In honor of three visiting Soviet sports medicine specialists, invited to Los Angeles by Dr. Leroy Perry of the International Sportsmedicine Institute (ISI) and by the Foundation for Athletic Research and Education (FARE), a special fund-raising dinner called the "U.S.-U.S.S.R. Sports Medicine and Science Unity Celebration Dinner" was held November 16th. Guests made a donation of $250 each to benefit the non-profit organization, FARE. Movie producer Blake Edwards and his wife, singer/actress Julie Andrews hosted the dinner at their Malibu, California home.
The visiting Soviet dignitaries were Dr. Anatoliy Kovrizhnykh, chief of the Sports Medicine department of the U.S.S.R. Committee for Physical Culture and Sports; Dr. Lev Markov, chairman of the Sports Medicine department of the U.S.S.R. Winter Olympic Team; and Dr. Valentina Ostapenko, chairman of the Anti-Doping Unit of the Soviet Olympic Team.
The fund-raiser was set in motion this past June after Dr. Perry was named to the medical team of the Soviet Olympic team for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain (see "Chiropractic and Interna- tionalism" in the Oct. 25, 1991 issue of "DC"). It was then that he invited the three prominent Soviet sports figures to visit Los Angeles to be the guests of honor at the charity dinner. According to Dr. Perry, this is one of the first steps in an exchange program that will bolster American-Soviet sports medicine/science collaboration. Hopefully, this partnership will be a permanent and fruitful one for both nations.
Over 300 guests attended the gala. Among the celebrities at the dinner were actors Warren Beatty and Ed Begley, Jr.; director and producer John Frankenheimer; director and screenwriter Robert Towne; California Assemblyman Tom Hayden; former Los Angeles Dodger Ron Cey; and light-heavyweight champion of the world from 1952-62, boxing great Archie Moore. Other notable attendees included Dr. Robert Gale, the UCLA doctor who performed bone marrow transplants in the U.S.S.R. on Chernobyl disaster survivors; and sports medicine specialists Dr. John Pagliano and Dr. Jack Scott.
California state Senator Herschel Rosenthal, (22nd district) spoke at the gathering. Various other politicians sent representatives to give resolutions and proclamations in the visiting Soviets' honor: California Governor Pete Wilson; Lieutenant Governor Leo McCarthy, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, Los Angeles 3rd District Supervisor Ed Edelman, and Los Angeles 5th District Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.
Reporters from various well-known publications were in attendance: Sports Illustrated, People, and Life magazines all had writers present. Entertainment Tonight has already aired the segment in which it covered the event.
Barbara Migliaccio
Second Assistant Editor
