LEGENDARY POET AND AUTHOR MAYA ANGELOU JOINS PRESIDENT AND MRS. BUSH FOR ANNUAL CHRISTMAS �PAGEANT OF PEACE� AND NATIONAL CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING CEREMONY THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1
Ms. Angelou to Perform Original Spoken Word Poem �An Amazing Peace,�
Backed by the National Symphony and D.C. Children�s Choir
Maya Angelou is among the most exquisite and rare of American originals. Ms.
Angelou will join the President and Mrs. Bush, Thursday, December 1 at the 83rd annual
Christmas Pageant of Peace and National Christmas Tree Lighting.
Maya Angelou has penned an original poem for the event � �An Amazing Peace�
� which will be delivered in a spoken word performance backed by the National
Symphony (under conductor Charlie Barnett) and the D.C. Children�s Choir.
Maya Angelou�s poem is already generating significant interest. This week, Ms.
Angelou will travel to Chicago to tape an episode of �Oprah,� which is set to air on
Monday, December 5. The Christmas Pageant of Peace appearance was part of a media
plan to help create awareness of Ms. Angelou�s one-hour Hallmark Channel Original
special, �Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou,� which premieres exclusively on
Hallmark Channel, Friday, December 9 (7/6 c) with encores on Christmas Day (check
local listings). �Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou� also features Ms. Angelou�s
son and family and extended family, including musical legends, Nickolas Ashford and
Valerie Simpson.
The annual event, free and open to the public, is staged on the southern ellipse
of the White House. In 1923, Calvin Coolidge became the first President to light the
National Christmas Tree. Since then, the tree lighting ceremony by the President has
signaled the start of the holiday season for all Americans.
Maya Angelou is the author of thirteen best-selling books. The latest Hallelujah!
The Welcome Table is a beautiful recipe book that sifts food and cherished memories in
equal parts. As she does on every special occasion, Maya Angelou is in the kitchen
preparing a memory-laden feast for those she loves.
Maya Angelou has had a product line exclusively with Hallmark Cards for four
years.
Hallmark Channel is a 24-hour basic cable channel that provides a diverse slate
of high-quality entertainment programming to a national audience of 71 million
subscribers. The program service is distributed through more than 5,200 cable systems
and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country.
Crown Media also operates a second 24-hour linear channel, Hallmark Movie Channel.
Through its subsidiary, Crown Media Distribution, LLC, Crown also distributes titles from
its award-winning collection of movies, miniseries and films for exhibition in a variety of
television media including broadcast, cable, Video-on-Demand and High Definition
Television.
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