CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
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One of three young women held captive for years in a Cleveland house has a book deal.
Michelle Knight's memoir is scheduled to come out next spring, publisher Weinstein Books announced Monday. The book is currently untitled and will be co-written by Michelle Burford, who worked on Olympic gold medalist Gabby Douglas' memoir.
“I want to give every victim of violence a new outlook on life,” Knight said in a statement provided by the publisher. “Victims need to know that no matter how hard it rains in the darkness, they will have the strength and courage that God gave them when they were born to rise above and overcome any obstacle that stands in their way.”
According to Weinstein, Knight will tell the “full story” of being kidnapped in her early 20s by Ariel Castro and held for 11 years. Knight, Amanda Berry and Gina DeJesus finally escaped last May. Castro, sentenced to life plus 1,000 years, hanged himself in his cell in September.
Berry and DeJesus are planning their own book, collaborating with a pair of Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporters, Mary Jordan and Kevin Sullivan.
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Ellen DeGeneres has high aspirations for her second time around hosting the Oscars.
“It reached the world,” the talk show host said of her well-received 2007 Oscarcast. “And I’m trying to get world peace. So, that’s my goal. My hope is by hosting the Academy Awards, right afterward, we have world peace.”
DeGeneres may have been exaggerating but there’s no overstating her enthusiasm for the upcoming March 2 gig.
“I know a lot of those people,” she said of the Oscar audience. “They’re on my show a lot. I love the whole business. … I get to play with all those people in the audience and make people happy, and, hopefully, relax them.” DeGeneres made her comments Friday while attending a Toys for Tots charity event in Los Angeles.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Impressionist Rich Little is 75. Singer Tina Turner is 74. Bassist John McVie of Fleetwood Mac is 68. Country singer Linda Davis is 51. Actor Peter Facinelli is 40. Actress Maia Campbell ("In the House") is 37. Country singer Joe Nichols is 37. Actress Jessica Bowman ("Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman") is 33. Singer Natasha Bedingfield is 32. Singer-guitarist Mike Gossin of Gloriana is 29. Drummer Ben Wysocki of The Fray is 29. Singer Lil Fizz of B2K is 28. Singer Aubrey Collins (Trick Pony) is 26.
Associated Press
