Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/94610
A Letter from the Co-President KEN HOWARD "Know that your struggle to carry on and rebuild is deeply felt by me and so many others. Remember, we are all in this together." Dear Member, A s I write this, thousands of our fellow members along the Eastern Seaboard, and countless more friends and family members, are still dealing with the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy and its aſtermath. As someone with deep roots in Long Island and New York, I want all my brothers and sisters there — and everywhere the ferocious storm leſt its mark — to know that your struggle to carry on and rebuild is deeply felt by me and so many others. I'm so grateful that the SAG Foundation, the SAG Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund and the AFTRA Foundation have partnered to provide immediate support to active SAG-AFTRA members affected by Hurricane Sandy. hese organizations have collectively contributed a quarter million dollars to establish the Superstorm Sandy Emergency Assistance Fund. his initial amount will be supplemented with further donations made by SAG-AFTRA members and others, and the relief grants will be administered by he Actors Fund. his story will not be told over days and weeks, but will stretch out over months and years. he need will be great and ongoing, so if you can afford to help, please make a tax-deductible donation by visiting SAGFoundation.org. And if you need help, please ask. SAG-AFTRA members can apply for assistance by calling (212) 221-7300 ext. 119 or email intakeny@actorsfund.org. he process is strictly confidential and designed for one purpose only — to deliver help to those who need it. Remember, we are all in this together. 6 SAG-AFTRA | Winter 2013 | SAGAFTRA.org On a much happier note, I'd like to share my reflections on a terrific experience I had recently. You'll also read about it later in this magazine. I'm referring to the wonderful few hours I spent talking with Dick Van Dyke. If you read my interview with Dick on page 42, you'll see, even in print, what most of us have known for decades: Dick Van Dyke is not only outrageously talented; he's also genuinely humble and a consummate professional. Toss in the fact that he's one of the nicest, most charming men you could ever hope to meet and you'll understand why I feel so fortunate to play a part in honoring him with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award. Beyond the artistic inspiration his work has given generations of performers, Dick Van Dyke also represents a remarkably relevant model for today's newest SAG-AFTRA members. As you'll read in our interview, Dick's energy, drive and talent led him to excel at an astonishing variety of the work SAG-AFTRA now covers. He was a radio and television broadcaster who worked with Walter Cronkite before becoming an actor. He was a game show host. hen, in 1960, Bye Bye Birdie earned him a Tony Award as Broadway's newly discovered song-and- dance man. Just a year later, he began five iconic seasons of he Dick Van Dyke Show, but he wasn't anywhere close to finished yet. here were still movies to conquer, and Dick quickly made his mark as surely as he did everywhere else, starring in the now timeless classics Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He then spent Ken Howard more than four decades working nonstop in nearly every way imaginable, including more feature films, his ubiquitous presence on television, a return to the Broadway stage, work as a voice actor and even becoming the front man of his own a cappella singing group. How does that relate to today's newest SAG-AFTRA members? Well, many young members understand that the boxes which used to define a performer's career path simply don't exist anymore. hey understand that there is enrichment and excitement that comes from working as multiplatform hybrid talents. But what they may not have known until now is this: he "early adopter" Dick Van Dyke beat them to the punch — by a mere 50 years. And there is one more important way in which Dick serves as a role model for members both young and old. Besides being an incredibly successful performer, Dick is and always has been a union man. As a union member of more than 50 years, he deserves to be honored, as do so many others that came before and aſter him. his legacy of union protection must always be defended and strengthened for future generations of members who will continue to be inspired by the remarkable example of a boundless talent like Dick Van Dyke. In unity,