Reading Turns the Page to Freedom--Barbara Bush

Freedom, for people “enslaved by ignorance,” can be as simple as learning the ABCs, said literacy champion Barbara Bush, who exhorted the graduating class of tiny Bennett College in North Carolina to follow the example of 19th-Century black activist Frederick Douglass and help others become educated members of society. Mrs. Bush, in her commencement address to the 92 graduates of the predominantly black liberal arts college for women, said Douglass has been one of her heroes since she read the autobiography of the one-time slave who became a scholar and writer. She said she was particularly struck by Douglass’ account of having overheard his owner admonishing his wife not to teach the slaves how to read because doing so would make them impossible to control. “Frederick Douglass’ revelation holds true today,” said the First Lady, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters by the college. “There are many types of slavery, and education is the key to freedom.” Mrs. Bush, mother of five and grandmother of 11, is active in literacy programs and is honorary chairwoman of the National Advisory Council of Literacy Volunteers of America.

--When 9-year-old Katie Cutshaw was battling for her life three summers ago, it wasn’t the discomfort of the chemotherapy or the pain of kidney failure that distressed her--it was missing the chance to show her beloved pony at the 4-H fair. She “never thought of leukemia as anything more than an inconvenience,” her mother, Connie Hansen, said. But missing the 4-H show, “nothing upset her more,” Hansen said. Now the young Montesano, Wash., girl who ached to care for her pony will have her hands full with two new horses--a gift from actress Shirley MacLaine, who was boarding the two purebred Arabian mares near her Washington home but found she was unable to make time for riding. Now they are Katie’s to keep for as long as she wants, a chore Katie is taking seriously. “There’s stuff you need to do every day,” the fourth-grader solemnly explained.

--Singer Judy Collins and Academy Award-winning film maker Vivienne Verdon-Roe are co-winners of the Helen Caldicott Leadership Award of the Boston-based Women’s Action for Nuclear Disarmament Education Fund. Collins has recorded 21 albums and Verdon-Roe crafted the Oscar-winning documentary, “Women for America, for the World.” The award is named for Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of Physicians for Nuclear Responsibility, and this year’s winners were named in conjunction with the women’s action group’s “Mother’s Day for Peace” project.