

THE KINDEST PEOPLE WHO DO GOOD DEEDS, VOLUME 3: 250 ANECDOTES

By David Bruce

Dedicated with Respect to Guy Philips

Copyright 2007 and written by Bruce D. Bruce

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All anecdotes are stated in my own words to avoid plagiarism.

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PREFACE

The doing of good deeds is important. As a free person, you can choose to live your life as a good person or as a bad person. To be a good person, do good deeds. To be a bad person, do bad deeds. If you do good deeds, you will become good. If you do bad deeds, you will become bad. To become the person you want to be, act as if you already are that kind of person. Each of us chooses what kind of person we will become. To become a hero, do the things a hero does. To become a coward, do the things a coward does. The opportunity to take action to become the kind of person you want to be is yours.

This book is a collection of stories of good deeds. Most of them I have encountered in my reading of books, then retold in my own words. A very few come from other sources. This book is organized by topic. Many people in the arts, in religion, and in everyday life have done good deeds, and I am happy that such people exist in this world.

I hope that you enjoy reading this book, and I hope that you are inspired to do some good deeds of your own.

"Each of us has within us a Mother Teresa and a Hitler. It is up to us to choose what we want to be."—Elisabeth Kübler-Ross.
CHAPTER 1: Stories 1-50

Snack-Size Portions of the Afterlife

In her book titled I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, comedian Margaret Cho writes, "I believe that we get complimentary snack-size portions of the afterlife, and we all receive them in a different way." For Ms. Cho, many of her snack-size portions of the afterlife come in hiphop music. Other people get different snack-size portions of the afterlife, and we all must be on the lookout for them when they come our way. And perhaps doing good deeds and experiencing good deeds are snack-size portions of the afterlife. (1)

A Widely Loved Comedian

Comedian Jimmy Durante was widely loved because he was the kind of person who deserved to be widely loved. When Steve Allen was an unknown comedian, he had a chance to be photographed with the famous Jimmy Durante for some newspapers—good exposure for Mr. Allen. Unfortunately, a group of teenaged fans moved between Mr. Allen and Jimmy, separating them. Jimmy saw what was happening, yelled "Wait a minute," and then moved to Mr. Allen and grabbed him by the arm so that photographs of him with Jimmy would appear in the newspapers. And when Jimmy's friend and fellow comedian Eddie Cantor had a heart attack, Jimmy went to the hospital every day even though he knew that Mr. Cantor was not allowed visitors. He simply sat quietly for a while in a chair outside Mr. Cantor's hospital room. (2)

"You're Almost So Good I Could Hate You"

Frequently, comedians go out of their way to help and support other comedians. After seeing David Brenner for the first time on TV, Buddy Hackett immediately called the entertainment director of the Sahara Casino in Las Vegas to say, "Did you see this kid? Get him in there—get him on the stage!" Mr. Hackett had never met Mr. Brenner. In addition, after seeing Mr. Brenner's act for the first time, Jerry Lewis visited him in his hotel room to say, "You're good—you're almost so good I could hate you." And even before Joan Rivers met Mr. Brenner, she told the Los Angeles Times in an interview that she knew of two young comedians who would make it big—David Brenner and Albert Brooks. (3)

"You'll Pay Him $1,500"

Totie Fields saw Freddie Roman's stand-up comedy act and was impressed enough to want him to appear in Las Vegas. She called Juliet Prowse's manager, who needed an opening act for Ms. Prowse at the Desert Inn. She also negotiated Mr. Roman's salary. She said to Ms. Prowse's manager, "You're paying him $1,500." The manager said, "I only pay $1,200." Ms. Fields replied, "You'll pay him $1,500." He paid him $1,500. (4)

Rewarding Loyalty

For nine years, Edna Purviance appeared in silent comedies that starred Charlie Chaplin in his "Tramp" character. Other movie studios wanted her to work for them, and they would have paid her very well indeed, but she remained loyal to Mr. Chaplin. She retired in the 1920s and appeared in no more movies, but Mr. Chaplin rewarded her for her loyalty by keeping her on his payroll until 1958, when she died. (5)

Rooting for the Acts to be Good

An act of great sensitivity occurred when George Burns and Gracie Allen played the Palace for the first time, in 1928: The audience applauded, and the comedy team was a hit. The Palace Theater on Broadway was important because if a small, not-famous act did well there, it could get better and more important bookings. According to Mr. Burns, the Palace was a "pushover" for acts such as Burns and Allen. Because the audience realized how important their applause was to small acts, they were rooting for the acts to be good. (I like that a lot. It's similar to the audience on The Tonight Show rooting for a comedian during his or her first TV appearance.) (6)

Entertaining the Troops

When beautiful actress Ann Jillian got breast cancer, several people sent floral arrangements to her hospital room. The "granddaddy"—Ms. Jillian's word—of all floral arrangements came from comedian Bob Hope, with whom Ms. Jillian had worked on USO tours to entertain the troops. The card was signed in this way: "Hurry up and get out of there; they're playing our cue. Bob Hope." Of course, Mr. Hope did good deeds on a regular basis—he certainly spent much time entertaining servicemen and servicewomen, including those who couldn't be present to see his show. For example, after doing a show at Fassberg Air Force Base in Germany, Mr. Hope went to Fassberg Tower, got on the radio, and started telling jokes to lots of pilots who couldn't see his show because they were delivering supplies to Berlin. Mr. Hope also took good care of old friends. Dorothy Lamour was a big movie star, but even big movie stars hit a rough patch once in a while. When that happened to Ms. Lamour, Mr. Hope called his friend Joe Franklin and told him to have her as a guest on his show: "Give her a break, but don't tell her I had anything to do with it." Mr. Franklin put her on his show. (7)

Encouragement After Bombing

Phyllis Diller's mentor was fellow comedian Bob Hope, who met her after Ms. Diller bombed in a small club. When Ms. Diller learned that Mr. Hope had seen her bomb, she tried to sneak out by a back way, but he ran after her and encouraged her to keep working in comedy. (8)

Money Versus Civil Rights

African-American comedian Dick Gregory was serious about the Civil Rights Movement. He made lots of money as a comedian, and he lost lots of money by marching in protests instead of entertaining in nightclubs. He once had $18,000 in cash, and his wife recommended that he save the money for their child's college tuition. Instead, he donated it to the Civil Rights Movement so that buses could be hired to bring hundreds of people to an important demonstration. Obviously, Mr. Gregory was very involved in the Civil Rights Movement. In fact, he had a clause put in his contracts saying that he could leave immediately whenever he was needed at a demonstration or a march. (9)

Repaying a Long-Ago Kindness

Sometimes, kindnesses done long ago are repaid. When comedian Red Skelton was an impoverished kid, a vaudeville comedian named Ed Wynn (he played Uncle Albert in the movie Mary Poppins) gave him a free ticket to his show. Years later, Mr. Wynn had a prominent role in the live TV drama Requiem for a Heavyweight. To pay Mr. Wynn back for his long-ago kindness, Mr. Skelton played a small role, without pay, in the drama. (10)

Keeping Up the Blue Cross

Country comedian Jerry Clower got a lot of help in his early career as an entertainer from his boss, Owen Cooper, for whom he worked as a fertilizer salesman. Mr. Clower had a hit record, and Mr. Cooper said the record could lead to something big or it could blow over quickly, but he would keep him on the payroll until he found out whether it would lead to something big. A few months later, Mr. Clower was working for the Grand Ole Opry, which was definitely something big, so Mr. Cooper said to Mr. Clower, "We'll just make you director of sales promotion and pay you just enough to keep up your Blue Cross." (11)

Helping a Former Partner

Bert Williams and George Walker were famous as the African-American comedy team Williams and Walker during the late 19th and early 20th century, but Mr. Walker was forced to retire as a result of a stroke. Mr. Williams continued to perform in vaudeville alone, but he shared his salary with his former partner until the day Mr. Walker died. (12)

Grampa Max

Jack Gilford worried about his children because none of their grandparents lived nearby, and he didn't want them to be deprived of the experience of having loving grandparents. Being an actor, he readily solved the problem by becoming Grampa Max. Occasionally, he would turn into Grampa Max and tell his son, "C'mon, you vant to go to de park today? I'll buy you a malted." His son loved it, and years later, his senior project at film school was a 17-minute short titled Max, starring Jack Gilford as Grampa Max. (13)

Parkinson's and Medical Bills

A couple of years before comedian Terry-Thomas' death on January 8, 1990, he and Belinda, his wife, were impoverished (because of his medical bills), but a couple of appeals for funds made by newspapers and TV stations netted some money, and in London, an all-star charity show raised £75,000 for them. (Terry-Thomas cried because of the kindness shown to him.) One of the good things that Terry-Thomas did in his last years was to appear on a TV show called The Human Brain and talk about the effects of Parkinson's Disease on him. (14)

Benefits for People Like Himself

Stand-up comedian Jimmy Savo had health problems later in life. In 1946, physicians discovered that he had a cancerous tumor in his leg, and they amputated the leg. But within a year, he was doing comedy benefits for his fellow amputees. (15)

Backing Up a Lesbian Comedian

In 1977, at Los Angeles' Comedy Store, lesbian comic Robin Tyler was heckled by several straight men. One man yelled at her, "Are you a lesbian?" She struck back with, "Are you the alternative?" In support of Ms. Tyler, all the comics who followed her act told the audience that they were homosexuals, too—although all of them were straight. (16)

"Did You Have to Get Someone that Good?"

Because of illness, comedian/singer Martha Raye was unable to appear on Garry Moore's nighttime show, so Carol Burnett, then a relative unknown, was asked to replace her. Ms. Raye watched the show, then mock-complained to Mr. Moore, "I knew you were going to have to get someone good to replace me—but did you have to get someone that good?" She also sent Ms. Burnett twelve roses. (17)

A Special Piece of Playground Equipment

Miss Juliette Whittaker greatly influenced comedian Richard Pryor when he was young. Years later, he repaid her kindness by helping her establish a school called the Learning Tree and by giving more than 80 scholarships to children so they could attend her school. Once, he asked her what she wanted for her school, and she said that she wanted a special piece of equipment for the school playground—one with a ladder, a deck, a fireman's pole, and a stainless-steel slide. Mr. Pryor gave her a check so she could buy the special piece of playground equipment. (18)

Goober's Trophies

Actor George Lindsey will be remembered as Goober, Gomer Pyle's cousin. Mr. Lindsey has raised over $1 million for the Special Olympics; he also raised $450,000 for the George Lindsey Aquatic Center at the Alabama State Hospital for the Mentally Retarded. At his home are several trophies of stuffed animals—all of which have crossed eyes. (19)

Getting a Lady a Seat

On a crowded subway with all seats taken, Zero Mostel noticed an elderly black woman standing and carrying several packages. He began walking unsteadily toward the woman with his eyes unfocused. He looked as if he were blind, and when he got near the elderly black woman, he lurched and seemed to be about to fall in the lap of a man who was sitting down. The man jumped up, and suddenly Mr. Mostel's eyes became focused, then he motioned to the elderly black woman to sit down. (20)

A Catholic Comedian Helping a Jewish Comedian

Comedian Frank Fay, who originated the character of Elwood P. Dowd in the play Harvey, once did a good deed for Jewish comedian Joe E. Lewis. Mr. Lewis wished to attend Yom Kippur services at Congregation Ezrath Israel in New York, but he was scheduled to perform at the Copacabana. Mr. Fay, who was Catholic, performed in the place of Mr. Lewis, then he donated his paycheck to Congregation Ezrath Israel. (21)

Not Their Usual Salary

The comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello could be very generous. Once they returned to work at the place where they had received their first big break: the Atlantic City Steel Pier. They told the owner, Frank Elliott, that they wouldn't work for their usual $10,000 a week salary. Instead, they worked for $1 a day. (22)

"Stop Playing Benefits"

Comedian Eddie Cantor devoted much time to playing benefits for charitable causes. Once, his boss, Florenz Ziegfeld, worried that Mr. Cantor would burn himself out by playing so many benefits and so he ordered him to stop playing them. That night, Mr. Cantor was doing yet another benefit—against orders—when he looked down and saw Mr. Ziegfeld in the front row. Mr. Cantor said, "It's not me," then continued with his act. (23)

"Love Me"

In 1938 Eddie Cantor visited a home in Paris, where he met several refugee Jewish children whom Hitler had made orphans. Mr. Cantor writes in one of his autobiographies, Take My Life, "There were sixty little orphans at this home, awaiting deportation. I'd brought with me a trunk of Oh Henrys and Hershey bars, but I noticed one little girl sitting there, candy in hand, not touching it. I went over and took her on my knee. 'Little lady, what can I do for you?' She looked at me with wan face and said, 'Love me.'" Mr. Cantor used this story to raise many, many dollars for efforts to relocate refugee Jewish children in Israel. (24)

Helping a Ragged, Stinky Beggar

When Charlie Chaplin was very young, he saw a ragged, stinky woman begging for charity. The woman frightened him, but his mother, Hannah, helped her. She took the woman to their apartment, cleaned her up, and fed her. The beggar was Eva Lester, who had formerly been a renowned singer. (25)

A Surprise Gift

Czechoslovakian citizen Emil Zátopek won four gold medals at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland, including one for an unexpected win in the marathon. Winning these medals, of course, was memorable; however, later Mr. Zátopek did something even more memorable when he met Ron Clarke of Australia, a great runner who had bad luck at the Olympic Games. Despite setting many world records during his running career, Mr. Clarke never managed to win a gold medal while competing at the Olympic Games. Mr. Zátopek admired Mr. Clarke, and in 1966 he gave him a wrapped present, telling him not to open it until he was on a plane and headed back home. When Mr. Clarke opened the gift, he found an Olympic gold medal and a note from Mr. Zátopek: "Dear Ron, I have won four gold medals. It is only right that you should have one of them. Your friend, Emil." (26)

Winter Olympics

At the 1976 Winter Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, American Bill Koch astounded everyone by winning the silver medal in the 30-kilometer cross-country race. Still, his fondest memory comes from a race a few days later—a race in which he failed to medal. In the 50-kilometer cross-country race, he was leading after 30 kilometers, but suddenly he "hit the wall," as elite athletes say, and total exhaustion set in. Other skiers started passing him, and he fell far behind. With five kilometers to go, he faced a hill. Feeling exhausted and faint, he started up the hill. Suddenly, he felt someone pushing him and helping him up the hill. It was the Finnish skier Juha Mieto. Mr. Koch says that on that day Mr. Mieto "showed me what sportsmanship and character truly are. He pushed me all the way to the top of the hill, and once there I got renewed spirit and energy. I went on to finish 13th. I'll never forget that—never." (27)

Using $20,000 Wisely

Kip Keino won gold medals in the Olympics in both 1968 (1500-meter race) and 1972 (3000-meter steeplechase). He never made much money from his running—approximately $20,000—but he used it wisely. He returned to his native Kenya, where he bought land and a house and started an orphanage. Another Olympic medal-winner, Native American Billy Mills, met him in the 1980s. At that time, Kip and his orphanage were taking care of 68 children, and 100 orphans had already grown up and gone into the world to lead their adult lives. (28)

Giving Back to the Community

Olympic diver Pat McCormick gave back to the community after winning four gold medals. In 1984, she gave a talk to some schoolchildren, and a teacher told her afterward that many of the children she had spoken to "aren't going to make it." Ms. McCormick then started meeting twice a week with 25 of the schoolchildren and bringing in such great role models as Olympic gold-medal-winning decathlete Rafer Johnson to speak to them. She also took the schoolchildren on field trips and taught them a mantra: "You gotta have a dream. You gotta work, you gotta learn to fail, you gotta surround yourselves with greatness." The schoolchildren's grades climbed upward. (29)

Reading About the Olympic Games in the Newspaper

American athletes needed money to pay their passage to get to the 1896 Olympic Games in Greece. Dr. William Milligan Sloane, vice president of the International Olympic Committee, helped find money to pay the tickets of the American athletes, but despite the generosity of former Massachusetts governor Oliver Ames, two American athletes still did not have tickets. Dr. Sloane and his wife had been saving all year to pay their own passage to the Olympic Games, but they unselfishly gave their tickets to the American athletes. Instead of seeing the Olympic Games in person, Dr. Sloane and his wife stayed home and read about them in a newspaper. (30)

Helping Fire Victims

At the 1924 Olympic Games in France, American athletes rallied to help put out a fire in a nearby village that burned down many houses. One French villager was killed in the fire, and the American athletes took up a collection of money to give to the villager's family. One result of these good deeds is that the American athletes became very popular with the French villagers. (31)

"This is Your Lucky Day"

One day, Muhammad Ali and his daughter were late for a flight because he had signed so many autographs. By the time they boarded the flight, a man and his son were sitting in the Alis' first-class seats although under normal circumstances the man and his son would have been flying in tourist. The stewardess asked the man and boy to move to tourist, but Mr. Ali asked the boy if he had ever flown first class before. The boy answered, "No." Mr. Ali replied, "Then this is your lucky day," and he and his daughter went to sit in the tourist section of the plane. (32)

"What Day Do We Play?"

In the Jim Crow days, heavyweight fighter Joe Louis was a celebrity and so he had the power to go where other black people were not allowed to go; however, he declined to take this kind of advantage of his celebrity. For example, in Miami, Florida, a newspaper reporter asked Mr. Louis when he would be playing golf while he was in town. Even though as a celebrity, Mr. Louis could play golf whenever he wanted, he asked a black friend, "What day do we play?" By asking this, he meant, "What day are blacks allowed to play golf in this town?" Radio personality Barry Grey once invited him to one of his broadcasts at the segregated Fontainbleau Hotel in Miami, but Mr. Louis declined, saying, "I don't go where my people can't go." Mr. Grey used his program to rip into the racism of the Fontainbleau Hotel. (33)

Sammy Claus

Chicago Cubs player Sammy Sosa is from the Dominican Republic, where his nickname is "Sammy Claus" because of his many good deeds. However, Mr. Sosa declines to talk about his good deeds, saying, "I don't want to get a big head. I was raised religious, and I'm scared what would happen to me if I did." During his 1998 home-run duel with Mark McGwire, during which Mr. McGwire set a new record for home runs in a season, Mr. Sosa was asked who his hero is. He replied, "God." (34)

Getting Jackie Out of Serious Trouble

When Jackie Robinson broke the color line in major-league baseball, he endured racial insults from baseball fans and players because he knew that he had to do that so that other blacks could play in the major leagues. That does not mean that Mr. Robinson was unwilling to fight. Before breaking into the major leagues, Mr. Robinson was a soldier in Officer Candidate School. One day, a white officer called Mr. Robinson a "stupid n*gger." Mr. Robinson hit the white officer and got into serious trouble. As soon as heavyweight champion Joe Louis, who was also serving in the Army, heard about what had happened, he hurried to Mr. Robinson's commanding officer and bribed him with some very expensive gifts. Mr. Robinson stayed in Officer Training School. When Mr. Robinson and his fellow officer candidates graduated, Mr. Louis bought all of them new uniforms. (35)

Warming Up on the Baseball Field

Larry Doby was the second African-American athlete to integrate major-league baseball; of course, Jackie Robinson was the first. Mr. Doby, like Mr. Robinson, learned that good and bad white players existed in the major leagues. When he joined the Cleveland Indians, he introduced himself—four players refused to shake his hand. While everyone was warming up the first time Mr. Doby was on the field, he had no one to throw the baseball to—until Joe Gordon, the second baseman, motioned to him to throw the ball to him. Mr. Gordon, catcher Jim Hegan, and coach Bill McKechnie were the ones who Mr. Doby said risked being identified as "N-word lovers." Sportswriter Steve Jacobson wrote, "For the rest of the year Doby warmed up with Gordon. For the rest of his life he gave credit to Gordon." (36)

"I Never had a Manager Who Cared More about His Players"

During the 1953 season, Hank Aaron played for the Jacksonville (Florida) Tars in the South Atlantic League. This was during the Jim Crow era, and Mr. Aaron and the other African-American players often were not permitted to eat in white-only restaurants. Sometimes, they were permitted to eat only in the kitchen, and sometimes, their white teammates had to bring food to the tour bus for them to eat. In addition, the African-American players had to find lodgings in the black part of the city. Jacksonville Tars manager Ben Geraghty, a white man, always visited the African-American players, no matter where they stayed, because he wanted them to feel welcome and a part of the team. Later, Mr. Aaron said about Mr. Geraghty, "In all the years I played baseball, I never had a manager who cared more about his players or knew more about the game." (37)

"Things Like That You Don't Forget"

