many academic successes in high school she was tripped up by her organic chemistry class, among other courses. “I took calculus, chemistry, and physics my first year,”

800


•

volume 4

meg whitman

Most Unusual eBay Sales August 1999: Auction for human kidney reached a bid of $5.7 million before eBay removed it for violating sales policy. 2001: Gulfstream II jet sold for $4.9 million, thought to have been the most expensive item ever sold on the site. June 2003: “Ghost in Jar” from Arkansas; winning bid: $50,922.

April 2004: Seattle man sells ex-wife’s wedding dress after posting pictures of himself wearing it; winning bid: $ 3,850. Other unusual auctions: lump of coal; piece of navel lint; a Lincoln Continental sedan once owned by President John F. Kennedy; boyhood home of former U.S. president Bill Clinton in Hope, Arkansas.

she explained to Fast Company writer Charles Fishman. “I survived. But I didn’t enjoy it. Of course, chemistry, calculus, and physics have nothing to do with being a doctor, but if you’re 17 years old, you think, This is what being a doctor is going to be about.” Whitman found her niche at college when she took an advertising sales job for a student magazine. She switched her major to economics, and after graduating from Princeton in 1977 went on to another Ivy League school, Harvard, where she earned a master’s degree in business administration. In 1979 she was hired at Procter & Gamble, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based household and personal care products maker. One of her colleagues in the brand management department was Steve Case (1958–), who later founded America Online (AOL).

Married a doctor instead While at Procter & Gamble, Whitman worked on the Noxzema skin care products team, but did not stay long at the company. She had married a Harvard medical student, Griffith Harsh IV, and because of his residency in neurosurgery, the couple had to relocate to San Francisco. There, Whitman found a job with Bain and Company, a global management consulting firm. She also became a mother during the 1980s, and her next job was a child’s dream: that of senior vice president for marketing consumer products for Disney. She helped launch the company’s new theme stores outside the United States, but began looking for a job in New England when her husband was offered the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

801

meg whitman

post of chief of neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Fortunately, a shoe maker called Stride Rite in Lexington, Massachusetts, was looking for a new president. During her time at Stride Rite, Whitman oversaw the revival of its vintage Keds sneaker line. Her next job was with Florists Transworld Delivery (FTD), a cooperative of florists, as president and chief executive officer, but she stayed only a year before going over to Hasbro, the toy maker. Not surprisingly, it was a decision that thrilled her young sons. Whitman ran Hasbro’s preschool toys division, and successfully re-launched another vintage product, Mr. Potato Head. In the fall of 1997 Whitman was contacted by a headhunting firm, which conducts searches for executives and other key corporate personnel. An online auction company was looking for a new leader to help launch it in earnest, but she had never heard of AuctionWeb, as eBay was still known. But Whitman agreed to fly to California for an interview. Before she left, she did some computer research on the company, when AuctionWeb was still a collection of classified ads. “I remember sitting at my computer saying, I can’t believe I’m about to fly across the country to look at a black-and-white auction classified site,” she recalled to Fishman.

Took risk at new company EBay was still a relatively young company. It was started in 1995 in San Jose, California, by Omidyar, a computer programmer. He created the site and its software as a way to help his girlfriend sell items from her collection of kitschy Pez dispensers. The buy-and-sell by auction concept, in which the highest bidder wins, took off, and Omidyar’s site turned a profit six months after it was launched. Its premise was simple: seller posts an item for sale and accepts auction bids over a two-week time frame. The highest bidder wins, and the buyer and seller exchange address information for payment and shipping. EBay charged a thirty-five-cent listing fee, and also took a small percentage of the sale transaction. One of eBay’s most important features was a rating system by which buyers and sellers rated their transactions with one another. Negative comments—about buyers who had not paid or sellers who had not shipped—would make others wary about doing business with

802


•

volume 4

meg whitman

either. Omidyar was convinced that listening and responding to the site’s user base was crucial to his company’s success. The online rating system itself had been suggested by eBay aficionados, for example. But he was having a difficult time expanding the company and maintaining his ethical outlook, and decided that a professional executive might do a better job in expanding eBay, as it had been renamed. Omidyar and the others in charge liked Whitman’s customer service experience and brand management talents. She, in turn, liked eBay’s sense of community spirit. Whitman talked to her family, and they agreed to move. She started the job at eBay in February of 1998. The company had just nineteen employees at the time, and some were still using card tables as desks. Whitman delved in, taking a cubicle office like everyone else and even heading into fearsome high-tech territory. In June of 1999, with the company’s site becoming more popular on a daily basis, its servers crashed for twenty-two hours. They had gone down before, but engineers had been able to find the problem quickly and fix it. This time was different. Whitman showed up at 4 A.M. and, as she told Atoosa Rubenstein in a CosmoGirl! interview, “moved in with the engineers for three months and effectively ran the technology division. I didn’t know very much about technology, and it was a bit like being in France—everyone is speaking French, and I don’t!”

An eBay “power seller” herself Whitman also oversaw eBay’s initial public offering (IPO) of stock in September of 1998, and over the next five years helped eBay become one of the most unusual success stories in American business history. It grew faster than Microsoft, Dell, Amazon, or Wal-Mart, and proved so successful for its sellers that many began quitting their day jobs in order to concentrate full-time on their online auctions. Heavy eBay pros were taking in $100,000 a year in sales, and some part-timers were helping to put their children through college with the extra income. EBay was said to have boosted the fortunes of an immense number of small specialty stores like antique shops and t-shirt makers, simply by giving their Web-savvy owners a whole new nationwide customer base. Whitman instituted a policy at eBay that required its top executives to post items for auction regularly, so they would know firsthand U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

803

meg whitman

Margaret Whitman poses outside of eBay headquarters in San Jose, California. AP/Wide World Photo. Reproduced by permission.

what worked and what did not. She even sold the contents of her family’s Telluride, Colorado, ski lodge. She also checked in regularly with the site’s message boards to see what users were discussing. “The great thing about running this company,” she told Brad Stone in Newsweek, “is that you know immediately what your customers think.” Under Whitman, eBay began holding annual member conferences for its top auctioneers. She is usually greeted like a rock star when she takes the stage, with the audience chanting her name. Honors have come from other sources, too: in 2002, Fortune magazine named her one of the three most powerful women in business. By then, eBay had over thirty million registered users, and took in $1.1 billion that year on a sales total that reached $15 billion in completed auctions. A year later that figure had risen to $24 billion in goods and services, and revenues had doubled to $2.17 billion. At any given time on eBay, about twenty million items are up for sale. Ten million bids are submitted by users every twenty-four hours, with $900 worth of goods and services exchanging hands every second.

Gave back to alma mater Whitman has an annual salary of $2.19 million, but thanks to her ownership of eBay stock she is thought to be the first female billionaire created in the Internet age. She has donated some of her fortune to Prince-

804


•

volume 4

meg whitman

ton University, where she sits on the school’s board of trustees. In early 2002 she and her husband donated $30 million to help the New Jersey school build a new residential college for undergraduates. Whitman College would be Princeton’s sixth residential college, and would house about five hundred students. The added space would increase enrollment at Princeton from 4,600 to 5,100 when its first classes begin entering in 2010. “I had a great time as a Princeton undergraduate,” a report in Ascribe Higher Education News Service quoted Whitman as saying, about her reasons behind the gift. “The University inspired me to think in ways that have guided me throughout my life.” Whitman works hard to balance her family life with a job she loves. She works out in the morning, and is usually able to drive her two sons to school. Vacations are often spent skiing or fly-fishing. When she travels for business, she rarely flies on the company plane. Thanks to the numerous business magazine covers that have featured her, fellow fliers recognize her and tell her their eBay stories. “I have one of the best jobs in Corporate America,” she enthused to Hof. “It’s this unique blend of commerce and community. The community of users is endlessly interesting and endlessly surprising. That’s what I love the most.”

For More Information Periodicals Bannan, Karen. “Sole Survivor.” Sales & Marketing Management (July 2001): p. 36. Dillon, Patrick. “Peerless Leader.” Christian Science Monitor (March 10, 2004): p. 11. Fishman, Charles. “Meg Whitman.” Fast Company (May 2001): p. 72. Hof, Robert D. “‘The Constant Challenge’ at eBay.’ Business Week (June 30, 2004). This article can also be found online at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jun2004/tc20040630_3302_tc121.htm. Hof, Rob. “Meet EBay’s Auctioneer-in-Chief.” Business Week (June 12, 2003). This articles can also be found online at http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2003/tc20030529_8665.htm. Horsburgh, Susan. “EBay’s eBoss.” People (August 4, 2003): p. 97. “Meg Muscles EBay Uptown.” Fortune (July 5, 1999): p. 81. “Meg Whitman to Support New Residential College at Princeton.” Ascribe Higher Education News Service (February 4, 2002). Stone, Brad. “Meg Gets on the Line.” Newsweek (June 17, 2002): p. 56. Rubenstein, Atoosa. “Team Player.” CosmoGirl! (April 2003): p. 108.


•

volume 4

805

Michelle Wie

October 11, 1989 • Honolulu, Hawaii



•

volume 4

Golfer

Michelle Wie is a phenomenal, powerful golfer who regularly hits the ball nearly three hundred yards off the tee, about fifty yards farther than the average professional woman golfer. At nearly six feet tall and about 150 pounds, she has the strength and skills to match many professional players, including a number of men. In January of 2004 she competed in a men’s event, the Sony Open, part of the Professional Golfers Association (PGA) tour. While she missed the second-round cut by just one stroke, she did end up beating forty-six men. During the summer of 2004 she was part of the U.S. team that won the prestigious Curtis Cup. In 2003 she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links championship. While Wie has had a promising career so far, the reason for her headline-making status is not simply her accomplishments on the course: Wie is one of the most famous women golfers in the world because she became a world-class golfer before the age of fifteen. Sports Illustrated’s Michael Bamberger pinpointed the source of Wie’s success in a 2003 article: “Her swing is a dream. No 150-

807

michelle wie

pound golfer, male or female, has ever made hitting a three-hundredyard drive look so effortless.”

Toddler golf Michelle Sung Wie (pronounced WEE) was born in 1989 in Honolulu, a city on the island of Oahu, part of the state of Hawaii. She is the only child of Byung-Wook and Bo Wie, both of whom were born and raised in South Korea. Byung-Wook, known as B. J., acts as his daughter’s coach; through 2003, he was her caddie as well. Aside from his coaching duties, he is a professor of transportation at the

“You can read about her all you want. You hear everything there is to be heard, but when you see her swing—when you see her hit a golf ball— there’s nothing that prepares you for it. It’s just the scariest thing you’ve ever seen.” Fred Couples, pro golfer and winner of 1992 Masters Tournament, in Golf World January 24, 2003.

University of Hawaii. Wie’s mother, Bo, is a real estate agent and former Korean amateur champion golfer. Wie began playing golf regularly at age four, at which point she could hit the ball one hundred yards. Her father told Golf World’s John Hawkins in 2003 that “Michelle has always liked to hit the ball hard. Sometimes it would go right, sometimes left, but it didn’t matter. She just wanted to hit it hard.” By age nine, having been coached by her father for many years, she was scoring better than her parents on the course. During 2000, at age ten, Wie became the youngest golfer to qualify for match play at a major adult event, the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links (WAPL) championship, an extraordinary achievement that captured the attention of the media and golfing fans. By the time

808


•

volume 4

michelle wie

Wie was twelve years old, she was winning most junior amateur tournaments, even the ones in which young men played as well. She stunned observers with her ability to drive the ball nearly three hundred yards, a distance many professional women golfers never achieve. After winning the Hawaii State Junior Golf Association’s Tournament of Champions in 2001 and 2002, Wie and her parents felt that she could be a contender in major tournaments.

Playing in the big leagues Early in 2002 Wie qualified for the Takefuji Classic, part of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. It was her first LPGA tour event, and while it is not a major tournament, Wie did make history by becoming the youngest golfer to qualify for an LPGA event. In the 2002 WAPL, Wie reached the semifinals, again making history by becoming the youngest golfer to reach that level of competition. An accomplished student at Punahou School, a private academy in Honolulu, Wie began taking time out from her academics for intensive golf study in the spring of 2002, when she made her first visit to the David Leadbetter Golf Academy in Bradenton, Florida. She has since spent a great deal of time there, studying with Gary Gilchrist. Gilchrist has worked with a number of young women golfers, but he acknowledges that Wie possesses something unique. For a 2003 Golf World article he told Hawkins: “I don’t know if we’ll ever see a woman hit [the ball] this far with such effortless action. Ever.”

Michelle Wie watches her drive shot during the 2003 CJ Nine Bridges Classic in South Korea. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

In 2003, at age thirteen, Wie played in her first major event, the LPGA’s Kraft Nabisco Championship at Rancho Mirage, California. She scored a stunning sixty-six in the third round, tying a record for the lowest score by an amateur at an LPGA major. She finished that round in third place, but her score of seventy-six in the final round resulted in a tie for a ninth-place finish. While her final score fell short of the promise exhibited in the third round, a top-ten finish for such a young player indicated the beginning of a stellar career. Later that year, Wie proved herself without a doubt: she won the WAPL championship, becoming the youngest player to win the event and indeed the youngest to win any adult United States Golf Association (USGA) event. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

809

michelle wie

Success and controversy In January of 2004, Wie demonstrated not just her skill but her courage and confidence by competing in a men’s event: the Sony Open, run by the PGA, at Waialae Country Club in her home city, Honolulu. Her score after the initial two rounds was one stroke off from the cutoff, meaning that she did not advance to the third round. The youngest golfer ever to play in a PGA event, Wie tied for eightieth place overall, scoring higher than forty-six of her male competitors. While there is clearly room for improvement in her game, particularly her putting, some observers have described her swing as nearly perfect. Her caddie during the Sony Open, former South African professional player Bobby Verwey, told John Hawkins of Golf World: “That golf swing, it’s the best I’ve ever seen. Everybody is looking for the perfect swing, but a twenty-five-year-old guy can’t do that. The suppleness, the flexibility—you have to be fourteen to swing that way.” In March of 2004, Wie entered the Kraft Nabisco Championship for the second time, finishing in fourth place, up from her ninth-place finish the year prior. In June of 2004 she was part of the youngest squad in the history of the Curtis Cup, a prominent two-day event played every two years. No player on the U.S. team was over the age of twenty-five, and the team’s average age was just a bit over eighteen. Wie was the youngest of the eight-member team by two years. Playing in northwest England, the U.S. team won the trophy, beating the Great Britain and Ireland team (GB&I), which had won the Curtis Cup every time since 1996. Wie’s triumph at the Curtis Cup was followed by disappointment later that summer, when she tearfully lost the 2004 WAPL championship to another teenager, fifteen-year-old Ya-Ni Tseng from Taiwan. During that same summer, she played in a qualifying round for the U.S. Amateur Public Links championship, traditionally a men’s event. She failed to qualify for the event, but she finished just two strokes behind the winners. During a summer filled with competitive ups and downs, Wie found herself at the center of a controversy. On rare occasions, the USGA—which conducts thirteen national championships, both professional and amateur, each year—has offered exemptions to players in the Women’s Open and the Men’s Open, allowing those players to enter the tournament automatically without having to win qualifying rounds. Wie was granted a special exemption to play in the U.S.

810


•

volume 4

michelle wie

Women’s Open in July of 2004. When Wie’s exemption was announced, many professional players expressed their disapproval. They felt that Wie should earn her way into the event, both for her own growth as a player and to be fair to other golfers. Many players agreed that the tour officials gave Wie the exemption because her presence at the Women’s Open would attract more money from sponsors and from ticket buyers; opinions were divided over whether that financial motivation was good for the game of women’s golf or not. Wie quieted many of her critics when she played well enough to make the cut after the second round, the point at which many players are eliminated. She finished the event in a tie for thirteenth place.

Hardly a normal life Like many young golfers, Wie idolizes the game’s top players, especially Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. Unlike most golfing kids, however, Wie had the opportunity to meet her idols, doing so during the 2004 Mercedes Championships, just before the Sony Open. Els and Woods generously gave Wie advice about her game and a boost in her confidence through their kindness and attention to her. Els invited Wie to join him in a practice round, offering putting pointers that significantly improved her performance. In a January of 2004 article in Golf World, John Hawkins wrote that Els “pulled the girl aside … and rebuilt her long-putting stroke in less than five minutes.” Wie has even been granted a nickname—the Big Wiesy—that echoes that of Els, the Big Easy. In spite of her early successes in events both amateur and professional, Wie does not plan to turn professional until after graduating from college. She hopes to attend Stanford University, the same college chosen by Tiger Woods. Once she turns professional, Wie’s goals are simple but by no means easy: she plans to become a dominant player in both the LPGA and the PGA. As an amateur, she hopes to one day play in the Masters Tournament, golf’s most prestigious event. The sticking point for women wishing to play in the Masters is that the event is held at Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club, a course no woman has ever played on. As with other young elite athletes, Wie’s early exposure to the intensity of high-level play and to media attention has caused many to express concern that she has forfeited her childhood and given up the U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

811

michelle wie

chance at a normal life. Wie responded to such concerns in an interview with Tim Rosaforte of Golf World: “I guess I’m not normal, first of all, so I can’t have a normal life. I guess if you grow up normal, you’ll always be normal, and I don’t want to be normal. I want to be something else.”

For More Information Periodicals Bamberger, Michael. “Next Stop: U.S. Open.” Sports Illustrated (July 7, 2003): p. 32. Hawkins, John. “Island Girl.” Golf World (January 24, 2003). Hawkins, John. “Wie-markable.” Golf World (January 23, 2004): p. 14. Herrington, Ryan. “Old Enough for the Job.” Golf World (June 18, 2004): p. 22. Herrington, Ryan. “The Crying Game.” Golf World (July 2, 2004): p. 21. Rosaforte, Tim. “Youth Is Served.” Golf World (June 27, 2003): p. 18. Sirak, Ron. “Too Easy for Big Wiesy.” Golf World (June 4, 2004): p. 5.

Web Sites Kelley, Brent. “Michelle Wie Biography.” About.com. http://golf.about. com/cs/womensgolf/a/wiequotes.htm (accessed on August 17, 2004). “Meet Golf’s Latest Teenage Sensation.” BBC Sport Academy. http://news. bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/golf/features/newsid_2078000/2078650. stm (accessed on August 17, 2004). “Michelle Wie: Pro Golfer.” Kidzworld. http://www.kidzworld.com/site/ p1848.htm (accessed on August 17, 2004).

812


•

volume 4

Serena Williams

September 26, 1981 • Saginaw, Michigan



•

volume 4

Tennis player

Beginning in the late 1990s, Serena Williams became one of the world’s most talented and exciting tennis players. With her outgoing personality, unique fashion sense, and striking good looks, Williams would have commanded attention even if she hadn’t been a topranked professional player. But her skills on the court happen to be extraordinary, the result of years of training, natural ability, and a powerful determination to win. Williams has gained additional attention as an African American athlete in a sport generally dominated by white players. Her 1999 singles victory at the U.S. Open made her only the second black woman ever to win a Grand Slam title; Althea Gibson (1927–2003) was the first. The Grand Slam tournaments—the Australian Open, Roland Garros (better known as the French Open), Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—are among the game’s most visible and significant events for pros. By Williams’s side—and often across the net—has been her older sister, Venus, an equally commanding player. Both sisters spent

813

serena williams

several years at the top of the world tennis rankings, each reaching the number-one position in 2002. As of the summer of 2004, Serena Williams had won six singles titles in Grand Slam events as well as numerous doubles titles, including a gold medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. An ambitious, multitalented person, Williams has also, since 2002, explored acting, appearing in several television episodes and pursuing film roles as well. In addition, she has, along with her sister, studied fashion design.

From diapers to tennis skirts The youngest of five daughters born to Richard and Oracene (who goes by the nickname Brandy), Serena and the rest of the Williams

“Just watching her is inspiring. I just want her to have it all. To be honest, I want more for her than I do for myself.” Venus Williams, People magazine, June 28, 2004.

family moved from her birthplace of Saginaw, Michigan, to Compton, a suburb of Los Angeles, California, when she was a baby. An economically depressed area, Compton is a rough, often violent neighborhood, and the Williams sisters occasionally witnessed exchanges of gunfire. An avid fan of tennis, Richard Williams envisioned his daughters as champions even before they were born. He bought books and instructional videotapes, teaching himself and his wife how to play tennis so they could then teach their daughters. Both Serena and Venus showed promise at a very early age, prompting their outspoken father to begin making predictions about their future success in the tennis world. Coached by her father, Serena entered her first tennis tournament at age four and a half, and her father recalls that, over the next five years, she won forty-six of the next forty-nine tournaments she entered. She and Venus both excelled in the highly competitive preteen circuit in Southern California, both attaining a number-one

814


•

volume 4

serena williams

Grand Slam Victories

Serena Williams has won numerous singles and doubles titles at Grand Slam events (the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open). Below are listed her victories through the end of the 2003 season: Singles: Australian Open, 2003 French Open, 2002 Wimbledon, 2002, 2003 U.S. Open, 1999, 2002

Doubles (all with sister Venus): Australian Open, 2001, 2003 French Open, 1999 Wimbledon, 2000, 2002 U.S. Open, 1999 Mixed Doubles (both with Max Mirnyi): Wimbledon, 1998 U.S. Open, 1998

ranking in their respective age groups. Before reaching their teen years, the sisters had begun attracting attention far beyond the borders of their home state. They received offers for endorsement deals from sporting-goods companies and invitations to prestigious tennis camps. In 1991 Richard Williams withdrew the girls from junior tournaments, a decision that was widely criticized by tennis insiders. The junior circuit is accepted as the conventional path to tennis stardom, but Richard wanted to protect his daughters from the intense competition and from what he perceived as racial hostility from other players. Richard invited teaching pro Rick Macci—who had earlier coached such tennis stars as Mary Pierce and Jennifer Capriati—to come to Compton and watch his daughters play tennis. Macci came, and he was impressed by the sisters’ skill and athleticism. He invited them to study with him at his Florida academy, and soon after, the family relocated to the Sunshine State. The proceeds from a clothing endorsement contract for Serena and Venus allowed the family to purchase a home in Palm Beach Gardens, not far from the tennis school. By 1993 the girls had left school, opting to continue their education at home and spend as much time as possible honing their tennis skills. Later they both returned to a school setting, enrolling at a small, private school called Driftwood Academy. Williams graduated from high school in 1999. In 1995, at age fourteen, Williams turned pro, arousing controversy among many who felt athletes should be older U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

815

serena williams

before they become professionals. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the governing body of women’s professional tennis, barred competitors from WTA events at that age, so Williams’s first pro event was a non-WTA tournament in Quebec, Canada. She was quickly eliminated from that competition. Her introduction to professional play indicated that she needed additional training time, and Richard decided that his youngest daughter should take a break from competition for the remainder of that year and the following year as well.

A tentative beginning Williams began 1997, her first year as a WTA competitor, in the shadow of her sister, who had shown herself to be a promising young player. The Ameritech Cup in Chicago, however, made it clear that Serena Williams was more than just the little sister of Venus: she was a budding star in her own right. At that tournament, she shocked observers by defeating Mary Pierce, then ranked seventh in the world among women players, in the second round. Further defying expectations, Williams went on to defeat fourth-ranked Monica Seles in the quarterfinals before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the semifinals. She completed the 1997 season ranked ninety-nine, an impressive debut year for a sixteen-year-old player. She continued to build her skills and confidence in 1998, beating a number of players ranked far above her. One such victory—beating ninth-ranked Irina Spirlea in the first round of the Australian Open— led her to a matchup against her sister in the next round. Venus won that match, a victory that aroused complex emotions for both sisters. Venus, accustomed to her role as big sister, wanted to take care of and protect her sister. Serena had spent most of her life looking up to Venus and working to be just like her. Both sisters, however, also felt an intense drive to win, regardless of who is on the other side of the net. The Williams sisters have since met many times as opponents. Some observers have suggested that they lack their usual passion when they play each other, a charge both have denied. Such matchups do result in mixed feelings, however, with the victor feeling both triumphant and regretful. Serena and Venus are best friends, but they are also intensely competitive with each other, and each sister uses the other’s success as motivation to improve. In a 1998 article, Serena told

816


•

volume 4

serena williams

Sports Illustrated for Kids, “I’ve learned a lot from watching Venus. Her results have encouraged me to work harder so that I can do well, too.” The Williams sisters have also played together many times as a doubles team, with 1998 marking the first time the sisters won a professional match together. Serena also won two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles that year—at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open—with partner Max Mirnyi. While she had yet to win a major singles title, Williams earned more than $2 million dollars during 1998. The following year proved even more successful, with Williams winning a number of events. Her first singles title of the year was at the Paris Indoors tournament; Venus won a tournament the same day in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, marking the first time in the history of professional tennis that two sisters won championships on the same day—or even in the same week. The professional highlight of the year came when Williams defeated three of the top-four tennis players in the world to win the singles title at the U.S. Open. It was her first singles victory at a Grand Slam event, and the first time in more than forty years—since Althea Gibson’s win in 1958—that an African American woman won a Grand Slam singles title. Another 1999 milestone was Williams’s first professional victory over her sister, beating Venus in the Grand Slam Cup. The two teamed up to win two Grand Slam doubles events that year, at the French Open and the U.S. Open. Williams finished the 1999 season as the fourth-ranked women’s player in the world.

Unstoppable The following two years proved difficult for Williams, with a series of injuries resulting in a number of losses and forcing her to withdraw from several tournaments. High points of the 2000 season included doubles victories, with Venus as her partner, at both Wimbledon and the Olympic Games. The sisters won the doubles title at the Australian Open in 2001, marking their dominance in doubles at all four Grand Slam events. Having recovered in spectacular fashion from her various injuries and illnesses of the preceding years, Williams seemed unstoppable in 2002. The best players in the women’s game were no match for her unparalleled strength and speed on the court. She was victorious in eight out of the eleven tournaments she entered, earning nearly U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

817

serena williams

$4 million in prize money. At the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami, Florida, Williams defeated the top three players in the world, including her sister, to win the singles title. This achievement marked one of many history-making wins: she joined tennis great Steffi Graf (1969–) as the only ones to defeat the world’s three best players in one tournament. Three times that year—at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—Serena met Venus in the finals of a Grand Slam event, and three times she defeated her sister. After her victory at Wimbledon, Williams became the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world. During the U.S. Open Serena wore a one-piece black outfit made by Puma, a company she had signed a hefty endorsement deal with a few years earliers. The outfit—so different from the traditional white tennis dress—attracted nearly as much attention as Williams’s playing. The real story of 2002, however, was that she was one of just seven women in the history of the game to win three consecutive Grand Slam titles in a single year. The following year, 2003, Williams completed her sweep of Grand Slam events, beating her sister to win the singles title at the Australian Open. She won a number of other significant singles titles that year, including a second consecutive win at Wimbledon. She held on to her number-one ranking for over a year, until August of 2003. Williams’s extraordinary success was recognized by the cable sports network ESPN during its annual ESPY awards program: she won the ESPY for best female tennis player and best female athlete. The year proved a difficult one regarding injuries, but such problems seemed insignificant compared to the tragedy Williams and her family endured in September of 2003: her sister, Yetunde Price, was killed in Los Angeles, a victim of a random act of violence.

Serena Williams holds up her championship Trophy at the 2002 U.S. Open. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

Life outside of tennis For much of 2004, Williams dealt with a recurring knee injury. She won the NASDAQ-100 Open in Miami for the third year in a row, but at many other tournaments of the year she was either defeated or had to

818


•

volume 4

serena williams

withdraw due to injury. Her pursuits outside of tennis began taking up more of her time as well, particularly her efforts to become an actress. Beginning in 2002, Williams started earning guest roles on various television shows, including My Wife and Kids, Showtime’s Street Time, and Law and Order. She also scored a part in Hair Show, a feature film completed in 2004. Williams told Alex Tresniowski of People magazine that she’s a natural-born performer: “If I hadn’t played tennis, I was destined to be an actress. I’m a complete drama queen.” Williams has, in spite of her tremendous wealth and success, remained down to earth. She is a devout Jehovah’s Witness, a Christian denomination that involves intensive Bible study and the preaching of biblical teachings to others. While some have criticized the Williams sisters for what they perceive to be arrogance and unfriendliness, Serena and Venus have also developed a reputation for avoiding petty exchanges of insults among tennis players. As world-famous tennis stars, they have been the subject of numerous rumors and negative reports in the media, but they try to ignore such press. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey for O, The Oprah Magazine, Serena reported that she doesn’t care what others think of her—“as long as my family knows who I am. And I know that a lie can’t live forever. Most of the lies people tell about us are eventually washed away, so they don’t bother me.” Williams attributes her levelheadedness to her strong family relationships and spiritual background. “My mom raised us to be strong women,” she told Winfrey. “We were taught that things like peer pressure didn’t exist for us.”

