Wave Staff and Wire Reports
LOS ANGELES — Olympic track and field legend Carl Lewis and best-selling author Terry McMillan will be among the 2026 inductees into the California Hall of Fame.
Lewis won 10 Olympic medals (nine gold, one silver) across four Olympic Games and dominated sprinting and long jump competitions during the 1980s and early 1990s.
McMillan wrote influential novels including “Waiting to Exhale” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” works that helped elevate stories centered on Black women and reshaped contemporary American literature.
The inductees were announced March 3 by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Other inductees were “True Lies” co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olympic swimming medalist Janet Evans, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, whose Nobu and Matsuhisa restaurants “have changed the way the world eats,” according to Newsom; Mariachi Reyna de Los Angeles, America’s first all-women mariachi ensemble; longtime legislator John L. Burton, credited for his work on behalf of civil rights, health care and foster youth; and Riane Eisler, a scientist, historian and author of “The Chalice and the Blade.”
“From the state Capitol to Los Angeles, from bestselling books to Olympic triumphs, the inductees of the 19th class of the California Hall of Fame have reshaped our culture and our communities,” Newsom said in a statement. “Resilient and innovative, these leaders and luminaries represent the best of the California spirit.”
The Hall of Fame “recognizes history-making Californians who embody the state’s spirit of innovation and have changed the state, the nation, and the world,” Newsom added.
Newsom’s office hailed Curtis as not only an Oscar-winning actress, but as a “passionate humanitarian, Emmy and Golden Globe winner, and best-selling children’s book author.”
Schwarzenegger was recognized for emerging from “humble beginnings” to become a “world champion bodybuilder, Hollywood icon, successful businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, best-selling author and the 38th governor of California.”
McMillan was hailed for storytelling that “has elevated women’s voices, centered Black experiences and reshaped American literature.”
The honorees will be recognized during a ceremony at the California Museum in Sacramento on March 19.
“This year’s class embodies the very best of California — creativity, resilience, and a spirit of community,” Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, said in a statement. “These honorees remind us that innovation and courage flourish when people are lifted up by those around them.
“With deep ties to Los Angeles — a city whose influence and imagination continue to shape culture worldwide — their stories not only celebrate individual achievement, but also reflect California’s power to inspire, to open doors, and to reimagine what is possible for generations to come.”
