Earlier this month, more than 900 North Texans attended the 30th A Conversation With a Living Legend® event at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas. The luncheon raised more than $1.13 million to support MD Anderson's Moon Shots Program™, a collaborative effort to accelerate the development of scientific discoveries into clinical advances that save patients’ lives.
The event’s honoree, Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher and former Highland Park resident Clayton Kershaw, was interviewed by CBS News' Bob Schieffer during the event. Kershaw discussed baseball, fatherhood and the positive impact MD Anderson has had on his family. During the luncheon, Peter WT Pisters, M.D., president of MD Anderson, presented Dallas philanthropist Lyda Hill with the Making Cancer History® Award for her dedication and commitment to the institution’s mission to end cancer. Hill conceived the live-interview format for A Conversation With a Living Legend in 1990.
Since A Conversation With a Living Legend originated in North Texas in 1990, the event has been replicated across the country in Las Vegas, Atlanta, Houston, San Antonio, Corpus Christi and Washington, D.C., raising more than $44.4 million for vital research and patient care initiatives at MD Anderson. With this year's enthusiastic support, Dallas-Fort Worth luncheon fundraising totals exceed $19.3 million.
Event Chair: Mary Martha Pickens
Honorary Chair: Nolan Ryan
Chair-Elect: Cathy Allday
Presenting Sponsor: Lyda Hill Philanthropies; Barbara and Jerry King
National League MVP Sponsors: AT&T Foundation, the Kershaw Foundation, Mary Martha and John Pickens, and Julie and John Young
Red Carpet Underwriters: Lana and Barry Andrews and Natalie and Mike McGuire, Andrews Distributing; Peggy and Carl Sewell, Sewell Automotive; Sherry and J. Robert Brown and The Rosewood Corporation
Other top sponsors include:
Affiliated Bank/Sam L. Susser
The Corrigan Family
The Los Angeles Dodgers
Louise and Guy Griffeth
Lenise and Randall Stephenson
Gayle Stoffel and Cathy Allday