For More Information Periodicals Leand, Andrea. “Smash Sisters.” Sports Illustrated for Kids (August 1998): p. 34. Toure. “The Queen.” Sports Illustrated Women (December 1, 2002): p. 62. Tresniowski, Alex. “Second Serve.” People (June 28, 2004): p. 136. Winfrey, Oprah. “Oprah Talks to Venus and Serena Williams.” O, The Oprah Magazine (March 2003): p. 186.

Web Sites Serena Williams. http://www.serenawilliams.com/ (accessed on August 17, 2004).


•

volume 4

819

serena williams “Serena Williams.” ESPN.com. http://espn.go.com/tennis/s/wta/profiles/ swilliams.html (accessed on August 17, 2004). “Serena Williams.” WTA Tour. http://www.wtatour.com/players/player profiles/PlayerBio.asp?ID=&EntityID=1&CustomerID=0&OrderID=0 &ReturnURL=/&PlayerID=230234 (accessed on August 24, 2004).

820


•

volume 4

Yao Ming

September 12, 1980 • Shanghai, China


•

volume 4

© Duomo/Corbis.

Basketball player

Yao Ming of China became basketball’s most unlikely new celebrity athlete in 2002 when he joined the Houston Rockets. The first foreign athlete ever to become a number-one draft pick in the National Basketball League (NBA), Yao stands seven-foot, five inches tall, and proved to be a surprisingly quick and graceful player during his rookie season. He is a favorite among fans and sportswriters, coming across as humble, modest, and immensely likable. He is also the first Chinese athlete to attain international celebrity status.

Reached adult height by third grade The future NBA star was born on September 12, 1980, in Shanghai, the largest city in China. Yao is his family’s name, and Ming his given name. At birth, he weighed ten pounds and was the only child of parents who were unusually tall themselves. His father, Yao Zhiyuan, stands six-foot, ten inches tall, and was a basketball player for a local

821

yao ming

Shanghai team. Yao’s mother, Fang Fengdi, was six-foot, two inches in height and had played on the Chinese national team in the early 1970s. Yao grew rapidly as a child. Because China had historically struggled to feed its population of 1.3 billion, city dwellers sometimes had to use ration coupons to buy food. For Yao’s family, it seemed there was never enough food to satisfy the young boy’s appetite, and his mother would visit the stalls of the city’s food market near closing time to buy extra items cheaply. By the time he was in the third grade, he was five-foot, seven inches tall. Local sports officials took notice, and he was chosen to take part in a local sports school in Shanghai.

“I want people in China to know that part of why I play basketball is simply personal. In the eyes of Americans, if I fail then I fail. It’s just me. But for the Chinese if I fail then that means that thousands of other people fail along with me. They feel as if I’m representing them.” At first Yao was not overly interested in basketball or in any other sport. Instead, he liked books about military history, and could recite details of ancient battles from China’s past. When he reached the sixth grade he was taller than his mother, and three years later had reached his father’s impressive height. That same year, when he was in the ninth grade, he was signed to a contract with a Shanghai youth team. At the age of seventeen, he became the Shanghai Sharks’ star player during its first full season. The Sharks belonged to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA), a government-controlled national league. Though soccer was still China’s most popular spectator sport, basketball had grown increasingly popular during the 1990s. Soon there were more participants in basketball programs than there were playing soccer in China,

822


•

volume 4

yao ming

The NBA’s New International Flavor

Yao

Ming was one of several new foreign players signed to American teams in the 2002 NBA draft. Though he was the first to become a number one draft pick, Yao joined a roster of players that included Luis Scola from Argentina, Bostjan Nachbar from Slovenia, and Brazilian star Maybyner “Nene” Hilario. Of the fifty-seven players drafted, sixteen were from overseas teams, a league record. Some thirty-four nations are represented in the NBA player roster. One of the first foreign stars was Manute Bol, a seven-foot, seven-inch Sudanese player in the 1980s. The increasing number of athletes from Europe, Africa, and now even Asia comes thanks to interest in the sport in faraway places. Interest in the NBA teams grew with the help of satellite television, which broadcast NBA games, and when the league began taking top players on overseas exhibition tours. In countries outside of the United States, the college athletic tradition is virtually nonexistent. Sports facilities exist solely for training national athletes for the Olympics. Professional sports is dominated by soccer, with intense national rivalries, players who become household names, and sold-out

stadiums in every city. But professional basketball teams have also gained a foothold in European cities. Talented players, both homegrown and imported, can join teams and turn professional when they are still in their teens. They gain valuable competitive experience which makes them ready to play in the NBA. Still, there is some criticism of the new face of the NBA, and hints that the new emphasis on foreign players may be a backlash against the “bad boy” reputation of some of its biggest stars, like Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley, and Kobe Bryant. As Village Voice writer Dan McGraw explained: “The perception—and perception is always important in matters of race—is that the NBA is acing out the black man because of corporate (read: white) fans and international marketing money. High-scoring white guys equals big bucks.” In June of 2004, Ha Seung-Jin became the NBA’s first Korean player. Drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers, the seven-foot, three-inch player has been hailed as the next Yao Ming. His Asian fans have dubbed him “Ha-Quille O’Neal.’ But Ha hopes to follow Yao’s example, telling Peter Hessler of the New Yorker, “I want to be a Korean Yao Ming.”

and NBA games broadcast on state-run television attracted large audiences. Yao was also a member of the Chinese national team, which competes in international events like the Olympics.

Visited America in 1998 Yao’s immense height and court skills began attracting notice outside of China. Player scouts for NBA teams had discovered him, and so had sports marketing companies. In 1998 the athletic gear maker Nike invited him to the United States for a series of basketball camps. It U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

823

yao ming

was an important milestone for Yao, as he told Peter Hessler in a profile that appeared in the New Yorker. “Before then, I was always playing with people who were two or three years older than me,” he explained. “They were always more developed, and I didn’t think that I was any good. But in America I finally played against people my own age, and I realized that I was actually very good. That gave me a lot of confidence.” For the next few years, Yao was caught between his country and the chance to become an international superstar. China wanted to keep him with the Sharks and on the national team, and was not eager to see him leave the country for a million-dollar contract to play with the NBA. A sports marketing firm almost engineered a deal in 1999, but it involved giving the Sharks a large percentage of his potential American paycheck, which would have been prohibited by NBA players’ union rules. In the spring of 2000, Yao was invited to the Nike Hoop Summit—where many international players show off their talents before NBA scouts—but the Chinese government refused to let him go. The Chinese national team was about to begin its Olympic workouts, the official explanation went, and wanted Yao to be prepared for the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia. Yao and his national teammates made an impression in Sydney. He played alongside six-foot, eleven-inch Beijing Ducks player Menk Batere and Wang Zhizhi, a seven-foot, one-inch standout on the Chinese Army team. They were dubbed the “Walking Wall of China” for their prowess, but China was defeated by an all-star U.S. team, 119–72. Wang went on to become the first player from China to enter the NBA draft in 2001, and Batere was also signed that year by the Denver Nuggets, but Yao remained in China. One of the reasons may have been his age: if a player has not come up through the college ranks, he must be twenty-two years old to play in the NBA when his rookie season kicks off.

Joined Rockets in 2002 Yao continued to play for the Sharks, where he earned about $20,000 a year, leading them to the CBA championship in 2002. During one of the playoff games, Yao he took twenty-one shots and sank every one of them. Finally, terms were hammered out between NBA and CBA

824


•

volume 4

yao ming

Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets shoots over Amare Stoudemire (bottom) during a 2003 game against the Phoenix Suns. AP/Wide World Photos. Reproduced by permission.

officials that allowed Yao to enter the 2002 NBA draft. The CBA agreed to release him from his contract in exchange for a small percentage of his NBA salary. When the Houston Rockets won the draftpick lottery that gave them first dibs, Yao was their first choice as a center. He was signed to a four-year, $18 million contract, with five percent of his salary going to the CBA. He was also the first number one draft pick to come from the international players’ ranks. The NBA’s newest player attracted immense media attention, but Yao had to give most of his press interviews through a translator at first. He did not start for the Rockets during the first months of his U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

825

yao ming

rookie season, but began to show impressive talents whenever coach Rudy Tomjanovich put him in a game. On November 17, 2002, in a match against the Los Angeles Lakers, Yao scored twenty points for his team and made all of the shots he attempted—nine for nine. A few games later, he scored thirty points in a game against the Dallas Mavericks and took sixteen rebounds. In December he was named the Western Conference’s rookie of the month. Several weeks later, Yao made it onto the NBA All-Star team, beating out Shaquille O’Neal of the Lakers in fan voting for the best center. Relations between the two players had been slightly strained when Yao first came to the United States, because sportswriters liked to ask O’Neal, the NBA’s most famous center, what he thought of his new competition. At one point, O’Neal made a disparaging remark in which he mimicked the Chinese language. In response, Yao reacted gracefully. “Chinese is hard to learn,” he told one journalist when asked what he thought about the “Shaq” attack, according to Hessler. “I had trouble with it when I was little.”

Dubbed basketball’s “Gentle Giant” With his own English-language skills improving, Yao began speaking to the media on his own more frequently. He quickly emerged as a fan favorite in Houston. During his rookie season, ticket sales for home games at Compaq Center jumped to about two thousand more than the previous year’s figures. His nice-guy attitude and easy smile, combined with his immense height and lantern jaw, prompted the press to nickname him the “Gentle Giant.” Corporate America was eager to hire him, too, and he was signed to a number of advertising contracts. In one of his first, which required no dialogue, he appeared alongside Verne “Mini Me” Troyer from the Austin Powers movies in an ad for Apple Computer. He also starred in a Visa check card commercial. Reebok signed him to an endorsement contract rumored to be $100 million dollars, thought to be the largest ever between a shoe company and an athlete. Yao was an even bigger celebrity in China now. He pitched the Yanjing brand of beer, made in Beijing, and appeared in television commercials for China Unicom, a telecommunications company. In 2003 he returned home to play on the Chinese national team, and also hosted a multi-national telethon that raised money for SARS (Severe

826


•

volume 4

yao ming

Acute Respiratory Syndrome) awareness and prevention. Back in Houston, Yao had another excellent season with the Rockets in 2003, averaging 17.5 points and nine rebounds per game. In one match against the Atlanta Hawks in February of 2004, Yao scored a careerhigh forty-one points. More important, he helped take the Rockets to the NBA playoffs, but they lost the series to the Los Angeles Lakers. Yao is well-liked by his teammates, even though his stardom could have brought bad feelings. They call him “Dynasty,” a reference to the Ming era of Chinese history. His impressive court skills certainly help. Yao’s former Rockets teammate Moochie Norris told one journalist that “when he throws you a pass, a lot of times he has to shout out your name so you know it’s coming,” the New York Knicks guard told Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.

Dwarfed Olympic team delegation Yao still played for the Chinese national team. At the opening ceremonies of the 2004 Summer Games in Athens, Greece, he carried the Chinese flag when his country’s Olympic delegation marched into the stadium. Once again he was the tallest athlete at the Olympics. In the NBA, only seven-foot, six-inch Shawn Bradley of the Dallas Mavericks is taller than Yao. In China, broadcasts of Rockets’ games on television draw fourteen million viewers, and Yao is mobbed by fans whenever he returns. One Chinese man, Zhang Guojun, explained to a journalist why China’s most famous athletic is such a beloved figure. “Yao is important in our hearts,” he told Hessler. “He went to America, and he returned.” Yao lives near Katy, Texas, in a home he shares with his parents. Though he is surprised at the media attention his NBA career has brought, he says he always hoped to achieve greatness in his profession. “When I was small, I always wanted to be famous,” he confessed to Hessler. “I thought I’d be a scientist or maybe a political figure. It didn’t matter, as long as I was famous.”

For More Information Periodicals Beech, Hannah. “Yao Ming: China’s Incredible Hulk of the Hardcourt Becomes an NBA Sensation.” Time International (April 28, 2003): p. 34.


•

volume 4

827

yao ming Deveney, Sean. “Bigger and Better.” Sporting News (January 20, 2003): p. 6. Hessler, Peter. “Home and Away.” New Yorker (December 1, 2003): p. 65. Larmer, Brook. “Dreams Deferred.” Newsweek International (April 10, 2000): p. 69. McCallum, Jack. “Sky Rocket.” Sports Illustrated (February 10, 2003): p. 34. McGraw, Dan. “The Foreign Invasion of the American Game.” Village Voice (May 28, 2003). This article can also be found online at http:// www.villagevoice.com/issues/0322/mcgraw.php. Murphy, Michael. “NBA Draft: These Guys Are World Beaters.” Houston Chronicle (June 27, 2002): p. 6. Rodgers, Marshall. “The Tao of Yao.” Basketball Digest (May 2003): p. 46.

Web Sites “Yao Ming.” NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/playerfile/yao_ming/bio.html (accessed on August 9, 2004).

828


•

volume 4

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero

August 4, 1960 • Valladolid, Spain


•

© Marcelo Del Pozo/Reuters/Corbis.

volume 4

Prime minister

Just three days after a series of bomb blasts killed nearly two hundred in Madrid in March of 2004, Spanish voters went to the polls and elected the socialist party of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero into office. As prime minister, Zapatero promised to withdraw Spanish forces from Iraq, and ordered those troops home just hours after he was sworn in four weeks later. His party’s victory was widely seen as a rejection of the pro-American policies of his predecessor, José María Aznar and his Popular Party (PP).

Came from renowned liberal family Zapatero was born in 1960 in the city of Valladolid, north of Madrid. His family were of Castilian background and were originally from the city of León. His father was an attorney; his grandfather had been killed during the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s. Spain had established a republic in 1931, with the king abdicating his throne, but civil

829

josé luis rodríguez zapatero

unrest continued, and reached a crisis point by 1936. A military officer, Francisco Franco, attempted a coup, and a bloody war ensued. Zapatero’s grandfather, who fought on the Republican side, was slain by Franco’s soldiers during the first weeks of the war. Franco and his Nationalists ultimately won the war and installed a military dictatorship that endured until Franco’s death in 1976. Zapatero was sixteen years old at the time. He attended his first political meeting just a few weeks later, in August of 1976, although political parties were still technically illegal. At that rally, he was impressed by a speaker, future prime minister Felipe González, and joined González’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, or PSOE, two years

“My most immediate priority is to beat all forms of terrorism.” later. Zapatero went on to study law, and taught the subject at León University from 1982 to 1986. At the lectern, he specialized in Spanish constitutional law, a relatively new field with Spain’s constitution in place only since 1978. Zapatero also became a rising star in the PSOE. He headed the party’s youth organization in León, and in 1986, when he was just twenty-six years old, became the youngest member of parliament when he was elected from the province of León on the PSOE ticket. The PSOE dominated Spain’s post-Franco political era. González, head of the party, became prime minister in 1982, and held the post for the next fourteen years. Corruption scandals, however, blackened the party’s reputation in the early 1990s. In response, Spanish voters elected the center-right Popular Party (PP) of José María Aznar in 1996.

Rose to party leadership post By 1988 Zapatero had been elected secretary-general of the PSOE chapter in León province. Over the next decade he worked to reform the party from inside, as a response to the corruption scandals. He and

830


•

volume 4


Spain’s Basque Problem

Terrorist threats were already a fact of life for Spaniards long before a series of bombs in backpacks went off in Madrid on March 11, 2004. Since the 1960s a Basque group, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), had carried out similar acts in order to gain support for their goal of political sovereignty. The Basques number nearly three million, but not all of them live in Spain. Some reside in mountain villages just across Spain’s border with France in the Pyrenees. Their language, Euskara, is different from any other language in the world. Linguists believe it may have origins in the Sino-Tibetan language family, or is connected with the Berber language of North Africa. The origins of the Basque people have been one of Europe’s greatest mysteries. They may have come to Europe with the Indo-European migration that occurred around 2000 B.C.E. Another theory claims they were settled in the Iberian peninsula (Spain and Portugal) long before, when Cro-Magnon man became dominant in Europe. This would make them Europe’s oldest surviving ethnic group. They survived the Roman Empire invasions, and ambushed and massacred Charlemagne’s troops in 778 C.E. in what is known as the Battle of Roncevaux Pass. For centuries the Basques remained isolated and self-sufficient, weathering the Moorish Islamic invasion of the Iberian peninsula as well as a series of successive kingdoms that dominated Spain. They converted to Christianity, but may have been sunworshippers in earlier times. Renowned fishers, they

became major suppliers of cod to the rest of Europe, but where they found their fish remained a mystery for hundreds of years. Then, in the 1530s, French explorer Jacques Cartier arrived at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River in Canada and reported thousands of Basque fishing boats already there. The Basques managed to maintain much of their unique identity for generations. They were nominally allied with the Spanish monarchy, but had their own set of laws, called fueros. Their independence was eroded after the terms of deals made during Spain’s contentious internal wars during the nineteenth century were not honored. During the Spanish Civil War of the 1930s they surrendered to Italian troops, and Spain’s victorious military dictator, Francisco Franco, removed nearly all of their autonomy. Out of that grew the ETA, a guerrilla group formed in 1959. It carried out its first attack, a train derailment, two years later. The first death from an ETA act came in 1968. In 1973 ETA operatives assassinated the Spanish prime minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. Over the next three decades, the ETA planted car bombs and devices on trains, but a crackdown limited much of their power by 2003, when a train-station attack on Christmas Eve was successfully thwarted by the government’s anti-terrorism squad. Few thought the ETA was repsonsible for the Atocha attacks in March of the following year, since the group almost always alerted authorities to a bomb they had planted.

a coalition of other like-minded PSOE politicians urged a modernization of the party’s platform, modeling it after Tony Blair’s remake of the Labour Party in the mid-1990s. The reform movement gained momentum, but the PSOE failed to beat Aznar’s party in national elections held in March of 2000. The head of the PSOE at the time, U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

831


Joaquín Almunia, resigned as a result of the poor showing, and at the next party conference that July, PSOE delegates elected Zapatero as their new national secretary-general. Elizabeth Nash, a writer for London’s Independent newspaper, quoted Zapatero as saying he would personally “lead this party once more to victory and the biggest one in its history.” He added, “We need change, tranquil change. Our hope is for victory in 2004.” Zapatero began to take steps to win over Spanish voters to his party. In the fall of 2000, Zapatero and Aznar forged an agreement that their parties would work together to eliminate the threat of homegrown terrorists, which had been a serious concern in Spain for a number of years. A separatist movement in the north of Spain, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), translated as “Basque Fatherland and Liberty,” had emerged in the 1960s, and called attention to its cause through bombings and assasinations. More than eight hundred Spaniards had died since then. Zapatero and Aznar pledged that they would not allow the ETA threat to be used for the political gain of their own parties, and pledged to work together to end the bloodshed. They even led a march through the streets of Barcelona against ETA terrorism that November. The renewed effort against the ETA seemed to work, and many arrests were made. At the same time, Aznar’s PP government was proving increasingly unpopular. It was criticized for its handling of an oil tanker spill off Spain’s northern coastline in Galicia in November of 2002, which paralyzed the region’s fishing industry for months. It was later revealed that Aznar’s government had initially underreported the scope of the environmental disaster. In May of 2003 an aging military transport plane carrying Spanish troops back from Afghanistan crashed in Turkey, killing sixty-two. Protesters called for the resignation of Aznar’s minister of defense, saying the Sovietmade, Soviet-era planes were known to have been unsafe.

Opposed war in Iraq Aznar’s most serious political error, however, seemed to be his support of U.S. President George W. Bush in the latter’s effort to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. Aznar’s decision to send a small contingent of Spanish troops to join the coalition forces that invaded

832


•

volume 4


Iraq was met with a public outcry; opinion polls showed that seventy percent of Spaniards opposed the war. Zapatero took a strong stance against the war. As PSOE head, Zapatero rejected any alliance with America, although Aznar had tried to persuade him to give his support in the interests of national unity. After meeting with Aznar, Zapatero appeared at a press conference and told journalists that he refused to comply with Aznar’s plea. “I told him the Socialist Party does not support a preventive attack on Iraq,” New York Times writer Emma Daly quoted him as saying, “because there are no causes and reasons to justify an action of this magnitude.” In the run-up to the 2004 national elections, one of Zapatero’s first campaign promises had been a pledge to withdraw the 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq if elected. “This government doesn’t serve Spaniards anymore, it only serves the interests of Bush,” New York Times writer Lizette Alvarez quoted him as saying. As the election season moved into full swing, many were surprised at Zapatero’s new fierceness on the campaign trail, as he condemned Aznar’s government in the strongest terms. In past years, newspaper editorial cartoonists had sometimes poked fun of Zapatero as Sosoman, or “Dullman,” depicting him wearing a superhero costume. The Madrid bombings, thought to have been timed to disrupt the Spanish elections, seemed to be the decisive factor in the PSOE victory at the polls. On March 11, a series of bombs went off at Madrid’s main train station and on trains elsewhere in the city during the morning rush hour. The catastrophe, the deadliest attack on European soil since World War II, left 192 dead and more than 1,400 injured. The Aznar government initially blamed it on ETA terrorists, but evidence began to mount that the attack might have been carried out by al-Qaeda—the terrorist group responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States—operatives in Spain. Spaniards who were opposed to the war in Iraq noted that Aznar’s decision to side with the Bush White House had made Spain vulnerable to such attacks. They took to the streets by the thousands to mourn the dead and voice their opposition to government policy as well. Despite evidence pointing to al-Qaeda, the Aznar government continued to insist that ETA had been responsible, which was widely viewed as a political ploy to forestall a loss at the polls that weekend. U•X•L newsmakers

•

volume 4

833


José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (left) is sworn in as the Prime Minister of Spain, April 17, 2004. Onlookers include Spanish King Juan Carlos (right) and Queen Sofia. © Reuters/ Corbis.

Recalled troops from Iraq Three days later, on Sunday, a record voter turnout ousted Aznar’s party and his handpicked successor, Mariano Rajoy, in favor of Zapatero and the PSOE. Even Rajoy was jeered by protesters when he cast his own ballot at a Madrid polling station. In the official tally the Popular Party won 38 percent of the vote, but Zapatero’s socialists took 43 percent of the vote and 164 seats out of the 350 in the Cortes, the lower house of parliament. The PSOE won 29 seats more than it had in the previous election. Just days after the election, a leading newspaper in Spain, El Pais, published an interview with Zapatero. “The war in Iraq was a huge mistake,” he asserted, according to an article by New York Times correspondent Elaine Sciolino. “There was no motive. It was done without international consensus, and the management of the occupation has been a disaster.” For his cabinet, Spain’s new prime minister named a respected diplomat, Miguel Angel Moratinos, to be his foreign minister. Moratinos was a veteran of Middle Eastern diplomacy issues, and had previously served as Spain’s ambassador to Israel. Zapatero was sworn into office on April 17, 2004, by King Juan Carlos at Madrid’s Zarzuela Palace. Twenty-four hours later, he made

834


•

volume 4


the announcement that he had ordered all 1,300 Spanish troops in Iraq to return home as soon as possible. During his first year in office, he also proved to be a liberal on domestic matters. He pledged to create new policies that would grant same-sex couples in Spain the same legal rights as married heterosexuals. A year earlier, the Cortes had passed a new law, amidst great controversy, that forced all public schools in Spain to make religious instruction a part of the curriculum. Zapatero announced that his government would not allow the law to go into effect. Furthermore, he vowed to eliminate gender bias in Spain via a sweeping series of new laws. Zapatero’s wife, Sonsoles Espinosa, maintains a low profile and rarely appears by his side. She is a voice teacher and shuns the political spotlight. The couple have two daughters.

For More Information Periodicals Alvarez, Lizette. “In His Startling Leap to High Office, Socialist Takes Strong Stand Against ‘an Unjust War.’” New York Times (March 15, 2004): p. A12. Daly, Emma. “Spain’s Chief, on Bush’s Side, Comes Under Attack at Home.” New York Times (February 4, 2003): p. A12. Graff, James. “Getting to the Truce.” Time International (April 26, 2004): p. 35. “Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Spain’s New Socialist.” Economist (January 27, 2001): p. 8. Nash, Elizabeth. “Madrid: The Aftermath: How the Quiet Man of Spanish Politics Finally Made His Voice Heard Above the Noise of War.” Independent (London, England), (March 16, 2004): p. 6. Sciolino, Elaine. “A New Future for Spain: Call It Social Socialism.” New York Times (March 31, 2004): p. A4. Sciolino, Elaine. “Spain’s New Leader Blows Both Hot and Cold Toward U.S.” New York Times (March 22, 2004): p. A3. Sharrock, David. “Quiet Man Who Swept to Power on a Wave of Anger.” Times (London, England) (March 16, 2004): p. 16.


