

THE KINDEST PEOPLE WHO DO GOOD DEEDS, VOLUME 5: 250 ANECDOTES

Dedicated with Love to George Eugene Bruce

Copyright 2009 by Bruce D. Bruce

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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 print books and of essays on the WWW, then retold in my own words. 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.
CHAPTER 1: Stories 1-50

"Even A Child Knows That"

Bai Juyi went to Zen master Daolin of the Tang Dynasty and asked what one must do in order to live in accord with the Tao. Daolin answered, "One must avoid doing evil, and one must do as much good as possible." Bai Juyi was surprised at the simplicity of this answer and said, "Even a child knows that." "True," replied Daolin, "even a child of three knows this but even a man of 80 fails to live up to it." (1)

"How Much Does He Need?"

Long ago, Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski decided to go to medical school despite having a wife and two children (and a third child on its way). He managed to pay the bills, including tuition, for a while, but in the middle of his third year, he was no longer able to do so. In addition, he was deep in debt. However, his wife called him and told him that comedian Danny Thomas had pledged $4,000 to help him finish medical school. Mr. Thomas had met with officials from Marquette University, and they had told him about a Rabbi who needed financial help to get through medical school. Mr. Thomas asked, "How much money does he need?" Hearing the answer—$4,000—he said, "Tell your Rabbi he's got it." Mr. Thomas is a Christian, but he generously helped a Jew. Rabbi Abraham says, "Who would think of a less likely combination: a Lebanese Christian and a Chassidic Rabbi?" (2)

"If You Can't Take Him, You Can't Take Me"

Eddie Hunter, a black comedian, worked in vaudeville. Once he and a white entertainer went to a rooming house seeking shelter. The manager of the boarding house saw the two men and said, "I'll take the white. Won't take the colored." The white entertainer spoke up and said, "If you can't take him, you can't take me." Mr. Hunter said, "Don't do that because of me. No sense in you suffering," but the white entertainer replied, "No, I meant that. If he can't take you, he can't take me." (3)

Who Helped Him?

Satiric comedian Lenny Bruce got his start by doing imitations of such famous actors as Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney, and Humphrey Bogart—with a German accent. In his later act, Mr. Bruce sometimes made fun of old-time entertainers. But guess who helped him when he was unable to get work and needed money? Old-time entertainers. Milton Berle helped him, Buddy Hackett helped him, Jackie Gayle helped him, and Sammy Davis Jr. helped him. (4)

Avoiding Potters' Field

Comedian Jackie Gleason grew up poor. When his mother died, it looked as if she would be buried in a potters' field due to lack of money for a proper funeral. Fortunately, her fellow workers at the BMT—she worked in the subway as a token clerk—took up a collection and came up with enough money so that she could receive a proper funeral. Jackie's Aunt Maggie also gave him $5 so that he could buy flowers. Jackie had 36 cents, and he headed to the subway after the funeral so that he could go to Times Square and make a career for himself in show business. Despite his lack of money, he did not jump over the turnstile. Instead, he paid the five cents. He said, "All the other guys in our block used to play a game jumping over the turnstile to beat the BMT out of a nickel. I couldn't do it, knowing what my mom went through on that job." (5)

An Advertisement with Humor

When Paul Dver was a high-school student, he met comedian Soupy Sales, became friends with him, and even occasionally talked to him on the telephone. Paul would tell his fellow high-school students that he was friends with Soupy Sales, and of course they didn't believe him. One day, Paul asked Soupy for a favor. Paul and a friend were appearing in a play, and Paul asked Soupy to record an advertisement for them because if it were recorded in Soupy's voice the local radio station would play it. Soupy did more than just record the advertisement as written. He threw in some ad-libs and made it funny. Of course, Paul's high-school friends were amazed to hear Soupy's voice on the radio advertising Paul and his friend's play. (6)

Pass It On

While performing live, Whoopi Goldberg played the part of a little girl who was dying. In the character of the little girl, Ms. Goldberg stepped off the stage, walked up to a man in the front row of the theater, gave him a hug and a kiss, and asked him to pass it on. The hug and the kiss traveled down the front row as each audience member passed the hug and the kiss on to the next audience member. (7)

Popov: A Clown with Wisdom

During the Cold War, Popov was a clown who was very popular in Russia. In one of his acts, a scale with two weighing pans is seen on the stage. A man dressed as a New York tycoon walks on stage carrying a huge Atom Bomb and puts it in one of the weighing pans—of course, the pan with the Atom Bomb is heavier than the other, empty weighing pan, and it sinks down. Popov then walks on stage, takes off his hat, and reveals a small white dove, the symbol of peace. Popov puts the small dove in the other weighing pan—which sinks down, showing that Peace outweighs War. Soviet audiences loved this act. (8)

The Poor of the Parish

When English comedian Spike Milligan was young and living at home, he played trumpet in a band. Each time he got paid, he gave most of the money to his mother, who then gave most of it to the church to help the Poor of the Parish. This surprised young Spike, because he felt that he and his family were the Poor of the Parish. (9)

An Embarrassed Waitress

Country comedian Jerry Clower once heard a story about a Christian businessman in a restaurant. When a waitress accidentally poured hot soup all over the businessman's suit, he didn't get angry and yell. Instead, he said to her, "Young lady, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I know it embarrasses you." (10)

No Discrimination

Comedian Red Buttons did a lot of benefits for charity. For whom? He used to answer, "Benefits for Israel and everyone—no discrimination when it comes to helping the poor and needy." (11)

A Famous Bartender

Bud Abbott used his profits from the comedy team of Abbott and Costello to build a mansion with a huge bar. Occasionally, strangers would drop in, thinking the mansion was a real bar open for business, and order a drink. Mr. Abbott served them. (12)

A Good Deed in Cold Weather

In the winter of early 2009, Jaehnel Leduc, a resident of Hackettstown, New Jersey, was going to a business on Main Street when she saw a group of approximately 15 young men shoveling snow. She asked if they were being paid, but they replied that they were athletes on the wrestling team of Centenary College in Hackettstown. Their wrestling match had been cancelled, so they had decided to do a good deed for the town and shovel the snow on Main Street. Jaehnel offered to buy the young men lunch, but one young man replied, "Thank you, but it wouldn't be a good deed if we did it for money." Jaehnel wrote in a letter to the Warren Reporter, "Good people and good deeds do still exist. What a wonderful community we live in." (13)

No Publicity for a Good Deed

In 1932, in Chicago, Babe Ruth and Grantland Rice had dinner together on the eve of the World Series. Babe got up to leave, and Mr. Rice asked where he was going. Babe told him, but he made Mr. Rice promise not to write about what he was going to do. Babe was leaving to make a trip to deliver a baseball to a very ill child. The trip took one hour each way, and as Babe had requested, there was no publicity. (14)

A Kind Man to Adults and to Children

Hard-hitting Hall-of-Fame shortstop Honus Wagner was a kind man. When he was the coach of the Pittsburgh Pirates, one of his players struck out with the bases loaded. Mr. Wagner comforted the player by saying to him, "Do you know, I went up to the plate with the bases full once, and it was in World's Series time, too. A little hit of mine would have scored the winning run, and do you know, I struck out, too." Actually, Mr. Wagner fibbed a little. He did go to bat with the bases loaded during a World-Series game, but he hit for extra bases instead of striking out. By the way, the most valuable baseball card in history is the very rare 1910 Honus Wagner card. Mr. Wagner himself is the reason the baseball card is so rare. A tobacco company issued the baseball card, putting it in packs of cigarettes, and Mr. Wagner told the tobacco company to withdraw the card. He knew that the photographer who had taken his photograph for the baseball card had been paid $10. He did not want the photographer to lose out on the money, so he sent the photographer a check for $10 and a letter that stated, "I don't want you to miss a chance to sell a picture, but I don't want my photograph used to sell cigarettes to kids." For many years, the photographer proudly displayed that letter in his shop window. The tobacco company stopped issuing the card, and only the few that had already been issued stayed in circulation. (15)

Keeping a Future Great from Quitting

During his career, African-American baseball player Frank Robinson had to endure a lot of racism. While he was still a minor-league player for the Columbia, South Carolina, team in the South Atlantic, aka Sally, League, he could hear racial taunts from the fans while he was playing or in the dugout. At one point, he decided to quit professional baseball. His team left to go on a road trip, but he stayed behind and started packing. Fortunately, the only other black player on the team, Marv Williams, also stayed behind and talked to him all night and convinced him not to quit. If not for Mr. Williams, Mr. Robinson would never have hit 586 career home runs in the major leagues and have won a World Series ring with the Baltimore Orioles. (16)

Nothing to Worry About

Ernie Banks was the first African-American athlete to play for the Chicago Cubs, and he worried about how the veterans Cubs would treat an African-American rookie. He needn't have worried. When he walked into the Cubs for the first time, three players were there: home-run hitter Hank Sauer and infielders Randy Jackson and Bill Serena. All three players shook Mr. Banks' hand and welcomed him to the Cubs. The same thing happened when he met home-run hitter Ralph Kiner. During batting practice, Mr. Banks had no bats of his own, so he asked Mr. Kiner if he could use one of his bats. Mr. Kiner had no objections. Mr. Banks hit the first pitch thrown to him into the left-field bleachers, and the Cubs were silent for a moment, then Mr. Kiner yelled to Mr. Banks, "Hey, Banks! You can use all my bats if you promise to keep on hitting like that!" (17)

Free Food

Minor-league baseball players don't make much money, and major-league baseball players make a lot of money. Once in a while, a major-league player will go down into the minor leagues to rehab after an injury. A tradition has sprung up that the major-league player will buy a meal for the entire minor-league team. This is quite a good tradition because some minor-league players find it difficult to pay rent and buy food during the season. During the 2004 season, the Tampa Yankees enjoyed a truckload of Hooters wings, courtesy of Jon Lieber, and they enjoyed P.F. Chang's Chinese food and Outback Steakhouse steaks, courtesy of Jason Giambi. (Another good thing about minor-league baseball is creative promotions. In 2002, the Nashua Pride had a "Who Wants to be a Turkish Millionaire" promotion. Fans who correctly answered a trivia question received a million Turkish lira. At the time, that was worth $1.16.) (18)

Good Deeds Galore

Of course, major-league baseball player Roberto Clemente was a hero in his native Puerto Rico, and often he found that people there would not take his money when he ate a meal or wanted to buy something. Once, he tried unsuccessfully to pay for something he wanted to buy, but the store owner explained that he would not take Roberto's money because when he was a kid, he had tried to get a foul ball, but an older, stronger fan had taken it from him. The next inning, Roberto gave him a baseball to replace "the one they took away from you." The man said, "That's why I can't charge you." Roberto was always good to fans. He said, "I send out 20,000 autographed pictures a year to the kids." Why? He explained, "A country without idols is nothing." In addition, he signed many, many autographs because "I believe we owe something to the people who watch us. They work hard for their money." He also looked out for other players from Puerto Rico, such as pitcher John Candelaria, who says, "The first Pirate I met when they were trying to sign me was Clemente. Clemente was supposed to be arguing for the front office. But while they were trying to talk me into signing, Clemente kept telling me in Spanish, 'You can get more money.'" (19)

The Fountain of the Shoeshine Boys

MLB great Sammy Sosa grew up in the Dominican Republic, where he was so impoverished that he used to play baseball using a rolled-up sock for a ball, a carved tree limb or a stick for a bat, and a milk carton or cardboard wrapped with tape around his hand for a glove. He had no cleats, but of course he was playing barefoot. When he first started playing professional baseball, he was offered $3,000, asked for $4,000, and compromised for $3,500. He used some of the money to buy himself a used bicycle, and then he gave the rest to his mother. Later, the Chicago Cubs gave him a $42 million, 4-year contract. This time, he bought himself a 60-foot yacht, which he named the Sammy Jr. Of course, he had all along been taking care of his mother, including building a beautiful home for her. He has also started the Sammy Sosa Foundation, given toys to inner-city children, and spent much, much money to help people in his native Dominican Republic, including building a medical clinic at 30-30 Plaza, which acquired its name as a result of a 30 home-run, 30 stolen-base season by Mr. Sosa. A statue of Mr. Sosa is in the plaza, as well as a fountain that is known as the Fountain of the Shoeshine Boys. All of the money thrown into the fountain is given to the shoeshine boys. Mr. Sosa came up with this idea—when he was a kid, he had shined shoes. (20)

A Classy Way to Go

In 1997, the California Angels released pitcher Jim Abbott, who immediately did something classy—he took out ads in two newspapers in southern California to thank the fans: "Angel Fans... Thanks For The Cheers... Thanks For The Jeers... Thanks For The Memories... All My Best—Jim Abbott." (21)

A Sharp-Eyed Usher

Usher Vickie Gutierrez noticed that Los Angeles Dodgers regulars Rick and Nancy Colton had been absent from a number of games, the result of Nancy's need for chemotherapy due to her breast cancer. When they returned to watch a game, she greeted them and made sure that Dodgers customer relations knew that they had returned. Good move. The Dodgers organization gave Nancy a hat and jersey. In addition, the Dodgers organization asked Nancy to throw the first pitch on Mother's Day of 2008, a day on which her 9-year-old son, Andy, took the opportunity to ask Dodger James Loney for a favor: to hit a home run for his mother. The very first time Mr. Loney batted in the game, he hit a home run. (22)

Two Good Deeds

In McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a 17-year-old student named Adam Ference was shot in the head on a school bus by a student who then shot himself. Adam was seriously wounded, and he underwent brain surgery. NBA star Michael Jordan found out that he was Adam's favorite player, so he sent Adam an autographed pair of his Chicago Bulls' shorts. He also met Adam and listened to him. Afterward, Michael thanked Adam's parents: "I just want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to meet this young man." Mr. Jordan also did other good deeds. After a game, he saw a boy wandering the streets at night. Mr. Jordan gave the boy the Air Jordan shoes that he had just played in—after making the boy promise to go to school the next day. (23)

A Women's Basketball Star

Caroline Mast, who played women's basketball for Ohio University in the 1980s, was a solid player who did not dazzle with acrobatics. After her games—and I personally witnessed many of them—fans would think that Caroline had a quiet night although her team had won yet again. Then the fans would look at the box score that see that she had scored 30-plus points again. Ohio University Sports Information Director Glenn Coble once sent film to a person who evaluated candidates for All-American honors. Mr. Coble says that the person returned the film. He adds, "I was told she wasn't flashy enough to be All-American." However, Central Michigan coach Donita Davenport said about Caroline, "If I had to put together a scouting report on Mast, I'd suggest they lock the bus, and if they don't let her off the bus, I think they could hold her to 20." In 1986, Caroline scored 33 points and led Ohio to a 92-85 overtime victory over Central Michigan in the Mid-American Conference championship game. After the game, most of the Ohio University players could be seen celebrating in the middle of the court. Caroline could be seen by the Central Michigan bench, shaking hands with Central Michigan players. I (David Bruce, the author of the book you are reading now) can vouch for the fact that Caroline is a kind, considerate person. When I was a sports reporter for The Athens News, I covered both the men's and women's basketball teams, which played games on the same night: The women played their game first, and the men played their game afterward. In one game, Caroline set yet another record, and I needed a quotation from her quickly because the men had started play and I needed to watch that game. As soon as Caroline heard that a reporter needed a quotation quickly, she came out of the women's locker room and gave me the quotation I needed. By the way, Caroline was an excellent student at Ohio University as well as an excellent athlete and an excellent person. I was teaching in the Ohio University philosophy department when she took logic from a friend of mine. She missed one class all quarter, and after missing that one class she saw her teacher during his office hours and apologized to him. Now Caroline Mast Daugherty, she was inducted into the Mid-American Conference Hall of Fame in 1994. (24)

"Take Your Time Coming Back"

Keith Van Horn was a stand-out basketball player at the University of Utah, and he later played in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets. On January 26, 1994, while Keith was playing for the University of Utah, his father, Ken Van Horn, died, and his mother wanted Keith's coach, Rick Majerus, to tell him. Rick had had heart problems like Ken Van Horn, and his own father had died, so he was able to relate to much of what Keith was going through. Later, Keith said about Rick, "We went out at two-thirty in the morning to a coffee shop. We just talked about things, our fathers, other things like that. He helped me through a very hard time in my life. He kind of gave me a cheat sheet of the kind of feelings I was going to have and what I was going to go through." Rick said about Keith, "He was just overcome with the sadness of it, and he was overcome with grief and the finality of it." Of course, Keith took a plane back home to see his family and attend the funeral. Even though it was the middle of basketball season, Rick—aka Coach Majerus—told Keith to take his time coming back to school and the team—he did not have to return until he was ready. Rick said, "I told him I don't care about basketball. I don't care if he plays next week or doesn't play next week.... Keith is devastated. I lost my dad, and it was the hardest thing I've had to deal with in my own life." (25)

Helping a Paralyzed Friend

Maurice Stokes played center for the Rochester-Cincinnati Royals (now they are the Sacramento Kings), along with forward Jack Twyman. In 1957, during a play-off game, Mr. Stokes' head hit the floor hard. He got up, but later while on an airplane he started vomiting and became so ill that he was baptized and given last rites on the plane. It turned out that he was suffering from a head injury. Both Mr. Stokes and Mr. Twyman lived in Cincinnati, and Mr. Twyman visited Mr. Stokes for four months while Mr. Stokes was in a coma. When Mr. Stokes came out of the coma, he was paralyzed and could not speak. Mr. Twyman devised a way for Mr. Stokes to communicate. Mr. Twyman recited the alphabet and when he reached the letter that Mr. Stokes wanted, Mr. Stokes blinked. Later, after Mr. Stokes regained some movement in a few fingers, Mr. Stokes drew a diagram of typewriter keys on a piece of cardboard and Mr. Stokes pointed to the letters and spelled out words. In addition, Mr. Stokes and the NBA raised much money for Mr. Stokes. The Celtics, Hawks, Pistons, and Royals all paid their own expenses as they put on a doubleheader with the profits going to Mr. Stokes' care. Fans also sent contributions. One fan who sent money in a letter to Mr. Twyman wrote, "Where else but in this country could I, a Jew, send money to you, a Catholic, to help a black man?" (26)

"I'm a Jew, G*dd*mnit!"

Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach, who was Jewish, stood up for the people he respected. One day, Celtic head Walter Brown took a telephone call from a man who accused the Celtics of being anti-Semitic because they had cut a basketball player who was Jewish. Red was in the office when Mr. Brown got the telephone call. Red got on the telephone and said, "This is Red Auerbach! Listen, you f**kin' Heeb! I'm a Jew, g*dd*mnit! I cut that kid—he couldn't f**kin' play! Walter Brown is one of the finest human beings on the whole g*dd*mn planet! And you're talking this sh*t to him! If I find out who you are, I'll come over there and kick your *ss!" (27)

"Wasting" a Draft Pick

Landon Turner was the kind of player that Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach liked: hard-working, unselfish, and dedicated to winning basketball games. As you would expect, Mr. Turner's dream was to be drafted by an NBA team. Unfortunately, Mr. Turner lost control of his car, crashed, and was paralyzed, ending his dream of playing pro basketball. But even though Mr. Turner was unable to walk, the Celtics drafted him in the final round of the 1982 NBA draft, thus fulfilling one of his dreams. A Celtics spokesperson stated, "We would have been honored to have him on our team. We felt this was one way to show how we felt about him." (28)

Helping a Late Bloomer

NBA great Scottie Pippen was a late bloomer in basketball, and he almost did not go to college. Fortunately, his high school basketball coach, Don Wayne, came through in a big way for him. Coach Wayne telephoned Don Dyer, an old friend and the head basketball coach at the University of Central Arkansas, a small school. He explained that he had a prospect for him. The prospect—Scottie Pippen—might not be good enough to make the varsity squad, but he had been the student manager of the high school football team. Therefore, why not find some money for him to go to college? Maybe he would play varsity basketball and maybe he wouldn't, but he could be a part-time practice player and the student manager of the team. Coach Dyer was willing to help a player who had been recommended by an old friend, and he found a work-study position that would allow Scottie to go to college. Of course, Mr. Pippen quickly stopped being the team's student manager and started playing in games as a valuable substitute, and as a sophomore he really started playing well. Of course, he joined the Chicago Bulls and along with Michael Jordan helped lead the Bulls to three NBA championships in a row. (29)

A Telephone Call from a Boxing Legend

Mickey Rourke worked as a boxer, then he worked as an actor, and then he went back to boxing. (And now he's acting again.) Before his 7th or 8th fight after his return to boxing, he was pretty nervous about the upcoming fight, he says, "because I was fighting a pretty tough cookie from the Bahamas with a really good record. I couldn't sleep at night—my hands were sweating, my feet were sweating—and I'd get up, and I'd start shadowboxing. I was a nervous, shaking wreck." Therefore, he called a photographer he knew named Howard Bingham, who had often worked with boxer Muhammad Ali. Mr. Rourke asked, "Howard, can you do me a favor? Man, I've got this fight, and I'm a nervous f**kin' wreck. Do you think I can talk to Muhammad Ali? I think he could calm me down a little." Mr. Bingham got in touch with Mr. Ali, who called Mr. Rourke in his room in Miami the following night. Mr. Ali knew exactly what Mr. Rourke was going through: "Yeah, you're in bed, and you want your mama with you...." Mr. Rourke says about Mr. Ali's telephone call: "It really helped so much. He spent 15 or 20 minutes on the phone with me. That's a memory that I'll always cherish." (30)

Raising $590,000 for Charity

Jack Nicklaus performed a very good deed when he raised $590,000 for charity by playing one hole on each of 18 different golf courses. What was his means of transportation between holes? A helicopter. (31)

"You Take What You Need"

Professional golfer Sam Snead told risqué jokes, and he did a lot of good deeds in his community during his life. He gave money to county churches, he gave the local high school money for scholarships, he paid for the lights at the high school stadium, and when the high school football team won the state championship, he paid thousands of dollars to buy championship rings for the athletes. He bought his sister a house. He gave money to people with cancer. A golf pro named George Lowe tells a story about another golf pro named Porky Oliver, who had cancer. Mr. Snead visited Mr. Oliver and gave him a signed blank check, saying, "Porky, I have [this] amount of dollars. You take what you need." (32)

A Kid with Stage Fright

Wayne Gretzky's hero was Gordie Howe, whom he met at a sports award banquet when he was 11 years old. Wayne was called—unexpectedly—to the microphone to make a short speech, but he froze at the microphone with stage fright. Mr. Howe came through for him. He rose from his seat, put his arm around Wayne, and said, "When someone has done what this kid has done in the rink, he doesn't have to say anything." Later, Wayne broke many of the NHL scoring records of his friend Gordie. (33)

Big Paychecks and an Unusual English Tutor

When Mario Lemieux became a major-league hockey player with a big paycheck, he used one of those paychecks to buy his father a new Pontiac. (One clause of the contract stated that his team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, would give the Lemieux family a satellite dish so that they could watch Mario play hockey.) Later, he was named Most Valuable Player in an NHL All-Star game. The MVP prize was a Chevy Blazer, which he gave to one of his brothers. By the way, he spoke French, having grown up in Quebec. When he moved to the United States to play for the Penguins, he learned English by watching television soap operas. (34)

Loyalty

Brian Boitano shows loyalty. His first skating coach when he was a beginner was Linda Leaver. She recognized his potential first, and he stayed with her even after many, many people felt that he should leave her and be coached by someone with more experience with elite skaters. Even today, when he is an Olympic gold medalist and a professional figure skater, she coaches him when he is in the area where she lives. (35)

Great Athletes, and Great People

Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are great athletes, and they are great people. In the semifinals of the beach volleyball event at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, they defeated a very good Brazilian team. Afterward, they shook hands with the members of the Brazilian team, and they said "thank you" and shook hands with many, many volunteers who do such things as retrieve balls and rake the sand. In awe, journalist Mike Celizic wrote, "They literally chased down some of the volunteers from behind as they were leaving the court, not wanting them to get away without knowing how much their efforts were appreciated." They also waved to the fans and promised to come back after the mandatory drug testing. They did come back, posing for photographs and signing autographs for many, many fans. And yes, they shook many, many more hands. (36)

Trimming the Hedges to Help a Neighborhood Kid

Lots of people considered Babe Didrikson Zaharias a natural athlete, but she denied it, saying that she worked very hard to be a successful athlete. When she was growing up, she ran everywhere and jumped hedges. She even asked her neighbors to trim their hedges to the same height; after all, hurdles on a track course were all the same height. The neighbors were happy to help her, and they trimmed their hedges the way she wished them to be. As a young adult, she competed in a track meet for the Employers Casualty Company, which was based in Dallas, Texas. She was the only athlete on the team, and when she arrived at the 1932 national AAU track and field championships (and Olympic trials) in Evanston, Illinois, she told the other teams, some of whom had over 20 athletes, "I'm going to lick you single-handed." She did, scoring 30 points by herself! The second-place team, with 22 athletes, scored 22 points. She set three world records in three of the five events in which she placed first. She qualified for those five events at the 1932 Olympics, but because of official rules limiting the number of events a woman athlete could compete in, she was allowed to compete in only three events. She set world records as she won the gold medal in the javelin throw and the 80-meter hurdles. She tied for first in the high jump, but she was awarded the silver medal because her jumping style was unorthodox. Later, her jumping style—the "western roll"—became the standard style for high jumpers. (By the way, much later she was asked the year she was born. She answered, "The year 1919." An amused friend heard her and said, "So you were 13 when you won all those Olympic medals?" Babe replied, "Aw, shut up.") Babe later became a golf champion. Because professional golf for women did not exist, in 1947 she helped found the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA). (37)

"You Can Do Better than This"

Is the Olympic spirit a figment of the imagination? Not according to United States athlete Milt Campbell, who won the gold medal in the decathlon in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. The final event was the 1,500-meter run, and Mr. Campbell did not have to run full out and win the event to win the gold medal. However, as he was running behind another athlete, he heard Ian Bruce of Australia urging him to go full out. Mr. Bruce told him, "Come on. It's time to run. You can do better than this." Mr. Bruce then began sprinting, full out, and Mr. Campbell then began sprinting, full out. Mr. Campbell says, "I couldn't believe it. Here's a guy whom I never met urging me on." (38)

Thanks for Helping Daughters

In 1973, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a battle of the sexes. Before the tennis match started, the two athletes put on a show. Ms. King was carried into the arena in a throne carried by men, while Mr. Riggs entered the arena in a rickshaw pulled by beautiful women. Ms. King gave Mr. Riggs a live pig in acknowledgement of his public persona as a male chauvinist pig. (Who knows what he believed privately?) Ms. King defeated Mr. Riggs to win a major victory for feminism, and immediately she was mobbed. Boxer George Foreman did a good deed by helping her get away from the mob, at whom he shouted, "Get away from her!" Of course, Ms. King showed the world just how good a female athlete could be, and many, many people thanked her for doing that. Later, many, many fathers thanked her for what she had done for their daughters. (39)

Being a Front for a Friend

Groucho Marx was an excellent comedian, and in some ways he was an excellent man. He could make people laugh in person, and he could make people laugh through his writing. One of his friends was a writer named Al Sheekman, who occasionally had trouble selling comic essays. Both Groucho and Al would sometimes edit each other's work. Whenever Al was having a hard time selling comic essays and really needed some money, Groucho would offer to put his name on one of Al's comic essays and sell it. Groucho would sometimes edit the piece to make it sound more like Groucho, and he would sell the comic essay to a magazine. All the money thus obtained went to Al. Of course, Groucho could write funny all by himself, but he didn't mind being a front in order to help a friend. (40)

"Hey, What's the Problem?"

