

THE KINDEST PEOPLE WHO DO GOOD DEEDS, VOLUME 7: 250 ANECDOTES

Copyright 2011 by Bruce D. Bruce

Dedicated to Billy Sorensen, Billy's parents and sister, and to Steve Farmer

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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 that I have encountered in my reading of books or of articles on the Web, and 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

Frugal and Generous

In Taiwan, Chen Shu-Chu works hard selling vegetables, getting up at 3 a.m. and staying in her stall until 7 or 8 at night. She is the first to arrive at and the last to leave the market. She is frugal and over the years has donated to charities NT$10 million (New Taiwan dollars), which is $321,550 in American money. A Buddhist, Chen says, "Money is only worthy if given to those in need." Chen, who is unmarried, is humble, saying, "I have done nothing extraordinary and everyone who wants to can do it. There are many other charitable people; we just don't know about them." Chen adds, "I do not place great importance on money. When I donate to help others, I feel at peace and happy, and I can sleep well at night." One of Chen's largest donations was for a school library at her alma mater, Ren-ai Primary School. Making plans for the school library, which Li Guorong, a teacher, estimated would cost between NT$4 million and NT$5 million, Li asked Chen if she would be willing to donate NT$50,000. Instead, she donated all the money that was needed for the library: NT$4.5 million. The library is named "Chen Shu-Chu Library" in her honor. She has also donated NT$1 million to Ren-ai Primary School to help poor children financially. How can Chen afford to donate such sums of money? She says, "Spend only what you need, and you'll be able to save up a lot of money!" Since 1996 she has sponsored three children in the Kids-alive International organization, donating NT$36,000 ($1,150), which is the money that she got from putting her loose change into three cardboard boxes each night. She says, "This is a simple act that can be done by anyone, isn't it?" She adds, "My philosophy in life is simple: If doing something makes you worried, then it must be a wrong thing. If it makes you happy, then you must have done the right thing. What others say is not important." (1)

Blisters and Missing Toenails

In 2009, British comedian Eddie Izzard ran approximately 1,100 miles across Great Britain to raise £200,000 for the charity Sport Relief, which brings together people from the sport and the entertainment worlds to raise money to help vulnerable people. Despite blisters and missing toenails, Mr. Izzard ran the equivalent of 43 marathons in 51 days at a pace of more than 27 miles a day, six days a week. After finishing the fundraiser at the National Gallery in London, an exhausted Mr. Izzard said, "I feel dead. Being here [with everyone] is very nice. When I left here seven-and-a-half weeks ago, there was nobody here and it was just another cold morning. And now there is a lot of people here—even in the rain. I think the worst part of the experience was the last three minutes sprinting down The Mall, which was really tough. I don't think what I did was amazing. Anyone can do it." Mr. Izzard trained for only five weeks before beginning his epic run. At first, he completed his daily distance in around ten hours, but as he got in shape, he completed it in a little over five hours. Mr. Izzard said about the running, "It's changed my body." One change that Mr. Izzard needed to stop after ending his intensive running was his food intake. He said, "I've been stuffing food [5,000 to 6,000 calories per day] in my mouth morning, noon, and night, and now I have to stop doing that. I'm completely exhausted, and I can't sleep properly. The first three weeks were the toughest, when it started raining, but I'm a relentless idiot. I'm supposed to have an ice bath now. Then I am going to have a party somewhere dry, and then I am going to sleep for a week." Mr. Izzard had help during his run: the services of a tour manager, a sports therapist, and an ice-cream van, which also gave away free ice cream to Mr. Izzard's supporters. Mr. Izzard said that his feet did take a beating: "I had about five or six blisters at the top, and it's now down to two on the outer toes. They look like aliens. And I lost my toenails on my outer toes as well. I don't think I've lost weight because it turns into muscle, so you probably put on weight. I've probably leaned up." Mr. Izzard may actually have temporarily lost a bit of height from the massive amount of running. John Brewer, a professor in sport at Bedfordshire University, said about Mr. Izzard, "He might actually be a little bit shorter. Studies have shown that marathon runners tend to lose between one and two centimeters in height because the spine constricts slightly. That is a short-term effect, and the height will come back up again." A few people temporarily joined Mr. Izzard on his run. He once stopped at a fast-food place for a burger, and a group of girls ran with him for a while. Another time, a group of boys ran five miles with him. (2)

A Kind Father

Don Rickles' father taught him everything he ever needed to know about making car repairs: Pay someone else to make them. His father was a very kind man. He sold life insurance, and when his customers could not afford to pay the premiums, often he would pay the premiums for them. When his father died, his customers showed their respect for him by paying back what they owed him. (3)

Kind People

When Daddy Thomas was just getting started as an entertainer, he hitchhiked back and forth from Toledo and Detroit. He told a trucker he hitchhiked with about his desire to be an entertainer, and the trucker gave him free transportation. Each morning, the trucker picked him up at the Toledo truck terminal and gave him a ride to Detroit. Each evening, Danny waited for him at the Detroit truck terminal, and the trucker gave him a ride to Toledo. Danny repaid the trucker by telling him his funniest stories. Danny says, "The trucker was a good audience." By the way, for decades, Janet Roth was Mr. Thomas' secretary. As such, she did many duties, including taking care of the Thomas children whenever Mrs. Thomas visited Danny when he was on the road performing in nightclubs. Mr. Thomas and Ms. Roth had an agreement that was mutually satisfying to both of them: Mr. Thomas was not allowed to fire her, and Ms. Roth was not allowed to quit. (4)

Healing Those Who Fight, and Helping a Healer

Marlo Thomas once asked her father, the comedian Danny Thomas, if he had ever been in the army. He replied that for a year he had served as an entertainer in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific with Marlene Dietrich. Marlo said, "Oh, so you weren't a real soldier." Her father replied, "No, we didn't carry the guns, but we helped heal the boys who did. You know, Mugs [Marlo's nickname], right after the Red Cross comes the U.S.O." Danny was a kind person. When Marlo was in college, she dated a man named Jimmy Pugh, who was studying to be a dentist. Even after Marlo stopped dating him in order to go to New York to become an actress, Danny stayed close to Jimmy, who often came to Danny's house for conversation. One day, Danny walked with Jimmy to Jimmy's car after their visit was over. Jimmy had parked his car in the back because it was a "heap." When Danny saw the wreck of a car, he said, "You're going to be a dentist! You can't let anything happen to your hands. You'll beak every bone in your body in this wreck!" Danny happened to have a new pickup truck—the result of doing a favor for a company. He gave the truck to Jimmy, saying, "Here, take this. I'll never drive it." Danny kept the gift quiet—Marlo learned about it in a letter that Jimmy sent her after Danny died. (5)

100 Pennies

Al Shean was a popular comedian during the very early part of the 20th century. He endeared himself to children whenever he visited his young nephews who later became the famous Marx Brothers. Not only did he give his young nephews money, but also he would toss 100 pennies (back when a penny was actually valuable) into the street and let the neighborhood children scramble for the money. (6)

"Not Afraid of Anyone"

Chico Marx of the famous Marx Brothers married a woman named Betty, who traveled with the comedy troupe to be with her husband during their vaudeville days. One day, the usually mild-tempered Gummo Marx (who left entertainment to go into business before the Marx Brothers started making movies) got into an argument with a train brakeman, and the brakeman got so angry that he lifted a wrench and was going to hit Gummo with it. Although Betty was seven months pregnant, she grabbed the brakeman's hand and held on long enough for Gummo's brothers to come to the rescue. Chico proudly claimed afterward that Betty was not afraid of anyone. (7)

"Our New Olympic Hero is Bjornar Haakensmoen"

During the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin, Italy, the Canadian women's cross-skiing team ran into trouble when one of Sara Renner's ski poles broke during the sprint relay final. Bjørnar Håkensmoen, head coach for Norway's cross-country skiers, was on the scene. He exhibited incredibly good sportsmanship by giving Ms. Renner one of his own ski poles. The Canadian team of Ms. Renner and Beckie Scott won the silver medal while the Norwegian team finished fourth. Mr. Håkensmoen insisted that he was merely following the Norwegian tradition of fair play. He pointed out, "We talked about it at our team meeting the night before. We are a country which believes in fair play." Of course, the media gave his good sportsmanship immense coverage, and he became a hero in Canada. In its story about his good deed, Québec's Le Journal de Montréal published on its first page a huge "TAKK" (which is Norwegian for "thank you"). Many Canadians wrote grateful letters to the English Web Desk of the large Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten. George Araujo of Port Dover, Ontario, wrote, "Our new Olympic Hero is Bjornar Haakensmoen." He called Mr. Håkensmoen "a living testament to the true meaning of sport." Bruce Norgren of Waterloo, Ontario, wrote, "There can be no better example of the Olympic ideal of sportsmanship than was demonstrated by Norwegian coach Bjornar Haakensmoen." Mark Rice of Toronto wrote, "In a world gone mad... with even the simplest of misunderstandings leading to violence the world over, it's heartening to see that we can still be human. The selfless act of Bjornar Hakensmoen, the Norwegian cross-country ski boss, in handing a new ski pole to Canadian Sara Renner, during the heat of competition, without thought as to how the outcome might have affected his own team, stands alone in my mind as one of the brightest moments I can recall in this, or any other Olympics." And Geoff Snow of Waterford, Ontario, wrote, "In the eyes of Canadians, we took a silver medal, but Norway has won gold for sportsmanship." The Canadians found a unique way to thank Mr. Håkensmoen for his good sportsmanship. Canada is renowned for its maple syrup, and the Canadians started Project Maple Syrup—a drive to collect maple syrup to give to Mr. Håkensmoen. The drive was very successful: The Canadians collected 7,400 cans of maple syrup (over five tons) and sent it to Mr. Håkensmoen in Oslo, Norway—many of the cans had messages of admiration attached to them. Both the Norwegian and Canadian governments waived import duties for the maple syrup. Mr. Håkensmoen said, "When you get this kind of response, it is, well, just enormous." So does Mr. Håkensmoen like maple syrup? After trying it for the first time, he said, "It's sweet, and a little unusual. We might have it from time to time, but not five times a day." Of course, Mr. Håkensmoen did not keep all that maple syrup. He gave it to Chess Communications of Norway, which in turn donated 150,000 Norwegian Krone to the Norwegian Cancer Society. (In April 2011, 150,000 Norwegian Krone were worth $28,250 in American dollars.) (8)

Triathlon Hero

On April 30, 2011, Teresa McCoy, 37, saved a life. She was competing in the bike portion of the Meek and Mighty Triathlon in St. Petersburg, Florida, when she saw runner No. 100, a man with whom she had spoken before the triathlon began, lying on the ground with two police officers by him. Ms. McCoy, who is a nurse at Tampa General Hospital's cardiac lab, checked his pulse. He had no pulse, so she began to perform CPR on him and yelled for a defibrillator. A police officer brought her one, and she used it. She said, "As soon as we shocked him, he came to." He was expected to recover from his heart attack. Ms. McCoy said, "I'm so glad he's alive. I know that God put me where I was supposed to be today. It's like I was his angel today." By the way, after paramedics and an ambulance took the man away, Ms. McCoy finished the triathlon. (9)

"You Don't Do Things Right Once in a While; You Do Them Right All the Time"

Lots of football players who played for the Green Bay Packers under Coach Vince Lombardi did not retire rich from football. However, many of them have gone on to become rich in part because of lessons that they learned from Coach Lombardi. Willie Davis earned an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago while he was playing for the Packers. At one point, he grew discouraged and wanted to quit. Many coaches today are likely to welcome such a decision, hoping that the player would then concentrate solely on football and not be distracted by academics; however, Coach Lombardi talked to Mr. Davis and said that he had never seen Mr. Davis quit and that he did not want him to quit now. After retiring from football, Mr. Davis made millions from radio. Max McGee founded Chi-Chi's, the chain of Mexican restaurants, and grew rich. Many other Packers did not retire rich but are rich now. Jerry Kramer believes that all of Mr. Lombardi's players learned from the coach. One thing that Mr. Kramer learned from Coach Lombardi was this: "You don't do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time." Mr. Kramer says, "Some of today's players would probably scoff at this as a cliché, but any time I think of taking a shortcut, of just going through the motions, I hear Lombardi's raspy voice, I see his shiny eyes, and I just can't do it." (10)

Guess Who Her Date Is

In 2011, Joslyn Levell, an 8th grader with spina bifida who spends most of her time in a wheelchair, got an impressive date for her end-of-school-year formal dance at Suncrest Middle School in Morgantown, West Virginia: J.T. Thomas, who had played football at West Virginia University and had been drafted by the Chicago Bears. That date was so impressive that it got a lot of media attention. Joslyn said, "I'm not used to the attention, but I like it. It's been amazing. I can't wait to hear what everybody has to say." Mr. Thomas has a seven-year-old brother named Jared with autism who rides the same bus as Joslyn. Bus driver Jake Tennant invited Mr. Thomas on the bus and introduced him to Joslyn because he knew that Joslyn is a Bears fan. They talked, and Joslyn told him that all the boys she had asked to be her date to the end-of-school-year formal dance had turned her down. Mr. Thomas said, "I hugged her and signed a few things and we talked for awhile and she cried a bit. I gave her a hug and told her everything would work itself out." Mr. Thomas decided to ask Joslyn to allow him to escort her to the dance. Of course, he wanted this to be OK with everyone; after all, he was 22 years old and Joslyn was only 14, so his stepmother, Rochelle, telephoned both the school and then Joslyn's parents to get their permission, and then Mr. Thomas telephoned Joslyn. Calling someone for a date can be nerve-wracking. Mr. Thomas said, "I was nervous that by the time I reached out, she might have had a date and would have to turn me down." Joslyn said, "After so many people turned me down, this was so big, especially because he asked me instead of me asking him." Mr. Thomas gave Joslyn a bouquet of roses and a corsage, and at the dance Joslyn made sure that the boys who had turned her down knew that her date was a football star. (11)

