On February 8, Christopher Gorham, who stars as "Auggie", a blind CIA operative on USA Network’s hit drama Covert Affairs, kicked off the national Record-A-Thon campaign at Learning Ally’s Los Angeles studio. The busy actor, who spends seven months of the year shooting the series in Canada and around the globe, took time out of his schedule to help record accessible audiobooks for readers who have vision impairments and learning disabilities like dyslexia. When Chris arrived, our Los Angeles production staff (Sherry Weekes, Jesse Clemens and Bruce Feldman) gave him a choice between recording portions of two books: Techniques of Crime Scene Investigation by Barry A. J. Fisher, or the breezier William Mulholland and the Rise of Los Angeles by Catherine Mulholland. Chris said he was game to try a bit of both titles; his volunteer director Nicole Angileri remarked that he would indeed get a truer picture of the Learning Ally experience by reading books across the educational spectrum.
While I took him on a tour of the studio, Chris described an opportunity he’s had to develop treasured friendships within Toronto’s community of blind individuals – an experience that has helped him develop his fictional character. He was quietly insightful and very interested in Learning Ally’s mission and technology. Our staff and volunteers alike found him to be kind, humble, and off to a great start as a volunteer, should his schedule ever permit!
“I am very impressed by the great work Learning Ally is doing, and the options you are providing for people who are blind or who have other differences,” said Chris. To encourage others to try their hand at volunteering, he added “You will be doing something incredibly valuable for your community. Learning Ally should be supported.” We are grateful to be on his radar, and glad that he’d like to come back again. Many thanks to Chris and the USA Network for supporting Different Ways to Read Across America.
–Diane Kelber 