Patrick Dempsey bikes, runs, walks for cancer fight
Patrick Dempsey’s bicycling, running and walking fundraiser in western Maine to raise money for his cancer center has netted more than $1 million.
Nearly 4,000 participants took part in the fifth annual Dempsey Challenge on Saturday and Sunday, raising $1.1 million for the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer, Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. The final tally is expected to grow to more than $1.2 million.
More than 1,100 cyclists rode routes ranging from 10 to 100 miles on Sunday, with the actor making an appearance during the event’s closing ceremony.
Dempsey, a native of Buckfield, Maine, plays Dr. Derek Shepherd on TV’s “Grey’s Anatomy.” He launched the Dempsey Challenge after his mother’s experience with cancer. He founded the Dempsey Center in 2008.
Graffiti art a bargain in Central Park
Banksy, the British graffiti artist causing a sensation in New York City, says he sold a few of his artworks over the weekend for up to $60 apiece, far below the thousands they typically fetch.
Banksy wrote on his website that he had set up a stall in Central Park on Saturday with original signed works. But the secretive artist warned Sunday: “That stall will not be there again today.”
The website features a photo and video of the pop-up stall with a sign that read: “Spray Art. $60.” Eight people over the course of the day are seen buying the works and getting a hug, a peck on the cheek or a handshake after a purchase from an elderly man working the stall. It is not clear who the man is. Banksy refuses to give his real name.
The total take for the day was $420, according to the website.
It said one man from Chicago bought four works because he was decorating his new home and needed something for the walls.
One woman bought two small canvases for her children but only after negotiating a 50 percent discount, the website said.
Banksy’s work has been turning up on the city’s streets and all over social media in recent weeks.
The birthday bunch
Actress Linda Lavin (“Alice”) is 76. Actress-director Penny Marshall is 70. Musician Richard Carpenter (The Carpenters) is 67. Singer Tito Jackson is 60. Actor Larry Miller (“The Nutty Professor”) is 60. Actor Jere Burns (“Good Morning, Miami,” “Dear John”) is 59. TV chef Emeril Lagasse is 54. Drummer Mark Reznicek (The Toadies) is 51. Singer Eric Benet is 47. “Trading Spaces” host Paige Davis is 44. Actor Dominic West is 44. Singer Kimberly Schlapman (Little Big Town) is 44. Singer Ginuwine is 43. Singer Jaci Velasquez is 34. Singer Keyshia Cole is 32. Actor Vincent Martella (“Everybody Hates Chris”) is 21.