A Good Deed for a Good Deed

On December 12, 2009, Edward Myers, who is 11 years old and lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, found a purse in a creek. He said, "I retrieved the purse, and we [he and his parents] looked through it and we found $2,000 in cash." Edward and his parents telephoned the police, and the purse was returned to its rightful owner, who gave Edward a $100 reward. Edward bought a Carolina Panthers jersey, and a player on his favorite NFL sports team further rewarded him. Steve Smith, a wide receiver for the Panthers, learned about Edward's good deed and wanted to treat him: He sent Edward four tickets to a game. Edward said, "Steve Smith wrote a letter and invited me to the last game of the season." He added, "I got front-row seats. I get to see two teams go together—it's gonna be a good game." (The Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints, 23-10.) After the game, Edward said, "It's been great to see all the players—it's so amazing." Edward said about Mr. Smith, "How thankful I am that he thought of me and my family," adding, "I would have never thought in my life to take the purse." Edward's mother, Donna Myers, said, "I hope it shows someone that might not be making the right decision that good can come from doing the right thing." (12)

An Intimidating Nice Guy

Chris Johnson, a native of Orlando, Florida, and a running back for the Tennessee Titans, won The Associated Press 2009 NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, and in early 2010, he did a small but nice good deed. Mr. Johnson ate breakfast at a Denny's restaurant in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Before he left, he paid the bill for an elderly couple whom he did not know but who were sitting near him. Mr. Johnson may intimidate some people because of his dreadlocks and gold teeth, but this good deed shows that he can be a very nice guy. (13)

UGA Offensive Linemen Help Rescue Three People

On May 18, 2005, two University of Georgia football players helped rescue three people following a fiery four-vehicle car crash involving two tractor-trailer trucks and two pickup trucks. UGA offensive linemen Russ Tanner and Dennis Roland were driving a pickup to South Carolina to buy fireworks when the collision occurred. Mr. Tanner said, "We were coming up north on Commerce Road [U.S. 441] following the white semi when, for no reason, this pickup truck coming the other way came into our lane and sideswiped the semi. Both trucks lost control, and the pickup fishtailed around the semi and slid across the road straight at us, so I drove into the ditch to get out of the way, but it hit us anyway." The white semi skidded and crashed into a ditch and then caught fire. The driver of a log truck hit the brakes to keep from hitting the semi, but the log truck jackknifed and went over on its side. Mr. Tanner said, "We jumped out and heard them screaming in the other pickup. The lady inside handed the baby to me, and I gave it to Dennis [Roland]." Mr. Tanner then pulled the two adults inside through the pickup window to safety, and Mr. Roland called 9-1-1. Then they ran to the white semi. A man and a woman stumbled out of the semi, and Mr. Tanner said that he and Mr. Roland "drug them into a ditch to get them away from the fire." People were yelling about the overturned log truck, which had also caught fire, "Someone's still in there," but it was impossible to approach the truck because of the fire. Mr. Tanner said, "You couldn't even see the truck anymore because of the fire." The driver of the log truck died, and five people were injured. Russ Tanner and Dennis Roland were not hurt, although they were shaken by what they had witnessed. Mr. Tanner shook his head and said, "Some real bad stuff." (14)

"Share and Care"

When Tiger Woods was five or six years old, he had a coin collection, the best piece of which was a $20 Canadian gold coin. He loved this coin collection almost as much as loved his golf clubs—regular adult-sized clubs that had been cut down to his size. One day, he and his father were watching the news when Walter Cronkite was reporting on a famine in Ethiopia. Young Tiger stared at the TV screen, scared because of the starving children he was seeing. His father tried to comfort him: "You know, Tiger, I have a doctor friend who is over in Africa right now, working to help those children." Tiger replied, "That's good." However, he did not feel much better. He went to his room and looked at all of his possessions. Then he got his coin collection and took it to his father, saying, "Daddy, would you send these to your friend in Africa so he can help those kids and buy some food for them?" His father asked, "Are you sure, Tiger? I know how much you love those." Tiger replied, "I'm sure, Daddy." When Tiger was growing up, and even on the day that he was born, his parents told him, "Share and care." (15)

Giving Away a Kidney—or Two

On Tuesday, March 1, 2011, Ladies Professional Golf Association player Beth Allen donated one of her kidneys to Dan Allen, her big brother. After the operation, she tweeted, "I'm all done! Feels like I've done 10 million sit ups but I'm ok." Dan, who works at Mission Bay Golf Course, a par-3 facility in San Diego, CA, was feeling better, too. After the operation, Beth emailed Golfweek to say, "My kidney worked for my brother right away! I haven't seen him yet, but my mom said that he looks better than he has in years." According to Dan, the sacrifice that his sister made is "beyond words." Before the operation, he was spending 10 hours a day hooked up to a dialysis machine. A person who donated a kidney in 2009 is Kathie McClure of Atlanta, Georgia. The recipient of the kidney was Dan Krinsky, chef at Tierra, a restaurant that serves South American food. Ms. McClure learned in her local newspaper that he needed a kidney. She discovered that she was a good, healthy match, and she donated her kidney to him. She says that she did get an important benefit from her donation: "I can go over [to Tierra] and have tres leches whenever I want ." According to Ms. McClure, donating a kidney is "like having a baby. When it's over, you don't really think so much about what you went through to get where you got." (16)

"The Goalie is My Friend"

The son of a woman who posts messages using the name "Speedi" plays goalie on a hockey team in a small town. At one game he played in, Speedi sat next to a family with a son who is mentally and physically handicapped. Speedi's son, the goalie, impressed the boy, who kept saying things such as, "Mom, look the goalie is going to get the puck now!" During halftime, Speedi told her son about the boy, and her son went into the stands and introduced himself to the boy. During the second half of the game, the boy was saying things such as, "The goalie is my friend. He is so nice!" After the game was over, Speedi's son gave the boy's father the game puck and asked him to give it to his son. Speedi says, "Needless to say, we are very proud hockey parents and our son is our new hero!" (17)

A Considerate Hockey Superstar

Dallas Eakins spent a lot of time in professional hockey as a character guy (a guy with a strong work ethic and a good attitude, but a guy who will never be a major star), but he did play three games at the end of the regular season with superstar Wayne Gretzky and the New York Rangers. He even skated during the playoffs, but of course he was a minor player on a major team. However, he roomed on the road with Russ Courtnall, a great friend of Mr. Gretzky. Occasionally, the two friends invited Mr. Eakins to go and eat out with them, and so he got to know Mr. Gretzky at least a little. During the summer, Mr. Eakins was hanging out with another minor player with the Rangers, David Oliver, when he got a telephone call from Mr. Gretzky, who invited the two players to play golf with him in Los Angeles and stay at his house. The two minor players eagerly accepted the invitation, and making up a fourth at golf was Olympic gold-medal-winning figure skater Scott Hamilton. Mr. Eakins says about Mr. Gretzky, "Here is the best player ever to play the game, and he had the heart and goodwill to pick up the phone in the middle of the summer and call the 23rd guy on the team to see if he wants to spend a couple days golfing. That says volumes about him." As you would expect, Mr. Oliver was also very happy to hang out with Mr. Gretzky. The two men stayed in single beds in the kids' room of the Gretzkys' house. Mr. Eakins marveled, "Hey, Ollie, we're staying over at Wayne Gretzky's house!" Mr. Oliver responded by making "the biggest cheer" that Mr. Eakins had ever heard. (18)

Hockey Goodies

On January 4, 2010, Pittsburgh Penguins fan Herbert Carlson died in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, of leukemia. He also had had heart problems for years. Approximately eight years before Mr. Carlson died, family member Jack Douglas, who is the Boundary County (Idaho) prosecuting attorney, let the Penguins know about Mr. Carlson's health problems. In a letter to the editor of the Pittsburgh Tribune, Mr. Douglas writes that "the team sent a signed hockey stick, a Penguins jersey (it is beautiful) and other goodies. We have always been thankful as a family, and the Penguins brought Herb some real joy as he fought for life. You should be proud of the team, from the owners on down. God bless all of you. Please win a game in memory of Herb Carlson. He loved the Penguins and so do we." (19)

Good Sportsmanship

In 1952, the New York Yankees won the World Series, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers in seven games. Mickey Mantle hit a home run to break a 2-2 tie in game seven, and then he drove in another run as the Yankees won, 4-2. Dodger Jackie Robinson recognized greatness when he saw it. After the loss, Mr. Robinson went to the Yankees' clubhouse and shook Mr. Mantle's hand. He said, "Mantle beat us. He was the difference between the two clubs. [...] It was Mickey Mantle who killed us." (20)

Forfeiting $12 Million

In January 2011 Gil Meche, a right-handed pitcher for the Kansas City Royals, decided not to report for spring training camp, thus forfeiting $12 million that would gave been his through a guaranteed contract that meant he got paid even if he didn't play. All he had to do was to show up for spring training camp and go through rehabilitation of a deteriorating shoulder. But Mr. Meche felt that he was no longer able to do the job the Royals had hired him to do, and he felt that the Royals had treated him well and had already paid him enough money, so he willingly forfeited the $12 million that the Royals would have had to pay him. Mr. Meche said, "When I signed my contract, my main goal was to earn it. Once I started to realize I wasn't earning my money, I felt bad. I was making a crazy amount of money for not even pitching. Honestly, I didn't feel like I deserved it. I didn't want to have those feelings again." Mr. Meche's body had started to deteriorate, as shown in his starting nine games in 2010 and winning none. Still, in 2011 Mr. Meche could have served as a relief pitcher, and he could have been a leader of and role model for the younger pitchers, but he knew that he had been hired to start games. Because his ailing shoulder would not allow him to do that well, he decided to retire. Mr. Meche said, "This isn't about being a hero—that's not even close to what it's about. It's just me getting back to a point in my life where I'm comfortable. Making that amount of money from a team that's already given me over $40 million for my life and for my kids, it just wasn't the right thing to do." Mr. Meche is divorced and has three children—two in Phoenix and one in Texas. Now he has time to frequently visit them. (21)

Cheerleader for His Fellow Handicapped

On January 28, 1958, Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella had an accident on an icy road in the days before cars had seat belts. He tried to turn off the engine because he knew that the car might catch on fire, but no matter how hard he tried he could not move his arms; that is how he learned that he was paralyzed. When someone stopped to help, Mr. Campanella told him, "Would you please turn the key in the ignition? Turn off the engine. Please. I don't want to burn to death." With lots of hard work, Mr. Campanella regained some use of his hands and arms, but he was in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. At New York University's Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, aka the Rusk Institute, he became a morale booster for other patients. One patient had a leg amputated. He was given a wooden leg, but he refused to walk on it, preferring to sit in a wheelchair and feel sorry for himself. Mr. Campanella told him, "You think you're the unluckiest man in the world because a little thing like that has happened to you. But you're wrong. You're a lucky man. Just think how much worse off you could be. My goodness, I'd give a million to be in the condition you're in. You can walk. Man, how can you sit there in a wheelchair when you can just get up and walk is beyond me. Why, you can walk right out of here if you've a mind to. All by yourself without having to depend on anyone else." For two weeks, Mr. Campanella encouraged the man to walk on his wooden leg. Soon, the man did, and he walked out of the Rusk Institute with a cane and his wooden leg. Mr. Campanella made a good life for himself, hosting a radio show called Campy's Corner, coaching occasionally for the Dodgers, and writing newspapers columns. He stayed positive, despite being in a wheelchair. He said, "I've accepted the chair, and I've accepted life." (22)

Many Good Deeds

When Stan Musial was a minor-league pitcher (and hitter) with Daytona Beach in the Florida State League, he was newly married. The team manager, Dickie Kerr, and his wife, Corinne, befriended them. Much later, Mr. Musial said, "Dickie and his wife treated us like their own children. He was wonderful. What he did for my morale, I'll never be able to repay." Stan and his wife showed their respect for the manager by naming their first-born child after him: Richard. Another way that Mr. Musial showed his respect for Dickie and Corinne was by buying them a house after he became well paid when he became a star in the major leagues as a St. Louis Cardinal, although he was not paid nearly as much as today's stars. Of course, every player has slumps, and in 1956, Mr. Musial experienced a bad one. Some fans once booed him when he came to bat, but the following day many Cardinals fans paid for a large newspaper ad in which they apologized for the way that those fans had acted. Of course, Mr. Musial bounced back from the slump and resumed his hard-hitting ways. Knowing his worth, he asked to be made the highest-paid player in the league for the 1958 season. The team general manager, Bing Devine, thought that this request was fair and offered him a contract for $91,000. However, the team owner, Gussie Busch, vetoed this contract—and offered Mr. Musial more money. Mr. Devine told Mr. Musial: "I've got pleasant news for you, Stan. Mr. Busch wants you not only to become the highest-salaried player in National League history, but the first to receive $100,000." By the way, Dodger pitcher Preacher Roe once said, "I know how to get Musial out. Walk him on four pitches and pick him off first." (23)

