Despite the assassination of her father in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy`s daughter Mary Kerry remains opposed to the death penalty. ”I felt that way even when I was 8 and trying to make sense of my father`s death,” said Kennedy in Northampton, Mass., to Amnesty International. Even then, she said, her concerns turned to her father`s killer, Sirhan Sirhan. ”I was thinking about his mother, his father . . . I didn`t want to be part of (his execution), and I didn`t want my country to be part of it either.”
FRANCE AWARDS FILM HONORS Kirk Douglas, whose autobiography has made him persona non grata in his childhood hometown of Amsterdam, N.Y., found the welcome mat unrolled for him in Paris. Douglas was made an officer in the Legion d`Honneur by Culture Minister Jack Lang at France`s annual Cesar awards, the equivalent of the American Oscar for filmmakers. At the ceremonies, for which Douglas served as emcee, the late Francois Truffaut and Gerard Depardieu came away with top honors. Truffaut`s 1981 film, ”The Last Metro,” was named best movie of the `80s by 2,500 film professionals who choose Cesar recipients. The movie starred Depardieu-also chosen best actor of the decade-in a story about Nazi occupation of Paris in World War II. Another big winner: ”Too Beautiful for You,” a movie about a salesman who abandons a beautiful wife for a passionate affair with his dumpy secretary. It won five Cesars, including best film, best director and best screenplay.
THE ROONEY TALLY Andy Rooney`s return to ”60 Minutes” evidently brought viewers back in huge numbers. Indeed, more people watched the CBS program than was typical even in pre-controversy days. According to A. C. Nielsen`s overnight survey, 36 percent of the nation`s television sets in use Sunday evening in 23 major cities were tuned to ”60 Minutes” during the hour that Rooney welcomed himself back from network purgatory. Compared to the paltry 27 percent share just a week ago, that`s like finding a lost sock in the washing machine-assuming that you ever wonder about such things.
NO SNOW JOB HERE For all the grief Vice President Dan Quayle catches for malapropisms, it`s nice to know that he is a sure hand where it counts-at skiing. ”This guy can really move,” said an admiring Billy Imoden, who films the ”American Skier” show for devotees of downhill skiing. Quayle reportedly is so proficient that Secret Service agents had to take tests before accompanying him down the slopes to Vail, Colo.
WELL, IT`S HOUSTON One woman ate a dozen cockroaches. Two others covered themselves with syrup, coconut, almonds and chocolate to look like Almond Joy candy bars. With money on the line, no stunt was too bizarre for Houston radio station KKBQ, which offered $10,000 to whoever could perform the most outrageous stunt. One woman shaved her shoulder-length hair and let people sign their names on her head. A man shaved his underarm hair, topped it with shaving cream and-ulp-ate the mixture. Two women showed their love of hot dogs by sitting in a small pool filled with wieners and spraying ketchup and mustard over each other. Alas, none of this was extreme enough. The grand prize went to Colin Thiele, 19, who covered his body with honey and chicken feathers, jumped into a pool of pig poop and bobbed for apples and carrots. ”I would do it again,” said Thiele. ”For $10,000, it`s hard to turn down.”
MISS USA DREAMS ON ”I had not the happiest of upbringings, but you don`t have to become a statistic just because you grew up in a broken home,” says America`s newest Miss USA, who ought to know.
Carole Gist, 20, of Detroit, was raised by a single parent. She moved often, and often into rough neighborhoods.
”My home was broken into a lot,” said Gist, who was Miss Michigan.
”When I was 5, I remember seeing a burglar in my home; I was frightened to death.”
The first black ever chosen in the 37-year-old Miss USA contest, Gist said she dreams of establishing a fine arts institute for poor children who too often learn to think ”the only way you can get ahead now is in sports.” A junior in management and marketing at Northwood Institute, Gist was selected Friday from among 51 women competing for $200,000 in cash and prizes.
