Banner Graphic, Volume 18, Number 233, Greencastle, Putnam County, 9 June 1988 — Page 5

People in the news Ali punchy in crowd scenes WASHINGTON (AP) Muhammad Ali says it’s crowds like those that once made him feel he could “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee” and not the Parkinson’s syndrome from which he suffers that cause him occasionally to slur and stumble when he speaks, a published report says. “When it’s crowded, I feel the pressure and I just can’t project,” said the forma- three-time heavyweight boxing champion. “I BET YOU’RE SURPRISED I’M talking this good,” Ali told a Washington Post reporter during a telephone interview. “See, I’m not stupid. I’m not brain-damaged. The mind is g00d.... The difference now is that I don’t feel so crowded.” Ali was in Washington to attend a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday to announce the appointment of a friend, Stephen Saltzburg, to a Justice Department post. “God gave me this physical impairment to remind me that I am not the greatest He is,” said Ali of the Parkinson’s syndrome that has afflicted him. Ali told the newspaper he must take medication every three hours to relieve some of the symptoms. Ali also spoke of the frustration he feels when he is incapable of demonstrating to people that he is not brain-damaged and that he is hurt when people talk about him in his presence as if he doesn’t understand them. DOCTORS HAVE SAID ALI’S illness is a progressive neurological degeneration related to Parkinson’s disease that was caused by blows he suffered during his boxing career. The disease causes the body’s muscles to be unresponsive, making it hard to move and sometimes causing the slurred speech that has been the source of rumors about Ali being braindamaged. “It’s unfortunate that people have an image of me as a legendary figure... and if they see me as anything less than Superman, they can’t accept it.” 9 NEW YORK (AP) Talk show host and actress Oprah Winfrey says the three major TV networks at first rejected her idea to film the novel “The Women of Brewster Place” because “they said it was too womanish.” But Winfrey said in the June 13 issue of People Magazine that she wouldn’t take ’no’ for an answer. She delivered copies of Gloria Naylor’s book, which won the 1982 American Book award, to five executives at ABC. “I passed them around and said, ‘Look, I know you are very wise and perceptive men, and the only reason you have turned down this project is because you haven’t read the book. You could not read it and turn it down. I’ll be calling by Tuesday to see who’s read it We’re going to have a book report, fellas.’” By the deadline, only one executive had read the book, which chronicles the ghetto lives of seven black women. He was sold, said Winfrey, who is also the film’s executive producer as well as its star. The movie, which also stars Cicely Tyson, Robin Givens, Jackce Harry and Lonette McKee, is in production at Universal Studios and is to air next season on ABC.

‘Star Trek’ adventure continues

LOS ANGELES (AP) Trekkies who have been following the galactic adventures of Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock for 22 years can now join the action in the new “Star Trek Adventure” at the Universal Studios Tour. The attraction, which allows fans to play the parts of the Starship Enterprise crew, Klingons and other aliens, opened Thursday. Gene Roddenberry, creator of “Star Trek,” was an early visitor to the attraction two weeks ago. The revolving parts of the stage were working, but workers were scurrying to complete the 2,000-seat theater. On the stage, a Klingon stood on the bridge of his Bird of Prey spaceship and petted his Puppy Lizzard. The stage turns to bring forward the bridge of the Enterprise, the engineering section, transporter room and the surface of the planet Akumal 7. RODDENBERRY GAVE HIS approval for the attraction, and the workers, recognizing him, crowded around to shake his hand. Roddenbeny, William Shatner and other actors from the TV and movie series are scheduled to be on hand for the opening. About 1,500 Trekkies were invited to the premiere performance after they were the first to respond to a mailing of 26,000 invitations sent to “Star Trek” fan clubs. Leonard Nimoy, who plays Mr. Spock, is the only member of the original cast not expected at the opening. He is directing a movie in Canada. “STAR TREK” FIRST RAN on NBC from 196669, then became one of the hottest shows in reruns. Paramount Studios has so far made four hit “Star Trek” movies and the current series “Star Trek: The

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ROME (AP) Pop singer Whitney Houston gave Rome an unscheduled performance as she soaked up the sun on a hotel balcony, drawing an audience of cheering fans, including Olympic skiing champion Alberto Tomba. Ms. Houston, in Rome for a concert, was spotted sunbathing Wednesday in shorts and a T-shirt with her legs dangling from the hotel’s second-floor balcony on the central Via Veneto. Italy’s state television alarmingly reported on the midday news that there were rumours she was going to jump. Meanwhile, cheering fans gathered outside, shouting “sei forte,” or “you’re great” Tomba, in Rome for a tennis tournament, heard the shouts from his fourth-floor room and thought the ovation was for him. Realizing his mistake, Tomba joined in the cheering. The commotion also attracted police officers standing guard at the nearby U.S. embassy. The police, who said they feared for the singer’s safety, dispersed the crowd and asked Ms. Houston to return to her room. • NEW YORK (AP) Rock ’n’ roll star Chuck Berry is being sought by police after failing to surrender for booking on a six-month-old misdemeanor assault charge alleging that he slapped a woman. Police Officer Max Polster said he believes Berry, 62, failed to show as expected Sunday because of a misunderstanding between prosecutors and Berry’s lawyer. A warrant had already been issued for Berry’s arrest in January after he failed to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court to answer the assault charge. If convicted, he could face up to a year in jail. The writer and singer of such rock classics as “Roll Over Beethoven” and “Johnny B. Goode” is accused of hitting a woman in a hotel on Dec. 18. • DENVER (AP) Yoko Ono got an autograph and a hug when she showed up at a book-signing by Jimmy Carter at a book store in Denver. Carter was promoting his new book, “An Outdoor Journal: Adventures and Reflections.” Ono was in town to open an exhibit of artwork by her late husband, John Lennon. She approached the former president as he was preparing to leave the Tattered Cover Book Store. Ono received the autograph and a hug before making a quick exit In the latest of his six books, Carter writes of his lifelong relationship with nature.

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Next Generation” has become a hit in syndication. “It still amazes me that ‘Star Trek’ has become a popular myth,” said Roddenberry. "I constantly tell myself that I’m the same guy I was when I was trying to get a script assignment.” “The Star Trek Adventure” allows 29 members of the studio audience to dress up in costumes and play various roles on stage. The performances will be taped, mixed with footage from “Star Trek” movies and computerized equipment will produce 8-minute videocassettes that cost $35. THERE WILL BE A NEW show, new performers and new videocassettes every 30 minutes. The show was produced by Phil Hetterma, who also produced last year’s new Universal attraction, “Miami Vice.” Universal also plans new attractions based on the movies “Back to the Future” and “E.T.”

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June 9,1988 THE BANNERGRAPHIC