Sam and Dianne Wiest at the Met!

Thanks to Grace for this report!

(New York City Feb. 20, 2003)We knew that Sam was reading Lincoln's letters at this lecture at the Met, but we had a nice surprise. The female actress playing the role of Mrs. Lincoln turned out to be Dianne Wiest! It was great to see her and Mr. W in action once more. The program started about 5 minutes late, raising my anxiety level. When the narrator, Diane and Sam appeared and walked across the stage, all I could focus on was Mr. W. No introduction or anything. The narrator, who was also responsible I think for the slide presentation, stood, while the actors each sat on a stool, with a glass of water for each (there is a reason why I mention the water).

Mr. W, like many of you noticed, parted his hair on the right, the opposite of how he wears it in L&O. He wore a navy suit, white shirt, with a maroon tie and black shoes. Like in D.C., he wore no jewelry (no flag pin, class ring, or wedding band -- from what I could see with my binoculars). When it was his turn to recite Mr. Lincoln's letters, he often got up from the stool and stood as he read. How devoted. At one point (amongst several) he made the audience laugh when he was reading Mr. Lincoln's letter to his wife about how he was elected the President of the US, Sam turned to Diane and shouted, "Mary, we ARE elected!" He smiled from time to time at the President's own humor. Then when he read about how the great man felt his hand was numb and all from writing the Proclamation, Sam got up and actually shook and stroked his palm. He was very animated. He turned also between readings to view the slides in back and to the side of him. I suspect he had some of the letters memorized because at one point he was reading without looking at the script. And yes, like someone said about him in last year's lecture, he did use his fists emphatically like in L&O. His tone inflected according to the mood of the letters. The President was resurrected through Sam as Sam espoused the great man's belief of the injustices of slavery.

And, what touched me the most was when the narrator went into a coughing spell, Sam got up from his stool and walked over to him with his own glass of water (the narrator wasn't equipped with any). The narrator eagerly drank from the glass to relieve his discomfort. What a gentleman that Sam is!

No afterthought either. When the letter reading ended, the actors and the narrator joined hands and bowed. Then they came back for another one. No Q&A or anything. Sigh!

Sam Wins SAG Post

(New York City, Sept. 2002)Sam won-big-in the recent SAG elections for Board of Directors. He polled more votes than any other nominee from New York. Part of this could be because of the statement he made as a candidate,part of which appears below:

..."I'm running, first, because I'd like another chance to do something for the Guild for the next generation, having benefited by its strength so much myself, and second, because I'd like to try to encourage more trust and respect, and less factionalism, among ourselves...We should recognize that we're brothers and sisters, and fight, if we must, as friends."
For more information, go to United Screen Actors Nationwide, the source of this quote.

Sam Chats With Fans!

(Cyberspace Oct. 30,2002)Lucky fans got to chat with Sam at the Merchant-Ivory site for a little over half an hour. Sam was his charming self, patiently answering questions and asking a few of his own. At the end, he said, "Goodnight, Gracie!", which surely cracked up anyone old enough to remember the old Burns and Allen Show. It was a chat fans won't soon forget. For a transcript of the complete chat, click here.Thanks to a fan of Sam's for the heads up and the transcript!

Sam at Governor's Arts Awards

(New York City, Nov. 18, 2002) Sam Waterston served as Master of Ceremonies of the 2002 Governor's Arts Awards, distributed Mon., Nov. 18 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Established by Governor Nelson Rockefeller in 1966, the awards celebrate outstanding individuals in the arts as well as important and distinguished arts organizations. Nominations for the awards are made by the public, selected by the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and ultimately confirmed by the governor.
Thanks to luna for this information!

Sam Helps Out Politician

(Providence, RI, Dec. 2002)In an article from the The Providence Journal-Bulletin (Providence, RI) dated December 9, 2002, we found that Sam helped a politician who failed in his bid to become Rhode Island's attorney general. J. William W. Harsch had run up a campaign debt and was trying to figure out a way to pay it. He came up with the idea to sell raffle tickets for a grand-prize trip to New York to visit the set of Law and Order, which included a lunch with Sam Waterston! ("My wife and some of her friends grew up with him," Harsch explained.) To quote the article: "The campaign sold 100 raffle tickets at $100 each, and raised about $10,000, after nominal expenses, said Ed Morabito, who worked for Harsch during the campaign. Michele Dandreta, of Providence, won the drawing, held shortly before Thanksgiving, Morabito said. The trip will be sometime after Jan. 1. What a nice way to reduce a campaign debt! And what a lucky winner Michele was!

Sam WINS Gemini Award

(Toronto, Canada, November 3, 2002) Sam has won the Gemini Award (Canada's Emmys) for best supporting male actor for his performance as Dennis Shepard in The Matthew Shepard Story. The awards were given November 4. Congratulations, Sam!
Thanks, Michelle, for the update!

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Sam Writes Letter to Fans

Cyberspace, November 2002 In acknowledgment to the significant donations to Refugees International by his fans, Sam has written a letter to all those who donated in honor of his birthday last year. The letter talks about the importance of RI's work in Afghanistan. He also says that our contributions mean a lot to him! The fact that RI has spotlighted Sam's birthday tribute on their opening page shows the effect our efforts have made on the organization. And it is all because of YOU that this happened, so give yourself a pat on the back! For the full text of the letter, click here.

Fans Donations to RI near $3000 this year!

(Cyberspace, November 2002)Refugees International has informed the editor of this newspaper that nearly $3000 has been raised in honor of Sam Waterston's birthday this year, and that donations continue to come in. RI is very happy and grateful to all the fans for their generosity. Fans who donated $75 or more received an autographed photo of Sam saying "Thanks for supporting Refugees Int'l", and a nice note of thanks as well. RI says they will continue to send the photos to fans who donate by Dec. 1. All fans who donated, be proud of yourselves!

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