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Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 19

Location:
Detroit, Michigan
Issue Date:
Page:
19
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

Shiiley Edef reports: The Beach Boys will celebrate their 25th anniversary with a TV special. See Page 11. Thursday, Oct. 23, IOCS TELEVISION 6-7 ENTERTAINMENT 8-9 OBITUARIES Call The Way We Live: 222-6610 FEATURE PAGE Out and into the action 3 3 DETROIT FRtL 0 toe garden 01 ntrmini 1 in muju. If- JI1.

fi 7 f' imlf.nin By DEBORAH KAPLAN Free Prest Staff Writer She has described herself as the woman who came to dinner, slipping through the White House portals to cover what then was known as the tea-party circuit, and stayed for the feast. The grocer's daughter from Detroit has covered six presidencies, taking in the bitter tonics of assassination, resignation, war and Watergate, to become something of a Washington institution herself. Presidents come and go, but Helen Thomas, United Press International's 66-year-old White House bureau chief, has kept her ringside seat to history after breaking down prejudice that prevented women from reporting on national news. Her sharp tongue, which drips acid and frequently draws blood, her tough questions and authoritative "Thank you, Mr. President," with which she closes press conferences as senior wire service reporter, are White House fixtures.

"If it weren't for pioneers of the '60s like Helen Thomas, Barbara Walters, Nancy Dick-erson of NBC and Fran Lewine of Associated Press, women who graduated college in the '70s would still be waiting for jobs in broadcast and print journalism," says Thomas' niece Suzanne Geha, a news anchor for WOTV in Grand Rapids. "These women had to fight their way out of the Rose Garden into the Oval Office." THOMAS IS AMONG eight Michigan women who, in a larger sense, fought their way out of rose gardens and other such female rence, who will receive the Philip A. Hart Award for men who have made women's advancement possible. In three years, 29 women have been inducted into the hall, founded by the Michigan Women's Studies Association, a non-profit academic and professional group, to preserve the writings, papers, photos and other records of Michigan women who have contributed to the state or nation and advanced the status of women. Lansing's historic Cooley-Haze House is being renovated to accommodate the hall, which is expected to open in mid-1987.

The women chosen for the Hall of Fame often have been cheated of their places in history, ignored or relegated to brief mentions in history books that are mostly devoted to the doings of men, says association President Gladys Beckwith. "IT'S IMPORTANT for women's contributions to be recognized, because it says to young girls who are growing up that there's no limit to what they can do," says Geha, 34, whose aunt's career inspired her own. "For women who are working, who have careers, it says that what they're doing has significance. They don't have to be in the public eye like Helen is; all our efforts can mount up and make a difference." Why a women's hall of fame? "Why not?" Thomas lobs back, brash tongue in cheek. "Men have dominated all fields so long, we need a break." Equality isn't a footnote for the history books, she says, but a present, pulsing See HALL OF FAME, Page 4B Why a women's hall of fame? "Why not?" Helen Thomas lobs back, brash tongue in cheek.

preserves into the centers of action, shunning the clipping shears for the trailblazer's ax. Picked from 100 nominees for advancing the status of women and for their contributions in their fields, they'll be inducted tonigh into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame at ceremonies at the Southf ield Hilton. Also honored will be Detroit Free Press publisher David Law MANNY CRISOSTOMODelrolt Free Press Leonard Maltin: "I consider myself very fortunate. I've been able to combine my two loves movies and writing in my job." He rides video boom to reviewer heaven More Michigan Women's Hall of Fame Selection of review books: 7B 1 i Yir a Dr. Ellzabpth Crosbv Dr.

Mariorie Peebles- Marv first woman full profes- Meyers retired chief Stratton artist and sor, University of Michigan physician, Ford Motor Co. founder of Detroit's Pewa-Medical School. World Headquarters. bic Pottery. Pi Al Clmlna I nLa Dalrll kiniuia kubnc unci- run ivia uvjic IVIIUII- uncii i i vaiiv ai uai, national educator and igan Supreme Court mem- nature lover and owner of thews Bible scholar iuuiiuoi ui ubii un 9 unci- udi ai iu iiauunai iiisiiiuic.

uuua inductees Chase Perrv nrfi Marlnrln Suianlr Mat. ucn- ailu llrSl WUrilail MulllUUISl Church bishop. cal clock has begun ticking loudly. Our hesitation has nothing to do with doubts about our relationship. For four years, including an 1 1-month bicycle-camping trip through 1 1 countries in Western Europe, it has been love and kisses, monogamy and four-star But marriage? Why invite the state and federal government into your personal af- rs 1 1 1 A By STEPHEN ADVOKAT Free Press Communications Writer The four people who have probably benefited most from the home video boom are Mr.

RCA, Mr. Sony, Mr. Panasonic and Leonard Maltin. Best known as the wide-eyed movie critic on "Entertainment Tonight," Maltin is also the author of "TV Movies." His book of capsule movie reviews started in 1969 as a companion for late-night TV viewers hooked on old films but has become a trusted guide for videocas-sette recorder owners who plow through listings at video rental stores. Last year's updated "TV Movies" sold more than 200,000 copies.

