Last Thursday night, February 15, 2007, the TSA awards were held at the Regent Beverly Wilshire. A world renowned hotel famous for catering to the needs of the rich and famous, this hotel was the hub of all things fabulous and noble that night. Right around the corner of Rodeo Drive and Wilshire Boulevard, this hotel is a beacon that attracts the biggest of names in Los Angeles, and rightfully so this night as well, for the TSA fundraiser would surely benefit for the list of guests it had invited. And as each celebrity, business mogul, and captains of industry made their way down the red carpet, one could easily think it to be just another glamorous party. But as a witness I can tell you it was a lot more than that.
There were many things to honor that night, but the point of focus was to applaud the success of the award-winning documentary “I Have Tourette’s But Tourette’s Doesn’t Have Me”, a film produced through a partnership between TSA and HBO. The film won a prestigious Emmy in 2006. Special guests of honor and recipients of the Champions of Children awards Kevin Connolly ("Entourage") and Navid Mahmoodzadegan (UBS) were also there to speak out about their involvement with the program and to thank everyone for the special honors they received. Other special guests included Adam Brody ("The OC"), Peter Berg (Smokin’ Aces), LaToya Jackson, and many others.
The cast of the documentary was there to be honored as well. Each of these brave young souls spoke out to the hundreds of people there to tell their tales of courage and bravery. After hearing them speak and seeing clips from the documentary, I couldn’t help but get a little choked up. That emotion certainly just kept building on as the night progressed and other speakers came on. Dash Mihok (Hollywoodland) spoke of the struggles of trying to make it in the industry, then combined with the trials of Tourette’s, his journey has truly been a long and inspiring one. However, the straw that broke the camel’s back was Jeffrey Kramer’s speech. Mr. Kramer is an executive producer at CBS and has worked on many projects before that I’m sure most of us would know, from Jaws to "Ally McBeal". He himself suffers from TS and so do his two kids. The most important part of his message that night was how damaging TS can be to a child growing up because we as a society fail to be understanding and informed – that as parents, its our job to teach children to be considerate about things like Tourettes.
I left that banquet full in more ways than one, ecstatic to have met so many fine people in one night. Inspired and motivated to try and make a change, knowing that anyone and everyone is capable of changing their own destinies no matter what obstacles lie ahead. And also content, to know that there are people and groups like TSA all over the world that are there to fill you in on what you don’t know, point you in the right direction if you are lost, and serve as an example to everyone on what good character is all about. Special thanks to Mark Levine from TSA, Beverly Visty-Doman from Dharmata, Carita Rizzo from TV Guide, and Ms. Eva Kimberly for making the night more than a possibility.
www.tsa-usa.org
