Valenti

Jack Valenti, the former legendary head of the Motion Picture Association of America and aide to President Lyndon Johnson suffered a stroke last week. Valenti left the MPAA in 2004 after nearly 40 years and was replaced by Dan Glickman. According to a statement released by Barry Meyer, the chairman and CEO of Warner Bros., the 85-year-old is hospitalized at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore and “his family tells me that the doctors are encouraged by his progress to date” adding “out of respect for Jack and the family’s privacy, we are not going to release any additional information at this time.” Mitch Rose, who worked with Valenti while he was a chief of staff to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) and as a lobbyist with the Walt Disney Company (a member company of the MPAA) called Valenti an "institution." "All of us in Washington are concerned about his health," he said. "We're all holding our breath and hoping that he comes through this with flying colors." Rose says that on a personal level, Valenti was always kind, being one of the first in Washington to talk to him when he left the Hill.