Good Deeds

Jon Farrar, age 12, who played in the Pony League in the tiny town that is Pleasant Plains, Arkansas, had a dream. He wanted to see his favorite team, the New York Yankees, play in Yankee Stadium. Jon said, "Baseball is my life. I live, eat, sleep, dream it. When you step on the field, you can just feel it. And just knowing that every pitch could be the one that goes over the fence." Jon saved his money to achieve his dream: "We've been saving for two years. Part of my birthday money, part of my Christmas money would go into the Yankee account, is what we called it. And whenever I did chores around the house, I'd get a little bit of money put in and so it ended up equaling about a thousand dollars." However, Jon also values other things, such as his middle school, where he knows the names of all of his classmates. In January 2006, Jon learned that the middle school was scheduled to be shut down. He said, "Just the fact of knowing that I could be miles and miles away from [my classmates], I just couldn't imagine that." The citizens of Pleasant Plains liked the school, and they held a fundraising drive to keep the school open. Jon decided to donate all of his money to the fundraising drive. He said, "I prayed about it, and my heart told me that was the right thing. No one would ever think that a small community like this could raise that kind of money, but little towns can band together, and I think we've proved that." Publicity about Jon's donation brought in more donations, and $400,000 was raised in 30 days to keep the school open. Charles Vondran, Midland School District superintendent, said about Jon, "He moved the community to do what needed to be done to save the school district." One person who heard about Jon's donation was George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees, who sent Jon a letter that said, "Jonathan, I couldn't be more proud of you [...] it takes quite a man to give up his personal dream for a higher purpose." Mr. Steinbrenner repaid Jon's money—and he invited Jon to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yankees play. Jon said, "He is going to give me a free, personal tour and allow me to get on the field during practice." He added, "It was just amazing. I wasn't expecting anything. And sure enough, all of a sudden I am going to get to go to New York, my school is saved, and so we just really got off real good." (24)

A Returned Wallet

In 2004, Danny Graves, a pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, lost his wallet containing his credit cards, driver's license, and money on a bus that took him and his team to the airport during a field trip through the West Coast. However, the man who cleaned the bus found the wallet and mailed it to him. The man even took precautions to make sure that the cash would get to its proper owner. Mr. Graves said, "The guy kept the cash and exchanged it for traveler's checks so it wouldn't get stolen through the mail. It was like $1,400 in cash. He did say, 'I borrowed $26 to overnight it to you.'" The man also asked for an autographed baseball for his father, but Mr. Graves said, "He's going to get a little more than an autograph." (25)

The Kindness of Dave Winfield

When Suzyn Waldman became the New York Yankees radio broadcaster in 1987, she was sometimes self-conscious around players and sports journalists and she sometimes made errors in statistics. After outfielder Dave Winfield had an outstanding game, she asked him a question for her next broadcast, but with the tape recorder running she made an error in his statistics as she asked the question. She was thinking, Do I keep going, pretend I didn't notice, and not be able to use the tape, or do I stop the tape and make it clear to everyone here that I made a mistake? Mr. Winfield knew that she had made an error, and he knew that she was self-conscious, so he put his hand on the tape recorder and stopped it, saying, "I don't like the way I started to answer that. Can we do it again?" Ms. Waldman says, "My mistake led to an incredible act of kindness by a relative stranger." (26)

Baseball Gifts

In 1998, Mark McGwire hit 70 home runs to break Roger Maris' 37-year-old record of 61 home runs in a single season. Mr. Maris, who died in 1985, had realized that someday someone would tie and then break his record, so he had left something behind for that person. Mr. McGwire received a cap that was signed by Mr. Maris with two 61's on it. Mr. McGwire also is capable of giving good baseball gifts. When he became the first player ever to hit 50 or more home runs three seasons in a row, he signed a baseball for each of his teammates. On each baseball, he wrote "50-50-50." He also personalized each baseball with a teammate's name and wrote the date. In 1990, when Mark McGwire won his first Rawlings Gold Glove, he gave it away—to his optometrist. Mr. McGwire was considerate in other ways, also. When he broke Mr. Maris' record, members of Mr. Maris' family were in the crowd. Mr. McGwire made sure to go to them in the stands and hug them. Roger Maris Jr. said, "For him to come up there and do that, let us partake in that moment, it is outstanding and something we will never forget." (27)

Lou Gehrig's Disease

After Lou Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is now known as Lou Gehrig's disease, he acted bravely. At Yankee Stadium, fans and baseball personnel came out to honor him. He said, "Fans, for the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth." He also spoke about it being an honor for him to have associated with the players, managers, and officials of baseball. Lou continued to travel with and cheer the Yankees. Lou's roommate was Bill Dickey. Some people worried that Lou might be contagious, and they advised Bill not to room with Lou, but Bill refused. He even tied Lou's shoes and lit his pipe when Lou's hands refused to do what Lou wanted them to do. But watching Lou's disease progress affected Bill's game; 1940 was Bill's worst year in baseball. After leaving baseball, Lou dictated letters to people who had written him because they had the same disease that he had. He encouraged them to be brave and to have hope. (28)

"The Guy Wins the World Series—What Does He Do? He Stops to Help"

In 2009 manager Joe Girardi's New York Yankees won the World Series. A few hours later, he was helping a woman in a badly mangled car following her crash into a wall. Westchester County (New York) police officer Kathleen Cristiano had congratulated Mr. Girardi on his World Series win as he passed a police checkpoint. Fifteen minutes later, she responded to an emergency call and was surprised to see Mr. Girardi helping the woman who had crashed. Ms. Cristiano said, "The guy wins the World Series—what does he do? He stops to help." Mr. Girardi said that he was "really concerned" when he saw the mangled car. His wife called 9-1-1, and he approached the car to help. The driver of the car, 27-year-old Marie Henry, was shaken, but unhurt. Mr. Girardi said, "She had no idea who I was. I think the important thing is, you know, obviously there's a lot of joy in what we do, but we can't forget to be human beings where we help others out. I think that's the most important thing we can do in life." Mr. Girardi took a risk when he helped Ms. Henry. To get to the car, he had to go across some lanes of highway near a blind curve. County Sgt. Thomas McGurn said, "He could have gotten killed. Traffic goes by at 80 mph." (29)

"It Gets Better"

In response to a series of suicides by gay youths who were victims of anti-gay bullying, many people, famous and non-famous, posted videos on <YouTube> that bore the message "It Will Get Better." Among these people was United States President Barack Obama. The first professional sports team to decide to create and post such a video is the 2010 World Series Champions San Francisco Giants. San Francisco is known for having a visible gay population, and gay San Francisco resident and long-time Giants fan Sean Chapin posted an online petition to persuade the Giants to make the video. Mr. Chapin wrote online, "The San Francisco Giants are in an extraordinary position to lead the rest of the professional sporting world and possibly make the most important 'It Gets Better' video yet—not just as the recent world champion of Major League Baseball, but also as ambassadors of an iconic city, revered for celebrating diversity and differences with open arms." Over 6,000 people signed the online petition, which was successful. Giants spokesperson Staci Slaughter acknowledged that the online petition had speeded up the Giants' decision to make the video, something that they had been considering doing. The Giants appreciate their gay fan base. In 1994, the Giants began to dedicate a game each year to raise awareness of AIDS and to raise money to fight AIDS. Other pro athletes also support gay rights, including the right to be safe. Some pro athletes have filmed public-service announcements denouncing anti-gay bullying. For example, Grant Hill and Jared Dudley, both of whom play for the Phoenix Suns NBA basketball team, filmed a public-service advertisement against anti-gay bullying for the "Think Before You Speak" campaign. (30)

"When I Saw the Car Flip, I Didn't Think Anyone would Survive"

Pittsburgh men's college basketball coach Jamie Dixon helped passengers escape from an overturned car in October 2010 after he saw a car strike a wall and roll over. The accident occurred on Interstate 279 in Pittsburgh. He said, "It was one of those things where you just react. I think a lot of people would have done the same thing. When I saw the car flip, I didn't think anyone would survive." He added, "It flipped a few times. There weren't a lot of people on the road. I pulled over and ran to the car. There was smoke coming out, which I was later told by the firemen... was from the air bags being deployed." The windshield had shattered, and he cut his hands assisting people out of the car. Mr. Dixon said, "A woman was trying to get out and was kicking at the windshield. I grabbed her by the feet and pulled her out. That's when I cut my hands since the windshield was already broken. At that moment I didn't know if it was a man or a woman. And then when she got out, she ran. There was another woman in the car who was unconscious. She wasn't responding." By this time, other people, including a corrections officer and a woman, had stopped to help. Mr. Dixon said about the unconscious woman, "She eventually responded when the firemen got there and they had to get her out." Pennsylvania state trooper Erik Fisher said about Mr. Dixon, "He was a Good Samaritan. That's the way people are supposed to be. By all accounts he did exactly what a decent person should do." Mr. Dixon was the first person to stop and help, but he pointed out that other people also stopped and helped. Mr. Dixon said, "There were a number of people who helped out. We had a number of people who stepped up. A lot of Pittsburgh people would do the same thing." (31)

David Beckham (and Another Good Samaritan) to the Rescue

In February 2011 the car of Paul Long broke down in England. Mr. Long said that he was "petrified" by worry over the safety of his children, eight-year-old Fabian and six-year-old Josephine, who were in the car. He said, "It was hair-raising having children in the back. We had been there for ten minutes. I couldn't do anything—cars were whizzing past." Fortunately, help arrived. The road was near the home of soccer star David Beckham. Mr. Long saw an Audi pull over, and then a man in a hoodie came over to his broken-down car. Mr. Long recounted, "Then the hood slipped down to reveal him in a bobble hat. He had negotiated his way through the traffic on foot. I wound the window down and said, 'You're David Beckham!' His next words were, 'Are you OK?' I said, 'Yes, but can you push us over to the side?' He said, 'I'll try.'" Mr. Beckham and another Good Samaritan helped push the car to a safe location, and Mr. Long said, "The emotion of it all got to me. I said, 'Thank you, David. I love you, mate!' I think he was slightly embarrassed. My kids were awestruck." (32)

Two World Cup Good Deeds

South Africa hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament. Germany's World Cup team performed a remarkable good deed by inviting 300 schoolchildren from poor areas of Durban, Port Elizabeth, and Johannesburg to each of its first-round games. In addition to buying the tickets, the team gave the children and their teachers transportation to and from the games and bought them food at the stadiums. A spokesman for the team said the cost of the good deed was more than $100,000. In addition, Italian captain Fabio Cannavaro and the other members of the Italian World Cup team made a donation to fund a ceremony in 2011 marking an important anniversary of Italy's unification—the 150th anniversary. (33)

From a Very Bad Thing can Come a Very Good Thing

Author Deepak Chopra was born and grew up in India, and when he was a father, he took his children to visit India. Among other people, they visited their nana, which in India means their mother's father—that is, their maternal grandfather. Soon, Deepak noticed that Mallika, his little daughter, would always eat most of her food, but not all of it. Then she would excuse herself from the table and take her plate outside. Soon she would return with an empty plate. Deepak found out that her nana had told her some of the family history. Because of a war 100 years ago his ancestors were forced to flee their home. They got on a boat, and a severe storm struck. During the night, one of their five children was washed overboard. They never saw him again. Mallika's nana explained, "To remember that child we leave some food on our plates every evening. Then we go out into the street and give that food to a homeless boy or girl." (34)

More Than One Good Deed

When she was a young woman, Charlotte Zolotow needed a job during the Great Depression. She wanted to be in publishing, and one way to break into publishing was as a secretary, so she studied touch-typing and shorthand. She applied for a job at Harper's and immediately flunked a secretarial test that Marianne Brindwell gave her. Fortunately, Ms. Brindwell was a kind woman who told her, "Dear, I think you're nervous. Why don't you come back tomorrow and try again?" (Ms. Zolotow says, "Imagine anyone doing this today!") She did come back the next day, and this time she passed the test and soon became the assistant to Ursula Nordstrom, editor and publisher of books for children at Harper's. One of the people whom Ms. Nordstrom published was Margaret Wise Brown, author of Goodnight Moon. Ms. Brown was a kind woman. Harper's offices were not air conditioned back then and so the offices were sweltering on hot summer days. Whenever Ms. Brown came in for a summer meeting with Ms. Nordstrom, she always brought three ice-cold Coca-Colas for Ms. Nordstrom, Ms. Zolotow, and herself. As you may expect, Ms. Zolotow adored Ms. Brown, and once she had a story idea for her. Ms. Zolotow lived near Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. At different times of the day, different groups of people went to the park. Ms. Zolotow wanted Ms. Brown to write a story about the park, so she wrote a memo to Ms. Nordstrom about giving this idea for a book to Ms. Brown. Ms. Nordstrom asked her to expand on the memo. Ms. Zolotow did so, and Ms. Nordstrom told her, "Congratulations! You've just written your first children's book!" She then added, "You must never, ever, ever tell a writer what you think would make a wonderful book. The idea has to come from the writer. What you have here is your book, not Margaret's." (35)

A Nice Guy

Newspaperman Heywood Broun was a nice guy. During the Great Depression, Morris L. Ernst used to go with him to visit people standing in breadlines and, he said, "Heywood would put his hand in his pocket and hand out a twenty-dollar bill exactly the same as a dime." (During the Great Depression, $20 was a lot of money.) Heywood was a strong supporter of unions and helped to unionize his fellow newspapermen by creating the Newspaper Guild of New York. Once, the waiters at a nightclub were thinking of going on strike, and Heywood told one waiter, "Tell me who your favorite customer is, and I'll write him a letter and tell him to stay away." The waiter replied, "You are, Mr. Broun." (36)

