VANITY FAIR NOMINATES JEREMY GILLEY

HALL OF FAME

BECAUSE one afternoon five years ago, while sitting in a field at a world-music concert in Reading, England, Jeremy Gilley vowed to change his life—and the planet. BECAUSE, then and there, buoyant with the helium of a new idea, he decided to dedicate himself to his own improbable proposal: What if the world observed one day, each year, when warring factions everywhere would be encouraged to lay down their arms? BECAUSE, within months, this elfin, British-born filmmaker and activist launched Peace One Day and, traveling to 21 countries, personally persuaded United Nations chief Kofi Annan, the Dalai Lama, and an array of world leaders and Nobel laureates to take up his cause, BECAUSE when he met Israel's Shimon Peres the former prime minister agreed to endorse the plan, observing, "If you want 365 days [of peace], let's start with the first day." BECAUSE, after two years of lobbying, Gilley helped initiate a U.N. resolution to designate every September 21 a "global cease-fire day." BECAUSE reliefagency officials recognize that such an annual observance, once fully implemented, would provide a short, safe period during which they could shuttle medical supplies into war zones, BECAUSE he obsessively recorded his saga on more than 900 hours' worth of film (distilled into a documentary that will soon make the film-festival rounds) and set up a yearly rock concert to raise awareness, for which musicians Jimmy Cliff and Dave Stewart wrote the theme song, "Peace for One Day." BECAUSE Jeremy Gilley, naive and wide-eyed and indefatigable, is the embodiment of the belief that one person can actually make a world of difference.

DAVID FRIEND