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 Looking ahead to sunnier days
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Central Park on Sunday when it was a glorious Spring day in New York. 2:15 PM. Photo: JH. |
April 8, 2009. Damp and almost cold yesterday in New York.
Last night I went down to the Pierre where CASA (The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University) was holding its 17 Anniversary Awards Dinner. Julie Chen and Michael Douglas were emcees.
The honorees were Muhtar Kent, President and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company, who was presented with the CASA Distinguished Service Award, and Anne and Kirk Douglas who were presented with the CASA Inspiration Award (for their courage and generous spirit to help families battle substance abuse and addiction). |
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The Grand Ballroom of the Hotel Pierre last night with Joe Califano at the podium. |
Joe Califano started CASA after years of serving in government – in both the Johnson and Carter Administrations, and practicing law in both Washington and New York. A boy from a large Italian family in Brooklyn (so beautifully and affectionately remembered in his autobiography “Inside: A Public and Private Life”), he was the first in his family to go to college (Holy Cross undergrad and Harvard Law where he was an editor on the Harvard Law Review).
What followed was a classic rise to the top of his profession. He has a casual, almost shmoozy easiness to his personality, but his CV shows a man who’s all business and gets things done. |
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L. Philip Guzman, Johanna Morales, Adalberto Agueda, Joe Califano, and Irma Camacho, of the Bridgeport CASASTART program. |
He started CASA in 1992 as a Research, Prevention and Public Education activity, associated with Columbia University. It’s the only national organization that addresses all angles of the problem.
They started a program model called CASASTART where they target children who are at risk for substance abuse, delinquency and academic failure. Get ‘em when they’re most vulnerable.
Last night we were shown a video about a CASA program in an economically hurting area of Bridgeport and specifically, the transforming of a young girl, Johanna Morales who first got involved as a teen-ager when she was surrounded by contemporaries already involved in drug taking, truancy and malaise. The video followed her through her rehabilitation and growth to the point where she is now a counselor for CASASTART in her home area and about to start college (the first of her family, like Joe Califano).
It was a night of stories of people with courage. We were also shown a video about Eric Douglas, the son of Anne and Kirk, who died from a combination of alcohol and prescription drug overdose in 2004. The world heard about that one because of the famous father and brother Michael.
Last night we heard from the Douglases themselves about how much went into assisting their son in his battle to overcome addiction. It was a long road, populated with a variety of rehabs and relapses. In the end, Eric lost the battle at age 46. The parents who were crushed by their son’s death, decided to do something to help all those other parents and loved ones who are battling the same diseases or have lost the battle.
Kirk Douglas is 93 years old. He was a movie star when I was a kid and even before. When he was old enough he wrote a frank memoir about his life and his background coming from a Russian Jewish family who emigrated to this country for a better life.
Thirteen years ago Kirk Douglas suffered from a stroke. He overcame its debilitating effects characteristically. Last night he entertained the audience (it’s always a kick to see an actual film icon in the flesh) with his vigor and his wit, commanding our attention like the pro that he is, demonstrating what star quality really is.
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Hilary Califano and Muhtar Kent telling Kirk Douglas how much he'd admired many of his performances in the movies, a real honest-to-god fan with a real honest-to-god movie star. |
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Anne Douglas. |
Anne Douglas spoke to us about their son’s battle and his loss. You could see that the mother was never going to give up the fight. They visit their son’s grave every week. She sued both a doctor and a pharmacist for having dispensed prescription drugs to an addict. After two years she won. The doctor lost his medical license. She told us that this is also part of the problem and that many thousands of people have similar situations to theirs and their son’s.
The Douglases have an unusual Hollywood marriage – over fifty years together. Their story of the son Eric’s addiction was put out there frankly and starkly. Yet it was told demonstrating their great love and tender understanding of their son’s problems.
After the Douglases, Muhtar Kent was presented with his award. Mr. Kent is Turkish, son of a diplomat who served in Turkish embassies all over the world. So the son had a very international upbringing. He and his wife are now living in Atlanta, the home of Coca-Cola. |
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Kirk Douglas addreses the crowd while Joe Califano and Anne and Michael Douglas look on. |
| Tina Sloan McPherson of "The Guiding Light" which is going off the air in September after a 72-year run. |
Joe Califano and Muhtar Kent, CEO of Coca-Cola, a big supporter of CASA. |
Coke has been a supporter of CASA from the outset, initially through the auspices of Donald Keogh, a former chairman of the company. Mr. Kent is an enthusiastic supporter of CASA too. Last night he spoke about the problem that exists all over the world and how its is made more prevalent by the eoonomics of poverty and lack of jobs and education. And it is now commonplace. CASA is working on that.
These are not the best of times for fund-raising as just about everybody knows. Yet CASA raised $1.5 million last night, thanks to Joe Califano. Every President and First Lady since Jimmy Carter, along with Lady Bird Johnson has lent their names to his efforts. Last night’s Honorary Chairs were President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, President and Mrs. George W. Bush, Mrs. Ronald Reagan, President William Clinton, President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter, President and Mrs. George H. W. Bush and Mrs. Gerald Ford. Previous honorees, Columba and Governor Jeb Bush, were also in attendance. |
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