Heston ignores Moore’s plea

Actor Charlton Heston spoke Wednesday at a National Rifle Assn.-sponsored get-out-the-vote rally in Tucson, Ariz., despite a last-minute plea from filmmaker Michael Moore asking him to drop out.

The event, held two days after a University of Arizona student there shot and killed three professors and himself, would only cause more grief to relatives and friends, Moore said.

“These are not the actions of a once brave and decent man,” he wrote in a letter that was sent to Heston and posted on Moore’s Web site. About 500 people, including gun control advocates, attended the rally. Bill Powers, a spokesman for Heston, said the event had been planned months ago. NRA President Heston, who recently announced he is in the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s, spoke for a few minutes, Powers said.

Moore’s most recent film, “Bowling for Columbine,” examines violence in America and includes an unplanned interview with Heston. The result was so unflattering that Jack Gilardi, Heston’s agent, said, “I don’t believe Mr. Heston would listen to Michael Moore.”

-- Lynn Smith