People Talk 11/11/02

LaLanne has longevity down to a routine

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- With 88 years behind him and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, fitness guru Jack LaLanne could be forgiven for resting on his laurels -- but he's too busy.

"How many of you have a disease called flabbyseatitus?" LaLanne asked about 100 men and women as he led them through a workout Friday at the Arthritis Institute of the Desert Regional Medical Center.

His secret to longevity? Devotion to routine. LaLanne said he wakes at 5 a.m., lifts weights and swims for two hours.

Breakfast is soy milk mixed with 50 grams of protein powder, while lunch consists of four egg whites and six raw vegetables. For supper, it's fish -- salmon is his favorite -- 10 raw vegetables and a couple of glasses of wine.

LaLanne said others can keep fit like him if they pass on caffeine, sugar and cigarettes.

"Would you get your dog up in the morning and give it coffee, cigarettes and doughnuts?" he asked.

LaLanne was honored with a star on Hollywood Boulevard in September.

College gets surprise donation from Oprah

CLEVELAND -- Talk show host Oprah Winfrey stunned a college audience with a major donation for scholarships.

While giving the keynote speech at Cuyahoga Community College's scholarship luncheon, Winfrey offered to match the $600,000 the event was expected to raise for scholarships.

She said her donation was a tribute to the dual forces that have shaped her life.

"All that I am or will ever become is because of my spiritual foundation and my educational foundation," Winfrey said Friday.

College President Jerry Sue Thornton was as surprised as everyone else.

"We had no idea," Thornton said. "This means so much. We had to turn away students who wanted to come in the fall because we didn't have enough scholarship money."

The two-year college has more than 20,000 students. Winfrey has been friends for 15 years with the Rev. Otis Moss, a Baptist minister who co-sponsored the luncheon.

Bob Marley's daughter presents clothing line

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Bob Marley's Grammy award-winning daughter, Cedella, took a break from singing reggae tunes to present her own clothing line at a fashion show.

She says she designs for women with an eye for the adventurous, but doesn't want her Catch A Fire line to be boxed into any category.

"I wouldn't classify it as anything -- I don't like to classify," said Marley, 35, who has no formal training as a designer. She spoke by telephone from her Miami home.

"My clothing is for people who want to express their individuality."

The collection was shown Saturday in Kingston as part of Caribbean Fashionweek.

Strong on denim with an urban theme, the Catch A Fire line has caught on with celebrities in the United States, including singer Gwen Stefani of No Doubt and actress Angela Bassett.

After winning four Grammies as a member of the Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers reggae group, Bob Marley's first-born daughter decided two years ago to pursue her longtime hobby of fashion designing.

Donald Trump to give golf course a face lift

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. -- Billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump plans to turn a beleaguered Cliffside golf club into a world class course.

Trump said he intends to close on the Ocean Trails Golf Club by December and hopes to begin improvements by January.

The golf course, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean, lost three holes in 1999 when part of it slid into the sea. Engineers have spent several years reinforcing the land.

The course, located 20 miles south of Los Angeles, may reopen as early as June.

Trump told a group of civic leaders at the club Saturday that he picked the site primarily because of its location.

"We've had a love affair with this site for many years," he said.

Hanks will portray FBI agent in Spielberg movie

MARIETTA, Ga. -- Former FBI agent Joseph Shea can count on some thrills from seeing Tom Hanks portray him in Steven Spielberg's upcoming movie "Catch Me If You Can."

But that's about it.

Since Hanks' character in "Catch Me if You Can" goes by a different name, Shea won't get any royalties or other payments.

The film is about the search for and capture of con man Frank Abagnale, played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

In the late 1960s, Shea tracked down Abagnale and arrested him near Atlanta. Abagnale went to prison but escaped during a work detail. He was arrested again and spent five years in prison for crimes that included impersonating doctors, lawyers and pilots all over the country.

"He was not a violent type of criminal -- no guns, no knives, never hurt anybody," Shea said. "That wasn't his style. He used his brains and his bravado to pass himself off as what he was impersonating."

"Catch Me if You Can" is based on a book by Abagnale, now 54 and married with three sons. He owns Abagnale & Associates, a secure document consulting company.

"He deserves some credit for changing his whole lifestyle," Shea said of Abagnale.

-- From wire reports