X-Sender: [log in to unmask] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Light
Version 3.0.5 (32)
Date: Wed, 06 Oct 1999 09:16:08 -0400 To: [log in to unmask] From: mary
piccerello <[log in to unmask]> Subject: movie about blindness Cc:
[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask],
[log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] X-Sender:
[log in to unmask] X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32)
Date: Wed, 06 Oct 1999 08:11:41 -0400 To: (Recipient list suppressed)
From: Amy Ruell <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: movie about blindness Blindness on the movies!!!


special movie on both the subjects of Blindness (reading Braille and
learning to become independent using a cane) and Dyslexia.  I have attached
some information about the movie below.
In order to improve public awareness about Braille and other tools for the
Blind, and, of course, to promote our movie, we are soliciting your help by
asking that you post information about the movie on your Web site, and
spread information to your members.  Please feel free to post the below
information on your site (the entire text or parts of it), email it to your
members and include information about it in your upcoming newsletters.
For photos to post on your site, contact Tricia Fry at the CBS photo
department at 323/575-2017 and let her know which format you will need.
If you would also like to link to CBS.com, please contact Rob Medich at
212/975-8671.  And, of course, for more information on the movie itself or
to discuss how your organization or site might be able to work with CBS to
promote this important movie, please contact me, Andrea Ballas, senior
publicist, at 323/575-2858 or via email.
ANYA'S BELL Della Reese ("Touched By An Angel") plays the title role in
ANYA'S BELL, a touching new television movie about a unique friendship
between a blind woman and a dyslexic 12-year-old boy who each take it upon
themselves to teach and encourage the other to overcome their disabilities.
Kelly Rowan ("Three to Tango") and Mason Gamble ("Dennis the Menace") also
star in the new television movie to be broadcast as the "CBS Sunday Movie,"
Sunday, Oct.  31 (9:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

It's 1949 and Scott Rhymes (Gamble) is caught cheating on a spelling test
in his sixth grade class.  When his teacher calls in his single mother,
Jeanne (Rowan), for a conference, she informs her that Scott will be held
back a grade.  When Jeanne learns that her son is seated in what the
teacher describes as the "dumb section" of his class, she allows him to
stay home from school for the short remainder of the year.

Scott, meanwhile, works as a delivery boy for Taft's Drug Store.
One day, he delivers a prescription to an older woman named Anya Herpick
(Reese).  He's thrilled when she accidentally pays him with a five dollar
bill rather than a one dollar bill, and walks out the door without
correcting her.  But as he departs on his bike, his conscience kicks in and
he returns to tell Anya the truth.  Impressed with his honesty, Anya
invites Scott into her home and shows him her collection of bells-a variety
different sizes and sounds-from all over the world.  It is then that Scott
learns Anya is blind.
Intrigued with Anya's bells, Scott continues to visit his new friend.  He
soon learns, however, that Anya's friend, Patrick Birmingham, is helping
her make arrangements to move away to a retirement home for the blind,
since her mother has passed away and is no longer able to care for her.
Unwilling to let her leave, Scott, takes it upon himself to teach her how
to use a rod-cane which will allow her to get around on her own.

Meanwhile, Anya teaches Scott how to read braille, which he learns easily.
Concerned with Scott's difficulty with reading at school, she eventually
asks him to read a printed book to her.  When he confides that the words
seem to be "jumbled around" on the page, Anya's suspicions are
confirmed-that Scott is not the "retard" that the kids have labeled him,
but may have dyslexia, a then little-known learning disability that had
been diagnosed in her friend Patrick.  Their uncommon bond allows Anya to
break through Scott's fear in effort to find him help.

Della Reese is best known for her role as Tess in the hit CBS drama series
"Touched By An Angel," for which she has received two Emmy Award
nominations for Best Supporting Actress and three NAACP Image Awards for
Outstanding Lead Actress in a television Drama Series.
Reese began singing in church in her native Detroit when she was 6 years old.
She expanded her musical repertoire as a vocalist with the Erskine Hawkins
Orchestra and began making her own records.  "Don't You Know" and "And That
Reminds Me"
were two of her biggest hits in the 1950s.  She appeared on television as a
guest on many variety shows, logging more than 20 appearances in one year
on "The Ed Sullivan Show," on the Network.  She was nominated for a Grammy
Award as Best Female Soloist in Gospel Music (1987).  Reese hosted a
television talk show (1969-70) and has appeared in numerous television
series, including "Sanford & Son," "The A-Team" and "Crazy Like a Fox"
and "Picket Fences," both on the Network.  Last year, Reese recorded an
album based on her 27-city tour with her revue "Some of My Best Friends Are
the Blues" and published her autobiography, Angels Along the Way.
Kelly Rowan has appeared in the television movies "Adrift,"
"Black Fox: Good Men and Bad," "A Match Made in Heaven," "When He Didn't
Come Home"
and "Grave Secrets: Legacy of Hilltop Drive" on the Network, as well as
"Harlequin's Loving Evangeline," "Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years"
and "Exclusive."  Her series credits include roles in "To Have and To Hold,"
"Michael Hayes" and "Sweating Bullets," on the Network, "The Burning Zone"
and "The Outer Limits."  Rowan's film credits include "Three to Tango,"
"Late Last Night," "187," "Assassins," "Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh"
and "Hook."
Mason Gamble, 13, began his film career at age 6 in the feature "Ground Hog
Day."  Three months later, he won the title role from over twenty thousand
hopefuls in a nationwide casting call for the feature "Dennis the Menace,"
directed by John Hughes.  He has also starred in features "Just In Time,"
"Bad Moon," "Gattica," "Spy Hard,"
"Arlington Road"
and "Rushmore."  While filming "Anya's Bell" in Salt Lake City, Gamble flew
back and forth to Jackson, Miss.  for a small role in the upcoming feature
"The Rising Palace."  He resides in Chicago where he's an avid participant
in numerous sports and enjoys computers, animals and the great outdoors.
ANYA'S BELL was produced by Lett-Reese International Productions in
association with Erratic Entertainment, Inc.  and Universal Studios.
Karen Danaher-Dorr ("Scattering Dad"), Franklin Lett ("The Secret Path"),
Graham Ludlow ("Call of the Wild") and Sam Okun ("Call of the Wild") are
the executive producers; Ann Kindberg ("The Patron Saint of Liars"), the
producer.  Tom McLoughlin ("Behind the Mask") directed the film from an
original screenplay by David Alexander ("Dead Ahead").

--Sam Troia
(Your Alternative Uncle Sam)
KHUM rules!


VICUG-L is the Visually Impaired Computer User Group List.
To join or leave the list, send a message to
[log in to unmask]  In the body of the message, simply type
"subscribe vicug-l" or "unsubscribe vicug-l" without the quotations.
 VICUG-L is archived on the World Wide Web at
http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/vicug-l.html