Remembering Vin Scully through his charity work
"Hi, I'm Vin Scully," the late Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully would say.
But you could close your eyes and correctly guess the voice even if he didn't introduce himself. Such a famous voice; his delivery was punctuated in such a familiar way.
Vin Scully and Bob Harris knew each other for about half a century because of Bob's mom Helen who founded RP International, a nonprofit that deals with the eye disorder Retinitis Pigmentosa.
Helen Harris created Theatervision and Scully was a general in Helen's army of movie describers.
From his earlier video, Scully said, "Helen Harris came up with the idea of describing motion pictures in theaters so the blind community could have the equality of enjoying the 'Let's go to the movies' experience."
Harris says Scully was amazing, and his involvement encouraged others like President George Herbert Walker Bush. A Theatervision video with Bush starts off with the words, "The film I'm about to describe for the blind and visually impaired is it's a wonderful life."
For Bush, Scully or any of the famous voices Harris enlisted in the descriptive theater vision were revolutionary.
"It's a process where the unspoken action of the movie is described and brought to life," said Harris' son Bob. "It's an extraordinarily difficult thing to do. It requires someone who can think at the speed of light."
It was a process Scully was able to perfect. He ad-libbed unscripted images seen on the big screen, calling them like balls and strikes at a Dodger game!
"I look out and I see a blue sky and clouds," Bob Harris said. "Vin looks out and he sees ‘white billowing clouds of cotton gently moving in a summer breeze.’ I mean that's pure artist."
That was pure Vin Scully who never asked for a dime for his work helping Helen or even with Bob's veterans' organization, Gold Coast Veterans Foundation.
About a month ago Bob Harris recorded Vin Scully's voice for the last time. It was a public service announcement for his veterans organization about the meaning of Independence Day.
Back to the tape, Vin had previously said, "But, as much as we're thrilled by the fireworks and the parade. Please take a moment who and what we're thankful to be celebrating."
Harris says Scully seemed frail.
"And, when I walked away I had the profound sense this would be the last time I'd see my friend," Harris described.
It was.