Reunion 64 Inc

2021 FORM 990 EZ PART III LINE 28 ACCOMPLISHMENTS PRODUCTION OF A FILM AND BOOK IN THIS ERA OF POLITICAL TENSION, WHEN CIVIC CULTURE IS FRACTURED AND WHEN THE VALUE OF THE LIBERAL ARTS IS QUESTIONED, A MESSAGE FROM 1963 HAS PARTICULAR RESONANCE TODAY. TWENTY-SEVEN DAYS BEFORE HE WAS ASSASSINATED, PRESIDENT KENNEDY CAME TO AMHERST COLLEGE TO HONOR THE POET ROBERT FROST. HE SPOKE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POETRY AND POWER AND OF A VIEW SHARED WITH FROST THAT POWER MUST BE EXERCISED, BUT WISELYTEMPERED BY A MORAL RESTRAINT INSPIRED BY THE ARTS AND A LIBERAL EDUCATION. AND, HE SPOKE OF THE OBLIGATION OF THOSE GIVEN A RUNNING START IN LIFE TO SERVE THE PUBLIC INTEREST. JFK: THE LAST SPEECH, FORMERLY WITH THE WORKING TITLE OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE POET, COINCIDED WITH THE 2017-2018 CENTENARY OF JFKS BIRTH AND COMMUNICATED THE IMPACT OF THIS MESSAGE THROUGH THE STORIES OF AMHERST ALUMNI AND STUDENTS AND REFLECTIONS BY PROMINENT SCHOLARS AND POLITICAL OBSERVERS. PRODUCED BY AN AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER, THIS FILM HAS BEEN SHOWN ON 50 PUBLIC TV STATIONS NATIONWIDE. IT ENCOURAGES PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON ENDURING VALUES AND ON OUR SHARED RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PUBLIC INTEREST. IT IS A CALL TO ACTION TO REBUILD OUR CIVIC SPHERE. A COMPANION BOOK WITH THE SAME TITLE WAS ALSO PRODUCED. A TEACHERS GUIDE WAS DRAFTED. A WELL-KNOWN COMPOSER, DR. ADOLPHUS HAILSTORK, HAS BEEN ENGAGED TO CREATE A 30-MINUTE SYMPHONY TITLED OF POETRY AND POWER: JFKS LAST SPEECH THAT WILL INCLUDE NARRATION OF LINES FROM PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SPEECH AT AMHERST INTERSPERSED WITH SUNG LINES FROM ROBERT FROST'S POEMS. THE DALLAS SYMPHONY AND SEVERAL OTHER SYMPHONIES HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST IN CO-COMMISSIONING AND PERFORMING THE SYMPHONY IN NOVEMBER 2023, 60 YEARS AFTER JFKS SPEECH AT AMHERST AND HIS VISIT TO DALLAS. A WEBSITE (HTTPS://WWW.JFKTHELASTSPEECH.ORG/ ) IS CONTINUALLY UPDATED TO SUPPORT THE FILM, BOOK, AND SYMPHONY.