Zac's Blog: September 2009

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

News

Sorry for not blogging in a while but it has been pretty busy over here. In the past 2 weeks I've been perfecting a speech and have quite a few speaking engagements lined up this month and next. My mom and I flew to Amarillo, Texas last weekend to speak at the San Jacinto Christian School. I spoke to the Junior High and High School students and walked through the elementary school to answer questions for the kids there who had been following my trip. In the evening my mom and I both spoke at a fundraiser for the school. I had never been to Texas before so it was an experience for sure. After that, I flew to San Francisco to shoot a Discovery Channel commercial. It should be out in November.

Also I had a meeting with my unscripted television agent Evan over at WME and he is trying to find me someone to film my next adventure. As far as the next adventure goes I've got it down to two ideas that I'm pursuing right now:

(1) An expedition up Mount Everest. I'm putting together a team and pursuing a possible sponsorship on it as well as planning some training hikes for this fall.

(2) A dirt biking trip down through South America as far south as possible.

Looks like I'm gonna have a pretty busy October.

I will be speaking at the Adventures in Travel Expo in New York City on October 11th at 1:30. Check out their web site at http://www.adventureexpo.com/. I'll be speaking about my trip and have a slide show of photos. That weekend I will be meeting with a few literary people as well. The book is in the works and I will let you all know when it is due to come out.

I am going to be sailing and speaking at The Frank Guernsey Single-handed Challenge Race at the Redondo Beach Yacht Club on October 17th.

I'm also really excited to be participating in the Hirshberg Foundation LA Cancer Challenge on October 25th at the Veteran's Administration Grounds in West LA. I chose to be a part of the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research because my grandfather died 3 years ago from Pancreatic Cancer. Did you know that approximately 42,500 Americans will be diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in 2009 and over 35,000 people will die from the disease. It has the #1 fatality rate of all cancers. 75% of Pancreatic Cancer patients die within the first 12 months of diagnosis. It is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over the past 30 years. So you can see that we need to get some funding for these guys to get the research done to find a cure.

If you are interested in coming out for the morning, want to donate through Team Zac or just want more info: go to http://www.lacancerchallenge.com/. To donate, click on the Sponsor Participant link, enter my name Zac Sunderland, and follow the direction on the screen.

I've got to run. You can follow me on Twitter and Facebook for more frequent updates.

Peace,

Zac

Thursday, September 10, 2009

9/11

A Saturday sail in Santa Monica Bay

With September, my life has tried to become normal with my final highschool classes starting but it is becoming clear that it will not be normal for a while. I am shooting all day today and tomorrow for a CBS Sports program called Courage in Sports. Tonight I will be heading over to the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley for the Freedom Walk in the Reagan Courtyard.

There is a 30/40 minute program with amazing speakers as well as an F-18 flyover and then everyone (usually a few thousand people) walk down the driveway and to a local park in memory of the 9/11 tragedy.

Then about 60 or 70 of us go to the VIP Dinner right under Air Force One.

One of the keynotes is JR Martinez - who is 26 and was severely burned by a landmine in Iraq. JR has had 32 surgeries, is a motivational speaker and is one of the most extraordinary people on the planet.

I am really looking forward to going tonight. Lots going on here...keep checking back for more updates and developments.

Cheers,

Zac

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Photos and Thank Yous

We have had a whirlwind of a time since Zac returned home. Today Zac is out sailing Intrepid with Uncle Phil and cousin Kathy from the UK. Abby is out on an advanced sailing lesson getting tips and a real feel for the Open-style boats. She and Laurence are honing in their sites on a boat and there will be some news this week.

As I was going through Zac's blog today, I noticed that I never put up Jen Edney's return photos. There are some really good ones. So, sorry to Jen (who is sailing somewhere between Panama and Australia at the moment) and also to all of you who had been asking about her.

It has also come to my attention that there have been people who donated money to Zac's campaign that never received a Thank You. This is unthinkable in the sense that we are so grateful for the amazing support of so many people. If you are a financial supporter of Zac's campaign and you were not thanked, we apologize. If your name is not on the Supporters page, please let me know at marianne@zacsunderland.com and I will get it up there ASAP.

We have had some technical difficulties in the final stage of the production of Zac's documentary DVD. Unfortunately, it will be another month before it will be in the hands of all of you who pre-ordered your copies. Again, if this is a problem for anyone, please direct your concerns to me at marianne@zacsunderland.com.

Zac's life has changed from myriads of interviews to meetings, appearances and speaking engagements. In the next weeks we will be updating Zac's web site slightly to have his public appearance and speaking schedule as well as a few other changes. He is working on his book and working with a creative team of writers and producers on a screenplay for a motion picture of his story. All very new but also very exciting.

Enjoy the photos!

Marianne