Even the Homeless Support Art

A homeless panhandler named Don (who did not want his last name released) begged for two years in front of the Blue Room Gallery, a non-profit art gallery in San Francisco. When his long-estranged mother died, she left him $187,000. Don quickly wrote a check for $10,000 for the art gallery and gave it to the Blue Room Gallery's owner, Paul Mahder, to thank him for his kindness. Mr. Mahder started crying when he received the check. He said, "We both stood there crying. Me, because I knew how much this meant to Don. And Don was crying because, I think, he was able to really do something big for something he really cared about." Don said, "They've been good to me for years at this gallery, and I wanted to pay them back. I know I haven't led much of a life to be proud of, and I can't even remember half of it. But for once, I wanted to do something right." Don's life has not been good. He has abused alcohol and crack, and he has been a criminal and served time. Mr. Mahder has been good to Don, who said, "When I had a heart attack and wound up in the hospital a year ago, who was the only person to visit me? Paul [Mahder]. And when I needed a doorway to sleep in over the past couple years, who let me? Paul. He gave me respect and hope when I needed it the most, and he never judged me. He treated me like a human being. That's something you don't forget." Don spent $35,000 on a trailer so he can have a home, and he had plans to pay five years of rent in advance to a trailer park. He also bought a Rolex watch and gold bracelets and necklaces, and he tipped cab drivers $100. In addition, he started drug and alcohol counseling. Don said, "I never had anything, and now all of a sudden being hit with all this money is a shock. Even little things are strange—like now I can afford to do laundry the right way, you know, washing some things hot, some things cold, watching what bleeds into other clothes. Never thought of these things before." Social workers at Conard House, which helps people with mental illness, are trying to help Don make the adjustment to not being a homeless beggar. Seth Katzman, a director at Conard House, said about Don, "He's trying very hard to get his life in order, and we want to make sure he makes the best use of his resources. These windfalls do happen now and then—usually not this big—and the important thing is not to waste it. Once, one guy insisted he get a new car, so he did and promptly wrecked it with minimal insurance. Boom—$25,000 went away just like that." Mr. Mahder said, "There are certain homeless people you just stay away from, but it was clear from the first moment that Don was different. He was real, didn't ask for a lot of money, was a nice guy." Mr. Mahder also said that Don "loved the art so much he became sort of a marketing person for us—he told everyone he met that the gallery was great and that they should come see it." Don was happy to give Mr. Mahder the check for $10,000. He said, "Ten thousand bucks only begins to say the kind of thanks I need to say to these guys. They saved my life when I was at the absolute bottom." (37)

Helping a Traveler

Pierre-Auguste Renoir traveled in Italy, painting as he went, In Calabria, he ran into a problem. A stream was swollen by rain, and he could not figure out how to get across it. Fortunately, some strong peasant women saw him and helped him. They formed a line across the stream and picked him up and passed him from one woman to another until he—and his baggage—was on the other side of the stream. (38)

Buying the Paintings

Early in his career as an artist, Claude Monet had a difficult time getting money on which to live. He borrowed money and ran up debts, and in late 1868 his paintings in the Maritime Exhibition were seized and sold by his creditors. Fortunately, a friend and art patron named Louis-Joachim Gaudibert bought the paintings and gave them back to Monet. (39)

"Can I Play 'Belief' with You?"

At a 2010 concert in Philadelphia, John Mayer saw 11-year-old Austin Christy in the audience. Austin was holding a sign that asked, "Can I play 'Belief' with you?" Mr. Mayer invited Austin onstage and allowed him to play guitar on "Belief." Austin said, "I was really excited. I was thinking that it wasn't real." Austin had been practicing the song so that he could play it for his mother, who was in the audience. Mr. Mayer also gave Austin a gift: a red Squier guitar. Mr. Mayer autographed the guitar: "To Austin, You rock. Keep playing. See you at your show." Afterwards, Mr. Mayer tweeted, "8 out of 8 band members agree, Philly is always an awesome show. XO J." Austin also submitted his own tweet for Mr. Mayer: "@johncmayer thanks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (40)

"I'll Buy You Two—Let's Go"

According to an article in Life and Style, John Mayer did a good deed in New York City on December 1, 2009. A witness told the magazine that a homeless man asked Mr. Meyer for a quarter, but he offered to buy him some food instead. When the homeless man asked him for a roast beef sandwich from lower Manhattan's Katz's Delicatessen, Mr. Mayer replied, "I'll buy you two—let's go." The homeless man changed his mind, suggesting instead, "Maybe a pizza?" Mr. Mayer then bought him a pizza at Rosario's Pizza. (41)

"You are the Only Reward I Need"

Many, many Lady Gaga fans waited a very long time outside a store in Los Angeles so they could get her autograph in November 2009, so she did a good deed for them. She paid over $1,000 (and added a big tip) for 80 cheese pizzas for her fans to eat, and she tweeted, "Sending all my little monsters little pizzas for waiting all night for me at Best Buy. I hope you're hungry... eat up I love u! To all my beautiful fans, I love you more than anything. Thank u 4 making the fame monster number 1 on itunes. You are the only reward I need x gaga." Lady Gaga does want her fans to be comfortable. Appearing on Ellen Degeneres' talk show in 2009, she said, "Maybe in high school you, Ellen, you feel discriminated against. Like you don't fit in and you want to be like everyone else, but not really, and in the inside you want to be like Boy George—well, I did anyway. So I want my fans to know that it's okay. Sometimes in life you don't always feel like a winner, but that doesn't mean you're not a winner, you want to be like yourself. I want my fans to know it's okay." (42)

The Wonder Girls are Wonderful

In September 2010, Sunye, a member of the South Korean girl group Wonder Girls, did a good deed after learning about a 77-year-old man named Lee Eunsu, who was living in a mud hut in the mountains. Sunye gave Mr. Eunsu many much-needed and -appreciated items, including clothes, shoes, a radio, and food. He very much appreciated her kindness, saying, "Ms. Sunye, thank you very much. You worked so hard to find me. I will never forget what you've done for me. Thank you." Shortly after Sunye's visit, Mr. Eunsu moved into a homeless shelter that was much warmer than his mud hut. The Wonder Girls have done many good deeds for such organizations as an orphanage in Gyeonggi-do, Paju, and a home for infants with disabilities in Gyeonggi-do, Kwangju. Wonder Girl Ye Eun even donated $10,000 in American money to pay for an operation for an infant with a disabled hand. (43)

The Only One

When Stephen Schochet worked as a limousine driver in Hollywood, he once drove Sammy Davis, Jr., who was very nice to him. While waiting for Mr. Davis to come out of his house, he talked to Mr. Davis' security man, who had protected many celebrities before breaking his leg. He was in the hospital for three weeks. When he got out of the hospital, he approached his mailbox with trepidation, being afraid that the only thing in the mailbox would be bills that he could not afford to pay. Along with the bills came a happy surprise. Mr. Davis, alone of all the celebrities whom the security man had been working for at the time he broke his leg, had continued to send him checks. Afterward, the security man worked exclusively for Mr. Davis. (44)

Schubert's "Trout Quintet"

A woman once heard pianist Max Reger play Schubert's "Trout Quintet." He played it beautifully, and to show her gratitude, she sent him some trout as a gift. He wrote her back, joking that with her permission at his next performance he would play Haydn's "Ox Minuet." (45)

Two Special Concerts

Emma Calvé once performed a notable good deed for a cancer specialist who was dying of the disease to which he had devoted his life. He had enjoyed music and the theater in addition to performing his surgical work, and she arranged to sing a concert at the bedside of the dying man. Pianist Anton Rubinstein was also capable of great kindness (and of being gallant to the ladies). Once he heard that a woman was disappointed because she had been unable to attend one of his concerts due to illness, so he went to her house and played the entire concert for her. While in London, he met the Princess of Wales and kissed her hand. She withdrew her hand, saying that such was not the custom in England. Mr. Rubinstein replied, "With us, it is the law." (46)

Two Special Gifts

Queen María Cristina of Spain once gave cellist Pablo Casals a sapphire from one of her bracelets. Mr. Casals was gladdened by the gift, and he had the sapphire mounted on the bow of his cello so that playing the cello would remind him of her. By the way, as a young, unknown musician in Paris, Mr. Casals made little money, so his mother took on such jobs as sewing to bring in more money. One day, Mr. Casals was saddened to learn that his mother had sold her long, beautiful hair to a wigmaker so they would have money to live on. However, she said, "It is only hair, and hair grows back." (47)

A Box of Cigars

In 1943, a taxicab carrying opera singer Florence Foster Jenkins was in an accident. After discovering that she could sing a higher F after the accident, Ms. Jenkins sent the taxi driver a gift of a box of cigars. (48)

Two College Roommates

William R. Brody, President of the Johns Hopkins University, tells a story about two students attending Columbia University. One student was Sandy Greenberg, who discovered that he was suffering from glaucoma. The eye disease had not been discovered in time, and he became blind. Fortunately, the other student, with whom he roomed, read his textbooks to him each night, and Mr. Greenberg got his degree with honors and even earned a Fulbright Scholarship. Of course, he stayed in contact with his former roommate, who had also graduated and who also went on to do graduate work. It turned out that his former roommate was unhappy in graduate school, instead wanting to sing with a high school friend who was also interested in music, but they needed $500 to pay for a demo record. Mr. Greenberg was not rich, but he did have $500, and he sent it to his former roommate. (Mr. Greenberg said to Mr. Brody, "He made my life; I needed to help make his life.") By the way, the roommate was Art Garfunkel, Art's friend was Paul Simon, and the demo record resulted in Simon and Garfunkel's first hit: "The Sound of Silence." (Also by the way, Mr. Garfunkel sang at the wedding of Sandy's daughter.) Here's another Sandy Greenberg/Art Garfunkel story; this one is told by Jerry Speyer: After Sandy became blind, Art asked Sandy to accompany him on the subway to downtown as he ran an errand. Sandy agreed, but downtown, far from the campus, Art said to him, "All right then, Sandy, I'll see you back at the dorms." Then he left Sandy, who had not been on the subway alone since he had become blind. Of course, Sandy thought that Art had left him. Actually, Art stayed with him, but Sandy did not know that because he could not see. Sandy made his way back to the campus, and Art tapped his shoulder and told him, "I knew you could do it. I wanted to be sure YOU knew you could do it." Mr. Speyer says, "I'll leave out Sandy's exact words to Art in that moment, but suffice it to say, they laughed about it later." (49)

"I Didn't Know It was Stolen"

When in January 2010 British pop singer Boy George appeared on a Dutch television show that showed his home, a priest noticed an 18th-century religious icon that had been stolen from a church in Cyprus. Specifically, it had been stolen from Saint Charalambos church in the village of Neo Chorio Kythreas in northern Cyprus. The centuries-old icon had ended up with an art dealer, from whom Boy George—not knowing that the icon had been stolen—bought it in 1985. Church officials contacted Boy George and provided him with documentation that the icon belonged to the church. Boy George readily agreed to return it to its rightful owners. On BBC radio, Boy George said that he is "happy the icon is going back to its original, rightful home," adding "I have always been a friend of Cyprus and have looked after the icon for 26 years. I look forward to seeing the icon on display in Cyprus for the moment and finally to the Church of Saint Charalambos from where it was illegally stolen." Archbishop Chrysostomos II said, "This act does move us because he was the buyer. Certainly it can be said that he was in illegal possession of the icon, but he wasn't somebody looking to sell it. The moment he learned the icon was stolen, he did a good deed and returned it to the Cyprus Church where it belongs. We thank him for this, and if he ever comes to Cyprus definitely we will welcome him with hospitality." (50)
CHAPTER 2: Stories 51-100

"You Feel Like You're Flying"

Joan Jett has been on a number of USO tours, and to thank her the troops asked her if she wanted to parachute out of a plane. She did, and that meant that her friend Kenny also had to jump because, Joan says, "He couldn't be out-toughed in front of the Army people by me." She adds about the jump, "It was like we were four miles up. It was incredible. You don't feel like you're falling. You feel like you're flying." By the way, Joan is a fan of the WNBA. She has season tickets to the New York Liberty team, although they play in the summer when Joan and the Blackhearts are on tour and often she can't see that many games. Joan says, "I keep buying the seats anyway just because I wanna support 'em." Here's another good deed: Joan once saw The Who in concert on her birthday. Before the concert, she greeted the band backstage. Lead singer Roger Daltrey said, "I hear it's your birthday." Then he sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Joan says, "I was pretty blown away." Someone who was blown away by Joan was someone she spent a lot of time with: Carianne, the very young daughter of long-time Jett ally Kenny Laguna. As a young adult, Carianne wrote in her college-application essay, "Most kids get a dog. I got a rock star." (51)

Sometimes the Recipient of Kindness

Blues singer Billie Holiday had a hard life in many ways, but she also was the recipient of kindness. When she was performing "Strange Fruit," an anti-lynching song, in a California nightclub owned by Red Colonna, the brother of comedian Jerry Colonna, someone started heckling her. Comedian Bob Hope came to the rescue. He walked on stage and put the heckler in his place with comic insults. The heckler wisely decided to leave the nightclub. And when she, African-American singer Billy Daniels, and his white girlfriend had a flat tire, actor Clark Gable stopped and helped them to change the tire. By the way, Lady Day, as she was known, had her own style of singing—behind the beat. When Dizzy Gillespie first accompanied her on trumpet, he was surprised when she did not start singing when he expected, so he repeated the phrase he had just played. Lady Day tapped him on the shoulder and softly said, "Don't worry about me. I'll be there." (52)