•

volume 4

835

index volume 4 •


Volume numbers are in italic; boldface indicates main entries and their page numbers; (ill.) following a page number indicates an illustration on the page.

a AALBC. See African American Literature Book Club Aaliyah, 1: 191; 3: 619 ABA. See American Basketball Association Abandon, 4: 779 Abbott, Bud, 4: 737 Abbott, Jennifer, 3: 461 Abbott and Costello, 4: 737 ABC, 1: 173, 176 Abdul, Paula, 4: 676 Absolutely Psychic, 3: 618 Academy Awards, 1: 101; 2: 362 Best Actress nominations/awards (2004), 1: 105 (ill.), 106 Best Animated Film (2004), 2: 362 Best Director (2003), 1: 117 Best Director (2004), 1: 123 Best Original Song (2003), 2: 215 for Bowling for Columbine (2003), 3: 467 for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2004), 2: 339, 346 (ill.) for Owen Wilson, 4: 743 for Scientific and Technical Engineering, 2: 360 Academy of American Poets, 4: 716 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science Best Director nominations (2004), 1: 123 AC/DC, 4: 773 Ace Oxygen, 2: 278 Achbar, Mark, 3: 461 Achievable Foundation, 4: 757 Acid rain, 4: 788 Ackley, Laura, 2: 360 Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. See AIDS ActionForum.com, 1: 55 Activision, 1: 19; 2: 315, 316 Activism, 1: 51–59; 4: 691–96, 751, 756 Actors’ Gang, The, 1: 34, 36 ACT-SO. See Afro-American Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics Adams, Art, 3: 445

xix

index Adato, Allison, 3: 590 Adidas, 1: 3 Adler, Shawn, 3: 473; 4: 737 Adu, Emelia, 1: 2, 3, 6 Adu, Freddy, 1: 1–8, 1 (ill.), 6 (ill.) Advertising anti-war, 1: 56–57 TiVo and, 3: 611–12 Yahoo! and, 4: 688 Aeneid, The, 3: 496 Aerodynamics, 4: 648 Aerosmith, 4: 702 Aerospace engineering, 4: 647–53 AFC. See American Football Conference Afghanistan robots used in, 2: 298 United States invasion of, 3: 623, 628 U.S. war against, 3: 623 African American authors, 2: 367–73; 3: 483–89 African American Literature Book Club, 2: 368, 369 Afro-American Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics, 1: 10 Afterlife, The (Soto), 4: 733 Aftermath (music label), 1: 192 Agassi, Andre, 3: 634, 635 Agent Cody Banks, 1: 149; 3: 469, 472–73 Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, 1: 11; 3: 469, 472 (ill.), 473 Agnos, Art, 3: 503 Agoraphobia, 3: 494 Agricultural workers, 4: 728, 729 Aguilera, Christina, 1: 135 (ill.), 189; 4: 708, 769, 711, 772 AI. See Artificial intelligence AIDS, 2: 270–71; 3: 574 Air Zoom Generation shoe (Nike), 2: 355 Airport wireless technology, 2: 363 Aiyar, Mani Shankar, 2: 256 Aladdin, 1: 176 Alaska Science Forum, 4: 764–65 Al-Bayati, Hamid, 2: 328 Albert, Marv, 1: 37 Albert (Napoli), 3: 494 Albright, Madeleine, 3: 626 Alcorn, Al, 2: 359 Alexander, Jason Allen, 4: 769, 770 Alexander, Lee, 2: 387

xx

Alexander, Max, 2: 396, 399 Alexandre, Boniface, 1: 31 Algae, 4: 787–88 Algorithms, 3: 537 Ali, Lorraine, 1: 193; 3: 530 Alice Paige Cleveland Prize (Case Western University), 2: 270 Alien Avengers, 1: 11 Aliens, 3: 529 Al-Jazeera (Middle Eastern television network), 3: 461 All About the Andersons, 1: 9, 12 All Access Pass, 1: 150 All American Game, 1: 11 All My Children, 1: 173 All That, 1: 147 All-American Girl, 3: 619 Allen, Paul, 1: 142; 4: 651 Allen, Peter, 2: 329, 334 Allen, Ted, 3: 587–88, 588 (ill.), 589, 591, 592 (ill.) Allen, Woody, 1: 35 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player of, 1: 73 Allure, 1: 120 Ally McBeal, 1: 11; 2: 305, 306 Almond, Elliott, 3: 583 Along Came Polly, 4: 743 Al-Qaeda, 3: 628; 4: 833 Alternative music, 4: 791–96 Alumnia, Joaquín, 4: 832 Alvarez, Lizette, 4: 833 Amadeus (play), 4: 656 Amanda Show, The, 1: 147 Amano, Yoshitaka, 2: 242 “Amazing Fantasy” comic book series, 1: 18 Amazing Screw-On Head, The, 3: 447, 448 Amazon.com, 3: 611; 4: 799, 803 Ambrose, Lauren, 3: 455 AMC. See American Music Conference America Online, 1: 149; 3: 561, 567, 610; 4: 685, 801 America-Israel Cultural Foundation, 2: 411 American Association for the Advancement of Science, 4: 763–64 American Bandstand, 4: 677 American Basketball Association, 1: 73, 78 American Comedy Awards, 1: 133


•

volume 4

index American Film Institute, 4: 755 American Football Conference, 1: 65 American Gods (Gaiman), 2: 241, 244 American Idol, 3: 611; 4: 673, 675, 677, 676, 676 (ill.) American League West, 4: 642, 643 American Library Association, 2: 232 Coretta Scott King Award through, 2: 370, 371; 3: 487, 488 Michael L. Printz Award through, 3: 488 Newbery Medal through, 3: 551, 557 American Music Awards, 4: 773 American Music Conference, 4: 769 American Pie 2, 4: 658 American Society for Clinical Investigation, 2: 275 American Sports Data, Inc., 2: 313 American Top 40 (radio show), 4: 677 America’s Cup (sailing), 4: 651 America’s Most Wanted, 2: 280 Ameritech Cup (tennis), 4: 816 Ames, Jonathan, 3: 456 Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom (Myers), 3: 485 Amos, John, 1: 12 Anatomy of a Hate Crime (docudrama), 2: 279 Anaya, Rudolfo, 4: 731 Anchorman, 1: 35 Andersen, Kurt, 2: 160, 262, 263 Anderson, Anthony, 1: 9–14, 9 (ill.), 13 (ill.); 3: 472 (ill.), 473; 4: 779 Anderson, Phil, 2: 243 Anderson, Shandon, 2: 353 (ill.) Anderson, Wes, 4: 741, 743 André 3000 (André Benjamin), 3: 527–33, 527 (ill.), 531 (ill.) Angels and Visitations, (Gaiman) 2: 240 Angle, Colin, 2: 294, 295, 296 Animal rights, 2: 428, 429, 433 Animation, 1: 174–75, 176–77 Anime (Japanese animation), 3: 475, 478 Another World (soap opera), 2: 422 Ansari X Prize, 4: 651 Ansen, David, 1: 122; 3: 601 Ant and Dec, 4: 675 Ant and Dec Show, 4: 675 Ant and Dec Unzipped, 4: 675

Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, 4: 675 Anthony, Carmelo, 2: 351 Anthrax scare after 9/11 attack, 2: 272–73 Anti-Semitism, 2: 410 Anti-war advertising, 1: 56–57 AOL. See America Online Apartheid, 1: 44 Apatow, Judd, 4: 740 Apocalypse Now, 1: 118 Apple, 2: 357, 359 Apple Computer, 1: 142, 143; 2: 360, 363; 4: 826, 361, 362 Apple I computer, 1: 142; 2: 359 Apple II computer, 1: 142; 2: 360 Apprentice, The, 1: 81, 87 Aquafina water, 3: 517 Aquemini, 3: 529, 530 “Aquemini” boutique label, 3: 530 Arad, Avi, 1: 15–22, 15 (ill.), 20 (ill.) Arad, Michael, 2: 413, 419 Archaeology, 4: 762 robotics in, 2: 295 Archie Bunker’s Place, 4: 738 Architecture, 2: 259–66, 409–19 Ariel Underwater robot, 2: 296–97 Arista Records, 3: 529, 530 Aristide, Jean-Bertrand (Titide), 1: 23–32, 23 (ill.), 26 (ill.) Aristide Foundation for Democracy, 1: 29 Armani, Giorgio, 3: 625 Armstrong, Lisa, 2: 432, 434 Arnold, Chuck, 2: 307, 308 Arranged marriages (India), 4: 692 Art, 3: 475–82 installation art, 1: 181–85, 186 (ill.), 187–88 light art, 1: 184–85 Artificial intelligence, 2: 294; 3: 535 Asea Brown Boveri Inc., 3: 516 Ash, Lucy, 4: 694 Ashlee Simpson Show, The, 4: 709 Asimov, Isaac, 2: 297 Association for Support of Children’s Rights in Iran, 1: 164 Asthma, 2: 275 At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England (Myers), 3: 485


•

volume 4

xxi

index Atari, 2: 359 Athens Summer Olympics (2004) Michael Phelps’ swimming medals at, 3: 584 Atlanta Hawks (basketball team), 3: 566; 4: 827 Atlanta Thrashers, 3: 566 Atlantis: The Lost Empire, 3: 447 AT&T, 2: 224, 227; 3: 609 Attner, Paul, 1: 66 Atwater-Rhodes, Amelia Demon in My View, 3: 545 In the Forests of the Night, 3: 545 Hawksong, 3: 545 Midnight Predator, 3: 545 Shattered Mirror, 3: 545 Snakecharm, 3: 545 Auctions, online, 4: 799–805 AuctionWeb, Inc., 4: 802. See also eBay Austere Academy, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Austin Powers in Goldmember, 2: 401, 405 Austin Powers movies, 4: 826 Australia competitive swimmers in, 3: 582 Australian Film Institute, 2: 332 Australian Open (tennis), 3: 633, 634; 4: 813, 815, 816, 817, 818 Authors and Artists for Young Adults, 2: 239 Autism, 4: 757 Autobiography, 4: 709 AutoSyringe Company, 2: 395 AutoSyringe (medical device), 2: 394, 395 Aveda, 3: 588 Aviation, 4: 647–53 Awful Truth, The, 3: 464 Axelrod, David, 4: 670 Aykroyd, Dan, 1: 206 Aznar, José María, 4: 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 834

b Baa’th Socialist Party (Iraq), 2: 320–21, 322 “Baby Boy,” 2: 406 Baby Phat, 4: 704 Baby Wanna Talk (toy), 1: 16 Back Stage West, 4: 780 Backstreet Boys, 4: 770

xxii

Bacon, Kevin, 1: 193; 3: 470 Bad Beginning (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717, 718 Bad Boy: A Memoir (Myers), 3: 483, 485, 489 Bad Boys II, 4: 775, 779, 780 (ill.) Bad News Bears, The, 1: 174 Bad Taste, 2: 342 Badu, Erykah, 3: 530, 533 BAFTA. See British Academy of Film and Television Awards Baghdad (Iraq), 2: 327 Bain and Company, 4: 801 “Bake Back the White House” campaign, 1: 53 Baker Hughes, 2: 297 Ball, Lucille, 1: 147 Bamberger, Michael, 4: 807 Bambi (movie), 1: 175 Band, The, 2: 389 Banda, Joseph, 1: 96 Banda, Luka, 1: 96 Bank of America Colonial (golf), 4: 723 Banks, Ernie, 4: 642 Banks, Jeffrey, 3: 453 Banks, Tyra, 2: 423 Bar mitzvah, 2: 238 Barber, Bryan, 3: 533 Barbershop, 1: 9, 11, 193 Barbershop 2, 1: 193 Barcelona, Spain (2003) World Championship swimming contest in, 3: 582, 583 Barker, Mary, 3: 439 Barkley, Charles, 4: 823 Barnes, Brenda, 2: 223 Barney Miller, 1: 173 Barrett, Jennifer, 2: 262 Barrie, J. M. Peter Pan, 2: 231 Barrios, 4: 727, 728 Barton, James, 3: 607–13 Baseball, 4: 639–45 Baseball in April (Soto), 4: 732 BASIC computer program, 1: 142 Basic Eight, The (Handler), 4: 715, 716 Basketball, 1: 71–79; 2: 349–55; 4: 745–49, 821–27 Basketball Hall of Fame, 2: 349; 4: 747 Basques (Spain), 4: 831, 832, 833


•

volume 4

index Bass, Lance, 4: 712, 770, 771 Batere, Menk, 4: 824 Batman: A Death in the Family, 3: 443 Batman (movie), 4: 683 Batman (television show), 2: 340 Battle of Roncevaux Pass, 4: 831 Baum, L. Frank Wizard of Oz, The, 2: 231 Baxter International, 2: 395 BBC. See British Broadcasting Corporation Be Cool, 2: 382; 3: 533 Beach Boys, 1: 127 Beak and Whisker (Nimmo), 3: 507 Bear That Never Was, The, 3: 506 Beast (Napoli), 3: 493, 495 Beastie Boys, 2: 385; 4: 701, 702 Beat poets, 2: 369 Beatles, 2: 384, 427 Beauty and the Beast (movie), 1: 176 Beauty and the Beast (play), 1: 127, 128, 177; 2: 331 Beauty (Eliasson), 1: 183 Beavis and Butthead, 2: 280 Bechtolsheim, Andy, 3: 539 Beck, Henry Cabot, 1: 46 Becker, Boris, 3: 632 Beckham, David, 1: 3 Beckham move (soccer), 1: 3 Bede Aircraft Company (Kansas), 4: 649 Beg for Mercy, 2: 219 Behind Enemy Lines, 4: 742 Behind the Music, 2: 282 Bell Laboratories, 3: 608 Bellafanta, Gina, 2: 430 Bellinson, Neil, 2: 286 Belushi, John, 1: 36, 206 BEN Fund, 1: 93 Ben Stiller Show, The, 4: 739, 740 Bend it Like Beckham (film), 1: 3 Bengston, Billy Al, 2: 261 Benhabiles, Tarik, 3: 634 Benjamin, André. See André 3000 Bergdorf Goodman, 3: 452, 456 Berger, Jody, 3: 582 Berkeley Systems, 1: 52 Berlinger, Joe, 3: 461

Berrigan brothers (activist Catholic priests), 3: 460–61 Berry, Halle, 1: 20 Berryman, Guy, 1: 110 (ill.), 111, 112, 115 (ill.) Best Buy, 1: 142 Bette, 2: 423 Better Chance, A, 3: 568 Better Chance Corporate Award, 3: 568 Beverly Hills Cop, 1: 174 Beverly Hills 90210, 1: 147; 4: 657 BFG (Dahl), 2: 231 Bharatiya Janata Party (India), 2: 252, 253, 254, 255, 256 Bhatty, Egbert, 2: 255 Bianco, Anthony, 3: 567 “Big Boi” (Antwan Patton), 2: 406; 3: 527–33, 527 (ill.), 531 (ill.) Big Brother (television series), 1: 86 Big Fat Liar, 1: 147, 471–72 Big Momma’s House, 1: 9, 11 Big One, The, 3: 464 Bijani, Ladan, 1: 96–97, 96 (ill.) Bijani, Laleh, 1: 96–97, 96 (ill.) Biker Poet, 4: 753 Billboard Hot 100 chart, 1: 150 “Bills, Bills, Bills,” 2: 404 Binder, Benjamin, 1: 95 Binder, Patrick, 1: 95 Bio-Dome, 1: 37 Biological invasions, 4: 785, 786 Bioterrorism, 2: 269, 272, 274 Birdhouse Projects (skateboard business), 2: 314, 315, 316 Birnbaum, Daniel, 1: 183 Bizet, Georges, 2: 405 Black, Eleanor, 1: 102 Black, Jack, 1: 33–41, 33 (ill.), 39 (ill.) Black Hawk Down, 1: 47 Black Orchid (Gaiman), 2: 239, 240 Black Stallion (Farley), 3: 545 Blackman, Lori, 2: 333 Blackstreet, 1: 192 Blade, 1: 20 Blade 3: Trinity, 1: 21 Blades, Joan, 1: 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56 Blair, Tony, 4: 831


•

volume 4

xxiii

index Blanchett, Cate, 2: 344, 345 Blanco, Luis Carrero, 4: 831 Bledsoe, Drew, 1: 65 Blige, Mary J., 1: 194 Blitz, Jeffrey, 3: 461 Blitz (skateboard business), 2: 314, 315 Bloom, Harry, 1: 44 Bloom, Orlando, 1: 43–50, 43 (ill.), 48 (ill.) Bloom, Sonia, 1: 43, 44 Bloom, Susan P., 3: 495, 496 Bloomberg, Michael, 3: 418, 567 Blow, Kurtis, 4: 701 Blue Aspic, The (Gorey), 4: 719 Blue Heaven and the Rainbow Girl, 4: 752 Blue Note record label, 2: 386, 387, 389 Blue Room, The (Coldplay), 1: 113 Blues, 4: 795 Blues of Flats Brown, The (Myers), 3: 485 Boarding House: North Shore, 1: 86 Bob Roberts, 1: 35 Bobby the Bonobo (Napoli), 3: 496 Bocelli, Andrea, 2: 305 Bodybuilding, 4: 663, 664–66 Boedeker, Hal, 4: 660 Bol, Manute, 4: 823 Bonds, Barry, 4: 642 Bones Brigade (skateboard team), 2: 313, 314 Bonet, Lisa, 3: 616 Bongwater, 1: 36 Books of Magic, 2: 243 Boom Boom Huck Jam, 2: 316–17 Boomer, Linwood, 3: 471 Boomerang (plane), 4: 651 Boorman, John, 3: 599 Booth, William, 1: 207 “Bootylicious,” 2: 405 Boozer, Carlos, 2: 355 Boras, Scott, 4: 640, 643 Boss, Shira, 2: 287, 288, 289, 291 Boston Celtics, 3: 632 Boston Consulting Group, 3: 515 Boston Public, 4: 755 Boston Red Sox, 4: 645 Both Sides, 3: 499 Bottle Rocket, 4: 741 Bow Wow, 2: 403 Bowers, Lois, 2: 271, 275

xxiv

Bowles, Scott, 1: 16 Bowling for Columbine, 3: 460, 465–67 Bowman, Bob, 3: 580, 583, 585 Boy from Oz, The (Broadway play), 2: 329, 334–36 Boyd, Wes, 1: 51–59, 51 (ill.) Boyens, Philippa, 2: 344, 345 Boys & Girls Clubs of America, 3: 584 Boys at Work (Soto), 4: 732 Bradley, Shawn, 4: 827 Brady, James, 4: 755 Brady, Julie, 1: 62 Brady, Tom, 1: 61–69, 61 (ill.), 67 (ill.) Brady, Tom, Sr., 1: 61, 68 Brady Bunch, The, 4: 658 Braindead, 2: 342 Braithwaite, E. R. To Sir with Love, 4: 729 Bram Stoker award, 2: 238, 241 Bram Stoker’s Dracula, 3: 443 Brand Nubians, 3: 528 Branding, 1: 178 Bratt, Benjamin, 4: 779 Bravest Thing, The (Napoli), 3: 491, 494 Bravo Television, 3: 587, 591 Brayshaw, Christopher, 3: 441, 444 Break the Cycle, 1: 195 Breakin’ All the Rules, 4: 775, 779 Breath (Napoli), 3: 493, 495 Brees, Drew, 3: 632 Breznican, Anthony, 1: 123 Bricklin, Dan, 1: 143 Bride-price (India), 4: 693 Brin, Sergey, 3: 535–42, 536 (ill.) Bring It On, 4: 775, 778 BRIT Awards, 1: 113 British Academy of Film and Television Awards, 2: 346 British American Drama Academy, 1: 45 British Broadcasting Corporation, 2: 240; 3: 506, 598; 4: 675 British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio, 1: 112 Brkich, Amber, 1: 86 Broadway stores, 3: 436 Brody, Adam, 4: 658–59, 659 (ill.) Broeske, Pat, 4: 667 Bronze Trumpeter, The (Nimmo), 3: 507


•

volume 4

index Brooke, James, 4: 696 Brooks, James, 4: 741 Brooks, Rodney, 2: 294, 295, 296, 298 Broomball, 2: 271 Brosnan, Pierce, 3: 599 Brother for Sale, 3: 521 Brothers, The, 4: 778 “Brothers and Sisters” (Coldplay), 1: 112 Brothers and Sisters (Coldplay), 1: 111, 112 Brothers Lionheart, The (Lindgren), 2: 231 Brown, Bob, 2: 305 Brown, Bobby, 4: 701 Brown, Jennifer M., 3: 485 Brown, Jerry, 3: 573 Brown, Larry, 1: 71–79, 71 (ill.), 76 (ill.) Brown, Lauren, 3: 519 Brown, Lisa, 4: 719 Brown, Scott, 2: 242 Brown, Willie L., Jr., 3: 499, 500 Browne, David, 2: 217, 390 Brownstein, Ronald, 1: 57 Brubeck, Dave, 2: 385 Bruckheimer, Jerry, 4: 780 (ill.) Bruins (basketball team), 1: 73 Brunner, Rob, 1: 190, 191, 194 Bryant, Kobe, 1: 74; 4: 823, 75 B2K, 2: 403 Buckland, Jon, 1: 110, 110 (ill.), 111, 113, 114, 115 (ill.) Buena Vista (division of Walt Disney), 4: 682 Buena Vista (music label), 1: 149 Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 4: 755 Bugs Bunny Richard Parsons poses with, 3: 565 (ill.) Bug’s Life, A, 1: 177; 2: 362 Bull Durham, 1: 35 Buried Onions (Soto), 4: 733, 734 Burka, Paul, 4: 643 Burnett, Mark, 1: 81–89, 81 (ill.), 86 (ill.) Dare to Succeed, 1: 82, 84 Burton, Johanna, 1: 187 Burton, Tim, 4: 683 Busch series (NASCAR), 1: 154, 155, 158 (ill.) Bush, George H. W., 2: 325; 3: 627; 4: 669 Bush, George W., 1: 55, 68; 3: 465, 468, 567, 571, 574–75, 627 Aznar’s support for, 4: 832, 833

Condoleezza Rice appointed by, 3: 623, 625, 628, 629 same-sex marriage issue and, 3: 497, 503 Texas Rangers and, 4: 643 United States’ war against Iraq under, 2: 326, 459, 467, 576 Bush, Laura, 3: 562 Bush, Laura (Mrs. George W. Bush), 3: 630 “Bush in 30 Seconds” contest, 1: 57 Business dot-com, 3: 535, 536, 537–42, 540 (ill.) women in, 2: 221–28; 3: 513–18; 4: 799–805 Busta Rhymes, 1: 192 Butler, Gary, 3: 445 Buyukkokten, Orkut, 3: 540 Byker Grove, 4: 675 Bynes, Amanda, 1: 147, 471, 472 Byrd Polar Research Center (Ohio State University), 4: 760 Byrne, John, 3: 445, 446 Byung-Wook, 4: 808

c Cable Guy, The, 1: 36; 4: 739, 740, 741 Cabot, Meg The Princess Diaries, 3: 619 Cadet Kelly, 1: 148 Cage, Nicolas, 1: 119 Cagle, Jess, 4: 740 Calatrava, Santiago, 2: 419 Calcium Kid, The, 1: 49 Calgary Stampeders (football team), 2: 377 California politics in, 4: 663, 669–71 California Aerospace Museum (Los Angeles), 2: 263 California Amateur Skateboard League, 2: 313 California Cybernetics, 2: 295 California Democratic Party, 3: 573 California Institute of the Arts (Cal Arts), 1: 175 Callahan, Gerry, 4: 641–42 Calloway, Wayne, 3: 516 Camp David (Maryland), 3: 630 Campaign finance reform, 1: 54


•

volume 4

xxv

index Campbell, Naomi, 2: 430 Campbell, Patty, 3: 489 Campion, Jane, 1: 123 Canadian Bacon, 3: 464 Canard (aircraft piece), 4: 650 Candy, John, 3: 464; 4: 739 Cannes Film Festival (France), 2: 342; 3: 466–67, 466 (ill.) Cannibal the Musical, 2: 280 Canseco, Jose, 4: 642 Canto Familiar (Soto), 4: 732 Capellas, Michael, 2: 226 (ill.) Capital Cities, 1: 176 Capriati, Jennifer, 4: 815 Captain Crunch cereal, 3: 517 Captain Underpants series (Pilkey), 3: 545 Capturing the Friedmans, 3: 461 Car Wash, 4: 701 Cara, Irene, 3: 619 Caravell, Tim, 1: 148 Card, Orson Scott Characters and Viewpoint, 3: 546 Carmen: The Hip-Hopera, 2: 405 Carmen (opera), 2: 405 Carmichael, Hoagy, 2: 387 Carniverous Carnival, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Caro, Niki, 1: 103, 104 Carolina Cougars (basketball team), 1: 73 Carolina Panthers (football team), 1: 66 Carpenter, Frances Tales of a Korean Grandmother, 3: 554 Carr, Lloyd, 1: 64 Carrey, Jim, 1: 11; 4: 718, 740 Cars, 2: 362 Carson, Benjamin Solomon, 1: 91–99, 91 (ill.) Gifted Hands, 1: 94 Carson, Candy, 1: 93, 94 Carson Scholars Fund, 1: 93 Carter, Jimmy, 3: 563, 573 Cartier, Jacques, 4: 831 Case, Steve, 3: 565; 4: 801, 566 Casino, The, 1: 88 CASL. See California Amateur Skateboard League Casper Meets Wendy, 1: 146 Cassavetes, John, 1: 121 Cassavetes, Zoe, 1: 121

xxvi

Caste system (India), 4: 693 Castle-Hughes, Keisha, 1: 101–7, 101 (ill.), 105 (ill.) Catcher in the Rye (Salinger), 3: 489 Catholic Church in Haiti, 1: 24, 26, 27 Catmull, Edwin, 2: 360 Cazeneuve, Brian, 3: 583 CBA. See Chinese Basketball Association CBS Morning News, 4: 668 CBS (television network), 1: 173 CBS-Cinema Center Films, 4: 682 CCOs. See Chief creative officers Cedras, Raoul, 1: 28 Cedric the Entertainer, 2: 403 Celadon pottery, 3: 556–57 Celebrity, 4: 770 Center for Embedded Networked Sensing (CENS), 1: 197, 201 Center for the Defense of Human Rights (Iran), 1: 164 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2: 269, 271–76 CEOs. See Chief executive officers Cerebral palsy, 4: 757 CFDA. See Council of Fashion Designers of America CGI. See Computer-generated images Champion, Will, 1: 110 (ill.), 111, 113, 115 (ill.) Chang, Michael, 3: 634 Changing Rooms, 1: 128 Chaplin, Ben, 1: 45 Chappell, Kevin, 1: 190, 191, 195 Characters and Viewpoint (Card), 3: 546 Charaipotra, Sona, 2: 379 Charlemagne, 4: 831 Charles VII (king of France), 4: 753 Charlie Bone and the Invisible boy (Nimmo), 3: 510 Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (Nimmo), 3: 510 Charlie’s Angels movies, 4: 657 Chasez, Joshua Scott (J.C.), 4: 769, 770, 771 Chávez, Cesar, 4: 729 Chavis, Benjamin, 4: 703 (ill.) Cheaper by the Dozen, 1: 149 Cheapscape, 2: 262


•

volume 4

index Cheeba, Eddie, 4: 701 Cheetah Girls, The, 3: 619 Chen, Christine Y., 3: 610 Cheney, Sarah Haddad, 3: 453, 454 Cher, 2: 407 Chess (play), 2: 309 Chestnut, Morris, 4: 779 Chestnut Soldier, The (Nimmo), 3: 507, 508 Chicago (Broadway musical), 1: 126, 128, 129 Chicago Hope, 1: 146 Chicago magazine, 3: 587 Chicago (movie), 1: 176 Chicano literature, 4: 727–34 Chicken, House, The (England), 2: 231 Chief creative officers, 1: 15, 19 Chief executive officers, 1: 15, 52, 144; 3: 435 of eBay, Inc., 4: 799–805 of Hewlett-Packard, 2: 221, 224–27 of Time Warner, 3: 561, 566–68 of Yahoo!, 4: 681 Chief operating officers, 4: 682 Child labor, 3: 464 Children human rights for, in Iran, 1: 161–68 “Children of the Red King” series (Nimmo), 3: 510 Children’s literature, 2: 229–35, 36–73; 3: 491, 493–96, 505–11, 543, 545–49, 551, 554–58; 4: 715, 717–19, 731–33 Childs, David, 2: 419 “Child’s Play” commercial, 1: 57 Child’s Reflections Cold Play, 1: 111 Chimeres (Haitian security forces), 1: 30 China, 3: 574, 575; 4: 800, 820, 821 China Beach, 4: 683 China Unicom, 4: 826 Chinese Basketball Association, 4: 822, 824, 825 Chloe house of design (Paris), 2: 428, 431–32 Chopra, Deepak, 4: 704 Christian music, 4: 707, 708–9 Christmas Carol, A (play), 3: 470 “Christmas Rappin’,” 4: 701 Chrysler-Plymouth Tournament of Champions (golf), 4: 723 Chuck and Buck, 1: 38 Church, Charlotte, 2: 306; 3: 603 Cinderella, 1: 174

Cinderella Story, A, 1: 145, 149 Citrus Bowl, 1: 64 City of Angels, 4: 778 Civil rights movement, 3: 529, 624 Civil War, 2: 222 CJ Nine Bridges Classic (golf), 4: 809 (ill.) Clarey, Christopher, 3: 636 Clark, Dick, 4: 677, 678 Clarkson, Patricia, 4: 779 Clements, Kevin, 3: 584 Clements, Mike, 1: 12 Cleveland Cavaliers (basketball team), 2: 350, 351, 353 (ill.), 354, 355 Climate changes embedded networked sensing and, 1: 202 Climatology, 4: 759–66 Clinton, Bill, 1: 51, 53, 54; 3: 501; 4: 669 Clinton, George, 3: 528, 529–30; 4: 700 Clinton, Hillary, 4: 704–5 Clippers (basketball team), 1: 74 Cliques, 1: 207 “Clocks” (Coldplay), 1: 115 Closer, (Groban) 2: 307–8 CNN, 3: 564 Coalition government (India), 2: 249 Cobain, Kurt, 2: 385 Coca-Cola battle between Pepsi and, 3: 515 Cocks, Jay, 2: 359 Cohen, Adam, 3: 566 “Cola wars,” 3: 515 Cold Mountain, 4: 796 Cold War, 3: 626 Coldplay, 1: 109–16, 110 (ill.), 115 (ill.) Colin Quinn: Back to Brooklyn, 4: 739 Collar, Matt, 2: 390 Collins, David, 3: 590, 591 Color of Money, The, 4: 739 Colorists (comic books), 3: 445 Columbia Records, 2: 217, 404 Columbia space shuttle, 4: 649 Columbus, Chris, 3: 600, 601, 603 Columbus, Christopher, 1: 25 Combs, Sean P. Diddy, 2: 217; 4: 705 Comcast, 3: 610 Come Away With Me, 2: 383, 387 Comedians, 1: 131–37; 4: 737–43


