UNCF Leader Delivers Eulogy at Funeral of Long-Time Supporter
FAIRFAX, Va., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Negro College Fund (UNCF)
today announced the creation of the Lou Rawls Lifetime Achievement Award which
will be given annually to a popular artist whose career reflects the quality
of commitment to UNCF and its mission that was Rawls' hallmark. The
announcement was made during remarks by UNCF President and CEO Michael L.
Lomax, Ph.D. as he delivered the eulogy during funeral services for Rawls.
The new award will be given at UNCF's annual television entertainment
program An Evening of Stars(R) which raises funds and awareness of UNCF. The
Lou Rawls Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to an individual who has
been a strong supporter of UNCF's mission of promoting minority higher
education. This award will be given in addition to the tribute given each
year to the individual to whom that year's An Evening of Stars(R) is
dedicated.
Rawls is credited with having created the UNCF's annual television
special, known for years as The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars. The program was
re-named An Evening of Stars(R) in 1998. Rawls was honored on the 2004
program for helping the UNCF raise more than $200 million since 1979, and was
presented with the UNCF's first honoree tribute on that program.
Earlier this week, the family of Rawls requested that in lieu of flowers,
individuals should make donations to UNCF as a way of ensuring that Rawls'
commitment to education continues. Donations can be made to the United Negro
College Fund, 8260 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, P.O. Box 10444, Fairfax, VA
22301-8044 or by visiting http://www.uncf.org .
Remarks by Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D. at the Lou Rawls Funeral
Friday, January 13, 2006
Listen. The silence you hear is the stilled voice of our friend, Lou
Rawls.
For almost fifty years he was the voice of our lives. Whether we were
with -- or trying to be -- "Groovy People" or trying to escape from "A World
of Trouble," we did it to Lou Rawls' music.
For more than twenty-five years he lent his voice to the organization I
have the honor to lead, the United Negro College Fund, as the star and spirit
of our annual television fund-raiser, originally named The Lou Rawls Parade of
Stars(R) and now called An Evening of Stars(R). He started the show, and he
nurtured it with his talent and his dedication. He made it not only a must-
see for tens of millions of Americans, but a must-perform for the greatest
entertainers of two generations, from Boys II Men to Whitney Houston, to Frank
Sinatra -- who said that Lou had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in
the singing game."
And he made it a "must-give" for millions of donors, who came for the
music and stayed for the cause -- making it possible for hundreds of thousands
of young men and women to get the college education they needed but couldn't
afford. No one who has enjoyed An Evening of Stars(R) and responded to its
message of hope and dedication will ever forget Lou Rawls and his commitment
to UNCF and to minority higher education.
We want to preserve that link for future viewers as well. So a highlight
of next year's An Evening of Stars(R) will be the presentation of a new "Lou
Rawls Lifetime Achievement Award" to a popular artist whose career reflects
the kind of commitment to UNCF and its mission that was Lou's hallmark.
The last song I heard Lou Rawls sing was just last Saturday, when I
watched and listened to him sing on his twenty-seventh Evening of Stars(R).
And I will never forget the last words of the last song he sang, the Sinatra
standard, "It Was a Very Good Year," because they seemed to sum up a life of
art, of service, and of generosity.
"I think of my life," he sang, "as vintage wine, from fine old kegs. From
the brim to the dregs, it poured sweet and clear. It was a very good year."
Lou Rawls was a very good man, and he lived a very good life. And we
miss him very much.
SOURCE United Negro College Fund
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http://www.uncf.org
CONTACT:
UNCF Communications, +1-703-205-3404 or
http://www.uncf.org
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