Ask American Profile

Shawn Green, Little Anthony and the Imperials, George W. Bush

My favorite baseball player is Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Can you tell me more about him?
—Josh H., Tennessee

Outfielder Shawn Green, who bats and throws left-handed, is 28 and single. The Des Plaines, Ill., native joined the Dodgers last year, signing a contract that takes him through 2005. In 1991, he was on the first team of the USA Today All-USA High School Baseball Team. Stanford University offered him a baseball scholarship, but he signed with the Toronto Bluejays in 1991 instead. He donated a portion of his signing bonus to a charity that provides daily meals to needy children in Toronto. When he signed with the Dodgers, he pledged to donate $1.5 million over six years to the Dodgers Dream Foundation.

My husband and I saw Little Anthony and the Imperials perform a few years ago. It was an excellent show. Could you tell me about them?
—Ruth L., Missouri

Little Anthony and the Imperials were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. The group is known for such hits as Tears on My Pillow, Goin’ Out of My Head, and Hurt So Bad. Group members “Little” Anthony Gourdine, Sammy Strain, Ernest Wright, and Clarence Collins reunited in 1992 after 17 years apart. They perform about 100 shows annually. They’ve sold out Madison Square Garden and the Hollywood Palace. “We are not a nostalgia group,” says Gourdine, 61. “We are as contemporary as anybody else who is out there today. We do songs from everybody just as long as they are good.” Raised in Brooklyn, Gourdine began singing doo-wop as a teenager, landing his first record deal at age 17 in 1957. His group, The Duponts, had a hit with Prove It Tonight. After high school, he joined The Chesters, who were renamed the Imperials in 1958. Their first single was Tears on My Pillow, which went to No. 1 and sold more than a million copies. The group disbanded in 1975. In 1992, they reunited for a golden oldies show in New York and were such a hit that they decided to tour again.

What can you tell me about President George W. Bush’s siblings?
—Frances N., North Carolina

Besides President George W. Bush and Florida Gov. Jeb (whose real name is John Ellis) Bush, the Bush clan consists of Neil, Marvin, and Dorothy. Neil Bush, 46, is a Houston management consultant. He and wife Sharon have three children. Marvin Bush, 44, is a venture capitalist who lives with his wife, Marguarate, and two children in Alexandria, Va. Dorothy Bush Koch, 41, is a charitable fund-raiser who lives in Bethesda, Md., with her husband, Robert, and their four children. Former President George Bush and his wife, Barbara, had another daughter, Robin, who died when she was 3.

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