A Pilot with a Seeing-Eye Dog

Elliott K. Snedecor once saw the late Ray Charles perform in Chicago. During the concert, Mr. Charles told about a good deed that a pilot had performed for him. Mr. Charles was blind, and he had a seeing-eye dog, a Golden Retriever. During a stop for refueling, the pilot took a walk to stretch his legs, and he offered to walk Mr. Charles' seeing-eye dog. Mr. Charles accepted the offer, but it led to a mishap. The day was sunny, and the pilot wore dark sunglasses while walking the seeing-eye dog. Mr. Snedecor recounts the end of the story: "Some of the passengers scheduled to board at that stop refused to get on the plane. Turns out they were scared to fly with a pilot who seemed to need a seeing-eye dog!" (53)

"Dear God, I've Got to Do This for this Guy"

Janie Olive Sager, a musician who played with various bands during World War II, remembers a man who requested that she play a trumpet solo from Bunny Berrigan's "I Can't Get Started." The man was a GI who had once been a trumpet player. Ms. Sager remembers, "And he was a stump. He had no arms, no legs, just this face, and he stared at me, and I'll never forget those eyes.... They were the most terrifying eyes, yet at the same time, so pitiful. And I had to look at those eyes, and you know, you can't blow a horn when you laugh or cry. But somehow I just said, 'Dear God, I've got to do this for this guy.'" Then she played the solo. (54)

Al Capone: Nice Guy

During the Roaring Twenties, jazz giant Duke Ellington was bothered by small-time hoodlums who tried to get money from him. Gangster Al Capone heard about it, and he put out word that nobody was to bother Mr. Ellington. Nobody did. (55)

"Every Time I See You, It Brightens My Day"

Max Judelson is a street musician who makes his money by playing in the streets and subways of New York City and Boston. One of the things he does is to hand out business cards with his email address so that people can contact him if they want. One day he made very little money, but when he went home he received an email from a woman who wrote, "Every time I see you, it brightens my day." Mr. Judelson says, "Her expressing gratitude for what I do made up for how little money came in." He does try to provide good value for the money he makes, and he finds that children and old people are not so busy that they can't take time to listen to him. In addition, some other people make time to listen to him. He says about his work in the subway, "People are there to get on a train to go someplace else. It's a big deal if they stop when there's no train. It's an even bigger deal if they are listening to me and their train comes in AND they stay to listen to me some more. When they applaud, that's really sweet. A few times, people have stayed to listen to me play and two trains have come and gone. That means something." (56)

Help on a Cold Day

On December 18, 2010, Sylvia and Don Hampson of Linthwaite, England, attended a concert at Marsden Church by Marsden Band and the Colne Valley Male Voice Choir. Following the concert, some of the young musicians noticed that the Hampsons had a flat tire. In a letter to the editor of The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, the Hampsons wrote, "They took full control of the situation, told us not to worry, sit in the car and keep warm, changed the wheel and put everything back in the car and then we were mobile once more." One young musician even advised them about the best travel route to take: through a village that had cleared the snow from its roads. The Hampsons added, "They were all so very kind and considerate and helped us out of a very difficult situation. We can never thank them enough. We feel it's good to be able to report that there are such very nice, kind young people around." (57)

Invitation to a Jam Session

Jazz great Miles Davis was young and unknown once. When he first arrived in New York City, some older, more established jazz musicians tried to keep him out of the jam sessions that were regularly held in Harlem's Uptown House. One older musician who welcomed Mr. Davis was Buck Clayton, who says that Mr. Davis never forgot that. (58)

Can't Be Late

When jazz bassist Milt Hinton was doing lots of studio work, he also did lots of club dates and other kinds of musical work as well. This meant that his time was tightly scheduled, and he occasionally ran into problems getting to where he needed to be on time. Once, he was performing with a band recording the incidental music for a Honeymooners show, He had a hour to get to Webster Hall after the Honeymooners session was over, which was supposed to be at 1 p.m. This time, however, a piece of equipment broke down, and the delay meant that Mr. Hinton had a problem: There was no way that he could complete the Honeymooners session and still be at Webster Hall on time for his next job. He told Lou Shoobe, who played bass and who had contracted the musicians for the Honeymooners session, about his problem. Mr. Shoobe looked over the music that Mr. Hinton had to play for the rest of the Honeymooners session, and then told him, "Take off—I'll play it for you." Another time, Mr. Hinton was 20 minutes late for a rehearsal with the band for the Woolworth Hour. When he walked in, he saw Marty Grubb, a percussionist, standing and holding Mr. Hinton's bass and pretending to play it. When Mr. Hinton (who is African American) reached him, Mr. Grubb (who is white) told him, with a straight face, "Don't worry—there's no problem. Everybody thought I was you." Please don't get the idea that Mr. Hinton was often late. He spent decades doing studio work, and when you are late for studio work, people don't complain—they just don't hire you again. (59)

The Gift of a Hit

In 1938, jazz trumpet soloist Charlie Shavers composed "Undecided" and sold it for a small amount of money to music publisher Lou Levy. "Undecided" became a hit, and Mr. Levy did the remarkable good deed of giving the tune back to Mr. Shavers. (60)

Consoling a Wife

Dee Dee Ramone (of Ramones fame) and his wife, Vera, saw in the window of a jewelry store a beautiful ring that had a 12-carat acquamarine stone and three carats of diamonds. The next day he told her to go back to the jewelry store to see how much it cost. However, when she went there she discovered that the ring had already been sold. She returned home and told Dee Dee the news, and he consoled her—by giving her the ring, which he had purchased for her as a 10th-year anniversary present! (61)

Good Deeds: Known and Unknown

Frank Sinatra did a lot of good deeds in his life. For example, when actor George Raft discovered that he owed $85,000 in back taxes, Frank wrote him a blank check. Mr. Raft called this "an example of friendship that doesn't happen very often in this world." And when actor Lee J. Cobb suffered a heart attack at a time when he didn't have much money, Frank paid the medical expenses and made sure he had enough money to live on. However, many of Frank's deeds were anonymous. When things needed done, Frank often made sure they got done—and he paid the bill. When his mother visited Pope Paul VI, the pontiff told her, "Your son is very close to God." When she asked why he had said that, Pope Paul VI replied, "Because he does God's work and does not talk about it." (62)

A Non-Glamorous Gift

Ballerina Alicia Markova danced many times in the old Metropolitan Opera, always using the same dressing room. When the old Met was torn down, one of Ms. Markova's admirers brought her a present: the doorknob from her Metropolitan dressing room. Ms. Markova wrote that although the gift is not glamorous, it is a gift that she treasures. (63)

A Glamorous Gift

The great dancer Bill Robinson, aka Mr. Bojangles, was much beloved by police officers—he often held benefits for the widows of police officers who had been killed in action. In 1928, the officers of the 132nd Precinct in Harlem gave him a gift: a gold-plated revolver with a pearl handle and a magazine that was filled with gold bullets. By the way, Mr. Bojangles worked hard to overcome prejudice, but he was aware of the things he could not change because of the racist age he lived in. Sometimes he would ask his friend, Lillian Alpert Wolf, and some other white women to lunch, and he would take them to the Brass Rail in New York City. As a black man, he couldn't sit with the white women, so they would sit at a table and eat lunch, while he would stand at the bar and eat lunch. Afterward, he would pay for their lunches. (64)

Giving Away the Golden Globe Leftovers

After Jeff Bridges attended the 2011 Global Globes awards program, he gathered up a lot of the leftover food. Why? An anonymous source for National Enquirer writer Mike Walker said, "When Jeff finally got into the limo, he directed his chauffeur to a freeway underpass on the outskirts of LA. When they pulled up, Jeff hopped out, waved a band of about a dozen homeless people over to the car—then started handing out the bags of food. After chatting a while, the star—who's actually made several trips to the same underpass, passing out warm bedding and clothing as well as food—got back in his limo and took off as the homeless people applauded and cheered!" (65)

Two Heavy Boozers

Peter O'Toole and Peter Finch were often heavy boozers. One late night, they were at an Irish pub at closing time. The two actors did not want to go home just then, so they told the pub owner that they would buy the pub for twice what it was worth as long as the pub owner kept them supplied with drinks instead of closing. The pub owner wrote a contract on a napkin, the two actors signed it, and the pub ex-owner kept them supplied with drinks. The next day, the two actors woke up with hangovers, blurrily remembered that they had bought a pub, and went to the pub and begged the pub owner to tear up the contract they had signed. The pub owner glared at them, and then he smiled and tore up the contract. The two actors drank there as often as they were in that part of Ireland for the next 20 years, something that helped the pub owner make a good profit both from the alcohol that the two actors drank and from the alcohol that celebrity-watchers drank. The two actors stopped drinking at the pub only after the pub owner died. (66)

FilmAid

Husband-and-wife movie-makers Caroline Baron and Anthony Weintraub run FilmAid, an unusual charity for refugees: The charity shows refugees movies. For example, in Northern Kenya's Kakuma Refugee Camp, thousands of refugees stood as they watched movies projected on a 12-foot by 16-foot movie screen. The purpose of FilmAid is to use movies to enrich the lives of refugees. FilmAid has shown movies in Afghanistan, Macedonia, and east Africa. Some Hollywood movies featuring Charlie Chaplin and Judy Garland are shown, but most movies are about serious topics such as conflict resolution, domestic violence, and HIV/AIDS. The movies educate the viewers and bring about a sense of community. Of course, some people question the focus of FilmAid. Ms. Baron says, "People ask me, 'How can you raise money for films when people clearly need food?' I throw the question back to the refugees themselves. They say the film is food for them—that if their minds are not well, the food doesn't help." (67)

Police: Masters of Psychology

As a kid growing up in Nebraska, Dick Cavett occasionally got into trouble with his friends. One evening, he and three friends were throwing pebbles on people's porches and then running away when the porch lights came on. This was harmless mischief. But then one of the boys threw an actual rock that shattered the glass door of the house of an elderly couple. This was not harmless mischief, the elderly couple called the police, and the police found and picked up the four boys and questioned them—separately. Three boys denied doing anything wrong, but the fourth boy confessed. The police then did something interesting: They let the boys go, and they did not call the boys' parents. The boys, of course, worried and worried and slept little at night due to worry, and they were afraid that the police would call their parents later. The boys gathered all of their money together, went to the elderly couple, confessed, gave them the money, and begged forgiveness, which the elderly couple gave them. (The elderly couple also fed the boys.) The boys were still worried about the police calling their parents, so Dick, whose voice was deep even before he reached puberty, called the police, pretended to be the father of one of the boys, and told the police that the boys had confessed, given the elderly couple money to replace the door, and been forgiven by the elderly couple. Officer Collins had answered the phone. He replied, using some of the fancy language that police officers often use when talking to members of the general public, "Well, I'm glad to hear that. We usually wait a few days on a situation like this. One of the boys confessed, and I hoped that it might eventuate this way. I generally prefer to handle cases like this in that modality rather than spoil the kids' 'record' with legal procedurism. I'm glad it seems to have culminated in a satisfactory resolution." We can have problems with some of the things that the boys did (shattering the glass window and young Dick pretending to be the father of one of the boys), but lots of things went right here: the boys felt remorse and made amends, the elderly couple forgave the boys, and the police managed to punish the boys (psychologically) without giving them a police record. (68)

Making Slydini a Star Again

Slydini was a great magician who had been born Quintino Marucci in Italy and whom his friends called Tony. He was a master of close-up magic. For much of his life, he operated a tobacco/newspaper shop, and his customers did not know that he was a gifted magician, but he gained renewed fame when he appeared twice on one of Dick Cavett's TV interview series, to the delight of many other magicians, including Johnny Carson. Near the end of Slydini's life, he lived in a nursing home, and he was sad because no one there had ever heard of Slydini. Mr. Cavett visited Slydini occasionally, and he did the great good deed of sending to the nursing home videocassettes of Slydini's two appearances on his show. The nursing home employees played the videocassettes for the residents, and when Mr. Cavett visited Slydini for what turned out to be the last time, Slydini told him, "Dick, you did it again. I was-a nobody here. Now I'm-a the star." (69)

An Impression of Dick Martin

Johnny Carson did good deeds, including at least once filling in for another comedian. Dick Martin of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In once failed to show up for a taping. Just down the hall from the studio where Laugh-In was filmed was Mr. Carson's office. George Schlatter, the producer of Laugh-In, walked down to Johnny's office and asked him for a favor. The two men then walked to the Laugh-In studio, where an announcer said, "Ladies and gentlemen, here are Dan Rowan and Dick Martin." And then Johnny did what George later told Johnny's Tonight Show sidekick Ed McMahon was "the best impression of Dick Martin ever done." According to Mr. McMahon, Johnny could also have excellently impersonated Laugh-In star Goldie Hawn. Of course, Mr. Carson also did other kinds of good deeds, such as giving millions of dollars to public schools in his hometown and to the University of Nebraska. And he was a big financial supporter of Children of the Night, a charity for young prostitutes. Ed McMahon, Johnny's Tonight Show sidekick and friend, said, "Like Frank Sinatra, Johnny made all his contributions secretly because, like any man from Nebraska, he wanted no fuss made about them." (70)

Remembering Her Gay Fans—Even After Her Death

Maude and Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur had a big gay fan base who loved her, and she loved them back. She died of cancer in April 2009, and in her will she left $300,000 to the Ali Forney Center in New York, a shelter for homeless homosexual youths. The Executive Director of the Ali Forney Center, Carl Siciliano, said, "We work with hundreds of young people who are rejected by their families because of who they are. We are overwhelmed with gratitude that Bea saw that LGBT youth deserve as much love and support as any other young person, and that she placed so much value in the work we do to protect them, and to help them rebuild their lives." Of course, Ms. Arthur was beloved because she was outspoken—and funny. On The Golden Girls, Estelle Getty, despite being in only her early 60s, played the 80-year-old mother of Ms. Arthur's character. During a press conference, she was asked about what was needed to make herself look that old. She replied that the 80-year-old look was not created "with makeup. It's done with acting." Ms. Arthur joked, "Oh, come on. What's that acting you sprayed on your hair?" (71)

"Cool, Huh?"