Earl Lloyd was one of three black ballplayers to integrate professional basketball in 1950. This was still during the Jim Crow era, and all three players faced some prejudice, although they had it easier than Jackie Robinson did when he integrated major-league baseball. For one thing, college basketball teams were often integrated. For another, with three black players entering professional basketball at the same time, no one player had to bear the entire burden by himself. Still, at times Mr. Lloyd knew that he was not wanted by a racist society. Once, while he was playing with the Washington Capitols, he was refused service at a diner, so he went to his hotel room to eat. His coach, Horace "Bones" McKinney, a white man, went with him and ate in Mr. Lloyd's room, too. Mr. Lloyd says, "Bones was from Wake Forest, North Carolina, the Deep South, and he had been raised in the South during the '30s and '40s. You know he didn't have to do that. Things like that you don't forget." (38)

A Deal from Dinty Moore

In 1941, umpires Ernie Stewart and Jocko Conlan dined in New York City at Dinty Moore's restaurant. The bill for two meals came to $16, which was very high at the time. Mr. Conlan saw on the bill that the charge was 85 cents for a piece of strawberry pie, so he asked the waiter if a mistake had been made. After all, Mr. Conlan pointed out, his mother was very capable of baking eight pies for 85 cents. (Remember, this was in 1941.) The owner of the restaurant—Dinty Moore himself—happened to be passing by, and he said that his mother could also bake eight pies for 85 cents. Mr. Moore then talked to the umpires and discovered that the restaurant was very expensive for them. Being a baseball fan, he invited them to eat there anytime for $2.50 per meal. Later, when the umpires received a raise, Mr. Moore asked them if they could afford $3.50 for a meal. They could, and that became the price they paid, no matter what they ate. (39)

An Accident and a Gift

In his later days, professional baseball player "Shoeless Joe" Jackson taught the kids in his neighborhood how to play baseball. In 1945, an accident occurred when a pitcher threw a high ball, and the catcher, Jimmy Thompson, Jr., rose up to catch it—but caught the bat right on his forehead. Blood was everywhere, the injury required stitches, and Shoeless Joe felt so bad that he gave little Jimmy the glove he had used in the major leagues. (40)

A Show of Support for a Losing Team

In 1961, the Philadelphia Phillies lost 23 straight games. As the baseball players departed from a plane in Philadelphia following a lengthy road trip, they found some fans waiting for them. Pitcher Frank Sullivan advised his teammates to "leave the plane in single file. That way they can't get us with one burst." Fortunately, the fans weren't there to wreak havoc; instead, they welcomed the players with a show of support. (41)

Flowers on the Grave of a Divorcée

Each week, William Powell put flowers on the grave of fellow actor Jean Harlow. When Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were married, Ms. Monroe requested that he do the same thing for her if she should die before he did. After Ms. Monroe died, although the two were divorced, Mr. DiMaggio honored her request. (42)

The Boston Celtics: An Unselfish Team

What made the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and the 1960s so great? In addition to great coaching and great talent, the Celtics were an unselfish team. When Bill Russell joined the Celtics, the veteran and starting center was Arnie Risen, who knew that Mr. Russell had been brought onto the team to take his starting position. Immediately, Mr. Risen, a white man, began training Mr. Russell, a black man who was new to the pro game. Mr. Risen let Mr. Russell know what to expect from opposing centers and how to play against them. Yes, Mr. Russell did take Mr. Risen's starting position from him, but both players benefited. At the end of the season, both players had earned the right to wear NBA Championship rings. In addition, both players are now in the Basketball Hall of Fame. By the way, Mr. Risen had job security; he played for the Celtics until he retired. The Celtics coach, Red Auerbach, traded exactly one player during the time that Mr. Russell played for him. (43)

Respect for Two Greats

Bill Walton showed a lot of respect for other basketball players. While playing at UCLA, he was following in the footsteps of the great Lew Alcindor, who changed his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. To show respect for Mr. Alcindor, who had worn No. 33 at UCLA, Mr. Walton wore No. 32. Later, as a Boston Celtic, Mr. Walton showed respect for the great Bill Russell. Because Mr. Russell had worn No. 6 as a Celtic, Mr. Walton wore No. 5. (44)

Random Acts of Kindness

Shaquille O'Neal enjoys doing random acts of kindness as well as working with organized charities. Sometimes, he will buy a new TV set, drive into an impoverished neighborhood, and pick out a house where kids live. He then knocks on the door, offers the family a free TV, and if they accept his gift, he watches a few shows with them. When he played for the Orlando Magic, he would do such things as send roses on Valentine's Day to women in hospitals in Orlando, Florida. (45)

Meeting the Dream Team

While competing in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, gymnast Shannon Miller wanted to meet the Dream Team, consisting of the best stars of the NBA. Unfortunately, when the Dream Team visited the Olympic Village (the members of the Dream Team were staying outside the Village), she was taking a nap and missed them. Coach Steve Nunno telephoned NBC commentator John Tesh to see if he could arrange for Shannon to see any of the Dream Team members. Mr. Tesh gave her tickets for the next Dream Team game and an invitation to visit the Dream Team backstage after the game. (Shannon's meeting with such players as Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan was videotaped by another coach, Peggy Liddick, who sneaked in a forbidden camera.) (46)

Lucky Pennies

At the 1992 Olympics Games in Barcelona, cameraman Kenny Woo went around dropping pennies because he knew that the members of the United States women's gymnastics team thought that finding a penny meant they would have good luck. (47)

Help from a Baywatch Star

Early in 2004, American gymnast Mohini Bhardwaj did not have the money to attend the trials necessary to make the United States women's gymnastics team—and she was deep in debt besides. Her friends in Los Angeles wanted to help her raise the needed money for the Olympic trials by selling raffle tickets. One friend tried to sell a raffle ticket to Baywatch actress Pamela Anderson, but Ms. Anderson, who herself was once a gymnast, chose to do much more than that. She gave Ms. Bhardwaj a check for $25,000. Ms. Bhardwaj responded by helping the U.S. women's team win a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. (48)

Help from a Stranger

American gymnast Kurt Thomas' team once left him behind in West Germany. He had blown most of his money on silk shirts for his groomsmen to wear at his wedding, and he didn't even know where the gymnastics meet was to be held in Münster. He called the U.S. consulate for directions, but when he said the meet was to be held in Münster, they asked, "Which meet in particular?" Fortunately, Mr. Thomas met a West German who helped him buy a train ticket and guided him through a maze of switching trains so he could reach his destination. (49)

Thanks from a Classy Elite Athlete

Elite, Olympic-eligible athletes get a lot of free stuff—uniforms, shoes, training equipment—from companies that sponsor their sport. Often, the athletes take this stuff for granted—but not Amanda Borden, who won a gold medal as the captain of the USA women's gymnastics team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. As a member of the U.S. National Team, she once attended a National Team meeting at which was present a representative of an apparel company that sponsored USA Gymnastics. After the meeting, Ms. Borden thanked the representative for the leotards, shoes, warm-up clothing, etc., the company had given to her. (50)
CHAPTER 2: Stories 51-100

Leotards and Hugs

Hispanic gymnast Jeanette Antolin is very good with young gymnasts. When Ms. Antolin shows up wearing a new leotard, often the youngest gymnasts will buy one just like it in hopes that it will bring them luck. (However, they can't afford to do this each time she wears a new leotard—Ms. Antolin has a collection of over 100 leotards!) And if Ms. Antolin sees that one of the youngest gymnasts is having a bad day in the gym, she goes over and gives her a hug for sympathy, support, and encouragement. (51)

Good Deeds with Stuffed Animals

Ukrainian gymnast Lilia Podkopayeva won the gold medal in the all-around competition of the 1996 Olympic Games, and to show their appreciation of her wonderful performance, fans gave her huge numbers of stuffed animals. She donated many of the stuffed animals to children in orphanages in Ukraine. (52)

Heavy Traffic, and Greatness in the Olympics and in Real Life

At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico, Soviet gymnast Zinaida Voronina won silver in the all-around competition and bronze in the uneven bars and vault competitions. After she retired, she became a worker in a foundry, and many people did not know about her Olympic past. However, one day she saw a very old woman standing at the side of a street, afraid to cross it because of the traffic. Ms. Voronina went over to the old woman to help her, and the old woman recognized her and cried out, "Zina!" Both women cried together, remembering Zina's days of gymnastics glory. (53)

A Casual Stroll

At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut performed strongly and won several medals, but she was not always perfect in every event. As she sat crying after receiving a low score, a TV camera started to focus on her, so fellow gymnast Elvira Saadi casually but purposely strolled between Olga and the TV camera, shielding her. (54)

Good Sportsmanship from Class Acts

During her career, Soviet gymnast Ludmilla Tourischeva displayed wonderful sportsmanship. At the Montreal Olympic Games, young Nadia Comaneci won the gold medal in the All-Around Competition, while the more mature, experienced Ms. Tourischeva settled for the bronze medal. Nevertheless, at the awards ceremony Ms. Tourischeva came to young Nadia, shook her hand, and kissed her cheek. Romanian gymnast Simona Amanar is also known for her good sportsmanship. At the 1997 World Championships, she seemed ready to win gold in the all-around, but she had to settle for a disappointing silver behind Russian gymnast Svetlana Khorkina. Rather than display attitude, Ms. Amanar congratulated Ms. Khorkina. (55)

Getting a Daughter Back

When world-class women's gymnastics coaches Bela and Marta Karolyi defected from Romania to the United States, they left Andrea, their young daughter, in Romania. It took months to get her back. Finally, they did so with the help of a Republican Congressman from Texas, Bill Archer. Mr. Archer was on the Committee for the Most Favored Nation Status for Eastern European Countries. Because Romania needed the Most Favored Nation Status for trade purposes, Mr. Archer was able to use that against Romania to get Andrea back to her parents. He called up the Romanian ambassador and received a date by which Andrea would be flown to the United States—within three months. He then asked Mr. Karolyi how long he had been trying to get Andrea. On hearing the answer—six months—Mr. Archer called the Romanian ambassador again and made him send Andrea to the United States much quicker. (56)

Skating with People with Mental Retardation

As a young skater, Robert Davenport used his talent to bring joy to other people. Often, he performed at charity shows, and sometimes as he skated he gave rides on his back to children who are intellectually disabled so they could feel what it was like to skate. Once, the eyes of a boy who was intellectually disabled filled with tears of joy as he felt the thrilling sensation of skating. (57)

Photographs and Stuffed Animals

If you watch much ice skating on television, you know that fans frequently give presents to their favorite skaters by throwing flowers and stuffed animals onto the ice after a good performance. Often, children (or their parents) throw the stuffed animals and sometimes place stickers with their names and addresses on the animals. Champion ice skater Michelle Kwan makes a practice of sending a photograph of herself to these children. Because she receives so many stuffed animals as gifts, once in a while she takes bags of stuffed animals to a children's hospital to give away to patients. (58)

"She is Such a Small Girl. How Much Can She Cost? How Much Can She Eat?"

Fellow Ukrainians Victor Petrenko and Oksana Baiul both engage in charity. Together, they have donated money to repair a skating rink in Odessa, Ukraine. Previously, while Ms. Baiul was still an impoverished unknown in figure skating, Mr. Petrenko paid for her skating outfits and skating boots. In fact, Mr. Petrenko took care of Ms. Baiul in other ways because she had suffered so much misfortune in her life. Her father abandoned her when she was a small child. When she was 13, her mother died of cancer. Shortly afterward, her grandparents who were taking care of her died. When she was 14, the person who had coached her for nine years moved to Canada. Mr. Petrenko ended up asking his mother-in-law—and coach—Galina Zmievskaya, to take care of her. Ms. Zmievskaya says, "Viktor said to me, 'She is such a small girl. How much can she cost? How much can she eat?' So she became a member of my family and I became her coach." (59)

Knowing What was Needed

Olympic gold-medal-winning figure skater Peggy Fleming came from a working-class family. While training in New York for the 1964 Olympic Games, Ms. Fleming didn't have a warm coat, but the wealthy Mrs. Phyllis Kennedy, at whose skating rink Ms. Fleming trained, guessed her family's financial status and gave her some sweaters and a coat. (60)

The Loan of a Cap

The great professional golfer Walter Hagen ran into a problem on a Forth Worth, Texas, golf course when he was playing for a championship: The sun was getting in his eyes. Seeing a young caddy wearing a cap with a sun visor—exactly what he needed just then—Mr. Hagen asked his caddy for the loan of the cap. The caddy, Bryon Nelson, gladly performed a good deed by lending it to him for the afternoon, and Mr. Hagen won the championship with it. The young caddy then devoted himself to playing golf and emulating Mr. Hagen, and he did amazingly well in pro golf tournaments—even finishing in the money 113 consecutive times. (61)

"Hit Another, Son"

The first professional golf event Sam Snead ever played in was almost his last. In Hershey, Pennsylvania, he took his first swing and hit the ball way to the right into a chocolate factory. The ball was unplayable. He hit the second ball with exactly the same result. He then topped the third ball, and it fell in front of the tee. At this point, he was ready to go home, but another player, George Fazio, quietly told him, "Hit another, son." This calmed Mr. Snead down, and he hit the ball the way he knew he could, driving it hundreds of yards so that it stopped 20 feet away from the pin. (62)

Checking Out the Rumor

Soccer player Julie Foudy was offered a contract to endorse Reebok soccer balls, but she had been hearing a rumor that small children in Pakistan were being used to make the balls. Before signing the contract, she flew to Pakistan to check out the rumor. She discovered that parents in the factories would take home soccer ball parts and have their children stitch them together. Ms. Foudy reported her findings to Reebok, which changed its procedures to make sure that the soccer balls were completely assembled in the factories by adult workers, and only then did she become a Reebok spokesperson. (63)

"OK, Rock, I'll Hit Him on the Other Side"

In a game against Army, Notre Dame had a problem. The Fighting Irish had only one center, J. Hugh O'Donnell, and he had a broken rib, although he was willing to play. However, the first time an opposing player hit him on the broken rib he would be out of the game. Of course, Mr. O'Donnell's ribs were securely taped, but Notre Dame assistant coach Knute Rockne took an additional precaution. He spoke to John McEwan, Army's All-America center, and told him, "John, O'Donnell has a broken rib and he's the only center we have." Mr. McEwan asked, "Which side is it on?" Hearing that it was on the right side, Mr. McEwan said, "OK, Rock, I'll hit him on the other side." For that game, Mr. McEwan did exactly what he had said he would do. He hit Mr. O'Donnell on the left side, and Mr. O'Donnell played the entire game. (64)

Comforting the Afflicted

Walter Payton became one of the greatest running backs in the NFL, but in his very first NFL game, he ran for a total of exactly zero yards. After the game, he happened to be walking with Bill Magrane, the director of administration for the Chicago Bears, and with Mr. Magrane's wife. Tears were running down Mr. Payton's cheeks, and Mrs. Magrane touched his arm and comforted him, saying that next week things would be better. She was right. The following week Mr. Payton rushed for positive yardage, and soon he was a star for the Bears. What Mrs. Magrane did for him, Mr. Payton did for other players. Placekicker Bob Thomas remembers that if a player would make a mistake such as fumble the ball, drop an interception, or mess up a kick, Mr. Payton would quickly comfort him, saying, "Don't worry. You'll get the next one." (65)

"He Charmed Us All that Day"

Before coaching at Ohio State University, Woody Hayes coached at Miami (Ohio) University, where his 1950 team won the Salad Bowl playing against Arizona State University during the Civil Rights era. In Nashville, Tennessee, his football team had to make an unscheduled stop on account of weather. The airport had a restaurant, and Coach Hayes took his team there, but the manager pointed to Boxcar Bailey, the only African-American player on the team, and said, "That guy isn't going to eat here. We don't serve his kind." Coach Hayes said, "If that guy doesn't eat here, then none of us will eat here." The manager backed down a little and said that Boxcar could eat upstairs. Coach Hayes said, "Fine. Then we'll all eat upstairs." The manager said that upstairs wasn't big enough to hold all of the players, so Coach Hayes said, "Then Boxcar and I will eat upstairs together, and the rest of the team will eat downstairs." One of the players on the Miami team was Bo Schembechler, who later became an assistant coach for Coach Hayes at Ohio State University and then the head coach at the University of Michigan. Mr. Schembechler says about Coach Hayes, "He charmed us all that day." (66)

Death and Food

After World War II, six-year-old Gary Paulsen and his mother, Eunice, sailed to the Philippines, where his Army officer father was stationed. During the voyage, they witnessed a plane crashing into the ocean and sharks attacking the survivors. Young Gary comforted a boy whose mother had died, and he gave away a stuffed animal to a little girl. They also stopped at Okinawa, where the Japanese were suffering from a food shortage as a result of the war and stood silently begging on the dock. Gary's mother gave away candy and cans of condensed milk, then she returned to the ship's galley to get more food, which she also gave away. The ship's captain was angry when he discovered how much food was gone, but the defiant Mrs. Paulsen asked him, "Would you like me to catch them and take it back?" (67)

Health Insurance from Friends

Valerie Taylor, one of the first people to write positive lesbian fiction, made little money from her writing, certainly not enough to pay for health care. Fortunately, she had 10 friends who each contributed $10 per month so that she could pay for her HMO and eye medicine. (68)

A Mistake that Resulted in Much Good

Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho makes a lot of money from his writing. Because he makes so much money, he has established a foundation to do these things: to help Brazilian abandoned children, to help Brazilian impoverished aged, to translate into other languages classic works of Brazilian literature, and to study the prehistory of Brazil. He donated $300,000 a year to his foundation, but that figure became $400,000 a year through an accident. He made a mistake and gave the wrong figure in an interview, the published interview had the wrong, higher figure of $400,000, and Mr. Coelho immediately donated an extra $100,000 to build a new house for street children. In addition, he has donated an extra $100,000 to his foundation every year since the interview was published. (69)

"A Pet is One of the Family"

When she was a young woman, children's author Peg Kehret discovered Stompy, her beloved cat, lying dead by the side of a road one morning. She buried her pet, then she couldn't stop crying. She ended up calling Ken Soderberg, her boss at KAUS, the radio station where she wrote advertising copy, to tell him why she couldn't go to work that day. At first, she expected to be told, "It's only a cat," and that she had to go to work or be fired. Fortunately, Mr. Soderberg gently told her, "I'm so sorry. A pet is one of the family, and of course you can't work today. Don't worry about it. Grieve for your cat, and come back to work when you're ready." (70)

A Gift of a Flower—and a Life

When World War II broke out, Joy Bally, who was born in Austria-Hungary, was in Kenya, where she was arrested for a while although she was not a Nazi sympathizer. When a policewoman came to arrest her, Joy was painting a flower, and she took her painting supplies with her. She also took her pet dog, Pippin, saying, "I go nowhere without my dog." The policewoman replied, "Then your dog is also under arrest." Shortly afterward, Joy was released when the Kenyan government determined that she was not a danger. She had been arrested only because some friends, Dr. Arthur and Lady Muriel Jex-Blake, had told police—naively—that some of Joy's visitors spoke German. Joy did not get angry at her friends, and she gave Lady Muriel the finished painting of the flower. She also gave money to her first husband, who had fled the anti-Jewish sentiment of much of Europe, until he could set himself up in business again. Later, after a divorce and re-marriage, Joy became Joy Adamson and wrote the best-selling book Born Free. (Her first husband showed up at a book signing in Cape Town and asked for her autograph!) Her third and final husband, George Adamson, died a hero. At age 84, he came to the aid of a German woman who was set upon by Somali bandits, and he was shot in the back. (71)

"Promise Me You Won't Ever Use It"

As a young woman, long before she became famous as a memoirist, Maya Angelou became attracted to a man called Troubadour Martin, and she began to think about being close to him and making a life together with him. He was addicted to heroin, and she thought that she should try heroin, too, as a way of becoming closer to him. After ignoring her requests for a while, he finally took her to a rundown hotel in San Francisco. There they visited a room filled with writhing heroin addicts, and he took Maya into a bathroom, where she watched him shoot up with heroin. He then asked her if she wanted to try heroin. Sickened by everything she had seen, Maya didn't want anything to do with heroin. Troubadour Martin told her, "Promise me you won't ever use it. Promise me you'll stay nice like I found you." Maya understood then that he had exposed her to the heroin addicts and to the process of shooting up so she wouldn't be tempted to take heroin. (72)

"Be Good to My Wife and Child"

James M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, was a generous man. When Robert Falcon Scott died during an attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole, he left a letter for Mr. Barrie, who was the godfather of his son, Peter Scott. The letter, which was found on Mr. Scott's frozen body, asked Mr. Barrie to "be good to my wife and child. Give the boy a chance in life." Mr. Barrie did as Mr. Scott wished. (73)

