I have just come back from Sundance, where I had a most wonderful time. I was there for the charity, Share The Beat, that concentrates on the awareness, or lack of it, about organ and tissue donation. This is an essential charity that spreads the much needed word about registering and making your donation firm and binding. There are not enough donors for the recipients, obviously, or we wouldn't have the illegal trade that is current around the world.
Many of us have carried donor cards for many years, but I had no idea that that wasn't legally binding. Now there is a register, both in this country and the USA, where you can record like a will that you want your body to be available for donor-ship. This doesn't mean it will be used, but it will be available, and your loved ones can't reverse your decision, which was the case before the register came into law. I don't even think it is a moral issue, or a generous act, particularly. I believe we should all do it. Forget any squeamish worries, and think how, if your loved one, or yourself, needed a transplant, wouldn't you be so grateful to find a match.It is a gift of life for the recipient and their whole family. Please log on to the website of the Jamie Redford Institute. The link is on the poster: www.jrifilms.org.
As for the event itself, I had an absolute ball. I met the man, Robert Redford, as well as Jamie, Amy, Lola. What an amazing family. Jamie is an extraordinary chap. I will always thank him for being so welcoming and for allowing me to feel a real part of the place. I was thrilled to find so many Lynley fans there. One guy who I was dying to meet was Rivers Rutherford. He is an extremely famous song writer I was told, and he has 6 number 1s. Now I'm not always a huge fan of country/blues, though I do certainly like it. Rivers was something else, both as a musician and as a performer, but mostly as a guy. He is fantastic. Loved him and his music. Bobby Joyner and Alexa Wilkinson are two emerging talents that would be headed to the top. I thought they were magnificent. All are now loaded on my iPod, and I want them to come quickly onto my shuffle menu.
Great, inspiring and I hope worth it, is how I look at that incredible weekend. Thanks hugely to Annie Aft, who is in charge of the institute, and to my fantastic friend, Fredi Edwards.