The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance honoring the Honorees at the Kennedy Center Opera House.
The Honors were created by George Stevens, Jr. and the late Nick Vanoff. As of 2010, Stevens remains involved as producer and co-writer for the Honors Gala. From 1978 until 2002, the ceremony was hosted by Walter Cronkite; since 2003, it has been hosted by Caroline Kennedy. It is also one of two holiday specials from Stevens' production company (the other being Christmas in Washington).
Read more about Kennedy Center Honors: History, Selection Process, The Events, Recipients, Prospective Honorees Who Declined, Canceled or Postponed, Criticism
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“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
—Bible: Hebrew Proverbs, 29:18.
President John F. Kennedy quoted this passage on the eve of his assassination in Dallas, Texas; recorded in Theodore C. Sorenson’s biography, Kennedy, Epilogue (1965)
“Death is someone you see very clearly with eyes in the center of your heart: eyes that see not by reacting to light, but by reacting to a kind of a chill from within the marrow of your own life.”
—Thomas Merton (1915–1968)
“The sire then shook the honors of his head,
And from his brows damps of oblivion shed
Full on the filial dullness:”
—John Dryden (1631–1700)