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4/10/05 - Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary celebration

4/10/05 - Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary celebration

Dear Friends,

Tomorrow, Saturday, 2 April 2005, is the two hundredth anniversary of 
the birth of the author of the most universally loved stories ever 
written, Hans Christian Andersen.

You are invited to a celebration of the bicentenary of Hans Christian 
Andersen's birthday on Sunday, 10 April 2005, at 2:00 in the 
afternoon at 1637 Woodland Avenue in East Palo Alto to coincide with 
our celebration of the 21st anniversary of the passage of the Rent 
Stabilization and Eviction for Good Cause Ordinance by the voters of 
East Palo Alto on 10 April 1984 which provides most of the remaining 
affordable housing in the City of East Palo Alto.

The bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen's birthday on 2 April 
marks not the end, but the beginning of a yearlong international 
celebration of the most popular writer of the last two centuries. 
When his fairy tales first started appearing in the first half of the 
Nineteenth Century, it set Hans Christian Andersen on a path to 
become the best known writer of his century.  His appeal to the human 
heart has not abated, but continues to the present day.  For the 
details of the international celebration of the Hans Christian 
Andersen Bicentenary, please go to the following website: 
www.hca2005.com.  This website, sponsored by the Kingdom of Denmark 
and the Bikuben Foundation, is in several languages.  You can select 
the English language version of the website.

While the entire world will be honoring the Hans Christian Andersen 
Bicentenary, we in East Palo Alto have special reason to honor this 
giant of world literature.  Although Hans Christian Andersen came 
from a small country with a small population (Denmark) and wrote in a 
language spoken by a small number of speakers, because of the 
universality of his appeal, he has become the most widely read author 
over the past two centuries.  His writings have special resonance for 
East Palo Alto, because of the themes of social justice that underlie 
so many of his affecting stories.  The purpose behind the 
international celebration of the Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary 
and of our celebrations in East Palo Alto is to elucidate the serous 
social concerns over the mistreatment of people, especially children, 
but also low-income adults, and community needs in the area of 
housing and other essentials of human existence to be met through 
community unity.

Among his best known fairy tales are The Tinderbox, The Princess and 
the Pea, The Little Mermaid (made into a Disney animated film a few 
years ago), The Emperor's New Clothes, The Steadfast Tin Soldier, the 
Wild Swans, The Nightingale,The Ugly Duckling, The Pine Tree, The 
Snow Queen, The Red Shoes (the basis for the greatest film about 
dance and ballet ever), The Shepherdess and the Chimney Sweep, The 
Little Match Girl, the Story of a Mother, and She Was No Good (my 
candidate for the most affecting story of a mother's self-sacrifice 
for the well-being of her child).

The writings of Hans Christian Andersen have as their subtext the 
implicit and explicit critique of an unjust society and the corollary 
implicit endorsement of a just society.  The society which 
inadequately houses children, forces children into lives of servitude 
and danger as is common in underdeveloped parts of  the world is the 
kind of world that Hans Christian Andersen condemns in his famous 
fairy tales.   It is because of the adroit relevance to the concerns 
of flesh and blood humanity that the stories remain a permanent and 
universal part of the world literature heritage that is the legacy of 
all humanity.  The stories provides an ongoing standard by which to 
measure the direction in which a community or society is heading, 
whether moving towards realizing the ideal of a just society where 
poverty is mitigated if not abolished, where children are not 
exploited as in the story of The Little Match Girl, who was forced by 
her dysfunctional alcoholic father to sell matches in the freezing 
streets of  a nameless city that might have been Copenhagen in the 
Nineteenth Century, but could be any city  or any community that 
tolerates the exploitation, abuse, and endangerment of children, not 
excluding the USA or even East Palo Alto.

Michael Lambert, Manager of the East Palo Alto Library, also is 
looking forward to organizing an event honoring Hans Christian 
Andersen.  There are a number of his books in our library.

We expect as the Hans Christian Andersen Bicentenary year continues, 
other opportunities to reacquaint ourselves with the revolutionary 
and enduring impact of his insights into the soul of humanity through 
his imperishable stories will arise here in East Palo Alto.

Please join us on Sunday, 10 April at 2:00 p.m. at 1637 Woodland 
Avenue for the first of East Palo Alto's celebrations of this most 
humane of authors.  Our celebration will be in the backyard of the 
cottage at the rear.  There are eucalyptus trees in front to help you 
identify the location.

Best wishes,

William Byron Webster

President and Board Chair
EPACT Education Fund

Homeowner Rep
East Palo Alto Rent Stabilization  Board

Executive Director
FreedomArts

Contributed by Content Manager