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VOL. LIV, No. 10, 1981
Helen Lewis Receives Appalachian
Leadership Award
the
:nt.
seminar
‘of Extra Sensory Perception (ESP),
a counselor
nstitute; Dr. ^ J^'^ring his mental powers to Mars Hill
nglish at the ^jj^ege for a public appearance on
^a Maney, ' jsday, April 9, at 8 p.m. in Moore
colleg htorium.
•ll 4' Caldwell, New Jersey,
he still calls home, Kreskin was
pants on a ^ exposed to the world of magic by
Popular comic strip, “Mandrake,
public and Magician.” From then on, he began
and registr , Mandrake. At the age of
rom Raymon^ e, jjg performing as a magician
^ 4 half-hour act. By the time he was
’ Programs
or call 166.
with lofl*
he had added the art of hypnosis
l>is
repertoire. According to the New
lail for Times, he was probably the
jjd I 8est performing hypnotist. Today,
at does longer believes that there is the
tes a weeK .1 ^test scientific evidence of a hypnotic
tl-one. state.
•A his extraordinary devel-
Dr gUldel I'llent period, Kreskin led a normal life
S. Bend»^d son, student, and playmate. He
tS for classical piano and still retains a
^ L ^air at the keyboard. An avid par-
in sports, he is quite active in
^Ping and skiing. In
. School, he developed the name of
^ Mn by borrowing a “k” from Harry
one of America’s first great
^ ^cians, the “in” from Houdini, and
'cd the “kres” from his own name,
since legally changed his name to
has a bachelor’s degree from Seton
. University in New Jersey in psycho-
and the university has bestowed an
^.tary doctorate upon him as well as
'hig him to teach at the school. He is
a scientific consultant to Edmund Scien
tific Company, and is national entertain
ment ambassador to the “Big Brother”
organization.
As a scientific investigator of the
power of suggestion and ESP, Kreskin
has amassed a personal library of over
3,000 volumes ranging from fundamen
tal magic to telepathy and parapsycholo
gy. He is able to read at a rate of 7,000
words per minute. Although he has
developed a highly successful show
business reputation, his reputation in the
scientific community is equally es
teemed. He has cooperated with physi
cians and dentists in the medical field,
and has been called upon to work with
witnesses to crimes where the case
hinged on unearthing forgotten details
from the subconscious.
Kreskin has several standing
challenges open to anyone. The first is
$25,000 to anyone who can conclusively
prove under scientific conditions the ex
istence of a specific hypnotic state,
trance, or condition. The second is a
$20,000 challenge to anyone who can
prove his employment of paid assistants
or confederates in any phase of his per
formance. The third is not really a
challenge but involves a committee com
posed of people from the audience to
hide his check before the show begins. If
he fails to find the check, he is not paid.
At Mars Hill, that committee will be
composed of Asheville Citizen-Times
columnist Bob Terrell, president of the
Student Government Association Danny
Jenrich, and college president Dr. Fred
B. Bentley. In the past, several odd
places have been used in attempt to keep
the check from him. These have includ
ed the upper dental plate of an audience
member, inside a cooked turkey, and
stitched into the lining of an FBI agent’s
coat. According to Kreskin, he has
failed nine times to find his check.
As a showman, Kreskin uses conjur
ing, sensitivity, suggestibility, and
humor on stage. Humor is an integral
aspect of his performance, not only for
the benefit of the audience but to allow
him a break from the tensions he works
under. During a typical performance, he
will lose almost three pounds.
Tickets for the performance are $3
and are available at the door. Additional
information is available from Robert
Kramer, Chairman, The Visiting Artists
and Lecturers Committee, Mars Hill
College, Mars HiU, N.C. 28754.
Helen Lewis, a radical who has spent
most of her life campaigning for poor
people’s causes, will receive the Ap
palachian Leadership Award from the
Grayson Scholars from Appalachia of
Mars Hill College Thursday evening,
April 9.
The award is made to a person who
has contributed to the Appalachian
region and its people through a sincere
concern for the future of Appalachia.
The award recognizes outstanding ser
vice and commitment to the region
with an emphasis on leadership. This
will be the second time the award has
been made. Last year, it went to
former North Carolina Governor Bob
Scott for his accomplishments as co-
chairman of the Appalachian Regional
Commission.
The Grayson Scholars from Appala
chia was begun in 1978 at Mars Hill,
funded by a $1,123,000 gift to the col
lege by Dr. J. Wesley Grayson of
Laguna Hills, Calif. The program is an
effort to develop informed, capable
leaders from students within the region
who appreciate the history and culture
unique to the area and who are sen
sitive to the problems of the people
within Appalachia. In addition to
demonstrated leadership abilities and
exceptional academic achievement, the
students must be from Appalachia and
have a desire to remain within the
region following graduation. The
award was formulated by the students
in the program and in addition to
recognizing area leaders, the award
program will introduce the students to
leaders on the national level and let
them discuss the decision-making
process concerning the future of
Appalachia.
Born in northern Georgia, Helen
Lewis received her Ph.D. in Sociology
from the University of Kentucky. She
began her career teaching at Clinch
Valley College where she became the
first to design Appalachian courses for
her students. She is recognized as one
of the few people who have bridged the
gap between academia and social ac
tion at the grass roots level, instigating
such programs as a cultural exchange
between coal miners of Wales and coal
miners from Appalachia. She is one of
the editors of Colonialism in America,
and has lobbied in Washington against
the working conditions in coal mines,
including anti-strip mining move
ments. Perhaps her greatest achieve
ment has been her efforts to establish
health care facilities both within and
outside of the coal fields of Ap
palachia. She has also lobbied for
health care for the victims of black
lung disease. Currently she is living in’
Dungannon, Virginia, working with
Appalshop to produce a documentary
history of Appalachia.
The award ceremony will be held in
the college’s Belk Auditorium begin
ning at 7:30 p.m. Following the award
ceremony, Ms Lewis will address the
group and there will be time for a ques
tion and answer session. The public is
invited to attend the award presenta-
*ion and the lecture.
SART
The Southern Appalachian Repertory
Theatre, Western North Carolina’s only
professional repertory theatre, has an
nounced its summer season. The season
will begin June 19, and will run through
August 9 in Owen Theatre on the cam
pus of Mars Hill College.
The productions the company will
perform include the popular Fiddler on
the Roof; The Subject Was Roses, which
won both a Pulitzer Prize and Best Play
of the Year award by the New York
Drama Critics in 1965; On Golden
Pond, by Ernest Thompson, was also
chosen Best Play of the Year 1978-79 by
the New York Drama Critics and was
mentioned as a Pulitzer candidate; and a
new play tentatively entitled The Front
Porch: An Appalachian Montage, which
will include the short play, Tennessee,
by Romulus Linney.
Jim Thomas, managing director of
the company also noted that Dr. Earl
Leininger, professor of religion at Mars
Hill, will play the lead role of Tevya in
Fiddler on the Roof. Dr. Leininger, long
a favorite with SART audiences, has
played El Gallo in The Fantasticks, Cap
tain von Trapp in The Sound of Music,
and Abel Ammons in A Belonging
Place. Thomas also announced that Dr.
Bill Martin, nominated for a Tony for
directing The Lieutenant, will direct two
of SART’s shows this summer. Fiddler
on the Roof and On Golden Pond. Dr.
Martin directed The Tempest during the
college’s 1979-80 academic year.
Additional information on the season,
including season passes, is available
from Jim Thomas.