On a hot day in the San Fernando Valley, extras in the TV series Saving Grace were sweltering in the hot sun when someone arrived to make them more comfortable: the star, Holly Hunter. A female extra said, "Someone walked up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder. I turn around, and it's Holly. She proceeds to tell me I need sunblock. She then goes to the assistant director... and a bottle comes my way. And she offered sunblock to others. She just approached people and asked if they were okay, did they need water or anything else. Cool, huh?" (72)

Among the Top 10

Recently released from prison, actor Ricky Tomlinson went to London to audition. Seeing famous actor Pete Postlethwaite in the window of a coffee shop, he nodded to him, and Mr. Postlethwaite invited him in—Mr. Tomlinson thinks Mr. Postlethwaite did this because he was able to tell that Mr. Tomlinson was broke—and bought him a cup of tea and a dessert. In addition, he gave him some advice about passing the audition: "You go in, you act confident, you tell them you can do anything, nothing is going to be too much trouble." The advice worked, and Mr. Tomlinson got the part. Mr. Tomlinson says, "There's a lot of sh*t in the business, but there are a few real nice guys and Postlethwaite is among the top 10." (73)

"Hey, Kid"

After the filming of the 1969 movie True Grit had finished, Paramount Studios held a photo shoot of its major stars. Clint Eastwood, Robert Evans, Goldie Hawn, and Barbra Streisand were all present, as was John Wayne, star of True Grit, the movie for which he won an Oscar as Best Actor. Kim Darby, a young woman who also starred in True Grit, was nearby, watching the photo shoot. Mr. Wayne saw her and said, "Hey, kid." He then brought her over to the photo shoot and put her in the midst of the stars. Ms. Darby marvels, "How wonderful is that!" Glen Campbell, a singer who also acted in True Grit, denies that he has any real acting talent, perhaps facetiously. Mr. Campbell claims to have done a good deed by acting in True Grit: "I made John Wayne look so good in a movie that he won his only Oscar." (74)

Yom Kippur

Sammy Davis Jr. was an African-American entertainer who converted to Judaism. While he was filming the movie Porgy and Bess, he announced that he would not work on Yom Kippur. Quickly, he received a telephone call from mogul Sam Goldwyn, whose studio would lose several thousand dollars if filming stopped for an entire day on the movie. Mr. Goldwyn asked Mr. Davis if it were true that he would not work on Yom Kippur because of his religious beliefs. After Mr. Davis replied affirmatively, Mr. Goldwyn said, "Bless you," and hung up the telephone. (75)

Taking the Blame

While making The Apartment, actor Jack Lemmon had a scene with a young actor who was supposed to hit his character and knock him down. Of course, such "fights" are carefully choreographed so that no actual hitting occurs. Unfortunately, the young actor was inexperienced in fight scenes and really did hit Mr. Lemmon and knock him down. Mr. Lemmon reacted well, telling the young actor, "It was really my fault. I didn't duck fast enough"—even though he and everyone else knew that the young actor had thrown the punch too soon and too fast. (76)

A Timely Check

Samuel Phelps once got into financial trouble, and he applied to fellow actor William Charles Macready for help. Mr. Macready was severe, and asked him first why he had gotten into debt and second how much he owed. The answers to both questions were lacking, as Mr. Phelps said that he couldn't help getting into debt and that he didn't know how much he owed. Mr. Macready sent him away, telling him to return the next day at noon with a full accounting of his debts. He did so, and returned with a list of debts totaling £400. Mr. Macready then gave him a check for £450 and a beautiful smile to go with it. The check was timely. Mr. Phelps was arrested for debt almost immediately, and since he had the check in his hand he was able to tell the bailiff to take him to the bank so he could get the money to pay his debts. (77)

A Critic Standing Up for an Artist

John Chapman was drama critic and drama editor for the New York Daily News, and he supported his staff. A PR person once tried to withhold press seats from Daily News caricaturist Sam Norkin because Mr. Norkin had not sketched his play, but Mr. Chapman informed the PR person that if he took Mr. Norkin's press seats, he would return his own opening night tickets. Since no play wants no notices, the PR person relented. (78)

A Seven-Foot Climbing Wall

Before dying of an incurable brain tumor, 9-year-old Mak Shulist was granted a wish by the Make-a-Wish Foundation. But instead of wishing for something for himself, he wished for something for his schoolmates at Ellisville Elementary School in Ellisville, Missouri: a climbing wall to be built on the playground. Dave Knes, principal at the 600-student school, said, "It says a lot about the family and the type of person he was—selfless, thoughtful and caring. We learned a lesson from a 9-year-old—that even when we're going through tough times we should be thinking of other people and not ourselves." Mak's illness was diagnosed a year before his death, after gym teachers noticed that he was falling down while running around a track. The Make-a-Wish Foundation worked quickly to build the 7-foot-high climbing wall before Mak died. Mr. Knes said, "From the time the wish was granted to the time they [the students] were playing on it was less than two weeks." The climbing wall cost approximately $10,000 to $15,000 and used volunteer labor. Mr. Knes made a videotape of the students climbing the wall, paying special attention to the audio because Mak's illness had blinded him. Mak heard the videotape the day before he died. One of Mak's friends, Michael Stafford, said, "Every time I'm going to get on this wall, I'll think about him and what he did for us." (79)

A $10,000 Tip

In July 2007 in Angola, Indiana, 20-year-old Jessica Osborne, a waitress at Pizza Hut, received a very generous tip: $10,000. The tip came from a family who ate each Friday at Pizza Hut, ordering the same thing each time: Meatlovers pizza, half pepperoni, half black olives and mushrooms. Jessica said, "When I opened it up, I just—I thought maybe I read too many zeros and I lost my breath. It was amazing." Jessica wants to be a photographer and had enrolled in courses at the local college, but she had been forced to drop out because of a lack of financial aid. The family of regulars knew about her problems, and they knew that she was always friendly and always had a smile. Becky (who did not want her last name used) said, "I thought, 'This is a very generous person,' and we enjoyed just talking to her, finding out about her life." Becky had received a large settlement after her husband and oldest daughter were killed in a car accident, and she used some of the money from the settlement to give Jessica the large tip. Becky said, "We decided we needed to help Jessica and she was there, we were there, and it just seemed like the right thing to do." Because of the large tip, Jessica can afford to go to college. She said, "It's unbelievable. It doesn't happen to people every day. I mean, I work at Pizza Hut!" (80)

Biblioburro

Luis Soriano, a primary school teacher from La Gloria, Colombia, is dedicated to books and likes to share them with other people. He and his two donkeys, Alfa and Beto, are Biblioburro, which is a form of bookmobile. Each weekend, he loads his two donkeys with books, and then he travels to villages in his native Columbia to first read aloud from the books and then to lend them to readers. Mr. Soriano said, "I started out with 70 books, and now I have a collection of more than 4,800." His efforts to spread literacy in Columbia involve dangers. After falling off one of his donkeys, he injured his leg and walked with a limp. In addition, bandits once held him up because they thought he was carrying money. After discovering that he was carrying books, the bandits took one book: Brida, by the Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho. Mr. Soriano said, "Paulo Coelho is at the top of everyone's list of favorites." In the village of El Brasil, Ingrid Ospina, age 18, read aloud from a book of poetry by Rubén Darío of Nicaragua: Margarita. Then she said to Mr. Soriano, "That is so beautiful, Maestro. When are you coming back?" Mr. Soriano said, "For us teachers, it's an educational triumph, and for the parents [it's] a great satisfaction when a child learns how to read. That's how a community changes and the child becomes a good citizen and a useful person. Literature is how we connect them with the world." (81)

Thank-You Letters

In the People's Republic of China, in May of 2007, a middle-school girl on a bus gave up her seat so that Xu Niankui, a then-76-year-old resident and retired teacher of Putou District, could sit down. He talked with her, discovered that she was from Taopu Middle School, and the following day wrote the principal of the school and praised the girl for giving up her seat so that he could sit down. The principal officially recognized the girl for her good deed, and Xu decided to write thank-you letters for anyone who gave their seat for him. He pre-wrote the letters and carried them onto the bus, and over the next two years he gave away 25 thank-you letters. He hopes that if he lets other people know how much it means to an elderly person to be given a seat that young people will do such good deeds more often. (82)

Secret Agent L

For an entire year, Laura Miller, an administrative assistant at Duquesne University, had a secret identity: Secret Agent L. Her mission: To specialize in anonymous acts of kindness, aka to make happier the lives of random people in Pittsburgh, PA, by leaving small gifts for them. On July 24, 2009, at 10:32 a.m., she completed the first act of her mission: She left a pale purple hydrangea blossom under the wiper blade of a car she chose at random. Since then, she has placed sunflowers at a cemetery, left a beautiful necklace in a bathroom stall as a gift for the next occupant, and left many Valentine's Day cards all over her home city. Secret Agent L said, "I try to get as creative as I can. I try to think about what's something that would make someone's day less stressful, someone's day happier, or just a little bright spot." Each time she leaves a gift, she also leaves her secret agent calling card, which includes her Web address. Occasionally, the recipient of one of her gifts will send her a note. She said, "They'll say, 'You know I've been going through a really hard time lately because of XYZ and I came across this little gift, and it brightened my day.'" Ms. Miller also decided to encourage others to do what she does. She said, "I thought, 'This is really fun.' I wanted other people to experience this. Social media just took off with it." Other people joined in the fun, and her "Affiliated Agents" began distributing small gifts randomly in their own cities and hometowns. She said, "It has been one of the greatest blessings in my life to do this project. You forget that there's some real beauty and magic and blessing going on in the world. If I can jolt people out of autopilot to realize that, I've been the facilitator I've always wanted to be." (83)

Tiny Superheroes

Preschoolers at Missoula Community School in Missoula, Montana, are tiny superheroes. They wear superhero capes and perform good deeds weekly. One of the tiny superheroes, Super Cooper, aka Cooper Spataro, age 3, explained one of the superheroes' good deeds: "We saw someone next door and we said hi. And we gave him flowers. And we tell him he could come to our school." Cooper and his classmates, ages 3 to 5, have as a teacher Kristal Burns, who came up with the idea of tiny superheroes after reading about the exploits of Secret Agent L, aka Laura Miller, who secretly performed good deeds. Ms. Burns said, "I was intrigued. We were talking about how wonderful it would be to teach the kids to do that. At the same time, we love superheroes and we want to be superheroes, but superheroes often hit and punch. Why don't we be superheroes of kindness?" The good deed that Super Cooper described was one thought up by Ms. Burns, who said, "There was a new store that moved in called Upcycle that takes recycled materials and turns them into bags. We welcomed them into the neighborhood and asked them if they'd like to come in." Being superheroes and performing good deeds has made the preschoolers kinder and more empathetic. Ms. Burns said, "It has made a world of difference. We're not telling them that they have to help someone who needs help, but now they just see it." Some adults want to be in on the fun. Ms. Burns said, "They're getting these random letters from people.... Can we go on a mission with you?" In addition, Ms. Burns said about her preschoolers, "They're not too small to make a difference. That's been a really neat outcome of this. They're just being their kind selves, and people are so thankful." (84)

A $2.3 Million Bequest from a Part-Time Janitor

When Genesio Morlacci died at age 102, he left $2.3 million to a small Roman Catholic college with approximately 800 students in Great Falls, Montana: The University of Great Falls. He had owned a dry-cleaning shop and after retirement worked for a while as a part-time janitor. Many people were surprised to learn that he had so much money. Joe Marra, his former attorney, said, "He was a fellow who felt that if you didn't need it, you shouldn't buy it." Mr. Morlacci was frugal, sometimes taking off the worn collars of shirts and resewing them back on with the frayed side down so no one could see them. Mr. Morlacci was also an investor who liked tax-free municipal bonds. The $2.3 million he left to The University of Great Falls will produce $100,000 annually for scholarships. Mr. Morlacci was an Italian immigrant who came to the United States as a 19-year-old in 1921. He also left other bequests, including $5,000 to Our Lady of Lourdes School and $500 to Our Lady of Lourdes Church. (85)

Pink-Shirt Day

When a freshman boy wore a pink polo shirt on his first day attending Central Kings Rural High School in the small town of Cambridge in Nova Scotia, Canada, bullies called him gay and threatened to beat him up. Two senior boys—David Shepherd and Travis Price—took action. They went to a discount store and bought 50 pink shirts, and then they emailed friends to wear pink at school the next day in an anti-bullying protest that they called a "sea of pink." The next day hundreds of male students showed up wearing pink clothing. Some of them wore the discount pink shirts purchased by David and Travis. David said, "I just figured enough was enough." The activism resulted in lots of positive publicity. Travis said, "It's been totally overwhelming for us. I mean we're just two local boys, and I mean we're getting calls from like Alaska and e-mails. It's just phenomenal the support that we've gotten from across the globe." School principal Stephen Pearl said, "You're always hearing about the youth of the world and how bad things are. Well, they're not that bad." The bullied student was happy with the anti-bullying activism. David said, "Definitely it looked like there was a big weight lifted off his shoulders. He went from looking right depressed to being as happy as can be." (86)

