093_HR0561

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 1                          HOUSE RESOLUTION

 2        WHEREAS, Gerald Charles Dickens, noted British actor  and
 3    great-great-grandson  of Victorian author Charles Dickens, is
 4    coming to Springfield to  perform  selections  from  Dickens'
 5    classic works in support of area libraries; and

 6        WHEREAS,  The year of 2003 marks the 160th anniversary of
 7    A Christmas Carol, written by Charles  Dickens,  the  classic
 8    tale of Christmas spirit; and

 9        WHEREAS,  Gerald  Charles  Dickens  is  following  in the
10    footsteps of his great-great-grandfather  who  traveled  from
11    England to America in the 1800s to perform A Christmas Carol;
12    and

13        WHEREAS,  Gerald  Charles  Dickens captures the spirit of
14    Christmas when retelling the famous story and performing  all
15    26  characters  of  A  Christmas  Carol using only the simple
16    props of a chair and hat rack; and

17        WHEREAS, Gerald Charles Dickens, through his performances
18    and visits to local schools, fosters reading and literacy  as
19    a  part  of  Dickens'  tradition  of  illuminating  the human
20    condition; and

21        WHEREAS, The performances of Gerald Charles Dickens  have
22    been  celebrated  on  The  History Channel, CBS This Morning,
23    Good Morning America, and PBS stations throughout the  United
24    States as well as in the New York Times; therefore, be it

25        RESOLVED,   BY   THE  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  OF  THE
26    NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS,  that
27    we  designate  Saturday,  November 22, 2003 as Gerald Charles
28    Dickens Day in the State of Illinois; and be it further

29        RESOLVED, That a suitable  copy  of  this  resolution  be
30    presented  to  Gerald Charles Dickens as an expression of our
 
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 1    respect and esteem.