Australian author Bryce Courtenay has traveled much, and he has been mugged often. In New York a man hit him and knocked him down. He got up and asked, "What's the matter?" The mugger said, Give me your wallet, buddy." Mr. Courtenay replied, "No," and the mugger hit him again and knocked him down. Again, Mr. Courtenay got up, and he asked, "Hey, what's the problem?" The mugger replied, "My family hasn't eaten for three days." Mr. Courtenay said, "I've got lots of money." He then bought the mugger lots and lots of groceries. (41)

Foster Children

Adrienne Adams and Lonzo Anderson collaborated in creating illustrated books, and they collaborated in nurturing foster children. They had an Indian foster child in Bogotá, Columbia, an Indian foster child in the San Ildefonso Pueblo in New Mexico, and a black godchild in the Virgin Islands. By the way, when Mr. Anderson was writing Night of the Silent Drums, he wrote in an outdoors gallery. At one point, when he was almost finished writing the book, he had a pile of approximately 1,300 typed pages with a stone as a paperweight, and he had a pile of approximately 1,300 carbon copies with another stone as a paperweight. Unfortunately, a bigger-than-normal gust of wind came along and blew the sheets of paper away from under the stones. Mr. Anderson says, "The pages were scattered over a wild mountainside, covered with every conceivable kind of thorn bush, cactus, indigenous tree, and wicked thorny plants carpeting the ground. It took me several days to find and rescue the pages." (42)

An Exchange of Gifts

When Chilean poet Pablo Neruda was a small child, he was playing in his backyard when a child reached through a hole in the wooden fence and gave him a present: a small toy lamb. Young Pablo quickly retrieved a favorite possession—a pinecone and presented it to the child, whom he could not see, on the other side of the fence. The adult Mr. Neruda believed that "maybe this small and mysterious exchange of gifts remained inside me also, deep and inexhaustible, giving my poetry light." In 1971, he received the Nobel Prize in Literature. (43)

A Bill for $1

Larry Love of Alabama 3 respects the collected works of Hubert Selby Jr., author of Last Exit to Brooklyn, whom he describes as a "merchant seaman, suffering from TB and with a heroin habit that could kill an elephant." Mr. Selby was a chronicler of the seedy side of life, and he could be a nice guy. Shortly before Mr. Selby's death, when Alabama 3 wanted to use his voice briefly in a song titled "Moon has Lost the Sun," he emailed the band. Mr. Love says, "He charged us $1 to clear its usage and thanked us for the privilege of letting him be associated with a band of our reputation." By the way, Mr. Love, who like Mr. Selby skillfully uses words, says that he wants the epitaph on his gravestone to read, "I told you I was ill." (44)

The Cave of the Mafia

In January 1965, as Gabriel García Marquez was driving from Mexico City to Acapulco, he had a flash of inspiration that told him exactly which tone to use in what would be his great novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. The flash of inspiration was so great that he turned the car around and headed back to Mexico City so he could begin writing the novel right away. For 18 months, Mr. Marquez wrote in his room—a room that his friends started calling the Cave of the Mafia. His wife took care of the finances while he wrote, getting him his cigarettes (he nearly gave himself nicotine poisoning because he was smoking six packs of cigarettes a day!) and food and paper, and borrowing money and arranging credit when needed. Mr. Marquez acknowledges that his wife, Mercedes, "performed all kinds of wondrous feats" while he wrote the novel. When Mr. Marquez finished writing the novel, he discovered that he owed the butcher approximately 5,000 pesos—which at the time, he says, was "an enormous sum." Why did the butcher—and other people—give so much credit to the Marquez family? Mr. Marquez says, "Somehow the word had gotten around the neighborhood that I was writing a very important book, and all the shopkeepers wanted to collaborate." The book was, indeed, very important, and in 1982, Mr. Marquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature. (45)

Frugality and Generosity

Famous philosopher and writer George Santayana was a generous man. He lived frugally, and he gave away some of the money he saved by living frugally. Once, he sent an old man $100 after the old man wrote Mr. Santayana and said that he ought to send the old man money because the old man, like Mr. Santayana, was a poet. Mr. Santayana also sent money to help family and friends. In the late 1930s, he learned that philosopher Bertrand Russell needed money because he could not get a job teaching. Mr. Santayana sent him money anonymously. (46)

A Passing Grade For Effort

For a while, when he was a child, Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges studied in Switzerland. He was popular, and he studied hard, but he failed a final examination in French, although he passed every other examination. The other students in the class appealed to the headmaster to consider young Jorge's effort and progress while studying in a language that was not his own. The headmaster listened to the students and allowed Jorge to advance a grade. (47)

Preparing a Gift that Impresses

Charles MacArthur promised Robert Benchley's two sons that he would give them his war helmet. Unfortunately, he had tossed it into the New York bay, so he bought one at an Army-Navy store. For two hours, he and Mr. Benchley struggled to put "battle" scars on it—pounding it, denting it, and puncturing it. In addition, Mr. MacArthur dripped candle wax down its sides, so he could tell Mr. Benchley's sons that he had used it as a candle stand while he wrote letters at night. (48)

Food for Six Months

In 2008, a 47-year-old freelance journalist named Natalie Davis needed help desperately. One person who had money was financial guru Suze Orman, and Ms. Davis sent emails to every email address on <Suzeorman.com> until one of the emails reached Ms. Orman. The email said, "What happens when friends and family can't help? Do poor moms and kids land on the streets and die?" Ms. Orman sent food to Ms. Davis and her family for six months. Ms. Davis says, "It literally kept me and my family going." (49)

Two Good Deeds

During the 1930s, Helen, the mother of author Laurence Leamer, earned a scholarship to the University of Chicago. Because of lack of money during the Great Depression, she could not afford to take a train to Chicago; she had to take a bus. The bus driver was worried about her safety walking in a city that was unknown to her (her family was from Westport, Connecticut), so he drove the bus off his route and to the campus building where she would stay. Mr. Leamer writes, "She was too afraid to go out, and she sat her room eating a Hershey bar for dinner." To earn room and board, Mr. Leamer's mother got a job with Mrs. Hayes, a kind woman who was married to the grandson of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Mr. Leamer's mother's first job was to set the table for dinner, but after she had finished, Mrs. Hayes told her that she had made a mistake: "Helen, you didn't set a place for yourself." (50)
CHAPTER 2: Stories 51-100

A Compliment and an E-mail

In an article for Seattle, WA's The Stranger, book/movie critic Paul Constant revealed his secret for how to tell whether a bookstore is any good: "Find the fiction section, locate the Es, and look for Stanley Elkin. If a bookstore carries Elkin's novels, it's a sign of all-around quality." He explains, noting that Mr. Elkin's books, although excellent, don't sell in large quantities, "A bookstore that carries Stanley Elkin has more than good taste; it has a commitment to its stock and a willingness to shelve excellent books that don't pay for their own real estate." One person who noticed the compliment was Mr. Elkin's daughter, who did the very good deed of sending Mr. Constant a very nice e-mail. Mr. Constant writes (using the third person to refer to himself), "He will treasure that e-mail forever." (51)

Educating the Students Despite Censorship

When young people's author Richard Peck was teaching at Hunter College High School in New York, the school higher-ups in the English department banned Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Because Mr. Peck is anti-censorship, he did something clever: He told his students that To Kill a Mockingbird was banned and that they weren't allowed by the school to read it. Sure enough, every student read To Kill a Mockingbird. (52)

Recognizing a Grand Master

One of the things that Harlan Ellison is proudest of in his life is working to have A.E. van Vogt given the Science Fiction/Fantasy Writers of America Grand Master award. According to Mr. Ellison, only petty politics kept the AFWA from giving A.E. van Vogt the award in his old age. Mr. Ellison spoke out against the AFWA and for A.E. van Vogt, and eventually A.E. van Vogt was given the Grand Master award. Mr. Ellison says, "He got it because I embarrassed them. I humiliated them. That was a real good thing. I was on the side of the angels." (53)

The Importance of Stargirl

In 2000, Newbery Medalist Jerry Spinelli published Stargirl, whose protagonist is a free spirit who does many good deeds. The character is memorable, and the character has inspired many Stargirl Societies whose members emulate Stargirl. The first Stargirl Society was started in Kent, Ohio, in 2004. Education specialist Kathy Frazier encouraged some of her 8th-grade students to read the novel. They loved it, and later, when they were high-school juniors (who often greeted each other with "Hey, Stargirl"), they had the idea to create a Stargirl club for middle-school students. Ms. Frazier says about the students, "They told me they wished they had read it in 6th grade, since in middle school there is such peer pressure to conform and it is so easy to lose one's own self. Stargirl was able to keep her own creative spirit and individualism intact." Mr. Spinelli gave the group permission to use the name "Stargirl Society," and the high-school juniors sent invitations to middle-school students to join. The character Stargirl was inclusive, and in her spirit, Ms. Frazier says, "Anyone who wanted to come could. We didn't leave anyone out." The members, just like Stargirl, perform good deeds, including making cards of appreciation for people who are often underappreciated, such as cafeteria workers and janitors. Many of Stargirl's good deeds were anonymous, and therefore many of the Stargirl Society's good deeds are anonymous. Mr. Spinelli is very supportive of the Stargirl Societies: "I was impressed and heartwarmed at the idea that my little story provoked such a response from those kids. From my point of view, the objective of the Societies is or ought to be not to create clones of Stargirl but to encourage girls to discover, express and celebrate themselves." Mr. Spinelli adds, "I'd love to see this thing become a more widespread movement. I personally find the Stargirl Societies so appealing and meaningful that I can imagine them becoming a legacy that I cherish more than the book itself." (54)

A Very Special First-Year Student

Natalie McDonald was a big fan of the Harry Potter books by J.K. (Joanne Kathleen) Rowling. She was also dying of leukemia. Family friend Annie Kidder sent a letter to J.K. Rowling's publisher, and the publisher passed the letter on to her. Unfortunately, Ms. Rowling did not get the letter right away because she had left to go on vacation. When she returned home, she read the letter and sent a very nice email to Natalie; unfortunately, Natalie had died by then. Ms. Kidder says, "Jo's e-mail was beautiful. She didn't patronize Natalie, or tell her everything was OK; she addressed her as a human being who was going through a hard time. She talked about her books and her characters and which ones she liked best." Ms. Rowling did do one very nice thing for Natalie McDonald. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Hogwarts sorting hat sends a special first-year student to Gryffindor, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione live. That first-year student's name is Natalie McDonald. (55)

Quidditch, Fantastic Beasts, and Single Parents

As the author of the best-selling Harry Potter books, J.K. Rowling became wealthy. Because she is a single mother who received financial support from the government for six months, she is aware of the difficulties many single mothers face, and so she donated $725,000 to the British charity known as the National Council for One Parent Families. In addition, she wrote two paperbacks, Quidditch through the Ages and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and donated the proceeds from sales to the British charity Comic Relief, whose mission is to help children in developing nations. (56)

Sharing the Royalties

Writer E.B. White once received a gift from an old friend: a copy of a little book about the rules of writing by William Strunk, Mr. White's old professor at Cornell. He was so happy to receive the gift that he wrote and published an essay about his professor. J.G. Case, a publisher of textbooks, read the essay, and he asked Mr. White's permission to use it as an introduction to a republication of Professor Strunk's little book. Eventually, Mr. White added a chapter about style, and the book was published. Although the book written by Professor Strunk was no longer under copyright, Mr. White insisted that Professor Strunk be listed as co-author and that his estate receive one half of the authors' royalties. (57)

"Don't Pay Any Attention to Them, Sir"

Samuel Johnson had a small black boy as one of his servants. Once, Mrs. Thrale and some servants insulted him, so he ran off. Dr. Johnson went looking for him, and after finding him, he embraced the boy and said, "Don't bother about them, Sir. Don't pay any attention to them, Sir." (58)

A Helpful Letter

While she was in high school, Tamora Pierce wrote a story about a kids' birthday party. She wrote the story out neatly on pencil on 3-ring binder paper and submitted it to Seventeen magazine. The magazine's editor, Babette Rosmund, write Tamora a nice letter telling her about how to submit manuscripts (typed, and in a professional format). She also encouraged Tamora to keep on writing. Tamora appreciated such a busy woman taking the time to write her a helpful letter. Later, Tamora became a very successful writer of young adult fantasy literature. (59)

"An Honest Publisher and a Lucky Author"

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, which was published by Roberts Brothers, a firm that made an offer to buy the copyright to the book but also recommended that she keep the copyright because the book was likely to be popular and she could make more money if she owned the copyright. Ms. Alcott did keep the copyright, and the book made her lots and lots of money. She later wrote in her journal: "An honest publisher and a lucky author." (60)

Milk for a Starving Man

Early in his career, author John Steinbeck was doing research, and he asked hobos in a camp for their stories, saying that he would pay them for any stories he could use. A hobo named Frank Kilkenny told Mr. Steinbeck about the time he had been lost for four days in a canebrake of very tall grasses and reeds that covered several square miles. When he finally got out of the canebrake, he made his way to a farmhouse. He lay in bed seriously ill and could not keep down any of the food the farmer and his wife fed him. Finally, to save the man's life, the farmer's wife, who had recently given birth, fed him with her breasts. Mr. Steinbeck said, "I can use that," and he paid Mr. Kilkenny $2. At the end of Mr. Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, the Joad family comes across a starving man. The Joads don't have any food, but Rose of Sharon had given birth to a stillborn baby, so her breasts were full of milk, and to save the man's life, she fed him with her breasts. (61)

A Tough—But Caring—Cop

When he was young, Gary Paulsen (the future author of Hatchet) was a juvenile delinquent. One day, a tough police officer named J.D. caught him trying to steal a pair of skis from someone's garage, so he drove him out of town, made him get out of the car, and told him to walk back to town. Gary complained that the temperature was 20 degrees below zero, but J.D. told him, "If you keep moving, you won't die." When they made it back to town, J.D. asked Gary if he intended to try to steal again. Gary said, "No," then J.D. bought him a huge meal. Later, J.D. was killed by a runaway boy whom he was trying to persuade to return home. (62)

Kindness in a War Zone

During World War II, artist Ashley Bryan drew as much as he could, despite often being in war zones. He even carried a sketchpad and other art supplies in his gas mask. He says, "There would have been a tumble if I were ever in need of that mask!" He was very good at drawing, but not so good at other things, so sometimes his very kind fellow soldiers would do some of his work for him and say, "Ashley, you draw!" He fought at Normandy, and when he needed to dig a foxhole, his collapsible shovel did not work properly. Fortunately, a fellow soldier made his own foxhole bigger so that Ashley could share it. As an artist, Mr. Bryan has been very productive, creating more than 34 books for children as well as many sea-glass panels, paintings, puppets, and toasted-cheese sandwiches. (63)

Thanking a Doctor

Spanish artist Francisco Goya had a lot of respect for his doctor, who had saved his life while Mr. Goya was severely ill. Mr. Goya's painting Goya Attended by Doctor Arrieta depicts the good doctor helping Mr. Goya. An inscription reads, "Goya thanks his friend Arrieta for the care and attention with which he saved his life in the acute and dangerous illness suffered at the end of the year 1819 at the age of 73. He painted this in 1820." (64)

A Lucky Birthday Girl

When the pop group 'N Sync were in Florida in 1998 to record a Disney in Concert TV special for the Disney Channel, they did a lot of things such as touring the Animal Kingdom and, of course, holding press conferences, including one in the Beauty and the Beast Amphitheater with their fans. At the press conference for fans, a fan said, "Today's my friend's birthday. Can you sing 'Happy Birthday' to her?" The members of the band often sing a cappella, and they immediately sang "Happy Birthday," giving the lucky birthday girl a happy memory. (65)

A Free, Impromptu Concert

Latin singer Ricky Martin knew what he wanted at a very young age. He auditioned three times to become a member of the Puerto Rican boy band Menudo. The first audition he was rejected because he was too short and too young. He waited a while and auditioned a second time, making sure that he was wearing cowboy boots so he would appear to be taller. Again, he was rejected, but at age 13 he auditioned a third time and passed the audition and became a member of the band. Of course, he has performed in concerts all over the world, both as a member of Menudo and as a solo act later. One of his most memorable concerts among many memorable concerts occurred during a concert tour that took him to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he managed to sneak away from the paparazzi and make his way to a small restaurant in an out-of-the-way part of the city. There he put on a free impromptu concert, singing and dancing for the restaurant's lucky patrons. (66)

Friendly People

It's nice when the other acts and celebrities on a tour are friendly. Out lesbian bassist Jenn Alva of the all-female indie group Girl in a Coma remembers some friendly people on the True Colors tour. Tegan and Sara were very friendly and "really smart and they pretty much said, 'Do whatever you want. Run around. You can hang out with us whenever you feel like it.' And we were like, 'Great. That is wonderful. That is nice to know.'" Another friendly person in the midst of many friendly people was Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy fame. Jenn says, "We didn't even have a dressing room and he was like, 'You girls are welcome to hang out in our dressing room if you'd like.' He just did a little extra and he didn't really have to. We just had a lot of fun on that tour." (67)

Kind Old Ladies on Trains

When Groucho Marx was fifteen years old, he saw an advertisement for a job as a singer. He auditioned, he got the job, and he and the lead singer, who was also the manager, went on the road. Unfortunately, in Denver, Colorado, the manager absconded with the funds, leaving the young Groucho a long way from his home in New York City. Groucho was made of tough stuff. He got a job driving a grocery wagon and earned a little money from his singing. Soon he was able to buy a train ticket back home, and he had $10 left for meals. Unfortunately, he lost the $10. Fortunately, Groucho says, trains back then always had kindly old ladies. They gave him bananas, peanuts, and sandwiches, and he made it back home. (68)

The Breakfast Club

When singer/actress Lauryn Hill was in middle school, she started her own breakfast club. Each school day, she would bring to school two or three dozen bagels and orange juice for kids who went to school without eating first. Of course, Lauryn became a Grammy Award-winning singer, although one of her first times performing on stage in public was a mini-disaster. At age 13, she was unused to singing in public with a microphone, so she sang too far away for the mic to pick her voice. Her audience started booing, and her uncle yelled, "Get close to the mic!" Once the audience could hear her, they applauded her. As an actress, one of her early roles was a character completely unlike her on the soap opera As the World Turns. Lauryn was a Grade-A student, and her friends sometimes recited her lines to her, including this one: "Don't tell my secret—that I can't read or write." This made Lauryn laugh. (69)

A Serious Case of Insolvency

Chances are, you have never heard of the Scottish pop group Trashcan Sinatras, but they have their fans—I mean, they really have their fans. They hit a very rough patch when their 1996 album A Happy Pocket did not even get released in the United States, leading to a serious case of insolvency that would drive many bands into preferring boring but secure day jobs to the excitement and lack of funds of making music. Fortunately, the fans on the band's email list came through in a big way in 1997, sending funds and causing lead singer Frank Reader to send them a note saying that he and the band were "embarrassed" by their generosity. By the way, two of their fans who sent money were Will Harris and David Medsker of <Bullseye.com>, writers about pop culture who know what they like and support it. Unfortunately, the band has suffered other bad luck. In 2004, they released the album Weightlifting, but their record label—spinArt—went bankrupt before sending the band even a penny. Still, Trashcan Sinatras soldier on, making music and keeping their fans happy. (70)

Baseball and a Music Fan

Country music star Garth Brooks once attended the San Diego Padres' spring-training camp at their invitation. He didn't have any illusions about making the team; instead, he said that he wanted "to swing the bat for the sake of getting to hear the wood go through the wind." And oh, yeah, the Padres donated $200,000 to the charitable organization Touch 'Em All instead of paying Mr. Brooks a salary. By the way, Mr. Brooks was in New Orleans for a concert when he learned that an 11-year-old fan was unable to attend the concert because she was ill and in a hospital in Monroe, Louisiana. He made sure to go to Monroe and visit her. (71)

The Faith Hill Family Literacy Project

Faith Hill's father—a loving man—could not read, as she discovered when she was in elementary school. Therefore, when she became a singing star later, she made the fight against illiteracy a priority by establishing, along with Warner Brothers Records and Time Warner, the Faith Hill Family Literacy Project. She has collected many thousands of new and gently used books at her concert venues to donate to schools, day-care centers, hospitals, and shelters for battered women. By the way, as a young woman on her own for the first time, she cooked very well—especially lasagna—although she frequently called her mother to ask, "How much of this ingredient do I put in?" That's not a surprise because many young adults do that, but her marriage to Tim McGraw was a surprise to many of the guests. On October 6, 1996, many people arrived for what they thought was a brunch before a charity softball game, but they were delighted to find out that Ms. Hill and Mr. McGraw were getting married. (72)

Farm Aid

In 1985, musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young founded Farm Aid to raise funds for family farms as opposed to big, industrialized farms. The money they raise goes to farm organizations, service agencies, and churches. Mr. Nelson signs every check that Farm Aid sends out to one of these organizations. By the way, Mr. Nelson began his book The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes by writing these two sentences: "They say writing the first line of a book is the hardest part. Thank God that's over." (73)

"Gene, I Want You to Have This Money"

Even when he was just starting out, Gene Krupa was respected as a musician. He used to work at a dive at which each night ended with a fight between rival gangs. Fortunately, the rival gangs respected Mr. Krupa so much that they would stop fighting long enough for him to move his drums out of the dive. He was also loved as a human being. Later, he had made a lot of money, and when he divorced his wife he gave her $100,000. Later than that, he got into trouble with the police and ran into financial difficulties. His ex-wife, Ethel, flew to see him and told him, "You know, I didn't need that money." In fact, she had gotten back her old job of telephone operator. She gave him a check for $100,000 and said, "Gene, I want you to have this money. No strings attached." Mr. Krupa went to jail, and when he got out, he remarried Ethel. (74)

The Merchandise Guy Came Up for a Song

Dave Alvin and Chris Gaffney were friends and musicians. Mr. Alvin became very famous as an Americana musician, and Mr. Gaffney became famous mainly in southern California. At one point in his career, Mr. Gaffney was having a difficult time making a living as a musician, so Mr. Alvin hired him to be the guy who sold merchandise such as T-shirts and CDs. Mr. Alvin paid Mr. Gaffney's hotel bill, and Mr. Gaffney got a cut of the sales of merchandise. In addition, Mr. Gaffney "would come up onstage in the encore and play his accordion, sing a song, engage in onstage antics," Mr. Alvin says. During the encore in Philadelphia, Mr. Gaffney came onstage and sang "Cowboys to Girls." Mr. Alvin remembers, "The next day, the review of the show says that perhaps the highlight of the show was when the merch guy got up and sang a song. Gaffney never let me forget that." In addition, Mr. Gaffney started staying onstage for the entire concert, not just the encore. Unfortunately, Mr. Gaffney died at age 57 of liver cancer. To honor his friend, Mr. Alvin put out a tribute CD featuring such performers as Los Lobos, Joe Ely, and others who knew Mr. Gaffney's work. It's good that Mr. Alvin got some big names on the tribute album because most people (according to Mr. Alvin, "99.9 percent of the people in the world") have never heard of Mr. Gaffney, and now many more people will hear of him. Mr. Alvin is proud of the tribute CD: "This is now part of my business card, if I had one: 'Singer, Songwriter, Guitar Player and Chris Gaffney Promoter.' It has to be because the highlight was when the merch guy came up for a song." (75)

Singing a Song Instead of Judging a Competition

While making a movie of the opera Carmen, Plácido Domingo ran into a problem. He had promised to judge a singing competition in Ronda in southern Spain, near where they were filming, but the director suddenly decided to continue filming the movie until a late time that day. It looked as if Mr. Domingo could not get away, but during a time when a double was filling in for him he snuck away in a taxi while still wearing his Don José costume. Mr. Domingo arrived at the Festival of Song, explained that he was still shooting a scene in the movie and asked if he could sing a song instead of judging the singing competition. Of course, the people of Rondo were very willing to hear him sing. He sang "Jurame," and he sang "Granada" as an encore, making the people of Rondo very happy indeed. He then took a taxi back to the movie location and continued filming the scene. (76)

Digging Through the Rubble

In September of 1985, an earthquake struck Mexico City, killing 7,000 people and burying others, still alive, under rubble. Opera singer Plácido Domingo was in Mexico City at the time; unfortunately, some of his relatives died in the earthquake. To help out, Mr. Domingo wore a hardhat and dug through the rubble with other rescue workers. Afterward, he sang at benefits to raise money to help the victims of the earthquake. (77)

"Accidents Happen"

One day, little Nancy Sinatra held a party at home, and one of her little guests accidentally knocked over and broke one of a pair of porcelain birds. The little guest was horrified, but Nancy's father, the great Frank Sinatra, deliberately broke the other porcelain bird. He then put his arm around the little guest and said, "That's OK, kid. Accidents happen." (78)

A Perpetual Houseguest

Oscar Levant was kind of a perpetual houseguest at the house of Ira Gershwin and his wife, Leonore. Once, he said something that annoyed Leonore, so she told him, "Get out of this house." Mr. Levant stood up a moment, then sat down again and said, "I'm not going." "Why not?" she asked. "Because I have no place to go." This caused Leonore to laugh, and Mr. Levant stayed as a houseguest for two more years. (79)

Dinner Twice a Week

When opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink was young and just starting her career, pianist-conductor Hans von Bülow learned that she did not have enough food to feed herself and her children. Therefore, he invited her to eat dinner at his house twice a week and then take home enough food to feed her children. (80)