•

volume 4

xxvii

index comedy women writers in, 1: 205, 207–11 Comedy Central, 2: 280 Comic Book Resources, 3: 445 Comic books, 1: 15–21; 2: 237, 239, 240–43; 3: 441–48, 451, 454–55 Comic Wars (Raviv), 1: 18 Commando, 4: 667 Commodore, 1: 143 Commodore 64, 1: 143 Commodore PET, 1: 143 Compaq Computers, 1: 141 Hewlett-Packard merges with, 2: 221, 226, 226 (ill.) Computer games, 1: 52 Computer graphics, 2: 360 Computer science embedded networked sensing, 1: 197–203 Computer workstations, 3: 607 Computer-animated movies, 2: 357, 360–61, 362 Computer-generated images in Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2: 341, 345 Computers, 2: 357–64 search engines, 3: 535, 536, 537–42, 540 (ill.) Conan the Barbarian, 4: 666 Concern Worldwide, 2: 227 Confederacy of Dunces, A, 1: 35 Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, 2: 421–22, 424 Congress women in, 3: 571, 574–77 Congress Party (India), 2: 247, 250, 252, 253 Conjoined twins operations on, 1: 91, 95–97 Connick, Harry, Jr., 2: 385 Contender, The, 1: 88 Conti, Samantha, 2: 429 Control Room, 3: 461 Convergence Democratique (Haiti), 1: 29 Convergent Technologies, 3: 608 COOs. See Chief operating officers Cookout, The, 1: 193 Cool Moonlight, A (Johnson), 2: 369 Cooley High, 4: 701 Coppola, August, 1: 119 Coppola, Carmine, 1: 119 Coppola, Eleanor, 1: 118

xxviii

Coppola, Francis Ford, 1: 117, 118, 119; 3: 443 Coppola, Roman, 1: 119 Coppola, Sofia, 1: 117–24, 117 (ill.), 123 (ill.) Cops, 2: 280 Coraline (Gaiman), 2: 238, 243 Corbett, Sue, 2: 230; 3: 483 Corelli (Australian television series), 2: 331 CoreStates Betsy King Classic (golf), 4: 722–23 Coretta Scott King Award, 2: 370, 371; 3: 487, 488 Corliss, Richard, 1: 147; 2: 342; 3: 466 (ill.), 467, 601 Corporation, The, 3: 461 Corr, Andrea, 2: 307 Corrs, The, 2: 307 Cosby, Bill, 3: 616, 617, 619 Cosby Show, The, 3: 615, 616, 617 Cosmic Odyssey, 3: 443 Cosmology, 2: 285, 288, 289–90 Costello, Lou, 4: 737 Cotton, Lee, 2: 352 Cotton, Sian, 2: 352 Cotton Bowl, 1: 64 Cotton Club, The, 1: 119 Council of Fashion Designers of America Designer of the Year Award through, 3: 454 Council on Interracial Books for Children for African-American Writers, 3: 486 Couric, Katie, 2: 330, 336 Cowell, Simon, 4: 675, 676, 677 Coyne, Kate, 1: 126 Coyote Ugly, 4: 711 Cradle 2 the Grave, 1: 11; 4: 779 Cradle Will Rock, 1: 35 Craniopagus twins, 1: 95–97 “Crazy in Love,” 2: 401, 406 Crazy Jack (Napoli), 3: 493 Crazy (Lebert), 3: 545 Crocker, Ian, 3: 583 Crowe, Cameron, 4: 658 Crude oil, 4: 787 Cruyff, Johan, 1: 3 Cruyff move (soccer), 1: 3 Cruz, Anne Marie, 4: 753 Cruz, Clarissa, 4: 777, 780 “Cry Me a River,” 4: 772, 773 CSI: Miami, 4: 755


•

volume 4

index Cuaron, Alfonso, 3: 603, 604 Cullum, Jamie, 2: 385 “Culture war,” 3: 592 Cummings, Betsy, 3: 539 Cunningham, Barry, 2: 231 Cup Noodles Hawaiian Ladies Open (golf), 4: 723 Curl, Joseph, 1: 30 Curtis, Jamie Lee, 2: 423 (ill.); 3: 599, 600 Curtis Cup (golf), 4: 807, 810 Cusack, John, 1: 36, 37 Cyberspace, 3: 537, 540 Cystic fibrosis, 3: 495

d D. C. United (soccer team), 1: 5, 7 Da Brat, 1: 192, 2: 403 Da Real World, 1: 193 DAG, 2: 380 Dahl, Roald, 4: 716 BFG, (Dahl) 2: 231 Daisy ad, 1: 57 Dale, Dick, 4: 793 Dale Earnhardt Inc., 1: 159 D’Alesandro, Thomas J., Jr., 3: 571 Dallas Mavericks (basketball team), 4: 826, 827 Daly, Emma, 4: 833 Daly, Robert, 3: 565; 4: 682, 683, 684, 685, 686 Daly, Steven, 1: 38, 40 Dambrot, Keith, 2: 352 Danae (Turrell), 1: 184 Danes, Claire, 4: 756 Dangerously in Love, 2: 401, 406 Daniels, Beth, 4: 722, 723 Danish Jewish Museum (Libeskind), 2: 411, 416 Dare to Succeed (Burnett), 1: 82, 84 Daredevil (movie), 1: 21 Dargie, Alison, 4: 675 Dark Horse (comics publisher), 3: 443–44 Dark Knight Returns, The (comic series), 3: 443 Dasuopo Glacier (Tibet), 4: 763 Data mining, 3: 536 Datcher, Michael, 3: 529, 533 Dateline, 3: 574 Daughter of Venice (Napoli), 3: 493

Davenport, Lindsay, 4: 816 David Copperfield (television production), 3: 598, 600 David Leadbetter Golf Academy (Florida), 4: 809 Davis, Gray, 2: 305; 4: 669, 670 Davis, Paige, 1: 125–30, 125 (ill.), 129 (ill.) Paige by Paige: A Year of Trading Spaces, 1: 129 Davis, Vidal, 4: 771 Davis Cup (tennis), 3: 636 Dawes, Amy, 3: 590, 593 Dawson’s Creek, 1: 38; 4: 710 Day After Tomorrow, The, 4: 761 Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, The (Gaiman), 2: 243 “Daylight” (Cold Play), 1: 114 Daytona 500, 1: 159, 153, 155–56 Daytona International Speedway, 1: 156 Dazed and Confused, 1: 39 DC Comics, 2: 239, 240, 241, 242; 3: 443 De La Soul, 3: 528 De Stijl, 4: 794 De Vries, Hilary, 4: 674, 677, 678 Dead Alive, 2: 339, 342 Dead Man Walking, 1: 35 Dead zones, 4: 788 Dean, James, 4: 658 Death: The High Cost of Living (Gaiman), 2: 243 Death Cab for Cutie, 4: 659 Debit cards, 4: 702–3 Debord, Sharon, 4: 752, 753 Declaration of Iranian Writers (1994), 1: 164 Def Comedy Jam, 4: 702 Def Jam Records, 4: 699, 701 Def Poetry Jam, 4: 703 Defense of Marriage Act, 3: 501 DeGeneres, Ellen, 1: 131–37, 131 (ill.), 135 (ill.) Deitsch, Richard, 1: 78 DEKA Research & Development, 2: 395–96 Del Toro, Guillermo, 3: 448 Delilah Alone (Nimmo), 3: 507 Delilah and the Dogspell (Nimmo), 3: 507, 509 Deliver Us from Eva, 4: 775, 779 Dell, Michael, 1: 139–44, 139 (ill.), 141 (ill.) Dell Computer Corporation, 1: 139, 141, 142, 143, 144; 2: 226; 4: 803 Delta Airlines, 2: 226


•

volume 4

xxix

index Democratic Party, 3: 571, 572, 573, 575, 576, 577; 4: 669, 704 Demon in My View (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 Denver Art Museum Extension to (Libeskind), 2: 411 Denver Nuggets (basketball team), 2: 351; 4: 824 Department of Health and Human Services, 2: 271 Depp, Johnny, 1: 45, 48, 49 Desktop computers, 2: 359 Dessalines, Jean-Jacques, 1: 25 Dessert Beauty line (Jessica Simpson), 4: 712 Destiny’s Child, 2: 401, 403, 404, 405, 406 Detroit Hip-Hop Summit, 4: 703 (ill.) Detroit Pistons (basketball), 1: 71, 72, 74-75, 76 (ill.), 77–78 Deuces Wild, 3: 472 Deveney, Sean, 1: 77; 4: 827 Diabetes, 2: 275 Diaz, Cameron, 4: 773 Dick, Andy, 4: 739, 743 Dickens, Charles, 3: 470 Oliver Twist, 3: 598 “Did You Ever Love Somebody,” 4: 710 Diesel, Vin, 1: 193 Different World, A, 3: 616 Digital divide, 2: 227 Digital music industry, 2: 363–64 Digital video recorder, 3: 607, 610 Diller, Barry, 1: 173, 174 Dillon, Patrick, 4: 800 Dime Bancorp, 3: 564 Dimension Films, 1: 176 Dimes Savings Bank (New York), 3: 563–64 Dion, Celine, 2: 305 DirecTV, 3: 610 Discovery Channel, 1: 84 Disease control, 2: 269, 271–76 Disney, Lillian, 2: 264, 265 Disney, Roy, 1: 174, 175, 177, 178 Disney, Walt, 1: 174–75, 175 (ill.); 2: 264 Disney Channel, 1: 146, 176; 2: 423; 3: 618; 4: 708 Disney Company, 2: 362; 4: 801 Disney Cruise Line, 1: 176 Disney Store, 1: 176 Disneyland, 1: 174, 175, 176 Disneymania, 1: 148 DiSpirito, Rocco, 1: 86

xxx

Divas Live (VH1), 4: 709, 710 (ill.) Divorce, 3: 491 DMX, 1: 192; 4: 779 Do Like Kyla (Johnson), 2: 370 Dobbin, Ben, 3: 554 Documentary films, 3: 461, 463–68, 574; 4: 666 Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, 4: 743 Dolls robotic, 2: 298 Dolls, The, 2: 404 DOMA. See Defense of Marriage Act Domestic violence in India, 4: 695 Dominican Republic, 1: 25 Dominican-Americans, 4: 639–45 Donald Duck, 1: 174 Donnelly, Declan, 4: 675 “Don’t Know Why,” 2: 388 Doritos snacks, 3: 513, 517 Dorment, Richard, 1: 188 Dot-com businesses, 3: 535, 536, 537–42, 540 (ill.) Doubtful Guest, The (Gorey), 4: 719 Dougherty, Maren, 4: 761 Dougherty, Michael, 4: 764 Douglas, Kyan, 3: 587, 588, 588 (ill.), 590, 591, 592 (ill.), 593 Downey, Kevin, 1: 84 Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American (Moore), 3: 464 Downsizing, 3: 464 Dowries, in India, 4: 691–98 Dowry Prohibition Act, 4: 692, 693 Dr. Dolittle, 3: 617 Dr. Dre, 1: 192; 2: 215 Dracula (play), 4: 719 Dracula (Stoker), 3: 442 Dragon Takes a Wife, The (Myers), 3: 486 “Dragon Tales” (Paolini), 3: 544, 546 Dragonrider (Funke), 2: 230, 231 Dragonriders of Pern series (McCaffrey), 3: 546 Dragons, in literature, 2: 230, 231; 3: 545–46 Dragon’s Child, The (Nimmo), 3: 507 Dramarama, 2: 424 Dratch, Rachel, 1: 209 Driesbach, Scott, 1: 63 Driver #8 (Earnhardt), 1: 159


•

volume 4

index Drug dealers, 3: 483 Dualstar Entertainment Group, 3: 521, 522 Dude, Where’s My Country? (Moore), 3: 464 Duff, Haylie, 1: 146, 149, 150 Duff, Hilary, 1: 145–51, 145 (ill.), 149 (ill.); 2: 424; 3: 473, 618, 619 Dumars, Joe, 1: 77 Dumb and Dumber, 4: 742 Dumbo (movie), 1: 175 Dunst, Kirsten, 4: 775, 778 Durango, Julie, 3: 555, 557 Durant, Elizabeth, 2: 293, 298, 299 Duvalier, François Papa Doc, 1: 25, 26 Duvalier, Jean-Claude Baby Doc, 1: 25, 26 DVR. See Digital video recorder Dyslexia, 3: 498

e E! Entertainment Television (cable network), 1: 176 Earnhardt, Dale, 1: 153, 154, 155–56 Earnhardt, Dale, Jr., 1: 153–60, 153 (ill.), 158 (ill.) Driver #8, 1: 159 Earnhardt, Kelley, 1: 154 Earnhardt, Kerry, 1: 154 Earnhardt, Ralph, 1: 154, 155 Earthquakes embedded networked sensing and, 1: 202 Eastwood, Clint, 4: 665 Easy Edges (Gehry’s furniture), 2: 262 Eating disorders, 3: 523–24 Ebadi, Shirin, 1: 161–69, 161 (ill.), 166 (ill.) History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran, 1: 164 Rights of a Child, The: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children’s Rights in Iran, 1: 164 eBay, Inc., 4: 799, 801, 802–4, 804 (ill.) Ebert, Roger, 1: 37; 3: 601, 38 Eco-Challenge (television series), 1: 83-84, 85 Ecologists, 4: 783–88 Ecology, 4: 783, 784 Ecosystems, 1: 200–202; 4: 783, 784, 785–86, 787 Ecotourists, 4: 787 Ed Sullivan Show, The, 1: 173; 4: 738

Edberg, Stefan, 3: 632 Eddie Herr International, 3: 633 Edison, 4: 773 Edison, Thomas, 2: 394 EDtv, 1: 134 Edwards, Gavin, 1: 194 Edwards, John, 3: 577 Edwards Air Force Base (California), 4: 649, 650 Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy, The (Soto), 4: 731 Egypt robotic exploration of pyramid in, 2: 295 8 Mile, 2: 213, 215, 217 Eisner, Michael, 1: 171–79, 171 (ill.); 2: 362 Eisner Awards, 3: 447 Eldest (Paolini), 3: 549 Electra, Carmen, 2: 282 (ill.) Electronic News, 2: 225 Elegant Universe, The (Greene), 2: 285, 289, 290 Elegant Universe, The (NOVA documentary), 2: 289–90 Elektra, 1: 21 Elektra Records, 1: 191; 2: 404; 4: 683 Elements of San Joaquin, The (Soto), 4: 730 Elephant, 4: 791, 795, 796 “Elevators (Me and You),” 3: 529 Elf, 1: 35 Eliasson, Olafur, 1: 181–88, 181 (ill.) Eliscu, Jenny, 4: 767, 772, 794 Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now, 1: 135 Ellen DeGeneres Show, The, 1: 135 (ill.), 136 Ellen Show, The, 1: 131, 133, 134 Elling, Steve, 4: 724 Ellinger, John, 1: 4 Elliott, Missy “Misdemeanor,” 1: 189–96, 189 (ill.), 194 (ill.); 2: 406; 4: 677 Ellis, Perry, 3: 453 Els, Ernie, 4: 811 Elton, Charles, 4: 785 Elway, John, 1: 63 Embedded networked sensing, 1: 197, 198, 199–203 Emerson String Quartet, 2: 290 Eminem, 2: 215, 217, 387; 3: 584; 4: 703 (ill.) Eminem Show, The, 2: 215 Emlyn’s Moon (Nimmo), 3: 507, 508 Emmy Awards, 1: 84, 86, 134, 136, 208 Amber Tamblyn’s nomination for, 4: 756


•

volume 4

xxxi

index for Ben Stiller, 4: 740 for The Cosby Show, 3: 617 Empire of the Sun, 4: 739 Empire (Paolini), 3: 549 Empower Program, The, 1: 207 Ende, Michael Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, 2: 231 Engberg, Gillian, 1: 103 English, Antonya, 4: 748 ENS. See Embedded networked sensing Ensler, Eve The Vagina Monologues, 1: 129 Environment, 1: 54; 4: 783–88 Environment Hawaii, 4: 784, 785, 786 Environmentalism musical support for, 1: 112 Envy, 1: 40; 4: 743 E! Online, 4: 775 Epcot Center, 1: 175 Epidemiology, 2: 270 Epstein, Jeffrey, 2: 278, 284; 4: 775 Equality Forum, 2: 279 E.R., 4: 683, 778 Eragon (Paolini), 3: 543, 546, 547, 548, 549 Ergot poisonings, 3: 495 Ericsson Open tennis tournament, 3: 634 Ersatz Elevator, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Erskineville Kings, 2: 332 Esch, David, 4: 724 Esmeralda and the Children Next Door (Nimmo), 3: 507, 510 Espinosa, Sonsoles, 4: 835 ESPN, 1: 176; 2: 315 Estée Lauder, 3: 563 Estefan, Emilio, Jr., 2: 424 Estefan, Gloria, 2: 424 Estime, Dumarsais, 1: 25 Estrin, Deborah, 1: 197–203, 197 (ill.), 200 (ill.) Eugenides, Jeffrey Virgin Suicides, The, 1: 121 Euro Disney (France), 1: 176 European Federation soccer rules, 1: 5 European Womens Tour (golf), 4: 722 Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (Spanish Basque group), 4: 831, 832, 833 Eve (Eve Jihan Jeffers), 1: 192–93 Eve (television show), 1: 193

xxxii

Eve-olution, 1: 193 Exit Wounds, 1: 11 Experimental Aircraft Association, 4: 650 Extension to the Denver Art Museum (Libeskind), 2: 411 Extension to the Victoria & Albert Museum (Libeskind), 2: 411, 416 Extra, 4: 675 Extra Man, The, 3: 456 Extreme Games (X Games), 2: 315, 316 Extreme Makeover, 3: 592

f Fabric of the Cosmos, The (Greene), 2: 285, 290 Factory (Andy Warhol’s studio), 3: 477 Fahrenheit 9/11, 3: 459, 467–68 Michael Moore wins Palme d’Or award for, 3: 466 (ill.), 467 Fair trade, 1: 112 Fairy tales, 3: 494, 495 Fallen Angels (Myers), 3: 485, 487 Fallon, Jimmy, 1: 209 Fame, 3: 619 Family Matters, 3: 617 Fang Fengdi, 4: 821 Fanmi Lavalas (Haiti), 1: 29 Fantastic Four, 1: 15 Fantastic Four (movie), 1: 21 Fantastic Four (television animated series), 1: 19 Farenheit 9/11 (documentary), 1: 177 Farley, Walter The Black Stallion, 3: 545 Farm workers, 4: 728, 829 Farrelly, Bobby, 1: 93 Farrelly, Peter, 1: 93 Farrelly Brothers, 1: 93; 4: 741–42 Fashion design, 3: 427–34, 451–56 Fashion retail, 3: 435–39 Fast and the Furious, The, 3: 473 Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (Myers), 3: 485, 486–87 Fatone, Joseph (Joey), 4: 769, 770, 771 FCC. See Federal Communications Commission FDA. See Food and Drug Administration


•

volume 4

index Fearless Fernie (Soto), 4: 732 Federal Communications Commission, 1: 173 Federer, Roger, 3: 635, 636 Feels Like Home, 2: 384, 389, 390 Feitelberg, Rosemary, 3: 574, 575 Felix Nussbaum Haus (Libeskind), 2: 411, 416 “Fell in Love with a Girl,” 4: 795 Fellowship of the Ring, The, 1: 47 Fellowships, 4: 785 Ferrell, Rachelle, 2: 386 Ferrell, Will, 1: 35; 4: 743 Ferrero, Juan Carlos, 3: 635 Fertilizers, nitrogen from, 4: 787, 788 Fetish (womens sportswear), 1: 193 Feuerherd, Joe, 3: 572 Fey, Tina, 1: 205–11, 205 (ill.), 210 (ill.); 2: 424 Field, Edward, 4: 730 Fiennes, Joseph, 1: 45 Fierce Panda (record label), 1: 111 Fierman, Daniel, 3: 465, 467 50 Cent, 2: 213–20, 213 (ill.), 218 (ill.); 3: 584 Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand against Discrimination (MTV campaign), 2: 279 Fighting Temptations, The, 2: 401, 405, 406 Filicia, Thom, 3: 587, 588–89, 588 (ill.), 590, 591, 592 (ill.), 593 Film directors, 1: 117–23 Filo, David, 3: 539; 4: 684–85, 685 (ill.), 686 Fimrite, Ron, 4: 749 FINA World Swimming Championship (Spain) Michael Phelps competes in, 3: 582 (ill.) Finding Nemo, 1: 131, 135, 177; 2: 357, 362 Finnie, Chuck, 3: 500 Fiorina, Carly, 2: 221–28, 221 (ill.), 226 (ill.) Fire in My Hands, A (Soto), 4: 732 Firekeeper’s Son, The (Park), 3: 558 FIRST, 2: 395, 399 First Part Last, The (Johnson), 2: 369, 372 First Sessions, 2: 387 Fishdance Restaurant (Japan), 2: 263 Fisher, Derek, 1: 75 Fishman, Charles, 4: 801, 892 Fitness, 4: 669 FL. See Fanmi Lavalas Flags (NASCAR), 1: 156–57 “Flashlight,” 4: 700 Fleming, Michael, 2: 341

Fleming, Renee, 2: 304, 308, 309 Flint Voice, 3: 462 Flirting with Disaster, 4: 740 Florists Transworld Delivery, 4: 802 Flynn, Gillian, 2: 379 Fog of War, The: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara, 3: 461 Foley, Bridget, 3: 453 Folktales, 3: 491, 495, 493 Fonseca, Nicholas, 1: 131, 135; 3: 590, 618; 4: 678 Food and Drug Administration, 2: 396 Football, 1: 61-69; 2: 376–77 Ford, Gerald, 3: 563, 567 Ford, Harold, Jr., 3: 576 Ford, Tom, 2: 434 Ford Modeling Agency, 2: 422 Ford Motor Company, 2: 226 Fossil fuels, 4: 787, 788 Foster, David, 2: 305, 306, 308 Foster, Jodie, 2: 424 Fox, Darrin, 4: 792, 794, 795, 796 Fox, Michael J., 2: 343 Fox Kids’ Network, 1: 19 Fox Network, 2: 278, 295 Fox Television, 4: 677 Foxlab, 2: 280 Foxx, Jamie, 4: 779 Francis, Delma J., 3: 593 Franco, Francisco, 4: 830, 831 Franklin, Aretha, 2: 384, 387 Franklin, Farrah, 2: 405 Franklin, Kirk, 4: 708 Franklin, Miles My Brilliant Career, 3: 545 Franklin, Nancy, 3: 591 Frankston, Bob, 1: 143 Frasier, 4: 739 Freaks and Geeks, 1: 38 Freaky Friday, 4: 709 Freaky Friday (remake), 2: 421, 423–24, 423 (ill.), 425 Frederick, Jim, 3: 481 Free agents (baseball), 4: 643 “Freedom to Marry” rally, 3: 501 Freeman, Morgan, 4: 773 French Open (tennis), 3: 634, 636; 4: 813, 815, 817, 818


•

volume 4

xxxiii

index “Fresh Prince,” 4: 702 Freydkin, Donna, 1: 206 Friends, 4: 683, 778 Friends of Josh Groban, 2: 307 Friendster.com, 3: 540 Fries, Laura, 3: 619 Frighteners, The, 2: 339, 343 Frito-Lay, 3: 515, 517 From Death Do Us Part, 2: 282 (ill.) Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, 1: 28 FTD. See Florists Transworld Delivery Fudge, Ann, 2: 223 Full House, 3: 520, 521 Full Service Network, 3: 608 Fuller, Kimberly Home, 3: 545 Fundraising on-line, 1: 54, 56 Funke, Cornelia, 2: 229–35, 229 (ill.), 233 (ill.) Dragonrider, 2: 231 Inkblood, 2: 234 Inkheart, 2: 229, 231, 233, 234 The Thief Lord, 2: 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234 Funny Thing Is ... , The (DeGeneres), 1: 135 Furness, Deborra-Lee, 2: 331 Furnish, David, 2: 330, 331, 334 Furniture design, 2: 259, 262, 266 Furrow, Robert Sly and the Pet Mysteries, 3: 496 Future Forests, 1: 112

g Gagarin, Yuri, 4: 649 Gaiman, Neil, 2: 237–45, 237 (ill.) American Gods, 2: 241, 244 Black Orchid, 2: 239, 240 Coraline, 2: 238, 243 Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, The, 2: 243 Death: The High Cost of Living, 2: 243 Neverwhere, 2: 240–41, 244 Sandman series, 2: 237, 240-43 Sandman: Endless Nights, 2: 237, 242–43

xxxiv

Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, 2: 242 Sandman: The Dream Hunters, 2: 242 Sandman: The Wake, 2: 242 1602 series, 2: 244 Stardust, 2: 241 Violent Cases, 2: 239 Wolves in the Walls, The, 2: 243 Gaiman, Neil and Terry Pratchett Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophesies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, 2: 240 Gallagher, Peter, 4: 658, 660 Game shows reality television, 1: 81, 83–88 Games computer, 1: 52 Gandhi, Indira, 2: 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252 Gandhi, Rahul, 2: 256 Gandhi, Rajiv, 2: 247, 248, 249, 250, 251, 252, 253 Gandhi, Sanjay, 2: 249, 250 Gandhi, Sonia, 2: 247–57, 247 (ill.), 254 (ill.) Rajiv, 2: 252 Rajiv’s World, 2: 252 Gang violence, 2: 213, 214 Gangs, 3: 483; 4: 700 Garage rock, 4: 791, 793 Garber, Don, 1: 7 Garcia, Dany, 2: 377, 378, 382 Gard Blue (Turrell), 1: 184 Garner, Jennifer, 1: 21 Garofalo, Janeane, 1: 208; 4: 739, 740 Garrard (British jewelry company), 2: 429 Garth, Jennie, 1: 147 Gashlycrumb Tinies, The (Gorey), 4: 719 Gass, Kyle, 1: 36 Gates, Bill, 1: 142 Gatorade drinks, 3: 517 Gaye, Marvin, 1: 36; 4: 771 Gays and lesbians as comedians, 1: 131–37 promoting tolerance for, 2: 279 reality television shows and, 3: 587–93 rights for, in Spain, 4: 835 same-sex marriages and, 3: 497, 501–3, 502 (ill.) Gehry, Frank, 2: 259–67, 259 (ill.) Walt Disney concert Hall designed by, 2: 259, 264–66, 265 (ill.)


