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SOUND SHORE REVIEW - 5/16/2002
KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS IN THE SOUND SHORE:
MONROE YALE MANN JR. OF PORT CHESTER IS RIDING HEAD FIRST INTO HIS FUTURE - ACTING, RUNNING A BUSINESS AND CYCLING TO RAISE FUNDS FOR AIDS CHARITIES
By Hilary Wolfson
"Unstoppable"
He’s well stocked in the "spunk" department, with a "joie de vivre" in the upper stratosphere, and once you get to know Port Chester’s "unstoppable" Monroe Yale Mann Jr., you find that your own energy level and zest for life climbs to heights you never thought attainable.
Although one would assume that this 23 year-old actor and soon-to-be commissioned officer in the New York Army National Guard downs five cups of espresso and a gallon of Coke with his morning Cheerios, this talented, determined and spirited young man comes by his energy naturally - without nary a cup of lemon zinger tea.
It’s just who he is, and according to this founder of a "high energy motivation counseling" business, known as Unstoppable Artists Business School (unstoppableartists.com), it’s the only way he knows how to be.
"I’ve always been a determined, high energy person, and also very disciplined. I realized that these were attributes and talents that would serve me well, and decided to use them to help other people realize their own potential and talents," says Mann, whose parents are both well known attorneys in the community. "My business is dedicated to putting focus and discipline into a career, which in this case is acting. I figure if it’s worked for me, someone else may learn something and hopefully, it’ll crank up their career a few notches in the end."
"Aiming high"
Mann, a self-affirmed "drill sergeant and cheerleader for actors," has already cranked up his career a few notches and then some, and is determined to crank it up to Oscar-award winning heights. He recently landing a role in a film that stars actress Erika Christensen (who co-starred in the award-winning movie Traffic), and has landed parts in off off-Broadway productions and three New York City operas. ("People don’t know that there are tons of non-singing roles in operas," explains Mann, who recently played a monk pretending to be an evil ghost in a dream sequence.) Mann is well on his way to making his mark in the competitive, "never give up" world of acting.
But it is Mann’s mental energy and physical prowess that is also garnering admiration from friends and family, with this very fit senior officer candidate participating in a challenging, often times grueling, endurance cycling event that will take him on a four-day, 250-mile trek from Bear Mountain, N.Y., to Boston, Mass., this July.
Mann will be one of 5,000 or so riders expected to participate in Tanqueray’s 2001 Northeast Ride for the benefit of AIDS, an event that according to organizers "is a moving monument to compassion and courage, to the memory of lost loved ones, and to the power of the human spirit."
With the event deemed "a ride, and not a race," participants are not so much athletes - they are heroes. Each rider wants to do something to help in the AIDS cause, says Mann, admitting that his incentive to do this comes from a fervent belief that one day, in the not too distant future, "there will be a cure for AIDS."
"Finding a Cure"
"Just as I know any actor can win an Oscar or Tony award given the right attitude," says Mann, "so can any disease be cured with the right research. All the money I will raise will go towards finding a cure for AIDS. It’s definitely within our reach, and each of us needs to keep reaching out to those suffering from this horrible disease."
Since 1994, the AIDS rides have netted an astonishing $84 million for AIDS-related charities around the nation. That’s more money raised "more quickly" for AIDS services than any known private event operation in history.
Mann will be riding for Team Unstoppable, aptly named for his consulting business. Agreeing to raise $2,100 in pledges between now and the beginning of the ride on July 19, Mann says he’s getting closer, but "is aiming to make more than the minimum."
If people want to support his effort, they can log on to the ride’s website at aidsride.org and make pledges for Team Unstoppable, team #3991.
"I really need all the help I can get," says Mann, "so whoever can contribute to this important event would be wonderful. We’re all on the same team, fighting to win this together. That’s the beauty of events like this. We’re all riding together on this same mission of hope, with the human spirit as our guide. This victory will be a personal one, for sure, but more importantly, it will be a victory for the human race if we can find a cure for AIDS."
Mann points out that the word "impossible" is used in the slogan for the AIDS ride, but what’s significant about it is that the "I" and the "M" are a different color and an apostrophe is put in between them, so in essence the word is transformed into "I am possible."
"It ties in very neatly with everything I’m about and believe in," says Mann, with just a "tinge" of enthusiasm.
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