Artie Van Why

About

Originally from a small town in Maryland, Artie lived in New York City for over twenty six years in Hell's Kitchen; a neighborhood of Manhattan just blocks away from Times Square and Broadway. His first ten years there he pursued a moderately successful acting career.

Artie left show business in 1988 to enter the corporate world; as a word processor. He worked for the same law firm in midtown Manhattan for thirteen years. In June of 2001, his firm moved to other quarters downtown, across from the World Trade Center. Artie was at work the morning of September 11th, and witnessed the horror of that day from the streets. Two months later Artie left his job; after only three weeks of working back at his office building near what was now called Ground Zero. He began writing about his experience of that day and the weeks following. He sent some of his writings to friends and family via emails, and they, in turn, forwarded them to their friends. In a short period of time people across the country were reading Artie's emails. He began receiving emails from people expressing their gratitude in being given a glimpse of what it was like to have witnessed the events of September 11 and to be living in a city that was grieving. He was encouraged to keep writing, and he did; unaware of where his writing would lead him. Surprising even himself, Artie began contemplating if his writing would be adaptable to become a theater piece; specifically a one man show. This former actor now found himself wanting to return to the stage with the sole purpose of telling his story.

Around the same time Artie met famed actor, Richard Masur; who had worked as a volunteer at Ground Zero during the weeks of rescue and recovery. Richard offered to come on board as the director and he and Artie began working in earnest on what ultimately became the one man play "That Day in September"; which premiered on the campus of California Lutheran University, in Thousand Oaks, California, shortly after the one year anniversary of September 11th. The play then moved to the Celebration Theater in Los Angeles, where it opened to critical acclaim.

After the play's run in LA, Artie came back to New York and he and Richard mounted a workshop production of "That Day In September", in preparation for a limited run Off Broadway in August of 2003.

After the New York production Artie moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Compelled to continue having his story told Artie worked for a year on adapting the script into a personal memoir and in June of 2006 he self-published the book version of "That Day in September".

Artie hopes that by his story continuing to be told, through whatever media, it will keep the memory of 9/11 alive and that it will be accepted as his personal tribute to the men, women and children who died that day in September.

What to Expect

Typical Gig Duration: 40 - 90 minutes

What an audience would hear from me depends on their area of interest. There is, of course, my story of 9/11. I share, not only about experiencing the events of that morning, but also what it was like to be in New York City in the weeks and months that followed. I can tell the story either extemporaneously or by reading from my book.

There is the account of how a few emails sent to friends and family became a one man show and ultimately a book. For me, I wrote to heal and I can share how important a tool writing can be in dealing with tragedy or trauma. As an author, I can share my experience of self-publishing.

My story also goes beyond just that day in September. My story continues every day as I learn to live with PTSD; with the memories and images of that morning. It's about stepping back into living my life; after the solitude of my mourning and grief. It's about facing "survivor's guilt."

Stage/Setup Requirements:
bottle of water
Comfortable stool to sit on
mic
screen if using Powerpoint

Additional Notes:
I can use a Powerpoint presentation in telling my story of 9/11.

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