•

volume 4

index General Electric, 3: 516 General Hospital, 4: 751, 753–54 General Motors, 3: 462 Generation X, 2: 277, 282, 283; 4: 740 Genetically modified materials, 2: 433 Geology, 4: 760, 762 Gephardt, Richard A., 3: 575 Gerberding, Julie, 2: 269–76, 269 (ill.), 273 (ill.) Gergen, David, 1: 93 Gershwin, George, 2: 304 Gershwin, Ira, 2: 304 Get a Clue, 2: 423 Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 2: 213, 217–18, 219 Get Shorty, 2: 382 Get Ur Freak On, 1: 193 Getty, Ann, 3: 499 Getty, Billy, 3: 499 Getty, Gordon, 3: 498, 499, 500 Getty, Jean Paul III, 3: 498 G4 Cube, 2: 363 Ghana, 1: 1, 2 Ghobi Desert, 4: 763 Ghost Dad, 3: 616 Ghost Rider, 1: 21 Gibbons, Orlando, 1: 44 Gibson, Althea, 4: 813, 817 Gifted Hands (Carson), 1: 94 Gilbert, Brad, 3: 635 Gilchrist, Gary, 4: 809 Gillis, John. See White, Jack Gilmore Girls, 4: 658 Ginn, Sam, 2: 225 Ginuwine, 1: 193 Girl Who Wore Snakes, The (Johnson), 2: 370 Girl world social roles in school and, 1: 207 “Girlfriend,” 4: 771 Girl’s Tyme, 2: 402, 403 Giuliani, Rudolph, 3: 567 Givhan, Robin, 2: 432 Glaciers, 4: 762, 763, 764 Gladiators, 4: 675 Gleiberman, Owen, 2: 343, 380 Gliatto, Tom, 4: 780 Glitz, Michael, 3: 593 Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, 2: 271

Global warming, 1: 112; 4: 761, 764 Glock, Allison, 1: 46; 4: 674, 676 Glory Field, The (Myers), 3: 485 GM. See General Motors Go, 4: 793 Goal, Hank, 4: 724 “God and Me,” 4: 757 “God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You,” 4: 770 Goddard, Robert, 4: 649 Godfather, The, 1: 117 Godfather, The, Part II, 1: 119 Godfather, The, Part III, 1: 119, 121 Gold Mind (music label), 1: 193, 195 Goldberg, Ephraim. See Gehry, Frank Goldberger, Paul, 2: 411 Golden, Christopher, 3: 447 Golden Globe awards, 1: 40, 122; 2: 346, 362 for Amber Tamblyn, 4: 756 Goldman, Laurie, 1: 201 Goldman, William Princess Bride, The, 2: 231 Goldwater, Barry, 1: 57 Golf, 4: 721–24, 807–12 Gollum creation of, in Lord of the Rings trilogy, 2: 341 “Gone,” 4: 771 Gone from Home: Short Takes (Johnson), 2: 369, 371 González, Felipe, 4: 830 González, Juan, 4: 642 Gonzalez, Matt, 3: 500 Goober and the Peas, 4: 793 Good Charlotte, 2: 317 Good Girl, The, 1: 38 Good Morning America, 1: 40 Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch (Gaiman and Pratchett), 2: 240 Goodhew, Duncan, 3: 584, 585 Gooding, Cuba, Jr., 2: 401 Goodman, Amy, 1: 23 Goodnow, Cecelia, 3: 554 Goofy, 1: 174 Google, 3: 535, 536, 537–42, 540 (ill.); 4: 686, 688 Googol, 3: 539 Gordon, Devin, 1: 33, 34; 2: 316; 3: 592 Gordon, Rachel, 3: 500, 503 Gorelick, Jamie, 2: 223


•

volume 4

xxxv

index Gorey, Edward, 4: 716, 719 The Blue Aspic, 4: 719 The Doubtful Guest, The, 4: 719 The Gashlycrumb Tinies, The, 4: 719 The Unstrung Harp, 4: 719 “Gossip Folks,” 1: 194 “Got Milk?” ad campaigns, 1: 68 Gourgue, Gerard, 1: 29 Government in India, 2: 247–56 Graceland, 2: 304 Graden, Brian, 2: 277–84, 277 (ill.), 282 (ill.) Graf, Steffi, 4: 818 Graffiti art, 3: 477 Grahame, Kenneth The Wind in the Willows, 2: 231 Grammy Awards, 1: 113, 115, 193; 2: 218 for Beyoncé Knowles, 2: 401, 406 for Destiny’s Child, 2: 404 for Eminem, 2: 215 for Justin Timberlake, 4: 767, 773 for Missy Elliott, 1: 193, 194, 194 (ill.) for Norah Jones, 2: 383–84, 387–88, 388 (ill.) for OutKast, 3: 527, 531 (ill.), 532 for White Stripes, 4: 791, 796 Grand Central Station (New York City) Murakami’s fiberglass sculptures in, 3: 479 (ill.), 480 Grand Challenges in Global Health Initiative, 2: 275 “Grand Slam” titles (tennis), 3: 634 Grand Slam tournaments (tennis), 4: 813, 815, 817, 818 Graphic novels, 2: 237, 239; 3: 444, 447 Graphical user interfaces, 1: 142, 143 Grease, 1: 174 Great Depression, 3: 483–84 Great Good Pan, The (Napoli), 3: 493 Great Migration, The: An American Story (Myers), 3: 485 Great Pyramid of Giza robotic exploration of, 2: 295 Great White Hope, The (play), 1: 10 Green, Al, 3: 530; 4: 771 Green, Mary, 3: 590 Greenberg, Julee, 3: 617, 620 Greene, Brian, 2: 285–92 Elegant Universe, The, 2: 285, 289, 290

xxxvi

Fabric of the Cosmos, The, 2: 285, 290 Greenwald, John, 4: 686 Greiner, Helen, 2: 293–301, 293 (ill.) Gresham, Marcia, 3: 598 Griese, Brian, 1: 63 Griffin’s Castle (Nimmo), 3: 509, 510 Grigoriadis, Vanessa, 4: 704 Grim Grotto, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Grint, Rupert, 3: 599, 601, 603 Groban, Josh, 2: 303–9, 303 (ill.), 308 (ill.) Grobanites, 2: 307, 308 Grossman, Lev, 2: 399 Ground Zero (New York City) World Trade Center replacement site at, 2: 413, 416–19, 418 (ill.) Groundlings, The, 1: 35 Growing Up Brady, 4: 658 Gucci Group, 2: 428, 432 Guess Who, 4: 773 Guggenheim Museum (New York City), 1: 182; 2: 290 Guggenheim Museum (Spain), 2: 259, 264 GUIs. See Graphical user interfaces Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London), 1: 45 Gulf of Mexico dead zones in, 4: 788 Gun control, 1: 54 Gundersen, Edna, 1: 38 G-Unit, 2: 219 Guns N’ Roses, 2: 385 Guzmán, Luis, 4: 778 Gwion and the Witch (Nimmo), 3: 507

h Hackman, Gene, 4: 742 Haiku, 3: 552–53 Hair Show, 4: 819 Haiti, 1: 23–31, 112 Hall, Barbara, 4: 755 Handbook for Boys (Myers), 3: 485 Handler, Daniel (Lemony Snicket), 4: 715–20, 715 (ill.) Basic Eight, The, 4: 715, 716


•

volume 4

index Watch Your Mouth, 4: 715, 716 Handyside, Chris, 4: 794 Hang Time, 1: 11 Hangin’With Mr. Cooper, 3: 617 Hansen, James, 4: 759 Happy Days, 1: 173 Harasta, Cathy, 3: 584 Hardwick, Gary, 4: 779 Haring, Keith, 3: 477 Harlem: A Poem (Myers), 3: 485, 488 Harlem, New York, 3: 484–85 Harlem Renaissance, 3: 485 Harless, Lynn, 4: 768, 769 Harman, Neil, 3: 632 Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, 1: 11 Harper, Ben, 3: 524 Harris, Andre, 4: 771 Harris, Dana, 3: 601 Harris, Jesse, 2: 387, 388 Harris, Richard, 3: 602 (ill.) Harrison, George, 2: 384; 4: 773 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film), 3: 601, 602 (ill.), 603 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling), 3: 549 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film), 3: 602–3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone (film), 3: 600 Harry Potter films, 3: 567, 597, 600–604 Harry Potter novels (Rowling), 2: 231; 3: 510, 549, 598, 599 Harsh, Griffith, IV, 4: 801 Hart, Gary, 3: 626 Hart, Owen, 2: 378 Harvey Awards, 3: 447 Hasbro (toy company), 1: 16; 2: 298; 4: 802 Haskell, Robert, 3: 633 Hassan al-Bakr, Ahmed, 2: 321 Hastings, Deborah, 4: 652 Hatch, Richard, 1: 85 Hate crimes, 2: 279 Haunting, The, 4: 742 Haven, 1: 49 Hawaii, 4: 784, 785, 786, 787, 788, 808 Hawaii State Junior Golf Association Tournament of Champions, 4: 809 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 4: 785

Hawatson, Catriona, 1: 45 Hawk, Tony, 2: 311–18, 311 (ill.), 317 (ill.) Hawke, Ethan, 4: 740 Hawkins, John, 4: 808, 809, 810, 811 Hawks Harbor (Hinton), 3: 545 Hawksong (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 HBO, 3: 564 Health and safety disease control and, 2: 269, 271–76 Healthcare Humanitarian Award, 1: 91 Heartney, Eleanor, 1: 185 Heaven-27 (boutique), 1: 120 Heaven (Johnson), 2: 369, 371–72 Heavenly Creatures, 2: 343, 346 Heche, Anne, 1: 134 Hedison, Alexandra, 1: 136 Heilemann, John, 1: 51, 55, 56; 2: 396–97, 398 Heinz Award, 2: 399 Heisenberg, Werner, 2: 287 Hellboy: Odd Jobs, 3: 447 Hellboy: The Bones of Giants, 3: 447 Hellboy: The Lost Army, 3: 447 Hellboy: The Seeds of Destruction, 3: 446, 448 Hellboy, comic series, 3: 441, 444–47 Hellboy (film adaptation), 3: 448 Hellboy Vol. 5: Conqueror Worm, 3: 447 Hello Kitty, 3: 478, 480 Helm, Levon, 2: 389 Hemingway, Ernest, 4: 728 Hemispherectomy, 1: 95 Henry VI (king of England), 4: 753 Henson, Drew, 1: 64 Herbie: Fully Loaded, 2: 424 Here’s To New Dreams, 3: 618 Hermes, Will, 3: 532 Hero of Barletta (Napoli), 3: 493 Hessler, Peter, 4: 823, 824, 826 Heston, Charlton, 3: 465 Hewlett, William, 2: 225, 358 Hewlett-Packard, 1: 144; 2: 358; 3: 608, 359 Carly Fiorina’s heading of, 2: 221, 224–27 “Hey Ya!,” 3: 527, 532 Heyman, David, 3: 600 Heyman, J. D., 3: 466 (ill.), 497, 573 Hiaasen, Carl, 3: 548 Hicks, Tom, 4: 643, 645 Higgins, Jim, 3: 486


•

volume 4

xxxvii

index High Fidelity, 1: 36, 37 Hijab, 1: 168 Hilario, Maybyner Nene, 4: 823 Hill, Lauryn, 2: 406 Hilton, Paris, 4: 678 Himilayas, 4: 765 Hindi language (India), 2: 249 Hindus in India, 2: 250 Hinton, S. E., 1: 119 Hawks Harbor, 3: 545 Outsiders, 3: 489, 545 Rumble Fish, 3: 545 Taming the Star Runner, 3: 545 Tex, 3: 545 That was Then, This is Now, 3: 545 Hi-Octane (television show), 1: 121 Hip-hop, 1: 189, 192–95; 2: 213–20, 213 (ill.), 218 (ill.); 3: 528, 532 Hip-Hop Summit Action Summit, 4: 703 Hispaniola (island), 1: 25 History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran (Ebadi), 1: 164 HIV, 2: 271; 3: 574 Ho, Rodney, 4: 677 Hockey, 2: 271 Hof, Robert D., 4: 799 Holiday, Billie, 2: 384 Hollywood Foreign Press, 1: 40, 122–23 Hollywood Homicide, 3: 533 Hollywood Pictures, 1: 176 Hollywood Squares, 1: 135 Holmes, Katie, 4: 779 Holocaust, 2: 410, 414, 415, 416 Home for Christmas, 4: 770 Home (Fuller), 3: 545 Home networking, 3: 609 Home renovation programs, 1: 125, 127, 128–29 Home schooling, 3: 544 Homebrew Computer Club, 2: 359 HomeChoice kidney dialysis machine, 2: 396 Homelessness, 3: 500 Homicides dowries and, 4: 695 Honolulu, Hawaii, 4: 808 Hoops (Myers), 3: 485 Hopkins, Brent, 3: 438

xxxviii

Hopper, Dennis, 4: 752 Hornby, Nick, 1: 36 Hostage crisis (Iran, 1979), 1: 165 Hostile Hospital, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Hot Bot, 3: 537 “Hot Boyz,” 1: 193 Hot Topic, 3: 435–39 Hotjobs.com, 4: 688 House of Blue Leaves, The (play), 4: 738 Houston, Whitney, 1: 189 Houston Rockets (basketball team), 4: 821, 825, 825 (ill.), 827 How Hungry Are You? (Napoli and Tchen), 3: 496 How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World (Myers), 3: 486 “How to Be a Barbarian” (Gaiman), 2: 239 “How to Rob,” 2: 216 “How to Spot a Psycho” (Gaiman), 2: 239 Howard, Chris, 4: 778 Howard, Ron, 4: 656 Howe, Jeff, 3: 481, 482 Howlin’ Wolf, 4: 793 Hu, Jim, 4: 686 Hudson, Garth, 2: 389 Huerta, Dolores, 4: 729 Huey, Steve, 1: 192 Hughes, Langston, 3: 485 Hughes, Zondra, 2: 219, 377, 382 Hugo award, 2: 238 Hugo, Chad, 4: 771 Huisking, Charlie, 1: 125, 128 Hulk, The (movie), 1: 20, 21 Human Immunodeficiency Virus. See HIV Human Nature, 1: 148 Human rights in China, 3: 574, 576 definition of, 1: 161 in Iran, 1: 161–68 Saddam Hussein and, 2: 319, 322–23, 324, 327 Humming Whispers (Johnson), 2: 369, 370–71 Hussein, Qusay, 2: 327 Hussein, Saddam, 1: 56; 2: 319–28, 319 (ill.), 323 (ill.); 3: 628; 4: 832 Hussein, Uday, 2: 327 Hutton, Lauren, 3: 454 Hynde, Chrissie, 4: 709 Hypertext documents, 3: 537


•

volume 4

index

i I, Robot (movie), 2: 297 “I Can’t Wait,” 1: 148, 150 I Love the 70s, 2: 283 I Love the 80s, 2: 283 “I Need a Beat,” 4: 702 “I Want You Back,” 4: 770 Ibbotson, Eva What Witch, 2: 231 IBM, 1: 141; 2: 225, 226 IBM PC, 1: 143 iBook, 2: 363 iBOT 3000 Mobility System wheelchair, 2: 393, 396, 397 Ice cap melting, 4: 759, 764 Ice Cube, 1: 193; 3: 529 If Lucy Fell, 4: 740 If The Shoe Fits (Soto), 4: 732 Ihimaera, Witi Whale Rider, (novel) 1: 103, 104 Illustrators, 2: 229, 230; 3: 444 “I’m going to Disney World,” 1: 63 iMac, 2: 363 Image Awards, 2: 406 IMG Academies (soccer), 1: 4 Imperial War Museum North (Libeskind), 2: 411, 416 Improvisation, 1: 207 In a Fix, 1: 127 “In Da Club,” 2: 217, 218 “In the Cold, Cold Night,” 4: 796 In the Forests of the Night (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 In the House, 1: 11 In This Skin, 4: 707, 712 In Too Deep (movie), 2: 216 In Tune, 2: 284 Incredible Hulk, 1: 15, 18 Incredible Hulk comic books, 3: 443 Incredibles, The, 2: 362 Independent films (indie films), 4: 740, 753 Independent Spirit Awards, 1: 123 India dowries in, 4: 691–98 politics in, 2: 247–56 Indian Airlines, 2: 249

Indiana Pacers (basketball team), 1: 74, 78 Infectious diseases, 2: 270 Information technology, 1: 139 Inheritance trilogy, 3: 543 Initial public offering, 2: 224; 3: 540, 541; 4: 803 Inkblood (Funke), 2: 234 Inkers (comic books), 3: 445 Inkheart (Funke), 2: 229, 231, 233, 234 Inktomi, 4: 688 Innovator for the Next Century, 2: 299 Installation art, 1: 181–85, 186 (ill.), 187-88 Instant Karma, 2: 382 Institute for Strings, Cosmology, and Astroparticle Physics (Columbia), 2: 287–88 Inter Milan soccer team, 1: 3 Interactive Digital Solutions Company, 3: 609 Interactive television, 2: 281 Internet, 1: 198, 199; 2: 224, 307; 4: 686 political action and, 1: 51–59 search engines, 3: 535, 536, 537–42, 540 (ill.); 4: 688 service providers, 3: 565; 4: 681 Web pages on, 3: 537 Invasive species, 4: 786 Inventions, 2: 393–400 Invisible Vinnie (Nimmo), 3: 507 IPO. See Initial public offering iPod, 2: 357, 363 Iran, 1: 161 Iraq’s war against, 1: 165; 2: 319, 324 Iraq, 1: 56; 2: 319–28 Iran invaded by, 1: 165; 2: 319, 324 Kuwait invaded by, 2: 325, 327 news coverage of war in, 3: 461 robots used in, 2: 298 Saddam Hussein’s rulership in, 2: 322–27 U.S. invasion of, 1: 57; 2: 325–26; 3: 459, 467, 623, 628 Zapatero’s opposition to war in, 4: 832, 833, 834–35 iRobot Corporation, 2: 293, 294, 295–96, 297, 298, 299 Iron Man (animated series), 1: 19 Irresistible, 4: 711 IS Robotics, 2: 296 Isaac Mizrahi Presents the Adventures of Sandee the Supermodel, 3: 451, 454–55


•

volume 4

xxxix

index Isaac Mizrahi Show, The, 3: 451 Isaac Mizrahi to Order, 3: 452, 456 Islam in Iraq, 2: 322 Islamic fundamentalist groups, 3: 628 Islamic law in Iran, 1: 162, 164–65, 166, 167–68 Israel Defense Forces, 1: 16 IT. See Information technology It Takes Two, 3: 521 Italian-Americans in politics, 3: 571–78 Italy Records, 4: 793 “It’s Like That,” 4: 701 ITT LPGA Tour Championship, 4: 723 iTunes, 2: 357 iTunes Music Store, 2: 364 Iverson, Allen, 1: 75 Iwerks, Ub, 1: 174 Izzo, Larry, 1: 67–68

j Ja Rule, 2: 217 Jack Nicholson Scholarship Award, 4: 657 Jackanory (British childrens program), 3: 506 Jackman, Hugh, 1: 20; 2: 329–37, 329 (ill.), 335 (ill.) Jackson, Curtis. See 50 Cent Jackson, Janet, 1: 189, 191; 4: 773 Jackson, Michael, 1: 190; 4: 772, 191 Jackson, Peter, 1: 40, 46, 123; 2: 339–47, 339 (ill.), 346 (ill.) Jackson, Phil, 1: 74 Jackson, Randy, 4: 676 Jacobs, Marc, 1: 120; 3: 480 Jagger, Bianca, 2: 429 Jagger, Jade, 2: 429 Jagger, Mick, 2: 429 JAL Big Apple Classic (golf), 4: 723 James, Etta, 2: 384 James, LeBron, 2: 349–56, 349 (ill.), 353 (ill.) Japan Korea occupied by, 3: 557 Jarecki, Andrew, 3: 461 Jay, Bradley, 2: 286, 288

xl

Jay, Jam Master, 2: 215, 216, 216 Jayhawks (basketball team), 1: 73 Jay-Z, 1: 193, 194; 2: 401, 406; 4: 771 Jazz, 2: 383, 385–90 Jehovah’s Witnesses, 4: 819 Jennings, Craig, 2: 299 Jensen, Jeff, 3: 603 Jeopardy, 1: 173 Jesse (Soto), 4: 733 Jessica, 4: 708 Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA), 2: 295 Jeter, Derek, 4: 645 Jewelry design, 2: 429 Jewish Museum Berlin (Libeskind), 2: 409, 411, 412-16, 414 (ill.) Jewish Museum San Francisco (Libeskind), 2: 411 Jews in Nazi Germany, 2: 410 Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver (Ende), 2: 231 Jim Henson Productions, 2: 241 Jive Records, 4: 770, 771 Joan of Arc, 4: 753 Joan of Arcadia, 4: 751, 753, 755–56, 756 (ill.) Jobs, Steve, 1: 142; 2: 357–65, 357 (ill.), 359 (ill.) Jodeci, 1: 191 Joe Millionaire, 1: 86 John Bunn Award, 4: 747 Johnson, Angela, 2: 367–73, 367 (ill.) Cool Moonlight, A, 2: 369 Do Like Kyla, 2: 370 First Part Last, The, 2: 369 Girl Who Wore Snakes, The, 2: 370 Gone from Home: Short Takes, 2: 369 Heaven, 2: 369 Humming Whispers, 2: 369, 370–71 Julius, 2: 370 Leaving Morning, The, 2: 370 Looking for Red, 2: 369 Maniac Monkeys on Magnolia Street, 2: 369 Other Side, The: Shorter Poems, 2: 369 Running Back to Ludie, 2: 369 Songs of Faith, 2: 369 Tell Me a Story, Mama, 2: 370 Toning the Sweep, 2: 369, 370 When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street, 2: 369


•

volume 4

index Johnson, Dwayne (The Rock), 2: 375–82, 375 (ill.), 381 (ill.) Rock Says, The, 2: 379–80 Johnson, Jack, 1: 10 Johnson & Johnson, 3: 514 Johnson, Lyndon, 1: 57 Johnson, Peter, 4: 657 Johnson, Philip, 2: 264; 3: 456 Johnson, Robert, 4: 793 Johnson, Rocky, 2: 376 Johnson Family Vacation, 2: 403 “Jokers through History” (Gaiman), 2: 239 Jones, James Earl, 1: 10 Jones, Norah, 2: 383–91, 383 (ill.), 388 (ill.), 406 Jones, Sue, 2: 384 Jonze, Spike, 1: 119 Joplin, Janis, 4: 709 Jordan, Gregor, 1: 50 Jordan, Michael, 2: 349, 354, 355 Josh Groban in Concert, 2: 307 Journeys with George, 3: 574 Joyce, Dru II, 2: 350 Joyce, Dru III, 2: 352 Juan Carlos (king of Spain), 4: 834, 834 (ill.) Judd, Ashley, 2: 333 Judging Amy, 4: 755 Julius (Johnson), 2: 370 Junior, 4: 667 Jurassic Park, 3: 607 “Just Let Me Cry,” 4: 709 Just So Stories (Kipling), 2: 231 Justified, 4: 767, 771 Justin Timberlake Foundation, 4: 769 Juvenile Diabetes, 4: 749

k Kael, Pauline, 3: 463 Kallio, Sandra, 1: 129 Kamen, Dean, 2: 393–400, 393 (ill.), 397 (ill.) Kandasamy, Deepa, 2: 300 Kangaroo Jack, 1: 9, 11, 12 Kasem, Casey, 4: 677 Kate & Leopold, 2: 333 Kate McShane, 4: 738

Kattakayam, Jiby, 4: 656 Katzenberg, Jeffrey, 1: 177 kawaii concept (Japanese term for cuteness), 3: 478 Keaton, Diane, 1: 105 (ill.) Keeling, Dan, 1: 112, 113 Keeve, Douglas, 3: 454 Kelley, David E., 2: 305, 306 Kennedy, John F., 4: 668 Kerry, John, 1: 53, 57; 3: 577; 4: 704 Kessler, Ted, 2: 218 Keys, Alicia, 2: 406 Keyworth, George, 2: 226 KFC, 3: 516 Khatami, Mohammad, 1: 165 Khomeini, Ayatollah Ruhollah Masawi, 1: 162, 163, 164–65; 2: 324 Khufu (Egyptian pharaoh), 2: 295 Kidman, Nicole, 4: 796 Kidney dialysis machines, 2: 396 Kids, Fred, 1: 18 Kids with a Cause, 1: 150 Kightlinger, Laura, 1: 40 “Killing Time,” 2: 404 Kilpatrick, Kwame, 4: 703 (ill.) Kim Possible, 1: 176 Kincheloe, Iven C., 4: 649 Kindergarten Cop, 4: 667 Kindred, Dave, 1: 66 King Kong, 1: 40 King Kong (1933 movie), 2: 340, 346 Kingdom Come, 1: 11 Kingdom of Heaven, 1: 49 King’s Ransom, 1: 11, 13 Kipling, Rudyard Just So Stories, 2: 231 Kirby, Jack, 2: 331 Kirkpatrick, Christopher, 4: 769, 770, 771 Kite Fighters, The (Park), 3: 556 Kite fighting (Korea), 3: 553, 556 Klein, Calvin, 3: 453 Kloves, Steve, 3: 600 Knight, Phil, 3: 464 Knopf Publishers, 3: 548 Knowles, Beyoncé, 1: 189; 2: 401–7, 401 (ill.), 405 (ill.) Knowles, Mathew, 2: 402, 403, 404, 405 Knowles, Solange, 2: 402, 403


•

volume 4

xli

index Knowles, Tina, 2: 402, 404 Koci, Bruce, 4: 762, 763 Koltnow, Barry, 3: 469 Kona, Hawaii, 4: 784 Konigsburg, E. L., 3: 552 Koogle, Tim, 4: 686, 687 Koplan, Jeffrey, 2: 273 Koran, 1: 165; 2: 327, 168 Korbel, Josef, 3: 626, 630 Korea Japan’s occupation of, 3: 557 Korean Americans, 3: 552 Korean folktales, 3: 554 Korean history, 3: 551, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558 Korean kite fighting, 3: 553, 556 Korman, Gordan This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall, 3: 545 Koshalek, Richard, 2: 262, 263 Kraft Nabisco Championship (golf), 4: 809, 810 Krajick, Kevin, 4: 760, 763, 765 Kressley, Carson, 3: 587, 588 (ill.), 589, 591, 592 (ill.), 593 KRS-1, 2: 214; 3: 529 Kruger, Diane, 1: 48 (ill.), 49 Krush Groove, 4: 701 Kunsthaus Bregenz (Austria), 1: 183 Kurds in Iraq, 2: 322, 324, 327 Kurtz, Rod, 4: 705 Kutcher, Ashton, 2: 279 Kuwait Iraq’s invasion of, 2: 325, 327

l Labour Party (England), 4: 831 Lacayo, Richard, 2: 261, 264, 265, 266, 416 Lachey, Nick, 2: 281; 4: 707, 710, 711, 712 LaCroix, Christian, 2: 429 Ladies Professional Golf Association, 4: 722 Takefuji Classic, 4: 809 Lady Pacers (basketball team), 4: 746 Lady Vols (basketball team), 4: 745 LaFace Records, 3: 528

xlii

“Lafayette Blues,” 4: 793 Lagerfeld, Karl, 2: 431 Lahm, Frank B., 4: 649 Lamacq, Steve, 1: 112 Lands’ End, 4: 765 Lane, Diane, 3: 470 Langer, Andy, 4: 796 Larry King Live, 3: 499 Larson, Megan, 2: 282, 283 LaSalle, Mick, 3: 472, 602 “Last Night,” 4: 771 Late Show with David Letterman, 2: 289 Latitude XP laptop (Dell), 1: 143 Latsch, Oliver, 2: 230 Laurie Hill (television show), 1: 133 Lavalas Family Party. See Fanmi Lavalas Law, Jude, 4: 718, 796 Law and Order, 4: 819 Lawrence, Martin, 1: 11; 4: 702, 775, 779 Lawson, Terry, 3: 600 Layden, Tim, 2: 314, 316 Learning Channel, The, 1: 125 Leaving Las Vegas, 1: 119 Leaving Morning, The (Johnson), 2: 370 LeBeauf, Sabrina, 3: 616 Lebert, Benjamn Crazy, 3: 545 LeCarré, John, 3: 599 Ledger, Heath, 1: 47, 48 Lee, Ang, 1: 21 Lee, Stan, 1: 18; 2: 331 Legend imprint (Dark Horse comics), 3: 445, 446 Lemann, Nicholas, 3: 625, 627 Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography, 4: 717 Lendl, Ivan, 3: 632 Leonard, Devin, 2: 412 Leonard, Elmore, 3: 533 Lerner, Meredith, 4: 771 Les Mizrahi, 3: 451 Lesbians same-sex marriages and, 3: 497, 501–3, 502 (ill.) television portrayals of, 1: 134 Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets (Soto), 4: 731 “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” 1: 193 Let There Be Eve ... Ruff Ryders’ First Lady, 1: 192


•

volume 4

index “Lets Shake Hands,” 4: 793 Letterers (comic books), 3: 445 Levenfeld, Ari, 2: 390 Levesque, Paul (Triple H), 2: 378 Levin, Gerald, 3: 564, 565, 566 Levine, Philip, 4: 730 Levinson, Barry, 1: 11 Levy, Eugene, 4: 739 Levy, Steven, 3: 538, 541 Lewinsky, Monica, 1: 53 Lewis, Kevin, 2: 367, 372 Lewis, Michael, 3: 609, 610, 611 Lewis, Nina, 2: 412 Leydon, Joe, 4: 779 Li, Jet, 1: 11; 4: 779 Libby, Megan McNeil Postcards from France, 3: 545 Liberty Heights, 1: 11 Libeskind, Daniel, 2: 409–20, 409 (ill.), 418 (ill.) buildings by, 2: 411 Licensing explanation of, 1: 19 Lichtenstein, Roy, 3: 477 Lick the Star, 1: 121 Lieber, Larry, 1: 18 Lieberman, Susan, 1: 142 Life, 1: 11 Life Acquatic, The, 4: 743 Life and Def: Sex, Drugs, Money and God, 4: 704 Life Goes On, 1: 36 Life without Zoe, 1: 121 Life-Size, 2: 423 Lifetime (cable network), 1: 176 Light art, 1: 184–85 Lil’ Kim, 1: 192, 193 Lil’ Romeo, 2: 403 Lin, Maya, 2: 413 Lincoln Center (New York City), 3: 567 Lindgren, Astrid, 4: 752 Brothers Lionheart, The, 2: 231 Linguistics, 3: 492 Linklater, Richard, 1: 39 Lion King, The (movie), 1: 176 Lion King, The (Broadway play), 1: 177 Lisa computers, 1: 142; 2: 360 Liss, David, 4: 703, 704 Litsky, Frank, 3: 580, 584

