Royal honours for Daltrey, ATM inventor

A rock'n'roll belter, an astronaut and the inventor of the automatic teller machine were all honored by the Queen today in the New Year's honours list.
Singer Roger Daltrey of The Who and British-born US astronaut Michael Foale were named Commanders of the Order of the British Empire, or CBE, in the annual accolades for achievement in society, business, culture and sports.
Inventor John Shepherd-Barron, who installed the world's first automatic cash dispenser at a London bank in 1967, was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, for services to banking. There are now hundreds of thousands of cash machines around the world.
"It was a bit late, but better late then never," said Shepherd-Barron, 79. "It is very nice to have it, but it has taken about 40 years.
"The thing that I have done obviously became an important feature of international banking," he added. "It has everyone in the world working in the same way."
Daltrey, 60, whose raw-throated vocals powered Who classics such as My Generation, The Kids Are Alright and Pinball Wizard, received his CBE for services to music, the entertainment industry and charity.
"I am so pleased. It is really great to be honoured by my country," said Daltrey, also is a patron of the Teenage Cancer Trust.
Foale, who became the first Briton to walk in space in 1995 and completed a six-month stint on the international space station in April, was awarded his CBE for services to space exploration.
The honours are bestowed by the queen, but she chooses only a few. Most recipients are selected by committees of civil servants from nominations made by the government and the public.
Several of the highest awards went to British heroes of last summer's Olympic Games, including rower Matthew Pinsent, who received a knighthood, and 800m and 1500m gold medalist Kelly Holmes, who was made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight.-Reuters
Figures from the arts world included children's illustrator Quentin Blake, who received a CBE. So did actress Anna Massey, pianist John Lill and playwrights Alan Plater and Simon Gray.
Ray Cooney, author of durable stage farces such as Run for Your Wife, received an OBE for services to drama.
The same award went to Simon McBurney, artistic director of innovative stage company Theatre de Complicite, pop music producer Pete Waterman, Full Monty actor Tom Wilkinson, and Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue.
In keeping with Prime Minister Tony Blair's oft-stated focus on education, there were plenty of awards to teachers and other public servants, including a smattering of unsung local heroes such as Fred Adams, a hospital porter from Scarborough in northern England, and school crossing guard Margretta Campbell from Dromore in Northern Ireland. Both were named Members of the Order of the British Empire, or MBE.
The bulk of the honors reward achievements by people out of the limelight, in fields both prosaic and esoteric. In the latter category were David Heather's OBE for services to the fertilizer industry, Claude Kilmister's OBE "for services to health and to the Prayer Book Society" and an OBE to Kenneth Stott "for services to the willow industry in the southwest."
Richard Kellaway, director-general of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, received a CBE. Robert Faber, former project director for the 60-volume Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, received an OBE for services to scholarship.