I spent my day yesterday helping out with the shooting of a public service announcement for “Operation Iraqi Children,” which hopes to funnel needed school supplies to Iraqi schools.
We gathered at the home of Laura Hillenbrand, the author of “Seabiscuit,” who turns out to be absolutely charming, witty, and kind. (She offered all of us autographed books, which was swell.) Around 3pm, in walked actor Gary Sinise, who was very genuine in his desire to get this idea off the ground. He told us a little about the discussions for a lead role in “CSI: New York”, and for a moment I felt like a Hollywood insider. In an hour, we’d finished with Gary and he was off to his next stop, and we spent the next couple of hours recording some more PSA footage with Laura and hearing stories of her book and the making of the film.
She was such a lovely person, and it really made me feel good that she had experienced such a success. She deserved it.
She and Gary will be appearing on the Today show on Monday to promote their project.