Little House series (Wilder), 3: 552 Little Mermaid, The, 1: 176 Little Princess, 3: 603 Little Rascals, The (remake), 3: 617 Live 2003 (Coldplay), 1: 116 Live Nude Girls, 4: 753 Living Up the Street: Narrative Recollections (Soto), 4: 731 Lizzie McGuire, 1: 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 176; 3: 618 Lizzie McGuire Movie, The, 1: 145, 148, 149 LL Cool J, 1: 11; 2: 214, 215; 4: 701, 702, 779 Locus award, 2: 241 Lohan, Lindsay, 1: 210 (ill.); 2: 421–25, 421 (ill.), 423 (ill.); 3: 620 Lok Sabha (Indian Parliament), 2: 249, 255 London Metropolitan University Post-Graduate Centre (Libeskind), 2: 411 Longs Drug Challenge (golf), 4: 723 Longsdorf, Amy, 4: 741 Looking for Red (Johnson), 2: 369 Lord of the Rings (film trilogy), 1: 43, 45, 46–47; 2: 339, 340, 341, 344; 3: 567 Lord of the Rings trilogy (Tolkien), 2: 344; 3: 546 Lord of the Rings, The: The Fellowship of the Ring, 2: 345 Lord of the Rings, The: The Return of the Ring, 1: 123; 2: 339, 346 (ill.) Lord of the Rings, The; The Two Towers, 2: 345 Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, 2: 305 Los Angeles Lakers (basketball team), 1: 72, 74–75, 78; 4: 826, 827 Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, 2: 262 Los Angeles Philharmonic, 2: 264 “Lose Yourself,” 2: 215 Lost in Translation, 1: 117, 119, 122, 123 Louis Vuitton bags Murakami’s designs for, 3: 480–81 L’Ouverture, Toussaint, 1: 25 Love and Basketball, 4: 778 Love Bug, The, 2: 424 Love Letter, The, 1: 134 Lovecraft, H. P., 3: 445 Lovgren, Stefan, 4: 761 Lowry, Tom, 3: 567


•

volume 4

xliii

index LPGA. See Ladies Professional Golf Association Lubchenco, Jane, 4: 788 Lucas, George, 2: 361, 362; 4: 656 Lucasfilm Ltd., 2: 361, 362 Lucent Technologies, 2: 224 Luckett, LaToya, 2: 404 Ludacris, 1: 193; 4: 771 Lundvall, Bruce, 2: 386, 389 Lurie, Alison, 4: 719 Lynch, Jason, 1: 36 Lynn, Jonathan, 2: 406 Lyon, Phyllis, 3: 501, 502 Lyons, Douglas C., 3: 616

m Mac, Bernie, 4: 702 MacArthur fellows grants, 2: 372–73 MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T., 2: 373 Macci, Rick, 4: 815 Macdonald Hall series (Korman), 3: 545 MacGregor, Jeff, 1: 157 Macintosh computers, 1: 142; 2: 360, 361 MacKinnon, Ian, 4: 692, 696 MacNeille, Suzanne, 3: 618, 619 Macy, William H., 4: 778–79 Mad comic books, 2: 393 Madden, Orv, 3: 437 Maddocks, Fiona, 1: 188 Madonna, 1: 195; 2: 407, 432, 434 Madrasah (Islamic religious school), 1: 164 Madrid (Spain) bombings in (2004), 4: 829, 831, 833 Magic Bottle Baby (toy), 1: 16 Magic Circle, The (Napoli), 3: 491, 493, 494 Maginogion, 3: 508 Mahoney, John, 4: 738, 739 Mainframe computers, 1: 142 Maino, Sonia. See Gandhi, Sonia Maivia, Peter High Chief, 2: 375–76 Maivia, Rocky. See Johnson, Dwayne (The Rock) Major League Baseball, 4: 640, 641 Major League Soccer, 1: 1, 5 Make Trade Fair campaign (Oxfam), 1: 112

xliv

Makwaeba twins, 1: 96 Malcolm in the Middle, 3: 469; 4: 709, 471 Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (Myers), 3: 485 Malibu’s Most Wanted, 1: 11 Mallett, Jeff, 4: 687 Mallette, Catherine, 4: 715, 718 Manchester United (England), 1: 5 Manga (Japanese comics), 3: 475, 478 Maniac Monkeyson Magnolia Street (Johnson), 2: 369 Mankiewicz, Josh, 1: 87, 88 Mantegna, Joe, 4: 755, 756 (ill.) Man-Thing, 1: 21 Maori people (New Zealand), 1: 102, 104–5 Maradona, Diego, 1: 3 Maradona move (soccer), 1: 3 Mardin, Arif, 2: 387, 388 Marie Antoinette (queen of France), 1: 123 Marilyn Monroe (Warhol), 3: 477 Marriage, arranged (India), 4: 692 Married ... with Children, 3: 617 Marshall Mathers LP, The, 2: 215 Martin, Apple Blythe Alison, 1: 116 Martin, Chris, 1: 109, 110, 110 (ill.), 111, 112, 114, 115, 115 (ill.) Martin, Del, 3: 501, 502 Martin, Ricky, 4: 710 Martin, Steve, 1: 149 Marvel Comics, 1: 17; 2: 244, 331, 332; 3: 443, 18-19 Marvel Enterprises, 1: 15, 17, 18–19 Marvel Entertainment, 1: 17 Marvel Studios, 1: 15, 21 Mary Poppins (movie), 1: 175 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1: 199; 2: 294 Sloan School of Management at, 2: 224 Massachusetts Supreme Court same-sex unions and, 3: 501 Master’s degree in business administration, 2: 223, 224; 3: 514 Masters Series Cup (tennis), 3: 635 Mathers, Marshall, III. See Eminem Matrix, The, 4: 684 Mattell (toy company), 1: 16; 3: 521 Maurice Wohl Convention Centre (Libeskind), 2: 411


•

volume 4

index Maverick record label, 4: 683 Mayer, John, 2: 284 Mayfield, Geoff, 2: 308 MBA. See Masters degree in business administration McCaffrey, Anne, 3: 546 McCallum, Jack, 1: 75; 2: 350, 355 McCartney, Linda, 2: 428, 432, 433 McCartney, Sir Paul, 2: 427 McCartney, Stella, 2: 427–34, 427 (ill.), 431 (ill.) McDonald, Michael, 4: 773 McGarvey, Robert, 3: 536 McGee, Willie, 2: 352 McGrath, Judy, 2: 277, 283, 280 McGrath, Mary, 2: 239, 244 McGraw, Dan, 4: 823 McGregor, Ewan, 1: 45 McGuigan, Cathleen, 2: 411, 415 McGuire, Fred, 1: 72, 73 McGuire, Tobey, 1: 20 McKean, Dave, 2: 239 McKee, Robert Story, 3 546 McKellan, Ian, 1: 20; 2: 344 McKenzie, Benjamin, 4: 658 McKinley, Phil, 2: 335 McKinney, Willie, 4: 668 (ill.) McLaughlin, Betsy, 3: 435–39, 435 (ill.) McNally, Terrence, 1: 54 McPartlin, Anthony, 4: 675 McTell, Blind Willie, 4: 793 Me, Myself, and Irene, 1: 11 Meadows, Bob, 2: 308 Mean Girls, 1: 205, 209-10, 210 (ill.); 2: 422, 424 Meara, Anne, 4: 738 Medelbaum, Tim, 4: 709 Mediators, 1: 52 Medical inventions, 2: 394–95, 396 Medicine disease control, 2: 269, 271–76 Meet the Feebles, 2: 342 Meet the Fockers, 4: 743 Meet the Parents, 4: 739, 742, 743 Meet the Press, 4: 671 Meisler, Andy, 4: 650 Meisler, Stanley, 2: 410, 412, 415, 416 Melvill, Mike, 4: 647, 651

Memory Foundations (Libeskind), 2: 416–17 Men in Black, 2: 404 Menudo, 4: 728 Mercedes Championships (golf), 4: 811 Mercury Music Prize, 1: 113 Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, 3: 461 Metamorphosis, 1: 145, 149, 150 Metrosexuals, 4: 678 Mexican Americans, 4: 727–34 Michael L. Printz Award, 2: 372; 3: 488 Michaels, Lorne, 1: 209; 4: 739 Michelob Light Classic (golf), 4: 723 Mickey Mouse, 1: 174 Mickey Mouse Club, The (television show), 1: 175; 4: 768, 769 Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems, 1: 142 Microcomputers, 1: 142 Microprocessors, 1: 199 Microsoft Corporation, 1: 142, 143; 2: 363, 364; 3: 612; 4: 651, 803 Microsoft Windows, 1: 143 Middle East. See also Iran; Iraq Baath Socialist Party in, 2: 320-21, 322 Midler, Bette, 2: 423 Midnight for Charlie Bone (Nimmo), 3: 507, 510 Midnight Predator (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 Mignola, Mike, 3: 441–49, 441 (ill.) Mihm, Chris, 3: 632 Mike Douglas Show, The, 4: 738 Mike Mignola’s B.P.R.D.: Hollow Earth and Other Stories, 3: 447 Mildred L. Batchelder Award, 2: 232 Military vehicles robotic, 2: 300 Milk Fed clothing line, 1: 120 Miller, Frank, 3: 445 Miller, Nancy, 2: 406 Miller, Samantha, 2: 376 Miller, Steve, 1: 30 Millers Outpost, 3: 436 Milloy, Lawyer, 1: 65 Mills, Hayley, 2: 421, 423 Millward, David Wynn, 3: 507 Milo’s Wolves (Nimmo), 3: 510 Milwaukee Bucks (basketball team), 1: 74, 78 Minesweepers robotic, 2: 296–97


•

volume 4

xlv

index Ming, Jenny, 2: 223 Minicomputers, 1: 142 Miramax, 1: 176, 177; 2: 344; 3: 460, 467 Mirnyi, Max, 4: 817 Miserable Mill, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Miss E ... So Addictive, 1: 193 Miss USA Pageant, 1: 68 Missy Elliott Project, The (reality series), 1: 195 MIT. See Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITS. See Micro Instrumentation Telemetry Systems Mizrahi, Isaac, 3: 451–57, 451 (ill.), 456 (ill.) Mjos, Ole Danbolt, 1: 166 (ill.) MLB. See Major League Baseball MLS. See Major League Soccer Moby, 1: 57 Modernist architecture, 2: 261 Moesha, 4: 778 Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi (Shah of Iran), 1: 162, 164 Mojo and the Russians (Myers), 3: 485 Monkeypox virus, 2: 269, 274 Monologue, 1: 10 Monroe, Marilyn, 3: 477 Monsoons, 4: 763 Monster (film) best leading actress Oscar for, 1: 105 (ill.), 106 Monster House, 1: 127 Monster (Myers), 3: 483, 485, 488, 489 Monsters, Inc., 1: 177; 2: 357, 362 Montana, 3: 547 Montana, Joe, 1: 62, 63, 66 Montessori, Maria, 3: 544 Montessori learning system, 3: 544 Montgomery, Tiffany, 3: 436 Monty Python’s Flying Circus, 1: 206; 2: 340 Moon, Tom, 2: 390 Moore, Alan, 2: 239 Moore, Allen, 3: 443 Moore, Frank, 3: 443 Moore, Mandy, 3: 634; 4: 711 Moore, Michael, 1: 57, 177; 3: 459–68, 459 (ill.), 466 (ill.) Downsize This! Random Threats from an Unarmed American, 3: 64 Dude, Where’s My Country?, 3: 464 Stupid White Men, and Other Excuses for the State of the Nation, 3: 464

xlvi

Moratinos, Miguel Angel, 4: 834 Morris, Errol, 3: 461 Mortensen, Viggo, 2: 344 Morton, Samantha, 1: 105 (ill.) Moseley, Tim Timbaland, 4: 771 Moses, Ed, 2: 261 Mosley, Ellen, 4: 760, 761 Moss, Kate, 2: 430 Moss, Larry, 2: 380 Most Valuable Player, 1: 3 of All-Star Game, 1: 73 in baseball, 4: 642 Super Bowl, 1: 61, 66, 67 Motolla, Tommy, 4: 709 Motorola, 3: 516 Motown and Didi: A Love Story (Myers), 3: 487 Moufarrige, Mounir, 2: 431 Mount Kilimanjaro (Tanzania), 4: 759, 764 Mount Quelccaya (Peruvian Andes), 4: 762, 764, 765 Mountain, Keith, 4: 763 Mountain Dew, 3: 517 Mouse, computer, 2: 360 MoveOn.org, 1: 51, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 MP3 players, 2: 226 Mr. DOB, 3: 478 Mr. Junior Europe (bodybuilding competition), 4: 665 Mr. Olympia (bodybuilding competition), 4: 666 Mr. Pointy, 3: 480 Mr. Show with Bob and David, 1: 37 Mr. Universe (bodybuilding competition), 4: 665–66 Mr. World (bodybuilding competition), 4: 666 “Mrs. Jackson,” 3: 530, 531 MS-DOS, 1: 143 MTV, 1: 149; 2: 277, 278, 280–81, 283, 306; 4: 739 Rock the Vote campaign, 4: 757 Sports and Music Festival, 2: 315 MTV Europe Music Awards, 4: 773, 795 (ill.) MTV Movie Awards, 1: 47; 2: 421 MTV Networks Music Group, 2: 283 MTV Video Music Award, 1: 115; 2: 401 for Justin Timberlake, 4: 767, 773 for White Stripes, 4: 795 MTV2, 2: 281 Muldoon, Brian, 4: 793 Mullahs (Iran), 1: 162, 167


•

volume 4

index Mullman, Jeremy, 3: 588 Mulvey, John, 4: 796 Mummy Returns, The, 2: 380 Mung-Mung (Park), 3: 558 Munich Summer Olympics (1972) hostage crisis at, 3: 581 Muniz, Frankie, 1: 147, 149; 3: 469–74, 469 (ill.), 472 (ill.) Muppets, 2: 241 Murakami, Takashi, 3: 475–82, 475 (ill.) fiberglass sculptures of, 3: 479 (ill.), 480 Murphy, Eddie, 1: 11; 3: 617 Murphy, Richard, 1: 140 Murray, Bill, 1: 122 Murray, Sarah, 3: 514, 515 Musée de l’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (France), 1: 182 Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), 1: 182 Museum of Modern Art (New York City), 3: 567 Music downloading, 2: 363 Music education, 4: 769 Music Experience Project (Seattle), 2: 264 Muslim women Nobel Peace Prize awarded to, 1: 161, 166 (ill.), 167–68 Muslims in India, 2: 250 Mutis, Olivier, 3: 636 MVP. See Most Valuable Player My Baby’s Daddy, 1: 11 My Brilliant Career (Franklin), 3: 545 My Dog Skip, 3: 470, 471 My Pretty Ballerina (toy), 1: 16 My Real Baby (robotic doll), 2: 298 My So-Called Life, 4: 756 My Wife and Kids, 1: 11; 4: 819 Myers, Christopher, 3: 488 Myers, Mike, 2: 401, 405 Myers, Walter Dean, 3: 483–90 Amistad: A Long Road to Freedom, 3: 485 At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England, 3: 485 Bad Boy: A Memoir, 3: 483, 485, 489 Blues of Flats Brown, The, 3: 485 The Dragon Takes a Wife, 3: 486 Fallen Angels, 3: 487

Fast Sam, Cool Clyde and Stuff, 3: 485, 486-87 Glory Field, The, 3: 485 Great Migration, The: An American Story, 3: 485 Handbook for Boys, 3: 485 Harlem: A Poem, 3: 485, 488 Hoops, 3: 485 How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World, 3: 486 Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary, 3: 485 Mojo and the Russians, 3: 485 Monster, 3: 483, 485, 488, 489 Motown and Didi: A Love Story, 3: 487 145th Street: Short Stories, 3: 485 One More River to Cross: An African-American Photograph Album, 3: 488 Scorpions, 3: 483, 488 Slam!, 3: 485 Somewhere in the Darkness, 3: 488 Where Does the Day Go?, 3: 486 Young Landlords, The, 3: 487 Mysterio’s Menace (video game), 1: 19 Mystikal, 4: 771 Myths, 2: 241, 242; 3: 495

n ’N Sync, 4: 767, 769, 770, 774 NAACP. See National Association for the Advancement of Colored People NABBA. See National Amateur Bodybuilders Association Nachbar, Bostjan, 4: 823 Naismith Coach of the Century Patricia Head Summitt named as, 4: 748 Naismith Coach of the Year Patricia Head Summitt named as, 4: 747 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, 1: 75 Nandy, Ashis, 4: 692 Nanoscience, 1: 199 Napoli, Donna Jo, 3: 491–96, 491 (ill.) Albert, 3: 494 Beast, 3: 493, 495 Bobby the Bonobo, 3: 496 The Bravest Thing, 3: 491, 494 Breath, 3: 493, 495


•

volume 4

xlvii

index Crazy Jack, 3: 493 Daughter of Venice, 3: 493 The Great Good Pan, 3: 493 The Hero of Barletta, 3: 493 How Hungry Are You?, 3: 496 The Magic Circle, 3: 491, 493, 494 Shark Shock, 3: 493 Shelley Shock, 3: 493 Sirena, 3: 493, 495 Sly and the Pet Mysteries, 3: 496 Soccer Shock, 3: 493 Song of the Magdalene, 3: 493 Stones in Water, 3: 493 Three Days, 3: 493 When the Water Closes Over My Head, 3: 493 Zel, 3: 491, 493, 495 Napster, 2: 363 NASCAR, 1: 153 lowdown on, 1: 156–57 National Sportsman Division, 1: 154 Winston Cup circuit, 1: 155 Nascimento, Edson Arantes do. See Pelé NASDAQ, 3: 541 NASDAQ-100 Open (tennis), 4: 818 Nash, Elizabeth, 4: 832 Nation of Domination (wrestling), 2: 379 National Amateur Bodybuilders Association, 4: 665 National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing. See NASCAR National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1: 10; 2: 406 National Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation system. See NASDAQ National Basketball Association, 1: 71, 78; 2: 349, 354, 355; 4: 827 foreign players and, 4: 823, 824, 825 National Basketball League, 4: 821 National Center for Environmental Health, 2: 272 National Center for Infectious Diseases, 2: 272 National Collegiate Athletic Association, 1: 73, 78; 2: 351; 4: 722, 745, 747 National Democratic Alliance (India), 2: 253 National Farm Workers Organizing Committee, 4: 729 National Football Conference, 1: 65 National Football League, 1: 61; 2: 377; 3: 630

xlviii

National Medal of Technology, 2: 399 National Public Radio, 2: 289 All Things Considered, 3: 462 National Rifle Association, 3: 460 National Science Foundation, 1: 201 Presidential Young Investigator Award, 1: 199 National Security Council, 3: 627 National Skateboarding Association, 2: 313 National Youth Theatre (London), 1: 45 Nature Conservancy, 4: 786 “Naughty Girl,” 2: 406 Navarro, Dave, 2: 282 (ill.) Nazi Germany, 2: 410 NBA. See National Basketball Association NCAA. See National Collegiate Athletic Association NCID. See National Center for Infectious Diseases NCR Corporation, 2: 224 Nebula award, 2: 238, 241 Ned Kelly, 1: 47, 50 Nehru, Jawaharlal, 2: 247, 248, 251 Neptunes, The, 4: 771 Neruda, Pablo, 4: 730 Network Age Software, 3: 609 Neurosurgery, 1: 94 “Never Far Away,” 4: 796 Neverwhere (Gaiman), 2: 240–41, 244 New Edge, The, 4: 675 New Edition, 4: 701 New England Patriots, 1: 61, 63, 64–67 New Jersey Nets (basketball team), 1: 73, 74, 78 New Kids on the Block, 4: 770 New Line Cinema, 1: 20; 2: 344; 3: 564, 565 New Mickey Mouse Club, 4: 708 New York Film Critics Circle, 1: 123 New York Mets, 4: 643 New York Minute, 3: 523, 523 (ill.) New York Stories, 1: 121 New York Yankees (baseball team), 4: 639, 642, 645 New Zealand, 1: 102 New Zealand Film Commission, 2: 342 Newbery Medal for A Single Shard, 3: 551, 557 Newfield, Jack, 3: 460 Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica, 2: 281; 4: 707, 711–12 Newman, Melinda, 2: 388


•

volume 4

index Newsfactor Innovation, 1: 202 Newsom, Gavin, 3: 497–504, 497 (ill.), 502 (ill.) Newsom, Kimberly Guilfoyle, 3: 499 NeXT Computer Company, 2: 361 Nextel Cup (stock-car racing), 1: 153, 156, 157 NFC. See National Football Conference NFL. See National Football League Nichol, Joseph McGinty, 4: 657 Nicholson, Jack, 4: 657 Nick & Jessica Variety Hour, 4: 712 Nickelodeon, 1: 147 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, 1: 147 Favorite Male Athlete category, 2: 318 Night at the Roxbury, A, 1: 35 Nihonga (Japanese painting style), 3: 477 Nike, 2: 349, 355; 3: 464, 465; 4: 823 Nike Hoop Summit, 4: 824 Nimmo, Jenny, 3: 505–11 Beak and Whisker, 3: 507 Bronze Trumpeter, The, 3: 507 Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy, 3: 510 Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, 3: 510 The Chestnut Soldier, 3: 507, 508 “Children of the Red King” series (Nimmo), 3: 510 Delilah Alone, 3: 507 Delilah and the Dogspell, 3: 507, 509 The Dragon’s Child, 3: 507 Emlyn’s Moon, 3: 507, 508 Esmeralda and the Children Next Door, 3: 507, 510 Griffin’s Castle, 3: 509, 510 Gwion and the Witch, 3: 507 Invisible Vinnie, 3: 507 Midnight for Charlie Bone, 3: 507, 510 Milos Wolves, 3: 510 Rainbow and Mr. Zed, 3: 507, 509 Seth and the Strangers, 3: 507 The Snow Spider, 3: 507, 508 Something Wonderful, 3: 507, 510 The Stone Mouse, 3: 507, 509 Tatty Apple, 3: 508 Toby in the Dark, 3: 507, 509 Ultramarine, 3: 507, 509 The Witch’s Tears, 3: 507 900 move (skateboarding), 2: 315 911Peace.org, 1: 55

98 degrees, 2: 281; 4: 710 Nitrogen levels, 4: 783, 787–88 Nixon, Richard M., 2: 222 No Doubt, 1: 193 “No No No,” 2: 404 No Strings Attached, 4: 770 Nobel Peace Prize Shirin Ebadi as recipient of, 1: 161, 166 (ill.), 167–68 Nolan, Janne, 3: 625 Nooyi, Indra K., 3: 513–18, 513 (ill.), 517 (ill.) Nord, Thomas, 1: 129 Norris, Moochie, 4: 827 North American Soccer League, 1: 5 Northern Exposure, 1: 36 Norwegian Nobel Committee, 1: 166 (ill.), 167 Not Ready for Prime-Time Players, 1: 208 “Nothin’ Else,” 4: 771 Noujaim, Jehane, 3: 461 NOVA, 2: 289-90 Novak, Robert, 1: 31 NRA. See National Rifle Association NSA. See National Skateboarding Association NS-5 robot models, 2: 297 Nuggets (basketball team), 1: 73 Nutcracker, The (ballet), 1: 146 NYPD Blue, 1: 11

o O, The Oprah Magazine, 3: 624; 4: 819 Oahu, Hawaii, 4: 784 Obesity, 2: 271, 275; 3: 461 O’Brien, Conan, 3: 455 O.C., The, 4: 655, 657–60 Ocean level elevations, 4: 761 O’Connell, Sean, 1: 9 O’Donnell, Rosie, 2: 305; 3: 502 Of the Dawn (Tamblyn), 4: 757 Office of Naval Research, 2: 296 Offspring, The, 2: 317 Ogunnaike, Lola, 3: 530 Oil in Iraq, 2: 321 Oklahoma! (play), 2: 332


•

volume 4

xlix

index Old School, 1: 35 Oldman, Gary, 3: 604 Oliver Twist (Dickens), 3: 598 Olivier, Sir Laurence, 2: 332 Olivier Award (Great Britain), 2: 332 Ollie (skateboarding move), 2: 314 Olsen, Ashley, 3: 519–25, 519 (ill.), 523 (ill.) Olsen, Mary-Kate, 3: 519–25, 519 (ill.), 523 (ill.) Olympic Games Athens (2004), 4: 827 competitive swimming at, 3: 580, 581, 583, 584, 585 Sydney (2000), 4: 814, 824 women’s basketball at, 4: 747 Omidyar, Pierre, 4: 799, 802, 803 On-Air with Ryan Seacrest, 4: 673, 677, 678 145th Street: Short Stories (Myers), 3: 485 One in a Million, 1: 191 One Life to Live, 1: 173 One More River to Cross: An African-American Photograph Album (Myers), 3: 488 O’Neal, Shaquille, 1: 74, 75; 4: 826 Online advertising, 4: 688 Online auction sites, 4: 799–805 Online music stores, 2: 363–64 Online political action, 1: 51–59 Open House (television show), 1: 133 Oprah Winfrey Show, 1: 106; 2: 306 Orange Bowl, 1: 64; 3: 633 Orange County, 1: 37, 38 Orchard of the Crescent Moon (Nimmo), 3: 508 Organization of American States, 1: 27 Organized Noize, 3: 528 Orkut.com, 3: 540 Osama bin Laden, 3: 628 Osbourne, Jack, 2: 281 Osbourne, Kelly, 2: 281 Osbourne, Ozzy, 2: 281 Osbourne, Sharon, 2: 281 Osbournes, The, 2: 281 Oscars and Best Actress nominees (2004), 1: 105 (ill.) for Bowling for Columbine (2003), 3: 467 for Lord of the Rings, The: The Return of the King (2004), 2: 339, 346 (ill.) for Peter Jackson, 1: 123 Otaku, 3: 478

l

Other Side, The: Shorter Poems (Johnson), 2: 369, 371 O’Toole, John Kennedy, 1: 35 OutKast, 2: 406; 3: 527–34, 527 (ill.), 531 (ill.) Rosa Parks versus, 3: 529 Our Lips Are Sealed, 3: 521 Outsiders, The (Hinton), 1: 118; 3: 489, 545 Overture Services, 4: 688 Ovitz, Michael, 1: 177 Oxfam Make Trade Fair campaign, 1: 112 Oxford University, 2: 286, 287; 3: 599 Oxygen cable network, 3: 451, 455 Ozalots, 2: 336 Ozones, 2: 278

p PAC. See Political action committee Packard, Dave, 2: 225 PackBot, 2: 297–98 Page, Carl Victor, 3: 535 Page, Larry, 3: 535–42, 536 (ill.) Page, Patrick, 1: 127 Pahad, Aziz, 1: 31 Paige by Paige: A Year of Trading Spaces (Davis), 1: 129 Paleoclimatologists, 4: 759 Paleoclimatology, 4: 759–66 Palm d’Or award (Cannes Film Festival) for Bowling for Columbine, 3: 466–67 for Fahrenheit 9/11, 3: 466 (ill.), 467 Paltrow, Gwyneth, 1: 37, 115–16; 2: 434; 4: 742 Pan American Games (1975), 4: 747 Paolini, Christopher, 3: 543–50, 543 (ill.), 548 (ill.) “Dragon Tales,” 3: 544, 546 Eldest, 3: 549 Empire, 3: 549 Eragon, 3: 543, 546, 547, 548, 549 Paperback Heroes, 2: 332 Paquin, Anna, 1: 103 Parachutes (Coldplay), 1: 113, 114 Parallel universes, 2: 288 Paramount Pictures, 1: 171, 173–74, 175 Parent Trap, The (1998 remake), 2: 421, 422–23


•

volume 4

index Pariser, Eli, 1: 51–59, 51 (ill.) Park, Edwards, 4: 648 Park, Linda Sue, 3: 551–59, 551 (ill.) Firekeeper’s Son, The, 3: 558 The Kite Fighters, The, 3: 556 Mung-Mung, 3: 558 Seesaw Girl, 3: 554, 555, 556 Single Shard, A, 3: 551, 557 When My Name was Keoko, 3: 557 Parker, Anne, 3: 510 Parker, Sarah Jessica, 4: 740 Parker, Trey, 2: 280 Parks, Rosa versus OutKast, 3: 529 Parliament (India), 2: 249, 253, 260 Parliament-Funkadelic, 3: 530 Parlophone Records, 1: 112–13 Parsons, Charlie, 1: 85 Parsons, Richard, 3: 561–69; 561 (ill.), 565 (ill.); 4: 685 Parton, Dolly, 2: 389 Passport to Paris, 3: 521 Pataki, George E., 2: 416, 418; 4: 705 Patinkin, Mandy, 2: 304 Patou (France), 2: 430 Patton, Antwan. See “Big Boi” Paulin, Scott, 2: 307 Pavarotti, Luciano, 2: 304 Pavement, 4: 794 Paxton, Bill, 1: 49 PBS. See Public Broadcasting Service PCPFS. See Presidents Council on Physical Fitness and Sports PCs. See Personal computers PCs Unlimited, 1: 141 Peabody Award, 1: 134 Peace activism online, 1: 55–57 Pearlman, Lou, 4: 770 Pearman, Raven-Symoné Christina. See Raven Peggy Sue Got Married, 1: 119 Pelé, 1: 5 Pelosi, Alexandra, 3: 574–75, 575 (ill.) Pelosi, Nancy, 3: 571–78, 571 (ill.), 575 (ill.) Pencilers (comic books), 3: 443, 444 Pentagon terrorist attacks on (2001), 3: 623, 628

