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Since writing The Thrill of the Chaste -- a recovery manual for grown-ups who missed the memo on abstinence -- I have addressed all kinds of people, from fishermen in Alaska to unwed moms in New York City, pornographers at "Sex Week at Yale" to hooting Catholic schoolboys in Drougheda, Ireland. But never have I been so affected by audiences as I was in Poland, meeting readers of the Polish translation of my book.   What struck me about the Polish readers -- most of them young women in their 20s and 30s -- was their consciousness of sin.  ...

When Beltway insider Jack Valenti died two years ago at age 85, he was playing the role of intermediary between Washington and Hollywood as the theatrical, snowy-haired president of the Motion Picture Association of America. But back in 1964, Valenti was a Houston ad executive newly installed at the White House as a top aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson. And J. Edgar Hoover's FBI found itself quietly consumed with the vexing question of whether Valenti was gay. Previously confidential FBI files show that Hoover's deputies set out to determine whether Valenti, who had married two years earlier, maintained a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Jack Valenti, the former White House aide and film industry lobbyist who instituted the modern movie ratings system and guided Hollywood from the censorship era to the digital age, died Thursday. He was 85. Valenti had a stroke in March and was hospitalized for several weeks at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore. He died of complications of the stroke at his Washington, D.C., home, said Seth Oster of the Motion Picture Association of America.

IN Washington, the cords of collegiality that used to bind the members of Congress to one another - and to the president - haven't just frayed, they've snapped. This descent into enmity is not just one party's fault. There is blame to distribute among all. As Congress struggles through a particularly rancorous session, it is worth recalling a time when compromise had not been exiled from our government. I had the good fortune to see this firsthand when I worked for President Lyndon B. Johnson. Though historians have painted President Johnson as someone who would do just about anything to...

Feb. 28 issue - Dan Glickman isn't exactly the Hollywood type. More comfortable in pinstripes than Prada, he's a former Clinton Agriculture secretary, Kansas congressman and president of the Witchita school board—and nothing like the flashy, debonair Jack Valenti, the legendary head of the Motion Picture Association of America. After 38 years at the MPAA, Valenti has become a celebrity in his own right, landing his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But as Glickman heads toward his first Academy Awards since taking over for Valenti as the industry's chief lobbyist, he's the one schmoozing Hollywood directors and...

Feb. 28 issue - Dan Glickman isn't exactly the Hollywood type. More comfortable in pinstripes than Prada, he's a former Clinton Agriculture secretary, Kansas congressman and president of the Witchita school board—and nothing like the flashy, debonair Jack Valenti, the legendary head of the Motion Picture Association of America. After 38 years at the MPAA, Valenti has become a celebrity in his own right, landing his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But as Glickman heads toward his first Academy Awards since taking over for Valenti as the industry's chief lobbyist, he's the one schmoozing Hollywood directors and...

Glickman, former Agriculture secretary, named to head Hollywood lobby TED BRIDIS Associated Press WASHINGTON - The powerful organization that lobbies on behalf of America's movie industry said Thursday it has selected as its new chief Dan Glickman, a former Kansas lawmaker and agriculture secretary under President Clinton. Glickman, 59, has lobbied on behalf of The Walt Disney Co. and his son is a successful producer. He replaces Jack Valenti, a one-time White House adviser who has been Hollywood's influential champion in Washington the past 38 years. The Motion Picture Association of America's choice of Glickman over several studio insiders reflects...

<p>With all the gratitude and acclaim surrounding Jack Valenti's recently announced retirement, no one dares confront the long-time president of the Motion Picture Association of America over the chief mystery of his 38-year reign: What happened, Jack, to all those missing moviegoers?</p>

Distortions live on in film By Jack ValentiRecently, the History Channel ran a ``documentary´´ wherein the author of a book from which the film was taken says without ambiguity that Lyndon Johnson killed President Kennedy ! --- -- Snip -- --- No matter what historians report about this ``documentary,´´ it will keep reappearing on screen somewhere as ``the truth.´´ Evidence of how baseless its accusations are will not be known to a new generation of viewers. They will see it and say, ``Is that the way it really was?´

LAS VEGAS, March 23 (Reuters) - One of Hollywood's most powerful men said goodbye to the silver screen on Tuesday after an almost 38-year-long career in which he never acted, directed, produced or wrote for the screen. Hollywood's chief lobbyist Jack Valenti, the chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America, announced he will retire from the powerful industry group in a few months, confirming speculation he would step down. "This is the time for me to depart as CEO. I feel that in my gut," Valenti told reporters at the movie theater industry's ShoWest trade gathering. Valenti, 83,...

A Pre-Oscars Perk Gets Erased A ban on the distribution of free tapes and DVDs to academy members is meant to deter piracy but sparks a Hollywood outcry. By John Horn and Lorenza Muñoz Times Staff Writers October 1 2003 One of Hollywood's greatest freebies — the bonanza of DVDs and videocassettes that clogs showbiz mailboxes every awards season — met an abrupt end Tuesday after the major studios agreed to halt their largess in the name of fighting movie piracy. The self-imposed ban on "for your consideration" copies of current releases carries with it the promise of big changes...

U.S. Senate '04: Four Down, Two More to Go? by John Gizzi Posted Sep 23, 2003 Four of the 34 U.S. Senators up for election next year have announced their exiting--Zell Miller (Ga.), John Edwards (N.C.), and Ernest Hollings (S.C.), Democrats all, and Republican Peter Fitzgerald (Ill.) Now, signs are ominous that the next two senatorial shoes to drop will be those of Republican Don Nickles (Okla.) and Democrat John Breaux (La.). Word on the D.C. cocktail circuit over the weekend was that four-termer and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Nickles was anxious to make more money in the private sector,...

While Congress hightailed it out of Washington during the Memorial Day recess, lobbyists and staff not only took long lunches, left early and showed up late. Some also were busy floating a rumor that Rep. Billy Tauzin was slated to retire to become Hollywood's lobbyist in Washington. "That'd fiction," the Republican Louisiana lawmaker told The Hill. "It started last November -- and has not stopped since. Some of it is spread by people with other ambitions and intentions. They survive on these rumors. You can't pass the bill, you spread a rumor." Ken Johnson, Tauzin's spokesman, added: "We were not...