PRESS RELEASE:

 

For more information, contact:
Lolita M. Cusic
(773) 995-5315

 

January 9, 2005 

 

An Evening of Love Stories to benefit comatose wife, mother of 4
 
Chicago -- Audiences can expect to hear a certain four-letter word repeatedly as three of Chicago's finest storytellers come together for "An Evening of Love Stories" at 7 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 26, at New Life Christian Ministries of Greater Chicago, 8201 South Jeffery Blvd. Love will indeed be the focus of the night.

The event is a benefit for Ama Thomas, a young wife and mother who has been in a coma for a year. All proceeds will go toward her medical expenses and care.  Storytellers Mama Edie, Linda Gorham and Oba William King call the performance a labor of love. All three were moved by Ama's story and volunteered to help.

Ama's health problems began last year after she miscarried the couple's fifth child, said her husband, Phillip. The couple, who live in the South Shore community, have been married eight years.

Ama, a 31-year-old at-home mother, spent months in a rehabilitation center following the miscarriage, but when the insurance company refused to continue paying for her stay there, she was moved to a series of nursing homes. Dissatisfied with the care she received there, her husband Phillip decided she would be better off at home. The decision to care for her at home has been costly. The couple's insurance pays for little of her in-home care, which runs in excess of $10,000 a month. 

The three storytellers are hoping to help defray some of those costs.
Dynamic and exciting, Linda Gorham energizes her audiences by using movement, humor, and sometimes zaniness as she tells imaginative multicultural folktales updated with "attitude." Her love stories are funny, stimulating and peppered with titillating imagery.

Oba William King, the Poetic Storyteller, is a phenomenal performer and showman. He brings stories, poetry and cultural songs to life through his interactive dynamic presentations.

Mama Edie Armstrong has been called the singing, signing, Spanish-speaking, storytelling, percussion-playing speech pathologist.  Her mission is to awaken her listeners to great joy, self-love, and self-empowerment as they, too, become storytellers, interactively engaged through stories and song. 

 

Organizers of the benefit are hoping people will be touched by Phillip and
Ama's love story and give generously.  In the best love stories, the couple always lives happily ever after. Phillip, who has been unwavering in his love and support of Ama is hoping they, too will have a happy ending.

Phillip Thomas, Linda Gorham, Mama Edie and Oba King are all available for interviews.