A Special Gift

J.W. "Blind" Boone was an African-American pianist who made his living as a musician during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Unfortunately, he suffered prejudice as a result of Jim Crow. In 1904, he played a concert in Paola, Kansas, but because of his race he could not get a room at a hotel. Finally, he got room and board at the home of an elderly African-American woman, a widow. She declined to accept money from Blind Boone for his stay, so he made some inquiries. He discovered that she owed $350 on her home (a lot of money back then). He paid the $350 and then gave her a present: the deed to her house. (81)

"I was Saving It as a Gift for a Great Musician"

When he was a child in Beijing, where he had moved in order to study piano, Lang Lang went through a time of estrangement from his father after his piano teacher had unfairly criticized him, and he declined to play piano. In the outdoor market, he saw a fruit vendor with watermelons for sale. Lang Lang did not have any money, but he picked up and held a watermelon that he wished he had money to buy. The fruit vendor saw him and said, "The way you're caressing that melon, it's as if you're playing a musical instrument. Most people just poke at it." Lang Lang explained that he used to play the piano, but had stopped. The fruit vendor joked, "You look too young to be retired." Lang Lang explained, "I had a teacher who said I wasn't very talented." The fruit vendor replied, "Teachers can be wrong. I think you must play beautifully." Lang Lang asked, "How do you know?" The fruit vendor explained, "I can hear you in my imagination. And I look at your hands and fingers." The fruit vendor then gave Lang Lang a watermelon, saying, "This watermelon is not for sale. I was saving it as a gift for a great musician. This is your reward for having practiced so long and hard. This is your prize." The fruit vendor's name was Han. Soon he became a friend of the family, and Lang Lang called him "Uncle Number Two." And soon Lang Lang started playing the piano again. One thing that helped Lang Lang to start playing piano again was a letter from the children in a choir he had been accompanying. They told him how talented he was, and they sent him a toy—a Transformer—as a gift to show their appreciation. (82)

Passing It Forward

When a newer band starts touring nationally as an opening act for an established band, members of the opening band can be very nervous. Often, members of the established band recognize that and try to take care of the nervous opening band. For example, the English Beat opened for the Talking Heads, whose lead singer, David Bryne, would go backstage every performing day to make sure that the Beat had enough sound checks and to make sure that everyone was treating the Beat well. Later, when the Beat became an established act, R.E.M. opened for them. This was the first time that R.E.M. had played outside of Athens, Georgia, so members of R.E.M. were understandably nervous. Fortunately, Beat singer Dave Wakeling remembered the good deed that Mr. Bryne had done for the Beat, and he passed it forward. Mr. Wakeling says about Mr. Bryne that he was "just really, really kind and gracious. And it made all the difference to us, as a nervous opening band, so we tried to pass that tradition on and do the same for R.E.M." Mr. Wakeling went backstage every performing day to make sure that R.E.M. had enough sound checks and to make sure that everyone was treating R.E.M. well. (83)

A Little Help from Friends—And a Handwritten Thank-You Note

In 2008, Maria Muldaur released the album Yes, We Can! She started working on the album in fall of 2007, and she was surprised to learn that Barack Obama was using the slogan "Yes, we can" in his presidential campaign. Ms. Muldaur says, "I realized he'd picked that phrase for his battle cry for the same reason I was attracted to the song. It puts out a very positive message in the face of all these absolutely daunting challenges we're facing as a nation, and as a planet." She sent him her music, and he replied in eight days with a handwritten thank-you note—a rarity these days. Ms. Muldaur says, "I nearly fainted—the only thing I'm used to seeing in the mail are bills." In the note, he wrote, "It perfectly fits the spirit of our campaign. I hope to be able to thank you in person before too long. Until then, be well. Barack Obama." Ms. Muldaur had help recording the album, which she describes as "protest music you can dance to." The backup vocals are from The Women's Voices for Peace Choir, which includes music pros Joan Baez, Holly Near, Odetta, Bonnie Raitt, and Phoebe Snow, as well as movie pro Jane Fonda and writer pro Marianne Williamson. All of these people quickly agreed to participate. Another person who did a good deed was Bob Dylan, whose song "Masters of War" she covered. The original song contains a very strong last verse: "I hope you die, and your death will come soon." Ms. Muldaur understands why Mr. Dylan wrote that verse: "He wrote it when he was an understandably angry 20-year-old looking at being drafted in the Vietnam War." However, that war is over, and Ms. Muldaur is not an angry 20-year-old worrying about being drafted. She says, "Now, those of us who've survived have gleaned enough wisdom to feel you can't create peace by being aggressive and singing lyrics like that. So I was swimming one day and got an inspiration for the last verse." When Ms. Muldaur recorded her cover of Mr. Dylan's song, she ended it with something considerably more upbeat: "A new day is dawning when we'll all live as one." Mr. Dylan is an old friend of hers, and she got in touch with him to explain why she changed the ending of his song. Some artists can be possessive about their songs, but Ms. Muldaur says about her changing his song, "He's good with it." By the way, Yes, We Can! is Ms. Muldaur's 35th album in 35 years. The woman is prolific, something fortunate for the world. (84)

Resurrection

In the early 1980s, the soul group Tower of Power hit a low point in their musical careers. Band founder and tenor saxophonist Emilio Castillo credits Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis and the News fame with resurrecting TOP's careers. Both Mr. Lewis and TOP were from the San Francisco Bay area, and Mr. Lewis asked TOP to tour with him. Mr. Castillo told Mr. Lewis, "Well, I can use the money most certainly. But the only way I'll do it is if you promote the band at every turn." Mr. Lewis agreed to the terms, and he kept his word to TOP. Mr. Castillo says, "He talked about us, literally, in every single interview he did. He would feature us prominently in his show. Tower of Power would also do these midnight concerts in some of the local clubs in the bigger cities we played. Huey would announce them during his show, saying how he and the News were going to the club afterward to sit in. So these places were just besieged with fans. So, yes, he literally resurrected our career." (85)

Beauty and the Chain-Smoker

Leonard Bernstein was a chain smoker who recorded the Verdi Requiem in St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Unfortunately, the Dean of St. Paul's did not allow smoking inside the cathedral, so Mr. Bernstein ended up smoking outside on some bitterly cold rehearsal days. The recording went well, but of course some parts needed to be recorded again. For instance, some church bells from the neighborhood could be heard during one part of the performance. Mr. Bernstein was sweating, working hard, marking places in the score that he would record again after the singers and musicians had enjoyed a 30-minute break. He desperately wanted a cigarette, but he was inside the cathedral with no time to go outside. He moaned, "I'd give anything for a cigarette." The Dean of St. Paul's was present. He had heard and marveled at the Requiem, and he said, "Mr. Bernstein, after the unbelievable beauty you've given us tonight, something I'll never forget as long as I live, please, smoke as much as you like!" The Dean then lit one of Mr. Bernstein's cigarettes for him. (86)

A Jagged Scar

When cellist Pablo Casals was very young, he stayed in Barcelona with a carpenter named Benet Boixados, who was a distant relative of Pablo's mother. (His mother was too busy getting ready to give birth to care for him.) Mr. Boixados had a jagged scar on his arm, which he acquired as a result of his gentle and kind and determined nature. For a long time, he worked, ate his dinner, and then walked in crime-ridden sections of Barcelona, looking for known criminals. Sometimes, he came across them committing a crime, and he often succeeded in stopping the crime. Sometimes, he came across them as they searched for victims to mug. He would give the criminals a lecture and confiscate their weapons: knives and guns. He received the scar from a criminal who did not want to hear his lecture. (87)

"You Have Let Us Play"

Sir Thomas Beecham was much respected as a conductor by members of the orchestras he conducted. On occasion, orchestra leaders would thank him. When Sir Thomas asked what they were thanking him for, they would reply, "You have let us play." (88)

"That's Just What a Responsible Person Does"

Rita Moreno first became aware that she had a huge gay fan base in 1975 when she was acting the role of Googie Gomez in The Ritz on Broadway. On closing night, an enormous number of gay men came to see the show, and at the curtain call, she received 50 to 60 bouquets of flowers. Ms. Moreno remembers, "It was astonishing. I didn't know what to do with that many flowers, so I put them in the tanks and in the bowls of the toilets in my apartment because I couldn't bear the thought of such beautiful tributes dying. We couldn't use our own bathrooms for about a week! We had to use the neighbor's bathroom." In 1979, she did an RSVP gay cruise, and she remembers that when she performed her show, "half of the audience showed up in white ties, winged collars, and nothing else except a towel, because of The Ritz ." At the Hollywood Bowl, Ms. Moreno performed at one of the first AIDS benefits, at a time when that was controversial. Reporters even asked her, "Why are you doing this ?" She considered—and considers—that a "ridiculous question." Ms. Moreno had not been personally affected by the AIDS crisis at that time. She says, "If someone had said they were doing a benefit for homeless people, I would've said, 'What time and where?' That's just what a responsible person does: Help out in any way that you can. My way, as a performer, is to perform. It didn't take any great thinking or deep soul-searching." Of course, Ms. Moreno has won about every significant award for performing that exists, including the Oscar. Her grandsons like her awards, and sometimes they walk around her house wearing things such as her Library of Congress Living Legend medallion. Her grandson Justin loves her Oscar, which he called "the little gold man," and when he won a trophy for soccer, he told her, "Look, Granny, look what I got! I feel so proud. I really feel this should sit right next to the little gold man." Ms. Moreno says, "So to this day, my Oscar is accompanied by a little gold soccer player." (89)

Jon and John

Jon McLaughlin is an American pop/rock singer-songwriter and pianist, while John McLaughlin is an English jazz-fusion guitarist. The similarity in names leads to mishaps, especially when the two are playing concerts in the same city, and especially when someone mistakenly puts an H in Jon's name on the marquee. In 2007, the two musicians were playing at separate venues in Chicago, and some college students bought tickets to the John McLaughlin concert, thinking that they were buying tickets to the Jon McLaughlin concert. (I have no doubt that sometimes the vice-versa mishap occurs.) The students went to the House of Blues, found out their mistake, and then headed to the right venue for the Jon McLaughlin concert. It was sold out, the students were disappointed, but fortunately one of the venue workers called Mr. Jon McLaughlin, who put the students on his list and got them in free. (I have no doubt that Mr. John McLaughlin has done the same thing for his fans.) (90)

Compositions for Nina

Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild, wife of Baron Jules de Koenigswarter, was an unlikely patron of jazz musicians. She did such things as buy their groceries, pay their rent, give them rides in her silver Bentley to their gigs, and even invite them when things were bad to share her home. She said, "I could see that an awful lot of help was needed. I couldn't just stand there and watch." Jazz great Charlie Parker even died in her home. A doctor told him that he needed to rest, so Nina invited him to stay with her. Three days later, as they were watching TV together, he slumped and died. She was white, and the jazz musicians were mainly black, and when she was riding in her silver Bentley with jazz great Thelonious Monk, a police officer stopped them, searched the Bentley, and found some marijuana—a small amount. The marijuana belonged to Thelonious, but Nina said that it was hers because she knew that Thelonious would not be able to get work if he were convicted of marijuana possession. She spent a night in jail, but her three-year jail sentence was fortunately overturned. The jazz musicians paid her back by naming compositions after her. Thelonious wrote "Pannonica," and other jazz musicians wrote such compositions as "Blues for Nica," "Nica Steps Out," "Nica's Dream," "Nica's Tempo," and many more. (91)

Flowers for a Drummer

At times, the Beatles would get angry at each other, and one of them would walk out for a while. Ringo Starr did this while they were recording The White Album. When Ringo cooled down and returned, he found a very nice surprise waiting for him. The other Beatles welcomed him back with hundreds of dollars worth of flowers covering his drum set. (92)

Making a Noise for Charity

At the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Bowery mission, soprano Frances Alda sang at a benefit. Afterward, she was pleased to overhear what some of the people in the audience had to say about her performance. One person said, "She sang just as good for us as she sang for those rich folks at the opera house." His friend replied, "You said it—and can that woman make a noise!" (93)

Composing Music in Aspen for an Entire Summer

Composer Morton Subotnick wanted to go to Aspen and write music for an entire summer, but he couldn't afford it. His teacher, Darius Milhaud, also wanted Mr. Subotnick to go to Aspen and write music for an entire summer, but he also knew that Mr. Subotnick couldn't afford it. Therefore, Mr. Milhaud took action. One evening during which Mr. Subotnick conducted some of Mr. Milhaud's music, Mr. Milhaud clasped one of Mr. Subotnick's hands, and when he stopped clasping Mr. Subotnick's hand, it was holding a check for an amount big enough for Mr. Subotnick to go to Aspen and write music for an entire summer. (94)

Declining an Honorary Degree

Maestro Arturo Toscanini disliked receiving honorary doctorate degrees, and he declined almost every offer of them, saying, "I am a musician, not a doctor." He even shocked Oxford University by declining its degree. However, after declining its degree, he volunteered to conduct a benefit concert for Oxford University, and by doing so he raised a substantial amount of money. (95)

A Power Outage

In the 1965 power outage in New York City, people in high rises ran into problems. The elevators, of course, weren't working, and tenants refused to climb more than six flights to their apartments. This meant that many people slept in the lobby of their apartment building. Sir Rudolf Bing, the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, lived on the 36th floor of Essex House, but he was lucky because the hotel manager gave him a key to a 2nd-floor apartment where he could sleep in peace. (96)

"He Kept the Party Going for Me"

Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC fame was good people. A friend of his named Kool E ran into a problem one night when a DJ he had hired for a night was a no-show. This meant bad business at the lounge he owned. Fortunately, Jay happened by, and he worked the turntable. Kool E says, "Jay stayed there all night spinning for me, using my old turntable and a CD player. He did it all night, and by all night I mean until 4:30 a.m. He kept the party going for me." And Jay didn't charge even a cent for his services. (97)

Taking Photographs of a Dying Man

When singer Nat King Cole was dying, newspapers wanted his photograph. Of course, since Mr. Cole's hair had greyed and his weight had fallen from 170 pounds to 120, the photographs would show that he was very ill. His family wanted to protect his privacy, but photographers showed up as he left his hospital to go to a laboratory to receive cobalt treatments. With tears in their eyes, the photographers explained that they would be fired unless they returned with the photographs, and Mr. Cole allowed them to photograph him. (98)

Coal Miners with Sooty Faces

While touring in America, Emma Calvé arrived in Pittsburgh very tired because of all the singing she had done. Mr. Salignac, with whom she was scheduled to sing that night, was also very tired, and both he and Ms. Calvé felt that they would be unable to give good performances that night. However, before the first act, Ms. Calvé looked at the members of the audience and saw many coal miners with sooty faces. She spoke to Mr. Salignac, and they agreed that despite being exhausted, they would not hold back, but instead would endeavor to give the coal miners, many of whom were probably hearing grand opera for the first time, a magnificent performance. After the opera, Ms. Calvé discovered that many of the coal miners were originally from her own country. They presented her with an enormous wreath and kissed her so many times that her face became as sooty as theirs. (99)

A Trunk Full of Music

When musician Buddy Collette was a child, his parents knew a very good musician named Dootsie Williams. Mr. Williams was also a good man as well as a good musician. Buddy's father mentioned to him, "Our son is 12 and plays saxophone," and Mr. Williams said, "I've got a lot of music. I can send you some music home for him." He then gave Buddy's parents a trunk full of music arrangements to take home to him. The music had all the instruments laid out—what the trombone would play, what the trumpet would play, what the saxophone would play, and so on. Buddy was excited to get the music, and since he had friends who played music, he started a band and eventually played with people such as Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. (100)
CHAPTER 3: Stories 101-150

No Special Treatment for a Star

Famed Soviet Galina Ulanova once flew from Moscow to Leningrad for a performance. Because the Soviet Union greatly respects its ballerinas, an official tried to put her first in the line of waiting passengers, but she declined because she didn't want special treatment. (101)

Generosity in the Service of Art

Good things cost money. Robert Rauschenberg wanted exquisite lace for a costume he had designed for a Merce Cunningham dancer, but the budget didn't permit its purchase. Mr. Rauschenberg went to a fabric store, looked at ordinary lace, then bought exquisite lace, paying the difference in price out of his own pocket. (102)

Kind to a Housekeeper

Fred Astaire was very good to his Irish housekeeper, Jo Cody, buying her a round-trip to Ireland during her vacation each year—and when there was a family emergency in Ireland. He even paid for repairs to her car, and whenever she needed gasoline, he would let her use his credit card. Once, she bought gasoline away from the neighborhood, and the gas station attendant glanced at the credit card and said, "You don't look like Fred Astaire." After that, she bought gas only in Mr. Astaire's neighborhood, where she was known. (103)

Very Important Gifts

When George Balanchine died, he left ballerina Suzanne Farrell two ballets in his will: "Tzigane" and "Don Quixote." Whenever they are performed, she receives royalties. While Mr. Balanchine was still alive, he gave her the ballet "Meditation." The executrix of the Balanchine estate, Barbara Horgan, also gave her Mr. Balanchine's Medal of Freedom, saying, "Suzanne, I think you should have this." (104)

Allowing Birds to Fly Freely

Margot Fonteyn's mother loved living things. Often, she bought birds from pet shops in China, then took them home and allowed them to fly freely in an unused bedroom because she regarded keeping them in a cage as cruel. (105)

Helping an Impoverished Young Dancer

When 14-year-old Alicia Marks joined Sergei Diaghilev's dance company—he renamed her Alicia Markova—she was very poor. It was Mrs. Haskell, a family friend and lover of ballet, who helped her by having several dresses and a fur coat refashioned to fit young Alicia. (106)

Watching Police Lineups

The great dancer Bill Robinson, aka Mr. Bojangles, performed many acts of charity. Often, he would go to the police station and watch the police lineups. Whenever he saw someone in trouble—for example, a youngster—that he felt deserved help, he would pay that person's bail. (107)

The Coolest Dad on Earth

Celebrity interviewer Will Harris once met Tom Kenny, who provides the voice of cartoon character SpongeBob Squarepants. Mr. Kenny did a very good deed for Mr. Harris, who remembers, "I actually met him back in January [2009], and he made me the coolest dad on earth by doing a quick message for my three-year-old daughter in his best SpongeBob voice." Mr. Kenny's friend from childhood and beyond, comedian/writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait, remembers that Tom used to have pictures of the cartoon character Olive Oyl in his locker at school: "He, like, had the hots for Olive Oyl. So the fact that he is a giant voice actor now, it makes complete sense." (108)

Helping Out Some Veterans

Art Linkletter was a famous daytime TV show host in the mid-20th century. On his People are Funny show, he once told a young woman that she was going to be the TV show's representative at a big Hollywood premiere. Of course, she was expecting the premiere to be that of a big Hollywood movie, but the premiere was the opening of a hot-dog stand. Actually, the opening turned out to be more glamorous than you might think. A limousine pulled up and out stepped famous star Roy Rogers, who chatted with the woman and then bought a hot dog. Then another limousine pulled up and out stepped famous comedian Judy Canova, who chatted with the woman and then bought a hot dog. Then another limousine pulled up and out stepped famous comedian Red Skelton, who chatted with the woman and then bought a hot dog. This is a notable good deed because all of these 20th-century stars donated their time. Yes, of course they were making the young woman happy by talking to her, but more importantly they were patronizing a hot-dog stand that had just been opened by five veterans. By patronizing the hot-dog stand, they were making sure that it would be a success. Mr. Linkletter says, "When the cause is just, Hollywood has a heart as big as the Pacific Ocean." (109)

Friends Look Out for Each Other

John Barrymore and Greta Garbo appeared together in the movie Grand Hotel, and they got along very well together. Ms. Garbo nursed him through hangovers and even rearranged a couch during a lunch break so that Mr. Barrymore's famed left profile would face the camera in the next scene. And whenever Mr. Barrymore thought that Ms. Garbo was feeling insecure, he would tell her, "You are the most entrancing woman in the world." Much later, Mr. Barrymore was asked about their relationship together. He replied, "She is a fine lady and a great actress—and the rest is silence." (110)

"Too Cruel"

British broadcaster Fiona Bruce hosts the Antiques Roadshow series, in which experts appraise antiques that are brought to them by members of the general public. A well-dressed man once brought a glass bottle for which he had paid £1,000 and that he believed was worth much more. The Antiques Roadshow glass expert examined the bottle, consulted another expert, and then gave his expert opinion, "I'm afraid it's an empty olive oil bottle, Tesco, circa 2008. It's worth nothing at all." Such a moment would make interesting reality television, of course, but Ms. Bruce decided not to put it on the air. Why make such a decision? She says, "Now I suppose we could have broadcast it—but it was just too cruel. The guy was devastated." She adds, "There's a tiny bit of my brain that realizes it would have made great television. But it's just not what the show's about. Poor chap, poor chap. The thing is, if you come on the Roadshow we are not going to humiliate you. The thing about the Antiques Roadshow is not to humiliate people." In these days of paparazzi and tabloid television, a decision not to broadcast something because it would be "too cruel" is rare. By the way, when Ms. Bruce gave birth to her daughter, she was asked if some medical students could watch. She said yes, and while her legs were in the stirrups and she was taking a breath before the next contraction, she heard one of the students say, "This probably isn't the right time to mention it, but you are my favorite television presenter." She managed to reply, "That's very nice to hear; thank you very much." (111)

Welcoming a New Actor

Bill Cosby worked for a while on TV's The Electric Company, and when he left, a Cuban actor named Luis Avalos took his place. On his first day of work, the directors shot an opening sequence that would be used at the beginning of every episode of the show that season. In this sequence, all the cast was lined up in a row. Mr. Avalos figured that since he was the new guy, and since he was still dressed in a bunny costume from a skit he had performed in, he ought to go to the back of the line, but co-star Rita Moreno, who was at the front of the line, made him stand in front of her so that he was first in line. Ms. Moreno also told him that he was important and never to forget that. Mr. Avalos says, "Rita is a very hardworking, generous woman. She demands the best of herself and of the people she works with." (112)

"Sunny and Warmer Tomorrow, with a High Around 80"

When film critic Roger Ebert was a kid, he used to write to celebrities, some of whom responded. Actress Polly Bergen sent him an 8x10 autographed photo, and Percy Faith sent him a dozen of his 45s. When young Roger asked Stan Freberg for an autographed photograph, Mr. Ebert remembers that the satirist wrote him to say that regrettably "he was all out of photos, but as a consolation was enclosing a hairpin from [actress] Betty Furness." In addition, young Roger once paid an unannounced visit to the radio station WKID, peeking in through the screened door. (Air conditioning was rare back then.) DJ Don McMullen saw him and asked if he could help him. Young Roger said, "I just want to look." Mr. Ebert remembers that Mr. McMullin "let me in, pulled up a chair, and let me watch him at the microphone. He'd read a commercial [...] while using his thumb to hold a cued-up record on a turntable that was already spinning. Then he'd announce the record and lift his thumb. This was unspeakably cool." Then something cooler happened. As a song played, Mr. McMullin retrieved the weather report from the wire ticker, then announced live on the radio, "We have a young announcer here named Roger who is going to tell us about the weather." He then set the weather report in front of young Roger, who announced, "Sunny and warmer tomorrow, with a high around 80." Roger was "dizzy with excitement," and Mr. McMullin said live on the radio, "Good job, Roger." Later, Mr. McMullin married, and Mr. Ebert gave him steak knives. (113)

Welcoming a New Actress

When Sarah Michelle Gellar first began to play Kendall on the TV soap opera All My Children, Susan Lucci, who played Erica Kane, made her feel welcome. On her first day on the job, Sarah walked in and watched Susan rehearse a scene. Suddenly, Susan said, "Hold it! We need to stop for a minute." She then said to Sarah, "Congratulations! I'm very glad you're here." She also introduced Sarah to the other people working on All My Children. Sarah says, "She really helped me and always made sure I was okay during my first couple of weeks." In 1995, Sarah won a daytime Emmy for her work on All My Children. Significantly, she points out, "I won for scenes I submitted with [Susan]. You don't work alone—this was work we did together." (114)

"I Hear You've Been in Some Movies"

Paul Newman was both a movie star (The Hustler, Hud, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Nobody's Fool) and a man whose "Newman's Own" business (which he started with A.E. Hotchner) donated multi-millions to charity. In his bathroom, a framed letter was rumored to be hung. The letter congratulated Mr. Newman for donating so much money to charity, then added, "P.S. I hear you've been in some movies. I'll try to catch those sometime." (115)

Getting into the Palais

Harvey and Bob Weinstein are big-time movie producers now, but long ago they were kids at the Cannes Film Festival without a pass to get into any movies. Once, they were standing outside the Palais by the stage door, without tickets, but hoping to sneak in and find a seat. Harvey remembers, "An official festival limo pulled up, and Clint Eastwood got out. We probably looked needy. He sized us up, held open the door, and let us in. To this day, we both make it a point to let someone into the Palais." (116)

An Extensive Gift

J.J. Abrams wrote the movie Armageddon, directed Mission: Impossible III, and has been involved with such TV series as Lost and Alias. He has loved movies and special effects since he was a kid, and he wrote many of his heroes, some of whom responded. For example, Dick Smith, who worked on the makeup of the characters in the horror movie The Exorcist, sent him a gift. J.J. remembers, "Dick Smith sent me a little cardboard box with a tongue inside. It was one of the fake tongue extensions from The Exorcist, with a note saying, 'Just stick a dab of peanut butter on the end and put it on.'" (117)

"I Will Save a Life"

Movie actress Pam Grier (Jackie Brown, Foxy Brown, Escape from LA) has done a lot of things in her life, including saving the life of a wounded horse by hauling it to the vet in the back seat of her Jaguar. The horse actually belonged to her then-boyfriend Richard Pryor. Dogs attacked the horse, it was bleeding, and Richard was crying. Pam took action. She said, "We're getting this horse to the vet." They got the horse loaded in the back seat of her four-door Jaguar and took off. Of course, other drivers were shocked by what they saw—a car with a horse in the back, and two black people, one wearing a bathrobe, in the front. Ms. Grier says, "I am going to save a life. I don't care about the car." (118)

"Why I'll Always Love Frank Sinatra"

Mitzi Gaynor starred in South Pacific, but she almost didn't. She needed to do a screen test to get a role in that movie, but at the time she was making the movie The Joker is Wild, directed by Charles Vidor and starring Frank Sinatra, and Mr. Vidor did not think that he could spare Ms. Gaynor for the day it would take her to do the screen test. He told her, "We shoot your most important scene that day." Fortunately, Mr. Sinatra learned about what was happening, and he asked Mr. Vidor, "Can we work around her?" Mr. Vidor replied, "Well, it's up to you." Mr. Sinatra then told Ms. Gaynor, "We'll work around you. We're going to get you this job." Ms. Gaynor says, "That's one reason why I'll always love Frank Sinatra." (119)

