2008 UPDATES |
SEPTEMBER 2008
DEBBIE TURNER, PETER HANKWITZ AND ME
The first Robert Foundation for Cancer Research and Patient Care Fundraiser was held at Peter Hankwitz's home on September 13th. It was a great crowd and everyone had a fantastic time! The event also coincided with Peter's 40th birthday! My friend and Sound of Music "sister" Debbie Turner flew in for the occasion. We are planning our gala soon and I will keep everyone updated on that.
Donations can be sent to:
The Robert Urich Foundation
6900 Canby Avenue, Suite 101
Reseda, CA 91336
818-758-6900
urichfoundation.org
We will never give up. |
MARCH 2008
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JANUARY 2008
Here I am at the opening of "Freeze Frame - 5 Decades of Photographs" by Douglas Kirkland at the
Academy of Arts & Sciences. Renowned photographer Kirkland took this photograph
of us during the shoot of "The Sound Of Music" which is in his exhibit.
Charmian Carr (Leisl), Kym Karath (Gretyl) and Angela Cartwright (Brigitta) were also there.
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2007 UPDATES |
NOVEMBER 2007
 I recently had the pleasure of visiting my Sound of Music sibling Nicholas Hammond and his wonderful Mom Eileen aboard the ship Zaandam before they set sail for Hawaii. The ship is marvelous and I was very jealous. I wanted to stow away! We had a delicious lunch and toasted our friendship with Champaign. The guest relations director, Amber, could not have been more gracious to us, as she is a devoted fan of the movie. We took photos with the crew and promised to take the cruise together soon. It would be fun to share Sound of Music tales with the passengers!!
I sadly waved them off as they sailed into the sunset. |
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MAY 2007
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I just got back from a jam packed trip to NYC. I went with Peter Hankwitz to the Sarcoma Foundation of America event at the newly renovated Marriott Hotel. As in past years, the event had an enormous turnout. More people have been touched by this disease than one would imagine. Anthony Federov, from American Idol fame, sang for us. He's an amazingly talented young man who lost his brother at the age of 28 to Sarcoma. |
 ANTHONY FEDEROV |
The rest of the week was spent going to as much theater as I could squeeze in with a little shopping on the side. I made my usual stop at The American Girl flagship store for some goodies for Alli. I was honored to be able to see Christopher Plummer in "Inherit the Wind." He is truly one of the greatest actors of our modern age. I went back stage to see him and tell him so. I don't know how the Tony voters will ever vote this season. There are so many terrific shows and the talent is abundant.
I'm off to Canada in a couple of weeks and then to Scotland for the Clan Menzies reunion at the castle in Aberfeldy.
More to come! |
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FEBRUARY 2007
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Actually, welcome spring! I'm enjoying
Spring Break with my little Alli and my son
Ryan, who is home from Med School. He's
having fun learning all about saving lives,
and Alli is not having fun learning her
times tables. From one extreme to the other!
I'm pleased to announce that our nonprofit
status has finally come through for the new
California based Robert Urich Foundation for
Cancer Research. It only took a couple of
years of cutting through red tape and
jumping through hoops! I'm still affiliated
with the Urich Fund at The University of
Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. But, I
wanted to develop a California based
Foundation so that I would have more hands
on control of how the events are produced. I
also felt the need to fund programs for all
forms of cancer while working in affiliation
with The Sarcoma Foundation of America as
well as The University of Michigan. We are
off to the races and are planning a big
event for this coming fall. Marc Cherry,
creator/producer of "Desperate Housewives,"
has graciously offered to help us out with a
dinner/auction on the set of Wisteria Lane.
More to come on that!!
I'm off to NYC next month to attend the 5th
annual Sarcoma Foundation of America's
fundraising event. This year they are
honoring all past courage award recipients,
myself included. Two years ago I accepted a
posthumous award for Robert. I wasn't the
one with the courage, he was. This year
there will be a special guest appearance by
Anthony Fedorov, a popular American Idol,
who recently lost his brother to sarcoma.
The most important strides The SFA has been
making have been to change the FDA laws to
allow for more drugs to be approved for
sarcoma and other rare cancers.
Cheers! |
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OCTOBER 2006
Oh my, have I
been lax in my update. I don't quite know where
to begin! We are ensconced in another school
year and all is well. Alli is in the third
grade!! She has recently discovered the joys of
ice skating..... She and I recently flew to
Vegas on a whim! I showed Alli some of our old
haunts from when Bob was doing "Vega$" there.
She had fun shopping, swimming in the hotel
pool, room service and the shows. We had a great
summer in Canada with my sister, Sheila, and her
family.
We have a new addition to our family!! A border
Collie we rescued from the pound and named
Riley. He has every bad habit there is to have
in a dog, but we love him just the same.
Angela Cartwright and I recently made an
appearance at the Hollywood Collectors Show at
the Burbank Hilton. It was loads of fun and we
met a lot of great fans. Some of my childhood
favorites were there. Lauren Chapin from "Father
Knows Best," Chubby Checker, Johnny Provost and
of course all of the "Lost in Space" gang
including Bill Mumy. I've grown up with
those guys,
Fun Times... |
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