Somay Ku is a documentary about Patrick Olobo, a Ugandan youth who is currently in the U.S., thanks mostly to the efforts of photojournalist Rex Miller. Rex is a friend, and when he first told me about Patrick, over four years ago, I asked him to write about him. Here's the Tennis magazine story Rex wrote way back when.
When Rex returned to the U.S., he remained in touch with Patrick and then got busy trying to find sponsors who might help him get Patrick to the U.S. He accomplished this, and Patrick was due to arrive in the U.S. during semifinal day at the U.S. Open. I scrambled around and convinced my friend Bill Babcock of the International Tennis Federation to come up with two precious tickets to the U.S. Open semifinals as a welcome "gift" (no - don't even think about it!), and Patrick came out to Flushing Meadow. I wrote a number of posts and updates on Patrick, but regrettably our archives were never properly stored and the new search engine doesn't go back that far. But Somay Ku tells his story, whole.
Rex called me a few weeks ago, to tell me TC had picked up Somay Ku for broadcast. I asked him to write me a post with which we could introduce the film. But Rex was busy with last minute edits, and things got a little hectic here at Tennis. Well, Rex sent the post about a week ago, just as I was going into a busy swing - hence I am only able to post it now (my bad, Rex!).
I'm hoping Rex can jump on and talk with you all a little later (I just left him a voicemail), but for now here's Rex's letter:
