Names and faces
Less than a day after the family of a slain single mother of four launched a fundraising appeal, actor and filmmaker Tyler Perry has lent his support. News outlets report Perry offered to take care of the family’s rent to stave off eviction, arrange for 45-year-old Tynesha Evans’ body to be flown to Wisconsin for burial and cover her 18-year-old daughter’s tuition at Spelman College so she doesn’t have to drop out. Evans was killed Saturday morning outside a bank in downtown Alpharetta. Her boyfriend, 58-year-old Othniel Inniss, was arrested at the scene on murder and aggravated assault charges. Evans was an author and a full-time health care worker. According to the family’s GoFundMe, two of her four children are still minors. One of them, 14-year-old Shakemia Turner, called Perry “an angel on Earth.”
Marcelo Gleiser, a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., was awarded one of the world’s leading religion prizes for blending hard science and deep spirituality in his work, a foundation announced Tuesday. The John Templeton Foundation is awarding its 2019 prize to Gleiser, who has written books on topics ranging from the origin of the universe to how science engages with spirituality. The Templeton Prize comes with a $1.4 million award. Gleiser, a 60-year-old Brazilian native, is the 49th recipient and the first from Latin America to get the award, which honors a living person who has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life’s spiritual dimension. Previous winners include Mother Teresa, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The award will be presented at a ceremony in New York City on May 29. “I will work harder than ever to spread my message of global unity and planetary awareness to a wider audience, as we prepare to face this century’s daunting social, technological, and environmental challenges,” Gleiser said.
Rock ’n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis has been transferred from a hospital to a rehabilitation center after a stroke last month, but will have to cancel upcoming shows, including his appearance at the New Orleans Jazz Festival. According to a statement from his neurologist released Monday, the 83-year-old Lewis is expected to fully recover with aggressive and intensive rehab. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer also announced he is canceling a May 18 concert in Knoxville, Tenn., and a June 8 concert in Alexandria, Va. Nicknamed “The Killer,” Lewis is known for his outrageous energy and piano skills on songs such as “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On.”