The Eyes of Love

Illustrator William Stout once worked as a watercolor portraitist at Disneyland's New Orleans Square, where he created over 80 portraits each day he worked. One day, a boy sat down to pose for a portrait, and Mr. Stout asked the boy to turn slightly toward him, as the portraits were done in three-quarter profile. When the boy turned toward him, Mr. Stout saw that the boy was missing an eye. Instead of a right eye, the boy had a narrow strip of skin and flesh vertically crossing the empty eye socket. Obviously, Mr. Stout had a major decision to make. Should he draw the boy with two good eyes, or should he draw the boy with a good left eye and an empty right socket? The boy's parents stood behind him, and he drew the rest of the boy's face in order to give himself time to figure out what to do. He felt the tenseness of the parents behind him, and finally he made his decision: He drew the boy with two good eyes. This turned out to be the right decision, as he could tell by the sighs of relief of the parents and the reaction of the boy. Mr. Stout says, "In his parents' eyes, their son was not deformed at all; he was their perfect little boy. I felt so grateful that my painting of their son brought them so much joy, and that I, also, had been blessed by luck and instinct to portray that sweet boy through their eyes—the eyes of love!" (74)

Karsh's Mother

Famed portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh was a child in Armenia during the Armenian massacres of the early 20th century. At one point, his family had only one loaf of black bread—this was all the food they had. The bread had to last the family a week, so each day Yousuf's mother cut four slices of bread from the loaf: one slice for herself, one slice for her husband, and one slice each for their two children. However, Yousuf's mother ate only half of her slice of bread—the other half she gave to Mary, a blind girl in the neighborhood. Yousuf also gave when he became an adult. The famed photographer volunteered his services many times to take a photograph of the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America's poster child. (75)

Friends Taking Care of Friends

Faith Ringgold, whose Tar Beach became a Caldecott Honor Book in 1991, was born in 1930 and grew up during the Great Depression. One day, she and a friend walked home together after school, and when they arrived at the friend's home, the friend looked at some stuff on the street and said, "That's my doll! These are my things!" Why were the things on the street and not in her home? She and her family had just been evicted. However, the story does have a happy ending. Ms. Ringgold says, "Neighbors took them in. That's what we did in those days; we took care of our friends. We didn't leave them homeless in the street." (76)

A Class for the Losers

At the Cleveland Museum of Art, a class was going to be held for children who demonstrated exceptional artistic talent. Space in the class was limited, and some children were judged not talented enough to be admitted. One boy with tears in his eyes asked the teacher, Mrs. Dunn, "Why don't you have a class for the losers?" She thought a moment, then replied, "All right. Be here next Saturday morning at 9 o'clock, and there will be a class for the losers." (77)

A Gift for Art Appreciation

Before World War II, Lucy Carrington Wertheimer ran an art gallery that concentrated on the work of then-modern artists. Often, she heard only criticism of these artists' works, although many of them became well known and well respected as artists later. One late afternoon, after she had heard nothing but criticism all day, a couple of tourists dropped into her gallery and made very admiring remarks about the works of art, although unfortunately they had no money with which to buy them. Ms. Wertheim was so happy to hear their positive comments—especially about a picture by Kolle that they admired—that she gave it to them: "Please have it. Please take it away with you. Do go on enjoying it." (78)

"Here at Lyric We'll do Anything for our Subscribers!"

Danny Newman did PR for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, where he greatly appreciated subscribers—much more than he appreciated single-ticket buyers. One day, his office got a telephone call from a woman who thought that she had lost a diamond ring in the auditorium—although she might have lost it on the way either to or from the performance. Mr. Newman knew that soon the clean-up crew would arrive with powerful vacuums that would suck up the diamond ring—if it were in the auditorium. Therefore, he went to the dark auditorium with a flashlight. He didn't see the diamond ring around the woman's seat, but thinking that it might have been kicked by audience members down the raked floor, he kept looking. Fortunately, the diamond gleamed in the light cast by his flashlight, and he was able to return the diamond ring to the woman, telling her, "Here at Lyric we'll do anything for our subscribers!" The woman and her husband made a large donation to the Lyric Opera of Chicago. (79)

The Gift of Music

Rock star Stevie Nicks has figured out a great way to help wounded soldiers in the Bethesda Naval Hospital and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Of course, it is surprising that she even goes to hospitals such as these, since she admits, "I cry really easily, and I hate hospitals." However, she did go in 2004 and has occasionally returned to visit since then. Trying to figure out what she could do to help the soldiers, she decided to give them iPods filled with music. The songs on the iPods include her 16-year-old niece's picks, as well as many others—as of October 2007, the list included over 930 songs. Ms. Nicks says, "I realized I wanted to do something, but what can you do? A little tiny iPod is perfect. They are too ill to be downloading music. What better can I give them than music?" (80)

The Gift of a Kiss

At a concert in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on February 3, 2007, singer John Mayer read out loud on the sound system some of the signs he saw being held by members of the audience. One sign read, "Sweet 16 and never been kissed. Wanna be my first?" This Grammy Award winner wanted to kiss her (and give her a fantastic memory), and he did kiss her, then wished her happy birthday. Mr. Mayer is a man of wit and intelligence as well as of kindness. When a tabloid television reporter asked him if he and celebrity Jessica Simpson were dating, Mr. Mayer gave the reporter an answer—in Japanese. Mr. Mayer also told the reporter that he was happy—with what he had done to the reporter. (By the way, Mr. Mayer's main message in Japanese was that Ms. Simpson is a beautiful woman.) (81)

"There is No Aspect of What I have Done that Wasn't Worth It"

During his career, African-American actor/singer Paul Robeson spoke out for equality and justice. Because of Mr. Robeson's outspokenness, the United States government persecuted him by making him testify before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and by revoking his passport. Near the end of Mr. Robeson's life, another African-American actor/singer, Harry Belafonte, asked him if the fight for freedom had been worth the cost. Mr. Robeson replied, "Make no mistake—there is no aspect of what I have done that wasn't worth it." On the tombstone of African-American actor/singer Paul Robeson appear some words that he first spoke in a 1937 radio broadcast in support of forces fighting against fascism in the Spanish civil war: "The artist must elect to fight for freedom or for slavery. I have made my choice. I had no alternative." (82)

An Honest Cabbie

Lucrezia Bori's last season with the Metropolitan Opera was 1935-1936, when the United States was just beginning to leave behind the Great Depression. Ms. Bori, of course, was a well-paid superstar of opera and so was not much affected personally by the Depression, although she did work hard to raise money for the Metropolitan Opera so it did not go out of business. One day, Ms. Bori made a mistake and left her purse behind in a taxicab. The purse contained a treasure: a gold box (which held her throat pills), a string of pearls, and a gold compact decorated with diamonds that formed her initials. In addition, her purse held $200 in cash. Fortunately, the taxi driver was honest and returned the purse to her. Ms. Bori rewarded the driver with the $200 in cash. Because $200 was a lot of money back then, a friend asked her if she thought $200 was too big of a reward to give. Ms. Bori answered, "He was so happy. He said he was going to buy clothing for his children—he has five of them. I think maybe he needed some for himself, too." (83)

"I Don't Charge the Walking People"

Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson knew how to take care of her money. For example, she knew how to avoid being taken advantage of by people without scruples. Before one concert, someone tried to get out of paying her, saying that he had made the booking through someone else. Ms. Jackson told him, "You can just forget about any deal you made with that crook, and start making some financial arrangements right now with me, and I mean cash on the line." She sat down, listened to the people in the concert hall become impatient as they waited for her to appear, then said, "Now then, do I get paid or call me a taxi?" She got paid. Of course, she worked hard for her money. Once, after traveling and performing, she returned home, where she found some contracts waiting for her. She immediately headed out on the road again—fortunately, she hadn't had time to unload her luggage from the car before reading the contracts. Mahalia also was generous when she wanted to be. She accepted an invitation to sing at an event to commemorate the first anniversary of Rosa Parks' decision not to give up her seat to a white person on a bus. Asked how much she would charge to entertain these people who were marching for civil rights, Mahalia replied, "I don't charge the walking people." And when the Reverend Russell Roberts, a man she loved, got cancer, she gave him $10,000 to pay for the best medical care available. (84)

"I Hope in My Lifetime to See the End of Such Things"

Many audiences, including white audiences, applauded Mahalia Jackson, but she still faced prejudice during the Jim Crow era. In one case, she and her accompanist, Mildred Falls, stopped at a restaurant. Ms. Jackson went to the front door of the restaurant to go inside and order take-out, but a waitress stopped her at the door and told her to go to the back door to order. Ms. Jackson declined to do that, and she returned to her car. A white truck driver, who had witnessed what had happened, came over and gave the two women coffee and a bag of sandwiches. He told them, "I'm sorry about what happened in there. I hope in my lifetime to see the end of such things." The truck driver had not recognized Ms. Jackson and did not know that she was a celebrity; he simply wanted to help two black women who needed to eat. (85)

Getting Off a Deathbed to Help a Friend

Jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker's first group was the Deans of Swing, which he played with while growing up in Kansas City, and he greatly admired the group's trombonist, Robert Simpson. Mr. Simpson was loyal to Bird. Eventually, the group broke up, and the group's members started playing for other bands. Unfortunately, Mr. Simpson fell ill with pneumonia and heart problems. Although he was dying, he managed to get off his deathbed and talk to the leader of the new band Bird was playing for and convince him not to fire Bird. Bird felt the loss deeply. Two decades later, he told a friend, "I don't let anyone get too close to me, even you.... Once in Kansas City I had a friend I liked very much, and a sorrowful thing happened. He died." (86)

"THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS"

During World War II, folksinger Woody Guthrie joined the Merchant Marines. While serving on the William Floyd, he visited Arzew, in North Africa, where he saw many starving Algerians begging for food. He gave them much of his food, collected such things as soap (and more food) for them, and played music for their children in the center of town. (Mr. Guthrie regarded music as a weapon to be used against fascism. He wrote a song titled "Talking Hitler's Head Off Blues," and for a while his guitar displayed these words he had painted on it: "THIS MACHINE KILLS FASCISTS.") (87)

Punk Deeds

In 1978, someone stole Nico's harmonium in Paris, gravely hurting her ability to make a living and making her down and out. Fortunately, punk poet Patti Smith was touring Europe and heard about what had happened, and she bought Nico a new harmonium with green bellows. Nico told her, "I'll give you back the money when I get it," but Patti insisted that the harmonium was a gift and no money needed to be paid back. Nico cried. (Patti also bought her father a car. She said about him, "He walked outside, and when he saw the car—a shiny black brand-new 1978 Cordoba—he just sat down on the front step and stared at it.... Is there a gold record in the world that can compete with a moment like that?") (88)

Paying $5 to Be an Extra

The Ramones appeared in Roger Corman's low-budget movie Rock 'n' Roll High School in a number of scenes, including a scene where they played five songs onstage at the Roxy in Los Angeles. Filming the concert scene took 18 hours and three audiences. The morning audience got in free, the afternoon audience paid $2 each, and the night audience paid $5 each. The audience members became extras in the movie. Johnny Ramone felt bad that the extras had to pay (this was a low-budget film, after all), and that they had to pay $5 each to hear the Ramones play the same five songs over and over. Therefore, once the filming was completed, Johnny talked to the other members of the band, and the Ramones played a few more (different) songs until they were forced to leave. (89)

A Lesson in How to Treat Fans

Johnny Ramone was known as a tough guy who enforced discipline on the other members of the punk group the Ramones; however, he—along with the other Ramones—had a soft side. He did what he could to keep the fans happy. In addition to insisting on a good stage show, he endlessly signed autographs. One fan, who later became famous, remembers them fondly. Jose Theodore, who became an all-star goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, started to see the Ramones, one of his favorite bands, in concert when he was 16 years old. At age 17, when the Ramones were playing in Montreal, he, his brother, and some friends followed them to their hotel so they could talk to them. "When they got out of their van, I asked them for their autograph," Jose says. "I told Johnny that I was going to play NHL hockey, and they [the Ramones] were all really nice." In addition, young Jose got a small, but special, surprise later that year: "That Christmas, I got a card and it said 'Merry Christmas' and it was signed by Johnny." That is the kind of appreciation of fans that Jose finds special. He says, "With that kind of thing, and how nice they were, they taught me how to treat my fans. I was just a kid and they treated me like that. Imagine." (90)

Standing Up for Greenpeace

In 1995, musician Tom Petty worked with Greenpeace and allowed it to set up its information booth at all of his shows. In New York, officials weren't going to allow Greenpeace to set up an information booth inside the arena, so Mr. Petty declined to perform until officials changed their minds and let Greenpeace inside the arena. (91)

"What a Pleasure It is to Meet You, Gail and Lynn"

Robert L. Mott did sound effects for The Ed Sullivan Show. When his young daughter heard that the Rolling Stones were going to be in the show, she wanted to go, so he took her and one of her friends. Before the show, they were excited to see Mick Jaggar sitting on a chair nearby. Mr. Mott didn't know anything about the Rolling Stones, but because his daughter and friend were so excited to see Mr. Jaggar, he called to him, "Say, Mick, I'd like you to meet Gail, my daughter, and her friend Lynn." Mr. Jaggar got up, shook hands with the two young girls, and said, "What a pleasure it is to meet you, Gail and Lynn." (92)

"What is Not Perfect is Not French"

While in Paris, Bette Midler summoned up her very best French in a shop where she wanted to buy a basket for a bike; unfortunately, the salesman asked her to slow down because he wasn't used to speaking English. Ms. Midler accused the salesman of being overly picky about his language. The salesman was not swayed by her words, saying instead, "What is not perfect is not French." Even though Ms. Midler ran out of time and had to hurry away without buying the bike basket, the story has a happy ending. When she returned home to Hawaii, she found a gift waiting for her. The salesman had sent her the bike basket and this note: "We French are an odd lot. And, I know, often disliked. But lest you mistake, as many do, our love for intellectual debate with cold-hearted arrogance, I am taking the liberty of sending you this." (93)

A Good Deed Performed by Prostitutes

Edith Piaf, who was born in 1915 in Paris, had a hard early life. Her mother abandoned her, and her father gave her to his mother, the proprietor of a brothel, to rear. When Edith was three years old, she became blind as a result of a bad case of conjunctivitis. Fortunately, she regained her sight a few years later when the prostitutes contributed money to pay for treatment of her blindness. Later, she became a famous singer and French icon. One of her most famous songs is "La vie en rose." (94)

Unaware that She was Destitute

Opera singer Leo Slezak's mother-in-law lived with him and his family. Her fortune had been wiped out in the inflation that occurred in Austria after World War I, but she never knew that she was destitute. Mr. Slezak made arrangements with the bank to send to her false monthly statements that showed she had an income, and when she wanted money, he ordered the bank to send it to her. (95)

His Favorite Work

Composer Giuseppe Verdi was humble. When he was asked which of his works was his favorite, he replied that there was no contest: "It's the rest home for aged musicians that I had built in Milan." Asked to write his memoirs, he replied, "It is quite enough that the world has tolerated my music so long. Never shall I condemn it to read my prose." (96)

Unlimited Credit

Early in his career, Giacomo Puccini had difficulty earning enough money to pay for his meals. Fortunately, a Milan, Italy, restaurant named The Aida gave him and his family unlimited credit as he struggled to establish himself as a composer. On February 1, 1893, his Manon Lescaut premiered at the Teatro Regio in Turin, where it was an immediate and an enormous success. Quickly, fame poured on Mr. Puccini—as did money. He walked into The Aida, ordered and ate the most expensive meal available, and paid back all the money he owed for the meals he and his family had eaten for years on credit. (97)

Luxurious Accommodations

Following World War II, the finances of soprano Kirsten Flagstad were in poor order. Nevertheless, her friend Captain Thorkild Rieber arranged for her to stay in a luxurious hotel while she was in New York. Her accompanist, Edwin McArthur, was worried about the expense, so he privately told Captain Rieber that she could not afford such luxury. However, Captain Rieber merely laughed and said, "You don't think I would let her pay, do you?" (98)

Voice Coaching at a Bargain Price

When Lotte Lehmann was a young woman, she had a beautiful voice, but no money to have it trained properly. Fortunately, a woman who lived in the apartment upstairs heard her singing at home and called an uncle who worked at the Royal High School of Music. He sent round a woman named Erna Tiedke—a student at the school—to hear Ms. Lehmann sing. The audition went well, and Ms. Tiedke complimented Ms. Lehmann on her top C. Then Ms. Tiedke announced that she would coach Ms. Lehmann for an audition to become a student at the Royal High School of Music. Although Ms. Tiedke normally received two marks per lesson, she coached Ms. Lehmann for free. Ms. Lehmann was accepted into the school and later became a famous lieder singer. (99)

Getting Out of a Contract

Plácido Domingo once had a voice problem that plagued him for a few months, so he asked Sir John Tooley to let him out of his contract at Covent Garden when his scheduled performances of Rigoletto were coming up. Sir John, a true gentleman, immediately let him out of his contract. Mr. Domingo calls him "a man who cares not only about the welfare of his theatre but also about that of his artists." (100)
CHAPTER 3: Stories 101-150

Ignoring a Maestro

Arturo Toscanini detested Benito Mussolini and often spoke out against him in Italy before he moved to the United States to conduct the NBC Orchestra. One day, he started cursing Mussolini in a crowded restaurant to his friends, but none of the other people in the restaurant seemed to notice. They were protecting Mr. Toscanini from the secret police by pretending not to hear him. (101)

A Private Concert

An Italian who waited on Richard Crooks at his favorite restaurant became excited when he heard that Mr. Crooks was going to sing certain Italian arias at a Sunday night concert, so Mr. Crooks gave him some tickets. Unfortunately, because of being called in to work, the waiter was unable to attend the performance. After Mr. Crooks heard of the waiter's disappointment, he took the waiter to the back of the restaurant where he worked and gave him his own private concert. (102)

Playing a Wooden Shoe

The famous violinist Niccolò Paganini once did a good deed for Nicette, a peasant girl who cooked and cleaned for him. She was engaged to be married, but her fiancé had been drafted for military service. At that time, one could buy one's way out of military service, but doing so was expensive, and Nicette and her fiancé had little money. Mr. Paganini took thought, then he advertised a New Year's Eve concert, at which he would perform five pieces on a violin and five pieces on a wooden shoe. This aroused everyone's curiosity, and the concert was well attended. Mr. Paganini really did perform five pieces on a wooden shoe. He had taken a wooden shoe, added a bow, a fingerboard, and strings to it, and transformed it into a violin. All the money he earned from the concert he gave to Nicette, who used the money to get her fiancé out of military service and to become happily married. (103)

An Accounting

Peter Pixis, a musician, stayed at a Russian hotel for 10 weeks as he gave concerts in the area. A lover of music who was named Langwitz ran the hotel. When Mr. Pixis asked for his bill, Mr. Langwitz gave him the following accounting: "75 portions coffee and rolls—$0; Dinners for 2 1/2 months—$0; 40 bottles of wine—$0; Tea, etc.—$0; Lodging—$0. Total—$0." (104)

Help from a Distance

Nadejda von Meck helped Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky establish himself as a composer by relieving his financial worries. She sent him 6,000 rubles—approximately $20,000—a year for 14 years so that he could compose and not worry about paying his bills. During that time, the two exchanged over a thousand letters, but they seldom saw each other and never spoke to each other. At most, they would see each other at a distance and bow. (105)

A Gift, Not a Loan

Someone once stole the valuable violin of Rami Salamanov, principal violinist for the Chicago Lyric Opera. Of course, this was a major loss for him, and to replace his violin he needed thousands of dollars, which he did not have and for which he could not get a bank loan. Fortunately, Julius Frankel, a wealthy man who loved the Chicago Lyric Opera, came through in a big way. He wrote out a big check for Mr. Salamanov, who bought the replacement violin. When Mr. Salamanov attempted to give Mr. Frankel a payment on the loan, Mr. Frankel declined to accept the money, saying that the check he had written was not a loan, but was instead a gift. (106)

Spilling Red Wine and Coffee

Sol Hurok, the famous impresario, could be a good host. At one of Mr. Hurok's parties, Walter Prude, his personal assistant, knocked over a small table and spilled red wine and coffee on a new white rug. Mr. Prude apologized and offered to pay for the rug, but Mr. Hurok said, "I am only proud, my boy, that you have honored me by coming her." (107)