Getting Help When Help was Needed

In March of 1989, Michael Moore was finishing his first movie, Roger and Me, about the Detroit automobile industry. He was also broke, having cashed his last unemployment check, and so he had to rely on the kindness of friends for the necessities of life and an occasional luxury. He writes, "Bob and Siri would take me out to dinner and always pick up the check, the assistant manager at the movie theater would sneak me in so I could watch an occasional movie, Laurie and Jack bought an old Steenbeck (editing) machine for me, John Richard would slip me an unused plane ticket so I could go home for Christmas, Rod would do anything for me and drive to Flint whenever I needed something for the film." Two other people who helped by giving him money to finish his movie were his parents, who gave him a check for $1,000 at a time when he didn't even know they had a thousand dollars. He really needed that kind of help. He remembers his 9-year-old car dying on him on Pennsylvania Avenue. He had no money for repairs or for a tow truck, so he cried. Then he removed the license plates to avoid getting a fine he could not pay, and he abandoned his car by the National Archives. Today, Mr. Moore is probably the most popular (as well as the most hated) documentary filmmaker in the world. (120)

Generous Coworkers

Cheryl Hines played Larry David's young and patient wife on the TV sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm. She had long known that she wanted to be an actress, but it took a major effort of the will to make herself move to Los Angeles. Finally, her mother told her, "You have to move. I know you've been wanting to do this." She moved to LA with $2,000, and she started making a living as a bartender, getting an occasional bit part as an actress. She met a sister of Phil Hartman and learned about the Groundlings, who practiced improv. She was vastly interested but impoverished. Even though she talked—endlessly—about the Groundlings, she couldn't afford to study with them. Fortunately, her coworkers got together and paid for her first lesson. (121)

A Generous Employer

Harrison Ford shot to fame in George Lucas' movies Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark, but he almost did not take the acting job he was offered in Mr. Lucas' first big hit: American Graffiti. Mr. Ford was working as a carpenter, making twice as much money as Mr. Lucas offered him to act in the movie, so he turned down the job. Fortunately, Mr. Lucas offered him another $15 a week. Mr. Ford accepted it and began a very lucrative association with Mr. Lucas. The film had a small budget, and Elvis Presley's music is not in it because Mr. Lucas could not afford the fee to use the music. Mr. Ford remembers this about shooting the film: "very little time, very little money, and very few doughnuts. I almost got fired for taking more than my share of doughnuts." Mr. Lucas was a generous employer. When American Graffiti became an unexpected smash hit, he gave away cars and money to some of the people who were involved in its making. Both the cast and the crew got a share of the profits. Actor Ron Howard remembers, "It was a totally and completely uncommon act. [...] it was such a wonderfully gracious thing to do." Mr. Lucas' golden touch continued with the hugely moneymaking Star Wars. After Star Wars opened big, his friend Francis Ford Coppola sent him this telegram: "SEND MONEY." (122)

No Paparazzi at a Funeral

Audrey Hepburn was bothered by the paparazzi, even when she was dying. One of her final pleasures was taking a short walk in her garden in Switzerland, but even that was once interrupted by a helicopter flying low for the purpose of getting photographs of her. After she died, one of her sons, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, asked a family friend who was a retired colonel if he could do anything to stop the paparazzi from using helicopters to get photographs of her funeral. The retired colonel did not make any promises; after all, this was Switzerland—but at the funeral no helicopters flew over. Later, Sean discovered that the area had been legally declared a no-fly zone the day of the funeral. (123)

Will Work for Health Insurance

Tom Villard was a gay actor whose most famous role was probably in the TV series We Got It Made. Unfortunately, he developed AIDS, and because he hadn't been acting much he was about to lose his Screen Actors Guild health insurance. Therefore, he came out of the closet in hopes that the publicity would give him enough visibility to convince someone to hire him, thus allowing him to keep his health insurance. Mary Jo Slater, the mother of actor Christian Slater, came through for him. A casting director, she found him the acting role he needed. Celebrity publicist Howard Bragman says, "To me, she's a hero. She never asked for praise—she did it because it was the right thing to do. It still moves me to this day when I think about her kindness and compassion." (124)

Becoming a Paraplegic

On May 27, 1995, actor Christopher Reeve, star of four Superman movies, fell from his horse during a riding company, broke his neck, and became a paraplegic. He could have died or have suffered brain damage through not being able to breathe on his own, but fortunately an anesthesiologist—who has never been named—happened to be present and gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Paramedics then took over until Mr. Reeve could see doctors at a hospital. At first, Mr. Reeve thought about ending his life. He even asked his wife, Dana, about it. She told him that "I want you to know that I'll be with you for the long haul, no matter what." She also added a few other words—words that Mr. Reeve says saved his life: "You're still you. And I love you." (125)

Adopting a Dog

Rick and George, two close friends of Jamie Lee Curtis, both died of AIDS. George died first, and then Rick. As Rick lay dying, he asked Jamie to take care of their dog, Teddy. Jamie agreed immediately without even asking her husband and child. She says, "I just took Teddy home with me, knowing that my husband, Chris, and our daughter, Amy, would understand. Teddy was depressed for a while, but Jamie says, "Gradually, he's become spry and playful again. He's a lovely addition to our family." (126)

A Man of Humility as Well as a Force for Good

In the 1960s, many teenagers in Los Angeles tuned into The Lloyd Thaxton Show, which featured teenagers dancing to popular music, and which was later syndicated. Mr. Thaxton stood up for racial equality. When James Brown appeared on a segment of his syndicated show, some TV stations refused to show that segment. Mr. Thaxton withdrew his TV show from those stations. He was a man of humility as well as a force for good. Every show closed with Mr. Thaxton saying, "My name is Lloyd Thaxton"—and the teenagers yelling, "So what?" (127)

The Closest She Ever Came to Dying

The closest that British actress Julie Walters has ever come to dying is during a trip to Corfu. She swam out to a rock, but while she was swimming a storm sprang up and made the water choppy and difficult to swim in. She arrived at the rock so exhausted that she couldn't climb out of the water. Fortunately, a man saw her and pulled her up on the rock so she could rest and breathe. By the way, Ms. Walters tells this joke: "An elephant met a mouse in the jungle and the mouse said, 'Bloody hell, you're absolutely enormous.' And the elephant said, 'Well, you're really, really little.' And the mouse said, 'Yes, but I haven't been well.'" (128)

The Voice of Hollywood

Don LaFontaine was the voice of many thousands of Hollywood movie trailers and of many tens of thousands of commercials. He was in such demand that he travelled in a chauffeured limo from studio to studio to make voiceovers. He was also a kind man who showed many newcomers the ropes, inviting them to spend a day with him to see how the system worked. Ashton Smith, a fellow voice artist, wrote about Mr. LaFontaine when he died, "When you die, the voice you hear in heaven is not Don's. It's God trying to sound like Don." (129)

"Borrowing" a Pound of Meat

American movie producer William Fox grew up poor. Once, when he was small, his family sent him to the butcher to "borrow" a pound of meat. The butcher smiled, gave him the meat, then asked when the little boy was going to return the favor. Little Billy promised when he was a big man that he would see to it that the butcher was taken care of. After he grew up, he gave the butcher a high-paying job to provide meat for the movie stars at Fox's movie studio. (130)

"I will Dedicate My Life to Him"

Neil Simon wrote some movies for actor Jack Lemmon, but he feels that he should have written more for him. When Mr. Simon first came to Hollywood, a big party attended by many big stars was held in his honor, but the big stars ignored Mr. Simon except when they were being introduced to him—with the exception of Mr. Lemmon, who said to him, "How you doin', kid?" Mr. Lemmon also touched Mr. Simon's arm. You may think that this does not sound like much, but Mr. Simon disagrees: "That was it, but for me it was everything, and he was the only one that night who actually spoke to me. Right there, I promised myself, 'I will dedicate my life to him.'" (131)

"Every Time I See Steven, I Get My Hug"

Steven Spielberg's early movie mentor was Chuck Silvers, head librarian at Universal Pictures. Steven, who was then very young, had taken a tram ride around Universal Pictures. The tram was not stopping where Steven wanted to go, so he snuck away during a bathroom break and started wandering around. Steven remembers, "I met a man who asked what I was doing, and I told him my story. Instead of calling the guards to throw me off the lot, he talked with me for about an hour. His name was Chuck Silvers." One of the things they talked was the films that Stephen made in his spare time. Mr. Silvers gave him a studio pass, and Steven showed him some of his films. Even that early in his life, Steven had talent, and Mr. Silvers recognized it. Eventually, Stephen made a 35mm film to demonstrate his talent to movie studio executives. Mr. Silvers saw it, was impressed, and telephoned the President of Universal TV, Sidney J. Sheinberg, to say, "I have a 26-minute film here that you must see. You've got to see it tonight because someone else is liable to see it tomorrow." Mr. Sheinberg saw the film, was impressed, and offered Steven a seven-year contract. Steven says, "I quit college so fast I didn't even clean out my locker." Steven told Mr. Silvers about the contract and asked what he could do to repay him. Mr. Silvers replied, "I want two things. I want you to help, in any way you can, young people like yourself." What was the second thing? "Whenever we meet, I want a hug." Later—in fact, 26 years later—Mr. Silvers says, "He kept his word. Every time I see Steven, I get my hug." (132)

A Famous Seller of Popcorn

In 1928, Clara Bow received a letter from a little boy whose mother had a popcorn stand at the World's Fair at Long Beach, and he asked her to help him sell popcorn when she attended the Fair on Clara Bow Day. She did, but she didn't have to help him for very long. With the famous actress Clara Bow selling the popcorn, the popcorn stand sold out in 15 minutes. (133)

An Apology with Flowers

Margaret Webster was called on to play Lady Macbeth at short notice because of an emergency, and during her airplane trip to the theater she closed her eyes and tried hard to remember the business she must perform on stage that evening. A man noticed her and offered, "I have some airsickness tablets, if you would like one." She declined, and after that evening's performance she found a huge bouquet of flowers waiting for her at her hotel, with the note, "Never again will I mistake a rehearsal of the sleepwalking scene for airsickness." (134)

"We were at the Old Vic Together, You Know"

Early in Judi Dench's career, she acted a minor role as one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting in an Old Vic production of Henry VIII, which starred John Gielgud in a major role. Later, in New York, she went backstage to see Mr. Gielgud after he had performed Ages of Man, his one-person Shakespeare recital. Mr. Gielgud saw her and said, "Oh, Judi, how nice to see you." He then turned to his friends and said, "We were at the Old Vic together, you know"—just as if they had been stars on stage together. (135)

A Hot Roll and Butter

Jack Gilford played a very unassuming guy in Broadway's and TV's The World of Sholem Aleichem who in Heaven was given the gift of having anything he wanted. He asked for a hot roll and butter everyday. Even late in his life, when Mr. Gilford ate in a restaurant, other diners sometimes ordered a hot roll and butter to be sent to his table. (136)

"Can't You Speak the Line Like That?

Edwin Forrest, the famous 19th-century actor, was a very generous man. Once he tried hard but without success to get an actor to speak a line in a certain way. Finally, after several times demonstrating how to speak the line, he asked, "Can't you speak the line like that?" The actor replied, "No, sir. If I could, I wouldn't be working for $5 a week." After asking the actor if that was all he made, and having the figure confirmed, Mr. Forrest said, "In that case, you may speak the line any way you like." However, Mr. Forrest made sure that the actor's salary was raised. (137)

A Grade of D

In the 6th grade, a student had a math teacher and performed well in his class. In the 11th grade, the student again had the same teacher in a course in plane geometry, but this time the student struggled, earning F's on the tests. However, when his grade report card was given to him, the student discovered that he had received a D in the course. Asking the teacher why he had received a D when he had earned an F, the student learned that the teacher had faith that the student would eventually learn the material and that the teacher didn't want to give him a grade that could keep him out of college. Soon after, the student began to understand plane geometry, and the student earned a perfect score on his midterm test. (138)

"An Opportunity to Teach Me Something"

When he was young, Roy DeBerry visited his grandmother during the Jim Crow days, and he saw an impoverished white man coming to visit her. She started preparing food, so he knew that she was going to feed the white man. Roy said, "Grandma, what does this cracker want?" His grandmother told him, "You don't do that. You don't call someone a 'cracker.' This man wants some food. He's hungry." A grown-up Mr. DeBerry says, "I remember her feeding him, and that was really the first time I saw a white man come to our house for food. She also used that as an opportunity to teach me something." (139)

A Non-Event?

Some good deeds may not seem like much until you consider what might have happened if the good deed were not done. In 2008, finance writer Andrew Tobias and fashion designer Charles Nolan, who are boyfriends, were walking on West 56th Street in New York City. Mr. Nolan smelled smoke, and he traced the smoke to a bunch of plastic bags. Apparently, someone had tossed away a lit cigarette, which had landed on the bags, burned through a bag, and reached a rag that was now smoldering. Mr. Nolan ripped open the bag, took out the smoldering rag, and stomped on it to put it out. This doesn't sound like much, right? It sounds like a non-event, right? That's what Mr. Tobias thought until he realized that "the smolder would likely have become a blaze, igniting the adjacent tower of cardboard, which in turn could have ignited the wooden scaffolding overhead, which in turn could have led to live coverage on Eyewitness News." (140)

Sharing the Fruits of the Earth

A couple once knocked on the front door of author Jim Hightower's home. They had noticed that the fig tree in his front yard was bearing ripe fruit, and they asked if they could please harvest some figs. Mr. Hightower was going out of town on a trip, so he said, "Sure, have at 'em." When he returned from his trip, he found by his front door two jars of delicious fig jam. These days, something called "urban fruit foraging" is happening. Many people have fruit trees, but they don't pick all of the fruit. In Oregon is the Portland Fruit Tree Project. Owners of fruit trees sign up, and then they alert others when the fruit is almost ripe. A harvest is organized, and the fruit is not wasted. Fruit trees bear lots of fruit, and one of the organizers of the Portland Fruit Tree Project says, "A fruit tree is really made for sharing with your neighborhood." (141)

Attacking the Attacker

In 1932, Nell Mitchell, an 88-year-old resident in Memphis, Tennessee, did not feel well. Her doctor, who had made a house call, worried about leaving her alone, but she reassured him that she would be OK. She wasn't completely alone, as her cat, Shade McCorkle, was with her; besides, soon her husband would be home. Her doctor left then, but soon someone entered her house without permission. The intruder asked for food, but Nell replied that she was too sick to fix food for him. The intruder then demanded her wedding ring, which Nell gave to him. That did not satisfy the intruder, who started to beat Nell. Fortunately, Shade the cat jumped on the intruder and started biting and clawing his throat. The intruder ran away, but the police quickly found and arrested him. Because of his heroism, Shade the cat won the Latham Foundation Gold Medal. (142)

Surviving Hurricane Katrina and Its Aftermath

When Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans on August 29, 2005, many pets had to be abandoned. Two of them were a young dog with a bobbed tail and a cat without a tail. Apparently, the dog was left tethered but had broken free because four months after Katrina, a construction worker named Rich found the two animals and saw that the dog was trailing a long chain from its collar. Both the dog and the cat were very thin. The construction worker fed the two animals and then decided to take them to a safe place. The dog would growl whenever Rich got near the cat, so he lured the cat into his van with a bowl of cat food. With the dog and the cat safely in his car, the construction worker took them to a temporary animal shelter that the organization Best Friends Animal Society had set up. A volunteer there named the dog Bobbi and the cat Bob Cat because the animals' tails were missing. At the animal shelter Bobbi and Bob Cat were separated at first, but Bobbi the dog howled until Bob Cat was brought to him. The dog and the cat then touched noses. The volunteers watched Bob Cat and noticed that he stayed close to Bobbi and that when he walked he put his paws down very carefully as if unsure what they would touch. One volunteer then waved a hand in front of Bob Cat's eyes. Bob Cat did not react, and the volunteers realized that Bob Cat was blind and that Bobbi had been acting as a seeing-eye dog for him. Later, Bobbi and Bob Cat were taken to the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah, where a woman named Melinda who had a Boston Terrier named Gus-Gus adopted them and took them to a ranch in southern Oregon. (143)

Two Choices: Alcoholics Anonymous or a Sanitarium

The father of New York Times bestselling author Ridley Pearson was an alcoholic who would stop at a bar for a shot of vodka at 8 a.m., at noon, and after work. He nearly died of alcoholism three times, and his wife told him that he had two choices: Alcoholics Anonymous or a sanitarium. This time, AA worked, and he stayed sober. Ridley says, "He discovered his family. He went on to manage AA worldwide for 15 years. Got hundreds of people sober. Maybe saved a few lives in there as I smelled coffee from downstairs at three in the morning and heard the mumble of dispirited voices. A good man. A man who cared. A spiritual man by midlife and a quirky, bright, loving man who is now in photographs, and memories, and who puts a lump in my throat just to remind me to love my neighbor regardless of circumstance." (144)

An Honest Soul

At the Chicago Herald-Examiner, John J. "Jack" McPhaul sometimes was given a lot of money to do such things as buy photographs. When the Herald-Examiner learned that Harry F. McCormick had married his nurse, he and city editor Roscoe Conkling (Duffy) Cornell got ten $100 bills in expense money and headed to Mr. McCormick's house. Duffy stayed in the taxi, but Jack rang the doorbell and talked to the housekeeper, a woman with a Scottish accent. Inside the house he saw a photograph of a woman and asked the housekeeper if the woman in the photograph was the bride. The housekeeper nodded yes, and Jack said, "Madam, if you'll turn your back, I'll put $1,000 on the table and take the picture." The housekeeper told him, "Now you know I wouldn't allow you to do that." After a little more conversation, she asked him, "Young man, don't you know you're employed in a shameful business." He replied, "Yes, ma'm." Back in the taxi, he told Duffy that he had been unable to get the photograph. Duffy said, "D*mn it to h*ll." Jack explained, "I met an honest woman." Duffy again said, "D*mn it to h*ll," but Jack writes that "as he said no more, I suspect he was as pleased as I to have encountered an honest soul." (145)

Wal-Mart to the Rescue

On July 15, 2009, a man and his young son came into the Red Cross chapter in Athens, Ohio, while his wife stayed outside with a 4-month-old baby whom they had discovered on their doorstep a few days before. The man and his family needed supplies to take care of the baby, and they lacked money to buy the supplies. The Red Cross started making telephone calls to find some organization or business that could help with the supplies. Eventually, they called the Athens Wal-Mart, whose assistant manager immediately agreed to give the family whatever they needed to take care of the baby, including formula, diapers, and clothing. In a letter to the editor of The Athens News, Pamela Martino, Executive Director of the Athens County Red Cross, wrote, "On behalf of the Athens County Red Cross, I want to thank Wal-Mart for their kindness, generosity and quick response when help could NOT wait!" (146)

Two Cars and a Good Man

The first woman to be elected United States Senator from Texas is Kay Bailey Hutchinson. Her father, Allan Bailey, always bought Buicks and Plymouths—nothing fancy, with one exception. Both he and his wife had cars, and when she was diagnosed with cancer in 1960, it was time to trade in her car for another one. She told him to wait because if the cancer spread and she died, the family would not need a second car. He traded it in anyway, and he bought a brand-new Cadillac. Kay Bailey Hutchinson says that the fancy car was a way for her father to tell her mother, "You are going to live, and I love you very much." The surgery for cancer was successful, she lived, and when the Cadillac needed to be traded in, it was traded in for a Buick. Mr. Bailey was a kind man. He once sold a used car to a man who turned out to be a student. Discovering that the student was studying for a Ph.D., Mr. Bailey would not take any money from him just then—not even a down payment. He told the student to get his Ph.D. and then begin paying for the car. Four years later, the student got his Ph.D. and started paying for the car. By the way, the student became a NASA engineer. (147)

A Series of Good Deeds

Yousuf Karsh suffered through the persecution of Armenians during the early 20th century; fortunately, his father moved the family to Syria. Also fortunately, an uncle named George Nakash allowed Yousuf to live with him in Canada. Of course, Yousuf was worried about making friends in a new country, but quickly he and his Canadian classmates became friends. Mr. Nakash was an established photographer, and he gave Yousuf a camera. Yousuf took a photograph of playing children and presented it to a classmate, who entered it without Yousuf's knowledge in a photography contest—Yousuf won the 1st-place prize of $50. (Yousuf sent $40 to his parents in Syria, and he gave $10 to his classmate.) With the impetus of these good deeds—his uncle taking him in, his Canadian classmates being friendly, one particular Canadian classmate liking Yousuf's photograph so much that he entered it in a photography contest without Yousuf's knowledge—and lots of his own hard work, Yousuf became a world-famous photographer. (148)

DUBT

The Buckley family had lots of children, so William F. Buckley ended up with 49 nieces and nephews, whom he called "N and Ns." He did a lot to take care of them, including contributing toward their educations. In addition, he set up the Dear Uncle Bill Trust (DUBT, pronounced "Doubt") so he could give them (on a rotating basis) special surprises such as a musical instrument or a vacation. (149)

Shopping with Oxygen Tanks

Singer Céline Dion's niece, Karine Menard, was born with cystic fibrosis. While Karine was still alive, the two would go shopping together, even if it meant carrying oxygen tanks with them. At age 16, Karine was in a hospital. Karine wanted to wear fresh pajamas, so Céline and Karine's mother helped her change into them. Céline sang for Karine, and Karine talked about the good things that had happened in her life. Then she died. Karine is an important reason why Céline is such a strong supporter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. (150)
CHAPTER 4: Stories 151-200

An April 15 Good Deed

One of author Gretchen Rubin's friends performed a good deed on April 15—the day by which people need to have their tax forms mailed to the IRS. At the post office, a huge line was in front of the sole stamp machine. The friend waited in line, then she bought many more stamps than she needed—$20 worth. She then went down the line, asking people how many stamps they needed and giving them that many stamps. This made many people happy. Some people were happy because they got free stamps; other people were happy because the line quickly became shorter. For $20, she was able to bring a lot of happiness into the world. (151)

A Mother in Distress

In May of 2009, in Suffolk County, Long Island, a mother duck ran into problems when her 14 ducklings fell through a grate into a storm drain. Greatly distressed, she flapped her wings and quacked. Someone called the police, and Suffolk County Officer Eileen Emiddio responded. She climbed into the storm drain and rescued the ducklings. She says, "They were all cuties. I was able to scoop them out with my police hat." The mother duck apparently counted heads, and satisfied, she then led the ducklings to a nearby pond. Ms. Emiddio has several times rescued ducklings. She says, "It's a common call this time of year." (152)

Paying It Forward

On May 8, 2009, a woman named Vanessa (no last name given) and her husband went to the Maltby Cafe, in Maltby, WA, for breakfast. When the time came to pay their bill, their waitress told them, "Your tab has been paid for." She explained further, "Funny thing. We had a really large party here this morning and they decided to pay for another party's tab. Those people then paid for someone else's tab and those people have paid for yours!" Vanessa immediately said, "Let's keep it going!" She and her husband then paid the tab for the couple who were sitting next to them in the restaurant. (153)

Knee-Pads and Other Needs

On the morning of April 19, 1995, a bomb exploded in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It killed 168 people, including nineteen children. Immediately, help was on the way for the survivors. Rescue squads rushed to the scene, and ordinary people did all they could to help. Citizens donated blood, and they took carloads of supplies to the scene of the bombing. Restaurants donated food to feed the emergency workers, and a sporting goods store donated knee-pads to people looking through the wreckage for survivors, several of whom were found. (154)

An Injustice Corrected After 12 Years

Terry Colangelo had learned that a good reporter knew what was going on and so he or she needed to read lots of newspapers thoroughly. She followed this advice, and she read this in the classifieds ad section of a newspaper: "$5,000 Reward for killers of Officer Lundy on Dec. 9, 1932." The murder had occurred 12 years previously, and she was interested in why a reward was being offered at that late date. It turned out that a man had been convicted of the murder, and for the last 12 years his mother had been working at night as a scrubwoman. All of the money she had earned she had saved to establish the reward. Several reporters got involved in what had seemed at first to be only a human-interest story, and they uncovered evidence that the scrubwoman's son was innocent of the murder and had been represented by an alcoholic, incompetent lawyer at his trial and appeal. Eventually, Illinois Governor Dwight H. Green pardoned the scrubwoman's son on the unanimous recommendation of the Illinois Department of Correction. (155)

A Gay Friend

In 1992, Garth Brooks released a song titled "We Shall Be Free," in support of minorities of all kinds, including gays. Mr. Brooks does have gay friends, as pretty much everyone does (although they may not know it). At a club, he met a gay friend, hugged him, as he always does, and sat at the bar with him. The gay man held his hand at the bar, which at first made Mr. Brooks uneasy, especially since people were looking at him. However, Mr. Brooks thought, "Which is going to bother you more? People seeing you hold this guy's hand, or how he's going to feel if you pull your hand away?" Mr. Brooks then relaxed and kept holding his gay friend's hand. (And yes, Mr. Brooks is straight, married, and has children.) (156)

A Home for Two Newlyweds

Colin Powell married Alma Johnson. Both were African-American, and because Mr. Powell was stationed in pre-Civil Rights North Carolina, they suffered from Jim Crow. Mr. Powell had trouble finding adequate housing for himself and his wife, so he thought that he would be forced to send his wife to live back home with her parents. Fortunately, a white fellow soldier, Joe Schwar, insisted that the Powells live in his home with his family, even though doing that could have made the Schwars a target of racists. Mr. Powell says, "What the Schwars did for two desperate newlyweds long years ago is one of the great kindnesses that Alma and I have ever experienced." (157)

"Laughter" in Swahili

Donna Shalala, the President of the University of Miami, had a friend named Dr. Elizabeth Karlin, who had a dog named Cheka. When both of them were living in Wisconsin, they frequently walked their dogs together, and Cheka always carried a stuffed animal in his mouth. Donna moved away from Wisconsin, but after finding out that her friend Liz had an incurable brain tumor, she returned for a visit. Liz was worried about Cheka because her children were unable to take care of him after she died. Donna thought, What better gift can I give my friend? Then she said, "Send him to me." Soon, Cheka arrived at her house. After being depressed for around four months, he perked up. Donna says about Cheka, "His name means 'laughter' in Swahili, and he really is the best medicine I know." (158)

"He Chose Purple. And We Chose a Son"

