Pete Seeger to receive Gish Prize

NEW YORK, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- U.S. folk musician and human rights activist Pete Seeger has been named the winner of the 2009 Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.

Seeger, 90, is to be presented with the award at a special outdoor tribute Sept. 3, in the South Bronx's newly-revitalized Hunts Point Riverside Park, in partnership with Rocking the Boat, a non-profit group that "uses traditional wooden boat-building and on-water education to help young people develop into empowered and responsible adults," organizers said in a release.

Seeger is expected to be joined at the event by his grandson, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger, as well as children who participate in Rocking the Boat programs.

Seeger will receive a $200,000 legacy from silent film stars Dorothy and Lillian Gish, as well as a silver medallion.

In her will, Lillian Gish specified the prize should be awarded annually to "a man or woman who has made an outstanding contribution to the beauty of the world and to mankind's enjoyment and understanding of life."

Previous Gish Prize recipients include Robert Redford, Bob Dylan, Arthur Miller and Frank Gehry.

"The Gish sisters' legacy recognizes the power of art to inform, entertain and encourage generation after generation," Seeger said in a statement.