Pawnshops and Bread Soup

During World War I, young Japanese choreographer/dancer Michio Ito stayed in London, where he quickly ran out of money. He asked his friend the artist Augustus John how he could make some money, and Mr. John introduced him to the institution of the pawnshop, which Mr. Ito found marvelous. However, eventually he ran out of things to pawn and subsisted for a while on "bread soup"—bread, salt, pepper, and hot water—before landing a dinner invitation to a society party where he danced before such luminaries as William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw. At the party, he danced the same dance three times, and when the audience requested that he dance it a fourth time, he said, "I'm too tired!" The audience laughed and then allowed him to rest. While at the party, Mr. Ito spoke in German (because of his poor English skills at the time) for a while with an English gentleman—fortunately, the English gentleman said, "Let us forget the war." Soon after the dinner, Mr. Ito received a nice letter and £20 from the English gentleman—England's prime minister, Herbert Asquith. Mr. Ito used this money to retrieve his clothing from the pawnshops, which he needed because his dancing at the party made him in demand in English society. (108)

Passing a Good Deed Forward

Some good deeds are passed forward. On December 12, 1952, a very young Allegra Kent made her debut with other young dancers on the New York stage. On this occasion, one of her dance teachers, Felia Doubrovska, gave her flowers: one pink rose surrounded by violets—a marvel of perfection. Along with the flowers came a note: "Dear little Allegra! My wish is that these violets may bring you luck for the first of many, many successes." When Allegra thanked her, Ms. Doubrovska explained that at her own debut, the great ballerina Anna Pavlova had given her the exact same gift. (109)

Kindness from Absolute Strangers

Ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn and Attilio Labis once were traveling in a car that broke down in Chillicothe, Ohio, on a freezing winter night. Even though it was 2 a.m., the attendant at the gas station called his girlfriend, and she and her father arrived in their car, then spent four hours driving Ms. Fonteyn and Mr. Labis through the snow and the ice to get them to Huntington, West Virginia. In her Autobiography, Ms. Fonteyn writes, "Never have I known such kindness from absolute strangers, and for no reason except that they were marvelous people." (110)

"Take This Suit of Mine"

Margot Fonteyn once invited an American ballerina, who was visiting in London, to go to Paris with her. The American declined, saying that she had nothing suitable to wear in Paris. Ms. Fonteyn said, "Come, come, don't be silly. Here, take this suit of mine. I've never worn it." Then she gave the American ballerina a suit of clothing designed by Christian Dior. (111)

A Well-Stocked Kitchen

Following World War II, Maria Tallchief and George Balanchine stayed briefly in the apartment of Margot Fonteyn while she was away. Her small kitchen was well stocked with cans of food—very well stocked, in fact. Ms. Tallchief guessed that since food had been rationed in Great Britain during the war and after, people who worried about Ms. Fonteyn's health had sent the food to her. (112)

"Old Bojangles has to Help Them Out"

The great dancer Bill Robinson, aka Mr. Bojangles, was known for his acts of charity. He would perform in a revue organized by Ed Sullivan, and afterward people would come backstage to see him and get a handout. Mr. Sullivan once said to him, "They're downstairs again, and they want money." Mr. Robinson replied, "Old Bojangles has to help them out because I once was in the same spot myself." (113)

Pressure at an Audition

When the great ballerina Anna Pavlova decided to open a dance school in the United States, over 1,200 children auditioned to be accepted in it. One child felt such pressure that she sat on the floor and cried. Ms. Pavlova held and comforted her until she relaxed and was able to audition. In addition, in 1920 Ms. Pavlova began paying the expenses of a house in Paris that served as home for over 30 White Russian refugee children. She maintained the home until her death in 1931. (114)

Free Dance Lessons

Princess Seraphine Astafieva ran a dance studio in London, where she helped many great dancers get their start. Often, when students with real potential—such as Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin—did not have money to pay for their lessons, she would tell them, "You pay one day. Now you learn to be great dancer." (115)

More Free Dance Lessons

As an 11-year-old boy, Rudolf Nureyev auditioned for Anna Udeltsova. She was impressed and told him, "Child, you have a duty to yourself to learn classical dancing! With such an innate gift, you must join the students of the Mariinsky Theater." Unfortunately, young Rudolf's family had no money to pay for ballet lessons. Fortunately, Ms. Udeltsova was so impressed by Rudolf's talent that she taught him without charge to prepare him to audition for the Mariinsky. (116)

Signing Autographs

Rudolf Nureyev was conscientious about signing his autograph for fans. Each day, his personal assistant used to gather up a great number of programs from fans in the lobby, then take them to him to sign. Mr. Nureyev would happily sign them in bed, with a big cup of soup by his side. (117)

Money for Scholarships

After Alexandra Danilova started a ballet school in Texas, she wanted some of her students to get scholarship money to study at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Therefore, she approached film and dance critic John Rosenfield of the Dallas News. She told him that each scholarship would cost $500, and immediately, he started telephoning people. Within ten minutes, he had succeeded in raising several thousand dollars for the scholarships. (118)

"How Much Do We Owe You?"

While on tour, a car carrying members of the Merce Cunningham dance troupe slid on some ice and went 10 feet down into a ditch. A truck driver stopped and pulled the car out of the ditch. When the troupe asked how much they owed the truck driver, he said, "Nothing. It happened to me once, and they charged me an arm and a leg." (119)

"Will You Follow Me?"

Just before ballerina Natalia Makarova defected to the West in 1970, she was riding in a car with fellow dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. As she got out of the car, he said, "Don't disappear." She asked, "And if I do, will you follow me?" Mr. Baryshnikov answered, "To the ends of the earth." Four years after Ms. Makarova defected, so did Mr. Baryshnikov. Ms. Makarova helped him out by quickly arranging to dance with him at American Ballet Theatre. (120)

"Hey, Miss, Miss, You've Forgotten Your Wings!"

Alicia Markova did much to make the ballet Giselle, in which a heartbroken young woman dies in the first act and becomes a winged spirit in the second, popular throughout the world. While apartment hunting in London, she left her small attaché-case behind in a taxi. As she was climbing the steps leading to the apartment, behind her she heard the taxi driver urgently cry, "Hey, Miss, Miss, you've forgotten your wings!" She was puzzled as to how he knew that she carried Giselle's second-act wings in the case, but the taxi driver continued, "They say you're the dancer wot flies, so I reckon you must tuck your wings in here and carry 'em around. Wouldn't never do to lose 'em—you might fall!" (121)

Avoiding Disillusioning the Children

Bob Keeshan played Captain Kangaroo on early TV. While playing the role, he wore a gray wig. After one show, Mr. Keeshan took off his wig. Just then, some children walked into the TV studio. Mr. Keeshan dived behind the Treasure House desk so the children wouldn't see him without his wig and be disillusioned. (122)

Win-Win Contracts

Art Linkletter once signed a contract on the advice of his lawyer. After the contract had been signed, the lawyer took great pleasure in showing Mr. Linkletter that the contract had legally (but unethically) taken advantage of the other party to the contract. Because Mr. Linkletter believed in win-win situations in which both signers of a contract benefited, he fired the lawyer. (123)

A Home for the Holidays

In 1998, a woman by the name of Karen Mack decided to create a television special titled A Home for the Holidays. The special featured loving families, foster children who were hoping to be adopted, and popular entertainers. This show has become an annual TV special. In 2005, Patrick and Patty Smith saw Jordan, who was 10 years old, on the show. Jordan said that he hoped to be adopted by the time he was 11 years old. The Smiths knew that they wanted to adopt him, and on September 8, 2006, they officially adopted him, making his new, official name Jordan Smith. So yes, Jordan's wish of being adopted by the time he was 11 years old came true. The Smiths lost their house in the 2007 fires in southern California, but Susan Estrich, one of Karen Mack's friends, says about Jordan, "He lost his house, not his home. He will still be home for the holidays, and thanks to my remarkable friend Karen, and to all the families like the Smiths, so will some other kids...." (124)

A Chair with Your Name on It

Andy Griffith backed up his fellow actors on The Andy Griffith Show. Don Knotts, who played Barney Fife, was a comic actor whom the writers liked to feature on the show. Of course, all this work was good for Mr. Knotts, but it was physically tiring. On many shows, the lead actors have chairs with their names written on them because if their names aren't written on the chairs, extras tend to sit on them, forcing the stars to stand up. Unfortunately, no such chairs were available for the lead actors of The Andy Griffith Show. Finally, in the third year, Mr. Knotts asked for a chair, which was risky because not even the main actor, Andy Griffith himself, had a chair with his name on it. Mr. Griffith overheard the request, knew why Mr. Knotts was making it, and soon all the lead actors, including Frances Bavier, who played Aunt Bee, had chairs. (125)

"I Couldn't Help Seeing Your Gun Fall Out of Your Bag"

In March of 2007, actress Joanna Lumley saw a man with a gun in Ruskins, a Sheffield bar. Rather than leaving the bar, she talked to the man, hoping to keep him calm and non-violent. She says, "I thought that if I talked to him he might find it that bit harder to behave in a disruptive manner than if he felt isolated or that people were staring at him." She said to the man, "I couldn't help seeing your gun fall out of your bag. I do hope you're not going to use it. Are you in any sort of trouble? Can I do anything to help?" Her talking to the man gave time for the police to be alerted. They arrested the man, who eventually was given a four-month suspended jail sentence. The one thing that bothers Ms. Lumley is that CCTV cameras recorded this encounter. She points out, "They're an infringement on our liberties. I loathe them." (126)

"A Gentleman Wants to Know if You are a Fruit"

Early television star Tom Duggan had an assistant, Pamela Mason, who answered telephones on his television show and then passed the questions on to Mr. Duggan. Because Ms. Mason was English, she was not familiar with American slang, so on the air one day she said, "A gentleman wants to know if you are a fruit." The TV executives wanted to fire Ms. Mason, but Mr. Duggan saved her job by saying that if she was fired, he would quit. (127)

"I Don't Believe They will Refuse Me a Room"

Actress Barbara Stanwyck once reserved a suite at a hotel that would not allow her African-American maid, Harriet Coray, to stay with her. Therefore, Ms. Stanwyck cancelled the reservation, and went with Ms. Coray to the hotel for African-American people, saying "I don't believe they will refuse me a room." (128)

"You're OK"

The Phil Silvers Show used black actors at a time—the 1950s—when that was unusual. Mr. Silvers, the star of the series, was nearly mugged in New York by a black man. Fortunately, the black man recognized him, said to him, "You're OK," and then left him alone. (129)

"We Black People, We Love You"

Joe Franklin interviewed celebrities for many years on radio and TV. One of the people who got him his celebrities was Phil St. James, a man who gave people a telephone number along with the strict instruction not to call before 2 p.m. Anyone who called before that time discovered that the telephone number was for a public phone booth. Still, Mr. St. James brought talent to Mr. Franklin, including talent from the famous Cotton Club, which was noted for its African-American entertainers. In fact, Mr. Franklin was one of the first to have black people on his show, simply because he was interested in showcasing talent and didn't care what color skin the talent came wrapped in. One day, he met a huge, intimidating, African-American security man. Fortunately, the security guard told him, "We black people, we love you. Anybody in the world can put on Sammy Davis or Harry Belafonte or Bill Cosby, but you put on the black people that nobody knows." Mr. Franklin says, "That moment was one of the highlights of my entire life." (130)

Ted Turner and Noah

Ted Turner, a billionaire because of television, is one of the biggest landowners in the United States. He owns over a million acres in Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, and Nebraska, and he is managing his land in an environmentally friendly way as he tries to reestablish native ecosystems. For example, he raises bison. He has also used his acreage as habitat for the endangered black-tailed prairie dog and the threatened desert bighorn sheep. Other species are also coming back without any extra help. For example, burrowing owls are using some of the prairie dog tunnels for their nests. Mr. Turner says, "If rattlesnakes were endangered, we would reintroduce them, too. What I'm trying to do with my ranches is to restore the natural ecosystem that evolved over millions of years. If I remember correctly, when Noah built the ark, he didn't turn any animals away." (131)

A Good Sport

Some celebrities are good sports. Gay author Michael Thomas Ford wrote a book titled Alec Baldwin Doesn't Love Me And Other Trials from My Queer Life. Far from being outraged, heterosexual actor Alec Baldwin sent Mr. Ford a very nice letter saying that he had enjoyed reading the book. (132)

A Good-Luck Charm

Werner Klemperer used to carry as a good-luck charm the monocle he had worn while playing Colonel Wilhelm Klink on TV's Hogan's Heroes, but unfortunately it was lost or stolen. In a pre-interview before an appearance on The Pat Sajak Show, he mentioned how sad this made him, so on the air Mr. Sajak gave him a solid gold monocle to replace the one that had been lost or stolen. (133)

Kindness to a Make-up Artist

English entertainer Joyce Grenfell was being made up for a TV show alongside the TV interviewer. The interviewer was dissatisfied with his make-up job and strongly criticized his make-up artist, but Ms. Grenfell was very kind to her make-up artist and blithely remarked that one needs very little make-up if one has the right bones. (134)

"The Skipper is Here with You"

Alan Hale, Jr., who played the Skipper on Gilligan's Island, had a good rapport with children. He sometimes used to visit children in hospitals, and he knew exactly the right thing to say. He was present as one child who had undergone an operation was coming out of the anesthesia. The child saw him, his eyes grew wide, and he asked, "Skipper?" Mr. Hale replied, "That's right, son. The Skipper is here with you. Everything's going to be fine now." (135)

Better Than a Color TV

A young girl once wrote TV's Mister Rogers that her favorite color was blue, and Fred Rogers wrote back that the next time he wore his blue sweater on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, he would think of her. Unfortunately, the young girl's family didn't have a color television set, so she was unable to tell what color sweater Mister Rogers was wearing. But her family did have something better than a color TV: a loving father, who walked with his daughter to a furniture store, where they watched Mister Rogers' Neighborhood on a color TV every day until Mister Rogers wore his blue sweater. (136)

"You'll Have the Check in the Morning"

Actor Robert Morley once interrupted Lew Grade's telling of an anecdote and asked him for a check of £2,000 for charity. Mr. Grade told him, "You'll have the check in the morning—don't interrupt another time." He then told his anecdote, and in the morning he sent the check. (137)

"I Felt as Warm as if I were Standing in a Bright Sun"

In early 1954, Marilyn Monroe, while on her honeymoon with Joe DiMaggio, went to Korea to entertain the troops. Although snow was falling during part of her performance, she chose to be glamorous rather than warm and wore an evening gown instead of a coat. She was well received, and later she said, "I felt as warm as if I were standing in a bright sun. I felt for the first time in my life no fear of anything." (138)

Sitting Conspicuously at a Table

In the 1950s, when Marilyn Monroe was a very famous movie star and Ella Fitzgerald was still singing in small clubs, Ms. Monroe helped Ms. Fitzgerald reach the big time. Ms. Monroe called a big nightclub and told the owner that if he hired Ms. Fitzgerald to sing there, Ms. Monroe would appear every night and sit conspicuously at a table. The plan worked. The owner hired Ms. Fitzgerald, the press gave lots of publicity to Ms. Monroe, Ms. Fitzgerald, and the nightclub, and Ms. Fitzgerald says, "After that, I never had to play a small jazz club again." (139)

Kindness to Sid Vicious and His Mother

John Waters is the controversial director of such controversial films as Pink Flamingos, and he gets pleasure from attending the trials of famous criminals such as Charles Manson. He even attended the pre-trial hearing of Sid Vicious, the drug-addicted bassist of the punk group the Sex Pistols, who had been accused of murdering his girlfriend. Following the hearing, Mr. Waters got into a taxi, but he saw Sid Vicious and his mother running down the street, trying to escape from a pack of photographers, so Mr. Waters jumped out of the taxi and let Sid Vicious and his mother have it. (140)

Paying Back

Late in his life, screenwriter and playwright Wilson Mizner, who had been a scoundrel for much of his life, gave away a lot of money. Each day, Mr. Mizner went to the Brown Derby, in which he was a silent partner, with a roll of bills. Each day, down-on-their-luck friends and acquaintances came by to ask for "temporary assistance." Each night, Mr. Mizner went home with empty pockets. According to his friend Stanley Rose, Mr. Mizner felt that a scorekeeper in Heaven had been keeping track of his misdeeds from earlier in his life, when he had misappropriated other people's money. By giving "temporary assistance" to friends and acquaintances, Mr. Mizner hoped to pay back his earlier misappropriations. (141)

"What was Your Favorite Scene?"

During World War II, famed actress Katharine Cornell—playing herself—dished out food for soldiers in the movie Stage Door Canteen. One soldier said to her, "My drama teacher told me about you. You were in Romeo and Juliet. My teacher cast me as Romeo." Ms. Cornell asked the soldier, "What was your favorite scene?" The soldier recited, "See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand! O, that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek!" Ms. Cornell then stopped dishing out food for the soldiers, and instead became Juliet, acting the scene with the soldier—until someone in line yelled, "What the h*ll's holding up the line?" Ms. Cornell then kissed the soldier and returned to dishing out food. This is a good scene, and it is based on real life—it actually happened to Ms. Cornell. (142)

Teddy Bear Auction

Each year, actor Kevin Spacey helps raise funds for a child abuse prevention program known as the Greenwich House Children's Safety Project. One major fundraiser he organizes is a teddy bear auction for which celebrities take different bears and personalize them. For example, an actor may dress a bear in a costume similar to one the actor wore in a movie or a singer may attach a copy of one of his or her CDs to the bear. Madonna once dressed a bear in a leather jacket that looked like one she had worn in concert. One year, the auction raised $150,000. (143)

Planet Hope

After Kelly, actress Sharon Stone's sister, was injured in an accident and doctors thought—incorrectly—that she would never walk again, both Sharon and Kelly became involved in charitable work. Together, they founded Planet Hope, an organization that helps homeless families. In 1994, they started Camp Planet Hope, a summer camp for homeless children and their mothers. Cindy Chandler and her 11-year-old daughter, Ashley, attended the four-day summer camp, but Ashley started crying when they had to leave it and return to a homeless shelter. Sharon noticed, and at the homeless shelter, Cindy received a telephone call offering her a job at Planet Hope. Now Cindy and Ashley have a home and a car. (144)

No Pay for Work

James Cagney was asked to play George M. Cohan in The Seven Little Foys, a movie about Eddie Foy, who made his seven children into a very successful vaudeville act. Mr. Cagney agreed to perform in the movie, but with one condition—that he wouldn't get paid. Why? Mr. Cagney explained, "Because when I was breaking in as an actor, I could always get a square meal and a place to flop at the Foys'. This is my way of paying them back." (145)

One Way to Get in Movies

Character actor Eddie Quillan got his start in the movies by doing a good deed. He stopped to help a motorist get his car fixed. The motorist was an assistant to Cecil DeMille, and he helped Mr. Quillan to get an audition with the great director. Mr. Quillan provided comic support in movies from the 1920s to the 1970s. (146)

A Problematic Contract

Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn once came to opera singer Geraldine Farrar with a problem. Her recent movies had not been making a profit, yet her contract had two more years to run, with a guarantee of $250,000. Mr. Goldwyn felt that the contract could force his young movie company into bankruptcy. Ms. Farrar had the perfect—and very generous—solution to this problem. She simply tore up the contract, releasing Mr. Goldwyn from his contractual promise to pay her the $250,000. (147)

Muslims Helping Christians

Sometimes, lying may be necessary to save one's life. Ida Mirzoyan was an Armenian in Baku, Azerbaijan, at a time of great hostility between the Armenians, who were Christian, and the Azeris, who were Muslim. While Ida was riding on a bus, a group of hostile Azeris surrounded her and asked, "Are you Armenian?" Ida knew that if she said she was an Armenian, she might be killed, so she lied and said, "No, I am Jewish." Since the Jews were not involved in the hostility between the two groups, the Azeris left her alone. Not all Azeris acted in this way. When Ida was acting in a theater, several Azeris made their way into the theater and started beating Armenian actors. However, the Azeri actors helped the Armenian actors get away from the troublemakers. Years later, after Ida and her family had moved to New York City, several Azeri actors whom she and her family had been friends with in Baku passed through. The Azeri actors stayed at the house of their Armenian friends. (148)

Very Important Acting

The great 19th-century actor Sir Henry Irving hired a number of old people who needed money to survive but who were incapable of doing much work. In doing this, he was careful not to take their pride away. He told one aged actor to whom he was paying a salary much more abundant than was justified by any acting the old man did, "Now, my boy, what I want you to do is very important—humph!—very important. This is a critical moment in the play. You come on—come right on; you see what is happening; you say (to yourself, of course) 'My God!' You see? My God! And then—ah—you go slowly off.... Most important." (149)

"How am I Going to Make It Back to My Hotel?

