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Mary Tyler Moore’s Jewelry Is Being Auctioned Off to Help the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative
Mary Tyler Moore, presenter during 4th Annual TV Land Awards - Show at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, United States. (Photo by L. Cohen/WireImage)
Twenty-one pieces of the TV star’s jewelry are going up for auction on December 1 to benefit the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative, an organization that works to preserve and restore vision in diabetics. “I could have chosen to just put all these pieces in the safe and then every couple of months go sit with them and cry and smile,” Dr. S. Robert Levine, her widower, says. “Or I could give them new life and have them have another purpose.”
Of all the complications from Mary’s type 1 diabetes, losing her eyesight was one of the most difficult to live with. “By 2012, 2013, she really couldn’t safely walk in low light or on her own without guidance,” says Robert, who notes that most diabetes-related blindness can now be prevented. “It was really Mary’s dream that one day future generations would not have to suffer as she had,” he says. Items up for bid include watches, necklaces and even some pieces Mary designed herself. “Now they’ll bring joy to others,” says Robert, “and serve a very important purpose in sustaining Mary’s legacy.”
