Supporting Oprah in a Nobel effort

Despite the chilly temps, a grass-roots campaign to nominate Oprah Winfrey for the Nobel Peace Prize got a warm reception in Boston this weekend. Standing outside Filene's Basement at Downtown Crossing in their Oprah T-shirts, a mother and daughter from Great Falls, Va., managed to get 400 folks to sign their petition recommending Winfrey for the honor. ''People were so receptive," said Patty Gartenhaus, who collected the signatures with her 17-year-old daughter, Corey. Founded by PR consultant Rocky Twyman, the Oprah for Nobel Peace Prize movement hopes to deliver 100,000 John Hancocks to past winners Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela by Feb. 1. (They've got about 6,000 signatures so far.) Reached at his home in Rockville, Md., Twyman cited the humanitarian talk show host's contributions to kids, Katrina victims, and women. ''Oprah's such a spiritual person . . . God inspired me to do this, man." Twyman, who's met but doesn't work for the entertainer, said men -- especially black men -- have been reluctant to sign, but that wasn't the case in Boston. ''We had several men walk up to us and say Oprah's a wonderful role model," said Gartenhaus. ''Maybe Boston men are different."

McGinest, Snoop are business partners

After years of talking about it, Willie McGinest and Snoop Dogg are finally going into business. Boyhood buddies since their high school days in SoCal, the Pats linebacker and the West Coast rapper have teamed to form Icon Sports & Entertainment, which will represent athletes who have the potential to be entertainment icons. (Can you say Tom Brady?) McGinest and Snoop are being assisted by Gary Uberstine, No. 55's longtime agent. The firm may have a leg up in attracting clients since McGinest already has a record label -- 55 Entertainment -- and Snoop is, well, Snoop. ''The reason he wanted to get into this is there are so many kids that grew up in the same environment as him and they look to him as a role model," Constance Schwartz, the rapper's manager, told SportsBusiness Journal. Despite being on different coasts, McGinest and the Doggfather have remained close. Last February, after the Super Bowl, Snoop performed at the Pats' postgame party.

Matt Damon is antiwar, profamily

Considering his politics, it won't surprise you that Matt Damon's down on the war in Iraq. The left-leaning actor tells Cinema Confidential that ''from the logistical side, they blew it. This administration strikes me as incompetent to the core." The star of the new political thriller ''Syriana" reveals that the role he really wants to play is family man. ''I've longed for it in real life," says Damon, who's worried he may be too easygoing as a dad. ''I need to learn how to be a good disciplinarian. I'm a professional uncle right now . . . It's hard when I'm making up games and throwing [nephews] around the room to then say, 'Hey! Calm down!' "

Silber doesn't hold back

Retired Boston University president John Silber (above) is characteristically blunt in the new Boston magazine. Silber admits he made a mistake -- ''and a damned good one" -- in selecting Dan Goldin to be BU president, though he says the former NASA administrator was recommended by then-MIT president Charles Vest and MIT physicist Sam Ting. (Goldin was eventually unappointed, and paid $1.8 million to go away.) Silber also disses the scholarship of former Harvard prof Cornel West, declaring, ''I don't take the view that our black scholars should be held to a lower standard than our white scholars." . . . And Brookline-bred Mike Wallace returns to Boston this week to sign copies of his new book, ''Between You and Me." The 87-year-old newsman, who's talked to everyone from Malcolm X to Frank Lloyd Wright to Barbra Streisand, will be at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center in Brookline tomorrow, and at the Borders downtown on Wednesday.

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