Actor Patrick Macnee once appeared in Oscar Wilde's Importance of Being Earnest with Dame Edith Evans in Canada in mid-winter. Toronto was buried under 10 feet of snow and all public transportation was on strike when Dame Edith asked Mr. Macnee how she was going to make it back to her hotel. Mr. Macnee and another actor borrowed a stretcher from the prop department, wrapped Dame Edith in several blankets, and then carried her to her hotel. (150)
CHAPTER 4: Stories 151-200

Throwing a Purse Out the Window

Joe Franklin and Tallulah Bankhead were together in a taxi stopped at a red light when a beggar came up to the window and asked Ms. Bankhead for a dime. She opened her purse, the red light changed to green, the taxi driver said he couldn't wait and took off, and so Ms. Bankhead threw her purse and all its contents out of the window for the beggar to pick up. Mr. Franklin was impressed: "She was an amazing lady. She didn't go back for it. Just spontaneous." Mr. Franklin did his own good deeds. He used to visit an old comedian who had made movies for Hal Roach and Mack Sennett. The old comedian was always drunk, and his room was always filthy, but Mr. Franklin would bring him coffee and leave him money on the table. During these visits, Mr. Franklin would think, "How sad the [movie] industry neglected the ones who built up the business." (151)

Happier Things

Mrs. Patrick Campbell often visited the home of playwright Edward "Ned" Sheldon, who was bedridden because of a bone disease. During a visit with actor John Gielgud, Mrs. Campbell started to complain about being old and fat. However, she noticed that she was upsetting Mr. Sheldon, so she immediately changed the subject and started talking about happier things. Later, she told Mr. Gielgud, "One has to be at one's best with Ned. After all, we are all he has left. Think of it. There he lies in that room up there which he will never leave, and here we are walking in the street in the sunshine." Mr. Gielgud writes, "I never loved her more than on that day." (152)

A Career that Almost Ended Before It Began

The career of young 19th-century English actor Richard John Smith, who later became famous under the name O. Smith for his portrayals of roles the 20th-century horror-movie actor Boris Karloff would have relished, almost ended before it began. Mr. Smith had little money and so he set out to walk the 50 miles to the next town his troupe was playing. Snow had been falling, and in places on the road it was eight or nine feet high. He became worn down by hunger, cold, and exertion, and so he rested and felt himself becoming drowsy. He knew that he was on the verge of going to sleep and freezing to death, but fortunately he heard a dog barking. He called out, and the dog came to him, followed by the dog's owner, a local farmer. The farmer rescued him, fed and warmed him, and made sure that he got to the next town safely. On the evening of the same day he nearly died, Mr. Smith was sufficiently recovered to act in a play. (153)

A Big Financial Gift

Some people who don't make a lot of money are able to save a lot of money and to give big financial gifts. For example, in 1995 an 87-year-old black woman named Oseola McCarty gave $150,000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. For more than 75 years, Ms. McCarty had washed and ironed clothes to make a living. When she finally stopped working due to arthritis, she decided to give 60 percent of her savings, which were deposited in a Mississippi bank, to help deserving but financially strapped African-Americans go to college. President Bill Clinton learned what she had done, and he presented her with the Presidential Citizens Medal. (154)

Kids Rescuing Kids

On August 1, 2007, the Interstate 35 West bridge in Minneapolis collapsed, killing at least 11 people. A woman named Leslie Eliel emailed a friend, Jim, in Minneapolis, who had arrived at the bridge soon after it had collapsed. He was on the shore opposite to where a school bus was next to a burning truck. He was worried about the children on the school bus, but he witnessed a remarkable and courageous good deed. In his email to Leslie, he wrote that "a couple of teenagers on the bus just kicked whatever was in their way out of the way, stood between the fire and the children, unloaded the little ones and handed them down to safety. Kids like that make me think the world is gonna be OK." (155)

Finding a Nickel

Long ago, students used to take nickels and dimes to school to deposit in a "bank." One very young student lost his nickel and was terribly upset. His teacher told him and an older boy to go outside and look for the nickel and sure enough, the older boy quickly found it. Years later, the student was wondering how the older boy had found the nickel so quickly, then he realized that the teacher must have given a nickel to the older boy and told him to pretend to find it. (156)

Poorly Paid College Professors

In 1905, wealthy philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated $10 million for the establishment of the Carnegie Teachers Pension Fund. He did this after discovering that college professors in the United States seldom earned more than $400 a year, with no retirement benefits. Even office clerks at Carnegie Steel made that much. The fund provided retirement benefits for professors at 52 colleges. Later, more colleges met the requirements for membership—for example, they could not discriminate against a student's religion—and so Mr. Carnegie donated another $5 million to the fund. (157)

"Helping" a Mob to Find Some Abolitionists

Lucretia and James Mott were outspoken abolitionists, which made them very unpopular with people who supported slavery. Once, a mob started for their house with the intention of doing violence. Fortunately, a friend of the Motts saw what was happening. He joined the mob, pretending to be on their side, and told the mob members that he would lead them to the Motts' house. However, he led them away from the Motts' house. The mob became so discouraged that they gave up, disbanded, and went home. (158)

No Breadwinner for a Family of Seven Survivors

Baron Auget de Montyon (1733-1820), the French philanthropist, was kind even as a child. In his youth, he visited the poor areas of his community in search of opportunities to do good deeds. One day, he heard the crying of several people coming from an open window. Investigating, he discovered that the breadwinner of a family with six children had died, and the widow and children were mourning, sad because of the loss of a loved one and afraid that without a breadwinner they would starve to death. Returning home, the young Auget got his own money and then returned to the family. Meeting the oldest daughter on the street, he gave her the money. He then returned to his home and told his mother what had happened to the family and what he had done. He also asked her to keep on sending money to the family. She did. (159)

Insisting on an Open Casket

Resisting evil is a good deed. In 1955, Emmett Till was brutally murdered in Mississippi, apparently because he, a 14-year-old African-American male, was thought to have flirted with a white woman. His mother chose to fight back by insisting on an open casket at Emmett's funeral so that everyone could see how brutally he had been murdered. In addition, Jet magazine published photographs of Emmett's battered body. The publicity about the murder helped get support for the Civil Rights Movement, which led to many improvements in American society. (160)

"Hurry Up with It So I Can Get My Sleep"

On August 10, 1976, Anne Maguire and three of her children went for a walk in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a site of great hostility between Catholics and Protestants. A car containing some Irish Republican Army members drove by and shot at some British soldiers, who returned fire and shot the driver. Without a driver in control, the car veered into the Maguires, severely injuring Ms. Maguire and killing her three children. This tragedy convinced the children's aunt, Mairead Corrigan, and a witness to the tragedy, Betty Williams, to work for peace in Northern Ireland. Working together, they arranged peace marches in which both Protestants and Catholics—and especially mothers—took part. Although many people jeered at and attacked the marchers, some attackers were so moved by the courage and conviction of the marchers that they themselves joined the peace marches. Both Ms. Corrigan and Ms. Williams exhibited great courage in working for peace. One night someone telephoned Ms. Williams with a bomb threat. She replied, "Hurry up with it so I can get my sleep." In recognition of their efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland, Ms. Corrigan and Ms. Williams were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1976. (161)

Good Deeds During the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake

Bess Hoffman, who was born in 1897, witnessed the good deeds of her parents during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Her father had been on crutches because of arthritis, but when he heard about the earthquake and knew his family was in danger, he threw down his crutches, got into a wagon, drove into the heavily damaged part of San Francisco and rescued Bess' grandparents and some other family members from the fire that followed the earthquake. (After that day, he never again used crutches.) Meanwhile, his wife was in the family's general store in a part of San Francisco not affected by the fire. She gave away everything to families who needed help. Ms. Hoffman remembered, "She emptied the store. She gave all the people clothes, food, anything from the store that they wanted. The people kept coming up from the fire. And the children were naked. The fire had burned their clothes right off them. My mother dressed them." In addition, her mother bought all the bread and eggs she could and fed all the hungry people she could. (162)

"The Best of Dogs"

In a Newport, Rhode Island, cemetery is a headstone bearing the inscription, "Faithful Unto Death. My Friend. Jack Hammett. The Best of Dogs. Aged 11 Years." The inscription also includes these words: "In life ever at my side, always ready / To comfort and protect me. Dying at my / feet in his old age, he now rests beside / the one he loved. / Cease carping fools your gibes and sneers / A true and faithful friend rests here. / He loved his master, to him was true: / Can the recording angel say this of you?" (163)

One of Nature's Parables

British intellectual Malcolm Muggeridge once lived in a house on the shore of Canada's Salt Spring Island. One day, he saw a seagull with a broken wing on the beach. A crow viciously attacked it, but two other seagulls flew to the rescue. They fought off the crow, and then they stayed with the injured seagull until it died. Mr. Muggeridge says, "This seemed to me to be one of nature's parables, telling us to help our fellows who are suffering from the vicious jabs of cancer." (164)

Generosity Toward a Friend

In her old age, Rose Kotz, who was born in 1903, treated her bowling buddies to lunch each time they bowled, although she really couldn't afford it. Everyone ordered, Ms. Kotz handed the cashier a $20 bill, the cashier pretended to put it into the cash register but instead secretly gave it to one of Ms. Kotz' bowling buddies, who then snuck the $20 bill back into Ms. Kotz' purse. (165)

Helping a Gay Friend

The parents of a college student accidentally found out that their son was gay when they came across a few letters written by one of his friends from school. Things were very stressful at home, but his friends came through for him. Pooling their resources, they came up with enough money to purchase a plane ticket for him to fly back to school for a couple of weeks so that he and his family could get their bearings again before dealing with the issue. (166)

Not Rejected for Being Gay

A mother once was told by her daughter that the mother's son (that is, the daughter's brother) was gay. In addition, the daughter told her that she and her brother had made an arrangement. If the mother took the news well, then the daughter would turn on an upstairs light in her brother's bedroom, and that would let her brother know when he drove by that he was not being rejected for being gay and that it was OK to come home. The mother was so distressed that her son could think that she could reject him that she turned on every light in the house, including the lights in the closets and in the back workshop, and not just the light in her son's bedroom. (167)

An Act of Compassion

These days, we know that smoking cigarettes is very bad for your health; however, during World War II, cigarettes were valued possessions. When American soldier Jim Van Raalte helped liberate Buchenwald, camp survivors asked him and the other soldiers for cigarettes. One survivor got a cigarette, lit it, then ran over to another survivor—one who was missing a leg—and gave it to him. Fifty years later, Mr. Van Raalte still remembered this act of compassion.

"God Bless You. May You Never Know What Hunger Is"

In 1942, during the Holocaust, Gerda Weissman Klein was sent to a transit camp in Sosnowiec, Poland, where she stayed for a while before being sent to another camp to do slave labor for the Nazis. At Sosnowiec, she saw for the first time terrible hunger and starvation. She saw a starving, emaciated girl there, and because she was still healthy, having just arrived at the camp, she gave the girl her bowl of soup. Before eating the soup, the emaciated girl told her, "God bless you. May you never know what hunger is." (169)

"I will Keep It for You"

During the Holocaust, in 1939, when Irene Weber was only 10 or 11 years old, the Nazis invaded her hometown. She ended up in the Little Fortress of Theresienstadt, which was basically a sentence of death by starvation. Despite the privations, she says that the ghetto residents did not steal from each other and that the healthy people took care of the ill people. She took care of ill people, and when she became ill, healthy people took care of her. At one point, she was very ill and unable to eat, so she wanted her friend, who was taking care of her, to eat a piece of bread. She told her friend, "Please, you eat it. I can't have it. I can't swallow. You have it." However, her friend told her, "No, Irene, I will keep it for you. I will save it for you. When you feel better, you will eat it." Irene points out that at the time, her friend, like everyone else in the Little Fortress, was starving. (170)

"No One in that Little Town Turned Us In"

Renata Eisen was a Jew in Yugoslavia during the Holocaust, but with the help of other people, including non-Jews, she managed to survive. She, her brother, and her father and mother and some cousins went to Merate, Italy, which was very close to Switzerland. Before they could escape over the Alps into Switzerland, the Nazis came looking for Jews in Merate. Renata hid in the house of a friend, while the other members of her family hid in hayfields. Renata says about Merate and its kind citizens, "It was such a small town. Everyone knew we were hiding there. Anyone in town could have turned us in to the Germans.... No one in that little town turned us in. The whole town protected us even while knowing that if we had been caught, they probably would have had to pay the price for hiding us with their own lives." They made it to Switzerland, where a border guard—swayed by the persistence and determination of Renata's mother—let them enter the country despite a lack of proper papers and passports. (Some border guards were kind and did not need persistent and determined mothers to sway them. For example, border guard Paul Grinninger disobeyed orders and allowed many Jews to illegally enter Switzerland. He and other kind border guards saved many, many lives.) (171)

Crossing the Border

During World War II, Raoul Laporterie served as mayor of Grenade-sur-l'Adour, located in unoccupied France, and also worked in his clothing store in Mont-de-Marsan, located in occupied France. Because of these circumstances, he had a pass that allowed him to cross the border, which was guarded by Nazis. He used his pass and his car to help Jews move from the dangerous, occupied north of France to the safer, unoccupied south of France. Among his tricks for safely transporting Jews was to always arrive at the border ten minutes before the guards were scheduled to be replaced by fresh guards. At that time, the guards were tired, hungry, and uninterested in searching his car and asking him questions. (172)

Rescuing a Little Girl

Many people did nothing to help Jews during the Holocaust, but some people took action and rescued lives. Teresa Prekerowa, who became a Polish historian, was 21 in 1942 when the Nazis were killing Jews. She lived near the Polish ghetto, and she came across a crying Jewish girl, who was three or four years old and wearing very poor clothing. Ms. Prekerowa felt as if someone were watching her, and if someone was in fact watching her, she thought that it had to be the little girl's mother, who was hoping that someone would take her daughter and keep her safe, something that the mother was no longer able to do. Ms. Prekerowa did in fact take the little girl to her home, risking her life to do so. She points out, "People who got caught helping Jews didn't come back home." The little girl spoke only Yiddish, not Polish, so Ms. Prekerowa taught her a few Polish words, and she also got her some better clothing. After a few days, Ms. Prekerowa took the little girl to the convent of some nuns known as the Sisters of Nazareth on Czerniakowska Street in Warsaw. She put a card in the little girl's hands: "I am Anja. My parents don't exist anymore. Please give me help." Then Ms. Prekerowa stayed hidden and waited to see what happened to the little girl; fortunately, the nuns took care of the little girl. From a distance Ms. Prekerowa saw the little girl playing at the convent a couple of times, but that was all. Once the Holocaust was over and it was safe again, she asked what had happened to the little girl. The nuns had taken care of many little Jewish girls during the Holocaust and so they could not identify this one little girl in particular, but they assured Ms. Prekerowa that "the Germans did not take anyone. All the girls survived." (173)

Changing One's Life Radically

People can change their life. Reuel Abraham was a Nazi who became a Jew. Born Karl Heinz Schneider, Reuel worked in the Luftwaffe. After seeing Nazi stormtroopers kill some Jews in the courtyard of a synagogue, he began to sabotage the Nazi war effort by deliberately dropping his bombs in lakes or forests instead of cities and by fixing the detonators so they wouldn't work. After the war, he underwent 20 years of voluntary penance, sending two-thirds of his wages to organizations that aided Jewish war orphans and other survivors of the Holocaust and also attending Sabbath services at a synagogue. After the 20 years were over, he went to Israel and became a Jew. (174)

A Gift of Bat Mitzvah Gifts

When it was time for her bat mitzvah, 12-year-old New York resident Rebecca Marmor decided to pay honor to one of the Righteous Gentiles who had helped save the lives of Jews during World War II. With the aid of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous, an organization that provides help to rescuers and is based in New York City, Rebecca researched rescuers and learned about Irena Sendler, a Polish social worker who had helped to save the lives of 2,500 Jewish children by taking them from the Warsaw Ghetto and hiding them in Gentile homes. To honor the 84-year-old Ms. Sendler, Rebecca sent her $1,000 that she had been given as bat mitzvah gifts. (175)

Using Alcohol Wisely

Oskar Schindler saved over 1,000 Jews from the Holocaust. He hired Jews to work in his factories, assuring the Nazis that the Jews were skilled workers, although they often were not, and he paid the Nazis a fee for the use of the Jews' labor. In addition, he paid bribes as necessary to keep the Nazis from sending his workers to the death camps. Sometimes, Nazi inspectors came to his factory to see the work of the "skilled" Jews. Whenever that happened, Mr. Schindler got the Nazis drunk so they wouldn't inspect the work too closely. (176)

Sleeping with the Enemy

During World War II, Irene Gut Opdyke saved 18 Jews from the Holocaust. She actually hid the Jews in the attic of a villa owned by a German major. One day, the major caught her helping the Jews, and he gave her a choice: either she would willingly sleep with him, or he would turn in the Jews and have them taken to a death camp. She slept with him. (177)

Refusing to Leave Sweden

Niels Bohr, the Danish Nobel Prize-winning physicist, escaped from Denmark to Sweden on September 30, 1943. The Americans wanted him to come to the United States and help develop the atomic bomb, but he refused to leave Sweden until the country stated publicly that it would welcome all Jews and offer them refuge. The King of Sweden gave Mr. Bohr his word that his country would welcome Jews, and news of the King's promise appeared on the front pages of Sweden's most important newspapers and was broadcast on the radio. Only then did Mr. Bohr go to the United States. (178)

Honor Your Mother

One of the 10 Commandments is this: Honor your father and your mother. The mother of Rabbi Tarfon was walking on some sharp stones when one of her sandals broke and fell off her foot. Rather than have his mother hurt her foot by walking on the sharp stones, Rabbi Tarfon put his hands on the stones and let her walk on his hands. When the good Rabbi became ill, his mother asked some visiting sages, "Pray for Rabbi Tarfon, my son, for he honors me more than he should." She then explained what her son had done for her when her sandal broke. The sages, of course, prayed for the good Rabbi, but they also pointed out, "Even if he were to do that a thousand times, he would not have given you even half the honor demanded by the Torah." (179)

"Guilty of Groundless Love"

The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Abraham Isaac Kook, was known for being magnanimous toward sinners, as he showed hospitality even to freethinkers and heretics. When he was asked how he could tolerate such people, he replied, "It is much better to be guilty of groundless love than of groundless hate." (180)

"I am Not Lenient"

The Day of Atonement is a day of fasting for Jews, but if a Jew is ill, he or she can get special permission to eat on that day. Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik of Brisk was known to readily give permission to ill Jews to eat on the Day of Atonement. When he was asked why he was so lenient, he replied, "I am not lenient. On the contrary, I am very severe when it comes to saving lives." (181)

No Muddy Footprints

When he was aged, Rabbi Eliyahu Lapian arrived home and saw that his maid was mopping the floor. Although he was arthritic, he removed his shoes—an action that took him 15 minutes—so the maid would not have to mop up his muddy footprints. (182)

"Give Him More"

Abba bar Ba gave Samuel, his son, money to distribute to the poor. Samuel gave money to several people, but then he discovered a poor man drinking old wine and eating meat, so he returned to his father and reported what he had seen. Abba bar Ba, reasoning that the poor man must once have been rich because he had expensive tastes, said, "Give him more, for his soul is bitter." (183)

Food for a Wedding Feast

Rabbi Hillel had a visitor he wished to honor, so he asked his wife to prepare an especially tasty and plentiful meal. His wife did so, doing such things as baking bread from scratch. However, some visitors arrived, went to the kitchen door, and told her that an impoverished family was celebrating a wedding but that due to the family's poverty the wedding feast was scanty. Immediately, Hillel's wife gave the food she had made to the visitors to take to the impoverished family's wedding feast. She then began preparing another meal from scratch. The Hillels and their very important guest ate late that night, but Hillel told his wife, "My dear, God will be pleased with this and your other deeds of kindness." (184)

Unlit Chanukah Candles

The Chafetz Chaim once visited Rabbi Nachum of Horodna on Chanukah. The time came for the lighting of the Chanukah candles, but the Rabbi allowed them to remain unlit. Hours after the time for the lighting of the candles, the Rabbi's wife came home, and then the Rabbi lit the candles. The Chafetz Chaim asked why the Rabbi had waited for his wife, since it was proper for him to light the candles even if his wife was not present. "True," said the Rabbi, "but my wife works hard so that I may have time to study the Torah. She enjoys seeing the Chanukah candles lit, and so I waited for my wife to return home before I lit the candles." (185)

A Final Kindness

Rabbi Israel Salanter once heard an argument between the heads of two burial societies, each arguing that the other burial society had the responsibility of burying a poor woman. Rabbi Salanter and a few of his students buried the woman because doing so was a mais mitzvah and all are responsible for doing this final good deed for the departed. (186)

