GIFT
OF THE GAME, a documentary (DVD. 59 Minutes, suitable for all
ages). This is the story of a letter from Lorian Hemingway to
acclaimed Florida novelist Randy Wayne White that sends White
on a journey recorded in The Gift of the Game. Lorian’s
grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, had founded a little league team
for his son Gregory when they were living in Cuba called the Gigi
Stars. Despite his reservations about returning to Cuba - he was
trapped by the Cuban military during the 1980 Mariel boatlift
- the idea of finding these men who had been coached by one of
America’s greatest writers was something that he could not
pass up. White assembles his friends Bill “Spaceman”
Lee (former pitcher of the Boston Red Sox), Jon Warden (former
pitcher of the Detroit Tigers) and a ragtag group of 50-something-year-old
baseball buddies and heads to Cuba to uncover this missing chapter
from Hemingway's life.
Armed with little more than the address of Hemingway’s
Finca, cartons of baseball gear, and a whole lot of enthusiasm,
the group finds the boys-now-men who were once Gigi stars and
in the process embark on a comic and dramatic journey into the
fabric of their own lives. Some film highlights include former
GiGis reminiscing about playing ball with "Papa;" legendary
Cuban pitcher the Man with 100 Moves; Bill Lee’s Zen tactics,
and an eerie recollection of the dark days of Mariel.
A playful and warm-hearted film, Gift of the Game offers a refreshing
look at the possibility of building bridges between disparate
cultures.
$ 20.00 each
