® Volume 13, Number 2, February 2007 ARI Distributes Atlas Shrugged Initiative Update 700,000 Books mpact is pleased to announce that ARI has highly successful Anthem and Fountainhead Free Ialready received more than $100,000 in donor Books to Teachers program, we will expand the to Teachers contributions toward the Atlas Shrugged Initiative. program to include more free copies of Atlas We estimate it will take $515,000 to fund all parts Shrugged to high school teachers who agree to or the 2006–07 school year ARI has provided of the initiative for this year. teach the novel to twelfth grade students. F227,369 copies of Ayn Rand’s novels to high “We are off to a great school teachers to date. That brings the total start,” said Dr. Yaron Brook, • Atlas Shrugged Programs number of books distributed since the beginning of executive director of the Ayn in Colleges and Universi- the Institute’s Free Books to Teachers program in Rand Institute, “but we still ties: We will create an array 2002 to more than 700,000. have a long way to go. This of new programs to bring “This is a phenomenal achievement,” said funding will help us launch a Atlas Shrugged to a wider Anu Seppala, vice president of Cultural Programs number of long-term programs ANNIVERSARY audience of students and for ARI. “Thanks to the Free Books program, that will ensure the influence professors. Among other hundreds of thousands of high school students of Atlas Shrugged for the next thngs, this will include who might not otherwise have heard of Ayn Rand fifty years—and beyond.” distributing free copies of are studying her books in a classroom setting. Our The Atlas Shrugged Initia- the novel, and holding an aim next year is to bring the total number of books tive is a series of programs annual scholarly conference distributed to one million.” and events commemorating to discuss the novel’s ideas Through the Free Books to Teachers program, the fiftieth anniversary of the (the first of which took place educators receive, upon request, free classroom publication of Ayn Rand’s last year). sets of Anthem or The Fountainhead—along with masterpiece. Our goal is to • Public Outreach to Com- teachers guides and lesson plans. (We hope to bring wider public attention to memorate and Promote make Atlas Shrugged available starting next year.) the novel and its ideas, as well Atlas Shrugged: We plan to The response from teachers has been overwhelm- as to further stimulate inter- aggressively promote Atlas ing and enthusiastic. Here are a few of the recent est in Atlas Shrugged among Shrugged to the media and comments from teachers who benefited from the intellectuals, students and the general public through a Free Books project: educators. variety of outreach efforts, Thanks to the generous The Atlas Shrugged 50th anniversary artistic branding. including a public event in “Students enjoyed this book more than any I support of our donors, two proj- New York City to celebrate have taught for many years. One student in ects are already underway. the fiftieth anniversary of particular had been very quiet all year and The initiative funding has so far enabled ARI Atlas Shrugged. came to life with our study of Anthem. He to buy 30,000 copies of Atlas Shrugged. Many of In the first year of the Atlas Shrugged Initiative, we had great ideas and contributed more than these copies will be distributed to students who anticipate the following outcomes: he ever had before. I could not have taught entered The Fountainhead essay contest and select • Placement of 24,000 copies of Atlas Shrugged— this fine piece of literature without your high school teachers eager to use the novels in the free of charge—in high school classrooms. donation of books. I really appreciate it.” classroom. • Expansion of the Atlas Shrugged essay contest to Coconut Creek, FL Initiative funding has also permitted ARI to attract at least 2,000 student essays. increase the prizes and promotional budget for • A scholarly conference on a university campus to “They absolutely LOVED The Fountain- the Alas Shrugged essay contest, which includes discuss the ideas, impact and enduring relevance head. Over half of the students who read the doubling the top prize from $5,000 to $10,000. Last of Atlas Shrugged. novel cite major changes in the way they year we received 1,318 entries—this year we aim to • Completion of all of our public outreach activities perceive their roles in their own lives. Many receive 2,000. planned in conjunction with the golden anniver- students feel that the novel has a life-chang- If fully funded the Atlas Shrugged Initiative sary of Atlas Shrugged. ing impact on them, and several students will enable ARI to launch the following programs convinced friends in other classes to read as well: To learn more about the Atlas Shrugged