On October 11, 2008 (Coming-Out Day), a Daily Kos reader who is a PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) Mother and who posted using the name "1864 House," wrote about how she acquired two gay sons. Her two straight daughters were the results of hours of birth pains, but her two gay sons were not. Her first gay son (her daughter's best friend) became hers after he came out at age 16. The PFLAG mother writes, "He didn't talk about his situation at home too much, but we weren't surprised when he went home one night and found all his belongings in black plastic trash bags in the back yard. [...] The only logical response was to put my arms around him and ask, 'What color do you want to paint your room?' He chose purple. And we chose a son." Her second gay son became hers when her first gay son brought home a gay boy ("R") who was on the streets. This second gay boy was thinking about buying a bus ticket to San Francisco, hoping to be lucky enough to find a place to stay there. The PFLAG mother writes, "We talked to R and convinced him to stay with us for at least a couple of days so we could help him figure out a better, safer plan. He ended up staying for five years, until he moved to the Twin Cities to finish school." Now, all of her children—two straight daughters and two gay sons—are in their late 20s and have moved from her home—and she and her husband are still active in promoting acceptance of gay people. She concludes, "I am proud to say that someone I love is gay." (159)

Biting the Arm Attached to the Hand That Feeds You

On April 13, 1931, in Minneapolis, MN, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Remackel were asleep in their apartment when a next-door neighbor decided to set the building on fire. Their pet Spitz, Buster, woke up first, and he went to Mrs. Remackel's bedroom at 4 a.m. and woke her up, licking her face, pulling the blanket off the bed, and finally lightly biting her arm—but not hard enough to break the skin. Finally awake and smelling smoke, Mrs. Remackel woke up her husband, who was in another room. The Remackels made it to safety, and Buster went from door to door in the apartment building, barking and throwing himself against the doors, making lots of noise. The neighbors also got out safely. The last thing that Buster saved was Fluffy, the Remackels' Persian cat. No one died in the fire, no one was injured, and the man who set the fire was arrested. Several newspapers in Minneapolis wrote about Buster, and in 1932 he received a Gold Medal, the highest honor given by the Latham Foundation. (160)

Rescue in a Blizzard

In 1983, so much snow fell that schools closed in the New Jersey town where 11-year-old Andrea Anderson lived. Andrea and her two sisters enjoyed the day off, and they played outside in the snow. Andrea's two sisters eventually got so cold that they went inside again, but Andrea stayed outside a while longer. Eventually, she got so cold that she decided to go inside, too. However, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped. The wind was stronger than Andrea, and it drove the 65-pound girl into a deep snow bank. Because of the fierce wind, Andrea was unable to get out of the snow bank. She screamed for help, but the wind kept human beings from hearing her. Fortunately, Villa, a 100-pound Newfoundland puppy owned by neighbors, heard her. Villa was in a fenced area, but she jumped over the five-foot fence and ran to Andrea and licked her face. Andrea grabbed on to Villa's neck, and Villa pulled her out of the snow bank. Because of the wind and the snow, Andrea couldn't see any houses, but she held on to Villa's neck as Villa led her to Andrea's house, then scratched on the door. Andrea's mother opened the door, and she was shocked to find that the weather had grown so bad that it had become the Blizzard of '83 and that her daughter would have died in it if not for the Newfoundland puppy who had rescued her. (161)

A Brave Chihuahua

At age 35, Patricia Metcalf learned from her doctors that her time left on this Earth might not be all that long because of her irregular heartbeat. Thinking of what she wanted to do with the rest of her life, she bought something she had always wanted: a horse. The two-year-old mare seemed destined for a slaughterhouse, but Patricia bought and rescued it and named it Cee Doc Dance. While riding and taking care of her horse in Brevard County, Florida, Patricia did not waste away and die. Instead, carrying bales of hay and 50-pound bags of horse feed made her strong and healthy. One day, while on foot in a cattle pasture, Patricia was confronted with a threatening bull. Fortunately, Dee Doc Dance galloped over and stood between Patricia and the bull. Dee Doc Dance's ears were back and she was shaking her head, and the bull decided not to attack. Patricia remembers the day that she bought Dee Doc Dance and kept her from the slaughterhouse, and she says, "Two lives were saved that day." (162)

Helping a Toddler

While waiting in a park for some friends to show up, 10-year-old Lim Min noticed a crying toddler. The toddler was alone, and the toddler told Lim that she wanted to go home. Lim at first did not know what to do, but then decided to take the toddler around to houses in the neighborhood, ringing doorbells and carrying the toddler when the little girl grew tired. Eventually, they came to the right house, and the toddler's relieved mother took possession of her, telling Lim that the toddler had walked out of an open door when the babysitter wasn't watching her—the toddler's mother had even telephoned the police out of worry. Lim says, "That long afternoon walk turned out to be a wonderful day." (163)

A Christmas Gift

Harper Lee wanted to be a writer, so she went to New York City, where she met Harold Arlen, who had written the song "Over the Rainbow," which Judy Garland sang in The Wizard of Oz. Ms. Lee became friends with him and his wife, Joy Brown, a dancer, and she even spent a Christmas with them when she was unable to return to her home in the South to be with family. They always exchanged inexpensive gifts; after all, Ms. Lee had little money, so to keep her from feeling bad they established a game: whoever gave the least expensive gift won. This Christmas, however, Mr. Arlen and his wife did not play that game. Instead, they presented Ms. Lee with enough money to cover her expenses for a year. This turned out to be the perfect gift, as Ms. Lee used that year to write To Kill a Mockingbird. (164)

A Rare Ability

When critic Richard Cork visited artist Francis Bacon's house in Reece Mews, South Kensington, on October 1971 for the first time, he was surprised by its "ramshackle state." For instance, the doorbell did not work. However, Mr. Bacon had a perfectly reasonable explanation for the doorbell not working: "I don't actually want the bell to work, because if it did, I'd have to see all sorts of terrible people I don't want to see at all." In January 1991, Mr. Cork again visited Mr. Bacon's house. The doorbell still didn't work. By the way, Mr. Bacon could be very generous at times. The writer/television producer Daniel Farson experienced difficulties at the end of 1985. Mr. Bacon wrote him just before Christmas, saying, "I am sorry things are not going well, but I am sure they will. I enclose £1,000. I hope it will be some help." Mr. Farson praised Mr. Bacon's "rare ability to give one money without making one feel wretchedly in his debt." (165)

A Famous Nurses' Aide

While visiting her sister in Toronto, Canada, during Christmas of 1917, Amelia Earhart saw four Canadian men on crutches who had been wounded overseas during World War I. Affected by their injures, Ms. Earhart became a nurses' aide in Toronto at the Spadina Military Hospital. By the way, Ms. Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Her mother, Amy, also made a first—she was the first woman to climb to the top of Pike's Peak, a mountain in central Colorado. (166)

Black and Beautiful

After singer/actress Jennifer Lopez made it big, she bought her parents a black Cadillac for Christmas. She blindfolded her mother, then guided her out of the house. When her mother took off the blindfold, she saw "this beautiful car with a big, red ribbon on it." (167)

God's Love We Deliver

Many Jews do good deeds on Christmas, often allowing Gentiles to stay home with their family. On Christmas comedian Joan Rivers sometimes volunteers for God's Love We Deliver and delivers meals to people with AIDS. (168)

An Extra Paycheck

David Hutmacher of Marietta, Georgia, became seriously ill, using up all of his vacation and sick leave in his three stays in a hospital stays, including two operations. On December 1, he received his paycheck, but because of his many absences, it was for approximately 10 percent of the usual amount. With Christmas approaching, he was worried. He and his wife, a schoolteacher, were paying the bills, but no money was available for anything but the necessities. On December 15, he received a paycheck—something that surprised him because he was not able to work until at least mid-January. The paycheck was large—it included two full weeks of pay plus the 90 percent of his pay that was missing from his December 1 paycheck. He says, "I immediately called our comptroller for an explanation. It seems that all the employees had gotten together and donated any vacation that they had left for the year so I could get paid. I cried. It was truly a Good Deed." (169)

"I Want to Save a Nation"

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg personally saved at least 20,000 Jews during World War II, but he wanted to save even more. The Nazis once ordered 76,000 Hungarian Jews to march west to the Austrian border—a distance of over 100 miles, a huge distance for hungry, cold, and mistreated people. Mr. Wallenberg and his coworkers saved as many Jews as possible, giving them food, medicine, and clothing. He also distributed protective passports to as many Jews as possible, apologizing to the Jews to whom he could not give passports: "I am trying to take the younger ones first. I want to save a nation." (170)

Thousands of Schultzpasses

Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg was able to save thousands of Jews in Hungary from the Holocaust by issuing them Schultzpasses, documents that stated that the person with the Schultzpass was immigrating to Sweden. (Sweden authorized Mr. Wallenberg to give out 4,500 Schultzpasses; he gave out many more thousands of them.) The Nazis did not want to anger the Swedes because Sweden was a neutral country, so they respected the Schultzpasses and for a long time did not send their bearers to the death camps. When the Nazis deported Jews from Hungary by train, Mr. Wallenberg gave Schultzpasses to the Jews at the train station where they boarded the train, then he raced ahead to the next train stop and accused the Nazis of deporting Swedish citizens. The Nazis then allowed the Jews with Schultzpasses to get off the train. (171)

A Bag of Bread

After the Nazis built a wall around the Warsaw ghetto in November 1940, food became very scarce as the result of a deliberate effort to starve the Jews inside the ghetto. Some people tried to help the starving Jews, but such actions were dangerous. Warsaw ghetto inhabitant Emmanuel Ringelblum wrote about a Christian who threw a bag of bread over the wall into the ghetto—the Nazis killed the Christian. (172)

"Ach, That's Just Like a Pole!"

During World War II, Agnieszka Budna-Widerschal saved the life of several Jews in Poland. Once, she had to figure out how to get two Jewish men past several Nazis in the street. She succeeded by pretending to be drunk and having the two men on either side of her to hold her up. The Nazis looked at her, and they ignored the two men. One Nazi, filled with disgust, even said, "Ach, that's just like a Pole!" (173)

Secret Messages in Toothpaste Tubes

The first American to be declared Righteous Among the Nations is Varian Fry, who saved many Jews during the Holocaust by helping them escape from Vichy France. He was a member of the Emergency Rescue Committee, whose purpose was to rescue 200 important people, including artists and scientists, from Vichy France. While in Vichy France, he set up the American Relief Center, which would help refugees get travel papers and would give them money. In addition, it was a cover operation for activities that the Vichy French police considered illegal, such as helping Jews escape the Holocaust. Among the Jews Mr. Fry helped escape were the writer Hannah Arendt and the artists Marc Chagall and Max Ernst. He had planned to stay in France for only one month, but he stayed for 13 months. In September of 1941, the Vichy French police arrested him, and they forced him to leave the country. Mr. Fry is credited with helping 2,000 people to leave France, and with helping another 2,000 people by giving them money or finding them a place to hide. Because the Vichy French police watched him closely, he had to engage in creative problem-solving. For example, because the Vichy French police used electronic eavesdropping equipment, he held secret meetings in his bathroom with the water turned on to make noise to cover the sounds of voices. Because he could not mail letters or use the telephone, he used to type short letters and then put them in toothpaste tubes. He asked fleeing refugees to take a toothpaste tube with them and deliver it to the Emergency Rescue Committee. (174)

The Woman with a Bicycle

During the Holocaust, Marie-Rose Gineste of France had a bicycle, which she put to good use. Bishop Pierre-Marie Théas of Montauban decided to protest the Nazis' treatment of the Jews, so he wrote a letter that he intended to have read at Catholic churches during Mass. In part, he wrote that "I must make heard the indignant protest of the Christian conscience, and I proclaim that all people, Aryan or non-Aryan, are brothers, because all are created by the same God: that all, whatever their race or religion, are entitled to respect from individuals and the state. The current anti-Semitic measures are in contempt of human dignity, a violation of human dignity, a violation of the most sacred rights of the individual and the family." Ms. Gineste typed and duplicated the letter, The bishop had intended to mail the letter to the churches in his diocese, but Ms. Gineste realized that the censors would never allow the letters to be delivered. Therefore, she persuaded the bishop to allow her to use her bicycle to deliver the letter to the churches. That Sunday, Ms. Gineste went from Mass to Mass so that she could hear the letter being read to many congregations. If more bishops had spoken out, more Catholics are likely to have become rescuers of the Jews and fewer Catholics are likely to have become collaborators with the Nazis. Ms. Gineste, at the bishop's request, found hiding places for Jewish children. Among her honors after the war's end are being inducted into the Legion of Honor, being awarded the Military Medal of the Resistance, and being awarded Yad Vashem's Medal for the Righteous Among the Nations. (175)

A Useful Telephone Book

When the Danish people learned that the Nazis were planning to transport Danish Jews to concentration camps in October 1943, they took action to inform the Jews of the Nazis' plans. This allowed the Jews to hide with sympathetic Danes who then arranged for them to be taken to safety in Sweden. For example, when ambulance driver Jørgen Knudsen learned of the Nazis' plans, he tore a telephone book out of a telephone booth, circled every name that looked Jewish, then drove to their addresses to warn them. If a Jew had nowhere to go to hide, he took them to Bispebjerg Hospital because he knew that Dr. Karl Køster would help them. (176)

"This is for Your Initial Expenses"

During the Holocaust, the nation of Denmark saved nearly all of its Jewish citizens by taking them across the sea to Sweden. The Danes did not forget even those Jews who were captured and taken by the Nazis, and they did not cease helping the Jews even after the defeat of the Nazis. The Danish government gave Jews who returned to Denmark after the war 4,050 kroner. Their property, if bombs had not destroyed it, was returned to them. Often, the Jews' Danish neighbors had taken care of the Jews' homes and gardens for them. In one case, a returning Jewish woman, one of those who had been captured by the Nazis, returned to her apartment. Her neighbors greeted her, they gave her flowers, and they gave her the keys to her apartment. Inside she found an envelope of money on a table. Her neighbors had collected the money for her; on the envelope was written, "This is for your initial expenses." (177)

"What Can You Do with These People?"

From 1940 to 1945, Oskar Schindler pulled trick after trick to save Jews from the Holocaust. These tricks even included seeming to look down on the Jews. For example, Janek Dresser, who worked at Mr. Schindler's factory at Brinnlitz, was unfamiliar with metalworking and while working on a metal press he managed to damage it. The camp commandant at Brinnlitz was Josef Liepold, who accused Mr. Dresser of sabotage. He held a trial; if Mr. Dresser were found guilty, he would be hanged. Mr. Schindler appeared at the trial and questioned Mr. Dresser harshly, asking him to explain how he had damaged the metal press. Midway through Mr. Dresser's explanation, Mr. Schindler had him repeat a portion of what he had said. Then, acting as if Mr. Dresser had admitted to making an incredibly stupid mistake, Mr. Schindler slapped his face, yelling, "The stupidity of you... people. I can't believe it." He then told the Nazis, "I wish they [the Jews] were intelligent enough to sabotage a machine. Then at least I'd have their... hides! But what can you do with these people? They're an utter waste of time." Mr. Schindler ordered Mr. Dresser taken away, out of his sight. Of course, Mr. Dresser was taken to safety, back to Mr. Schindler's factory, not to a gallows. In what was for him standard operating procedure, Mr. Schindler then invited the Nazis to be his guests for drinks. The liquored-up Nazis no longer cared about Mr. Dresser. (178)

Fireflies in the Dark

In 1942, the Nazis ordered artist and teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis to report to the concentration camp of Terezin. Jews were allowed to pack a few belongings to take with them, and Friedl packed something that most people would never have thought of: art supplies. She did not herself use most of the art supplies, reserving their use for the children of the concentration camp—and using such materials as office forms and blueprints when the real art materials ran out. At Terezin, secret schools started up. Lookouts kept watch for guards and the SS. The teachers had no textbooks, so the teachers wrote down what they remembered about various subjects. Friedl gave art lessons wherever and whenever she could. This was a very good deed because creating works of art kept the minds of the children off their hunger and other troubles for a while. Helga Polláková-Kinsky, one of the few survivors of the concentration camp, says, "Everything was forgotten for a few hours. We forgot all the troubles we had." Everyone was hungry at the concentration camp. Helga kept a diary in the concentration camp, and she once wrote, "I went to see my uncle in the Sudeten barracks and there I saw them throw out potato peelings and ten people threw themselves on the little pile and fought for them." Friedl also packed dyed sheets, knowing that she could use them as scenery for plays. The children used them in performances of Fireflies, which was based on a Czech fairy tale. Another child at Terezin, Ela Steinová-Weissberger, remembers the play: "We were in a dream world." Friedl also held an art contest, which was won by Ania Spitzová, who had not drawn before. The children created works of art as gifts, including gifts for Friedl on her 46th birthday. In the short run, evil can beat down good. Friedl died in the Holocaust. Only 100 of the 15,000 children who passed through Terezin survived. (179)

No Difference

In Poland during World War II, the Nazis showed propaganda in the schools to teach children to dislike the Jews. In a street, one boy came up to another boy and hit him, saying, "You are a Jew!" A working man saw this and told the bully, "Why would you do that? He's a boy just like you. Look at his hands, his face. There's no difference. We have enemies now from another country who say there's a difference, but there isn't." The bully then apologized to the Jewish boy. One person who witnessed this scene was Stefania Podgorska Burzminski, who looked at her own hands and said, "No, there is no difference." During the war, she saved 13 Jews from the Holocaust. (180)

Unnecessary Operations that Save Lives

During the Holocaust, a Slovakian doctor named Joseph Jaksy managed to save many Jews in Bratislava. He allowed many Jews to sleep in his wards; because they were supposed to be ill, he gave them harmless injections every day. The Germans sometimes required men to take down their pants so the men could be checked to see if they were circumcised. Dr. Jaksy would perform new operations, making the circumcisions seem recently done, and he would tell the Germans that the operations had been done for medical, not religious, reasons. In one truly memorable case, the Gestapo looked for a Jewish man. To keep them from taking the Jew away, Dr. Jaksy put him on an operating table, made an incision in his abdomen, then convinced the Gestapo that they couldn't take away a man who was in the middle of an operation. The Gestapo left for a while, and when they returned, the Jew was gone. (181)

"And Do You Believe This Story?"

Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan was reputed to be a saint. Once he was called to be a character witness at a trial for one of his students, who had been falsely accused. The lawyer for the defense stood up and began to tell the court a story that was told about Rabbi Kagan. He said that once a thief had been in the Rabbi's house when the Rabbi came home early. The thief grabbed some of the Rabbi's property and ran away, but the Rabbi said, "I hereby renounce all my property," so that the thief would not be guilty of breaking one of God's commandments. Hearing this, the judge skeptically asked, "And do you believe this story?" The lawyer replied, "I don't know that I believe this story, but I do know that such stories are not told about you and me." (182)

Money for Charity

A beggar requested alms of R. Israel, the Zaddik of Pylov, who felt sorry for the beggar and gave him some coins. But as the beggar was going away, R. Israel ran after him and gave him more money. Some witnesses were puzzled by this, and they asked why R. Israel had given extra money to the beggar. R. Israel explained that he had felt sorry for the beggar and had given him money, but then he had realized that the reason he had given the beggar money was not charity but instead to make himself feel better. Since Jews are required to give charity, he had then given the beggar the extra coins that really were for the beggar and so really were charity. (183)

Finding a Gold Ruble

A woman lost all the money she had—a gold ruble—in the marketplace. She started crying because she could not feed her children. R. Abraham Yehoshua Heshel of Apt heard her crying and found out that she had lost a gold ruble. He and the woman started looking for the gold ruble, and the good Rebbe took one of his own gold rubles, dipped it in mud, and then he told the woman that he had found her gold ruble and handed it to her. She was joyful and used it to buy food to feed her children. A Hassid had noticed what the good Rebbe had done and congratulated him: "It was very fine, Rebbe, to give the ruble to the woman that way, and thus avoid making her feel that it was a gift." The good Rebbe replied, "You are right, but there was another reason for doing it that way. Otherwise the woman would have gone on worrying about her lost ruble, even though she had received another in its place." (184)

Working So Much Faster

Rabbi Israel Salanter was once asked to eat the Sabbath meal with a former student. The student let Rabbi Salanter know that in between courses of the Sabbath meal, the participants engaged in Torah and Talmud discussions and sang Sabbath songs. Rabbi Salanter agreed to eat the Sabbath meal with the former student—but only on the condition that it be shorter than usual. The former student was surprised by the condition, but agreed to it. At the end of the Sabbath meal, the former student asked Rabbi Salanter why he had made the condition. The good Rabbi replied, "I'll show you." He then called the servant who had served the meal and apologized for making her work so much faster than usual. The woman smiled and replied, "On the contrary, I'm grateful to you. Friday night meals usually end very late, and I'm exhausted from the whole week's work. Tonight, I'll be able to catch up on some much-needed sleep." (185)

"What Happened?"

Once, the Dalai Lama visited the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. Sharon Salzberg was standing at the back of the audience waiting to see the Dalai Lama and feeling miserable because she was on crutches as the result of a bad car accident. The Dalai Lama walked into the room, swept his eyes over the crowd, saw her standing on crutches, then came over to her, held her hand, looked her in the eyes, and asked, "What happened?" (186)

Gifts and Money

Mother Teresa used the things and the money people gave her to help the poor. Pope Paul VI once gave her a car. She raffled it off in Bombay, then used the money to create the City of Peace, a center for lepers. After winning the John XXIII Award, she used the money to create the Gift of Peace, a rehabilitation center for lepers. After winning the Nobel Prize, she used the money to build homes for the poor. (187)

Love, Inventiveness, and Persistence

Mother Teresa was not afraid to touch the poor. Her favorite form of greeting was to hold the other person's face in her hands, then to touch her forehead to the other person's forehead. By the way, Mother Teresa was very inventive in using the media to get what she needed to help the poor. In a South American country, she was surrounded by the media when she asked an important government official to give her order, the Missionaries of Charity, an empty building so they could use it to help the poor of that country. With so much media present, what could the government official do? He gave the Missionaries of Charity the building. She was also very persistent when it came to getting the supplies she needed to help the poor. Once, she went to a pharmacist to ask for free medicine to use in her ministry, but the pharmacist declined to give her any. Mother Teresa did not go home. Instead, she waited in his reception room—and waited, and waited. Finally, the exasperated pharmacist gave her the medicine that she had requested. (188)

Brightening a Compartment

Eva von Tiele-Winkler, aka Mother Eva, was a well-respected (for good reason) deaconess-mother in Germany. She once boarded a crowded train on a cold, rainy day in Mecklenburg. In her hands she held a bouquet of roses that friends had given to her. She found a seat in a compartment, but the train was crowded, and some people opened the door to the already full compartment, hoping to find a seat. Some people in the compartment were in a bad mood and called out, "There is no room here!" But Mother Eva stood up and allowed an elderly woman to take her seat. She also took her roses and distributed them, one per person, to the people in the compartment. The mood of everyone brightened considerably as they smelled the roses. A man allowed Mother Eva to take his seat, and people began to talk to each other and be friendly. (189)

A Tactful Gift

While serving as Patriarch of Venice, the future Pope John XXIII frequently saw an unshaved priest. The Patriarch felt that it is important to be well groomed, but he did not wish to embarrass the priest by pointing out the fault, so he sent the priest an electric razor as a present. (190)

"He's Got Some Nerve!"

The clientele at Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach's Jewish retreat and outreach center, which he named the House of Love and Prayer, was somewhat odd (it was located in Haight-Ashbury, after all). Soon complaints poured in to the landlord, who gave an eviction notice to Rabbi Shlomo. A nun from a nearby convent, which was filled with religious who adored the good Rabbi, saw Rabbi Shlomo looking sad, and she asked him what was the matter. He explained the situation, and the nun grew angry, saying about the landlord, who was a member of her church, "He's got some nerve! I'm going over to give him a piece of my mind right now!" The nun talked to the landlord, and he quickly changed his mind about evicting Rabbi Shlomo. Later, Rabbi Shlomo asked the nun what she had told the landlord to make him change his mind about the eviction. The nun replied, "It was very simple, really. I told the landlord that if he ever brings grief to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, he's going to burn in hell." (191)

Raising an One-Time Enemy's Son

Saadia Gaon (882-942) had a major disagreement with the Exilarch ben Zakkai about a ruling the exilarch had made. The Exilarch ben Zakkai's son visited Saadia several times to try to get him to change his mind. Eventually, ben Zakkai's son lost his patience and threatened Saadia. Many years later, Saadia and ben Zakkai made peace, but soon afterward ben Zakkai and his son died. The Exilarch ben Zakkai's son left behind a son. Although ben Zakkai's son had once threatened him, Saadia raised his child. (192)

A Time Not to Rejoice

Perhaps it is natural to rejoice when our enemies die, but should we do that? According to the Talmud, no. Moses parted the Red Sea, the Jews passed to the other side safely, and Pharoah's men attempted to follow them but were drowned. The Jews started to rejoice, but God said to them, "My creatures are perishing, and you are rejoicing?" We must remember that not all of a people are evil. The Pharoah was evil, but his daughter rescued the infant Moses from the water, and many Egyptian midwives disobeyed orders and would not slay the Jews' newborn sons. (193)

"Look Into My Heart!"

