Poster Is a Garden-Variety Tribute to Marilyn Monroe

--A poster depicting a nude woman strategically covered by a pile of artichokes has drawn a prickly reaction from some other women. But photographer Sue Bennett has defended her work, saying that she and her friend, model Joanne Gallaher, intended it to be both a tribute to the vegetable and to Marilyn Monroe, who, before achieving Hollywood stardom was queen of the 1947 Castroville Artichoke Festival. They sold copies of the poster, entitled “Be an Artichoke Lover,” at the festival, held last weekend. Castroville, about 50 miles south of San Jose, bills itself as the artichoke capital of the world. Darleen Dunham, chairman of the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women, said she had relayed several complaints about the poster to festival officials. “I’m not out to put other women down,” Dunham said, “but what does a naked woman have to do with eating artichokes?” Another point, how could anyone in her birthday suit frolic in a pile of artichokes and manage to smile at the same time?

--Four women in Orlando, Fla., have started a “foot ministry” for the homeless that uplifts their souls by soothing their soles. It was suggested by Sister Julie Sullivan, a Roman Catholic nun and executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless of Orlando, which runs the local shelter for the homeless. She realized that foot care is one of the most overlooked health problems of the homeless, many of whom do not have good shoes and spend a great deal of time walking or in jobs that require hours of standing. “It gives them a bit of pampering,” said Bette-Sue Hartwick, one of the women who volunteered to wash and massage the feet of people like Carol Strail. Strail, a shelter resident, had spent the day working in a greenhouse preparing rubber plants for shipment. “Feels good,” said Strail as Hartwick removed her feet from a basin of hot water and Epsom salts and blotted them with a towel, then rubbed some skin lotion on them. Each of the residents who signs up for the foot ministry also gets a new pair of socks. Roseanna Pratt, another volunteer, said that massaging feet will not get people jobs, but it might remind them that others care about their struggle.

--Dorothy Hamill-Forsythe, the former world figure skating champion, has earned herself a new title: mother. The 1976 Olympic gold medalist gave birth to a 6-pound, 14-ounce daughter, Alexandra, at Desert Hospital in Palm Springs, spokesman Randy Bevilacqua said. Hamill-Forsythe, who is married to Dr. Kenneth Forsythe, has a home in Indian Wells.