People magazine, 2: 424; 3: 564 50 Most Beautiful People feature, 1: 68, 205; 2: 236 People’s Champion, The (Dwayne “The Rock ” Johnson), 2: 379 People’s Choice Award for Favorite New Dramatic Series for Joan of Arcadia, 4: 755 Pepsi battle between Coca-Cola and, 3: 515 Pepsi 400 (auto race), 1: 156 PepsiCo, 3: 513, 516–18, 517 (ill.) Peralta, Stacy, 2: 311 Peraud, Louis War of the Buttons, The, 2: 231 Pereira, Joseph, 2: 298 Perlmutter, “Ike,” 1: 16, 18 Permanent Midnight, 4: 739, 741 Perry, Andrew, 4: 793 Persian Gulf War (1991), 2: 319, 325; 3: 487 Personal computers, 1: 52, 140–44; 2: 357–64 Peter Malick Group, 2: 386 Peter Pan (Barrie), 2: 231 Peterson, Laci, 3: 499 Peterson, Oscar, 2: 385 Petridis, Alexis, 3: 532 Peyser, Marc, 3: 593 PGA. See Professional Golf Association Phares, Heather, 4: 794, 795 Pharmacology, 2: 270 Phat Farm Kids, 4: 704 Phat Fashions, 4: 702 Phelps, Jake, 2: 316 Phelps, Michael, 3: 579–86, 579 (ill.), 582 (ill.) Philadelphia 76ers (basketball team), 1: 71, 74, 75, 77 Philippe, Guy, 1: 30 Phobias, 3: 493, 494 Photography (historical), 3: 488 Physical fitness, 4: 669 Physics, 2: 285–91 Piano, The, 1: 103, 123 Pierce, Mary, 4: 816 Pierson, Frank, 1: 105 (ill.) Pilkey, Dav World War Won, 3: 545 Pina, Andrew, 1: 92, 96


•

volume 4

li

index Piniella, Lou, 4: 641 Pinocchio (movie), 1: 175 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, 1: 48, 49 Pitt, Brad, 1: 49 Pittman, Robert, 3: 565, 566 Pixar Animation Studios, 1: 177; 2: 357, 360, 361, 362, 363 Pizza Hut, 3: 516 Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, 4: 667 “Player’s Ball,” 3: 528 Please Don’t Kill the Freshman: A Memoir (Trope), 3: 545 Plenty of Ships (Tamblyn), 4: 757 Plus-size clothing, 3: 435, 438–39 Poe, Edgar Allan, 3: 445 Poehler, Amy, 1: 209 Poetry, 4: 730–32 Pointless Nostalgic, 2: 385 Pokemon, 3: 478 Poland anti-Semitism in, 2: 410 Polar research, 4: 760–62 Pole position (NASCAR), 1: 157 Political action committee, 1: 54 Political activism, 1: 51–59; 3: 459, 460, 462; 4: 751, 756–57 Politics in California, 3: 497–503; 4: 663, 669–71 in India, 2: 247–56 in Iraq, 2: 319–28 in Spain, 4: 829–35 women in, 3: 623–30, 571–78 Pollack, Andrew, 4: 653 Pollock, Jackson, 3: 524 Polo Ralph Lauren, 4: 704 Pong (video game), 2: 359 Poniewozik, James, 4: 659, 660 Pool Party, The (Soto), 4: 732 Pop art, 3: 475–82 Pop Idol, 4: 675, 676 Popovich, Greg, 1: 76 Popular Party (Spain), 4: 829 Pop-Up Video, 2: 282 Portland Trail Blazers, 4: 823 Postcards from France (Libby), 3: 545 Potomac Soccer Association, 1: 2

lii

Potrock, Ken, 1: 63 Pottery, 3: 556–57 Poverty, 3: 483 campaigns against, 1: 112 Powell, Colin, 1: 30, 31; 3: 628 Powell, Laurene, 2: 362 PowerMac, 2: 363 Pratchett, Terry, 2: 240 Predator, 4: 667 Premarital abstinence, 4: 711 President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, 4: 669 Préval, Réné, 1: 28 Price, Yetunde, 4: 818 Prince, 3: 521 Princess Bride, The (Goldman), 2: 231 Princess Diaries, The (Cabot), 3: 619 Princess Mononoke, 2: 244 Princeton University, 4: 800, 801, 804–5 Pritzker Architecture Prize, 2: 263 Pro Skater video game, 2: 315–16 Probst, Jeff, 1: 81, 87 Proclaim Records, 4: 708 Procter & Gamble, 4: 801 Professional Golf Association, 4: 723, 807 Proposition 22 (California), 3: 501 Proteus (aircraft), 4: 651 Providence (screenplay), 4: 657 Prugh, Tom, 4: 761 Pseudonyms, 4: 715 PSOE. See Spanish Socialist Workers Party Public Broadcasting Service, 3: 598 Public Enemy, 2: 385; 4: 702 Puja (Hindi shrine), 3: 518 Pulitzer Prize, 4: 731 Pulliam, Keshia Knight, 3: 616, 617 Pulp Fiction, 2: 343 Pumping Iron, 4: 666 Punisher, The, 1: 21 Punk’d, 2: 279 Pyramid Rover, 2: 295

q Qassim, Abdul Karim, 2: 321


•

volume 4

index Quaid, Dennis, 4: 761 Quaker Oats cereals, 3: 513, 517 (ill.) Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends and Other Realities of Adolescence (Wiseman), 1: 207, 209 Queen Latifah, 1: 193 Queer Eye for the Straight Guy cast 3: 587–95, 588 (ill.), 592 (ill.) Quittner, Jeremy, 3: 503

r Race car drivers, 1: 153–60 Race for the Cure, 4: 749 Radcliffe, Alan, 3: 598 Radcliffe, Daniel, 3: 597–605, 597 (ill.), 602 (ill.) Radical Outdoor Challenge, 4: 675 Radio City Music Hall, 2: 422 Radio Free Flint, 3: 462 Radio Soleil (Haiti), 1: 26 Radner, Gilda, 1: 147, 206 RAF. See Rutan Aircraft Factory Rafto Prize (human rights prize), 1: 166–67 Raid Gauloises (France), 1: 83–84 Raiders of the Lost Ark, 1: 174 Raimi, Sam, 1: 20 (ill.) “Rain (Supa Dupa Fly), The,” 1: 192–93 Rainbow and Mr. Zed (Nimmo), 3: 507, 509 Rains, Rob, 4: 642 Raise the Roof (Summitt), 4: 749 Raise Your Voice, 1: 149 Rajiv (Gandhi), 2: 252 Rajiv’s World (Gandhi), 2: 252 Rajoy, Mariano, 4: 834 Rajya Sabha (Indian Parliament), 2: 249 Rakim, 2: 214 Ramsay, Michael, 3: 607–13, 607 (ill.) Rao, Narasimha, 2: 251 Rap music, 1: 189, 192, 195; 2: 213–20, 213 (ill.), 218 (ill.); 3: 527–33, 584; 4: 699, 701–4 Rapoport, Ron, 1: 74 Rashad, Phylicia, 3: 616 Rather, Dan, 2: 326 Raven, 3: 615–21, 615 (ill.), 618 (ill.)

Raviv, Dan Comic Wars, 1: 18 Reach for the Summitt (Summitt), 4: 749 Reagan, Ronald, 2: 325; 4: 665, 665 (ill.) Real World, The, 2: 280 Reality Bites, 4: 740 Reality television, 1: 81, 83, 88, 127, 128-29, 195; 2: 281; 3: 587–93; 4: 707, 711–12 Rebellious, 4: 753 Rebello, Stephen, 2: 342 Recording Industry Association of America, 1: 193 Recovery (television series), 1: 88 Red Hour Films, 4: 743 Redman and Method Man, 1: 193 Reebok, 4: 826 Reid, Antonio L. A., 3: 529 Reilly, Rick, 1: 3 Reinemund, Steven S., 3: 517 Reiner, Rob, 1: 57 Reingold, Jennifer, 4: 702, 705 Reitman, Ivan, 4: 667 Reluctant Debutante, The, 1: 147 Remakes, 2: 421 Rent (Broadway musical), 3: 590, 593 Replay TV, 3: 611 Reptile Room, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Republican Party, 4: 668 Reserve Bank of India, 2: 251 Respect M.E., 1: 195 Restaurant, The (television series), 1: 81, 87 Return of the King, The, 1: 47 Return to Freedom, 1: 150 Reversed Double Helix (Murakami), 3: 480 Revolution Studios, 3: 448 Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front (Haiti), 1: 30 Revolutionary Command Council (Baath Party), 2: 321 Rhoda, 4: 738 Rhodes Scholarships, 2: 286 Rhone, Sylvia, 1: 191 RIAA. See Recording Industry Association of America Rice, Condoleezza, 3: 623–30, 623 (ill.), 629 (ill.) Rice, Lynette, 4: 755 Rice-a-Roni, 3: 517


•

volume 4

liii

index Rich, Susan, 4: 717, 718 Richard, Frances, 1: 185 Richmond, Jeff, 1: 211 Rifkin, Glenn, 2: 399 Riggs, Seth, 2: 305 Rights of a Child, The: A Study of Legal Aspects of Children’s Rights in Iran (Ebadi), 1: 164 Ring, The, 4: 658, 755 Ritchie, Guy, 2: 432 Ritter, Jason, 4: 755, 756 (ill.) Rivera, Hart, 1: 128 Roback, Diane, 4: 732 Robbins, Tim, 1: 34, 35 Roberson, LaTavia, 2: 404 Roberts, Ed, 1: 142 Roberts, Johnnie L., 4: 699 Robotic Industries Association, 2: 299 Robots, 2: 293–300 competitions for, 2: 395, 399 Roche, Elizabeth, 2: 255 Rochman, Hazel, 3: 493 Rock, The. See Johnson, Dwayne (The Rock) Rock Says, The (Johnson), 2: 379–80 Rock the Vote campaign (MTV), 4: 757 Rockefeller, Happy, 3: 563 Rockefeller, Nelson, 3: 562, 563, 567 Rockefeller drug laws, 4: 705 Rockefeller Republicans, 3: 563 Rocket Raccoon, 3: 443 Rockets, 4: 649, 651 Rockettes, 2: 422 Rocky, 1: 119 Roddick, Andy, 3: 631–37, 631 (ill.), 635 (ill.) Roddick, John, 3: 632 Roden Crater (Turrell), 1: 184–85 Rodin, Judy, 2: 223 Rodman, Dennis, 4: 823 Rodríguez, Alex, 4: 639–46, 639 (ill.), 644 (ill.) Rodríguez, Eddie, 4: 640 Rodriguez, Jai, 3: 587, 588 (ill.), 589–90, 591, 592 (ill.) Rodríguez, Victor, 4: 639–40, 641 Roger & Me, 3: 463, 464 Rogers, Patrick, 2: 261 Rogers, Ray, 4: 711 Rogow, Stan, 1: 148, 150 Rolling Stones, 2: 429; 4: 773

liv

Rollins, Kevin, 1: 144 Roman, Julia, 1: 13 Romance languages, 3: 492 Romano, Allison, 2: 279, 282 Romeo Must Die, 1: 11 Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner), 2: 299 “Rosa Parks,” 3: 530 Rosaforte, Tim, 4: 812 Rose, Charlie, 2: 312, 315 Rose, Frank, 3: 612 Rose Bowl, 1: 64 Rosen, Craig, 1: 149 Rosenberg, Liz, 3: 548, 549 Rosenberg, Paul, 2: 217 Rosewater, Amy, 1: 3 Ross, Marcy, 4: 660 Ross, Rich, 1: 146 Rossi, Rosemary, 4: 754 Rowan, Diana, 1: 103 Rowe, Douglas, 1: 206 Rowland, Kelly, 2: 402–3, 404 Rowling, J. K., 2: 229, 231; 3: 510, 600, 601, 602 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 3: 549 Harry Potter novels by, 3: 598, 599 Royal Tenenbaums, The, 4: 737, 739, 742–43 Rozell, Ned, 4: 764, 765 Rozen, Leah, 2: 334 R2D2 (Star Wars movies), 2: 294 Ruben, Adam, 1: 53 Rubenstein, Atoosa, 4: 803 Rubin, Rick, 4: 701, 702 Rue Morgue, 3: 445 Ruff Ryders, 1: 192, 193 Rumble Fish (Hinton), 3: 545 Rumblefish (movie) 1: 118 Run-DMC, 2: 214, 215; 4: 701, 702 Rundown, The, 2: 380, 381 (ill.) Running Back to Ludie (Johnson), 2: 369, 371 Rush, 4: 773 Rush, Geoffrey, 3: 599 Rush Card, 4: 702 Rush Communications, 4: 702 Rush Management, 4: 701 Rush of Blood to the Head, A (Coldplay), 1: 112, 114, 116 Rushmore, 1: 119; 4: 741, 742


•

volume 4

index Russert, Tim, 4: 671 Rutan, Burt, 4: 647–54, 647 (ill.) Rutan, Richard, 4: 647, 650 Rutan Aircraft Factory, 4: 649–50 Ryan, Leslie, 1: 12 Ryan, Meg, 2: 333 Ryan, Suzanne, 4: 656, 657, 661 “Ryan Seacrest for the Ride Home” (radio show), 4: 676 Ryde or Die Vol. 1, 1: 192 Ryder, Winona, 1: 119; 4: 740 Rylant, Cynthia, 2: 370

s Sackler, Howard The Great White Hope, 1: 10 Sacramento Kings (basketball team), 2: 354 Safeco Classic (golf), 4: 723 Safety (Coldplay), 1: 111 Saget, Bob, 3: 520 Sainden, Eric, 2: 341 Salerno, Heather, 1: 55, 56 Salesians (Catholic priests), 1: 24, 27 Salinger, J. D. Catcher in the Rye, 3: 489 Salkind, Michael, 1: 37 Salt N’ Pepa, 2: 214 Same-sex marriages, 3: 497, 501–3, 502 (ill.) Samoa, 2: 376 Sampras, Pete, 3: 633 Samsung World Championship of Golf, 4: 722 Samuels, Allison, 2: 214; 3: 529 Samway, Patrick, 1: 29 San Antonio Spurs (basketball team), 1: 74 San Diego Chargers, 3: 632 San Francisco same-sex marriages in, 3: 497–503 San Francisoco 49ers (football team), 1: 62 San Jose Earthquakes (soccer team), 1: 7 Sanchez, Ricardo, 2: 327 Sandalow, Marc, 3: 576 Sandman (comic book series), 2: 237, 240–43 Sandman: Endless Nights (Gaiman), 2: 237, 242–43

Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes (Gaiman), 2: 242 Sandman: The Dream Hunters (Gaiman), 2: 242 Sandman: The Wake (Gaiman), 2: 242 Santa Claus Lane, 1: 148 Santa Monica Alternative Schoolhouse (SMASH), 4: 752 Saris, 2: 248–49, 255; 3: 514, 515, 518 Sarnoff, Robert, 1: 173 SARS. See Severe acute respiratory syndrome Saturday Night Fever, 1: 174 Saturday Night Live, 1: 35, 36, 135; 2: 380, 421; 3: 635; 4: 739, 773 women writers for, 1: 205, 206, 208–9, 211 Saved by the Bell: The New Class, 4: 778 Savile Row (London), 2: 430 Savings and loan crisis (1980s), 3: 563 “Say My Name,” 2: 404 SBC Communications, 4: 688 Scaled Composites Inc., 4: 651 Scalia, Antonin, 3: 592 Scary Movie 3, 1: 11 Schaefer, Stephen, 3: 600 Schilling, Mary Kaye, 1: 115 Schmidt, Eric, 3: 539 Schneider, Bill, 2: 256 Scholastic Press, 2: 232 School of Rock, 1: 33, 38–39 School violence empowering students against, 1: 207 Schoolhouse Rock, 1: 173 Schorow, Stephanie, 1: 129 Schrag, Daniel, 4: 765 Schulberg, Bud, 4: 743 Schultz, Michael, 4: 701 Schure, Alexander, 2: 360 Schwartz, Frederic, 2: 416 Schwartz, Josh, 4: 655–61, 655 (ill.) Schwartz, Stephen, 4: 656 Schwartzman, Jason, 1: 119 Schwarz, Alan, 4: 645 Schwarzbaum, Lisa, 1: 48; 4: 743 Schwarzenegger, Arnold, 2: 375; 3: 502, 503; 4: 663–72, 663 (ill.), 665 (ill.), 668 (ill.) Science inventions, 2: 393–400 paleoclimatology, 4: 759–66


•

volume 4

lv

index physics, 2: 285–291 robotics, 2: 293–300 Science fiction, 2: 237, 238 Science Friday (National Public Radio), 2: 289 “Scientist, The” (Coldplay), 1: 114 Sciolino, Elaine, 4: 834 Scola, Luis, 4: 823 Scorpion, 1: 193 Scorpion King, The, 2: 380 Scorpions (Myers), 3: 483, 488 Scott, Dougray, 2: 332 Scott, Liz, 1: 132 Scott, Ridley, 1: 47, 49 Scott, Seann William, 2: 381 (ill.) Scotto, Barbara, 3: 555 Scowcroft, Brent, 3: 626, 627 Screen savers, 1: 52 SCTV, 4: 739 Sculley, John, 2: 361 Sculpture, 3: 478, 479 (ill.), 480 Seacrest, Ryan, 4: 673–79, 673 (ill.), 676 (ill.) Seagal, Steven, 1: 11 Sean Paul, 2: 406 Seattle Mariners, 4: 640, 641, 642 Sebastian, Simone, 3: 503 Second City (Chicago), 1: 206, 207 See Spot Run, 1: 11 Seesaw Girl (Park), 3: 554, 556 Seesaws, Korean, 3: 555, 556 Segway human transporter, 2: 393, 396–98, 397 (ill.) Seinfeld, 4: 738 Seizures, 1: 95 Seles, Monica, 4: 816 Semel, Terry, 4: 681–88, 681 (ill.) September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, 1: 55, 56; 2: 326, 413, 416–19, 418 (ill.), 433; 4: 833 Condoleezza Rice and, 3: 623, 628–29, 629 (ill.) Fahrenheit 9/11 and, 3: 459, 467–68 World Trade Center Memorial and, 2: 413, 416–19, 418 (ill.) Series of Unfortunate Events, A (Lemony Snicket), 4: 715, 717–18 Serkis, Andy, 2: 341 Serpick, Evan, 2: 216, 217 Seth and the Strangers (Nimmo), 3: 507

lvi

Seung-Jin, Ha, 4: 823 Seven Beauties, 1: 123 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (movie musical), 4: 752 Seven Spiritual Laws of Success (Chopra), 4: 704 Seventh Heaven, 4: 709, 778 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, 2: 269, 273 (ill.), 274; 4: 826–27 Severson, Kim, 2: 275 Sexton, Edward, 2: 429–30 Sexual assault survivors, 4: 777 Sexual orientation. See also Gays and lesbians television portrayals of, 1: 134 SFX award, 2: 241 SGI. See Silicon Graphics, Inc. Shady/Aftermath Records, 2: 217 Shakespeare, William Taming of the Shrew, The, 4: 779 Shakespeare in Love, 1: 176 Shales, Tom, 4: 659 Shallow Hal, 1: 37 Shanghai, China, 4: 821 Shanghai Noon, 4: 742 Shanghai Sharks (Chinese basketball team), 4: 822, 824 Shankar, Ravi, 2: 384 Shannon, Molly, 1: 135 (ill.) Sharia law (Iran), 1: 165 Shark Shock (Napoli), 3: 493 Shark Tale, 1: 40 Sharma, Nisha, 4: 691–97, 691 (ill.), 694 (ill.) Sharpton, Al, 4: 704 Shattered Mirrors (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 Sheffield, Rob, 1: 190, 194 Sheila E., 4: 701 Shelley Shock (Napoli), 3: 493 Shen, Maxine, 4: 659 Shepard, Matthew, 2: 279 Sherman, Mary, 1: 183 “Shes a B***h,” 1: 193 She’s All That, 4: 778 Shire, Talia, 1: 119 “Shiver” (Coldplay), 1: 113 ShopTire LPGA Classic (golf), 4: 723 Short, Martin, 4: 739 Showtime, 1: 133 Shriver, Eunice Kennedy, 4: 668, 669


•

volume 4

index Shriver, Maria, 4: 667 Siebel Open tennis tournament, 3: 635 (ill.) Sigesmund, B. J., 3: 592 Sikhs (India), 2: 250 Silent Partner Productions, 2: 404 Silicon Graphics, Inc., 3: 607, 608, 609 Silicon Valley, 2: 225, 358; 3: 608, 609 Silver, Michael, 1: 65, 68 Silver Surfer (animated series), 1: 19 Silverstein, Larry, 2: 418, 419 Simmons, Joey, 4: 701 Simmons, Kimora Lee, 4: 704 Simmons, Russell, 4: 699–706, 699 (ill.), 703 (ill.) Simms, Phil, 1: 63, 66 Simon, Alex, 4: 756, 757 Simon, Paul, 2: 284, 304 Simons, Andrew, 2: 363 Simpson, Ashlee, 4: 709 Simpson, Jessica, 2: 281; 4: 707–13, 707 (ill.), 710 (ill.) Simpsons, The, 2: 290; 3: 617 Sinatra, Frank, 2: 385 Sinclair, Tom, 1: 109 Sinclair, Tony, 4: 792 Singer, Bryan, 2: 332 Singh, Arune, 3: 445, 446, 447, 448 Singh, Dr. Manmohan, 2: 251, 256 Singh, Vijay, 4: 724 Single Shard, A (Park), 3: 551, 557 Sinkler, Rebecca, 2: 232 Sinofsky, Bruce, 3: 461 Sirena (Napoli), 3: 493, 495 Sista, 1: 191 Sister, Sister, 4: 778 Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (movie), 4: 757 Sitar, 2: 384 Six Feet Under, 3: 455 1602 series (comic books), 2: 244 60 Minutes, 1: 2 Skateboarding, 2: 311–18 Skirt, The (Soto), 4: 732 Slam! (Myers), 3: 485 Slavery in Haiti, 1: 25 Sleater-Kinney, 4: 794 Sleeping Beauty, 1: 174 Slim Shady, 2: 215

Slingshot water purifiers, 2: 399 Slippery Slope, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Sly and the Family Stone, 3: 528 Sly and the Pet Mysteries (Napoli and Furrow), 3: 496 SMA. See Student Music Award Small Faces (Soto), 4: 731 Smee, Sebastian, 1: 182 Smith, Amanda, 3: 486 Smith, Cynthia Leitich, 3: 552, 554, 555 Smith, Daniel, 2: 403 Smith, Emmitt, 1: 63 Smith, Gary, 1: 71, 73, 75, 78 Smith, George, 2: 361 Smith, P. C., 1: 182 Smith, Roger, 3: 462, 463 Smith, Stephanie, 2: 226 Smith, Will, 2: 297; 4: 702, 775, 779, 780 (ill.) Smithsonian Institution, 4: 651 Smoke and Mirrors, (Gaiman) 2: 240 Sm:tv Live, 4: 675 Snack-food companies, 3: 513, 517 Snakecharm (Atwater-Rhodes), 3: 545 Sneed, Cara Carleton. See Fiorina, Carly Sneed, Joseph, 2: 222 Snicket, Lemony (Daniel Handler), 4: 715–20, 715 (ill.) A Series of Unfortunate Events, 4: 715, 717–18 Snierson, Dan, 1: 39 SNL. See Saturday Night Live Snoop Dogg, 3: 584,4: 703–4 Snow Spider, The (Nimmo), 3: 507, 508 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (movie), 1: 174 “So Yesterday,” 1: 149, 150 Soap operas, 4: 751, 753–54 Soccer, 1: 7; 4: 822 names of moves in, 1: 3 Soccer Shock (Napoli), 3: 493 Social activism, 1: 112; 3: 459; 4: 699 Social Security Commission, 3: 567 Socialist party (Spain), 4: 829 Society of St. Francis de Sales, 1: 24 Sofia (queen of Spain), 4: 834 (ill.) Solo Star, 2: 403 Someone Like You, 2: 333 Somethin’ Fresh, 2: 404 Something Wonderful (Nimmo), 3: 507, 510


•

volume 4

lvii

index Somewhere in the Darkness (Myers), 3: 488 Sommers, Stephen, 2: 334 Song of the Magdalene (Napoli), 3: 493 Songs of Faith (Johnson), 2: 369, 371 Sony, 3: 612 Sony Open (golf), 4: 807, 810 Sony Pictures, 1: 20 Sook, Ryan, 3: 447 Sorenstam, Annika, 4: 721–25, 721 (ill.), 723 (ill.) Sorkin, Aaron, 1: 57 Soto, Gary, 4: 727–35, 727 (ill.) The Afterlife, 4: 733 Baseball in April, 4: 732 Buried Onions, 4: 733, 734 Canto Familiar, 4: 732 The Effects of Knut Hamsun on a Fresno Boy, 4: 731 The Elements of San Joaquin, 4: 730 Fearless Fermie, 4: 732 A Fire in My Hands, 4: 732 If the Shoe Fits, 4: 732 Jesse, 4: 733 Lesser Evils: Ten Quartets, 4: 731 Living Up the Street: Narrative Recollections, 4: 731 The Pool Party, 4: 732 The Skirt, 4: 732 Small Faces, 4: 731 A Summer Life, 4: 731 Summer on Wheels, 4: 732 Taking Sides, 4: 733 The Tale of Sunlight ,4: 731 Too Many Tamales, 4: 732 Soul Collector, The (television movie), 1: 146 South Asian Monsoon, 4: 763 South Park, 2: 280 Southeastern Conference (basketball), 4: 747 Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, 3: 529, 533 Soviet Russia Cold War between United States and, 3: 626, 627 Space robots, 2: 295 Space tourism, 4: 647, 652, 649 SpaceShipOne, 4: 647, 651, 652 Spacey, Kevin, 4: 773 Spain Basques in, 4: 831, 832, 833 politics in, 4: 829–35

lviii

Spanish Civil War, 4: 829-30, 831 Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, 4: 830, 831, 833, 834 Spanish-speaking Americans, 4: 727 Sparkle (remake), 3: 619 Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, 3: 527, 531–32 Spearritt, Hannah, 3: 473 Spears, Britney, 2: 387; 4: 707, 767, 708, 711, 769, 770, 771, 773 Special effects (film), 3: 607 Special Olympics, 4: 669 Special Olympics World Games (1999) bench press competition, 4: 668 (ill.) Speedo, 3: 581, 583, 585 Spellbound, 3: 461 Spelling bees, 3: 461 Spencer, Lee, 1: 154 Spice Girls, 4: 676 Spider-Man, 1: 15 history of, 1: 18 Spider-Man (comic books), 1: 16 Spider-Man (movie), 1: 18, 20 Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (television series), 1: 18 Spider-Man 2 (movie), 1: 20, 21 Spielberg, Steven, 3: 476 Spike Books, 2: 241 Spin City, 3: 470 Spirit of Christmas, The, 2: 280 Spirlea, Irina, 4: 816 Spitz, Mark, 3: 581, 583, 584 Spreadsheet software, 1: 143 Spring, Kit, 3: 548 Springfield, Dusty, 2: 387 Springsteen, Bruce, 2: 387 Spurlock, Morgan, 3: 461 Spy Kids series, 1: 176 Sri Lanka, 2: 252 Srivastava, Sanjee, 4: 695 St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, 1: 132 St. James Guide to Fantasy Writers, 3: 509 St. James Guide to Young Adult Writers, 3: 491 St. Louis Rams, 1: 65, 66 St. Vincent-St. Mary High School (Ohio) basketball program at, 2: 352 Stack, Peter, 3: 470 Stahl, Jerry, 4: 741