The Seer of Lublin once gave the Yehudi a shirt as a mark of esteem. The Yehudi valued it highly, but he saw a poorly clothed beggar, and because he had no money to give to the beggar, he gave him the shirt. At first, the Seer was angry with what he regarded as a slight, but the Yehudi told him, "Look into my heart! See if there is anger or evil intent." The Seer looked at him, then said, "There is no anger, no evil intent in your heart." (194)

Solidarity in the Fact of Anti-Semitism

In 1996, in Newton Township in Pennsylvania, a woman placed an electric menorah in her window to celebrate Hanukkah. Unfortunately, vandals broke her window, stole the menorah, and destroyed it. Her neighbors, who were of many religions, were horrified by this act. They swung into action. They acquired electric menorahs and put them in their own windows. On the last day of Hannukah, 18 houses on the street where the vandalism had occurred displayed menorahs in their windows. (195)

Cadbury Chocolate

You've heard of the Cadbury Bunny, haven't you? What you may not know is that Henry Cadbury and other British Quakers started their chocolate factories for altruistic reasons. They wished to provide a market for the cocoa grown by the then recently freed West Indies slaves. (196)

The Collectors and the Givers

A teacher visited John Carter, a Quaker, in Germantown in order to raise money for a much-needed new school locker room. Mr. Carter listened to her courteously, then he wrote her a check, for which she thanked him. However, Mr. Carter replied, "I think those who labor in the collecting are just as much to be thanked as those of us who are privileged to give." (197)

Violence About to Erupt

Many Quakers were anti-slavery and active in the Underground Movement. Once, 15 slave owners from Kentucky went to Indiana to try to retrieve their run-away slaves. For a time, it seemed that violence was likely to erupt, but a cool-headed Quaker named Eli Osborn saved the day. When one of the slave owners demanded that Eli, a known Abolitionist, fight him in a duel with pistols, Eli replied, "If thee will get down off thy horse, I'll play thee a game of marbles." This comment caused laughter and avoided bloodshed. (198)

"Get Her Healed"

When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. nearly lost his life after being stabbed by a mentally ill black woman on September 19, 1958, he did not want revenge. Instead, he said, "Get her healed." The woman was taken to a mental hospital. (199)

"The Holiest Thing He's Ever Done"

John McGregor and his father attended a soccer match in Norfolk, England. After the soccer match, they saw a black teenager trying—unsuccessfully—to get away from a group of hostile white teenagers who were pursuing him. John's father, a vicar, went to the teenagers. John says, "Let's be clear: he's not a big man. He's never, as far as I know, been in a fight, and he usually avoids confrontation or complaint." John's father put his arm around the black teenager's shoulder and led him away from the hostile white teenagers, who shouted at them. John's father responded by saying, "Just... push off, will you?" John says, "He retired this year [2008], after 39 years as an Anglican vicar. He must have taken thousands of services in that time, but this still feels like the holiest thing he's ever done." (200)
CHAPTER 5: Stories 201-250

A Flashmob Iftar

Normally, a flashmob resembles a practical joke, as when a jokester posts instructions on a Web site such as Facebook for many people to suddenly congregate on a busy street, simultaneously yell "YES! YES! YES!" into their mobile telephones, applaud, and then quickly leave, making bystanders wonder what just happened. (In 2003 in Berlin, 40 people did exactly this.) However, in 2008 Miqdad Asaria, a 27-year-old Muslim, came up with the idea of a charitable flashmob: a flashmob iftar. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims fast during the daylight hours, ending their fast with a meal called the iftar. Mr. Asaria came up with the idea of many Muslims suddenly arriving at London's Lincoln's Inn Fields, a place where homeless congregate, and sharing food with them as the Muslims break their fast. Mr. Asaria says, "During Ramadan we Muslims get a glimpse of what it is like to be hungry. I thought, 'What better time to share our food with those who are hungry all year?' I wanted to make the point that Muslims shouldn't only be looking overseas when they think about problems—there are plenty of problems in this country." He used his page on Facebook to set up weekly flashmob iftars, and he has been pleased with the results. One hundred Muslims showed up for the first flashmob iftar, and 150 Muslims showed up for the second flashmob iftar. He says, "The homeless people were quite taken aback. They're used to having food thrown out to them from the back of a van, but for us it was about sharing what we had and getting to know those we were eating with." In addition to the homeless benefiting, so do the Muslims. Mr. Asaria points out, "The Muslims who turn up don't know each other, so this is a social thing for them, too. It's an example of taking something inspired by our values and using it to embrace the wider community." (201)

Who Has the Best Claim to Heaven?

Rabbi Baroka met the prophet Elijah while walking in the marketplace. He asked Elijah who in the marketplace had the best claim to Heaven. Elijah pointed to a prison guard, saying that the guard had a claim to Heaven because he treated the prisoners decently and hoped that they would give up their evil ways and obey the 10 Commandments. Rabbi Baroka then asked who else in the marketplace had a claim to Heaven. Elijah pointed to two jesters, saying that they, even when not performing for money, helped to cheer up sorrowful people. (202)

An Atrocity and a Good Deed

Many atrocities occurred in the Spanish Civil War, in which Spanish patriots (and Americans) fought Franco and his Fascists, who were supported by Hitler and Mussolini. James Neugass remembers when American soldiers lost a night battle. They were forced to retreat, leaving behind several American wounded soldiers. The Fascists took no one alive; instead, they tossed the wounded Americans onto huge fires, burning them alive. Still, even in wars such as this, good deeds occur. In a village close to Segura de los Banos, Mr. Neugass was able to buy 250 rare and valuable eggs and take them to a hospital so the wounded patients and the staff could eat them. A nurse named Sana soft-boiled the eggs, and she began to feed the very hungry patients. One of the patients was a wounded Fascist, and some of the other wounded soldiers wondered if this was the Fascist who had shot them. The patients who were conscious watched Sana, wondering what she would do when she reached the Fascist. Would she feed him an egg or not? She reached the Fascist, held his head in her arm, and hand-fed him two soft-boiled eggs. Mr. Neugass wrote in his memoir of the war, "If this is religion, then I am religious." (203)

"I Shall Know Him by His Head"

During the American Civil War, Sister Anthony O'Connell worked on a floating hospital ship that traveled to Shiloh, then transported wounded soldiers to a Catholic hospital in Cincinnati. She helped one young soldier whose nose had been shot off onto a hospital ship. She remembers, "The blood ran down his shirt and coat sleeves, down his pantaloons, and into his very boots." Later, she and the wounded veteran were at the Catholic hospital in Cincinnati. There she met a man who was looking for his son. She thought that the soldier whose nose had been shot off might be his son, so she took the man to the wounded soldier, but the man did not recognize the wounded soldier. However, he told Sister Anthony, "If this is my son, I shall know him by his head." He ran his fingers through the wounded soldier's hair, and then he said, "My son. My dear boy." (204)

A Kick in the Butt

During World War I, German soldier Heinrich Weindorf was fighting on very muddy terrain in December of 1916, during the Battle of the Somme. At one point, he sank in the mud and water up to his armpits, and his fellow soldiers could not help him because of the fighting all around them. Fortunately, an English sergeant-major pitied the German soldier and rescued him, although he knew that he was rescuing an enemy soldier. He stood on a plank of wood so that he would not sink in the mud and water, then he grabbed Mr. Weindorf and pulled him out of the mud. He then kicked Mr. Weindorf in the butt—after all, Mr. Weindorf was an enemy soldier—and both ran back to safety to their respective sides. Mr. Weindorf says, "I owe him my life." (205)

Bruiser to the Rescue

During the Vietnam War, a German shepherd named Bruiser became a hero. A soldier named John Flannelly was shot in the chest during a patrol, and although he commanded Bruiser to leave, Bruiser would not leave. Instead, he bit down on Mr. Fannelly's shirt and started pulling. Mr. Flannelly grabbed Bruiser's harness and Bruiser pulled him out of the danger zone, and Mr. Flannelly was able to get the medical care he needed. (206)

Selling War Bonds

During World War II, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello sold a lot of war bonds for the U.S. government. They would do a few comic routines, then sell war bonds. Sometimes, they would auction off their own clothing for the war effort, then close their performance by doing their "Who's on First?" routine in their underwear. (207)

Two Enemies Drinking Together

Shortly after World War II, General George S. Patton was at a parade review when a Russian interpreter came out and asked him to join in a drink with a Russian general. General Patton was convinced that the Russians would be America's next great enemies, so he sent back the message, "Tell that Russian son of a bitch that I regard them as enemies and I'd rather cut my throat than have a drink with one of my enemies." The interpreter gave the message to the Russian general, then came back and said, "The general says he feels exactly like that about you too, sir. So why, he asks, couldn't you and he have a drink after all?" The two enemies drank together. (208)

Not Firing During Fires

During World War I, at the foot of the Cote des Aures, the Germans lay siege to a French village. Of course, lots of fighting occurred, but twice the shooting stopped. Fire broke out in the village, and the French soldiers fought the fire. They were silhouetted against the fire and made good targets, but the Germans refrained from shooting them. Soon after, a trench stove exploded, and the Germans worked to contain the fire. The Germans made good targets as they fought the fire, but the French, remembering that the Germans had held their fire for them, did the same for the Germans. (209)

"Here's Your Money, Doc, and You Jolly Well Earned It"

Many physicians provide expensive services even when the patient cannot afford to pay and has no idea how expensive the services are: If the patient really needs the service, the patient gets it. In the first half of the 20th century, Canadian physician Joseph R. Smallwood operated—more than once—on the wife of a lighthouse keeper who was providing for his family of five using his salary of $300 a year. Dr. Smallwood knew that the lighthouse keeper could not afford to pay for the operations, but the lighthouse keeper insisted on paying. Reaching into his pocket, the lighthouse keeper said, "Here's your money, doc, and you jolly well earned it." The lighthouse keeper then presented Dr. Smallwood with a Canadian one-dollar bill. (210)

"Get Fat, Don't Die"

Diseased Pariah News was a zine that gave people with AIDS the information they needed to stay alive. A regular feature in the zine, "Get Fat, Don't Die," gave high-calorie recipes that were useful in fighting the weight loss associated with AIDS. (211)

A Birthday Party, and a Normal Face

When David of Piru, California, was born, his face looked different from the faces of other children. He didn't have a right nostril and his eyes didn't line up evenly above his nose. Fortunately, physicians and nurses were able to fix David's face in a 10-hour operation when he was seven years old. They moved his right eye so it lined up with his other eye, and they made a right nostril for him. (David was unconscious during the operation and felt no pain.) His family was at the hospital during the operation, and since David turned seven years old while he was in the hospital, they celebrated with a birthday party when he went home. Now David's face looks much more like the faces of other children. (212)

Combining Sports and Academics

Many gymnastics coaches believe that a person can't be a world-class gymnast and an academic student at the same time. However, the East Germans disagreed strongly. At the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Karin Janz won gold on the vault and uneven bars, silver in the all-around, and bronze on the beam, but she studied throughout her gymnastics career. In fact, when she retired from gymnastics, she immediately entered medical school. She graduated, became an orthopedic surgeon who often does hip and knee replacements, and she has helped develop an artificial intervertebral disc. She is happy in her work and says, "Can you imagine how a doctor feels when a person who has endured severe pain for years suddenly shows signs of improvement?" (213)

Not a Dry Eye in the Room

Financial writer Scott Burns greatly respects Medical Ministries International, which sets up medical clinics in impoverished areas all over the world. He volunteered at a two-week eye clinic in Las Malvinas, a poor barrio near the city of Barranquilla in Columbia, and he witnessed many heartwarming incidents. For example, two impoverished elderly women, both of whom were almost blind, lived together. One woman was having an operation to remove her cataracts, and the other woman was waiting to have the surgery done the following year. The surgery was successful. Mr. Burns writes, "I see her at post-op the next day. When the bandages are removed, she sees for the first time in years. There literally isn't a dry eye in the room." Mr. Burns also notes about this work, "It is done through faith, trust, and hope. It tells me to share the cup, because it will always be full." (214)

Helping Jewish Scientists

When Adolf Hitler came into power in Germany, he immediately began to oppress the Jewish population, resulting in the flight of many top Jewish intellectuals from Germany—a brain drain that greatly hurt Germany. Danish physicist Niels Bohr helped many Jewish physicists escape from Germany and get jobs. Mr. Bohr talked to physicist Otto Robert Frisch, grabbing one of the buttons on his waistcoat and telling him, "You must come to Copenhagen to work with us. We like people who can actually perform thought experiments!" Mr. Frisch was impressed by Mr. Bohr. Mr. Frisch even wrote his mother, "You need no longer worry about me; God Almighty himself has taken me by my waistcoat button and spoken kindly to me." He spent some years in Copenhagen, then he worked in London. Mr. Bohr also helped such scientists as Hilde Levi (who was Jewish) and Lise Meitner (who years ago had converted to Christianity, but who was still a target of Nazi anti-Semitism) escape from Germany, and and he helped Enrico Fermi (whose wife was Jewish) escape from Axis power Italy. (215)

Bobby Blue

Many dogs are good with and for injured or ill children. Peter Howe's dog, Bobby Blue, is well known as a visitor to pediatric patients at Beth Israel Hospital. When Mr. Howe and Bobby Blue get in an elevator together at the hospital, people often greet Bobby Blue by name, but they don't know Mr. Howe's name. Bobby Blue is even allowed to visit patients in the intensive care unit. Once, Mr. Howe was going to take Bobby Blue to the other side of a bed so that a little girl could see him, but the nurses explained that it was time to move the little girl so that she would be lying on her other side—unfortunately, a move that was painful to the little girl. The little girl cried as she was being moved until she saw Bobby Blue, and then she stopped crying and started smiling as she stared at him. (216)

Revenge for the Death of Captain Conolly

In Afghanistan, Dr. Pennell took care of sick and wounded people in a Christian hospital. One day, a man with bandages on his eyes was brought to the hospital. The man was a member of a tribe that warred constantly against its neighbors. He begged Dr. Pennell to cure him so that he could get revenge for the injury that had been done to him. However, Dr. Pennell knew that this kind of blood revenge leads to long-lasting and deadly feuds. Therefore, he told the man the story of Captain Conolly's sister and the revenge that she had taken. Captain Conolly had been captured by a tribe in Afghanistan and held captive with another man named Captain Stoddard. They had a prayer book that Captain Conolly's sister had given him, and in the margins they kept a journal that told of their captivity. However, the last entry in the margins of the prayer book was made by a person who told of the two captains' executions. Time passed, and a Russian officer came across the book in a bookstore. He bought the book and sent it to an address in England that was written inside the book. The address was that of Captain Conolly's sister, who wanted revenge for her brother's death—Christian revenge. She sent money to a Christian hospital in Afghanistan and asked that it be used to maintain a bed to help ill and wounded Afghans. Dr. Pennell told the wounded man who wanted revenge, "My friend, you are now lying in that bed. That you are being taken care of is a revenge for the death of Captain Conolly." (217)

No Time to Spare

In the midst of a smallpox epidemic, the Rav of Karutcha, R' Avraham Aharonson, was urged to get a vaccination, but he refused to until his maid was vaccinated first. When the doctors pointed out that every minute without the vaccine was dangerous, the good Rabbi replied, "That's exactly why I want the maid vaccinated first. Her life takes precedence over mine, because she is younger than I." (218)

Abba the Surgeon

Abba the surgeon was beloved by the residents of Heaven even while he lived on Earth. He had two consulting rooms—one for men, and one for women. When he examined a woman, she first put on a garment with many slits so that he did not look at her naked body. Outside of the consulting rooms was a box where patients could put their fees. Patients with money put their fees in the box; patients without money could leave quietly and not be embarrassed. (219)

The Last Victim of Smallpox

The last person to have a naturally occurring case of smallpox was Ali Maow Maalim, in 1977. He was a health worker in Marka, Somalia, his hometown, but he did not want to get a smallpox vaccination. He says, "I did not want to have an injection, so I rolled up my shirt, held a cotton ball over my upper arm, and strolled past the immunization team as though I'd already had the shot." Soon afterward, he got smallpox. Mr. Maalim has continued to work in the health field, and he immunizes children against polio. He is able to use his personal experience with smallpox to do the good deed of convincing children to be immunized against polio. He says, "Because I had the sad experience of defying the vaccine and suffering as a result, I now work as a polio vaccine agent with W.H.O." W.H.O. is the World Health Organization. He also says, "Somalia was the last country to have smallpox. I don't want it to be the last with polio." (220)

Vegetable Porridge

In January of 1999, an Indonesian couple came to Singapore to get medical treatment for their older son, bringing with them their younger son, a two-year-old. The Indonesian family was impoverished and stayed in the visitors' lounge rather than in a hotel. Staff nurse Janet Lee Gin Yen noticed that the parents, who were vegetarian, were too distraught to worry much about meals and too impoverished to provide good food for their two-year-old son, so as long as the family stayed in the visitors' lounge, she cooked vegetable porridge for the young son, even bringing in food for him on her days off. (221)

"Take Him to Dr. Joe"

Sportswriter Jim Murray's one-year-old son once ran into their living room carrying a glass cream pitcher that Jim and his wife thought they had hidden where their young son could not find it. The one-year-old tripped and fell, the glass cream pitcher broke, and the one-year-old's face and mouth was bloody, bloody, bloody. Jim and his wife took their son to a doctor who was little help and told them their son would have "quite a scar." Fortunately, city editor Jim Richardson advised them, "Take him to Dr. Joe." Dr. Joe was a Jewish doctor who did wonders with plastic surgery. The Murrays could not afford to pay Dr. Joe in money, as sportswriters don't make much money and Mrs. Murray was pregnant with their second child. That was OK with Dr. Joe, who told them, "If my livelihood depended on the distraught parents of little boys who have had minor accidents, I would be a poor man, indeed." Later, Mr. Murray was able to do a favor for Dr. Joe. Dr. Joe had bought a yacht, but because he was Jewish, he was having a difficult time finding a yacht club that would accept him. Dr. Joe asked Mr. Murray, "I want to join a club and I have been turned down twice and it is humiliating. Can you find one that doesn't think a Jew should remain on land?" Mr. Murray told his wife, "Bigotry has got its own navy," and then he found a yacht club that would accept Dr. Joe as a member. As for the one-year-old with the bloody face and mouth, when he became a young man you couldn't even see a scar. (222)

One Gram of Radium

Marie Curie, who discovered radium, had just one gram of the precious element to experiment with. She disliked giving interviews, but she did grant an interview to a persistent American journalist named Marie "Missy" Meloney. Missy asked her, "If you had the whole world to choose from, what would you take?" Marie answered, "I would choose another gram of radium to continue my research, but I cannot afford it." Missy formed the "Marie Curie Radium Campaign" when she returned to the United States, and after a year the campaign had collected $100,000—enough to buy one gram of radium. Missy happily wrote Marie, "The money has been found. The radium is yours." (223)

"Give Me Your Wallets"

Teamsters Union official Jimmy Hoffa was in a southern state meeting with local union officials when a woman came to him with a problem. She explained that she was a widow, her late husband had been a union truck trucker and had died on the job, she needed a job to support her children, and the local union would not give her a job. Mr. Hoffa made the local union officials hand their wallets to him, and he took all of the money out of their wallets and out of his own wallet, and handed it to the woman. He also told her to call him if in two weeks she did not have a job. (224)

The United Negro Improvement Association

During the Depression, large numbers of African-American workers lost their jobs, and because they couldn't pay their rent, they and their families were evicted. Marcus Garvey formed the United Negro Improvement Association to help African Americans. When its members saw sheriff's deputies carrying out of an apartment the furniture of a family being evicted, they would pick up the furniture off the street and move it back into the apartment. Often, Mr. Garvey's men outnumbered the sheriff's deputies and succeeded in moving the furniture back into the apartment just as fast as the sheriff's deputies moved it out. This gave the family one more night to try to raise the money needed to pay the rent. (225)

"Mighty Clever of Abe"

In the late 1820s, Abraham Lincoln and some of his friends discovered a drunk passed out outside during a freezing night. Mr. Lincoln's friends wanted to leave the drunk outside, but Mr. Lincoln picked him up and carried him to a building with a fireplace where he could get warm. The drunk later said, "It was mighty clever of Abe to tote me so far that cold night." (226)

"That's Not a Problem. That's A Badge of Honor"

Bob Dole was very badly wounded during fighting in Italy during World War II. The exploding shell that hit his right shoulder did great damage, and he never did regain much use of his right arm. Now he uses it mostly to hold a pencil or a tightly rolled-up piece of paper—a sign not to try to shake his right hand. When Mr. Dole returned to his native Russell, Kansas, his father put a cigar box on the counter of his store, asking for donations to help Bob pay for medical care and physical therapy. The people of Russell donated $1,800—a big sum back then. (Bob kept the cigar box as a reminder of the support that the people of Russell had shown him.) In addition, the Dawson family, owners of Dawson's Drugstore, where Bob had worked as a youngster, told him that he would receive a free milkshake when he was able to walk to the drugstore. Bob worked hard, and eventually, he got his free milkshake. Of course, Bob Dole entered politics. Richard Nixon was the first politician to give Mr. Dole a left-handed handshake, a gesture that Mr. Dole much appreciated. Bob also married twice. He felt that the parents of his second wife, Elizabeth, should know how badly he had been wounded, so he showed his wound to her mother, saying, "Mrs. Hanford, I think you ought to see my problem." She replied, "That's not a problem. That's a badge of honor." (227)

An Impressive First Working Day

When John F. Kennedy became President, he used his power on his very first working day to sign an executive order that doubled the amount of government surplus food given to impoverished Americans. During his administration, he also started the President's Council on Physical Fitness, which encouraged children to keep physically fit. In addition, he used his power to sign an executive order to start the Peace Corps, and he provided money to fund it. (228)

A Choice: Open Fire and Kill, or Walk Off

In the 1960s, Patricia Anthony, author of Happy Policeman, taught English literature in Portugal. Rebellion was in the air in the United States at that time—the same was true of Portugal. Ms. Anthony was impressed by the reaction of the commanding officer of a small group of soldiers who were supposed to guard a weapons depot. A mob of civilians armed with nothing but sticks threatened the weapons depot. Ms. Anthony remembers, "The commanding officer of this small group of soldiers knew he had two choices. He could either open fire and kill a bunch of them, which was his duty, or he could walk off and let the crowd have the weapons depot." The commanding officer and his soldiers walked off. In Ms. Anthony's opinion, this was exactly the right thing to do. For one thing, Portugal was better off without its fascist leader, who used to do such things as order citizens to be beaten up and thrown in jail. (229)

Bloody Bedding

The Freedom Riders rode integrated buses through Southern states during the Civil Rights Movement. The Southern states had passed Jim Crow laws mandating segregation, but the federal government had passed laws outlawing segregation on buses traveling between states. Many of the Freedom Riders—black and white—were beaten. Jim Peck, a white man from a wealthy family, was one of the Freedom Riders who were beaten by a white mob. He was carried to the home of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth and his family. Ricky Shuttlesworth was 16 years old at the time, and she remembers that he was so bloody that the Shuttlesworth family was unable to ever again use the bedding that he was laid on—she had never seen that much blood before. She says, "Here was a man whose dad had to be rich since he owned the Peck and Peck department store. And he would give up perhaps his life to come and do this for me. I had a lot of respect for him." (230)

"We Enjoyed Being Slapped"

In the early 1990s, Roger Ebert and his wife, Chaz, traveled to Cape Town, where they visited Amhed Kathrada, who was held prisoner with Nelson Mandela in Robben Prison. Mr. Kathrada showed Mr. and Mrs. Ebert through his old prison, and he introduced them to a white man who was the manager of the Robben Gift Shop (the prison is now a tourist attraction). Mr. Kathrada said about the shop manager, "He was the meanest, most racist guard of the whole prison. He would slap us and spit at us. He had to be mean. He got such a good reputation that they allowed him to stay on long-term. The other guards were rotated out if they grew to like us." So why is a man like that now the manager of the Robben Gift Shop? Mr. Kathrada explains, "Oh, we enjoyed being slapped! This was the man who brought us our letters and took new ones away. He took out Nelson's book. He slipped us newspapers. And he smuggled in Nelson's new grandbaby for him to kiss and love. Slapping us was an excellent cover." (231)

A $103 Surcharge

On November 2, 1988, 31-year-old Mary Menth Andersen was at the Miami airport because she had recently married a Norwegian and was ready to move to Norway. Unfortunately, when she arrived with two suitcases at the ticket counter, the man behind the counter told her, "You'll have to pay a 103-dollar surcharge if you want to bring both those suitcases to Norway." Unfortunately, she didn't have the $103 and since her husband had traveled ahead of her earlier to Norway, she had no one to ask for the money. She remembers, "I was completely desperate and tried to think which of my things I could manage without. But I had already made such a careful selection of my most prized possessions." She started crying. Fortunately, a man in line behind her said, "That's OK, I'll pay for her." The man paid, and she promised to pay him back. The man wrote his name and address on a piece of paper for her, and she in fact did pay the money back to the man as soon as she arrived in Norway. That man became a famous politician later: Barack Obama. Eighteen years later, in 2006, Mary's parents heard that Mr. Obama was considering a run for the Presidency, and so they wrote him a letter promising him their votes and thanking them for the kindness that he had shown their daughter. Mr. Obama wrote back, "I want to thank you for the lovely things you wrote about me and for reminding me of what happened at Miami airport. I'm happy I could help back then, and I'm delighted to hear that your daughter is happy in Norway. Please send her my best wishes. Sincerely, Barack Obama, United States senator." (232)

Passing a Law to Enable a Wedding

Even in the pre-Civil War southern states, free blacks existed. Thomas Day was born free in 1801 in Halifax County, Virginia. Unfortunately, being a free black man in the pre-Civil War South meant being not as free as a white person. For example, in 1823 Virginia passed a law stating that a free black who had been convicted of almost any crime could be sold into slavery. Because of this law, Mr. Day decided to go to North Carolina to live and work, although it meant leaving behind the woman he loved, an African-American named Acquilla Wilson. Mr. Day hoped to set himself up in business as a furniture maker, and then marry Acquilla and bring her to North Carolina. Unfortunately, in 1826 North Carolina passed a law stating that no free black person could move into the state. Any free black person who stayed in the state longer than 20 days would be fined $500, a huge amount of money at the time. Greater offenses would result in being enslaved for 10 years. Mr. Day had his own business and was successful by 1829, but he decided to move to Virginia and live and work there so that he could marry Acquilla. In addition to being successful, Mr. Day was well liked and well respected, and not just by black people. His business was in Milton, North Carolina, and white people there sent a petition to the state government in Raleigh, asking legislators to pass a law giving "Acquilla Wilson [...] a woman of color of good family and character [...] the privilege of migrating to the State free from fines and penalties." Romulus Saunders of Caswell County wrote a letter that was attached to the petition. In the letter he wrote about Mr. Day that Tom was a "Free man of color of very fair character, an excellent mechanic, industrious, honest, and sober in his habits." The legislators passed the law, and on January 6, 1830, Mr. Day married Ms. Wilson. Much of Mr. Day's furniture still exists, and it is highly prized. (233)

Defending Jewish Students

Adolf Hitler's half-sister, Angela, used to live in Vienna, where she was manager of the Mensa Academia Judaica. During an anti-Semitic riot, she used a club to hit the attacking Aryan students and to defend her Jewish students. (234)

A Single Target

Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi was walking down a road with a few followers when some soldiers surprised them and aimed their guns at them. She waved at her followers to stay away, then she walked straight toward the soldiers. Why? She says, "It seemed so much simpler to provide them with a single target than to bring everybody else in." Fortunately, a superior officer arrived and ordered the soldiers not to shoot. (235)

