Clark, Jones, Etc. Honored with Norman Peale Awards, 10/12

Tony Award-winners Victoria Clark and James Earl Jones will be among those honored on Thursday, October 12th at the Blanton-Peale Institute's 2006 Norman Vincent Peale Awards for Positive Thinking.  The organization's Gala Awards Dinner will be held at the University Club, One West 54th Street, New York City.  Reception is at 6:30 pm; Dinner is at 7:30 pm. 

This year's outstanding honorees are: Donna deVarona, two-time swim-team Olympic Gold Medalist, Emmy-Award winning journalist, and activist for equal opportunities for girls and women in sports and fitness; Kenneth S. Giniger, editor and publisher of inspirational titles, including Dr. Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking; President of The K.S. Giniger Company; James Earl Jones, celebrated star of stage and screen whose voice (as Darth Vader in Star Wars, Mufasa in The Lion King and the Verizon spokesperson) who is known by people of all ages and walks of life; David P. Pearson, Senior Managing Director of Carret Asset Management, whose career has been dedicated to sound principles of value investing for individual, charitable and corporate accounts.  The Arts Award will be awarded to Victoria Clark, who most recently received Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance in The Light in the Piazza.

The Light in the Piazza director Bartlett Sher will present the award to Clark.

"The Norman Vincent Peale Award for Positive Thinking recognizes individuals whose lives exemplify the power of thinking positively, with faith, deep caring for people, and a dedicated commitment to improving our world," state press notes.  Past award recipients include Walter Anderson, John Mack Carter, Elizabeth Dole, Phyllis George, George V. Grune, Eugene Lang, Leila Hadley Luce, Ruth Stafford Peale, General Colin Powell (Ret.), President Ronald Reagan, Sir John Marks Templeton, Dave Thomas, and Mrs. Fred Trump.

The Gala Dinner benefits the Blanton-Peale Institute, a non-sectarian, non-denominational organization founded in 1937 by the internationally renowned pastor and author, Rev. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, ("The Power of Positive Thinking") and psychiatrist, Smiley Blanton, MD.

Blanton-Peale "brings together the insights of depth psychology and psychotherapy with the wisdom of the great spiritual traditions to help men and women, families, clergy and caregivers manage the psychological, emotional, and spiritual issues of everyday life."

Benefit tickets are $500 each.  Proceeds from the Gala Dinner will provide financial support for students-in-training, particularly to those from underrepresented cultures, and will subsidize counseling fees for those in need.

For more information, visit www.blantonpeale.org.  For more on the gala, contact Brian Husbands at Lorelei Enterprises, 212-838-2660, ext. 14.