U.VA. ENGLISH PROFESSOR AND POET RITA DOVE
HONORED WITH $250,000 HEINZ AWARD 

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Dec. 10 -- Former U.S. Poet Laureate
Rita Dove, Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of
Virginia, was honored today with a 1996 Heinz Award, one of the
largest individual achievement prizes in the world.
	The awards, annual prizes of $250,000 each, were created by
philanthropist Teresa Heinz to celebrate the power of the individual
in American society. In addition to Dove, recipients of the 1996
awards, presented today in Pittsburgh, are environmentalist George
Woodwell, founder and director of the Woods Hole Research Center;
child psychiatrist and educator Dr. James P. Comer; energy
conservation advocate Ralph Cavanagh, and inventor-industrialist Dr.
George Hatsopoulos. 
	The awards recognize significant and sustained contributions
in five categories: arts and humanities; the environment; the human
condition; public policy; and technology, the economy and
employment. In addition to honoring excellence and achievement, the
awards take account of less tangible qualities including
intellectual curiosity, willingness to take risks, concern for
humanity, sense of optimism, and commitment to making the world a
better place.
	"The common link among these individuals is not just that
they have made a remarkable difference in their fields of endeavor.
It is that their vision of a better world and their unwavering
commitment to make their vision a reality have made a difference for
all of us.  The common link is that they embody all that is best
about the American spirit," said Heinz, chair of the Pittsburgh
based Heinz Family Foundation, who developed the awards as a tribute
to her late husband, U.S. Sen. John Heinz of Pennsylvania.
	Dove, who in 1993 became the youngest poet ever to hold the
post of U.S. poet laureate, was named a Heinz Award winner in the
arts and humanities category.
	"I'm still kind of reeling from it," she said. In addition
to the personal honor, "it's great for poetry" that a poet was
selected, she added.
	Dove, who has taught poetry at U.Va. since 1989, said she
planned to continue teaching. "I enjoy the contact with students and
love talking about literature," she said.
	Dove served as poet laureate for two terms, with a primary
aim of promoting poetry and literacy to the largest possible
audience and with a special emphasis on children. She appeared on
teleconferences broadcast in schools across America and on national
television programs and participated in numerous forums to promote
poetry.
	"Ms. Dove's work is unmatched in contemporary poetry and she
is still growing," said Teresa Heinz.  "She is totally comfortable
writing about uncomfortable issues such as race and poverty, and she
presents those issues in an understandable and compelling manner.
It is especially gratifying that her works are taught in classrooms
across America."
	Dove's newest book of poetry, "Mother Love," is about the
relationship between mother and daughter, and she has a new novel in
progress.  Her verse drama, "The Darker Face of Earth," received its
world premiere this past summer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival
and will be produced at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., next
fall.  Dove was the first poet laureate to assume a strong public
role and accepted a Congressional invitation to compose and deliver
a poem for the United States Capitol.  The result was "Lady Freedom
Among Us," in honor of the statue of Lady Freedom that stands atop
the Capitol, and delivered to commemorate the refurbishing of the
building.
	She won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for her book, "Thomas and
Beulah."
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December 10, 1996
	For additional information, call Grant Oliphant or Russ
Martz at the Heinz Family Foundation, at (412) 497-5775.  For
interviews Rita Dove may be reached at (804) 924-6618.  Television
reporters should call our TV News Office at (804) 924-7550.