A Pizza Feast

In 2009, Team Orthus was an Ohio Army National Guard unit that was mobilizing out of Fort Riley, Kansas, for an Operational Mentor and Liaison Team mission that would take the soldiers to Afghanistan. The soldiers in the unit, like many soldiers, were not overly fond of Army food, preferring instead the food found at their favorite pizza places in their hometowns. For example, Sgt. Cliff Evener was very fond of the pizza at Avalanche Pizza in his hometown of Athens, Ohio. John Gutekanst, the owner of Avalanche Pizza, happened to hear (Sgt. Evener is an Athens "townie," after all, and a few of the other soldiers are from around Athens) that the soldiers in Sgt. Evener's unit were dreaming of good pizza, so he contacted Sgt. Evener to ask how many pizzas do you want, and where and when do you want them delivered. In addition, when Athens-based Diagnostic Hybrids HR program specialist Isabelle Cancellare heard about "Operation Pizza Delivery," she and some of the veterans employed at the company wanted to help, so they took care of packaging and shipping the pizzas. Sgt. Evener wrote in an August 24, 2009, letter to The Athens News, "It was pure joy for all of us who had been working so hard the past two months to have a great feast before we leave Fort Riley. The support that the owner of Avalanche Pizza and DHI gave us was remarkable. Included in their e-mails were the hopes and prayers for all of us and how honored they were to do this great deed for us." (236)

A Santa Barbara Moment

On July 21, 2009, Sheldon Sanov lost his wallet, which contained cash, credit cards, and enough information for a dishonest person to steal his identity. He wrote in a letter to the editor of the Santa Barbara (CA) Independent, "Returning home without finding it was the most agonizing experience one could imagine until Independent staff member Evan Wells called to report he found the wallet (lying on the street) and would be happy to return it to my home. It was truly one of those 'only in Santa Barbara' moments that makes one appreciate how special the people of this community are." (237)

"Woo Hoo"

While in Japan, film director Quentin Tarantino entered a trendy clothing store, where he heard some interesting music that turned out to be by the 5.6.7.8's. He was impressed by the music, and he asked for permission to buy the CD, explaining that he was leaving Japan almost immediately and would not have time to buy the album at a music store. (He also thought that he would not remember to buy the album once he had left Japan.) The employees at the store very kindly let him buy the album. Because of their kindness, the 5.6.7.8's appeared in Mr. Tarantino's film Kill Bill, Volume 1, and one of their songs ("Woo Hoo") appeared on the soundtrack album of the film. (238)

Spider-Man to the Rescue

In March of 2009, an 11-year-old autistic boy in Bangkok, Thailand, who was nervous about attending the first day of school climbed onto a 3rd-floor ledge and refused to let anyone near him, although he was in danger of falling off. Fortunately, a Thai firefighter named Somchai Yoosabai heard the boy's mother talking about how the boy loved superheroes. It just so happens that Mr. Yoosabai often dresses in a Spider-Man costume while holding fire drills at schools. Therefore, he put on his Spider-Man costume, and then went up to the ledge where the boy was. Mr. Yoosabai says, "I told him Spider-Man is here to save you. No monster will hurt you now. Then I told him to walk slowly toward me. I was very nervous that he might have slipped if he got too excited and ran." The boy smiled widely, walked to Mr. Yoosabai, and was rescued. (239)

"Aw, It Probably All Sounds More Dramatic Than It Really Was"

In November of 2008, terrorists killed over 170 people in Mumbai, India. Steve Smith, an Australian helicopter pilot, saved the lives of around 30 people in a Mumbai restaurant. When the terrorists attacked, he and his Japanese girlfriend were in Mumbai's Leopold's Café. He says, "We were up on the mezzanine floor having a drink when I suddenly heard the sound of a grenade exploding in the downstairs of the cafe, under us. Then there was another one, and almost immediately there was the distinctive sound of almost constant automatic fire from AK-47s. There were about 30 people upstairs with us—a few Europeans, but mostly young Indians—and I knew immediately that I had to do something." He had been in the café before, and he knew of a small storeroom nearby. He shoved his girlfriend and then the 30 people around him in the small storeroom. He says, "It was like jamming 30 people into an elevator. They were all on top of each other, all packed in. But there was no alternative. It was either that or die. The firing was going on constantly. I knew that if we didn't hide, we'd be killed." He soon discovered that he needed to take more action: "I thought they were going to have a spray and leave. But they didn't. So I had to do something else. I knew that if they came upstairs, everyone was dead." He took a heavy coffee table and used it to block a door, keeping out the gunmen. He remembers, "The bloke on the other side, one of the terrorists, kicked the door a couple of times and tried to push it, but I had the table firmly against it. Then he fired a couple of rounds through the door, which missed me by about a foot. I got hold of a bar stool and bent the legs and used that as further support to keep the table in place. I was bloody scared when they fired through the door, but I kept going." Eventually, the gunshots stopped, and he was able to lead the people from the storeroom to outside the building. He saw the fate that he and the people he had saved had escaped: "There was a strange silence. It was really sad downstairs. There were a couple of elderly couples, and in each instance the dead husband was lying over his wife, having been killed trying to protect her against the gunmen." Mr. Smith is from Port Macquarie, NSW, and he served for seven years in the Australian Army. He is humble about his heroism: "Aw, it probably all sounds more dramatic than it really was." (240)

Using a PA to Save People

Vishnu Datta Ram Zende's job is to use the public-address system at Victoria Terminus, Mumbai, India's largest railway station, to direct travelers to their trains. But in November of 2008, terrorists killed over 170 people in Mumbai. He heard gun shots and saw people fleeing, so he used the public-address system to direct people to the safest exit. In both Hindi and Marathi, he said over and over, "Walk to the back and leave the station through Gate No. 1." The platform cleared, two terrorists arrived, and they shot at Mr. Zende, who was fortunately unhurt. Mr. Zende's use of the public-address system prevented many people from going toward the two terrorists. (241)

"Somebody Who Needs It Worse than We Do"

In 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated South Florida. Beverly Jordan, a nurse, used a van to deliver emergency relief to those in need. She stopped at a house that had been hit hard and asked the young couple who lived there if they needed help. They replied, "No, but can you wait a minute here?" They came back in a minute with four or five bags of food and a case of diapers to give her, and requested, "Would you please give this to somebody who needs it worse than we do?" (242)

"I Love You"

All of us have seen flyers in public places that announce important information such as "Roommate Needed" or "Drummer Wanted for Hard Rock Band." The paper flyers include a fringed bottom made with scissors. Each fringe contains such important information as a telephone number. Often, a note states, "Take one," referring to the fringes, which can easily be torn off the flyer and carried away. On October 20, 2008, a number of such flyers appeared in public places in Athens, Ohio. The flyers stated, "Important Information. Take one." On each fringe was written the phrase "I Love You." Other flyers had fringes on which were printed "I Like You" and "Thank You." (243)

Helping the Truly Needy—Not the Hustlers

Giving money to panhandlers may be a good deed, or it may not be a good deed. Too often, the panhandlers who say they are homeless are not actually homeless—they are scam artists. What to do? Denver, Colorado, has come up with an anti-panhandling initiative. According to City-Journal, "The city has turned 86 old, unused parking meters into donation boxes and placed them around downtown. The meters allow people to give directly on the street, where they're likely to encounter panhandlers, assuring donors that their money will go to programs to assist the truly needy. '$1.50 provides a meal for a homeless person,' the meter proclaims." People donate $100,000 annually by placing money in these meters, and the money goes to programs that actually help the homeless instead of helping the hustlers. (244)

Courteous Bikers

Celebrity photographer Richard Young likes motorcycles, and he has attended a few meetings of Harley riders. A Brit, he once rode by himself to Brighton, and of course other motorcyclists were on the road. He pulled over a few times to answer the call of nature, and he says, "Every time I stopped, at least two or three bikes pulled over to ask if I was OK. You would never get that with car drivers." (245)

Taking Action

On August 18, 2008, Herbert Harris of Athens, Ohio, parked his Toyota 4Runner at the far side of the Athens Community Center, and went into the center to exercise. While he was exercising, a car pulled up by his Toyota, and a man got underneath his Toyota and started sawing off the catalytic converter, which could easily be sold to scrap-metal dealers because of its platinum, palladium and rhodium content. Fortunately, recreation official Rich Campitelli noticed what was going on, and he wrote down the license plate number of the car parked by Mr. Harris' Toyota, and he called the Athens Police Department. Shortly afterward, the police made an arrest. Mr. Harris wrote in a letter to The Athens News, "I sincerely want to thank Rich Campitelli for his doing the right thing in reporting the theft, and the Athens Police Department for its thorough and immediate reaction." (246)

LuLu the Smart Pig

LuLu, a pot-bellied pig, saved the life of her owner, Jo Ann Altsman, who had a heart attack in her holiday home in Pennsylvania. LuLu came running when Jo Ann fell to the floor, and then LuLu went out of the house through a dog door. Outside she left the yard—something that she had never done before—and she waited in the street. When a car came along, she lay down in front of it. The driver was forced to stop, but he was too afraid of the pot-bellied pig to get out of his car. Another car came along and stopped, and this driver did get out of his car. LuLu led the man to the porch of her owner's home, and the man knocked on the door. Jo Ann cried, "Please call 911." Soon, an ambulance arrived. LuLu tried to get in the ambulance with Jo Ann, but of course the medics wouldn't let her. LuLu saved Jo Ann's life—if 15 more minutes had passed, Jo Ann probably would have died. When Jo Anne recovered, LuLu received two rewards. She won the ASPCA Trooper Award for Bravery. Jo Ann also gave LuLu her favorite treat: a jelly donut. (247)

"BIG TIDAL WAVE HIT THE ISLAND. LOADS DEAD. I'M OK SO FAR"

On December 26, 2004, a tsunami hit several countries. On Phi Phi Island in Thailand, friends Ned Kelly and Nick Ward had just returned from the beach to their two-story hotel when the tsunami hit. Mr. Kelly was able to get to a place where he could grab survivors from the water and hand them up to Mr. Ward. In this way, they were able to save eight people. After the tsunami receded, the two men went outside the hotel to help as many people as possible. They carried injured people to the hotel, which became a temporary emergency hospital. Mr. Kelly text-messaged his girlfriend, "BIG TIDAL WAVE HIT THE ISLAND. LOADS DEAD. I'M OK SO FAR." That night, the two men continued to look for survivors, using lights normally worn by SCUBA divers in dark waters. The two friends took care of the injured as best they could until help arrived. In the morning, helicopters arrived to take the most seriously wounded away to receive medical help. Eventually, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Ward were able to get to the mainland, and then fly home to London, England. Over 280,000 people died because of the tsunami. If not for Mr. Kelly and Mr. Ward, the death toll could have been a few dozen higher. (248)

A Lost Payroll

Andrew Carnegie became a wealthy industrialist, but once he accidentally lost a payroll. One of his hobbies was to ride with the train engineer in the locomotive. During one trip, a package of money he was carrying under his vest became loose because of the motion of the train and fell out of his vest. When Mr. Carnegie discovered that the money was missing, he begged the engineer to back up the train and help him find the money. The engineer did so, and fortunately, they found the package of money lying by the railroad tracks. (249)

Who Will Go to Heaven?

Who will go to Heaven? Will the only people who go to Heaven be Jews, God's chosen people who revealed the one true God to the World? According to the Jews, no. Rabbi Joshua said, "The righteous of all the nations (and religions) of the Earth have a share in the World to come." The Jews believe that God is the Heavenly Father. He created all human beings in His image, and He loves all human beings. (250)
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

The Funniest People in Art: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Books: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Books, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Books, Volume 3: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Comedy: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Dance: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families, Volume 3: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families, Volume 4: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families, Volume 5: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Families, Volume 6: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Movies: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Music: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Music, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Music, Volume 3: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Neighborhoods: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Relationships: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Sports, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Television and Radio: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People in Theater: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People Who Live Life: 250 Anecdotes

The Funniest People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

Maximum Cool: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Movies: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Politics and History: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Politics and History, Volume 3: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Religion: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People in Sports: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People Who Live Life: 250 Anecdotes

The Most Interesting People Who Live Life, Volume 2: 250 Anecdotes

Reality is Fabulous: 250 Anecdotes and Stories

Resist Psychic Death: 250 Anecdotes

Seize the Day: 250 Anecdotes and Stories

Kindest People Series

The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 1

The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volume 2

(Free) Kindest People Volumes

The Kindest People Who Do Good Deeds: Volumes 3-7

The Kindest People: Heroes and Good Samaritans (Volumes 1-7)

The Kindest People: Be Excellent to Each Other (Volumes 1-5)

Free Philosophy for the Masses Series

Philosophy for the Masses: Ethics

Philosophy for the Masses: Metaphysics and More

Philosophy for the Masses: Religion

Free Discussion Guide Series

Dante's Inferno: A Discussion Guide

Dante's Paradise: A Discussion Guide

Dante's Purgatory: A Discussion Guide

Forrest Carter's The Education of Little Tree: A Discussion Guide

Homer's Iliad: A Discussion Guide

Homer's Odyssey: A Discussion Guide

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice: A Discussion Guide

Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee: A Discussion Guide

Jerry Spinelli's Stargirl: A Discussion Guide

Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal": A Discussion Guide

Lloyd Alexander's The Black Cauldron: A Discussion Guide

Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three: A Discussion Guide

Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: A Discussion Guide

Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Discussion Guide

Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: A Discussion Guide

Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper: A Discussion Guide

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

Nicholas Sparks' A Walk to Remember: A Discussion Guide

Virgil's Aeneid: A Discussion Guide

Virgil's "The Fall of Troy": A Discussion Guide

Voltaire's Candide: A Discussion Guide

William Shakespeare's 1 Henry IV: A Discussion Guide

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.)
APPENDIX B: AN EXCERPT FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S MACBETH: A RETELLING IN PROSE BY DAVID BRUCE

— 1.1 —

In a deserted place above which thunder sounded and lightning flashed, Three Witches were ending their meeting. Nearby, a battle raged, and soldiers and horses screamed and died.

"When shall we three meet again? Shall we meet in thunder and lightning, or in rain?" asked the First Witch.

"We shall meet again after the battle is over. The battle shall have its conquerors, and it shall have its conquered," answered the Second Witch.

"The battle will end before the Sun sets," said the Third Witch.

"In which place shall we meet?" asked the First Witch.

"We shall meet upon the heath," answered the Second Witch.

"There we shall meet Macbeth," said the Third Witch.

With the Witches were their familiars. Graymalkin was a malevolent spirit in the form of a gray cat, and Paddock was a malevolent spirit in the form of a toad. The familiars were growing restless.

"I come, Graymalkin!" exclaimed the First Witch.

"Paddock calls," said the Second Witch.

"It is time to go," said the Third Witch.

All together, the Three Witches chanted, "Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air."

The Three Witches and their familiars vanished.

— 1.2 —

Duncan, King of Scotland, was too old to lead his soldiers in the battle, so he stood in a camp near the battle. Macbeth and Banquo were leading his soldiers. With King Duncan were his older son, Malcolm, and his younger son, Donalbain; Lennox, a nobleman; and many servants and soldiers. A soldier who was bloody from his wounds rode into the camp.

"Who is this bloody soldier?" King Duncan asked. "By the way he looks, he can provide news of how the battle is going."

"This good and brave soldier fought hard to keep me from being captured," Malcolm said. "Welcome, brave sergeant and friend! Tell the King news about the battle as it stood when you left it."

"In the middle of the battle, no one could tell who would win. The two sides seemed to be equal," the bloody soldier replied. "They were like two exhausted swimmers who cling to each other and prevent each other from swimming. The traitor Macdonwald — the rebel who is guilty of many evil deeds — commanded both lightly armed and heavily armed foot soldiers who had come from the Western Isles known as the Hebrides. Fortune seemed to smile at him like a whore, but brave Macbeth — and well does he deserve to be called brave — ignored Fortune, and with his sword, which steamed with hot blood, he cut his way through enemy soldiers until he faced the traitor. Macdonwald had no time to shake hands with him, or to say goodbye to him, because Macbeth immediately cut him open from his naval to his jawbone. Then he cut off the traitor's head and exhibited it to all from the top of the walls of our fortifications."

"Macbeth is both brave and worthy. He is a true gentlemen," King Duncan said.

"A calm morning at sea can later turn into a stormy day that can wreck ships," the bloody soldier said. "Something that seems good can lead to something bad. Immediately after your troops had defeated the rebel and forced his troops to flee, the King of Norway sensed an opportunity to conquer Scotland and sent armed soldiers to attack your troops."

"Did not this dismay the captains of our army: Macbeth and Banquo?" King Duncan asked.

"Yes, it did," the bloody soldier replied, "exactly as much as sparrows dismay eagles, or rabbits dismay lions. Macbeth and Banquo were truly like cannons loaded with extra explosives as they fiercely fought the enemy soldiers. It was as if they wanted to bathe in the blood of the enemy soldiers, or to make the battlefield as memorable as Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified. But I am growing faint. A physician needs to treat my wounds."

"Your words and your wounds give you honor," King Duncan said to the sergeant.

Then he said to an attendant, "Get him medical help."

The attendant helped the bloody soldier walk away to a physician.

A man came into the camp, and King Duncan asked, "Who comes here?"

Malcolm recognized the man and identified him: "The worthy Thane of Ross."

Lennox, who was also a Thane, having acquired this title of Scottish nobility, said, "Look at his eyes! He must have important news to tell!"

"God save the King!" Ross said.

"From where have you come, worthy Thane?" King Duncan asked him.

"From Fife, great King," Ross replied. "That is the site of the battle that the King of Norway, assisted by a traitor, the Thane of Cawdor, has been fighting your troops led by Macbeth and Banquo. The Norwegian banners flew there as the King of Norway's many troops began the battle. Despite the enemy's many troops, Macbeth — wearing armor well tested in battle — fought as if he were the husband of Bellona, the goddess of war, and countered the enemy's attacks with attacks of his own and broke both the enemy's army and his spirit. Your troops have conquered the enemy and won the battle."

"This is good news indeed!" King Duncan said.

"Sweno, the King of Norway, now wants a peace treaty," Ross said. "We would not allow him to bury his dead soldiers until he gave us $10,000 and retreated to Saint Colme's island."

"The Thane of Cawdor acted as a traitor to me," King Duncan said. "That will not happen again: Proclaim that he has been sentenced to death. When you meet Macbeth, greet him and tell him that he is the new Thane of Cawdor."

"I will do so," Ross said.

"What the Thane of Cawdor has lost, noble Macbeth has won," King Duncan said.
APPENDIX C: FAIR USE

This communication uses information that I have downloaded and adapted from the WWW. I will not make a dime from it. The use of this information is consistent with fair use:

§ 107. Limitations on exclusive rights: Fair use

Release date: 2004-04-30

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

Source of Fair Use information: <<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html>>.
APPENDIX D: 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 degree with a double major in both areas, then I added a master's degree in English and a master's degree 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 E: BOOK BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Altman, Linda Jacobs. Resisters and Rescuers: Standing Up Against the Holocaust. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2003.

Anderson, Catherine Corley. John F. Kennedy: Young People's President. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company, 1991.

Anderson, Marilyn D. Sarah Michelle Gellar. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

Ayre, Leslie. The Wit of Music. Boston, MA: Crescendo Publishing Company, 1969.

Bacon, James. How Sweet It Is: The Jackie Gleason Story. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1985.

Bego, Mark. Julian Lennon! New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986.

Benchley, Nathaniel. Robert Benchley. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1955.

Bernard, Catherine. E.B. White: Spinner of Webs and Tales. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2005.

Betancourt, Jeanne. Ten True Animal Rescues. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1998.

Bing, Sir Rudolf. 5000 Nights at the Opera. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1972.

Bjarkman, Peter C. Ernie Banks. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.

Bjarkman, Peter C. Sports Great Scottie Pippen. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1996.

Blaschke, Jayme Lynn. Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak. Lincoln, NE, and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.

Block, Gay, and Malka Drucker. Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust. New York: Holmes and Meier Publishers, Inc., 1992.

Blumberg, Arthur, and Phyllis Blumberg. The Unwritten Curriculum: Things Learned But Not Taught in Schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc., 1994.

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Boxer, Tim. The Jewish Celebrity Hall of Fame. New York: Shapolsky Publishers, 1987.

Brink, Benjamin. David's Story. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company, 1996.

Bryan, Ashley. Words to My Life's Song. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2009.

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Carter, David. George Santayana. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992.

Chadwick, Roxane. Amelia Earhart: Aviation Pioneer. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications Company, 1987.

Chapin, Schuyler. Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend. New York: Walker and Company, 1992.

Charles, Helen White, collector and editor. Quaker Chuckles and Other True Stories About Friends. Oxford, OH: H.W. Charles, 1961.

Chippendale, Lisa A. Triumph of the Imagination: The Story of Writer J.K. Rowling. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

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Dailey, Donna. Tamora Pierce. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2006.

Diebold, Reinhard, collector and editor. The Book of Good Deeds: 1914-1918. Translated by Hellmut and Letitia Lehmann-Haupt. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1933.

Dolin, Anton. Alicia Markova: Her Life and Art. New York: Hermitage House, 1953.

Dolin, Sean. Gabriel García Marquez. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1994.

Engstead, John. Star Shots: Fifty Years of Pictures and Stories by One of Hollywood's Greatest Photographers. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1978.

Epstein, Lawrence J. A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes. Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1989.

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Farran, Christopher. Dogs on the Job! True Stories of Phenomenal Dogs. New York: Avon Books, 2003.

Farrell, Suzanne. Holding On to the Air. New York: Summit Books, 1990.

Ferrer, Sean Hepburn. Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit. New York: Atria Books, 2003.

Fine, Edith Hope. Gary Paulsen: Author and Wilderness Adventurer. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publications, Inc., 2000.

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Ford, Michael Thomas. It's Not Mean If It's True. Los Angeles, CA: Alyson Books, 2000.

Fremon, David K. The Holocaust Heroes. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publications, Inc., 1998.

Frist, Karyn McLaughlin, editor. "Love you, Daddy Boy": Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love. Lanham, MD: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2006.

Furman, Leah. Jennifer Lopez. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2001.

Garza, Hedda. Pablo Casals. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1993.

Gilbert, Thomas W. Roberto Clemente. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Giles, Sarah. Fred Astaire: His Friends Talk. New York: Doubleday, 1988.

González-Balado, José Luis, compiler. Mother Teresa: In My Own Words. New York: Gramercy Books, 1996.

Goodnough, David. Plácido Domingo: Opera Superstar. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publications, Inc., 1997.

Grabowski, John F. 'N Sync. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000.

Greenberg, Paul. Resonant Lives: 60 Figures of Consequence. Washington, D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1993.

Greene, Meg. Lauryn Hill. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2000.

Greenspan, Bud. 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History. Los Angeles, CA: General Publishing Group, Inc., 1995.

Grody, Carl W. Sports Great Keith Van Horn. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2001.

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Hansen, Rosanna. Animal Rescuers: A Chapter Book. New York: Children's Press, 2003.

Harrah, Madge. Blind Boone: Piano Prodigy. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, Inc., 2004.

Haskins, Jim, and N.R. Mitgang. Mr. Bojangles: The Story of Bill Robinson. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1988.

Himelstein, Shmuel. A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Limited, 1991.

Hinman, Bonnie. Faith Hill. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

Huggett, Richard. Supernatural on Stage: Ghosts and Superstitions of the Theatre. New York: Taplinger Publishing Company, 1975.

Isenberg, Barbara. State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee, 2000.

Jackson, Jesse. Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord! The Life of Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel Singers. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1974.

Jones, Tim. Dog Heroes. Fairbanks, AK: Epicenter Press, 1995.

Kahn, Albert E. Days With Ulanova. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1962.

Karsh, Yousuf. Canadians. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1978.

Katella-Cofrancesco, Kathy. Economic Causes. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books. 1998.

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Kent, Zachary. Andrew Carnegie: Steel King and Friends to Libraries. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publications, Inc., 1999.

King, Chuck. The Funniest Thing I've Ever Seen: More Than 100 Crazy Stories from Minor League Baseball. Morristown, NC: Lulu Press, 2006.

Klosty, James, editor and photographer. Merce Cunningham. New York: Saturday Review Press/E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc, 1975.

Knapp, Ron. Sports Great Mario Lemieux. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1995.

Lang Lang. Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys. With Michael French. New York: Delacorte Press, 2008.

Larson, Kirby, and Mary Nethery. Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival. Illustrated by Jean Cassels. New York: Walker and Company, 2008.

Lawton, Mary. Schumann-Heink: The Last of the Titans. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1928.

Lehn, Cornelia. Peace Be with You. Newton, KS: Faith and Life Press, 1980.

Lemmon, Chris. A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2006.

Lennon, Adrian. Jorge Luis Borges. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992.

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Phayer, Michael, and Eva Fleischner. Cries in the Night: Women Who Challenged the Holocaust. Kansas City, MO: Sheed and Ward, 1997. Jessica Scheetz also helped write this book.

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Roman, Joseph. Pablo Neruda. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992.

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Steffens, Bradley. J.K. Rowling. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2002.

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Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph. Jewish Wisdom: Ethical, Spiritual, and Historical Lessons from the Great Works and Thinkers. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1994.

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Towle, Mike. I Remember Sam Snead. Nashville, TN: Cumberland House Publishing, Inc., 2003.

Tsai, Chih-Chung (editor and illustrator) and Kok Kok Kiang (translator). The Book of Zen. Singapore: Asiapac, 1990.

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Wertime, Marcia. Bob Dole. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997.

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Wukovits, John F. Colin Powell. San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 2000.

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Zehme, Bill. The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin'. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 1997.

Zuckerman, Andrew. Wisdom. Edited by Alex Vlack. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2008.
APPENDIX F: ENDNOTES

(1) Source: Chih-Chung Tsai (editor and illustrator) and Kok Kok Kiang (translator), The Book of Zen, p. 107.

(2) Source: Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., Do Unto Others: How Good Deeds Can Change Your Life, pp. 23-25.

(3) Source: Jim Haskins and N.R. Mitgang, Mr. Bojangles, pp. 104-105.

(4) Source: Gerald Nachman, Seriously Funny, pp. 6, 425.

(5) Source: James Bacon, How Sweet It Is: The Jackie Gleason Story, pp. 9, 22-23.

(6) Source: Soupy Sales, Soupy Sez! My Zany Life and Times, pp. 198, 200.

(7) Source: William Caper, Whoopi Goldberg: Comedian and Movie Star, p. 101.

(8) Source: Sam Norkin, Drawings, Stories, p. 198.

(9) Source: Spike Milligan, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, p. 22.