Initia- the novel, as well. As a side note, I had mul- • Free Copies of Atlas Shrugged for High tive, or to donate, please visit us on the Web at tiple students who graduated this past June School Teachers: As a logical extension of our www.aynrand.org/initiative. call me over the summer to tell me they were reading Atlas Shrugged.” Carlsbad, CA New British Editions of “Fantastic response from students at all lev- Atlas Shrugged and The els of ability! They talked about it so much that more teachers want to teach Anthem Fountainhead Available next year.” his month Penguin Press released British Ukiah, CA editions of Ayn Rand’s novels The Foun- T tainhead and Atlas Shrugged as part of Pen- “My students, regardless of level, responded guin’s prestigious Modern Classics series. The positively to these novels. Rand’s philosophy cover art features paintings by famed art deco is one that speaks to every young adult. They painter Tamara de Lempicka. continued on page 5 Ayn Rand Film Series Wraps Up Spotlight on Bookstore: n Saturday, January 13, the Los Angeles Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life was the first of Jihad Conference OCounty Museum of Art (LACMA) hosted a four movies screened as part of the Ayn Rand showing of the documentary Ayn Rand: A Sense Film Series, which was held in conjunction with he Jihad Against the West: The Real Threat of Life. When ARI archivist Jeff Britting consulted a display of Ayn Rand’s images and documents “Tand the Right Response”—a three-day Ian Bernie, director of LACMA’s film department, at the nearby Frances Howard Goldwyn Hol- conference event—featuring a Ford Hall Forum about what kind of turnout lywood Regional Library. lecture by Dr. Yaron Brook. to expect, Mr. Bernie told The other movies were You Featured speakers: Daniel Pipes, director of him, “If we get ten or twenty Came Along, Love Letters the Middle East Forum; Yaron Brook, executive people, we’ll be lucky. If we and The Fountainhead, for director of the Ayn Rand Institute; Flemming got one hundred, we’ll be which Ayn Rand wrote the Rose, culture editor of Jyllands-Posten; doing great.” By the time the screenplays. Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch; Peter lights dimmed and the movie All of the showings were Schwartz, author of The Foreign Policy of Self- began, more than three hun- successful. Particularly nota- Interest: A Moral Ideal for America; John Lewis, dred people filled the seats of ble was the screening of You assistant professor of history, Ashland University. the Bing Theater. Came Along, which is not “We received a spectacu- publicly available. You Came lar response,” said Mr. Brit- Along was co-written by ting. “This was thanks in large Ayn Rand and Robert Smith, measure to the promotional from Smith’s original story. efforts of LACMA, which Produced by Hal Wallis and sent an e-mail blast to seven starring Robert Cummings thousand patrons announc- and Lizabeth Scott, the film Featured speakers left to right: Peter Schwartz, Robert Spencer, Flemming Rose, Daniel Pipes, John Lewis and Yaron Brook ing the screening, and also is the story of war heroes on featured information about the a war-bond selling tour. The movie on its general museum 1945 film was a financial A distinguished panel of Middle East experts The cast of You Came Along, left to right: Don DeFore, was assembled to answer the most important ques- brochure, which went out to Charles Drake, Lizabeth Scott and Robert Cummings and critical success, and nearly sixty thousand patrons.” Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures Ayn Rand’s script was tions of our time, including: Who are the terrorists The screening featured opening remarks by praised for its effective writing. The screening and what do they actually want? What can and Mr. Britting, and a Q-&-A session with Michael attracted more than fifty people. must the West do to ensure victory? While the Paxton, director of this Academy Award-nomi- Events like the Ayn Rand Film Series help experts answered these complex questions from nated documentary, following the film. Several to raise awareness of Ayn Rand, and promote different points of view, they all agreed on one of the audience members who participated in the ARI’s activities. To learn about these kinds of thing: the real threat is Islamic Totalitarianism and Q-&-A had met Ayn Rand and related some of events before they occur, please visit our regularly the right response necessitates engaging in a prin- their memories. updated Web site: www.aynrand.org/events. cipled, ideological battle to defend the West from the jihad declared against it. This series, recorded in October 2006, included seven events, concluding with Yaron Media Update Letters to the Editor Brook’s lecture at Boston’s Ford Hall Forum.