Helping a Wannabe Preacher

Rabbi Israel Salanter once met a man who wanted to earn his living as a traveling preacher, but he was unable to because he had no sermons to preach. Rabbi Israel helped the man by giving him two sermons that he himself had written, and by coaching the man until he had memorized the sermons. With the aid of Rabbi Israel, the man was able to earn his living as a traveling preacher. (187)

Charity for Thieves

The Alter of Shpola, Rabbi Leib, gave charity to anyone who asked for it, including thieves. When asked why he gave charity even to thieves, the Rabbi explained that in Heaven, the gates are sometimes locked, and that someday he may have to call on the thieves to open the gates for him. (188)

Kindness to Forcibly Converted Jews

Rashi was Rabbi Shlomo ben Itzhak of Troyes, France. During the Middle Ages, a number of Jews were forced, under torture or the threat of it, to convert to Christianity. Rashi was always kind to these people, although other Jews were often not. Once, he went with a forcibly converted Jew to worship at a synagogue, but the Jews there said that they would not accept a Rabbi who accepted an apostate (someone who forsakes his or her faith). Rashi and the forcibly converted Jew left, with Rashi saying, "These Jews have a greater need to be near the Ark than we do. Maybe that is because they are so much nearer to sin." Later, Rashi and the forcibly converted Jew returned to the synagogue, where the Jews again started to reject them. This time, Rashi asked if the other Jews could withstand torture and not convert. Some said that they thought they could. Rashi replied that he thought that they could, too, but as for himself, he wasn't so sure. However, he was sure that we must judge other people charitably, especially if we have not been in their place. All of them—Jews, Rashi, and the forcibly converted Jew—then worshipped together. Rashi then spread the word abroad that he was willing to meet with other Jews who had been forcibly converted, but who wished to return to their faith. (189)

"Kids Like Sugar Frosted Flakes Better Than Cheerios"

Rabbi Wayne Dosick performs one of his acts of charity using this method. Whenever he goes to the grocery store, he picks up an extra food item to give to the poor. The extra food item goes into a paper grocery bag that he keeps at his home. Whenever the paper grocery bag is full, he takes it to his local food bank. Once, he was in a grocery store when he asked one of his sons, "How about these Cheerios as our food gift for today?" His son said, "No," and grabbed a different box of cereal from a shelf, saying, "Today we are getting Sugar Frosted Flakes because there are hungry kids out there too, and kids like Sugar Frosted Flakes better than Cheerios." (190)

The Permanent Value of Money

Rabbi Hillel once taught his students the permanent value of money by asking this mathematical problem: If a man has 1,000 dinars, and he gives 300 dinars to help the poor, how much money does he have left? Of course, the students answered that the man had left 700 dinars, but Rabbi Hillel replied that this answer was incorrect. The 300 dinars would be written in God's annals, and the remaining 700 dinars would have no permanent value. According to Rabbi Hillel, "The only money that a person truly has is the money given to help others." (191)

Helping a Jewish Soldier

In 1917, Rabbi Dr. Naftali Carlebach helped a Jewish soldier after becoming Rabbi of the Passauerstrasse Synagogue in Berlin. The soldier—who was a baker in civilian life—needed a leave of three months so he could journey home and bake matzos for Passover. If the soldier could not obtain the leave to do this work, his family back home would be destitute. Rabbi Dr. Naftali Carlebach traveled to the Headquarters of the High Command in Koepenick, spoke to the General in charge, and obtained the three months' leave for the Jewish soldier. (192)

Hospitality for Hired Murderers

Thomas Garrett, a Quaker, was a fervent abolitionist and a target of slave-owners. In 1853, a hostler (stableman) overheard a plot by two strangers who had been hired to kill Mr. Garrett. The hostler got word to Mr. Garrett, and as Mr. Garrett was going out, two men rose out of the bushes where they had been hiding. Mr. Garrett immediately sprang into action. He grasped the two men by their arms and said, "You are strangers here, I believe. Have you had your supper?" The two men answered that they had not, and Mr. Garrett gave them a meal, then he let them sleep in his barn. The next day, the two men confessed that they had been hired to kill Mr. Garrett, but added, "After all your kindness to us, we could not harm a hair on your head." Mr. Garrett then offered the two men jobs. One man declined the job offer, but the other man accepted and stayed to work for Mr. Garrett. (193)

Restarting a Meeting

Incredible as this story sounds, it is claimed to be true. A meeting of Quakers had few members because the young Quakers sought work elsewhere and the old Quakers died off. Eventually, only one old Quaker and his dog attended meeting. The old Quaker died, but the following Sunday the old Quaker's dog set off as usual for the meetinghouse. Finding the doors locked, the dog howled and howled until people came and opened the doors to see if that would quiet the dog. Not only did the dog stay in the meetinghouse for the usual amount of time, but the dog growled at any person who tried to leave. Finally, at the time when meeting usually ended, the dog left the meetinghouse. The following Sunday, lots of people were at the meetinghouse because they were curious to see what the dog would do, if anything. The dog did show up, and he herded the people into the meetinghouse and kept them there until the time when meeting usually ended. The third Sunday, even more people showed up, and again the dog herded them into the meetinghouse. Among the people was a visiting Quaker, who spoke before the other people and got them interested in his religion. After that, people more interested in Quakerism than in the dog attended the meetings, and the dog was credited with restarting a Quaker meeting. (194)

"Where Does the Money Come From?"

Bill Mosher is a filmmaker who created documentaries in the Visionaries television series about charitable people and organizations that make a positive difference directly in people's lives. For example, he went to Bolivia, where some Polish nuns were running an orphanage and taking care of children. He asked one of the nuns where the money came from to run the orphanage. She replied, "I go into the town, and I beg." (195)

"Give It to Her"

St. Francis of Assisi was generous to the poor. Once, he and a friend named Giles were out walking when they came across a beggar woman. St. Francis had nothing to give her, as he was wearing a simple, much-worn habit with a bit of rope for a belt. Giles, however, was wearing a coat. St. Francis told him, "Give it to her." Giles handed the beggar woman the coat, and he became one of the first Franciscans. (196)

A Special Bohemian Treat

John Neumann, the Bishop of Philadelphia, traveled to Europe so he could be present when the Pope declared the Immaculate Conception to be an article of faith. In addition to traveling to Rome, he traveled to other parts of Europe. The ex-Emperor Ferdinand invited him to dine, an invitation that the Bishop accepted. When it was time for dessert, the head waiter put in front of Bishop Neumann a huge covered dish, and ex-Emperor Ferdinand said, "I hear that you scarcely ever eat sweets, your Lordship, but I have had a special Bohemian treat prepared for you which I hope you will find acceptable to your taste." The waiter lifted the cover of the dish, and Bishop Neumann saw that it was filled with gold coins that he would use to feed the hungry, both in body and in spirit. (197)

Canceling a Banquet

The Roman Cardinal Domenico Tardini was once given a reception in his honor by the Foreign Press Association, but he refused to attend unless he was given the money that had been budgeted for food and drinks. The journalists had to buy their own food and drinks at the reception, for Cardinal Tardini took the money that would have been spent on refreshments and donated it to an orphanage that he had founded. (198)

"They Lived Like Animals"

In 1952, Mother Teresa attempted to take care of a dying woman who had been discovered lying neglected, with part of her body eaten by rats and ants. Hospitals refused to take care of the dying woman, so Mother Teresa decided that her Missionaries of Charity would open a home for the dying. Soon after, they began to use a mostly abandoned Hindu temple for this purpose. About the people she helped there, Mother Teresa said, "They lived like animals. At least they die like human beings." (199)

Sharing Charity

Mother Teresa learned that a Hindu family of eight was without food and had been hungry a long time. Immediately, she brought the family some rice. The mother of the family took the rice, divided it into two equal portions, and gave one of the portions to a hungry Muslim family of eight who lived next door. (200)
CHAPTER 5: Stories 201-250

A Very Dirty White Collar

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who was later to be Pope John XXIII, served as the Patriarch of Venice, where he once noticed a priest wearing a very dirty white collar. Instead of openly criticizing the priest, Patriarch Roncalli said to him, "I have at home a whole dozen snow-white collars which have become too tight for me. If you would permit me, I should like to make you a present of them." (201)

"I Can Do Better Than That"

One day, Pope John XXIII was getting out of his car when a priest asked him to pray for a paralyzed woman who lived nearby. The Pope said, "I can do better than that," then he ordered the driver to take him to the paralyzed woman, who was delighted to meet and talk with him. (202)

"No One will Notice"

Guiseppe Melchiorre Sarto pawned his possessions and gave the money to the poor. When he was elected Pope, he took the name of Pius X and wore an inexpensive tin cross to announce his election because earlier he had pawned his silver Episcopal cross to give the money to the poor. However, the cheap tin cross did not bother him. He said, "No one will notice. It looks quite like the real thing." (203)

A Blessing for a Car

Father Bob Perella once blessed a car for restaurant owner Danny Stradella, but later he heard that the car had been demolished in an accident. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but Father Bob worried what Mr. Stradella would say to him the next day he met—even though the priest didn't give guarantees with his blessings. As it turned out, the priest need not have worried. Mr. Stradella told him, "Thank God you blessed my car that day. If you hadn't, I wouldn't be here talking to you!" (204)

Famine

During a famine in China, some Chinese tried to escape the famine by traveling to Tibet. One Chinese couple—carrying a dead child—came to the door of Deyki Tsering, the mother of Lhamo Thondup, who was later recognized to be the 14th Dalai Lama. Seeing the dead child, she offered to help them bury it, but the Chinese couple said that they were planning to eat it! Ms. Tsering immediately gave the couple all the food she had in her cupboards. (205)

"Give Something Away"

In Australia, Sharon Salzberg, a teacher of Theraveda Buddhism and meditation, was once teaching about giving. She said that if a thought came into her head to give something away, she obeyed that thought, even when it was followed by other thoughts, such as "I might need that." Inspired by her teaching, an Australian gave her hundreds of dollars to give away in America. When she returned home, Ms. Salzberg wandered the streets looking for reasons to give the money—fives, tens, twenties—away. This gave her great happiness, and she says people were "literally dancing down the street" behind her. (206)

Umbrellas for Servants

In feudal Japan, noblemen determined the way their servants lived. One nobleman decreed that his servants would not be allowed to use umbrellas; however, his servants simply kept their umbrellas at the houses of their friends, and used them whenever it rained. An illiterate servant girl brought her umbrella to Zen master Hakuin and asked him to write her name on it; however, Hakuin instead wrote, "Whether it rains or pours, I won't disobey my employer." Of course, the first time it rained and she used the umbrella, people laughed at the inscription, knowing that she was disobeying her employer by using the umbrella. Hakuin later visited the nobleman, reminded him that servants are also people who need shelter from the rain, and convinced him to allow his servants to use umbrellas. (207)

"The First Wild Goose!"

Lord Mihara once ordered an artist to create a painting for him. The artist painted a single wild goose, but this did not please the Lord Mihara, who felt that since geese fly side by side, a single wild goose was a sign of rebellion. The frightened attendants of Lord Mihara sought help from Zen master Motsugai, who came to the lord's palace, glanced at the painting, then wrote at its top: "The first wild goose! / Another and another and another / In endless succession." This drove all fear of rebellion out of Lord Mihara's mind, and he handsomely rewarded both the painter and the Zen master. (208)

Walking Slowly

The Muslim Ali (aka the Victorious Lion of God), son of Abu-Talib, one morning went from his house to go to the mosque of the Prophet for the dawn service. However, ahead of him was slowly walking an old Jew. Out of respect for the Jew's old age, Ali did not pass him, but walked behind him, despite the Jew's very slow progress. (209)

Stopping a Quarrel

Sufi poet Rumi once saw two men quarreling with each other. One man said to the other, "Say what you will, for you will hear 1,000 words from me for each word you say." Immediately, Rumi told this man, "Whatever you have to say to this man, say it to me, and for every 1,000 words you speak, you shall hear one word from me." After hearing this, the two men stopped quarreling. (210)

Shimon the Miser

Rabbi Yom Tov lived in Krakow, Poland, where there lived a man named Shimon with the reputation of being a terrible miser. This very wealthy man continually turned poor people away from his door. However, also in Krakow lived a blacksmith and a baker who were known for doing good deeds and helping poor people. Anyone turned away by Shimon the miser could be sure of receiving help from the blacksmith and the baker. One day, Shimon died, and as befits a miser, he was buried in the worst part of the cemetery. After Shimon died, the blacksmith and the baker stopped doing good deeds and stopped helping poor people. Rabbi Yom Tov spoke with the blacksmith and the baker, and asked why they had changed so radically. The blacksmith and the baker confessed that the money they had used to do good deeds and to help the poor had not been their own money, but had come from Shimon the miser, who had not wanted anyone to know of his charitable work. In his will, Rabbi Yom Tov asked to be buried next to Shimon the miser. (211)

Reverend Aubrey Smith

Country comedian Jerry Clower is a Baptist, but a preacher he greatly respects is Reverend Aubrey Smith, who was pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Yazoo City, Mississippi. For a while, the church Mr. Clower attended in Yazoo City—the First Baptist Church—was without a pastor, so Reverend Smith visited all of the Baptist sick. He would go to the local hospital, get a list of the ill people, and if anyone was a Baptist, he would see them and say, "Until you get a preacher, Brother Aubrey will be right here with you. I want you to know I'm at your side." Whenever someone at the Baptist church needed funeral services, as when a deacon's mother died, it was Brother Aubrey who performed the services. He also preached on occasion at the Baptist church until the congregation got a new pastor. For these reasons, Mr. Clower considers Brother Aubrey to be one of the most unforgettable people he's ever met. (212)

Pickled Pigs' Feet

In the old days, preachers and their families were often given a "pounding" when they arrived at a new church. Soon after their arrival, members of the congregation would arrive at the parsonage bearing gifts of food—a pound of this or a pound of that (and very often, 10 pounds of a foodstuff such as sugar or potatoes). When Texas preacher Edwin Porter and his family were given a pounding, one of the gifts was a jar of pickled pigs' feet—a delicacy that none of the family members liked. Still, people must be polite, especially if they are the children of a preacher, and all of Rev. Porter's children were expected to memorize which person gave which gift so that they could properly thank the gift givers the next time they saw them. When Rev. Porter's two youngest children saw the giver of the pickled pigs' feet, his young daughter closed her mouth tightly because she was afraid that she would tell a lie if she thanked the gift giver. Fortunately, his young son came through magnificently: "I'll bet those pigs' feet you gave us came from your prize pig." (213)

"And When the D*mned Russians Come..."

During World War I, the Russians were advancing against East Prussia, and an East Prussian named Mr. Siebert thought it would be a while before they arrived. Therefore, he stayed longer in his house with his ill wife and his two children, Lena and Gustav, than he should have. The children were doing their homework. Lena was attempting unsuccessfully to solve a difficult math problem, and Gustav was writing an essay in German. Actually, the title of the essay was a quotation from Horace in Latin: Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori. Gustav began his essay by translating the Latin and then writing about the Russians: "Yes, it is sweet and glorious to die for one's country. And when the d*mned Russians come...." Just then, word arrived that the Russians were very near and that the family should leave immediately. They did, and they left most of their possessions and all of the children's homework behind. Time passed, and eventually it was time to return and see if anything was left of their house and possessions. Mr. Siebert was prepared to see that their house had been destroyed, and he was happy to see that it was still standing. In fact, it was in remarkably good shape, although the windows had been broken, the doors had been taken off their hinges, and lots of dirt had been tracked into the house. Mr. Siebert even found his children's homework! A Russian soldier had solved the math problem for his daughter, and had finished the German composition for his son. The son had started the essay with "And when the d*mned Russians come...," and the Russian soldier had continued the essay with "... they come only because their Emperor wishes and it is their duty, and for some, my dear German boy, it is very hard." The Russian soldier then wrote about his own home and his own son and daughter. He wrote that his daughter wished to study in Germany, where the Russian soldier and his wife had once lived happily for many years, then he wrote, "That is impossible now, but let us hope, not forever. For these times, which are cruel enough to teach even children to swear, will pass. When you are grown up, people will, I hope, have remembered again that they are human beings and what a good thing that is." As for the quotation from Horace, the Russian soldier felt that it was "right enough," but "it is still more sweet and glorious to live for your country and to work for its peace, no matter whether it is your German fatherland or that of us 'd*mned Russians.'" The composition was signed, "Your enemy friend, Dr. Paul Fedor Heidenkamp, Lieut." (214)

"War! What is It Good For?

Bryan Anderson, a 25-year-old Army sergeant, was horribly wounded in George W. Bush's war in Iraq, losing both legs, his left hand, and part of his right hand. He nearly died from his wounds, but survived. That means that he now has an "alive day" in addition to a birthday, but he isn't really happy having an alive day. He says, "Everybody makes a big deal about your alive day, especially at Walter Reed [Hospital]. And I can see their point, that you'd want to celebrate something like that. But from my point of view, it's like, 'O.K., we're sitting here celebrating the worst day of my life. Great, let's just remind me of that every year.'" Dawn Halfaker, a 28-year-old former Army captain, also was horribly wounded in the war in Iraq, losing her right arm and shoulder. She says, "I think I was a little bit naïve to what combat was really like. When you're training, you don't really imagine that you could be holding a dying boy in your arms. You don't think about what death is like close up. There's nothing heroic about war. It's very tragic. It's very sad. It takes a huge emotional toll." However, she and other soldiers are not asking for pity. Ms. Halfaker adds, "We're just saying we had this experience and it changed our lives, and we're coping with it." In my opinion—that is, the opinion of the author of the book you are reading now—the horrors of war are lessons that we learn each war and forget about in between wars. Although I can't speak for Bryan Anderson and Dawn Halfaker, I am grateful for people who protest against unnecessary wars and I am grateful for such protest songs as Edwin Starr's "War" ("What is it good for? Absolutely nothin'.") (215)

"Young Man, I Saved Your Life"

During the Civil War, soldiers occasionally showed great kindness to soldiers fighting on the other side. At Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the battle on July 1-3, 1863, resulted in great loss of life on both sides. A private fighting for the Union as a member of Co. E, 153rd Pennsylvania Regiment, lay wounded on the battlefield between some Union soldiers who were firing upon some Confederate soldiers. The wounded private was afraid that he would be killed by friendly fire, so he asked one of the Rebels to place a large, loose stump in front of him, saying, "I don't like the idea of being hit by my own regiment." The Rebel did as the man requested, and after the Rebel had gotten back to his own soldiers, the stump was hit by three shots. The Rebel yelled, "Young man, I saved your life." The young man acknowledged the truth of the statement, and gave the Rebel many thanks. (216)

Passing Gallipoli at Night

In World War II, English forces suffered a disastrous defeat at Gallipoli. Years later, Winston Churchill was sailing in that area on Aristotle Onassis' yacht. Mr. Onassis made sure that the yacht passed Gallipoli at night just so Mr. Churchill would not be saddened by being reminded of the defeat. (217)

Blood Drives and Coca-Cola Bottles

After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, physicians on Oahu announced that blood was urgently needed. Within an hour, 500 blood donors appeared. So much blood was collected that the usual containers were filled up, so the medical staff stored blood in disinfected Coca-Cola bottles. (218)

Half-Pay

Film producer Alexander Korda once did a good deed for actor Ralph Richardson. Mr. Richardson was a pilot during World War II and did almost no acting except that required for the war effort, but Mr. Korda kept on paying him at half salary. Since his military salary was quite low, Mr. Richardson was very appreciative of the extra money. After the war was over, he wanted to discharge the debt, but Mr. Korda said that he owed nothing. (219)

"That's Bro P. Brother Powell. He's All Right"

In Korea, Colin Powell, then a lieutenant colonel, became known as Bro P as a result of an encounter with a black soldier who was intoxicated with either alcohol or illegal drugs. The soldier was holding a pool cue and yelling, "Somebody's gonna die! You put my buddy in jail. Nobody's gonna put me in jail. Somebody's gonna die first!" Fortunately, Mr. Powell was able to talk the soldier into putting down the pool cue and surrendering before the MPs arrived, wrestled the man to the ground, and carried him away in chains. Instead of being put in a stockade for a year, the soldier was placed on restriction for several weeks, then resumed regular duty. Later, the soldier said about Mr. Powell, "That's Bro P. Brother Powell. He's all right." (220)

A Mother's Hands

As part of her work with the AIDS Resource Foundation for Children, Faye Zealand has much experience with children who have HIV or AIDS. One little girl died of AIDS, so Ms. Zealand went to her funeral, as she so often does. At one time, Ms. Zealand had given this particular girl a puppy, so the little girl had given her a gift in return—a photograph of herself. The little girl owned only two photos of herself, but she gave Ms. Zealand the one that showed her mother's hands propping her up when she was an infant, because that photo was special. Ms. Zealand had copies of the photo made, then she gave them to the little girl's grandmother at the funeral, who distributed them to the special people in the little girl's life, including a small friend who had asked to come to the funeral. (221)

