The Billie Jean King and Friends, Honoring Joe Shapiro event included some special presentations, a few surprises and a spirited live auction that put the finishing touch on a fun-filled evening at the 12th annual event that took place in Pasadena.
    The event was held once again at the Langham Huntington Hotel & Spa with more than 400 people attending and celebrated a big 2009 for Billie Jean King, who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in August and the NCAA President’s Gerald R. Ford Award in January.
    Academy-Award winning actress Holly Hunter was a special guest presenter and King made a special presentation to Cal State L.A. President James M. Rosser, commemorating his 30 years at the helm of the University.
    The event also honored journalistic icon Frank Deford, who was presented the 2009 Shapiro Award, which is named in honor of the late attorney, Cal State L.A. teacher and executive committee member of the Billie Jean King fundraiser. Deford, one of the most honored and versatile writers in the country, served as the national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation for 16 years and he remains chairman emeritus. His daughter, Alexandra, died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 8 and Deford wrote a book, “Alex: The Life of a Child” that was made into a movie.
    Previous recipients have included King, Maxine Waters, Chris Evert, Dr. Sally Ride, Patricia Cornwell, Maria Shriver and Anne Douglas.
    The event generated more than $200,000 in revenue, bringing the 12-year-total to more than $2.0 million in proceeds directed toward student-athlete scholarships.
    Tennis analyst Mary Carillo served as the celebrity master of ceremonies for the third straight year and helped Shriver run a spirited and entertaining live auction that concluded the evening. The live auction was the most successful in the event’s history.
    Live auction items included a U.S. Open Package that included two VIP tickets to attend the 2010 women’s singles finals as a guest of Billie Jean King, a Dubai ATP Package that included two VIP credentials for the entire tournament and a seven-night stay at the tournament hotel, a walk-on role on Holly Hunter’s TNT show “Saving Grace,” a personally autographed galley proof of Patricia Cornwell’s latest novel, “The Scarpetta Factor” and a personally autographed Dr. Kay Scarpetta lab coat and two VIP tickets to a Cher concert at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas personally arranged by Billie Jean King.
    The evening also included videos of the four Cal State L.A. student-athletes who were endowed scholarship recipients: Gabriela Bulawczyk, Vivien Wadeck, Dora Kiss and Chris Matzner.