Helping People Who are Trying to Help Themselves

After African-American musician Milt Hinton graduated from high school in Chicago, he thought about attending Crane Junior College, but he had one problem: a lack of money. Fortunately, his family's landlord and landlady, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd, helped him. Mrs. Floyd told him, "You go over there and register and you find out what your books will be and then you come back here with the bill." He did exactly that, and she paid the entire bill. For a while, he could not understand why the Floyds, who had worked hard to get what they had gotten, had done that. He says, "I guess the Floyds believed in our family enough that when an opportunity came, they decided to take a chance on me and contribute to my education. Chicago was like that in those days. There was a real feeling of community among black people. And it was somehow understood that if you had a little extra, you'd try to help people who were trying to help themselves." Their trust in Mr. Hinton paid off. In January of 1932, he graduated from Crane Junior College. (87)

Taking Care of Mom

Delvar Barrett played varsity basketball for Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, in the early 2000s. When he came to Ohio University to study accounting and play basketball, he brought something that most students don't bring: his 57-year-old mother, Vivian, who is nearly blind from diabetes and who uses a wheelchair. No one else in his family wanted to care for her, and Mr. Barrett did not want to put her in a nursing home. Of course, Mr. Barrett's schedule was filled with studying for exams, playing basketball, and taking care of his mother, but his mother had taken care of him when he was young and he wanted to take care of her now that she was ill and getting old. His father abandoned the family when Delvar was four years old, and his mother worked two jobs to take care of everyone. Mr. Barrett, whose nickname is "Baby Shaq," said, "That woman has a heart of gold. My entire life she did everything she could to raise me and my two sisters. So I'd do anything for her." (88)

"You Do Not, Do Not, Do That"

Joan Jett grew up with parents who taught her good etiquette such as saying "Please" and "Thank you." For example, young Joan was a tomboy and she did not appreciate being given a girly fur muff as a present one year. Joan says, "I forget how I reacted, but it wasn't right. And my mother let me know it: 'You do not, do not, do that. You do not hurt feelings. You say, Please and Thank you, and you just accept it.'" Knowing good etiquette did not keep Joan from being a tough rocker. Bikini Kill singer Kathleen Hanna recounts that at a Joan Jett concert, someone threw a beer bottle at Joan and knocked her unconscious. When Joan regained consciousness, she started playing the next song. (89)

"Every Kid should have a Pack of Smarties 'cause They Make You Smarter"

A person who goes by the moniker Anwahs writes about going to a grocery store with a son. Ahead of them in line was a little girl who asked her mother politely for a box of Smarties candy. Unfortunately, the mother (whom Anwahs learned later had been hurt financially when the local mill had shut down) was forced to tell her, "I'm sorry, Honey, but we just can't afford it." Anwahs' son had earned some money by raking leaves. The boy bought a box of Smarties candy, ran outside after the little girl, gave her the Smarties, and told her, "Every kid should have a pack of Smarties 'cause they make you smarter." (90)

"I'd Do It Again and Again and Again"

In 2008, in the western Sydney, Australia, suburb of Penrith, Andrew Leitch was shopping with his parents and his infant son, Hayden, when an elderly woman lost control of her car. The car came toward Mr. Leitch and his four-month-old son, and Mr. Leitch positioned himself to shield his son. Hayden was fine after the accident, but Mr. Leitch suffered a broken leg. His parents were hurt but recovered. When footage of the heroism surfaced in 2010, Mr. Leitch was interviewed by CBS's The Early Show and by Australia's Nine Network. He said that when he saw the car bearing down on his group, he thought, "If they hit the back of me, break a leg or whatever, that's fixable. But if they hit my son, he's not fixable." He added, "I'm amazed we're still here today. I'm grateful that, yeah, at the end of the day, that the little bloke... it was more or less if it didn't hit me, it was gonna hit him. So, yeah, just being a father, I'd do it again and again and again." (91)

A Memorable Walk Home

Joanne Patek had been married for 30 years when she gave her husband a beautiful surprise. They were working hard to get out of debt, and because his car had blown its engine he was riding the bus to work, which forced him to walk eight blocks to and from the bus stop. Joanne wanted to do a "fun thing [...] to show support and love for him in order to encourage and lift his spirits," so she bought some chalk and during her lunch hour she wrote messages for him all eight blocks from their home to the bus stop. The messages included lots of hearts on the street poles and the sidewalk and included these words: "Pat & Joanne Forever... True love to infinity and beyond... until the twelfth of never—forever I will be loving you." His walk that night, and for a week afterwards, was memorable. Joanne writes, "I am so glad that I took the time to express myself so extravagantly, not knowing that he would die unexpectedly [of a heart attack] just a couple of months after that. We never know when it is the last kiss or hug that we will get, so we tried to never forget the power of each moment. Our family motto has always been 'Love not expressed is love not received.' You can say you love me, but without [your] expressing that love, I do not know it. I am so glad that I took the time to make that memory into a [K]odak moment that day. What a lunch, and oh, what feeling it gave to both of us." (92)

"Save My Brother First"

Flooding in Australia in early 2011 killed several people, including 13-year-old Jordan Rice and his mother, Donna. One person who was not killed by the waters was Jordan's 10-year-old brother, Blake. The Rices' car was hit by an inland tsunami of water, and the Rices climbed to the top of the car. A rescuer with a rope swam to the car, and Jordan told him, "Save my brother first." The rescuer did, and when the rescuer swam back to the Rices' car to save Jordan and Donna, the rope broke, and Jordan and his mother were swept away by the water and drowned. In an interview with the Toowoomba Chronicle, Jordan's father, John Tyson (Donna's partner for 28 years), said, "I can only imagine what was going on inside to give up his life to save his brother, even though he was petrified of water. He is our little hero." (93)

Saving Her Son's Life

The son of Chinese mother Chen Yurong had life-threatening liver problems, and he needed a liver transplant. She decided to give him part of her own liver. Unfortunately, an examination showed that her liver was fatty, and therefore it was unsuitable for a transplant. In order to make her liver healthy enough for a transplant, she walked 10 kilometers (a little over 6 miles) a day for seven months, a total of 2,110 kilometers (1,311 miles). She also dieted. The result was a healthy liver that was suitable for a transplant. On November 3, 2009, the transplant took place. Ms. Yurong said, "Sometimes I had to pause for a short while. Some people told me to give up, but I knew I must continue. If I stopped, my liver would not be healthy and my son would not get cured. I only have one son, and I'll do anything to save his life no matter how hard." She also said, "After the operation, the feeling of happiness has remained. It is like a big stone has finally been moved out of my heart. During those seven months, I kept telling myself that no matter what, I was determined to give my son a complete healthy liver. As his mother, I was responsible for saving his life." Ye Haibin, her son, said, "It's hard to express my feelings. I feel I owe my mom a lot. She suffered much more than many other people can bear. I would like to say thank you to her, which I know is far from enough." Ms. Yurong gave a lot of credit to her husband, who provided emotional support as well as working hard to make money to pay for the operation. CCTV, China's state television, named Chen Yurong one of the "Top Ten People Who Inspired China in 2009." (94)

Saving His Father's Life

Late January 22, 2008, 11-year-old Lachlan "Lochie" Nally, and his father, Matthew, suffered a single-car accident in which their car rolled over in the South Australian north. Lochie was all right, but his father wasn't breathing. Fortunately, Lochie knew first aid. He gave his father mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and when his father was breathing on his own again, Lochie ran, barefoot, 3 kilometers to the Koolunga hotel and pub. Lochie said, "I went back to the pub because they were the only people I knew in Koolunga.... I was scared and it was pitch black and I couldn't see anything." His mother, Kim March, who was not in the car, was impressed: "He jumped out the car window and he ran for help and that just blew me away. For 3km, and it's pitch dark by yourself—for a little boy it's amazing. I told him he's saved his dad's life.... I am just ecstatic he did a fantastic job. I'm very proud of him." Chief Inspector Graham Goodwin was also impressed and called it "one of the most heroic acts I've seen." (95)

The Hero Boys

On March 4, 1975, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, two African-Americans, 10-year-old Wade Cornick and 13-year-old Darryl Gregory, were waiting for the school bus. They heard screams, and they saw that the home of Mrs. Isaiah Carr was on fire. She had accidentally set fire to herself and her home as she tried to light a kerosene heater. They ran to her house, opened the door, and found her lying on the floor in a room full of flames. They dragged her from her house, and they put out the fire on her clothing. A 19-year-old man, Barry Rudiger, saw what was happening and ran to a neighbor's house to telephone for help. Mr. Rudiger then returned to Mrs. Carr. He said later, "She had second- and third-degree burns on both legs and on her arms. The hose she was wearing were burned right into her skin. The pain must have been terrible! There was no way she could have gotten out of that house by herself. It took a lot of nerve for those kids to go in there and drag her out." Wade admitted, "I was pretty scared." Darryl added, "But we knew we had to get her out. So we just went in and got her." For their courage, Wade Cornick and Darryl Gregory were awarded the 1975 Young American Medal for Bravery, which was presented to them by President Ronald Reagan. They also were awarded a new nickname—Mrs. Carr and others started calling them "the Hero Boys." (96)

A 5-Year-Old Hero

On December 2, 1964, around 8:30 a.m., a fire started in the home of the Crowe family in Cherokee, Kansas. The father was at work, and the mother was outside briefly so she could take the two oldest children to school. In the house was 5-year-old David, 3-year-old Leanna, 2-year-old Peggy, and the youngest, Sherri, who was asleep in a crib. David first pushed a chair over to Sherri's crib so he could reach over top of it and get Sherri, and then he took her outside. Next he wrapped a blanket around 2-year-old Peggy and took her outside. Finally, he got 3-year-old Leanna out of bed and took her outside. He then told his sisters not to move and ran off to find their mother. For his bravery, David was awarded the 1964 Young American Medal for Bravery, which was presented to him by President Lyndon Baines Johnson. (97)

Saving the Dionne Quintuplets

Harry Reutlinger was the city editor of the Chicago American when the famous Dionne quintuplets were born. In search of a story, he telephoned the doctor—Dr. Allan R. Dafoe—who had delivered Mrs. Elzire Dionne's five daughters. In their conversation, Mr. Reutlinger learned that Dr. Dafoe needed an old-fashioned incubator—the kind that was heated by hot water—to keep the quintuplets, including Marie, who weighed only 29 ounces, alive. Mr. Reutlinger got his reporters busy. Twelve reporters searched for an appropriate incubator, and not just in Chicago. Eventually, an antique incubator was found in an attic storeroom, and the American shipped it to Dr. Dafoe in Callander, Ontario. The good doctor said that the antique incubator saved the life of at least Marie and possibly the lives of the other four quintuplets as well. By the way, Mr. Reutlinger became involved in the story of Douglas Corrigan, who had wanted to duplicate the flight of Charles Lindbergh across the Atlantic Ocean, but who was unable to get permission from the proper authorities. Therefore, he filed a flight plan in New York for a flight west, not east, but the next time his plane was seen it was over Ireland. Mr. Reutlinger was able to talk with Mr. Corrigan on the telephone. He knew that the young man could get into serious trouble for flying across the Atlantic without permission, so he created an excuse for him: "So you got mixed up, eh? Flew the wrong way." Mr. Corrigan was no fool: He immediately replied, "Say, that's right—that's exactly what happened." From then on, Mr. Corrigan was known as Wrong Way Corrigan. (98)

The Young American Award for Bravery

On January 4, 1948, a newspaper article told readers about the heroic action of 9-year-old Tommy Gibbs, who was playing on a railroad track with 5-year-old Pattie Luntz in Aiken, South Carolina. A train started coming toward them, and Tommy got off the track, but Pattie looked up, saw the train, and froze. According to the newspaper article, "At the actual risk of his own life, Tommy dashed back, grabbed Pattie in his arms and stumbled once again to safety, just as the wheels of the engine flicked his sleeve as they whirled by." One person who read about Tommy's bravery was Kentucky Congressman Frank L. Chelf, who was worried about juvenile delinquency. He said, "The newspapers in 1948 were full of stories about juvenile delinquency. Robberies, vandalism, and youth gangs were popping up like corn." He decided that a good thing to do would be to give recognition to young people who did acts of bravery such as Tommy had done. He introduced a bill to establish the Young American Medal. Actually, one medal was for Bravery, and the other medal was for Service. On June 24, 1952, President Harry S. Truman bestowed the first Young American Medals upon their winners. One young American Medal for Bravery went to 10-year-old Parker Edward Stratt, who had saved his 9-year-old friend Gerry Gustafson from an alligator attack in Coral Gables, Florida, in 1951. The two children were by the shore of a lake when the alligator grabbed Gerry's arm and pulled her underwater. The alligator then released Gerry's arm, and she reached the surface of the lake. Parker held on to the roots of a tree with one hand and grabbed Gerry with his other hand. The alligator grabbed Gerry by her legs and tried to pull her underwater again, but Parker held on. The alligator eventually released Gerry, and Parker took her to some adults, who took her to a hospital. Her arm was severely damaged, but it was saved, and she grew up and married. (99)

Seven Out of Seven

On November 7, 1961, 16-year-old Loretta Agnes Jaronik of South Bend, Indiana, saw smoke coming out of the house of Mrs. Raymond Jeziorski, who had seven children. Mrs. Jeziorski got six of her children outside, but the seventh child, a six-year-old boy, was still inside, upstairs. Loretta ran inside the house and tried twice to climb the stairs, but the heavy smoke drove her back both times. She soaked a towel in water and held it to her face, and this time she succeeded in climbing the stairs. She found the boy in an upstairs bedroom, and then she broke a window and got the boy and herself onto the roof of the porch, from which firefighters were able to get her and the boy safely to the ground. For her courage, Loretta Agnes Jaronik was awarded the 1961 Young American Medal for Bravery. (100)
CHAPTER 3: Stories 101-150

What Would You Do if You Found $24,000?

