People talk 6/18

Hopkins wins festival's Silversword award

WAILEA, Hawaii -- Adrien Brody accepted the Maui Film Festival's Silversword Award on behalf of winner Anthony Hopkins.

Hopkins sent a letter saying he was "extremely sorry" that he couldn't attend Friday night. "Please know that I am there with you in my mind and spirit," Hopkins wrote.

The Silversword Award "honors a special film artist for their contributions to the art of filmmaking and their personal commitment to effect positive change in the world," the festival said.

"I am honored and humbled that you have bestowed this honor upon me," said the 65-year-old Hopkins, who won a best-actor Oscar for 1991's "The Silence of the Lambs."

Also honored during the festival: director Rob Reiner and Geena Davis, who won a best-supporting actress Oscar for 1988's "The Accidental Tourist."

German publishers award prize to Sontag

BERLIN -- Susan Sontag was awarded the German book trade's prestigious Peace Prize Tuesday for her role as an "intellectual ambassador" between the United States and Europe and for her human rights activism.

The 70-year-old writer is to receive the $17,700 annual prize Oct. 12 during this year's Frankfurt Book Fair.

Sontag is popular in Germany. She also has campaigned on behalf of jailed and persecuted authors.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she accused U.S. public officials and media commentators of trying to "infantilize" the public.

"Where is the acknowledgment that this was not a 'cowardly' attack on 'civilization' or 'liberty' or 'humanity' or 'the free world' but an attack on the world's self-proclaimed superpower, undertaken as a consequence of specific American alliances and actions?" Sontag wrote in The New Yorker magazine shortly after the attacks.

Moore, Warner to co-chair Black Theatre Festival

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Melba Moore and Malcolm-Jamal Warner will serve as co-chairmen of the 2003 National Black Theatre Festival.

The festival, which includes theater, film, poetry, workshops and seminars, is set for Aug. 4 to 9 at venues throughout the city. This will be the eighth festival, which takes place in alternate years.

This year's festival is expected to include more than 30 productions.

CSI's Petersen ties the knot over weekend

LOS ANGELES -- William Petersen, who stars in CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," married his longtime girlfriend during a weekend ceremony in Italy.

Petersen, 50, and former schoolteacher Gina Cirrone were married Saturday in Petrignano, Italy, his publicist, Jennifer Allen, said Monday. There were no details about the ceremony.

The couple, who live in Los Angeles, were honeymooning in Europe, Allen said. Petersen, one of the show's producers, plays Gil Grissom on the TV series.-- From wire reports

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NEWTON, Iowa -- Jesse Ventura is scheduled to headline this year's induction ceremony at the International Wrestling Institute and Museum.

The former Minnesota governor and one-time professional wrestler will receive the Frank Gotch Award during the Aug. 2 ceremony.

"Every year we give the Frank Gotch Award to a person we think brings honor and prestige to the sport of professional wrestling," museum executive director Mike Chapman said recently. "Jesse Ventura has definitely brought honor and prestige through his efforts in the political arena and through the incredible impact he's had on every major talk show in America."

Gotch, born in Humboldt, was considered to be the first great professional wrestling champion, holding the title from 1908-15.

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RAPID CITY, S.D. -- An exhibit that features a bronze sculpture commissioned by director-actor Kevin Costner is open for business in the northern Black Hills.

Artist Peggy Detmers' sculpture depicts three Lakota riders on horseback in a hunt for 14 bison. The exhibit, just north of Deadwood, also includes an interpretive center, a restaurant and a living-history encampment.

Costner, who shot much of his film "Dances With Wolves" in South Dakota, commissioned the sculpture nine years ago as part of his proposed Dunbar Resort. The $100 million hotel and golf course project hasn't been built.

The 1990 movie won seven Oscars, including best picture and best director for Costner.

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COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Former Sen. Strom Thurmond has become a grandfather for the first time at 100.

Martin Taylor Whitmer III was born Monday afternoon at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. He's the son of Julie Thurmond Whitmer and Martin Whitmer. All are said to be doing well, according to U.S. Attorney and proud uncle Strom Thurmond Jr.

"We are overjoyed and grateful to God with the safe arrival of baby Tate," the elder Thurmond and his wife, Nancy, said in a statement. Tate is the child's nickname.

Nancy Thurmond flew to Washington to be with her daughter, while Strom Thurmond remained at his private suite at the Edgefield County Hospital. He has lived there since retiring in January after 48 years in the Senate. Thurmond was replaced by fellow Republican and former U.S. Rep. Lindsey Graham.

Nancy Thurmond said the Whitmers want to travel to Edgefield soon so Strom Thurmond can see his first grandchild.

Julie Whitmer surprised the former senator at his 100th birthday party in December by announcing she was pregnant.

"I believe you're going to give me what I wanted," Thurmond said at the time.

-- From wire reports

AP Photos NY111 Thurmond; NY112 Sontag; HIMAN103 Reiner; NY107 Ventura; NY108 Costner