E-mail a friendOctober 14, 2004
Entrepreneur Rueben Martinez reflects on the backstory of his winning a 2004 MacArthur Fellowship. Emmy-winning actor and star of The West Wing, John Spencer compares his TV administration to the real one.
Rueben Martinez
Rueben Martinez
He made more money cutting hair, but Rueben Martinez' joy was promoting reading. As a result, he's a 2004 MacArthur Fellow. Martinez grew up in a town without a public library, but his teachers inspired a love of reading. As a Santa Ana, CA barbershop owner, he made books available to his customers. He eventually turned one of his shops into what has become one of the country's largest commercial sellers of Spanish-language books. Martinez regularly tours schools urging parents to read to their children.
John Spencer
John Spencer
A self-professed workaholic, Emmy-winning actor John Spencer has built an impressive career on stage, screen and TV. He left his New Jersey home at 16 to attend New York's Professional Children's School and got his first TV part on The Patty Duke Show. He won an Obie award for his theater work. Prior to his role on the hit NBC series, The West Wing, Spencer was probably best known to TV audiences as L.A. Law attorney Tommy Mullaney. He says good words on the page allow him to stretch as an actor.