"It must have been a surreal experience for those on the RT at 10th and O streets to spot the likes of John Madden, Carol Burnett and George Lucas walking down the red carpet in their awards-show best at the California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.
Anyone who actually got off at the stop may have caught Burnett's signature Tarzan call or had a chance for Lucas to sign any surface capable to be written on. Dozens of others, however, thought ahead and brought glossy “Star Wars,” “Terminator” and sports stills for Lucas, Gov. Schwarzenegger and Madden to sign, respectively."
The occasion for this "who’s who" of California’s best, 13 in all, was their induction into the state’s Hall of Fame (Schwarzenegger and first lady Maria Shriver were hosting, not being inducted). Before the evening’s ceremony, the honorees received a justified red carpet treatment for their accomplishments.
Bestselling author Danielle Steel’s gold jewelry glowed in contrast to her simple, black outfit. Burnett was just as warm and funny off camera as she has been since the mid-1960s, even taking time to joke with a group of young girls carrying signs reading “I love Carol."
General Chuck Yeager, being one of the bravest American men in history, was remarkably down-to-Earth considering he’s spent so much of his life thousands of feet above it. Though Andy Grove looks like any other conservatively dressed businessman downtown, he is responsible for every major advancement in computing and technology in the past half century with his invention of the silicon-based chip.
Rafer Johnson could have easily beaten his fellow inductees down the carpet in a footrace, but instead chose to saunter along with the confidence
