People in the News for December 2, 1997

Tuesday, Dec. 2, 1997 | 11:15 a.m.

People in the News staffers filed dispatches from three continents today to provide you with the celebrity news you crave. Maybe we'll even learn a thing or two in the process. Our first report is from Vatican City, where Pope John Paul II praised the art of movie-making Monday as a bearer of "sublime" messages. "The cinema is a particularly suitable means of recounting the inexpressible mystery which surrounds the world and man," he told participants at a Vatican-sponsored conference on film. Avoiding past Vatican condemnations of sex and violence in movies, John Paul spoke in glowing terms of their capacity to help spread values that "enrich the human spirit.' "This new form of art can add much of value to the inexorable ... search that man carries out, widening consciousness both of the world that surrounds him and of his interior universe." John Paul did not say how many stars he would give the consciousness-widening "Flubber."

Unsettling settlement

Our next dispatch comes from Cape Town, South Africa, where Earl Spencer sought to stop the People in the News machine in its tracks. Anxious to avoid more embarrassing revelations about his private life, Spencer reached a divorce settlement with his estranged wife today. British tabloids put the payment to Lady Spencer at $3.36 million. A statement announcing the settlement -- under which both formally withdrew their harsh accusations against each other -- declared that the two "now aim to rebuild a civilized and friendly arrangement whereby our four children will continue to prosper." British newspapers, citing an unidentified legal source, said the payment was nearly seven times Spencer's original offer. The papers also said Lady Spencer, 32, will keep her luxury home in Cape Town and get a car and medical insurance. Spencer is the 33-year-old brother of the late Princess Diana.

For the record

A staffer in New York reports that Kenny G has shown he can carry a note -- for 45 minutes and 47 seconds, to be exact. Kenny G set a record Monday for the longest-held note -- an E flat on his saxophone, said Mark Young, Guinness Book of Records publisher. Rules were that the pitch remain consistent and that the volume not vary by more than 5 decibel degrees in either direction, Young said. The musician surpassed his original goal of 30 minutes by using a circular breathing technique. "He eventually was forced to stop because of all the saliva that built up inside the instrument," Young said. "The monotony of it was also a pretty big problem."

Fascinating people

Speaking of saliva and monotony, softball interview guru Barbara Walters has a really big show tonight on ABC. Her "10 Most Fascinating People of 1997" will feature a bizarre mix: sheep cloner Dr. Ian Wilmut, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, "Jingle All the Way" star Arnold Schwarzenegger, comedic lesbian Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John and celebrity golfer Tiger Woods. The first among equals, the MOST "most fascinating" person of the year, won't be disclosed until airtime. Our choice would be former boxer/actor Tex Cobb, who is profiled in the November GQ. No doubt that's why we don't have our own TV special.

Compiled by Geoff Schumacher