Responding to the video boom, the book will now be updated annually, instead of every two years. The new edition contains more than 17,000 entries, far more than its growing list of imitators. "This is probably the most dog-eared and plagiarized movie book around," Maltin said on a promotional tour for the newest edition. "But I consider myself very fortunate. I've been able to combine my two loves movies and writing in my job." MALTIN FELL IN LOVE with movies while growing up in New Jersey.

"I was one of those kids who was glued to the television set, watching movies." Weekends were spent in New York museums or art houses sitting through double features of classic films. MARTHA THIERRYDetroit Fret Press fairs? And pay more taxes for the privilege? To be married is, even if only subtly, to leave the ranks of free men and become a possession. Then there is the unfaithful company you are forced to keep: According to the latest Census Bureau statistics, more than one-third of all marriages end in divorce. In almost half of American marriages, one partner will suffer sexual betrayal by the pher. Maltin even tried making films at home, but stopped when they never met his expecta-.

tions. While still in high school, he turned his attention to writing his own movie review magazine, "Film Fan Monthly," the seed of "TV Movies." As he approached graduation, Maltin says, "a teacher, who also happened to be a friend of mine, said she wanted to introduce me to a (Bantam) book editor in New York. So we set up this interview, and I brought a couple of copies of my magazine with me. I was surprised to find out he already knew my work. "He showed me a movie review book they had and asked what I would do differently.

I -told him I'd add the director, say how long the movie was, whether it was in color or black, and white. He liked what I said. That was in -1968, and the first book came out in 1969. "The funny thing was, at first he didn't have the nerve to tell his bosses that he was signing a 17-year-old kid." BESIDES UPDATING "TV Movies," Mai- tin regularly lectures nationwide on film topics, contributes to the New York Times, Variety and Esquire, writes a weekly New York Post column, has written eight other: See MALTIN, Page 7B If marriage were a horse, we would shoot it to end its misery. TO EXPERIENCE the sanctity of marriage in 1986, you need either a time machine or a plane ticket to Ireland.

"Dinny, marriage is a wonderful thing, a blessing from God," said my Uncle Dan, still farming in County Limerick and still married to Aunt Peggy, 36 years and six children later. Riley and I visited them last fall. I introduced her as my fiancee. The announcement provoked a party. Late in the evening, my uncle was persuaded to tell again the story of his unwilling courtship and the role my father God rest his soul played.

And there I heard a new chapter in the old tale. "We were on our way to arrange the ceremony when I experienced a sudden conversion," said my uncle in a brogue as thick as Irish wool. They had stopped at a monastery to visit a cousin, Father Ned. When it was time to continue the journey, my uncle refused to go. "I said, 'God has called me.

He wants me to stay here and serve him as a Your father grabbed me by one arm and Father Ned grabbed the other and they pulled me out to the car," said my uncle. He rubbed a hand across his bald head, looked deep into the fire, took a quick look at his smiling wife, then continued. "Now isnt marriage a blessed sacrament. Didn't I give up sainthood for it?" Here (gulp) comes the groom DaiiIa fiiuan CrActiA luiiiiei icuclcll nosawan rapoio 111 ivnoii. and put me in a damned uncomfortable position," said Kevin, one year my junior.

"Until now I had always looked up to you, secure in the certitude that you would continue to blaze the trail," said Joe, 30. The worst cut of all came from the baby in the family, 25-year-old Brendan. "Congratulations. According to the last USA Today I read, you are now an official statistic in a nationwide trend." Tell an Irishman that he is part of a trend and you are likely to get a pint of Guinness poured over your opinion. Only Scots are more fiercely protective of the right to play the wise man or the fool in an individual way.

But indeed, not only was marriage about to throw me into the arms of one trend, it promised to pull me from the embrace of another: As a single male in my 30s, I had helped double the ranks of men in this country during the past 20 years who waited three decades to marry. "If the prospect of marriage is all that embarrassing for you, I can start shopping around for other offers," said Riley, my fiancee a woman of Scotch-Irish descent who is not exactly blushing at the prospect of marital union herself. SO WHY are we getting married? In a word, children. At 34, Riley's biologi- (b? By DENIS COLLINS KnlgW-Rldder Newspapers My uncle was 39 years old and growing potatoes on a rocky hillside farm in Abbeyfeale, Ireland, when my father felt the time had come for him to wed. "If he doesn't marry now, he'll dry up like last year's spuds," said my father, whose resolution to push his older brother into a state of matrimonial bliss was not weakened by the fact that he himself lived in Washington, D.C., in that summer of 1951.

So he kissed my mother and his four children (two more were yet to come) and flew to Ireland to contact the priest who arranged a "match" with a farm girl my uncle had never met. The four boys in my family have always treasured that tale. It connected us to a tradition that seemed impossibly ancient; it also gave justification to our own resolutions to maintain the tradition of the Irish bachelor in America. Thirty-nine seemed a civilized age to begin considering wedlock. SO IT was a surprise, and not a pleasant one to be sure, when my three younger brothers discovered that a mere stripling of 37 years, was planning marriage.

"You bring shame upon the family shield w-.

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