•

volume 4

index Stahl, Leslie, 1: 2, 5, 6 Stallone, Sylvester, 1: 88 Stamos, John, 3: 520 Stanford University Center for International Security and Arms Control at, 3: 626 Stankonia, 3: 530, 531 Stanton, Andrew, 1: 136 Stanton, Darrell, 2: 313 Star Search, 2: 403; 4: 768 Star Trek: Voyager, 2: 380 Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, 1: 120 Star Wars: Episode III, 1: 106 Star Wars movies, 2: 294, 361, 362 Stardust (Gaiman), 2: 241 Starlin, Jim, 3: 443 Starr, Mark, 1: 4 Starsky & Hutch, 1: 173; 4: 737, 739, 742, 743 Steamboat Willia, 1: 174 Steele, Bruce C., 3: 593 Steenburgen, Mary, 4: 755, 756 (ill.) Stefani, Gwen, 1: 193; 3: 437 Stein, Joel, 4: 737 Steinbeck, John, 4: 729 Steinbrenner, George, 4: 645 Stephanopoulos, George, 3: 468 Stern, Howard, 4: 670 Stewart, Patrick, 1: 20 Stiller, Amy, 4: 743 Stiller, Ben, 1: 40; 4: 737–44, 737 (ill.), 742 (ill.) Stiller, Jerry, 4: 738 Sting, 4: 773 Stirling, Robert, 2: 398 Stirling engine, 2: 398 Stock cars, 1: 153-60 Stoker, Bram Dracula, 3: 442 Stolberg, Sheryl Gay, 3: 577 Stone, Brad, 4: 804 Stone, Colin, 1: 44 Stone, Matt, 2: 280 Stone Mouse, The (Nimmo), 3: 507, 509 Stones in the Water (Napoli), 3: 493 Storch, Scott, 4: 771 Story (McKee), 3: 546 Stoudemire, Amare, 4: 825 (ill.) Streep, Meryl, 4: 718

Street skaters, 2: 313, 315 Street Time, 4: 819 Stride Rite, 4: 802 String theory, 2: 287, 289, 288 “Strings and Strings” lecture (Greene), 2: 287, 290 Stroup, Kate, 1: 47 Stuck on You, 1: 93 Studdard, Ruben, 4: 676 (ill.) Student Music Award, 2: 386 Studio Weil (Libeskind), 2: 411 Stuff by Hilary Duff, 1: 145, 150 Stupid White Men, and Other Excuses for the State of the Nation (Moore), 3: 464 Sugar Bowl, 1: 64 Sullivan, James, 4: 716 Summer Life, A (Soto), 4: 731 Summer on Wheels (Soto), 4: 732 Summitt, Patricia Head, 4: 745–50, 745 (ill.), 748 (ill.) Raise the Roof, 4: 749 Reach for the Summitt, 4: 749 Summitt, R. J., 4: 749 Sun Microsystems, 3: 539 Sundance Film Festival, 1: 106; 4: 741 Sunmaid Raisin Company, 4: 728 Sunset Boulevard, 2: 331 Sup Pop, 4: 793 Supa Dupa Fly, 1: 192 Super Bowl New England Patriots winnings at, 1: 61, 65–67 Super Secret TV Formulas, 2: 283 Super Size Me, 3: 461 Superman (comic books), 1: 16 Superstring theory, 2: 285 Supreme Council of Antiquities (Egypt), 2: 295 Surgeons, 1: 91–99 Survivor: All Stars, 1: 86 Survivor: Pearl Island, 1: 86, 86 (ill.) Survivor (television show), 1: 81, 85, 86, 87; 2: 405; 3: 611 Survivor’s Series (wrestling), 2: 378 Susman, Linda, 4: 754 Sutherland, Keifer, 3: 612 Svetkey, Benjamin, 2: 334 Swamp Thing (Moore), 2: 239 Swanson, Susan Marie, 4: 732


•

volume 4

lix

index Sweet Kisses, 4: 709, 711 Swimming, 3: 579–85 Swing, DeVante, 1: 191 Swordfish, 2: 333 Sympathy for the Record label, 4: 794 Synnot, Siobhan, 1: 44, 45, 47, 49, 50

t Tablet PCs, 2: 226 Taco Bell, 3: 516 Taheri, Amir, 1: 166 Tailor of Panama, The, 3: 599, 600 Takefuji Classic (golf), 4: 809 Taking Sides (Soto), 4: 733 Talbot, Don, 3: 583 Tale of Sunlight, The (Soto), 4: 731 Tales of a Korean Grandmother (Carpenter), 3: 554 Talfah, Adnan, 2: 323 Talley, Lori, 4: 780 Tamblyn, Amber, 4: 751–58, 751 (ill.), 756 (ill.) Tamblyn, Eddie, 4: 752 Tamblyn, Russ, 4: 752, 753, 755 Tamil Tigers (India), 2: 252 Taming of the Shrew, The (Shakespeare), 4: 779 Taming the Star Runner (Hinton), 3: 545 Tangi (Ihimaera), 1: 103 Target Isaac Mizrahi’s line of clothing for, 3: 451, 456, 456 (ill.) Tarzy, Arnold, 1: 2 Tate Modern museum (London) The Weather Project (installation art) in, 1: 182, 186 (ill.), 187 Tatty Apple (Nimmo), 3: 508 Tauber, Michelle, 2: 424, 425; 3: 522, 524 Taylor, Christine, 4: 743 Taylor, Chuck, 4: 709 Team American Pride, 1: 83 Technology inventions, 2: 393–400 robotics, 2: 293–300 Technology for Teaching program (HewlettPackard), 2: 227 Teel, David, 4: 724

lx

Teen authors, 3: 543–49 Teen literature, 3: 483, 485, 486–89 Television reality television, 1: 81, 83–88; 2: 281; 3: 587–93; 4: 707, 711–12 Television programming, 2: 277–84 Tell Me a Story, Mama (Johnson), 2: 370 10 Things I Hate about You, 4: 778 Tenacious D, 1: 33, 36, 37 Tenacious D: The Greatest Band on Earth, 1: 37 Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny, 1: 40 Tennessee University women’s basketball at, 4: 745, 747–49, 748 (ill.) Tennis, 3: 631–36; 4: 813–19 Terminator 2: Judgment Day, 4: 667 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, 4: 667 Terminator, The, 4: 666–67 Terrorism, 1: 168; 2: 326; 4: 831 Madrid bombings (2004), 4: 829, 831, 833 in Spain, 4: 831, 832 Terrorist attacks, September, 2001, 1: 55, 56 anthrax scare after, 2: 272–73 tourism and, 1: 177 Tex (Hinton), 3: 545 Texas Rangers, 4: 639, 643, 644, 645 Texture mapping technique, 2: 360 That ’70s Show, 2: 380; 4: 711 That was Then, This is Now (Hinton), 3: 545 That’s So Raven, 1: 176; 3: 615, 618, 619 There’s Something About Mary, 4: 741–42 Theron, Charlize, 1: 105 (ill.), 106 These Friends of Mine (television show), 1: 133 Thief Lord, The (Funke), 2: 229, 230, 231, 232, 233, 234 “Things That You Do, The,” 1: 191 Think team, 2: 416 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans (Warhol), 3: 477 This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall (Korman), 3: 545 This Is Not a Test!, 1: 190, 194 This Old House, 1: 127 Thompson, Derek, 3: 447 Thompson, Gina, 1: 191 Thompson, Kevin D., 3: 620 Thompson, Lonnie, 4: 759–66 Thompson, Tommy, 2: 273 Thorne, Robert, 3: 521, 522


•

volume 4

index Thorpe, Ian, 3: 582, 583 Three Days (Napoli), 3: 493 “Three Laws of Robotics” (Asimov), 2: 297 3 Strikes, 1: 11 Tiananmen Square (China), 3: 574 Tikrit (Iraq) birthplace of Saddam Husseim, 2: 320 tiled portrait of Saddam Hussein in, 2: 323 (ill.) Timbaland, 1: 191, 192, 194 Timberlake, Justin, 1: 189; 4: 767–74, 767 (ill.), 772 (ill.) Time, Inc., 4: 684 Time Warner, 3: 561, 564 America Online merges with, 3: 565–67 Time Warner Trade Publishing, 3: 565 Time-Warner Cable, 3: 608 Timmons, Sandra, 3: 568 Tito, Dennis, 4: 649 TiVo, 3: 607–13 To Dance with Olivia, 3: 470 To Grandmother’s House We Go, 3: 521 To Sir with Love (Braithwaite), 4: 729 Toby in the Dark (Nimmo), 3: 507, 509 Today Show, 1: 125; 3: 548 Tokyo Disneyland (Japan), 1: 176 Tolkien, J. R. R., 1: 46; 2: 339, 345; 3: 546 Lord of the Rings, 2: 344 Tom Green Show, The, 2: 281 Tom Sawyer (Twain), 2: 231 Tom Stoddard National Role Model Award, 2: 279 Tomjanovich, Rudy, 4: 826 Tommy Hilfiger, 4: 704 Tonight Show, 1: 40, 133; 4: 670 Tonight Show with Jay Leno, 1: 106, 125; 2: 306 Toning the Sweep (Johnson), 2: 369, 370 Tontons Macoutes (Haitian army), 1: 26–27, 28 Tony Award for Hugh Jackman (2004), 2: 329, 335 (ill.), 336 Tony Hawk Foundation, 2: 317 Too Many Tamales (Soto), 4: 732 Tootal (England), 3: 514 Toronto Film Festival, 1: 106 Torrid stores, 3: 435, 438, 439 Total Recall, 4: 667 Total Request Live, 1: 149; 2: 281 Touchstone Pictures, 1: 176 Toy Biz, 1: 16, 19, 17

Toy design, 1: 16 Toy Story, 1: 177; 2: 357, 360, 361, 362 Toy Story 2, 2: 362 Trachtman, Paul, 1: 185 Trading Spaces, 1: 125, 127, 128, 129 Trading Spaces: Family, 1: 127 Trading Spaces: Home Free, 1: 127 Transportation machines, 2: 396–98, 397 (ill.), 399 Travolta, John, 2: 333 Tresniowski, Alex, 4: 640, 819 Tribe Called Quest, A, 3: 528, 530 Tripplehorn, Jeanne, 4: 740 TRL. See Total Request Live Trojan War, 1: 49 Trope, Zoe Please Don’t Kill the Freshman: A Memoir, 3: 545 Tropical ice exploration, 4: 762–63, 765 Tropicana juice line, 3: 513 Trouillot, Mildred, 1: 29 Troy (movie), 1: 48 (ill.), 49 Troyer, Verne, 4: 826 True Lies, 4: 667 True Women (television miniseries), 1: 146 Trump, Donald, 1: 87; 4: 677, 705 Tseng, Ya-Ni, 4: 810 Turman, Katherine, 1: 111 Turner, Ted, 4: 765 Turner Broadcasting, 4: 684 Turner Classic Movies, 3: 564 Turrell, James, 1: 184–85 TV Nation, 3: 463–64 TW. See Time Warner Twain, Mark Tom Sawyer, 2: 231 Twentieth-Century Fox, 2: 332 Twentysomething, 2: 385 Twilight Zone, The, 4: 711 Twins conjoined, 1: 91, 95–97 Twins, 4: 667 Twister, 3: 607 Two Can Play at That Game, 1: 11; 4: 775, 778 2 Live Crew, 2: 215 Two of a Kind, 3: 521 Two Towers, The, 1: 46, 47


•

volume 4

lxi

index Tyco (toy company), 1: 16 Tyler, Harold R., Jr., 3: 563 Tyler, Liv, 2: 344, 434 Tyrangiel, Josh, 2: 215, 386, 387, 390 Tyson, Mike, 2: 219 Tyson, Peter, 2: 288, 290, 291

u UFWA. See United Farm Workers of America UFWOC. See National Farm Workers Organizing Committee Ulaby, Neda, 3: 442 “Ultimate,” 2: 424 Ultramarine (Nimmo), 3: 507, 509 UN. See United Nations Uncertainty principle, 2: 287 Undeniable, 3: 618 Under Construction, 1: 194 Underground video game, 2: 316 Underwater minesweepers, 2: 296–97 Underwood, Blair, 4: 701 Underwood, Kim, 3: 493 Uniform Resource Locators, 3: 539 Union, Gabrielle, 4: 775–81, 775 (ill.), 780 (ill.) United Farm Workers of America, 4: 730, 733 United Nations, 2: 399 in Haiti, 1: 27, 28, 29–30 Iraq and, 2: 325, 326 United States Afghanistan war and, 3: 623, 628 Cold War between Soviet Russia and, 3: 626, 627 competitive swimmers in, 3: 582 Iraq invaded by, 1: 57; 2: 319, 325–26; 3: 459, 467, 623, 628 United States Golf Association, 4: 809 United States Wrestling Alliance, 2: 378 United Way, 4: 749 Universal Studios park (Florida) Marvel Super Hero Island at, 1: 18 University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 1: 198 University of Southern California, 1: 199

lxii

University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, 4: 656 “U Not Like Me,” 2: 217 Unstrung Harp, The (Gorey), 4: 719 Unzipped, 3: 451, 452, 454 Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, 3: 567–68 Urban Legends: Final Cut, 1: 11 URLs. See Uniform Resource Locators U.S. Armed Forces, 3: 628 U.S. Department of Defense, 2: 296 U.S. House of Representatives women in, 3: 571, 574–77 U.S. National Swimming Championships, 3: 582 U.S. Open (golf), 4: 721, 722, 723, 810–11 U.S. Open (tennis tournament), 3:, 631, 632, 633, 634, 635, 636; 4: 813, 815, 817, 818 U.S. Soccer Federation, 1: 3, 6 Under-17 team, 1: 4 U.S. Swimming Federation, 3: 584 U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links, 4: 807, 808 U.S. World University Games, 4: 746 USA Network, 1: 84 USC. See University of Southern California USGA. See United States Golf Association

v Vacuum cleaners robotic, 2: 299 Vagina Monologues, The (Ensler), 1: 129 Vajpayee, Atal Behari, 2: 253, 255 Valby, Karen, 1: 119 Van Helsing, 2: 334 Van Zandt, Townes, 2: 386 Vare Trophy (golf), 4: 722, 723 VariEze aircraft, 4: 650 VariViggen, 4: 648, 649 Vaughn, Vince, 4: 743 Vegan diets, 2: 291 Venice Biennale (art exhibition), 1: 183 Ventura, Jesse, 4: 665 Venture capital firms, 3: 609, 610 VERB: Its What You Do health compaign, 2: 271 Verizon Wireless HopeLine Program, 4: 749


•

volume 4

index Vermont same-sex unions in, 3: 501 Vernon, Polly, 4: 772 Vertical skaters, 2: 313, 315 Verwey, Bobby, 4: 810 VH1, 2: 277, 282–83 VH1/Vogue Fashion and Music Designer of the Year Award for Stella McCartney (2000), 2: 432 Victoria & Albert Museum (London) Extension to (Libeskind), 2: 411, 416 Video games skateboarding, 2: 315–16 Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Washington, D.C.), 2: 413 Vietnam War, 3: 461, 487; 4: 733 in film, 1: 118 opposition to, 3: 460 Vile Village (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Vinatieri, Adam, 1: 66 Vinoly, Rafael, 2: 416 Violence, 3: 483 gang, 2: 213, 214 Violent Cases (Gaiman), 2: 239 Virgin Suicides, The, 1: 119, 121, 122 Viruses, 2: 269, 274 VisiCalc, 1: 143 VISTA, 2: 370 Visual effects in Lord of the Rings trilogy (movies), 2: 341, 345 Vitousek, Peter, 4: 783–89 Vitra Design Museum (Germany), 2: 263 Vogelstein, Fred, 4: 682, 683 Volcanic sites, 4: 786 Volunteers in Service to America. See VISTA Voting rights, 4: 756–57 Voyager I, 4: 650-51

w “Walk This Way,” 4: 702 Walker, Joe, 4: 649 Walker, Peter, 2: 413 Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), 2: 263

Walking Tall, 2: 381 Wall, Shana, 4: 678 Wallace, Ben, 1: 75 Wallace, Rasheed, 1: 77 Wal-Mart, 1: 142; 2: 364; 3: 521, 522; 4: 803 Walsh, Fran, 2: 342, 343, 344, 345, 346 Walt Disney Company, 1: 171, 172, 174, 175–78; 3: 459–60, 467, 610; 4: 682 Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), 2: 259, 264–66, 265 (ill.) Walt Disney World, 1: 174, 175, 176 “Wanksta,” 2: 213, 216–17 Wanna-Be, 4: 773 WAPL. See U.S. Womens Amateur Public Links War crimes Saddam Hussein and, 2: 319, 324, 327 War of the Buttons, The (Peraud), 2: 231 Warhol, Andy, 3: 477, 481 Warner Brothers, 1: 12; 3: 564; 4: 682, 565, 683 Warner Brothers Music, 4: 683 Warner Brothers Network, 1: 9; 4: 683 Warner Brothers Studio Stores, 4: 683 Warner Music Group, 3: 564, 566 Washington, Isaiah, 4: 779 Watch Your Mouth (Handler), 4: 715, 716 Watchmen, The comic books, 3: 443 Watchmen (Moore), 2: 239 Water purifiers, 2: 398–99 “Waterfalls,” 3: 528 Watergate complex (Washington, D.C.), 3: 628 Water-purifying systems, 2: 393 Waters, Mark, 1: 210 Watson, Emma, 3: 599, 601, 603 Watson, Shane, 2: 433 Watts, Naomi, 1: 105 (ill.) “Way You Move, The,” 3: 532 WB Network, 3: 564 Weather Project, The (Eliasson), 1: 181–82, 186 (ill.), 187–88 Weaver, Sigourney, 1: 105 (ill.) Web pages, 3: 537 Web sites political activism and, 1: 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 Webb, James Neal, 2: 234 Webb, Kerrie, 4: 723 Webb, Veronica, 4: 702


•

volume 4

lxiii

index Weddings in India, 4: 691–98 “Weekend Update” (Saturday Night Live) Tina Fey as co-anchor of, 1: 205, 209 Weekend Warriors, 1: 127 Weider, Joe, 4: 666 Weiderhorn, Jon, 4: 771, 772 Weight control, 2: 275 Wein, Len, 2: 331 Weinstein, Bob, 1: 177; 3: 467 Weinstein, Harvey, 1: 177; 3: 467 Weir, Kristin, 2: 300 Weird Science comic books, 2: 393 Welch, Jack, 3: 516 Welch, Michael, 4: 755, 756 (ill.) Welcome Back, Kotter, 1: 173 Welcome to Collinwood, 4: 778 Welinder, Per, 2: 314 Wells, Frank, 1: 177 Wells, Melanie, 3: 518 Welsh Books Council, 3: 508 Wertheim, L. Jon, 3: 631 Wertmuller, Lina, 1: 123 West Nile virus, 2: 269, 274 West Side Story (movie musical), 4: 752 Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (Perth), 2: 330 Weta Workshop, 2: 343 Wetlaufer, Suzy, 1: 178 Whale Rider (film), 1: 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106 Whale Rider (novel), 1: 103, 104 What a Girl Wants, 1: 147 What I Like about You, 1: 147 What Makes Sammy Run, 4: 743 What the Deaf Man Heard, 3: 470 What Witch (Ibbotson), 2: 231 Wheelchairs, battery-powered, 2: 393, 396 When Mules Flew on Magnolia Street (Johnson), 2: 369 When My Name was Keoko (Park), 3: 557 When the Water Closes Over My Head (Napoli), 3: 493 Where Does the Day Go? (Myers), 3: 486 While You Were Out, 1: 127 Whipple, Diane, 3: 499 “Whisper, The” (Cold Play), 1: 114 White, Jack, 4: 791–97, 791 (ill.), 795 (ill.)

lxiv

White, Joseph, 1: 7 White, Meg, 4: 791–97, 791 (ill.), 795 (ill.) White, Mike, 1: 38, 39, 40 White, Shell, 2: 386 White Blood Cells, 4: 791, 794, 795 White Knight, 4: 651 White Stripes, 4: 791–97, 791 (ill.), 795 (ill.) Whitman, Meg, 4: 799–805, 799 (ill.), 804 (ill.) Whodini, 4: 701 “Why Not,” 1: 149, 150 Whyte, Murray, 3: 448 Wide Window, The (Lemony Snicket), 4: 717 Wie, Bo, 4: 808 Wie, Michelle, 4: 807–12, 807 (ill.), 809 (ill.) Wildcat Service Corporation, 3: 563 Wilde, 1: 45 Wilde, Oscar, 1: 45 Wilder, Laura Ingalls Little House series, 3: 552 Wilkerson, Isabel, 3: 625 Wilkin, Stephanie, 1: 103, 104 Will and Grace, 1: 135 Williams, Alex, 2: 283 Williams, Barry, 4: 658 Williams, Bob, 2: 355 Williams, Hank, 2: 387 Williams, John, 2: 307 Williams, Lance, 3: 500 Williams, Michelle, 2: 405 Williams, Pharrell, 4: 771 Williams, Richard, 4: 814, 815, 816 Williams, Serena, 4: 813–20, 813 (ill.), 818 (ill.) Grand Slam victories for, 4: 815 Williams, Simon, 1: 111 Williams, Vanessa, 2: 403 Williams, Venus, 4: 813, 815, 818, 819 Willis, Alasdhair, 2: 433 Wilson, Andrew, 4: 743 Wilson, Luke, 3: 470; 4: 742, 743 Wilson, MacKenzie, 1: 116 Wilson, Owen, 4: 737, 740–44, 737 (ill.), 742 (ill.) Wimbledon, 3: 634, 635, 636; 4: 813, 815, 817, 818 Winans, CeCe, 4: 708 Wind in the Willows, The (Grahame), 2: 231 Wind tunnels, 4: 648


•

volume 4

index Windsor Media, 4: 686 Winfrey, Oprah, 2: 299; 3: 624, 626, 630; 4: 670, 819 Wings, 2: 428 Wink display (Murakami), 3: 480 Winston Cup, 1: 153, 154, 159. See also Nextel Cup Wireless computers, 1: 142 Wireless technology, 2: 363 Wiseman, Rosalind Queen Bees and Wannabees: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends amd Other Realities of Adolescence, 1: 207, 209 Witch hunts, 3: 494, 495 Witch’s Tears, The (Nimmo), 3: 507 “With You,” 4: 712 Wizard of Oz, The (Baum), 2: 231 WNBA. See Women’s National Basketball Association Wolk, Josh, 4: 739 Wolverine (X-Men movie character) Hugh Jackman’s portrayal of, 2: 332, 333, 334 Wolverine (X-Men series), 2: 331 Wolverines (football team), 1: 63–64 Wolves in the Walls, The (Gaiman), 2: 243 Women in business, 3: 513–18; 4: 799–805 in Iran, 1: 161–68 in politics, 3: 571–78, 623–30 Women’s basketball, 4: 745–49 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, 4: 747 Women’s National Basketball Association, 2: 271 Women’s rights in India, 4: 691–96 in Iran, 1: 161–68 Women’s Tennis Association, 4: 816 Won, Eung, 3: 552, 556 Wonder, Stevie, 4: 771 Wonfor, Sam, 4: 675 Wood, Elijah, 2: 344 Wooden, John, 4: 745 Woods, Tiger, 4: 811 Woodsman, The, 1: 193 Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Massachusetts), 2: 394 Word-processing software, 1: 143

Wordstar, 1: 143 “Work It,” 1: 194 World Cup (soccer championship), 1: 7 World Golf Hall of Fame, 4: 721, 724 World Health Organization, 2: 271 World Music Awards, 2: 218 World trade, 1: 112 World Trade Center Memorial (Libeskind), 2: 411, 413, 416–19, 418 (ill.) World Trade Center (New York City), 2: 412 PackBots sent into, 2: 297–98 terrorist attacks on (2001), 3: 628 World Trade Organization, 1: 112 World War II, 1: 16; 2: 260, 410; 3: 552, 626; 4: 664, 833 World War Won (Pilkey), 3: 545 World Wide Web, 3: 608-9; 4: 685, 686, 688, 799 World Wrestling Federation, 2: 378, 379 World Wrestling Smackdowns, 2: 375 Worldwatch Institute, 4: 761 Wozniak, Steve, 1: 142; 2: 358, 359, 361 Wrestling, 2: 375–82 Wright, Donna, 4: 770 Wright, Johnny, 4: 770 Wright, Wilbur, 4: 649 Writers (comic book), 3: 444 Writing’s on the Wall, The, 2: 404, 405 WTO. See World Trade Organization WWF. See World Wrestling Federation Wyss, Trudy, 2: 232, 234

x Xerox, 1: 142 X-Files, The, 1: 36 X Games (Extreme Games), 2: 315, 316 X-Men action figures, 1: 16 X-Men (animated series), 1: 19 X-Men: Evolution (animated series), 1: 19 X-Men (movie), 1: 20 Hugh Jackman’s role in, 2: 329, 332–33 X-Men series, 1: 103 X2: X-Men United (movie), 2: 333 XXX (movie), 1: 193


•

volume 4

lxv

index

y Yahoo!, 4: 681–89 Yale Corporation, 3: 518 Yang, Jerry, 4: 684–85, 685 (ill.), 686 Yao Ming, 4: 821–28, 821 (ill.), 825 (ill.) Yao Zhiyuan, 4: 821 Yarbrough, Marti, 3: 532 Yeager, Chuck, 4: 649 Yeager, Jeana, 4: 650 “Yellow” (Coldplay), 1: 113 Yeshiva, 3: 453 “You Don’t Know Jack” (computer game), 1: 52 Young, Kristin, 3: 437 Young, Neil, 4: 752 Young, Steve, 1: 62 Young adult literature, 2: 367–73; 3: 483, 485, 486–89, 491, 493–96, 505–11; 4: 733 Young Landlords, The (Myers), 3: 487 Your Now Is My Surroundings (Eliasson), 1: 184–85 Your Repetitive View (Eliasson), 1: 185 Your Strange Certainty Still Kept (Eliasson), 1: 183

lxvi

Your Sun Machine (Eliasson), 1: 184 You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (play), 4: 656 Y Tu Mama También, 3: 603 Yudkowitz, Marty, 3: 611

z Zaleski, Jeff, 2: 243, 291 Zapatero, José Luis Rodríguez, 4: 829–35, 829 (ill.), 834 (ill.) Zel (Napoli), 3: 491, 493, 495 Zellweger, Rene, 4: 796 Zemeckis, Robert, 2: 343 Zhang Guojun, 4: 827 Zhizhi, Wang, 4: 824 ZKM (Germany), 1: 182–83 Zoetrope (film company), 1: 121 Zoglin, Richard, 3: 617 Zombie movies, 2: 342–43 Zoolander, 1: 35; 4: 737, 739, 742, 743 Zorro (television show), 1: 175


•

volume 4

UXL Newsmakers - Volumes 1-4 (UXL Newsmakers)

UXL Newsmakers - Volumes 5 & 6 (UXL Newsmakers)

Newsmakers 2006

Literary Newsmakers for Students Volume 1

The UXL Encyclopedia of Science

UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History

UXL Complete Life Science Resource Edition 1

UXL Encyclopedia of Weather and Natural Disasters

UXL encyclopedia of landforms and other geologic features

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 9 Re - St)

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 4 D - Em)

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 1: A-Cl

UXL encyclopedia of landforms and other geologic features

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances M-N

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances O-T

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 4: M-Se

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 1 A -As)

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 3: H-L

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances E-L

UXL Encyclopedia of Biomes, 2nd Edition 3 Volume Set

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 5: Sh-Z

UXL Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances Edition 1

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 3 Cat -Cy)

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive SubstancesC-D

UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (10 Volume Set)

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances A-B

Volumes

Literary Newsmakers for Students, Volume 1: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Newsmaking Novels, Nonfiction, and Poetry

14

14

14

UXL Newsmakers - Volumes 1-4 (UXL Newsmakers)

UXL Newsmakers - Volumes 5 & 6 (UXL Newsmakers)

Newsmakers 2006

Literary Newsmakers for Students Volume 1

The UXL Encyclopedia of Science

UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History

UXL Complete Life Science Resource Edition 1

UXL Encyclopedia of Weather and Natural Disasters

UXL encyclopedia of landforms and other geologic features

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 9 Re - St)

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 4 D - Em)

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 1: A-Cl

UXL encyclopedia of landforms and other geologic features

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances M-N

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances O-T

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 4: M-Se

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 1 A -As)

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 3: H-L

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances E-L

UXL Encyclopedia of Biomes, 2nd Edition 3 Volume Set

UXL Encyclopedia of Diseases and Disorders, Volume 5: Sh-Z

UXL Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances Edition 1

UXL Encyclopedia of Science (Vol. 3 Cat -Cy)

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive SubstancesC-D

UXL Encyclopedia of World Biography (10 Volume Set)

UXL. Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances A-B

Volumes

Literary Newsmakers for Students, Volume 1: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Newsmaking Novels, Nonfiction, and Poetry

14

14

14

Recommend Documents