Large Donations for AIDS

Some very large donations have been made to AIDS organizations. After choreographer Michael Bennett died of AIDS in 1987, he left 15 percent of his $25 million estate to be given to organizations "involved in the research of or the cure or treatment of patients afflicted with the disease known as AIDS." In addition, Dionne Warwick's recording of "That's What Friends are For" generated very large amounts of money for the American Foundation for AIDS Research. (222)

A Gift for a Dying Friend

When Robert McCall was dying of AIDS, fellow figure skater Toller Cranston wanted to bring him a gift during one of his many visits, but he didn't feel that such things as candy, books, or flowers would be right. He solved the problem by buying his friend an expensive kaleidoscope, a gift that Mr. McCall greatly enjoyed. (223)

Educating the Public

In 1982, when she was 16 years old, Alison Gertz had sex one time with a bartender from Studio 54, and she acquired AIDS. At the time, few people knew that AIDS could be caught by heterosexuals, so Ms. Gertz started to tell about her experience with AIDS and educate the public about heterosexual transmission of the disease. After she died in 1992, her friends continued to educate the public about AIDS as part of the foundation called Love Heals. After the friends had spoken about Ms. Gertz at a school, one of the students said that she had been told that one of her friends had died of cancer, although she knew that the friend had really died of AIDS. The student then donated $100 to Love Heals. (224)

"He was Exactly the Same"

Jim Gordon was a movie critic first for the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and then for The Times in the northwest Indiana area. He often came to Chicago to watch first-run movies at the Lake Street Screening Room with other critics, such as Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert. Unfortunately, because of complications following an operation for salivary cancer, Mr. Ebert became ill and was unable to go to the Lake Street Screening Room for 11 months. When he returned, he was unable to speak because of a tracheotomy tube, although he could write as well as ever. Many people seemed uncomfortable around Mr. Ebert, probably because of the trach tube. However, Mr. Gordon remained the same as he had ever been. Mr. Ebert writes about Mr. Gordon, "He was exactly the same.... My trach tube didn't make him self-conscious, and he didn't draw back. He... made it seem like the most natural thing in the world that I couldn't talk. I don't believe he ever guessed how much his attitude meant to me, because his empathy came naturally. I doubt there was any conscious decision involved; he simply responded to the situation with instinctive tact." (225)

Showing Appreciation for Work Well Done

The dental technicians who create such items as bridges, crowns, and veneers usually hear from dentists only when a problem needs fixed; however, when Athens, Ohio, dentist Gregory Linscott is especially pleased with a bridge, crown, or veneer, he will install it in the patient's mouth, then take a photograph so the dental technician can see how good the item looks. (226)

Running Out of Bandages

Before the cavalry battle of Kamionka, Strumilowa, which occurred on August 24, 1914, during World War I, patrols fought each other and many soldiers were killed or wounded. The Austrian Seventh Uhlans were fighting the Cossacks, and soon the Austrian regimental surgeon ran out of bandages. The surgeon had just finished bandaging a wounded Uhlan corporal, and he told him to mount his horse, carry a white flag, and go around and behind the Cossacks. The surgeon said, "There must be a Russian dressing station over there with a surgeon. You will recognize him by his armband with the red cross. Ride up to him, give a nice salute, and report that Herr Surgeon-Major Perka sends his best regards to his colleague, that he has run out of bandages and would the Herr Colleague be kind enough to help him out." Soon the Austrian Corporal returned with a big package of Russian bandages. (227)

Saving the Lives of "Blue Babies"

Helen Taussig was forced to attend medical school at Johns Hopkins University because Harvard did not admit women to medical school at the time. Even at Johns Hopkins, some professors did not much respect women medical students. One professor threw an ox heart to her along with this challenge: "Let's see what you can make of this." She rose to the challenge, and what she made of her study of hearts eventually saved many "blue babies." These newborn babies turned blue because their defective heart was unable to provide their red blood cells with sufficient oxygen. Dr. Taussig and Dr. Alfred Blalock were able to come up with a surgical procedure to repair the hearts of the blue babies. Yousuf Karsh took a photograph of her at age 77 with a young patient who had recently had the Blalock-Taussig operation. The young patient's mother knew that the operation had been a success immediately after the patient returned from the operating room. She could see her child's toes, which were a healthy pink now instead of the blue they had been before the operation. (228)

Injecting His Own Son with a Deadly Disease

Edward Jenner discovered how to inoculate people against smallpox, a disease that ravaged populations, killing many victims and disfiguring the survivors with pockmarks. Dr. Jenner learned that rural people who had had the mild disease cowpox or swinepox did not catch smallpox. Therefore, he realized that a person who had deliberately been given a case of cowpox or swinepox would thereby be immune against the smallpox virus. Dr. Jenner was already immune to smallpox, but he injected his own son with swinepox. After the boy had recovered, Dr. Jenner then injected him with smallpox. The boy did not get smallpox. Soon, children were being injected against the dread disease. (Dr. Luigi Sacco, of Milan, Italy, is another hero in this fight. He discovered a way to get the vaccine from animals rather than from human beings; the vaccine that Dr. Jenner had used to inject his son was taken from the skin of a dairymaid who had cowpox.) (229)

"What Good is Life Without Painted Toenails?"

In 1949, at age 12, young people's author Peg Kehret got polio, and for a while, she was paralyzed from the neck down. Her favorite doctor was a young, blonde, handsome intern named Dr. Bevis. She once complained to Dr. Bevis that she couldn't paint her toenails because she was paralyzed, and she asked him, "What good is life without painted toenails?" (Actually, even before she got polio, she never painted her toenails.) The very next day, Dr. Bevis came into her room with a bottle of bright red nail polish. She asked why he had gotten it, and Dr. Bevis explained, "My favorite patient says that life is no good without painted toenails." He then painted her toenails. (She made the nurses let her feet stick out from under the blankets for days so that she could admire her painted toenails.) Because she liked Dr. Bevis so much, she made up knock-knock jokes to entertain him. For example: "Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Wendy." "Wendy who?" "When de toenails get painted, de patient gets well." Peg did get well, and she walked again. (230)

United States Soldiers and an American Surgeon

During the First World War, some American soldiers newly arrived in France found a Frenchwoman, the patronne of a hotel, grieving over the blindness of her newborn son. The soldiers learned that a famous American surgeon was stationed in France, so they took the baby boy to the surgeon. In just two weeks, the American surgeon cured the baby boy of its blindness. (231)

A Free Clinic

Oscar Wilde's father was the eminent physician William Wilde, a specialist in diseases of the eye and the ear. While practicing in Dublin, Ireland, he saw a need for a free clinic to treat the city's poor. Therefore, although he was not a rich man, he founded at his own expense St. Mark's Ophthalmic Hospital in 1844. (232)

"That Sounds like Jim Crow to Me"

In the 1950s, Doug Crouch was a member of the Texas House of Representatives. One day, during an appropriations hearing, he noticed that money was going to a school called Texas Southern University for Negroes. He frowned, turned toward Maury Maverick, Jr., and said, "That sounds like Jim Crow to me." He then got an amendment passed that changed the name of the school to Texas Southern University. (233)

"Had I Met General von Manstein During the War, I Would have Shot Him on Sight"

The Lord de l'Isle and Dudley became very unpopular after World War II because he organized a legal defense fund for Nazi German Field Marshall Erich von Manstein. However, he explained his action well: "Had I met General von Manstein during the war, I would have shot him on sight. I am not concerned with whether von Manstein is guilty or not. I simply want sufficient money to insure that he will be properly represented in his trial, by a British barrister... I want Britain's reputation upheld." Far from being a supporter of the Nazis, the good man simply wanted General von Manstein to have a fair trial lest Britain's reputation for justice be sullied. (234)

"Go Ahead. Impose"

President John F. Kennedy occasionally stayed at West Palm Beach, Florida, and the students at Conniston Junior High School used to see him driving a convertible or sailing a boat. As part of a "People to People" program, the students were making a film for a partner school in Greece to show the Greek students what life in the United States was like, and so they decided to write a letter to the President asking him to appear in the film. Unfortunately, they received a polite no from one of the President's aides. Later, one of the students' mothers saw President Kennedy parked along a street, so she approached him and asked, "May I impose on you, Mr. President?" President Kennedy smiled and replied, "Go ahead. Impose." The student's mother then explained about the film and asked him to appear in it. This was the first that President Kennedy had heard about the film, and although his schedule, of course, was extremely tight and he was leaving West Palm Beach within the hour, he said that if the students and the film equipment could be at the airport in an hour, he would be happy to appear in the students' film. Everything worked out well, the film was made, and the mother marveled about President Kennedy, "I just can't get over his kindness in doing it—and I'm a Republican!" (235)

"Have I the Honor of Addressing General Washington?"

After suffering an accident in his carriage, British actor John Bernard was aided by a man who took him to his home. Mr. Bernard immediately recognized the man's home and exclaimed, "Mount Vernon!" Turning to his benefactor, he asked, "Have I the honor of addressing General Washington?" George Washington replied, "An odd sort of introduction, Mr. Bernard; but I am pleased to find you can play so active a part in public, and without a prompter." (236)

"There Dwells Eligius"

Eligius wore fine clothing when he first served at the court of Clotaire II, a Frankish king, so that he would not appear out of place. Later, after he had gained the respect of the people close to him, he began to appear in ragged clothing so that he could give more money to the poor. Whenever people asked where Eligius lived, this answer was given: "Go in that direction, and where you see a number of poor people assembled, there dwells Eligius." (237)

Taking Care of a Satirist's Widow

John Leech regularly made fun of Benjamin Disraeli in the British satirical magazine Punch, but when Mr. Leech's widow died in 1868, Mr. Disraeli made sure that the Leeches' children continued to receive a pension that was supposed to stop with her death. (238)

Chatting with an Ill Boy

Adlai Stevenson once heard that an information officer at the United Nations had an 11-year-old son who was ill with leukemia. Despite his very busy schedule, and despite barely knowing the boy's father, Mr. Stevenson went to the hospital and chatted with the boy for 15 or 20 minutes. (239)

American Business at Its Best

Some American businesses treat their customers really well. Bob Fyfe and his wife went to a Williams-Sonoma store and bought a set of All-Clad pots and pans that included frying pans with a non-stick surface. After 10 years, the larger frying pan became unusable. Hoping to get a discount on a new frying pan, Mr. Fyfe took the unusable frying pan to a local Williams-Sonoma store and explained what had happened. The saleslady asked if he had purchased the frying pan at a Williams-Sonoma store. Mr. Fyfe had, but not at that particular store. Also, of course, after 10 years, he no longer had a receipt for the purchase. No problem. Mr. Fyfe says, "She then said she would be right back with a new pan and explained that they had changed the chemical composition of the non-stick surface to something better than Teflon, and it should last much longer this time, but if I ever had a problem in the future, just bring it back again." (240)

"You can Give Me a H*ll of a Big Salary"

Captain William Jones was extremely valuable to steel manufacturer Andrew Carnegie. Among other services, he invented a mixer that made liquid iron uniform in quality. As a manager, he made sure the steelworkers could eat breakfast at the steel mills and that water was always available for them to drink. He also made competition between teams working at different blast furnaces fun. For example, whichever team produced the most steel each week could raise on its furnace's smoke stack a huge steel broom as a badge of honor. Because of Captain Jones' value, Mr. Carnegie offered to make him a partner. However, Captain Jones declined the offer, saying, "I don't know much about business, and I don't want to be bothered by it. But you can give me a h*ll of a big salary." Mr. Carnegie was willing, and he told Captain Jones, "You shall have the salary of the President of the United States—twenty-five thousand dollars." (241)

"We've Dressed in our Best and are Prepared to Go Down like Gentlemen"

When the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, American industrialist Benjamin Guggenheim was on board. Because the Titanic did not have enough lifeboats for all its passengers and crew, he knew that many people would die. Therefore, he and Victor Giglio, who was his personal aide, went back to their cabins, took off their lifejackets and sweaters, and put on tuxedos. When they went back on deck, Mr. Guggenheim said, "We've dressed in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen." (242)

United Way: A Policy of Not Discriminating

In November 1993 the Boy Scouts discovered that David Knapp of Connecticut was gay. Although he had been involved in scouting since 1938, they refused to let him stay in the organization. The Boy Scouts also stated that since they are a private organization, they are legally allowed to discriminate. However, the United Way, a charitable organization, has a policy of not discriminating. Therefore, the United Way of Greater New Haven took the $60,000 it had planned to give to the Boy Scouts and gave it to a deserving, non-discriminating organization. (243)

"Who are the Most Generous Givers?"

In 2007, newspaper writer/musician Dege Legg spent a week living with the homeless in Lafayette, Louisiana. One "job" that many homeless people resort to, of course, is "flying a sign"—that is, going to an intersection and holding up a sign bearing a message such as "Please Help. God Bless." Mr. Legg asked one of the homeless people, a white man named Keith, "Who are the most generous givers?" This is the answer he received: "Black women, without a doubt. They've got more heart than all of them." (244)

Paying the Fine

William Lloyd Garrison, publisher of The Liberator, was an uncompromising abolitionist. After he had written that a certain man was a murderer because a ship he owned transported blacks to the United States to be sold as slaves, the man sued him for libel. The judge ruled in the man's favor and fined Mr. Garrison $50, a lot of money back then. Because Mr. Garrison was unable to pay the fine, he went to prison. Fortunately, Arthur Tappan, a wealthy abolitionist from New York, paid the fine and Mr. Garrison was freed to carry on his anti-slavery work. (245)

Giving Things Away

Hugh Troy was known for his generosity. During the Depression, he worked as an artist in New York City, and he knew many artists who weren't sure they would eat the next day. (Food stamps hadn't been invented yet.) So Mr. Troy bought many, many meals for his friends, and he tried to give his friends whatever they needed. Fran, his brother, once said, "When we roomed together, he was always giving his things away. If he couldn't find something of his own, he'd give my things away." (246)

Helping an Elderly Woman Get Home

In 1997, an 80-year-old woman was kicked off a Greyhound bus in the middle of the night approximately 80 miles from her home because she had an object that was not authorized on the bus: a puppy. A security guard even called the police. However, the story has a happy ending. The police used five different patrol cars from different jurisdictions to take Antonia Sanabria safely to her home. (247)

"Street Harassment is a Crime!"

Activists do good deeds by fighting back against such evils as sexual harassment. In New York City, 17-year-old LaTosha Belton hung up posters that declared, "Street Harassment is a Crime!" This didn't stop a group of guys from looking her over and shouting come-ons at her. She approached the guys, gave them a poster, and told them, "Read this." One guy responded, "What? I can't tell you, you look nice?" Ms. Belton pointed to the poster and told him, "What does this say? You are harassing me and I don't like it." (248)

Pushing a Van

While growing up in Jacksonville, North Carolina, Joel Perry's family lived very close to Camp Lejeune, so most of his babysitters were United States Marines. One day, the van his mother was driving broke down, so a Marine platoon that was passing by pushed the van five miles to a service station. (249)

The Torah Begins with an Act of Kindness, and It Ends with an Act of Kindness

Rabbi Simlai points out in the Babylonian Sotah 14a that "the Torah begins with an act of kindness, and it concludes with an act of kindness." After all, at the beginning of the Torah, in Genesis 3:21, we read that God clothed Adam and Eve. And at the end of the Torah, in Deuteronomy 34:6, we read that God buried Moses. (250)

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APPENDIX A: SOME BOOKS BY DAVID BRUCE

Retellings of a Classic Work of Literature

Dante's Inferno: A Retelling in Prose

Dante's Purgatory: A Retelling in Prose

Dante's Paradise: A Retelling in Prose

Dante's Divine Comedy: A Retelling in Prose

From the Iliad to the Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose of Quintus of Smyrna's Posthomerica

Homer's Iliad: A Retelling in Prose

Homer's Odyssey: A Retelling in Prose

Jason and the Argonauts: A Retelling in Prose of Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica

Virgil's Aeneid: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV, aka Henry IV, Part 1: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's As You Like It: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's Macbeth: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's The Tempest: A Retelling in Prose

William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night: A Retelling in Prose

Children's Biography

Nadia Comaneci: Perfect Ten

Anecdote Collections

250 Anecdotes About Opera

250 Anecdotes About Religion

250 Anecdotes About Religion: Volume 2

250 Music Anecdotes

Be a Work of Art: 250 Anecdotes and Stories

The Coolest People in Art: 250 Anecdotes

The Coolest People in the Arts: 250 Anecdotes

The Coolest People in Books: 250 Anecdotes

The Coolest People in Comedy: 250 Anecdotes

Create, Then Take a Break: 250 Anecdotes

Don't Fear the Reaper: 250 Anecdotes

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Dante's Inferno: A Discussion Guide

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Nancy Garden's Annie on My Mind: A Discussion Guide

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Voltaire's Candide: A Discussion Guide

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William Shakespeare's Macbeth: A Discussion Guide

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Discussion Guide

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: A Discussion Guide

William Sleator's Oddballs: A Discussion Guide

(Oddballs is an excellent source for teaching how to write autobiographical essays/personal narratives.)
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Zolotow, Maurice. No People Like Show People. New York: Random House, 1951.
APPENDIX C: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

It was a dark and stormy night. Suddenly a cry rang out, and on a hot summer night in 1954, Josephine, wife of Carl Bruce, gave birth to a boy—me. Unfortunately, this young married couple allowed Reuben Saturday, Josephine's brother, to name their first-born. Reuben, aka "The Joker," decided that Bruce was a nice name, so he decided to name me Bruce Bruce. I have gone by my middle name—David—ever since.

Being named Bruce David Bruce hasn't been all bad. Bank tellers remember me very quickly, so I don't often have to show an ID. It can be fun in charades, also. When I was a counselor as a teenager at Camp Echoing Hills in Warsaw, Ohio, a fellow counselor gave the signs for "sounds like" and "two words," then she pointed to a bruise on her leg twice. Bruise Bruise? Oh yeah, Bruce Bruce is the answer!

Uncle Reuben, by the way, gave me a haircut when I was in kindergarten. He cut my hair short and shaved a small bald spot on the back of my head. My mother wouldn't let me go to school until the bald spot grew out again.

Of all my brothers and sisters (six in all), I am the only transplant to Athens, Ohio. I was born in Newark, Ohio, and have lived all around Southeastern Ohio. However, I moved to Athens to go to Ohio University and have never left.

At Ohio U, I never could make up my mind whether to major in English or Philosophy, so I got a Bachelor's with a double major in both areas, then I added a Master's in English and a Master's in Philosophy. Currently, and for a long time to come, I publish a weekly humorous column titled "Wise Up!" for The Athens News and I am a retired English instructor at Ohio U.

If all goes well, I will publish one or two books a year for the rest of my life. (On the other hand, a good way to make God laugh is to tell Her your plans.)
APPENDIX D: EXCERPT FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S JULIUS CAESAR: A RETELLING IN PROSE BY DAVID BRUCE

For hundreds of years, the Romans had a republic rather than a kingdom. Many influential Romans, however, were afraid that Julius Caesar wanted to be King of the Romans, and they were determined to stop him. Shakespeare's play tells what happened to Caesar and to those people who conspired against him.

— 1.1 —

On a street in Rome, some skilled workers, including a carpenter and a cobbler, were celebrating the triumphal procession of Julius Caesar, who had defeated his political rival, Pompey, and Pompey's two sons, in a civil war. Now Julius Caesar held the power in Rome, and some Roman citizens worried that he wanted to be King. To be King, he would have to do away with the Roman Republic.

Two Roman tribunes named Flavius and Marullus arrived. They were angry at the commoners for celebrating Julius Caesar's victory.

Flavius said to the commoners, "Get away from here! Go home, you idle creatures, go home! Is this a holiday? Don't you mechanicals — you laborers — know that you ought not walk on these streets on a work day unless you are wearing work clothes and carrying the tools of your profession?"

He asked one of the laborers, "Tell me, what is your trade?"

"Why, sir, I am a carpenter."

Marullus said to him, "Where are your leather apron and your ruler? Why are you wearing your best clothing?"

He asked another laborer, "You, sir, what trade do you follow?"

"Truly, sir, compared to a fine workman, I am only, as you would say, a cobbler."

Marullus misheard him: "A bungler? No doubt. But what trade do you follow?"

The cobbler, who was in a joking mood, replied, "A trade, sir, that I hope I may practice with a safe conscience. I am indeed, sir, a mender of bad soles."