(10) Source: Jerry Clower, Life Everlaughter, pp. 59-60.

(11) Source: Tim Boxer, The Jewish Celebrity Hall of Fame, p. 63.

(12) Source: Bob Thomas, Bud & Lou: The Abbott & Costello Story, p. 125.

(13) Source: Jaehnel Leduc, "Centenary College students do good deed." Letter to the Editor. Warren Reporter. 6 February 2009 <http://www.nj.com/warrenreporter/index.ssf/2009/02/ letter_to_the_editor_centenary.html>.

(14) Source: Ernestine Gichner Miller, The Babe Book, p. 152.

(15) Source: Jack Kavanaugh, Honus Wagner, pp. 53, 57.

(16) Source: Norm Macht, Frank Robinson, pp. 23, 25.

(17) Source: Peter C. Bjarkman, Ernie Banks, pp. 9-11.

(18) Source: Chuck King, The Funniest Thing I've Ever Seen, pp. 97, 247.

(19) Source: Thomas W. Gilbert, Roberto Clemente, pp. 101-103.

(20) Source: John Albert Torres, Sports Great Sammy Sosa, pp. 16, 18, 20, 25, 43, 52-53.

(21) Source: Joel Cohen, Odd Moments in Baseball, p. 27.

(22) Source: T.J. Simers, "Acts of kindness are ushered in." Los Angeles Times. 11 March 2009 <http://www.latimes.com/sports/columnists/la-sp-simers11-2009mar11,0,3233290.column>.

(23) Source: Nathan Aaseng, Sports Great Michael Jordan, pp. 46-48.

(24) Source: Dave Albee, "Ohio's Mast no flash in the pan." Posted 13 January 2009 <http://www.ohio.edu/ohiotoday/print/basketballcoverage_albee.cfm>. This article originally appeared in the Register Star in March 1986. Also: Personal experience.

(25) Source: Carl W. Grody, Sports Great Keith Van Horn, pp. 23, 25.

(26) Source: Nathan Aaseng, True Champions: Great Athletes and Their Off-the-Field Heroics, pp. 18-21.

(27) Source: Bill Russell, Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend, p. 72.

(28) Source: Nathan Aaseng, True Champions: Great Athletes and Their Off-the-Field Heroics, pp. 45-49.

(29) Source: Peter C. Bjarkman, Sports Great Scottie Pippen, pp. 18, 20-21.

(30) Source: Christopher Walken, "Mickey Rourke." Interview Magazine. Viewed 25 January 2009 <http://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/mickey-rourke/>.

(31) Source: S. Claus, Holiday Cheer for the 19th Hole, p. 3.

(32) Source: Mike Towle, I Remember Sam Snead, pp. 7-8.

(33) Source: Ken Rappoport, Sports Great Wayne Gretzky, pp. 43-45, 47, 57, 59.

(34) Source: Ron Knapp, Sports Great Mario Lemieux, pp. 26-27, 29, 31.

(35) Source: Michael Boo, The Story of Figure Skating, p. 97.

(36) Source: Mike Celizic, "May, Walsh the best U.S. sports can offer." Msnbc.msn.com. 19 August 2008 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26282824/>.

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(38) Source: Bud Greenspan, 100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History, p. 36-37.

(39) Source: Ken Rappoport, Ladies First: Women Athletes Who Made a Difference, pp. 59-60, 68-69.

(40) Source: Robert S. Bader, "Introduction" to this book: Groucho Marx, Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales, pp. xi, xviii-xx.

(41) Source: Andrew Zuckerman, Wisdom, p. 61.

(42) Source: Norah Smaridge, Famous Literary Teams for Young People, pp. 99-100.

(43) Source: Joseph Roman, Pablo Neruda, pp. 26-27.

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(45) Source: Sean Dolin, Gabriel García Marquez, pp. 16-21.

(46) Source: David Carter, George Santayana, pp. 68, 79, 82-83.

(47) Source: Adrian Lennon, Jorge Luis Borges, p. 38.

(48) Source: Nathaniel Benchley, Robert Benchley, p. 165.

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(52) Source: Kimberly Campbell, Richard Peck: A Spellbinding Storyteller, pp. 37-38.

(53) Source: Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak, p. 180.

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(55) Source: Bradley Steffens, J.K. Rowling, p. 78.

(56) Source: Lisa A. Chippendale, Triumph of the Imagination: The Story of Writer J.K. Rowling, pp. 78-81.

(57) Source: Catherine Bernard, E.B. White: Spinner of Webs and Tales, pp. 68, 70.

(58) Source: Kenneth Williams, Acid Drops, p. 66.

(59) Source: Donna Dailey, Tamora Pierce, p. 48.

(60) Source: Elizabeth Silverthorne, Louisa May Alcott, p. 70.

(61) Source: Catherine Reef, Catherine. John Steinbeck, pp. 29-30, 89.

(62) Source: Edith Hope Fine, Gary Paulsen: Author and Wilderness Adventurer, pp. 39, 43.

(63) Source: Ashley Bryan, Words to My Life's Song, p. 31, inside back-cover flap.

(64) Source: Martha Richardson, Francisco Goya, pp. 94-96.

(65) Source: John F. Grabowski, 'N Sync, p. 10.

(66) Source: Matthew Newman, Ricky Martin, pp. 22, 58.

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(68) Source: Groucho Marx, Groucho Marx and Other Short Stories and Tall Tales, pp. 23-24.

(69) Source: Meg Greene, Lauryn Hill, pp. 18-19, 21, 30.

(70) Source: David Medsker: "A Chat with Paul Livingston, Trashcan Sinatras drummer." Bullz-eye.com. 4 August 2009 <http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2009/paul_livingston.htm>.

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(72) Source: Bonnie Hinman, Faith Hill, pp. 16, 28, 36, 38, 47.

(73) Source: Kathy Katella-Cofrancesco, Economic Causes, pp. 22-25. Also: Willie Nelson, The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes, p. 3.

(74) Source: Anita O'Day, High Times, Hard Times, pp. 100, 123-124.

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(77) Source: David Goodnough, Plácido Domingo: Opera Superstar, p. 82.

(78) Source: Bill Zehme, The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin', p. 189.

(79) Source: Oscar Levant, A Smattering of Ignorance, pp. 202-203.

(80) Source: Mary Lawton, Schumann-Heink: The Last of the Titans, pp. 75-76.

(81) Source: Madge Harrah, Blind Boone: Piano Prodigy, pp. 93-94.

(82) Source: Lang, Lang, Lang Lang: Playing with Flying Keys, pp. 68-72.

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(86) Source: Schuyler Chapin, Leonard Bernstein: Notes from a Friend, pp. 77-78, 81.

(87) Source: Hedda Garza, Pablo Casals, p. 36.

(88) Source: Leslie Ayre, The Wit of Music, p. 82.

(89) Source: Brandon Voss, "Hurricane Rita." The Advocate. 4 February 2009 <http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid72264.asp>.

(90) Source: Mike Farley, "A Chat with Jon McLaughlin, Singer/Songwriter." Bullz-eye.com. 2 January 2008 <http://www.bullz-eye.com/music/interviews/2009/jon_mclaughlin.htm>.

(91) Source: Richard Williams, "The jazz baroness and the bebop king." The Guardian. 22 December 2008 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/dec/22/jazz>.

(92) Source: Mark Bego, Julian Lennon!, p. 94.

(93) Source: Frances Alda, Men, Women, and Tenors, p. 285.

(94) Source: Barbara Isenberg, State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work, pp. 86-97.

(95) Source: Samuel Chotzinoff, Toscanini: An Intimate Portrait, p, 126.

(96) Source: Sir Rudolf Bing, 5000 Nights at the Opera, p. 353.

(97) Source: David E. Thigpen, Jam Master Jay: The Heart of Hip Hop, p. 87.

(98) Source: Maria Cole, Nat King Cole: An Intimate Biography, p. 145.

(99) Source: Emma Calvé, My Life, pp. 117-119.

(100) Source: Barbara Isenberg, State of the Arts: California Artists Talk About Their Work, pp. 140-141, 144.

(101) Source: Albert E. Kahn, Days With Ulanova, p. 118.

(102) Source: James Klosty, editor and photographer, Merce Cunningham, p. 29.

(103) Source: Sarah Giles, Fred Astaire: His Friends Talk, pp. 135, 137.

(104) Source: Suzanne Farrell, Holding On to the Air, pp. 138, 267-268.

(105) Source: Margot Fonteyn, Autobiography, p. 25.

(106) Source: Anton Dolin, Alicia Markova: Her Life and Art, pp. 92-93.

(107) Source: Jim Haskins and N.R. Mitgang, Mr. Bojangles, p. 289.

(108) Source: Will Harris, "A Chat with Bobcat Goldthwait, Writer and Director of World's Greatest Dad." Bullz-eye.com. 25 August 2009 <http://www.bullz-eye.com/movies/interviews/2009/bobcat_goldthwait.htm>.

(109) Source: Art Linkletter, Women are My Favorite People, pp. 39-41.

(110) Source: Nancy Caldwell Sorel and Edward Sorel, First Encounters, p. 7.

(111) Source: Decca Aitkenhead, "Fiona Bruce: 'If you look like the back end of a bus, you won't get the job.'" The Guardian. 24 August 2009 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/24/decca-aitkenhead-fiona-bruce>.

(112) Source: Susan Suntree, Rita Moreno, p. 79.

(113) Source: Roger Ebert, "It's sweltering hot out." Roger Ebert's Journal. 20 June 2009 <http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/06/its_sweltering_hot_out.html>.

(114) Source: Marilyn D. Anderson, Sarah Michelle Gellar, pp. 8-9, 29.

(115) Source: "Paul Newman: A Life by Shawn Levy: A review by Chris Bolton." 9 May 2009 <http://www.powells.com/review/2009_05_09.html>.

(116) Source: Roger Ebert, "Tarantino the glourious basterd." 20 May 2009<http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/05/tarantino_the_glorious_basterd.html>.

(117) Source: Steve Rose, 'I never got Star Trek.' The Guardian. 7 May 2009 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/07/jj-abrams-interview-star-trek>.

(118) Source: Rachel Shatto, "Pam Grier: From '70s Icon to Modern Day Dykon." Curve Magazine. May 2009 <http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/curve/200905/index.php?startid=Cover1&WidgetId=null&BookId=51029523ddaa8ae3c715f23ac46937ad#/42>.

(119) Source: Robert W. Butler, "Before Mitzi Gaynor revisits 'South Pacific,' she shares her love of the Beatles." McClatchy Newspapers. 1 April 2008 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/article/72554-before-mitzi-gaynor-revisits-south-pacific-she-shares-her-love-of-the/>.

(120) Source: Michael Moore, "'We the People' to 'King of the World': 'YOU'RE FIRED!'" 1 April 2009 <http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?messageDate=2009-04-01>.

(121) Source: Luaine Lee, "Cheryl Hines can't curb her enthusiasm for acting." McClatchy-Tribune News Service. 16 March 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/article/71762-cheryl-hines-cant-curb-her-enthusiasm-for-acting/>.

(122) Source: Adam Woog, George Lucas, pp. 49, 51-52, 67.

(123) Source: Sean Hepburn Ferrer, Audrey Hepburn: An Elegant Spirit, pp. 210-216.

(124) Source: Howard Bragman, "Paper Trail: How to Come Out." The Advocate. 20 January 2009 <http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid70585.asp>.

(125) Source: Walter Oleksy, Christopher Reeve, pp. 63-68.

(126) Source: Elise Lufkin, Found Dogs: Tales of Strays Who Landed on Their Feet, pp. 24-25.

(127) Source: Ken Levine, "In Memoriam: Lloyd Thaxton." Huffington Post. 7 October 2008 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ken-levine/in-memorium-lloyd-thaxton_b_132792.html>.

(128) Source: Rosanna Greenstreet, "Q + A with Julie Walters, actress." The Guardian. 27 September 2008 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/sep/27/4>.

(129) Source: Will Pavia, "Don LaFontaine, voice of the Hollywood film trailer, dies." The Times. 3 September 2008 <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ arts_and_entertainment/film/article4666864.ece>.

(130) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes, p. 77.

(131) Source: Chris Lemmon, A Twist of Lemmon: A Tribute to My Father, pp. 176-177.

(132) Source: Susan Goldman Rubin, Steven Spielberg: Crazy for Movies, pp. 20-27.

(133) Source: John Engstead, Star Shots: Fifty Years of Pictures and Stories by One of Hollywood's Greatest Photographers, p. 13.

(134) Source: Richard Huggett, Supernatural on Stage, p. 190.

(135) Source: John Miller, Judi Dench: With a Crack in Her Voice, p. 38.

(136) Source: Kate Mostel and Madeline Gilford, 170 Years of Show Business, p. 164.

(137) Source: Edward Wagenknecht, Merely Players, p. 120.

(138) Source: Arthur Blumberg and Phyllis Blumberg, The Unwritten Curriculum, pp. 26-27.

(139) Source: Ellen Levine, Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories, p. 9.

(140) Source: Andrew Tobias, "Not Shouting Fire on a Largely Deserted Street." 9 September 2008 <http://www.andrewtobias.com/newcolumns/080909.html>.

(141) Source: Jim Hightower, "Building Neighborliness With Free Fruit." Jimhightower.com. 31 July 2009 <http://www.jimhightower.com/node/6888>.

(142) Source: Marilyn Singer, Cats to the Rescue, pp. 71-73.

(143) Source: Kirby Larson and Mary Nethery, Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival. The pages of this children's book are unnumbered.

(144) Source: "20 Questions: Ridley Pearson." Popmatters.com. 23 July 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/108493-ridley-pearson/>.

(145) Source: John J. McPhaul, Deadlines and Monkeyshines: The Fabled World of Chicago Journalism, pp. 115-116.

(146) Source: Pamela Martino, "Big-box store helped out when family needed help for baby." Letter to the Editor. The Athens News. 20 July 2009 <http://www.athensnews.com/editorial/letters/28566-big-box-store-helped-out-when-family-needed-help-for-baby>.

(147) Source: Karyn McLaughlin Frist, editor, "Love you, Daddy Boy": Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love, pp. 122, 124.

(148) Source: Yousuf Karsh, Canadians, pp. 11-15.

(149) Source: Garry Wills, "Daredevil." The Atlantic. July/August 2009 <http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200907/william-buckley>.

(150) Source: Norma Jean Lutz, Céline Dion, pp. 28-29, 49.

(151) Source: Gretchen Rubin, "Practice a NON-Random Act of Kindness." Slate.com. 12 June 2009 <http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/happinessproject/default.aspx>.

(152) Source: Zachary R. Dowdy, "Officer helps mom get her ducks back in a row." Newsday. 15 May 2009 <http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-liduck1612771447may15,0,3370016.story>.

(153) Source: "Paying It Forward: A Breakfast Surprise In Maltby, WA." 8 May 2009 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/08/paying-it-forward-a-break_n_198029.html>.

(154) Source: Victoria Sherrow, The Oklahoma City Bombing, pp. 7, 17, 29.

(155) Source: John J. McPhaul, Deadlines and Monkeyshines: The Fabled World of Chicago Journalism, pp. 191-200, 202.

(156) Source: Jack L. Roberts, Garth Brooks, p. 59.

(157) Source: John F. Wukovits, Colin Powell, pp. 34-35.

(158) Source: Elise Lufkin, Second Chances: More Tales of Found Dogs, pp. 160-161.

(159) Source: 1864 House, "Coming Out Day-My Family Story." Daily Kos. 11 October 2008 http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/10/11/17527/526.

(160) Source: Tim Jones, Dog Heroes, pp. 52-55.

(161) Source: Jeanne Betancourt, Ten True Animal Rescues, pp. 8-14.

(162) Source: Christopher Farran, Animals to the Rescue!, pp. 24-26.

(163) Source: Dr. Lee Tzu Pheng, editor, Always in Season: A Harvest of Kindness Stories, p. 38.

(164) Source: Charles J. Shields, I am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee, pp. 82-86.

(165) Source: Richard Cork, "Francis Bacon remembered." The Sunday Times. 7 September 2008 <http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/ arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article4666650.ece>.

(166) Source: Roxane Chadwick, Amelia Earhart: Aviation Pioneer, pp. 7, 12.

(167) Source: Leah Furman, Jennifer Lopez, pp. 40-41.

(168) Source: Gerald Nachman, Seriously Funny, p. 624.

(169) Source: Susan Stamberg, "Stories of Good Deeds: NPR Listeners Share Tales of Kind Strangers, Acts of Generosity." National Public Radio's Morning Edition. 27 January 2003 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=937158.

(170) Source: Darryl Lyman, Holocaust Rescuers: Ten Stories of Courage, pp. 112-113.

(171) Source: Linda Jacobs Altman, Resisters and Rescuers: Standing Up Against the Holocaust, pp. 66, 68.

(172) Source: David K. Fremon, The Holocaust Heroes, pp. 82-83.

(173) Source: Gay Block and Malka Drucker, Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, p. 176.

(174) Source: Sean Price, Varian Fry, all pages.

(175) Source: Michael Phayer and Eva Fleischner, Cries in the Night: Women Who Challenged the Holocaust, pp. 89-91.

(176) Source: Ellen Levine, Darkness Over Denmark: The Danish Resistance and the Rescue of the Jews, pp. 71-72.

(177) Source: Jayne Pettit, A Place to Hide: True Stories of Holocaust Rescues, pp. 52-53.

(178) Source: Ann Byars, Oskar Schindler: Saving Jews from the Holocaust, pp. 106-107.

(179) Source: Susan Goldman Rubin, Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin, pp. 7-9, 14-15, 21, 29-31, 33-35, 42.

(180) Source: Gay Block and Malka Drucker, Rescuers: Portraits of Moral Courage in the Holocaust, pp. 180, 182.

(181) Source: Eric Silver, The Book of the Just: The Unsung Heroes Who Rescued Jews from Hitler, pp. 127-129.

(182) Source: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Humor, pp. 152-153.

(183) Source: Rabbi Shmuel Avidor Hacohen, compiler, Touching Heaven, Touching Earth: Hassidic Humor and Wit, p. 58.

(184) Source: Rabbi Shmuel Avidor Hacohen, compiler, Touching Heaven, Touching Earth: Hassidic Humor and Wit, p. 87.

(185) Source: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom, pp. 31-32.

(186) Source: Sharon Salzberg, Lovingkindness, pp. 112-113.

(187) Source: José Luis González-Balado, compiler, Mother Teresa: In My Own Words, p. 79.

(188) Source: Amy Ruth, Mother Teresa, pp. 63, 86-87.

(189) Source: Cornelia Lehn, Peace Be with You, p. 84.

(190) Source: Louis Michaels, The Humor and Warmth of Pope John XXIII, p. 53.

(191) Source: Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum, Holy Brother, pp. 7-8.

(192) Source: Naomi Pasachoff, Great Jewish Thinkers: Their Lives and Work, pp. 20-21.

(193) Source: Paul Greenberg, Resonant Lives: 60 Figures of Consequence, pp. 111-112.

(194) Source: Rabbi Dr. H. Rabinowicz, A Guide to Hassidism, p. 78.

(195) Source: Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, M.D., Do Unto Others: How Good Deeds Can Change Your Life, pp. 59-60.

(196) Source: William H. Sessions, collector, Laughter in Quaker Grey, p. 52.

(197) Source: Irvin C. Poley and Ruth Verlenden Poley, Friendly Anecdotes, pp. 125-126.

(198) Source: Helen White Charles, collector and editor, Quaker Chuckles, pp. 59-60.

(199) Source: Anne Schraff, Coretta Scott King: Striving for Civil Rights, pp. 53-54.

(200) Source: "Daddy dearest: Famous, fearless, clever, cool: five writers open their family albums to offer a snapshot of their fathers." The Guardian. 13 December 2008 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/dec/13/writers-family-albums-fathers-relationships>. This article is an edited extract from "Granta 104: Fathers," published in January 2009.

(201) Source: Sarfraz Manzoor, "How Muslim flashmobs can feed homeless people." The Guardian. 22 September 2008 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/22/religion.socialexclusion>. Also: Sandra Shmueli, "'Flash mob' craze spreads". CNN. 8 August 2003 <http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/internet/08/04/flash.mob/>.

(202) Source: William B. Silverman, Rabbinic Wisdom and Jewish Values, p. 44.

(203) Source: Dan Kaufman, Review of War Is Beautiful: An American Ambulance Driver in the Spanish Civil War by James Neugass and Peter N. Carroll and Peter Glazer. Originally published in The Nation; Posted on Powells.com. 25 August 2009 <http://www.powells.com/review/2009_08_25.html>.

(204) Source: Norah Smaridge, Hands of Mercy: The Story of Sister-Nurses in the Civil War, pp. 72-75.

(205) Source: Reinhard Diebold, collector and editor, The Book of Good Deeds: 1914-1918, pp. 79-80.

(206) Source: Christopher Farran, Dogs on the Job! True Stories of Phenomenal Dogs, pp. 55-56.

(207) Source: Bob Thomas, Bud & Lou, p. 110.

(208) Source: Jack Mingo, The Juicy Parts, p. 161.

(209) Source: Reinhard Diebold, collector and editor, The Book of Good Deeds: 1914-1918, pp. 158-159.

(210) Source: Yousuf Karsh, Canadians, pp. 156-157.

(211) Source: Michael Thomas Ford, It's Not Mean If It's True, p. 137.

(212) Source: Benjamin Brink, David's Story, pp. 4ff.

(213) Source: Minot Simons II, Women's Gymnastics: A History. Volume 1: 1966 to 1974, pp. 259ff.

(214) Source: Scott Burns, "Message from Las Malvinas." Assetbuilder.com. 6 February 2009 <http://assetbuilder.com/blogs/scott_burns/archive/2009/02/06/message-from-las-malvinas.aspx>.

(215) Source: Margaret Poynter, Niels Bohr: Physicist and Humanitarian, pp. 71-77.

(216) Source: Elise Lufkin, Second Chances: More Tales of Found Dogs, pp. 66-67.

(217) Source: Cornelia Lehn, Peace Be with You, pp. 67-68.

(218) Source: Shmuel Himelstein, A Touch of Wisdom, A Touch of Wit, pp. 135-136.

(219) Source: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Wisdom, pp. 434-435.

(220) Source: Ana María Rodríguez, Edward Jenner: Conqueror of Smallpox, pp. 99, 106-109.

(221) Source: Dr. Lee Tzu Pheng, editor, Always in Season: A Harvest of Kindness Stories, p. 194.

(222) Source: Jim Murray, The Best of Jim Murray, pp. 7-10.

(223) Source: Margaret Poynter, Marie Curie: Discoverer of Radium, pp. 74-75.

(224) Source: Karyn McLaughlin Frist, editor, "Love you, Daddy Boy": Daughters Honor the Fathers They Love, p. 56.

(225) Source: Jesse Jackson, Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord! The Life of Mahalia Jackson, Queen of Gospel Singers, p. 54.

(226) Source: Brian Burnes, "For author Richard Lawrence Miller, it's all Abe all the time." McClatchy Newspapers. 6 July 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/article/107725-for-author-richard-lawrence-miller-its-all-abe-all-the-time/>.

(227) Source: Marcia Wertime, Bob Dole, pp. 14, 18, 31-32, 57, 90.

(228) Source: Catherine Corley Anderson, John F. Kennedy: Young People's President, pp. 82-83.

(229) Source: Jayme Lynn Blaschke, Voices of Vision: Creators of Science Fiction and Fantasy Speak, pp. 71-72.

(230) Source: Ellen Levine, Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories, pp. 72-73.

(231) Source: Roger Ebert, "The third most important story of the year." Blogs.suntimes.com. 13 November 2008 <http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2008/11/the_third_most_important_story.html#more>.

(232) Source: "Heartwarming Norwegian Story." 28 October 2008 <http://www.andrewtobias.com/newcolumns/081028.html>.

(233) Source: Mary E. Lyons, Master of Mahogany: Tom Day, Free Black Cabinetmaker, pp. 3, 7, 12, 18-19, 39.

(234) Source: Cal and Rose Samra, More Holy Hilarity, p. 172.

(235) Source: Sharon Salzberg, A Heart as Wide as the World, p. 173.

(236) Source: Sgt. Cliff Evener, "Two Athens businesses go out of their way to help soldiers." Letter to the Editor. The Athens News. 24 August 2009 <http://www.athensnews.com/editorial/letters/28822-two-athens-businesses-go-out-of-their-way-to-help-soldiers>.

(237) Source: Sheldon Sanov, "Letter to the Editor: Returned Wallet." Santa Barbara (CA) Independent. 30 July 2009 <http://www.independent.com/news/2009/jul/30/returned-wallet/>.

(238) Source: "The Making of Kill Bill," a documentary that appeared on DVD of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Volume 1.

(239) Source: Associated Press, "Fireman dresses as Spider-Man to rescue boy: Comic-loving autistic kid on balcony had refused to let others near him." 25 March 2009 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/2987589>. Also: Sean Murphy, "Somchai Yoosabai: The Jumping Master." Popmatters.com. 25 March 2009 <http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/72245-somchai-yoosabai-the-jumping-master/>.

(240) Source: Bruce Loudon, "Aussie pilot Steve Smith saved 30 in Mumbai restaurant." The Australian. 2 December 2008 <http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24737994-5013404,00.html>.

(241) Source: Somini Sengupta, "For Heroes of Mumbai, Terror Was a Call to Action." New York Times. 1 December 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/world/asia/02heroes.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all>.

(242) Source: Susan Stamberg, "Stories of Good Deeds: NPR Listeners Share Tales of Kind Strangers, Acts of Generosity." National Public Radio's Morning Edition. 27 January 2003 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=937158.

(243) Source: Personal anecdote.

(244) Source: Steven Malanga, "The Professional Panhandling Plague." City-Journal. Vol. 18, No. 3. Summer 2008 <http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_3_panhandling.html>.

(245) Source: Richard Young, Shooting Stars, pp. 112-119.

(246) Source: Herbert Harris, "Letter: Beware of folks trying to steal your SUV's catalytic converter." The Athens News. 25 August 2008 <http://www.athensnews.com/opinion/letters/2008/aug/25/letter-beware-folks-trying-steal-your-suvs-catalyt/>.

(247) Source: Rosanna Hansen, Animal Rescuers, pp. 28-33.

(248) Source: Sandra Markle, Rescues!, pp. 66-74.

(249) Source: Zachary Kent, Andrew Carnegie: Steel King and Friends to Libraries, p. 39.

(250) Source: William B. Silverman, Rabbinic Wisdom and Jewish Values, p. 172.

