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Published on 08/24/1998 All articles from this issue

Celebrity Forum series lives up to its name

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By Clyde Noel

A Side of Clyde

On Sept. 11 Doris Kearns Goodwin will be the first speaker at the 31st annual celebrity forum sponsored by Foothill College Community Services. The forum is held at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts at De Anza College in Cupertino.

The program is a continuous sellout because performers appearing at Flint Center are personalities the audience wants to hear. This year in addition to Goodwin, Bill Bradley, John Major, Desmond Tutu, Pat Buchanan, George Stephanopoulos, Dee Dee Myers and several other speakers will contribute to the celebrity forum's success.

The program has been so successful that a request for a second performance by the speakers will be held in the San Jose Center for Performing Arts on Monday nights.

Perennial host and master of ceremonies of the celebrity forum is Richard Henning. Through his effort, the selection of various performers has led to the program's success.

Last month, I had the privilege of traveling with Henning in South Africa and while riding on a bus in Capetown, the guide pointed out where Nelson Mandella and Bishop Tutu lived. Desmond Tutu will speak at the Forum, March 8, 1999.

"Dick, how can you get people from all over the world to perform at the celebrity forum?" I asked.

"It's difficult because there are speakers men don't want to hear, and speakers women don't want to hear," Henning said. "Then we also have to find speakers we can afford and who can fill the 2,500 seats in the Flint Center."

Earlier this year Henning circulated a questionnaire to the audience and the results were enlightening.

He found more than 63 percent of the people attending the forum were between ages 51-70 and less than 12 percent were under the age 45. Answering the questionnaire were 57.3 percent female and 42.7 male.

Political parties were about even with 38 percent Republican, 37 percent Democratic and 14 percent independent.

More than 39 percent were retired but only 1 percent were students, which is interesting because the programs are held at an institution of higher learning. The professions were evenly distributed among computer and electronics, engineers, corporate business, medicine/healthcare and education categories.

What does the audience wish to hear? World affairs, of course. American politics, current events, books and authors are the most desired topics. Ranking order from 1 to 10 as the least, the audience is not interested in hearing motivational speeches or about sports, because they were ranked last at 9 and 10.

So the questionnaire asked, "Who don't you want to hear, and who do you want to hear?" Men and women differ on who can sit two hours and enjoy a speaker's remarks.

Taking men first, performers receiving the highest negative vote, from a list of 200 names, were Roseanne, Johnny Cochran, Dan and Marilyn Quayle, Gloria Steinem, Burt Reynolds, Pat Robertson and Martha Stewart.

Women don't want to hear Rush Limbaugh, Roseanne, Dan and Marilyn Quayle, Burt Reynolds, Johnny Cochran, Donald Trump and Pat Robertson.

In their highest positive vote order, men want to hear Alan Greenspan, Sandra Day O'Connor, John Madden, Norman Schwarzkopf, Tom Clancy, Paul Newman, Bill Cosby and Bill Gates.

Women's preferences are Oprah Winfrey, Sandra Day O'Connor, Paul Newman, Bill Cosby, Barbara Walters, Amy Tan, Alice Walker and James Earl Jones.

Now we know why Dick Henning has a difficult time finding speakers who appeal both to men and women, and still keep Flint Center's plush seats filled.