Marullus, understanding this to mean that the person repaired bad souls, asked again, "What trade do you follow, you knave? You worthless knave, what trade do you follow?"

The cobbler replied, "Sir, please do not be out with me, but if you are out, sir, I can mend you."

The cobbler smiled, thinking, That was a good joke: "Sir, please do not be out of patience with me, but if you are out of shoes — that is, if your shoes are worn out — sir, I can mend you — that is, I can mend your shoes or I can improve your character."

Marullus, who did not understand the joke, said, "What do you mean by that? What do you mean by 'mend me,' you saucy fellow!"

"Why, sir, I can cobble you."

Flavius interrupted, "So you are a cobbler, are you?"

"Truly, sir, I make my living by using the awl to pierce holes. I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, except with an awl to pierce holes."

The cobbler smiled, thinking, That is another good joke. I use a tool like an awl to pierce a woman's hole.

He added, "I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I recover — that is, repair — them. As proper men as have ever trod upon cowhide have trod upon my handiwork — many men of standing have trod the ground while wearing my shoes."

Flavius asked, "But why aren't you working in your shop today? Why are you leading these men about the streets?"

The cobbler joked, "Truly, sir, I am trying to wear out their shoes, to get myself more work. But, indeed, sir, we are taking a holiday today so that we can see Julius Caesar and rejoice in his triumph."

Marullus said, "What is there to rejoice at? What conquest of foreign foes has he made? What captured enemies has he brought to Rome to be displayed in captive bonds beside his chariot-wheels? You blocks, you stones, you worse than senseless things! You hard hearts, you cruel men of Rome — don't you remember Pompey? You used to often climb up on walls and battlements, climb up towers and look out windows, and climb chimney-tops, with your infants in your arms, and there you used to sit the entire day, with patient expectation, to see great Pompey pass through the streets of Rome. When you saw his chariot appear, you used to shout all together and make the Tiber River tremble underneath her banks as your shouts echoed along its overhanging riverbanks. And now you put on your best clothing? And now you call this a holiday? And now you strew flowers in the way of the man who comes in triumph over Pompey's blood? Caesar defeated and killed Pompey's two sons. You workmen, go away from here! Run to your houses, fall upon your knees, and pray to the gods to hold back the plague that ought to come to punish this ingratitude."

Flavius said, "Go, go, good countrymen, and, to expiate this fault of yours, assemble all the poor men of your sort, take them to the banks of the Tiber River, and weep your tears into the river until the lowest part of the stream rises up to the highest riverbanks."

The commoners departed.

Flavius said to Marullus, "The commoners seem to be moved in the right way — they vanish tongue-tied in their guiltiness. You go down that way towards the Capitol — the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill — and I will go this way. If you see any statues decorated with Caesar's trophies, strip them."

Marullus asked, "May we do so? You know it is the Feast of Lupercal. Now is when we hold a feast day to honor the fertility god Lupercus. Won't it be sacrilegious to strip the statues?"

Flavius replied, "It doesn't matter. Let no statues be hung with Caesar's trophies — with decorations to honor Julius Caesar. I will go around and drive away the commoners from the streets. You do the same thing when you see many commoners gathered together. We need to restrain these early signs of enthusiasm for Caesar. That will keep him from flying so high above us that we will all feel servile and fearful. If we can pluck some of his feathers now, we can keep him from flying high above us."
APPENDIX E: SOURCES

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(2) Source: Irene Adler, I Remember Jimmy, p. 181.

(3) Source: Betsy Borns, Comic Lives, pp. 176-177.

(4) Source: Tim Boxer, The Jewish Celebrity Hall of Fame, p. 217.

(5) Source: Frank Manchel, Yesterday's Clowns, pp. 54-55.

(6) Source: George Burns, Gracie: A Love Story, p. 80.

(7) Source: Richard Grudens, The Spirit of Bob Hope; One Hundred Years, One Million Laughs, pp. 83, 103, 132.

(8) Source: Susan Horowitz, Queens of Comedy, p. 58.

(9) Source: Redd Foxx and Norma Miller, The Redd Foxx Encyclopedia of Black Humor, p. 181. Also: Gerald Nachman, Seriously Funny, p. 497.

(10) Source: Steve Allen, More Funny People, p. 259.

(11) Source: Jerry Clower, Stories from Home, p. 6.

(12) Source: Redd Foxx and Norma Miller, The Redd Foxx Encyclopedia of Black Humor, p. 48.

(13) Source: Kate Mostel and Madeline Gilford, 170 Years of Show Business, p. 82.

(14) Source: Terry-Thomas, Terry-Thomas Tells Tales, pp. 190, 208-209.

(15) Source: Joe Franklin, Joe Franklin's Encyclopedia of Comedians, p. 290.

(16) Source: Ed Karvoski, Jr., A Funny Time to be Gay, p. 21.

(17) Source: Miriam Weiss Meyer, project editor, Top Picks: People, p. 8.

(18) Source: John A. Williams and Dennis A. Williams, If I Stop I'll Die, pp. 27, 82.

(19) Source: Ron Smith, Comic Support, p. 157.

(20) Source: Jared Brown, Zero Mostel: A Biography, pp. 246-247.

(21) Source: Maurice Zolotow, No People Like Show People, p. 200.

(22) Source: Bob Thomas, Bud & Lou, p. 105.

(23) Source: Eddie Cantor, As I Remember Them, pp. 26-27.

(24) Source: Eddie Cantor, Take My Life, p. 259.

(25) Source: Arthur Diamond, Charlie Chaplin, p. 15.

(26) Source: Bud Greenspan, 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History, pp. 214-215.

(27) Source: Bud Greenspan, Frozen in Time, pp. 86-88.

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(29) Source: Christina Lessa, Women Who Win, p. 23.

(30) Source: Davida Kristy, Coubertin's Olympics, p. 66.

(31) Source: Davida Kristy, Coubertin's Olympics, p. 108.

(32) Source: Hana Ali, More Than a Hero, p. xi.

(33) Source: Norma Miller, Swingin' at the Savoy, pp. 196-198.

(34) Source: Cal and Rose Samra, More Holy Hilarity, pp. 132-133.

(35) Source: Robert Jakoubek, Joe Louis, p. 100.

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(41) Source: Bob Uecker and Mickey Herskowitz, Catcher in the Wry, p. 81.

(42) Source: Jack Mingo, The Juicy Parts, p. 16.

(43) Source: Miles Shapiro, Bill Russell, pp. 59, 86.

(44) Source: George Sullivan, Any Number Can Play, pp. 32-33.

(45) Source: Kathy Katella-Cofrancesco, Children's Causes, pp. 40, 42.

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(54) Source: Michael Suponev, Olga Korbut, p. 10.

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(61) Source: Mac Davis, 100 Greatest Sports Feats, p. 98.

(62) Source: Sam Snead, The Game I Love, pp. 28-29.

(63) Source: Christina Lessa, Women Who Win, p. 5.

(64) Source: Arthur Daley, Knute Rockne: Football Wizard of Notre Dame, p. 61.

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(66) Source: Steve Greenberg and Dale Ratermann, I Remember Woody: Recollections of the Man They Called Coach Hayes, pp. xiii-xiv.

(67) Source: Edith Hope Fine, Gary Paulsen: Author and Wilderness Adventurer, pp. 19-22.

(68) Source: Zsa Zsa Gershick, Gay Old Girls, p. 172.

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(70) Source: Peg Kehret, Five Pages a Day: A Writer's Journey, p. 51.

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(76) Source: Deborah Kovacs and James Preller, Meet the Authors and Illustrators: Volume Two, p. 52.

(77) Source: I.T. Frary, At Large in Marble Halls, p. 12.

(78) Source: Lucy Carrington Wertheim, Adventure in Art, p. 42.

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(82) Source: David K. Wright, Paul Robeson: Actor, Singer, Political Activist, pp. 115-116.

(83) Source: John Francis Marion, Lucrezia Bori of the Metropolitan Opera, p. 141.

(84) Source: Roxanne Orgill, Mahalia: A Life in Gospel Music, pp. 62, 78-79, 84-86.

(85) Source: Barbara Kramer, Mahalia Jackson: The Voice of Gospel and Civil Rights, p. 71.

(86) Source: Ron Frankl, Charlie Parker, pp. 31-32.

(87) Source: Anne E. Neimark, There Ain't Nobody Can Sing Like Me, pp. 66-67, 69-70.

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(97) Source: Stuart A. Kallen, Great Composers, pp. 73-74.

(98) Source: Edwin McArthur, Flagstad: A Personal Memoir, pp. 199-200.

(99) Source: Lotte Lehmann, Midway in My Song, pp. 35ff.

(100) Source: Plácido Domingo, My First Forty Years, pp. 102-103.

(101) Source: Samuel Chotzinoff, Toscanini: An Intimate Portrait, pp. 74-75.

(102) Source: Rose Heylbut and Aimé Gerber, Backstage at the Opera, p. 214.

(103) Source: Helen L. Kaufmann, Anecdotes of Music and Musicians, pp. 155-157.

(104) Source: Henry T. Finck, Musical Laughs, p. 76.

(105) Source: Stuart A. Kallen, Great Composers, pp. 59-60.

(106) Source: Danny Newman, Tales of a Theatrical Guru, pp. 163-164.

(107) Source: Agnes de Mille, Portrait Gallery, p. 134.

(108) Source: Helen Caldwell, Michio Ito: The Dancer and His Dances, pp. 39-41.

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(110) Source: Margot Fonteyn, Autobiography, p. 253.

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(128) Source: Peter Hay, Movie Anecdotes, p. 211.

(129) Source: John Javna, The Best of TV Sitcoms, p. 24.

(130) Source: Joe Franklin, Up Late with Joe Franklin, p. 99.

(131) Source: Gary Chandler and Kevin Graham, Environmental Causes, p. 50.

(132) Source: Michael Thomas Ford, It's Not Mean If It's True, p. 223.

(133) Source: Brenda Scott Royce, Hogan's Heroes, p. 117.

(134) Source: Joyce Grenfell, et. al., Joyce, p. 160.

(135) Source: Russell Johnson and Steve Cox, Here on Gilligan's Isle, p. 174.

(136) Source: Fred Rogers, Dear Mister Rogers, Does It Ever Rain in Your Neighborhood? Letters to Mister Rogers, pp. 121-122.

(137) Source: Robert Morley, Around the World in Eighty-One Years, p. 82.

(138) Source: Katherine E. Krohn, Marilyn Monroe: Norma Jeane's Dream, pp. 85-86.

(139) Source: John Miller, editor, Legends: Women Who Have Changed the World, pp. 26-27.

(140) Source: John Waters, Shock Value, p. 122.

(141) Source: John Burke, Rogue's Progress: The Fabulous Adventures of Wilson Mizner, p. 259.

(142) Source: Eli Wallach, The Good, the Bad, and Me: In My Anecdotage, pp. 179-180.

(143) Source: Kathy Katella-Cofrancesco, Children's Causes, pp. 7-8.

(144) Source: Kathy Katella-Cofrancesco, Economic Causes, pp. 11-14.

(145) Source: Bob Hope, The Road to Hollywood, p. 84.

(146) Source: Ron Smith, Comic Support, p. 198.

(147) Source: Geraldine Farrar, Such Sweet Compulsion, pp. 186-187.

(148) Source: Keith Elliot Greenberg, An Armenian Family, pp. 31, 44-45.

(149) Source: Edward Wagenknecht, Merely Players, p. 176.

(150) Source: Patrick Macnee and Marie Cameron, Blind in One Ear, p. 199.

(151) Source: Joe Franklin, Up Late with Joe Franklin, pp. 63, 109.

(152) Source: John Gielgud, Distinguished Company, pp. 36-37.

(153) Source: O. Smith, Recollections of O. Smith, Comedian, pp. 21-22.

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(156) Source: Arthur Blumberg and Phyllis Blumberg, The Unwritten Curriculum, p. 24.

(157) Source: Zachary Kent, Andrew Carnegie: Steel King and Friends to Libraries, pp. 105-106.

(158) Source: Catherine Bernard, Sojourner Truth: Abolitionist and Women's Rights Activist, p. 59.

(159) Source: James F. Cobb, Heroes of Charity, pp. 186-188.

(160) Source: Margaret Cho, I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, pp. 70-71.

(161) Source: Nathan Aaseng, The Peace Seekers: The Nobel Peace Prize, pp. 53ff.

(162) Source: Jeanne Marie Laskas, We Remember, pp. 82, 84.

(163) Source: Robert E. Pike, Granite Laughter and Marble Tears, p. 24.

(164) Source: Phyllis Shindler, collector, Raise Your Glasses, p. 94.

(165) Source: Jeanne Marie Laskas, We Remember, p. 81.

(166) Source: Michelangelo Signorile, Outing Yourself, p. 52.

(167) Source: Chastity Bono, Family Outing, pp. 217-218.

(168) Source: E. Tina Tito, Liberation: Teens in the Concentration Camps and the Teen Soldiers Who Liberated Them, pp. 24, 28.

(160) Source: Toby Axelrod, In the Camps: Teens Who Survived the Nazi Concentration Camps, pp. 28-30.

(170) Source: Eleanor H. Ayer, In the Ghettos: Teens Who Survived the Ghettos of the Holocaust, pp. 43-44.

(171) Source: Sandra Giddens, Escape: Teens Who Escaped the Holocaust to Freedom, pp. 46-48.

(172) Source: Victoria Sherrow, The Righteous Gentiles, pp. 64-65.

(173) Source: Toby Axelrod, Rescuers Defying the Nazis, pp. 22-25.

(174) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes, pp. 5-6.

(175) Source: Victoria Sherrow, The Righteous Gentiles, p. 91.

(176) Source: Darryl Lyman, Holocaust Rescuers: Ten Stories of Courage, p. 67.

(177) Source: Gay Block and Malka Drucker, Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, pp. 192, 194.

(178) Source: David K. Fremon, The Holocaust Heroes, p. 73.

(179) Source: Rabbi Ronald H. Isaacs, Exploring Jewish Ethics and Values, p. 41.

(180) Source: S. Felix Mendelsohn, Here's a Good One, p. 156.

(181) Source: Philip Goodman, Rejoice in Thy Festival, p. 103.

(182) Source: Netzach, editor, Chesed: The World is Built upon Kindness, p. 32.

(183) Source: Nahum N. Glatzer, editor, Hammer on the Rock, p. 93.

(184) Source: Ronald H. Isaacs and Kerry M. Olitzky, Sacred Moments: Tales from the Jewish Life Cycle, pp. 95-96.

(185) Source: Shmuel Himelstein, Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit, p. 150.

(186) Source: Netzach, editor, Chesed: The World is Built upon Kindness, p. 30.

(187) Source: Menahem G. Glenn, Israel Salanter: Religious-Ethical Thinker, p. 25.

(188) Source: Shmuel Himelstein, Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit, p. 130.

(189) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes, pp. 190-192.

(190) Source: Wayne Dosick, The Business Bible, p. 128.

(191) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Inspirational Stories, p. 29.

(192) Source: Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum, Holy Brother, pp. xxv-xxvi.

(193) Source: Irvin C. Poley and Ruth Verlenden Poley, Friendly Anecdotes, pp. 114-115.

(194) Source: William H. Sessions, collector, More Quaker Laughter, pp. 87-88.

(195) Source: Bill Mosher, Visionaries, p. 60.

(196) Source: John Deedy, A Book of Catholic Anecdotes, p. 86.

(197) Source: Jane F. Hindman, An Ordinary Saint: The Life of John Neumann, pp. 106, 115-116.

(198) Source: Kurt Klinger, A Pope Laughs, p. 77.

(199) Source: Anne Schraff, Women of Peace: Nobel Peace Prize Winners, p. 64.

(200) Source: José Luis González-Balado, compiler, Mother Teresa: In My Own Words, p. 16.

(201) Source: Kurt Klinger, A Pope Laughs, p. 102.

(202) Source: Louis Michaels, The Humor and Warmth of Pope John XXIII, p. 32.

(203) Source: John Deedy, A Book of Catholic Anecdotes, p. 202.

(204) Source: Joey Adams, The God Bit, pp. 34-35.

(205) Source: Whitney Stewart, The 14th Dalai Lama: Spiritual Leader of Tibet, pp. 19-20.

(206) Source: Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness, pp. 155-156.

(207) Source: Thomas Cleary, translator, Zen Antics, pp. 24-25.

(208) Source: Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto, selectors and translators, Zen: Poems, Prayers, Sermons, Anecdotes, Interviews, p. 103.

(209) Source: Shams al-Din Ahmad Aflaki, Legends of the Sufis, pp. 35-36.

(210) Source: Shams al-Din Ahmad Aflaki, Legends of the Sufis, p. 31.

(211) Source: Shmuel Himelstein, A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit, pp. 73-74.

(212) Source: Jerry Clower, Let the Hammer Down!, pp. 132-134.

(213) Source: Alyene Porter, Papa was a Preacher, pp. 82-83.

(214) Source: Reinhard Diebold, collector and editor, The Book of Good Deeds: 1914-1918, pp. 15-18.

(215) Source: Bob Herbert, "War's Chilling Reality." The New York Times. Posted on <www.truthout.org>. 21 August 2007 <http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/082107E.shtml>. Recommendation: Go to <youtube.com> and search for "Edwin Starr War."

(216) Source: Daniel N. Rolph, My Brother's Keeper, pp. 37-38.

(217) Source: Jack Mingo, The Juicy Parts, p. 239.

(218) Source: Sylvia Whitman, V is for Victory, p. 9.

(219) Source: John Miller, Ralph Richardson, pp. 80-81.

(220) Source: Reggie Finlayson, Colin Powell: People's Hero, pp. 44-46.

(221) Source: Michael Thomas Ford, The Voices of AIDS, p. 84.

(222) Source: Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher, The First Gay Pope and Other Records, p. 35.

(223) Source: Toller Cranston, Zero Tollerance, p. 313.

(224) Source: Doreen Gonzales, AIDS: Ten Stories of Courage, pp. 38-39, 45.

(225) Source: Roger Ebert, "Jim Gordon: In Memory." 2 October 2007 <http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071002/PEOPLE/71002001>.

(226) Personal anecdote.

(227) Source: Reinhard Diebold, collector and editor, The Book of Good Deeds: 1914-1918, pp. 159-160.

(228) Source: Yousuf Karsh, Karsh: A Sixty-Year Retrospective, p. 142.

(229) Source: William Oliver Stevens, Famous Humanitarians, pp. 14-16.

(230) Source: Peg Kehret, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, pp. 39, 46-48.

(231) Source: Alexander Woollcott, Enchanted Aisles, pp. 26-27.

(232) Source: Merlin Holland, The Wilde Album, pp. 10-11.

(233) Source: Maury Maverick, Jr., Texas Iconoclast, p. 68.

(234) Source: Leo Rosten, People I Have Loved, Known or Admired, p. 166.

(235) Source: Catherine Corley Anderson, John F. Kennedy: Young People's President, pp. 9-11.

(236) Source: P.M. Zall, George Washington Laughing, p. 47.

(237) Source: J. Vernon Jacobs, compiler, 450 True Stories from Church History, p. 87.

(238) Source: Leon A. Harris, The Fine Art of Political Wit, p. 84.

(239) Source: Edward Hanna, Henry Hicks, and Ted Koppel, compilers, The Wit and Wisdom of Adlai Stevenson, p. 88.

(240) Source: Andrew Tobias, "American Business At Its Best." 7 November 2007 <<http://www.andrewtobias.com/newcolumns/071107.html>>.

(241) Source: Zachary Kent, Andrew Carnegie: Steel King and Friends to Libraries, p. 70.

(242) Source: Michael D. Cole, The Titanic: Disaster at Sea, pp. 15, 30-31.

(243) Source: Judith C. Galas, Gay Rights, pp. 70-71.

(244) Source: Dege Legg, "Slipping Through the Cracks: A week of days and nights on the streets with Lafayette's homeless." 13 June 2007 <http://www.theind.com/cover2.asp?CID=1895360129>.

(245) Source: Stephen R. Lilley, Fighters Against American Slavery, p. 37.

(246) Source: Con Troy, Laugh with Hugh Troy, p. 69.

(247) Source: an Associated Press article that appeared Dec. 28, 1997, in the Athens (Ohio) Messenger.

(248) Source: Chloé A. Hilliard: "'Ayo, shorty!'" The Village Voice. 19 June 2007 <http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0725,hilliard,76981,2.html>.

(249) Source: Joel Perry, Funny That Way: Adventures in Fabulousness, pp. 3-4.

(250) Source: Jakob J. Petuchowski, translator and editor, Our Masters Taught, p. 78.

