Hollywood publicist Stephen Rivers dies at 55

[June 10, 2010]  LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Hollywood publicist and political activist Stephen M. Rivers, who worked with Jane Fonda, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver, Oliver Stone and Kevin Costner, has died in Los Angeles. He was 55.

Rivers died Tuesday after a lengthy bout with prostate cancer, it was reported Wednesday.

He started working for the United Farm Workers union organizing grape boycotts and became assistant to the late UFW president Cesar Chavez. He later worked for the powerhouse Creative Artists Agency before launching his own public relations firm in 1994.

Besides his stable of Hollywood celebrities, including Michael Moore and Richard Dreyfuss, Rivers helped organize events for Seeds for Peace, the Magic Johnson Foundation and the Rock the Vote initiative.

"Stephen was a great human being -- one of the best," Schwarzenegger and Shriver said.

[Associated Press]

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