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The National Tartan Day New York Committee,
Inc., the organizing body for New York City’s annual Tartan Day Parade,
is delighted to announce that New York Times best-selling and
award-winning author, movie director, screenplay writer and proud
American-Scot, Randall Wallace, will be New York City’s Tartan Day
Parade Grand Marshal in 2005.
Randall Wallace, in accepting the honored
position of New York City’s 2005 Tartan Day Parade Grand Marshal, said:
“Americans of Scottish descent have given us their passion in
literature, politics, industry, science, and in their fervent defense of
liberty. I am deeply honored to celebrate this spirit as Grand Marshal
of the 2005 Tartan Day Parade, especially in this year that marks the
700th anniversary of the sacrifice of William Wallace in the
name of freedom.”
The New York City Tartan Day Parade will
take place at 2:00pm on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005. The parade
steps-off at West 45th Street, marching north on the Avenue
of the Americas, otherwise known as 6th Avenue to 58th
Street. Nearly 30 pipe bands from three countries and nine states will
march in the 7th annual Scottish-American parade.
Randall Wallace has brought to page and
screen numerous epic tales of love and war showcasing heroes admired for
their determination loyalty, and bravery. None of these is better known
than Braveheart, for which he received Golden Globe and
Oscar nominations and won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best
Original Screenplay.
Having previously enjoyed literary success
with novels as Blood of the Lamb and Where Angels Watch,
the success of Braveheart spurred Wallace, a self-described
“warrior poet”, to make his directorial debut in 1998 with The Man In
the Iron Mask. Then, in 2001 he wrote the New York Times
best-selling novel and the original screenplay for Pearl Harbor.
2002 saw Wallace adapting, producing and directing the critically
acclaimed film We Were Soldiers, starring Mel Gibson. In tribute
to the fallen soldiers of the Vietnam war, he co-wrote the haunting
hymn, Mansions for the Lord, for the film’s credit sequence. The
hymn has gained widespread use at military funerals and memorial
services, including President Ronald Reagan’s state funeral.
Next on the agenda for Wallace is the
publishing of Love and Honor, the epic novel of an American
secret agent’s treacherous journey into the court of Imperial Russia’s
Catherine the Great. Wallace’s company Wheelhouse Entertainment will
produce the film adaptation, with Angelina Jolie set to play the role of
Catherine.
Wallace is the founder of Hollywood for
Habitat for Humanity, which is working towards the elimination of
substandard housing for the poor worldwide. Thus far, the organization
has helped build more that 150 homes in Los Angeles, New York City,
Virginia, Nepal, South Africa, Mexico, Egypt and Armenia.
The National Tartan Day New York Committee,
Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, consists of representatives from the
following societies: The Saint Andrew’s Society of the State of New
York, The New York Caledonian Club, The American-Scottish Foundation,
Inc. and Clan Campbell. For additional information regarding the parade
or the members of NTDNYC, Inc., please visit
www.tartanweek.com. |
