A soap opera star with Vicksburg ties is hoping that, by February 2009, every high school in Mississippi will have a copy of a DVD he produced to promote poetry.

“Art contributes to life and helps for one to have a balanced life,” said Anthony Herrera, who, off and on since 1980, has been John Stenbeck on CBS’ “As the World Turns.”  He also played Mark Galloway in 1974 and 1975 on the show.

Herrera, 64, was first exposed to poetry as a college student at Ole Miss. While there, in the early 1960s, Herrera was part of the same fraternity as Vicksburg attorney Landy Teller, who was his big brother in Sigma Chi.

“Landy is still, in many ways, my big brother, friend and lawyer,” said Herrera.

Online

www.poetrytheatre.org

Teller said, “I have been a close friend with Anthony since college. I have admired him for many years. He is a determined individual who is constantly trying to do positive things for humanity. The poetry theater DVD is going to be a phenomenal thing.”

Herrera has visited Vicksburg three times, during which he performed with the Vicksburg Theatre Guild, “Smoke and Mirrors,” a play he co-authored and produced. He also brought A.R. Gurney’s “Love Letters” and his one-man poetry show, “The Lunatic, the Love and the Poet,” to Vicksburg.

Herrera is founder of www.poetrytheatre.org, a Web site that aims to cultivate the arts among youths. His DVD features professional actors and Mississippi students reading their favorite poems.

“I think it’s important for kids to learn new things, to learn how to think, to be exposed to new ideas and to be exposed to the arts,” Herrera said.

Herrera is a native of Wiggins. He now lives in Argentina. He is a cancer survivor and, in 2005, wrote a book, “The Cancer War.”