People

By Sara C. Medina

Since 1981, recipients of MacArthur Foundation grants, the "genius awards" that permit five years of financial freedom, have included poets and composers, scientists and even a mime. But a prestidigitator? Last week James Randi, a.k.a. "the Amazing Randi," whose sleight of hand has exposed psychic gimmicks, hoaxes and claims of the paranormal, was among this year's 25 winners, picking up $272,000 for his crusade to protect sick people from unscrupulous faith healers. The award came as a total surprise. "You can bang your head against the wall, call Sophia Loren or take it soberly," he notes. "It takes about 48 hours to settle in. All the time I was saying, 'I really won?' " Now that the question has been answered, Randi, 57, is wasting no time in putting the money to work, expanding his office, hiring a full-time researcher, and planning for a college scholarship so that more debunkers can be set to work. The Great Doubter has become a true believer in his benefactors: "They reached very far out, perhaps dangerously so, in giving it to a magician instead of some academic. I feel a great responsibility to the foundation."