AARP THE MAGAZINE IMPACT AWARDS
10 Personalities Who Made
A Difference In Our World

ARBARA WALTERS presented the annual AARP The Magazine Impact Awards to 10 individuals "whose innovative thinking, wisdom and leadership have improved the world we live." When editor Steven Slon granted them lifetime membership in AARP, you know not one of the honorees is a twentysomething…or a thirtysomething…or even a fortysomething. Having reached the half-century mark, these are people eligible to join the club:

At 55 Richard Gere, whose handsome face graces the current cover of the magazine, vowed tocontinue his fight against AIDS. He founded Healing the Divide three years ago to focus on HIV/AIDS awareness, prison reform, education and community building in the United States, the Middle East, Bhutan and especially India which is his "second home."

Tom Brokaw didn’t come to the awards luncheon, at the New York Public Library, but Brian Williams, his successor as NBC Nightly News anchor, accepted for him. "This is the first time I felt apologetic for being 45," Williams said sheepishly.

Children’s advocate Jane Seymour, 53, mother of four and stepmother of two, was a heroine of the ‘90s TV show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. She is committed to the American Red Cross Measles Initiative, which vaccinates children in Africa. "My mother told me, whenever you think life is difficult, just go out and do something for children and don’t expect anything in return."

Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, Walters said, "gave up her career to care for the mother (Rita Hayworth) she loved so much. She has raised $38 million to find a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease."

SARS researcher Linda Saif has worked as a microbiologist for 25 years, concentrating on the infectious diseases of farm animals. "AIDS and SARS are democratic – they can affect the poor and the wealthy."

Jazz impresario George Wein, 79, founder of the Newport Jazz Festival, today oversees a dozen festivals around the world. "I don’t intend to retire," he said. "When you get older you think you can teach younger people, but you can also learn a lot from them. And that’s how you stay young."

Also honored were Securities and Exchange Commission chairman William Donaldson, Bayview, Va., community activist Alice Coles, California Community Foundation president Antonia Hernandez, who’s 79, Gloria E. White-Hammond, an international human rights advocate for young women in Sudan.