from the MUM Review
Oprah and crew flew into Fairfield on Wednesday, October 19. In the afternoon she visited the Fairfield square and stopped in at George’s Pizza, where she chatted with waitress Danielle Soltis and customer Don Hubbs.
Famed TV talk show host Oprah Winfrey visited Fairfield in October to
interview students at Maharishi School, the Vedic Pandits, Mayor Ed Malloy,
and others for a program that will air as part of a new series early next
year.
The weekly primetime series, titled Oprah’s Next Chapter, will premiere
January 1 on OWN, Oprah’s cable network, with the Fairfield documentary
being among the first six episodes. The program will be shown on Sunday
evenings at 8:00 p.m. Central Time.
A press release for the new series says that "Oprah steps outside of the
studio for some riveting, enlightening, in-depth conversations with
newsmakers, celebrities, thought leaders, and real-life families."
Oprah’s film crew spent several days on campus in advance of her visit,
conducting interviews. She previewed the footage and arrived at Maharishi
School having identified three students she wanted to interview further.
She also visited the boys’ and girls’ group meditations, as well as the
younger children practicing their Word of Wisdom(SM) technique. She joined
the girls in their meditation, and interviewed some of the students while
visiting each group.
"The students were impressed with how natural and engaging Oprah was, and
how she was able to draw them out," said Andrea Beall, wife of School
Director Richard Beall.
As Oprah left the School, she warmly shook hands with each of the teachers,
who had lined up to greet her.
She had also identified others she wanted to interview, and after leaving
Maharishi School, she visited the Vedic Pandit campus in Maharishi Vedic
City and interviewed some of the pandits via an interpreter. She also
interviewed others in the community, including Mayor Ed Malloy.
Late in the afternoon she walked around the Fairfield square, greeting
people. MUM students Baruti and Mina KMT-Sisouvong had the opportunity to
chat with her in Café Paradiso.
Oprah then joined the group program in the Ladies Dome, practicing the
Transcendental Meditation technique with the group for part of the time. An
image from this group meditation has been among the six distributed as part
of the initial publicity for the new series.