Stein and Britannica Team Up for "Celebration of Life" Sports Award

An eleven-year-old girl who has shown extraordinary courage in her battle with a serious illness will be recognized for her strength and character, as the recipient of the first Celebration of Life Through Sports Award from Sporting News radio host David Stein, in cooperation with Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

Stein, whose popular late-night program, "The David Stein Show: A Celebration of Life Through Sports," features tales of joy, endurance, recovery and team and family solidarity among fans and athletes, will extend the program's theme to include this special monthly honor, and he will announce the results on the Britannica Blog ( http://blogs.britannica.com ).

Each month Stein will choose a person or persons from the nominations he gets from readers and listeners. People who want to suggest nominees for the award can go to http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main/2007/09/stein-post and enter their suggestions in the comments section of any of Stein's blog posts.

The award's first recipient is Alexi Maguire, 11, of the Chicago, Ill. area, who suffers from a rare form of cancer. Alexi has persevered admirably throughout her ordeal in a way that has moved Stein deeply.

For Britannica, the partnership with Stein is a chance to add another dimension to a multi-faceted web log that has hosted stimulating writing by bloggers such as Michael Feldman, danah boyd, Frank Deford, Brooke Allen, Sven Birkerts, Roger Kimball and dozens of others.

David Stein's first post on the Britannica blog, with more of Alexi's story, appears today. A more detailed version of this news release is available at http://corporate.britannica.com/press/releases/stein.html .

David Stein is the host of one of the most unusual talk shows on radio, "The David Stein Show: A Celebration of Life Through Sports" ( http://radio.sportingnews.com/shows/david_stein/ ). It can be heard from 2-6 AM Eastern Time on Sporting News Radio, XM Sports Nation Channel 144, and Sirius Channel 123 and is carried by more than 115 radio stations.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. ( www.britannica.com ) is a leader in reference and education publishing whose products can be found in many media, from the Internet to cell phones to books. A pioneer in electronic publishing since the early 1980s, the company also still publishes the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica. The company makes its headquarters in Chicago.

Contact: Tom Panelas Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 312-347-7309 Email Contact