Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990 TAG: 9007170400
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHICAGO LENGTH: Medium
All three were contemplating how to deal with sudden wealth as recipients of this year's MacArthur fellowships, grants of up to $375,000 that the 36 winners may spend as they choose.
A juggler, a free-lance wildlife illustrator and numerous poets and academicians also received the prestigious grants announced Monday by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
The grants range from $150,000 to $375,000 over five years, with the largest amounts going to the oldest recipients.
"It's very liberating, and it's also a great honor," Sontag said of her $340,000 grant. "It's an incredible relief. It means a lot for my work."
The 57-year-old essayist and critic, whose works include "On Photography" and "AIDS and its Metaphors," said she can concentrate on writing and cut back on lecturing that was needed "to help pay the rent."
Individuals cannot apply for the grants, which must be proposed to the foundation by a group of more than 100 designated nominators nationwide. Nominations are reviewed by a selection committee, and final approval for the fellowships comes from the foundation's board of directors.
A total of 319 fellows have been named since the program began in 1981. They have ranged in age from 18 to 82, representing fields including the arts, human rights, mathematics and medicine.
Ehrlich, a Stanford University professor whose work also includes environmental preservation, said he will use his $345,000 grant to buy part of an Argentinian rain forest that is rich in biological specimens.
"It's just delightful to get recognized by this organization," said Wolfe, a 53-year-old physician and director of the Public Citizen Health Research Group, a Washington-based public-interest group whose work has led to government bans or limitation on certain drugs and medical devices.
Wolfe received a $320,000 grant, but said, "The thing that means the most is really recognizing that our way of researching health issues and trying to improve people's health is important."
Also among this year's recipients are Jacques D'Amboise, founder of the National Dance Institute; Michael Moschen, a juggler who has appeared in several films and on television's "Sesame Street"; and Kent Whealy, co-director of the Seed Savers Exchange, a Decorah, Iowa, group that preserves heirloom varieties of crop plants.
by CNB