People in the News

LOS ANGELES -- Shaquille O'Neal had a big-hearted message for his Los Angeles fans Sunday.

O'Neal took out a full-page advertisement in the Los Angeles Times thanking his fans for their support during his eight years with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Last week, O'Neal signed with the Miami Heat, marking the end of an era in which the Lakers won three NBA championships.

"I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your incredible support over the last eight years," O'Neal said in the ad. "I am moving on to the next chapter in my career, but I will never forget the support that you gave me."

O'Neal, whose dispute with Lakers management led to his departure, told Lakers fans, "I will miss each and every one of you."

"You have been there with me through it all - we never could have won any of the championships without you," he said.

The Lakers are rebuilding their team around superstar guard Kobe Bryant, who signed a seven-year contract worth more than $136 million. Rudy Tomjanovich will replace Phil Jackson as coach, and former Laker Vlade Divac, who was traded in 1996, will return to replace O'Neal at center.

KEY WEST, Fla. -- On his eighth try, a North Carolina real estate broker - with a silver-white beard and khaki fisherman's vest - won the annual Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest.

John Stubbings, 65, was crowned late Saturday at a packed Sloppy Joe's Bar, Hemingway's favorite Key West watering hole during his residency here in the 1930s.

"Like everybody else, I thought I was going to win my first year," Stubbings said. "That doesn't happen. You pay your dues, you get to know the judges and make friends with the contestants."

Stubbings beat 135 other prospective Hemingways, judged for their graying beards, ruddy complexion and piercing eyes.

The annual Hemingway Days festival ended Sunday. Festivities also included literary readings, theatrical productions, a marlin tournament and a gala on the grounds of Hemingway's former home.

Stubbings said he favors "For Whom the Bell Tolls" over Hemingway's other novels, and admits feeling a certain kinship with the writer.

"The spirit is there," he said. "I like the outdoors, I tried my hand at writing and I love to fish."

COMPTON, Calif. -- Earvin "Magic" Johnson is heating things up in Compton.

The basketball phenomenon and businessman was on hand Saturday for the official opening of the city's first Starbucks. The Seattle-based coffee chain and Johnson Development Corp. have opened 68 coffee shops in ethnically diverse neighborhoods since 1998.

Johnson has gone on to become an entrepreneur, political activist and part-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers since retiring from basketball more than a decade ago.

Mayor Eric Perrodin said the Starbucks "was like a stamp of approval for the city of Compton" and is symbolic of a new and prosperous time.

Johnson agreed.

"There's something good happening in the city," the former Lakers' star said.

The sentiment is good news for the residents of this Los Angeles suburb whose image has been tarnished in recent years by a political corruption scandal, a financially troubled community college, and a school district that was under state control for several years because of low test scores and other problems.

Eleanor Stewart, a lifelong Compton resident, was pleased with the new addition to the neighborhood.

"I was even bragging about this to my relatives back East," she said.

VENICE, Italy -- British director John Boorman will head the main jury at this year's Venice Film Festival. The panel also will include Spike Lee and "Lost in Translation" star Scarlett Johansson.

Festival organizers announced the list Friday. Other members of the jury are filmmakers Wolfgang Becker of Germany, Mimmo Calopresti of Italy and Dusan Makavejev of Serbia-Montenegro; Italian editor Pietro Scalia; and Xu Feng, a producer from Taiwan.

Boorman, 71, started his career in the 1960s. His movies include "Point Blank," "Deliverance," "Hope and Glory," and "Beyond Rangoon." This year he directed "Country of My Skull."

The film festival runs Sept. 1-11, and the jury will award a Golden Lion for best film and several Silver Lions.

British director Mike Figgis and French director Nicolas Philibert head the juries of two sections looking at more experimental movies.