People in the News for May 28, 1998

Thursday, May 28, 1998 | 11:25 a.m.

You never know where you'll encounter the sulphuric odor and cloven hoofprints of the devil these days -- aside from such Beelzebubian standbys as politics, Wall Street, casino development and Rupert Murdoch's media empire, that is. It's always surprising to see the wicked one bothering to horn in on a small-potatoes event like, say, a high-school baccalaureate event in Huntsville, Ala. But there he was the other day, assuming one of his most blatantly evil forms: a Fleetwood Mac song. Moments before students of Huntsville High were to present a baccalaureate program in a Presbyterian church, class vocalist Emily McDowell was told she couldn't sing Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide," a wistful number about growing old and changing. "The music minister said the leader of Fleetwood Mac is a witch and a Satan worshipper," says McDowell. The minister was apparently referring to singer Stevie Nicks, who, despite a proclivity for diaphanous shawls, ditzy New Age posturing and duets with Don Henley, hardly seems like the demonic spawn of hell. "I was in shock," McDowell says. "So I pointed out the fact that I was a Christian and I wasn't singing the song to go against God." Thwarted, McDowell left before the service (she'll still sing "Landslide" at Friday's graduation). Thank God she didn't try to sing a Marilyn Manson song.

Miscellany

David Letterman is no man o' pause -- he never stops pushing the speed limit, even in a state which has very few. Driving through Montana recently -- where there are no posted daytime speed limits on the highways -- Letterman learned that there are, however, speed limits in cities. Perhaps possessed by a speed demon, he was clocked doing 38 in a 25-mph zone in the town of Darby, resulting in a $50 fine. Poor Letterman, he can't help himself: Those extra 13 miles per hour are terrifying and exciting -- you feel your emotions more intensely. Or perhaps the devil just made him do it.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets