Press Release - August 2008

Left-Handers Day 2008 – Famous Left-Hander of the Year

The annual Left-Handers Day falls on Wednesday 13th August 2008, and is a chance for left-handers everywhere to celebrating the achievements and endeavours of fellow sinistrals both in the public spotlight, and in their own daily lives. On the Day, event organisers the Left-Handers Club will be announcing the Left-Hander of the Year, as voted for by their 60,000 members, and Club Members will be able to create a “Lefty Zone” in their home, office or club where all tasks must be conducted left-handed – an interesting experience for right-handed friends and family!

Left-Handers Club spokesperson Lauren Milsom explains: “Many of us appreciate how awkward it is for left-handers having to use right-handed implements, or develop a good writing style, but few people are aware of the many advantages to being left-handed, and the outstanding achievements and successes of left-handers in a variety of fields. Left-Handers Day is the ideal opportunity to celebrate those advantages.”

The five candidates short listed for this year’s Left-Hander of the Year are a perfect example of the many attributes that left-handers are often credited with:-

Barack Obama – U.S. Presidential Candidate for the Democratic party. Left-handed traits: excellent communication skills, able to update beliefs quickly based on current events and think laterally to overcome problems. These traits are shared by Presidential candidate John McCain and former Presidents Clinton, Bush Snr, Reagan and Ford - all left-handers.

Angelina Jolie - Multi-award winning American film actor and Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency. She has been cited as one of the world's most beautiful women and her off-screen life is widely reported. Left-handed traits: good perception, empathy and awareness of emotion. Good at understanding and interpreting visual concepts.

Sir Paul McCartney, MBE - English rock singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, entrepreneur, record producer, film producer and animal-rights activist. McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the most successful musician and composer in popular music history. Left-handed traits: musical aptitude for melody, pitch and intonation are housed in the right hemisphere as are our artistic and free-thinking areas, for inspiration.

David Archuleta - singer and musician who found fame as the runner up in the hit TV talent show American Idol 7. Winner David Cook is also left-handed. Left-handed traits: Again, the musical aptitude, and ability to empathise and express emotion.

Rafael Nadal – Record breaking professional tennis player. World ranked #1, current Wimbledon champion and holder of 5 Grand Slam singles titles. Left-handed attributes: well-known advantage in oppositional/combative sport. Nadal is a natural right-hander who has trained himself to be left-handed to capitalize on the advantage.

For more details of these left-handed high-achievers, and to see who has been voted Left-Hander of the Year, visit www.lefthandersday.com on 13th August 2008. The site has online games and competitions, plus free posters to download to create your own “Lefty Zone” with funny and fascinating facts about left-handedness. The Left-Handers Cub is free to join at
www.left-handersday.com

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Further information, pictures and interviews contact:-

Lauren Milsom, Left-Handers Club
E: Lauren@lefthandersclub.com T: 020 8770 3722

Notes to Editors:

• Lauren Milsom is a leading expert on handedness. She has worked with left-handed children for over 20 years and is author of "Your Left-Handed Child” published by Hamlyn 16th April 2008. ISBN 978-0-600-61480-7. Available online from www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk RRP £9.99 (+p&p) and from all major bookstores. 128 pages full colour.

• The Left-Handers Club is free to join from the www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk website. Formed in 1990, the Club aims to:
- increase awareness of left-handers’ needs
- keep members in touch with research and developments
- improve education, facilities and equipment design.

• The Left-Handers Club is now the largest organisation of its kind, with 60,000 members worldwide. Since its formation, the Club has been responsible for a number of product design improvements, the provision of left-handed cheque books by all major banks in the U.K., and has produced a unique training video for teachers and parents of left-handed children. This video is currently used by all teacher-training colleges and a large number of schools in England.

• The Club is responsible for International Left-Handers Day, an annual event on 13th August when left-handers everywhere can celebrate their sinistrality and increase public awareness of the difficulties and advantages of being left-handed. Visit www.lefthandersday.com for more info.