Henry A. Grunwald Award For Public Service To Honor Best-Selling Crime Novelist Linda Fairstein And CEO Of Clear Channel Bob Pittman

NEW YORK, July 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The annual Henry A. Grunwald Award for public service will be bestowed upon two outstanding individuals who have committed themselves and have advanced causes that benefit society overall. The awards will be presented at a luncheon held on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City.  The annual event hosted by Lighthouse International, will honor Bob Pittman, CEO of Clear Channel and Linda Fairstein, Noted Author and Former Head Prosecutor of the Sex Crimes Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney's office.

Bob Pittman is a media innovator who has made a significant impact in a number of industries and companies. A founding member of Pilot Group, LLC, a New York private investment firm, Pittman led the team that created MTV and has served as CEO or chief operating officer of MTV Networks, America Online, Six Flags Theme Parks, Quantum Media, Century 21 Real Estate, Time Warner Enterprises and AOL Time Warner.  Among many honors, Pittman has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and received the International Radio and Television Society's Gold Medal, City of Hope's prestigious Spirit of Life® Award, and a Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Award.  He was recognized in Life's "Five Original Thinkers of the '80s," Advertising Age's "50 Pioneers and Visionaries of TV" and "10 Marketers Who Changed American Culture."

Linda Fairstein, lawyer, former prosecutor, and best-selling crime novelist, is one of America's foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children. For three decades, from 1972 until 2002, she served in the office of the New York County District Attorney, where she was Chief of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit for twenty-six years. Fairstein is also the author of an internationally best-selling series of crime novels (translated into more than a dozen languages) which feature Manhattan prosecutor Alexandra Cooper. The fourteenth in the series – NIGHT WATCH – was released earlier this week.

The event is named in honor of the late Henry A. Grunwald. During his lifetime, Mr. Grunwald was the US Ambassador to Austria, Editor-in-Chief of Time Inc., and noted author of TWILIGHT: Losing Sight, Gaining Insight. The book, a personal account of his experience with the onset of macular degeneration, provides a much-needed public voice to the private struggles shared by millions of Americans and is available in eBook versions, with new paperback and audio versions coming this fall.

About Lighthouse International Founded in 1905, Lighthouse International is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to fighting vision loss through prevention, treatment and empowerment. It achieves this through clinical and rehabilitation services, education, research and advocacy. For more information about vision loss and its causes, contact Lighthouse International at 1-800-829-0500 or visit www.lighthouse.org.                 

SOURCE Lighthouse International