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August 9, 2009
 On
Thursday, August 20th, Peter will be doing a reading and
book signing at the Booksmith in San Francisco. An
expanded version of Peter's sixties memoir,
SLEEPING WHERE I FALL,
was released by Counterpoint Press on July 1st.
Originally published in 1998, the new edition includes a
25-page afterword with additional photos. The free event
will be held at 7:30 pm.
Last
week ADOPT A SAILOR was
screened at the Sedona International Film Festival.
Actor Ethan Peck was in attendance along with the film's
writer/director Charles Evered and producer Kim Waltrip.
Festival director Patrick Schweiss commented, "It is an
incredibly poignant, timely and entertaining film."
 We
finally have a date for the Ken Burns documentary
series, "The National Parks: America’s Best Idea"
narrated by Peter. It will be featured on PBS from
Sunday, September 27 through Friday, October 2. A new
episode will debut each night at 8 pm with episodes
immediately repeating on the same night they premiere.
The series will be available in high definition with
surround sound. The 12-hour, six-part
documentary series, which will be rebroadcast on PBS in
early 2010, is directed by Burns and co-produced with
his longtime colleague, Dayton Duncan, who also wrote
the script. Filmed over the course of more than six
years in some of nature’s most spectacular locales -
from Acadia to Yosemite, Yellowstone to the Grand
Canyon, the Everglades of Florida to the Gates of the
Arctic in Alaska - the documentary is a story of people
from every conceivable background: rich and poor; famous
and unknown; soldiers and scientists; natives and
newcomers; idealists, artists and entrepreneurs; people
who were willing to devote themselves to saving some
precious portion of the land they loved, and in doing
so, reminded their fellow citizens of the full meaning
of democracy.
In addition to Peter's narration, the series features
first-person voices read by Tom Hanks, Andy Garcia, Josh
Lucas, Eli Wallach, Campbell Scott, Sam Waterston, John
Lithgow, George Takei, Philip Bosco, Carolyn McCormick,
Adam Arkin and Kevin Conway. The DVD, book and bonus CD
soundtrack will be released on October 6th and can
be pre-ordered now
at this link.
On April 26, 2009, the Dalai Lama
was the honored guest at a luncheon at the Ritz
Carlton in San Francisco. He acknowledged and thanked 49
individuals who were the honorees at the Unsung
Heroes of Compassion event, hosted by Peter. The
honorees were comprised of 25 women and 24 men from 13
countries ranging in age from 12 to 77 and came from a
variety of ethnicities, cultures, religions and
backgrounds. Each had demonstrated timeless and
universal human goodness. The Dalai Lama has written
extensively and worked tirelessly throughout the world
to promote compassion, which is a virtue honored by all
cultures and spiritual teachings. He has taught
meditations helping people to see that all people
experience pain, hunger, sickness, and death, and all of
us are equally worthy of compassion.You can view some of
the video of the event at youtube -
Part 1 - Peter's Welcome and
Part 2 - Introduction of His Holiness. It was
just two years ago last April that Peter celebrated his
lay ordination as a Buddhist priest. He was given the
name Hosho Jishi - Dharma Voice, Compassionate Warrior.
July 2, 2009
ADOPT
A SAILOR was screened in June at the Reno Film
Festival. You can view some clips from the film
at
this link. According to People
magazine, co-star Bebe Neuwirth had Peter officiate
at her wedding in May to California wine connoisseur
Chris Calkins. In an intimate New York ceremony in front
of nearly 80 guests at the Players Club in Manhattan’s
Gramercy Park, Peter presided over the
Buddhist/Christian ceremony. This is the second marriage
for the "Frasier" actress.
 The
death of Farrah Fawcett last week reminded me of the
1996 TV movie DALVA that Peter co-starred in with
both Farrah and Powers Boothe. It is currently being
offered at Amazon.com as a bonus DVD if you purchase the
Diane Keaton/Sam Shepard comedy "The Only Thrill" for
$9.99. Sounds like a bargain. It was also 13 years ago
when Farrah posed nude for Playboy at age 50. Peter
commented, "Let's not lose sight
of the fact that this is a damn fine-looking women who's
no longer 25. She wanted to make some kind of statement
like, 'It's not over, kids.' And I think she did it in
spades."
Here's
another photo of Peter taken in February at the Havana
Festival, which celebrates the famous Cuban cigars.
I
recently came across this funny story called "Coyote - a
Little Lamb". Apparently, actress Michelle Lee was a bit
nervous about meeting Peter ten years ago when they were
both cast in the CBS movie, "A
MURDER ON SHADOW MOUNTAIN." She was aware of his
past reputation for living in communes and befriending
Hell's Angels. To break the ice, she sent him and his
then 13-year-old son an Easter basket. The next day on
the set Peter slipped Lee a note: "Three fluffed
chickens bob on a flowered sprig in freshers of a gusty
spring day. For Michelle and her Easter flowers. Peter
Coyote 1999." Michelle told columnist Nancy Perry
Graham, "I'm shaking like a leaf, and he hands me little
chicky poos. The other side of Peter Coyote is this very
male man's man with a feminine heart."
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