30 Minutes with Meryl Streep. (Clippings).The car door suddenly swings open, then slams shut. "Tickets, please," says the conductor. It's just after I p.m. on a humid August day in Washington, DC, and the train is pulling away from Union Station. I'm headed for New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. to meet Academy award-winning actress Meryl Streep Noun 1. Meryl Streep - United States film actress (born in 1949) Streep , who has agreed to narrate public service announcements for AMERICAN FORESTS American Forests is a nonprofit conservation organization that promotes healthy forests and urban tree planting. The organization was established in 1875 as the American Forestry Association, by physician/horticulturist John Aston Warder and a group of like-minded citizens . Outside Penn Station, I line up behind other commuters vying for taxis. The cab ride is like an out-of-control amusement park amusement park, a commercially operated park offering various forms of entertainment, such as arcade games, carousels, roller coasters, and performers, as well as food, drink, and souvenirs. roller coaster and I'm grateful to arrive at the hotel in Tribeca. Ms. Streep is scheduled to record at 1:30 the next day. I settle in for a night of calming my nerves. I arrive at the radio station around 1, soon enough to get a tour from the audio engineer, Claudia. Seeing the reel-to-reel and cart machines brings back memories of my days as a radio announcer and news hound. Claudia and I run through the schedule for today: Ms. Streep will be recording a 30-second and a 60-second spot. I'm waiting in the "green room through what could be the longest 10 minutes of my life when my hip begins to vibrate and chirp. I wrestle out the cell phone but never figure out how to turn off that particular function. The chauffer is calling to let us know he and his famous passenger are about 5 minutes away. Now my nerves are vibrating vibrating, v using quivering hand motions made across the client's body for therapeutic purposes. like the cell phone. When I worked in radio I had the chance to interview several famous people--Gov. Mario Cuomo and singer Don Henley among them--but this is Meryl Streep, one of my favorite actresses. "Kramer vs. Kramer," "The Deer Hunter," 'Sophie's Choice." She's in a category by herself. When I arrive at Claudia's office, she's on the phone with the chauffer, describing our appearances. She hangs up and we make the 25-story trip down to meet the car, joined along the way by the building's head of security. Claudia arranged to have the sizable gent escort Ms. Streep as a precautionary measure. We stand at curbside looking first one way, then the other for a chauffeur who might be looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. us. He waves us toward a black Mercedes-Benz with black tinted windows. After a handshake and a brief chat with the driver about logistics for picking up Ms. Streep, he opens the rear door and out steps Meryl Streep. I extend a shaky hand to introduce myself, Claudia, and the head of security. Between the excitement of meeting the actress and the deafening traffic noise on Centre Street, I'm feeling a little numb. She has a plain loveliness about her. Unless you looked closely, you probably wouldn't recognize hers among the many faces in New York City. She just looks like someone's mom (which she is, four times over). "Thank you so much, Ms. Streep, for taking time out of your busy schedule to record the PSAs." I say as we approach the building. "it's very nice of you to do this for AMERICAN FORESTS." We arrive at the recording studio and I retreat momentarily to get her a glass of water. When I return, they are finishing a conversation about Claudia's background. I've brought a gift and lead Ms. Streep to a wooden box with an engraved en·grave tr.v. en·graved, en·grav·ing, en·graves 1. To carve, cut, or etch into a material: engraved the champion's name on the trophy. 2. , brass nameplate that reads, "Presented to Meryl Streep, From AMERICAN FORESTS. The paw print of a Siberian tiger benefiting from AMERICAN FORESTS' tree-planting project in the Russian Far East Russian Far East, formerly Soviet Far East, federal district (1989 est. pop. 7,941,000), c.2,400,000 sq mi (6,216,000 sq km), encompassing the entire northeast coast of Asia and including the Sakha Republic, Maritime Territory (Primorsky Kray), ." Meryl Streep's eyes grow big as I open the box. Set in black velvet is a plaster mold of a tiger paw print. "Thank you; it's great," she says. "My children will love it." She enters the studio and, with amazing ease, records the two PSAs in no time. Her voice is soft, sincere, and oh so recognizable. As she leaves I thank her again and talk about some of the tree planting projects we have done. She says she appreciates the work we do. Claudia telephones the chauffer, and the two of us escort Ms. Streep in the elevator and to the front of the building. The traffic noise and smell of exhaust are overwhelming. "Again, thanks so much, Ms. Streep," I shout. She passes into the comfort of plush leather seats, the door closes, and the car pulls away. The entire visit was about 30 minutes, just long enough to voice two PSAs and leave an indelible impression on a big fan.-Steve Westcott You can see the Meryl Streep-narrated PSAs on ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. , CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , HGTV HGTV Home and Garden Television and local and national cable channels nationwide. |
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