Christopher and Dana Reeve certainly must have been smiling from the heavens at all the folks who rallied for their vision last night.

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation hosted their annual dinner at the Marriot Marquis Monday November 12, 2007. The foundation was established shortly after Christopher Reeve suffered his debilitating spinal cord injury to push for more medical research in finding a cure for paralyzed individuals. When he died, his wife Dana became the force behind the cause, but then she, too, died shortly after he did of cancer. The reins then went to Dana’s friend Peter Kiernan III, who promised her he would keep the hope alive. Last night was one of those tear jerker moments where their three surviving children — Alexandra, Will, and Matthew — went on stage to thank all the supporters. As Robin Williams put it, “They are like the Caucasian Messiah tribe with English accents.”

The evening featured entertainment by the stars of the Broadway productions of “Grease” and “Legally Blond.” But the highlight was really Anne Hathaway prostrating herself over Meryl Streep, who received the Dana Reeve HOPE award that evening for her support to the foundation. Anne must have been at the microphone for ten minutes describing how she always looked ridiculous in the presence of Meryl, and when Meryl took to the microphone, she managed to make Anne look ridiculous again by saying, “Anne, for your birthday (it was Anne’s birthday last night), you can get me some coffee.”

Afterwards I spoke to Anne, and she seemed much more collected than on stage. She actually has her own foundation, too, called the Follieri Foundation that aims to fight Hepatitis A in Central America. Okay, so it does sound a little obscure, but you can’t criticize her for doing good work. Meryl, in the meantime, told me she wants all bankers and hedge fund managers to give to charities as much as they can before the bottom falls out. She apparently has heard about the subprime mess, too.

Other attendees that evening included Diane Sawyer, Barbara Walters, and Bob Woodruff. Christopher and Dana Reeve certainly must have been smiling from the heavens at all the folks who rallied for their vision last night.

Ann Lee

11/13/07