Christopher Reeve Among New Inductees To New Jersey Hall Of Fame
TRENTON, NJ (AP) - The newest inductees into New Jersey's Hall of Fame include late 'Superman' actor Christopher Reeve, Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band and New York Giants owner Wellington Mara.
Others winning induction into the hall this spring include actor Michael Douglas, jazz singer Sarah Vaughn and author Joyce Carol Oates.
Gov. Chris Christie announced all 11 names Friday afternoon in Trenton.
Rounding out the hall's 2012 class are basketball coach Bob Hurley, media mogul Samuel I. Newhouse, Olympian Milt Campbell, Wild West Show sensation Annie Oakley and John Dorrance, the chemist who invented condensed soup.
The public induction ceremony and red carpet entrance will be June 9 in Newark.
Hall of Fame architect Michael Graves is designing a Mobile Museum for the hall that would travel from school to school. The hall also exists online at http://www.NJHallofFame.org.
The hall honors New Jerseyans who have made their mark in the fields of history, entertainment, enterprise and sports. There's also a general category for educators, military leaders and politicians.
Many inductees were born or raised in the Garden State; some still live here or have other significant ties to New Jersey.
Reeve, of Princeton, became a quadriplegic after a horse riding accident and later lobbied on behalf of people with spinal cord injuries. Nutley's Annie Oakley overcame poverty to achieve success, her life later immortalized through Irving Berlin's musical "Annie Get Your Gun.'' Hurley won 26 state championships and amassed more than 1,000 winds in 39 years at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City.
Recipients were chosen by fellow New Jerseyans, who voted online from a list of 50 nominees, and by a voting academy made up of 100 state organizations.
Previous inductees include Bruce Springsteen, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Yogi Berra. Jack Nicholson, Danny DeVito, Les Paul, Count Basie and Carl Lewis were inducted in May.
One of the inductees, the E Street Band, will be touring out of the country in early June, so their induction has been postponed.
Hall of Fame organizers have invited inductees from the first four classes who could not accept their awards in person previously to join this year's awards ceremony.
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