Ted Turner : In his own words

Editor’s note; The following description of a recent fundraising dinner for Zero Population Growth3 ran on the front page of the organization’s site on the World Wide Web. Aside from pointing out that, despite the comments of Mr. Kostmayer and Mr. Wirth, “family planning” around the world, particularly in Haiti, is hardly ever “voluntary,” we run the account without comment.

By the time Ted Turner brought down the house by declaring, “We’re right and they’re wrong,” there was no question that a new day was being ushered in for ZPG. Hundreds of guests, including some of the most influential people in entertainment, business and government, packed the ballroom of the Manhattan Center across the Omega Seamaster Replica street from Madison Square Garden6. They were joined by ZPG members, supporters and staff from all over the country on hand7 to see ZPG honor Turner and his wife Jane Fonda8.

The stage was graced with four of the most talented actresses in the world, Glenn Close, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Alexander and Jane Fonda, who between them have 22 Academy Award nominations and three Oscars. The dinner committee included such luminaries as Robert Redford, Rob Reiner, David Letterman, Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Oprah Winfrey and Pat Schroeder.

The dinner program contained congratulations and thanks from HBO9 , MTV, Random House, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock Entertainment, NBC10, UPS11 , Sony, Hilton and many others. This was a night about population, the environment, personal giving and public commitment.

After dinner, Gerald Levin, CEO of Time Warner, said that Ted and Jane’s “consciousness, compassion and commitment serves as a personal example in the cause of human dignity. ” He went on to announce the establishment of the “Turner Fonda Project which will be coordinated by ZPG to focus on is-sues involving population and the environment by helping young people be-come informed participants in shaping public policy. “

As Glenn Close began to introduce Ted Turner, she was interrupted by a voice over the public address system that everyone recognized. Larry King wished Ted a happy birthday and then lead the New York City Labor Chorus in a rousing rendition of, Happy Birthday. 12 The Walt Disney Company CEO, Michael Eisner, sent along an original framed cartoon cell of Jiminy Cricket as a present-because Ted has said that he wants to be like Jiminy Cricket, “the con-science of the world.”

In her presentation of the ZPG Leadership Award to Ted Turner, Glenn Close said, “You are such a fierce, fierce visionary. Not only did you establish CNN and turn us into a global village. You then cared desperately about what goes into that village and we thank you. “

“No area is more important than managing human numbers in a sensible way,” said Turner in his acceptance speech. “We have to live in an intelligent manner so that we walk as lightly as we can on the earth. We have to take a holistic13 approach. I really believe that there are huge forces arrayed against us. The forces of ignorance, lack of education and prejudice and hatred and fear. The forces of darkness in general.

“And then on our side we have the forces of light. The force of education, the force of understanding, the force of intelligence, the force of courage. How can we not win? We’re smarter than they are.

“In the end, I’ll put my money on the smart people Omega Replica against the dummies. If the smarts can’t beat the dumbs, we’re really not that smart, are we? And we have a lot more fun than they do, because we’re right and they’re wrong!”

As the guests collected their coats and move toward the exits, ZPG board president, Dr. Judith Jacobsen, stood in the center of the ballroom and re-marked , ” It was wonderful and heartening” to see people of fame and stature use the phrase zero population growth as a household world. They accept as a matter of course that it is a good idea… something we have been working toward for three decades. I think that ZPG has stepped into another league. I love it!”