newsmakers

newsmakers

Coetzee tells Spain: Drop bullfighting law

LONDON

Nobel Literature laureate J.M. Coetzee has called on Spain to abandon plans to protect bullfighting, making a rare public appeal against what he called “an archaic form of entertainment.”

In an open letter to Spain’s legislature released Thursday, Coetzee called bullfights “a throwback to a time when people took no heed of the feelings of animals,” which he said has no place in 21st-century Spain.

Cape Town, South Africa-born Coetzee is a noted opponent of animal cruelty, and touches upon the theme of nonhuman suffering in his books, including “The Lives of Animals.”

Spain is divided over bullfighting. The ruling Popular Party wants to enshrine it as part of Spain’s national heritage, but some regional governments have enacted bans.

‘Glee’s’ Lynch and dog go to bat for shelters

LOS ANGELES

Jane Lynch doesn’t mind being upstaged by her latest co-star, Olivia — after all, she “has no bad side, she is always ready to pose and she sits perfectly still when you put her in your lap.

“I’m much more temperamental,” Lynch said.

Lynch’s dog, Olivia, is her co-host for “Shelter Me: Let’s Go Home,” the second installment in the PBS series “Shelter Me.” The “Glee” star also has a canine companion on Broadway, where she’s filling in as Miss Hannigan in “Annie.”

Lynch got Olivia, part Lhasa Apso and part other things, from a shelter 13 years ago, the day after filming wrapped on “Best in Show.”

Kennedy Center revises process

WASHINGTON

The Kennedy Center is unveiling a new process to select artists who receive one of the nation’s top arts prizes after an outside group said Latinos have been largely excluded.

Under a revised process announced Thursday, the organization will begin seeking recommendations from the public for the first time in the Kennedy Center Honors’ 35-year history. It also will seek more recommendations from a committee of artists.

The center is forming a new Special Honors Committee to narrow the roster of potential honorees.

Associated Press