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Eds: Items on Oprah Winfrey, Arthur Miller, Helen Caldicott and Jack Welch

AP Photos NY120 of Winfrey, NY121 of Miller, NY123 of Caldicott and NY121 of Welch

ATLANTA (AP) – Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey realizes many women wish they could have her successful life.

“I know what that’s like because I grew up wishing I could be Diana Ross,” Winfrey said.

Winfrey spoke Saturday during her “Hi Gorgeous” tour, which promotes health, body acceptance and individuality. The sold-out event was geared toward subscribers of O, The Oprah Magazine, but also drew fans of her TV show.

Nearly 3,000 women paid $45 each to hear Winfrey speak and to learn lifestyle tips on healthy eating, matching wine with food and yoga.

“It’s OK to be who you are,” said Zannett Meeks, 39, who brought her 82-year-old grandmother to the event. “We all have the potential to reach high goals.”

The tour stops in Kansas City and Jersey City, N.J., next month.



TULSA, Okla. (AP) – Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Arthur Miller has been named the winner of the 2004 Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award.

The selection committee chose Miller on Friday, citing his body of work, which includes classics such as “The Crucible” and “Death of a Salesman,” for which he won the Pulitzer Prize.

The award, which includes a $25,000 cash award, will be presented to Miller on Dec. 4.

Miller’s work also includes “All My Sons,” “A View From the Bridge” and “The Misfits,” written in 1961 for then-wife Marilyn Monroe.

Although approaching 90, Miller continues to write and lecture. In 2001, he published a collection of essays titled “On Politics and the Art of Acting.”



PORTLAND, Maine (AP) – Anti-nuclear activist Helen Caldicott warned of a continuing global threat posed by U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles.

Caldicott said Saturday in a speech sponsored by peace groups that the former Cold War rivals still have thousands of nuclear weapons aimed at each other and a single mistake could result in mutual annihilation.

“Anything that happens in the world that triggers anxiety could blow us all off the face of the Earth,” Caldicott said. “No one knows about it now. In the eighties, people were scared out of their brains.”

The 65-year-old Australian activist and author’s spoke mainly about problems of command and control, especially inside Russia’s aging nuclear program.

She said problems with nuclear weapons programs could lead to a mistaken belief that the country is under attack, prompting a decision to launch a retaliatory strike.

Caldicott, who lives in Washington, D.C., was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.



BOSTON (AP) – Retired General Electric CEO Jack Welch brought a host of high-profile executives and media celebrities to Boston during the weekend for his marriage to former Harvard Business Review editor Suzy Wetlaufer.

“It’s never been better, man,” said Welch, 68, giving a thumbs up as he descended the rose petal-strewn front steps of the Park Street Church.

Wetlaufer became involved with Welch after interviewing him for a Harvard Business Review profile, and left the magazine shortly after the relationship was disclosed.

After the relationship came to light, Welch’s wife at the time, Jane Beasley, filed divorce papers that described their lavish lifestyle and the retirement package that Welch received after leaving the company.

Guests included InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller, GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt, Sony Music chief executive Andrew Lack, “Today” show host Matt Lauer, talk show hosts Charlie Rose and John McLaughlin, lobbyist Vernon Jordan, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.

AP-ES-04-25-04 1303EDT



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