People: Life is still sweet for Caroline
Caroline Kennedy turned 50 Tuesday, becoming eligible for membership in AARP.
But the nonprofit organization has bigger plans for the daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy is featured on the cover of the January/February issue of AARP The Magazine and will receive the magazine’s Inspire Award next week.
“Ever since I was a little girl, people have told me that my father changed their lives, or that President Kennedy’s inaugural challenge, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,’ inspired a generation in the 1960s that transformed our nation with courage,” she says.
“To me that is one of his greatest legacies. Now, it is up to us to redefine that commitment for our time.”
The mother of three has raised tens of millions of dollars for New York City public schools, and also has been active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense and Education Fund and the bipartisan Commission on Presidential Debates.
Walking the talk
Actors and human rights activists Angelina Jolie and Don Cheadle are among the nominees for the eighth annual Most Inspiring Person of the Year award by BeliefNet, the online community for religion and spirituality.
Nominees were chosen for their “noteworthy humanitarian actions that inspire and encourage us all to live better lives.” Visitors to the BeliefNet site can vote until Dec. 10.
Taking a walk
Meanwhile, Ms. Jolie’s significant other, Brad Pitt, has dropped out of the upcoming film production “State of Play” amid reported concerns about the script.
Russell Crowe is being mentioned as a possible replacement for Pitt in the role of a journalist who helps investigate the death of a congressman’s mistress.
Still packing a Ponch
Former “ChiPs” star Erik Estrada is back in Muncie, Ind., this week for training to keep up the reserve police officer status he earned as part of the reality show “Armed & Famous.”
“When I make a commitment to be somewhere, it’s done, like gold,” says Estrada, 58. “And I’ll be here next year too, and the year after that.
“And I hope, 30 or 40 years from now, God willing, that when it’s time to put me in my grave, I’ll go in my Muncie uniform and badge.”
Wham, bam! – thank you, sir
Finally, the Food Network is kicking Emeril Lagasse down a notch.
“Emeril Live” will cease production Dec. 11 after 10 years on the air, though the network will continue to air reruns, along with his “The Essence of Emeril” and the occasional special.
Says Lagasse: “I have lots of new ideas cooking.”
The birthday bunch
Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. is 78. Singer Randy Newman is 64. Musician Paul Shaffer (“Late Show With David Letterman”) is 58. Actor Ed Harris is 57. Actress S. Epatha Merkerson (“Law and Order”) is 55. Actor Judd Nelson is 48. Comedian Jon Stewart is 45. Musician apl.de.ap (Black Eyed Peas) is 33