On Friday, June 4, prolific Variety journalist Army Archerd was honored by the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) in Beverly Hills. Army’s widow, Selma Archerd, accepted the special memorial tribute called the Warren Zevon “Keep Me in Your Heart” award. The first recipient of this award, Army Archerd was chosen because of the tragic shared connection to Warren Zevon, both of whom lost their lives to the asbestos-related cancer, mesothelioma.

Warren’s son, Jordan Zevon, presented the award to Selma Archerd at a gathering of 50 close friends and supporters of ADAO. Jordan performed his father’s Grammy winning song, “Keep Me in Your Heart,” for which the memorial is named. The evening also featured a video produced by award winning filmmaker Sue Ann Taylor that included rare footage of Army from his five decades covering Hollywood, reflections from Selma, and comments from Tim Gray, longtime Editor of Variety.

Selma shared, “I will never forget this gorgeous evening. It really touched my heart and I know Army would have been truly honored. It is appalling that asbestos has not been banned and exposure continues.”

“My father would have been thrilled to have had the opportunity to pay tribute to Army Archerd,” stated Jordan Zevon. “They had a mutual passion for their respective arts and their fearless stance on what is right.”

ADAO will further recognize Army Archerd’s legacy by dedicating its California legislative initiative called Drop the Rock in his name.

“Army’s legacy is immeasurable,” explained ADAO CEO and Co-Founder, Linda Reinstein. “We are pleased to dedicate our legislative efforts to remove California’s State Rock, serpentine which is the host rock for asbestos to Army.  Army will forever be remembered in Hollywood and around the world for his candor and honesty.

The evening remembered Army Archerd’s distinctive voice, now silenced by mesothelioma. Unfortunately his story is not unique; more than 10,000 Americans die every year from asbestos-related diseases.

Photo Credit: Emily Reinstein
From left to right: Jordan Zevon, Lenore Kayne, Renee Schnell, Selma Archerd, Doug Larkin, Linda Reinstein