Notable Cougar Jack Valenti Dies

Jack Valenti (’42, ’46, Honorary ’02), former head of the Motion Picture Association of America and dedicated Cougar, passed away April 25 of complications from a stroke. Valenti served as the Houston Alumni Organization board chair from 1949 to 1951 and was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1952.

“He’s one of the giants of the film industry,” says Garth Jowett, professor of communication.

During his extraordinary life, Valenti served as a pilot commander on 51 combat missions during World War II; he managed the press during President Kennedy’s ill-fated visit to Texas in 1963 and was several cars back in the motorcade when the assassination occurred in Dallas. He was present during then vice president Lyndon Johnson’s swearing in as president aboard Air Force One. Valenti then was appointed special assistant to the president, a post he held until 1966.

Valenti is best associated with the motion picture industry. He became the third president of the Motion Picture Association of America and spearheaded the development of the movie rating system. He retired in 2004.

Valenti is survived by his wife, three children, two grandchildren and sister.

UH Alums Recognized for their Poetic Style

Larry Thomas (’70) has been selected as the 2008 Texas State Poet Laureate. Thomas is the first Houstonian to be selected as Texas Poet Laureate since the late Vassar Miller in 1989. Every two years, the Texas Legislature selects exemplary artists to represent the state. Thomas is recognized for his years of excellence and dedicated commitment to the arts in Texas. The appointment is for one year. Thomas earned his undergraduate degree in English literature.

Joshua Rivkin (M.F.A. ’06) was named a prestigious Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. He beat out more than 1,400 national and international writers to receive one of only 10 fellowships by the Stanford Creative Writing Program. Rivkin says that he will continue to write and revise poems for his book as well as develop more fully in other areas. He earned his M.F.A. in creative writing at UH and currently is a 9th- and 10th-grade English teacher in Washington, D.C.