Works in Progress
Taking Cigars Literarily
Cigarheroes is a project created by my son Max and me. It was his first effort at making a website, and I think it turned out well. We wrote stories about beloved but not necessarily famous cigar smokers and posted them. The idea was to encourage others to contribute. However, 16,275 clicks later, no one has. Perhaps we should expand it beyond stories to other favorite cigar moments— in film, on TV, etc. My personal favorite is the scene in Papillion where Steve McQueen smokes the cigar that the leper king takes out of his own mouth. McQueen thus proves to what extreme he is willing to go to gain his freedom. What about yours? Submit your ideas through cigarheroes.org….
The Magical and Mysterious Clown Trip to Russia, November 2016
A clown trip to Russia with Patch Adams and Maria Eliseeva is a magical experience. And here it is, captured on film by Maria’s daughter Asya Segalovich and her fellow Central London Film School students Sofia Shestakovskaya, Joe Worthington and Mariya Vereshchak. You can check out Asya’s next project here…
Ruben Vardanian and Patch Adams at an Orphanage in Armenia Photo: Italo Bertolasi / For MT
Patch Adams and His Clowns Bring Health and Humor to Armenia
The Moscow Times, May 28, 2015
YEREVAN — One Russian philanthropist has just completed the trial run of a unique investment vehicle: a bus filled with clowns.
Ruben Vardanyan, founder of investment bank Troika Dialog, sponsored a visit to Armenia by clown doctor Patch Adams and 20 clowns from around the world this past week. They were joined by Maria Yeliseyeva, founder of Russian children's charity Maria's Children, who added 10 clown participants to the colorful delegation. Yeliseyeva introduced Patch, with whom she has been working on clown trips in Russia for the last 30 years, to Vardanyan at a charity event in November...
Click here to read the full article...part of an upcoming project!