Ellen Burstyn presents at Smart Women Luncheon & Expo

St. Joseph’s/Candler will present Academy Award-winning actor and author Ellen Burstyn at The Fifth Annual Smart Women Luncheon and Expo on Sept. 19.

Event Details:
Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007
Savannah International Trade & Convention Center on Hutchinson Island
10 AM – Expo and Silent Auction
11:45 AM – Luncheon
12:30 PM – Ellen Burstyn presentation
1:15 PM – Ellen Burstyn book signing
Tickets are $45 per person; $450 for tables of 10

Smart Women is an annual event that educates and empowers women to take action on vital issues surrounding their busy lives. It's a forum for women to learn about healthcare – like the importance of annual mammograms or childhood immunizations - or intangibles like stress related issues, financial woes or emotional strain. Smart Women benefits the Mary Telfair Women’s Hospital at St. Joseph’s/Candler. Past Smart Women speakers include Suze Orman (2003), Erin Brockovich (2004), Ivana Trump (2005) and Peggy Fleming (2006).

The day begins with a Women’s Expo and silent auction in the morning followed by lunch and a one-hour presentation by Ms. Burstyn. Wachovia has returned this year as the event sponsor. Media sponsors include WSAV, Clear Channel and Savannah Morning News.

Shelly Kohli, a local artist whose work is featured in this year’s Smart Women silent auction, had a special reason for wanting to help the local women’s hospital. “My daughter had open heart surgery when she was six days old. She’s 14 years old now,” Kohli said. To see samples of Kohli’s work, visit http://www.artfusiongallery.com, click Artists and search under “S.”

For information or to purchase tickets, contact the St. Joseph’s/Candler Foundations office at (912) 819-8683.

About Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn’s career encompasses film, stage, and television. In 1975, she became the third woman in history to win both the Tony Award and the Academy Award in the same year, for her work in Bernard Slade’s Same Time, Next Year on Broadway and in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination and a British Academy Award for Best Actress. Ellen has been nominated for an Academy Award five other times, for the films: “The Last Picture Show” (1972), “The Exorcist” (1974), “Same Time, Next Year” (1979), “Resurrection” (1981), and “Requiem for a Dream” (2001). Ellen holds three honorary doctorates, one in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, a Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College, and a doctorate from The New School for Social Research. Ellen also teaches in The Actors Studio M.F.A. program at its new home at Pace University in New York City and lectures throughout the country on a wide range of topics. Ellen’s memoirs, Lessons in Becoming Myself, is now available in bookstores nationwide and online by Riverhead Press.

About St. Joseph’s/Candler’s Mary Telfair Women’s Hospital
The only women’s hospital in the Coastal Empire, Mary Telfair services include childbirth, breastfeeding classes, infertility services, support groups, breast care and continence center to community seminars and symposiums.