Life & Style | Mariano Rivera closes Hall of Fame induction ceremony

For Mariano Rivera, it was the culmination of a storied career, dreams of being the next Pelé long since forgotten.

Rivera, the career saves leader and the first player unanimously voted into the Hall by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, was greeted by chants of his name from the adoring crowd as he stepped to the podium in a fitting close to yesterday’s ceremony [Macau time]. He spoke in both English and at the end in Spanish, rarely looking down at the speech he had prepared.

“I think I choose that because sometimes you write words and it doesn’t sound right,” Rivera said. “But when you come from the heart, it comes right. My intention was always to speak from the heart.”

Rivera and fellow closer Lee Smith, starters Mike Mussina and Roy Halladay, and designated hitters Edgar Martinez and Harold Baines were feted on a sun-splashed afternoon in Cooperstown. A crowd estimated at 55,000, the second-largest for an induction ceremony, quickly made Rivera feel at peace.

With a wide smile for his mom, Prince George turns 6

Kensington Palace has released three new photographs before Prince George’s birthday.

The future king turned 6 yesterday. It’s become a tradition for the palace to release snapshots taken by his mother Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

In two of the pictures George is seen with a big smile as he wears an English soccer jersey. The third shows him on a family holiday.

George is a great-grandson of Queen Elizabeth II. He is third in line for the throne behind his grandfather Prince Charles and his father Prince William and is the oldest of William’s three children.

Summer AileyCamp provides dance training, life skills

Of all the mantras Anai Espinoza and her fellow campers recite each morning at AileyCamp, the eighth grader’s favorite is this: “I am in control.”

“It makes me believe I have the power to choose the right thing,” she said.

Anai is one of a thousand students in 10 states this summer attending AileyCamp, a free six-week program for youngsters in financial need or with academic, social or family challenges.

AileyCamp was founded in 1989 in Kansas City, Missouri, by world-renowned dancer, choreographer and director Alvin Ailey, who died later that year. In addition to teaching the students dance, the camp introduces them to the visual arts, creative writing and other communications skills. It also teaches them how to eat well, resolve conflicts and become leaders, according to a description of the program on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater website.

Atlanta Ballet’s Centre For Dance Education has admitted about 100 students to its camp each summer since 2014. About half of those have some exposure to dance, but very few have professional training.