SPW's Charity Online Auction

Beverly Hills Charity Auction & Soap Opera Weekly
Set First All-Soap Opera Online Charity Auction

Proceeds Benefit ZazAngels in Memory of Daytime Star Michael Zaslow

ANGELS AND AUCTIONS
(from TV Guide Online)

Soap Opera Weekly is teaming up with the Beverly Hills Charity Auction web site for an all-star soap opera auction to tie in with the Daytime Emmys. "At least 90 percent of what is raised goes to charity," says Weekly editor-in-chief Mimi Torchin. Among the items up for auction: wardrobe items worn by some of the soaps' hottest stars, all sorts of autographed books and magazines, the chance to be a "guest editor" at Weekly and personal items owned by the late Michael Zaslow. "I picked ZazAngels [as the charity] because I knew Michael for 25 years, and it's the charity that's most associated with soap operas. It's also a tribute to a colleague and someone I've known for a long time."

The auction begins May 10 and runs through May 21. "Auctions seem to be the wave of the future," Torchin adds, "and this is a fun way for soap fans to get involved with a good cause."

Los Angeles, CA, April 21, 1999 - Beverly Hills Charity Auction and Soap Opera Weekly will partner on the first soap opera-themed charity online auction, beginning Monday, May 10th and continuing through Thursday, May 21st at the Beverly Hills Charity Auction web site, www.bhauction.com

The auction will benefit ZazAngels, the ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) fundraising organization founded by the late Michael Zaslow, and is scheduled to enhance festivities leading up to the Daytime Emmy Awards on May 21st. Zaslow, himself an Emmy Award-winning actor and star of "Guiding Light" and "One Life to Live," died of ALS last year.

Among the dozens of one-of-a-kind items that will be sold to the highest online bidder are:

•the opportunity to be a guest editor of Soap Opera Weekly, a New York package that includes airfare and hotel accommodations
•one-of-a-kind wardrobe items worn on camera by daytime's leading stars
•set visits and opportunities to meet favorite actors
•autographed scripts and other memorabilia
•personal items belonging to Michael Zaslow, donated by his wife, Susan Hufford

As part of the auction project, Soap Opera Weekly, which selected ZazAngels as its beneficiary, is sponsoring eight evenings of one-hour online chats with industry luminaries, scheduled for May 10-13 and May 17-20. The magazine's editor-in-chief Mimi Torchin begins the extravaganza on Monday, May 10 at 9pm EDT. Each chat session's guest star will end the hour by auctioning one personally donated item, which will be available that evening only. The balance of the items will be sold through the ongoing bidding, ending on May 21st.

Beverly Hills Charity Auction guarantees that no less than 90% of net auction revenues will go directly to ZazAngels. The organization, founded in 1998 by Zaslow, is dedicated to raising awareness of, as well as funds to support research into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a disease nearly as common as multiple sclerosis but with far less recognition and far fewer available research dollars. In the last months of his life, Zaslow continued to work on "One Life to Live," portraying a character stricken with ALS, and devoted his remaining strength to raising awareness of and securing funding to fight the disease.

FROM SOAP OPERA WEEKLY
VOLUME 10 ISSUE 19 MAY 11, 1999.

Soap Opera Weekly Editor in Chief Mimi Torchin will kick off a soap opera-themed charity online auction beginning May 10 and continuing through May 21, at the Beverly Hills Charity Online Auction Website, www.bhauction.com The auction will benefit ZazAngels, the organization founded by the late Michael Zaslow (David Renaldi, One Life To Live; Roger Thorpe, Guiding Light), which promotes awareness of and raises money to fight amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a.k.a. Lou Gehrig's disease.

Among the items that will be sold to the highest online bidders are: the opportunity to be a guest editor of SPW (a package that includes airfare and hotel accommodations), wardrobe items worn on-camera by actors (including a Bob Mackie gown donated by ALL MY CHILDREN at the request of Julia Barr, who, as Brooke, wore it at a Chandler ball), set visits and opportunities to meet with actors, and autographed scripts and other memorabilia. Also to be auctioned will be personal items belonging to Zaslow (donated by his wife, Susan Hufford), and two tickets to the pre-Soap Opera Awards bash (donated by SPW's sister publication, Soap Opera Digest).

As part of the auction project, SPW is sponsoring eight evenings (including the one with Torchin) of one-hour online chats with daytime actors and industry experts, scheduled for May 10-13 and May 17-20. starting at 9 p.m. EDT. Each chat session's host will end the hour by auctioning one personally donated item, which will be available that evening only. The balance of the items will be sold through ongoing bidding, ending May 21. (No less than 90 percent of net auction revenue will go directly to ZazAngels.)

Beverly Hills Charity Auction is owned by Beverly Hills Ltd., an Internet commerce and media company specializing in bringing merchandise, recreational and sporting goods to the net through a network of Web companies, electronic commerce and media publications.*