Close to Christmas 2006, businesswoman RoseMarie Limoncelli, age 39, lost $24,000 that she was going to deposit in a bank. The money consisted of $100 bills, which she had rubber-banded together and placed inside a bank pouch. She and her daughter, 8-year-old Sabrina, had gone to see the movie Happy Feet at the AMC Fantasy theater in Rockville Centre, New York. While the movie was playing, her daughter climbed onto her lap. Ms. Limoncelli put her purse on the floor, where it tipped over and the pouch of money fell out. Later, while buying ice cream at a store, she discovered that the money was missing. She said, "My heart stopped. My whole body was shaking." She began making telephone calls at places where she knew she might have lost the money. When she called the movie theater, she learned that employee Christopher Montgomery, a 19-year-old liberal arts student at Nassau Community College, had found the money while cleaning and had turned it in to the theater manager. Ms. Limoncelli said, "I was shocked. It's so commendable to see a teenager do something so wonderful for someone else. My life could have been flipped upside down." Mr. Montgomery declined to talk to reporters, but his mother, Donna, said that he had said, "It's no big deal." She added, "I always tell my kids, 'I believe: a good deed—you do one, you get one in return.'" (101)

The Envelope on the Christmas Tree

A woman who wrote anonymously on <Crystal-reflections.com> told about a special Christmas present that she began giving annually because her husband, Mike, hated the commercialization of Christmas. It began when Kevin, her son, was 12 years old, and on a wrestling team. His team wrestled a group of black kids in a church-sponsored inner-city team. The kids wore sneakers so ragged that, the woman wrote, "shoestrings seemed to be the only thing holding them together." In addition, she wrote, "As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect wrestler's ears. It was a luxury the ragtag team obviously could not afford." Kevin and his team won every match, and Mike pitied the inner-city youth and wished that they could have won one match. Out of this wrestling match, the woman got an idea for her husband's Christmas present. She wrote, "That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought an assortment of wrestling headgear and shoes and sent them anonymously to the inner-city church. On Christmas Eve, I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me. His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in succeeding years." For each Christmas afterward, she placed an envelope for another good deed on the Christmas tree. She wrote, "For each Christmas, I followed the tradition—one year sending a group of mentally handicapped youngsters to a hockey game, another year a check to a pair of elderly brothers whose home had burned to the ground the week before Christmas, and on and on. The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas. It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed anticipation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to reveal its contents." When Mike died of cancer, she placed an envelope on the tree, and so did each of their three children. She wrote, "The tradition has grown and someday will expand even further with our grandchildren standing around the tree with wide-eyed anticipation watching as their fathers take down the envelope. Mike's spirit, like the Christmas spirit, will always be with us. May we all remember Christ, who is the reason for the season, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always." (102)

"Karma has Already Shown Up"

In 2010, in Crawfordsville, Indiana, three employees of the Street and Sanitation department were hanging Christmas lights when one of them, Chris Moore, saw and picked up a grungy envelope from the middle of a street. He said, "It looked like it had been in the street for a little while and had been run over by a car." The envelope was filled with $100 bills and checks. Fortunately, the three employees—Chris Moore, Troy Payne, and Doug Edwards—were honest. Several names, including that of Carolyn Truax, were written on the envelope. The three men were able to return the money to her, and they learned that the money was intended for mission work to help the less fortunate. Ms. Truax said that she believes the three men were doing God's work by returning the money to her: "It's the Lord's money, and He takes care of it." The three men were happy to return the money; Mr. Edwards said, "After hearing where it goes, karma has already shown up." (103)

"It's Pete Time"

In 2010, a mystery man known simply as "Pete" marked 20 years of leaving cash gifts annually for the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center in Evansville, Indiana, because it benefits disabled children. During the holiday season, he calls the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center and asks, "Do you know what time it is?" The answer is, "It's Pete time." Employees of the Easter Seals Rehabilitation Center then hunt for the money that Pete has hidden on the premises. In 2010, the money was found in a Santa Claus cookie jar that Pete had left at the center. Over 20 years, Pete's cash donations have totaled $68,000. Pete's money goes for "extras" at the center. In 2009, the center sent out a press bulletin that stated, "The agency's therapists, social workers, and preschool teachers will now get busy acting as 'Pete's' helpers. They will use his contribution to buy gifts for at least 70 children whose families are unable to afford toys or in some cases clothing and other necessities for the holiday season. Staff members (assisted by Santa Claus) will make sure the gifts are delivered to the children's families before Christmas." The first children to be helped by Pete's gifts were identical twin sisters Kaitlin and Emilie Thompson, who have cerebral palsy and who were then four years old. Pete's gift bought them a special chair that made showering easier and safer. Their parents could not afford the chair, and insurance didn't cover it. Kaitlin, who is now 23, says about Pete, "He really does embody what Christmas is all about. He's magical. He's special—he keeps in mind people that are less fortunate." When the two sisters were 10 years old, they set up a lemonade stand to raise money for the center. They kept it up for 10 years and raised about $25,000. The two sisters' father, Tim, says, "I feel like they were inspired by people like Pete." Pam Kirk, who works at the center, says that Pete "gives us the feeling that we have our own personal Santa Claus." (104)

A Considerate Basketball Superstar

Rusty LaRue was a player on the 1998 Chicago Bulls World Championship team with Michael Jordan. Of course, he was not nearly the player that the superstar Mr. Jordan was. He played in only 14 games with the Bulls during the season, and he was not an active player with the Bulls during the playoffs, although he did get a championship ring along with everyone else. Mr. LaRue once invited four friends from college to attend a game at Madison Square Garden, but because he was not on the active roster for that game, he did not receive any complimentary tickets. Knowing that Mr. Jordan had several complimentary tickets for the game, Mr. LaRue asked him for four tickets. Mr. LaRue says, "He gave me four great seats for the game and never asked me to pay a dime. My friends were sitting [at the] 50-yard line with great seats. He didn't have to do that." By the way, for the Bulls' Christmas party, the players held a drawing to determine who would buy gifts for whom. Mr. LaRue drew Dennis Rodman's name. As a rookie on the team, he was worried about buying a gift for a star. He knew that Mr. Rodman really loved his daughter, so he bought him a silver money clip and had it engraved with the name of Mr. Rodman's daughter. (He did research to make sure that the spelling of her name was absolutely right.) Mr. Rodman appreciated the gift. (105)

Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, Ireland

On Christmas 2009 Colin Farrell paid a visit to ill children in Our Lady's Hospital, Crumlin, Ireland. This was not his first visit. A source told The Irish Herald, "He keeps a low profile when he comes in. He doesn't want photographers or anything. He comes in every Christmas Day and spends a lot of time with the children. He has bought Nintendo DS and Wiis for them and plays with them for a couple of hours. He's really popular with the staff and really genuine, and the kids really love and appreciate his visit." Mr. Farrell has a son who suffers from the rare genetic disorder Angelman Syndrome. (106)

Christmas Presents for a Little Boy

In 2010, it looked as if economic hard times would prevent Santa Claus from paying a visit to the home of 9-year-old Joshua Pittman of Lawrenceville, Georgia. His father, an unemployed carpenter named Wayne, and his mother, Jacqueline, simply lacked the money for presents. Wayne's unemployment checks were due to stop (until President Barack Obama made a deal with Republican politicians to allow checks for the unemployed to continue), and the adult Pittmans needed to use the money for necessities. Mr. Pittman, who is 46 years old, told the Associated Press, "I have a little boy, and that's kind of hard to explain to him." Fortunately, Dan Dannheisser, a Sarasota, Florida, personal injury attorney, read the article about the Pittmans and other victims of the economic hard times, and Mr. Dannheisser provided presents such as Lego Star Wars and some Star Wars movies for Joshua. Mr. Pitman said, "It gave me encouragement that things are gonna be all right, that I can sit down at night and really just be at peace. I just didn't know which way to turn. So far I can see a little light right now, and I know that Christmas will be nice for my son." Mr. Pittman added that Mr. Dannheisser's act "gives me great faith in people. Dan, what he has done for me, is so wonderful. It's a godsend." Mr. Dannheisser is modest: "It's just about getting a little boy Christmas presents." (107)

The True Aussie Spirit

In early 2011, floods devastated the Queensland area of Australia. Many Australians, including the homeless people of Sydney, donated money to help the victims of the flood. The BackShed Cafe, in Woolloomooloo, cooked free sausages and provided other food for 50 or 60 homeless people, and the homeless people decided to donate money—a total of $100.75—for the victims of the flood. Local resident Carole Ann King said, "It was just so moving. Here you have homeless people and so many five-cent coins in the bucket. Naturally you feed the homeless for nothing. You don't expect anything, but they just emptied their pockets out. It's the true Aussie spirit." The Baptist charity HopeStreet runs the BackShed Cafe, which is a place for homeless people to get free food and coffee. Local residents help out when needed. For example, during Christmas of 2010, the charity could not afford a Christmas tree, so it constructed one out of milk crates. Due to a lack of decorations, the charity could decorate only the topmost milk crate. The local residents pitched in with decorations for the entire "tree." (108)

The Christmas Truce

During World War I, British and German soldiers along the border of Belgium and northern France declared a ceasefire and celebrated Christmas together. The two armies had been fighting each other for weeks, but a ceasefire occurred over long stretches of the lines of battle. Rifleman C.H. Brazier wrote this: "You will no doubt be surprised to hear that we spent our Christmas in the trenches after all and that Christmas Day was a very happy one. On Christmas Eve the Germans entrenched opposite us began calling out to us 'Cigarettes', 'Pudding', 'A Happy Christmas' and 'English – means good', so two of our fellows climbed over the parapet of the trench and went towards the German trenches. Half-way they were met by four Germans, who said they would not shoot on Christmas Day if we did not. They gave our fellows cigars and a bottle of wine and were given a cake and cigarettes. When they came back I went out with some more of our fellows and we were met by about 30 Germans, who seemed to be very nice fellows. I got one of them to write his name and address on a postcard as a souvenir. All through the night we sang carols to them and they sang to us and one played 'God Save the King' on a mouth organ" (a letter published in The Hertfordshire Mercury on Saturday, 9 January 1915). Rifleman J. Reading wrote later to his wife, Mrs. Reading, about that Christmas Day: "During the early part of the morning the Germans started singing and shouting, all in good English. They shouted out: 'Are you the Rifle Brigade; have you a spare bottle; if so we will come half way and you come the other half.' At 4 a.m. part of their Band played some Christmas carols and 'God save the King', and 'Home Sweet Home.' You could guess our feelings. Later on in the day they came towards us, and our chaps went out to meet them. Of course neither of us had any rifles. I shook hands with some of them, and they gave us cigarettes and cigars. We did not fire that day, and everything was so quiet that it seemed like a dream. We took advantage of the quiet day and brought our dead in." (109)

Gold for Christmas

Some people give gold for Christmas. For example, in 2010 in Indiana anonymous donations of gold coins appeared in Salvation Army kettles. An American 1-ounce gold coin—around which was wrapped a $100 bill—was dropped in a kettle in Mishawaka. The coin was worth $1,400. Along with the gold coin and the $100 bill was a note thanking the Salvation Army because it does "God's work." An anonymous donor dropped a South African Krugerrand worth more than $1,400 in a Salvation Army kettle in Kokomo. And the Salvation Army received four more gold coins in kettles in Chicago and its suburbs. Such donations are especially appreciated in hard economic times such as those of 2010. (110)

A Letter to Santa

In Fort Myers, Florida, a 6-year-old girl was afraid of waking up on Christmas in 2010 with no presents to open because of hard economic times, so she wrote a letter to Santa Claus to tell him that she had been "super good." People at the post office read the letter. An investigation showed that the little girl's family was going through hard times. The father was unemployed, and although the mother had a part-time job, the parents sometimes found it difficult to feed their two children and to pay rent. Christina Turner, customer service supervisor with the Page Field Post Office, said, "They got a job out of town, out of state. So they sold everything they could. What they didn't sell, they just gave away. And they got to New Jersey and the job was not available to them. So they were back within a few days of leaving." Letter carrier Michael Bond said, "When I knocked on the door [...], there were pillows on the floor. And she's walking to work tonight because they don't have enough money to put gas in the car." The Page Field Post Office in Fort Myers provided Christmas for the family. They gave presents to the kids and provided furniture and a Christmas tree. The employees raised $400 in just one day. Ms. Turner said, "She's six years old. The only thing she requested was one present from Santa. So we're going to make sure she gets above and beyond more than one present." (111)

Secret Santas

In 2010, as in the three previous years, a number of businessmen and -women who wish to remain anonymous played Santa Claus and took to the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, handing out $100 bills to people who looked as if they could use the money. The late Larry Stewart of Kansas City, MO, used to do this; he inspired other people to do the same thing. In 2010, the Charlotte Secret Santas were accompanied by a few people from the Charlotte police and fire departments who were able to make recommendations about good people who could use $100 and about places where people lived who could use the money. Police Chief Rodney Monroe told the Secret Santas about the YWCA's transitional housing complex for homeless families, where the Secret Santas knocked on the door of Alana McClendon and gave her a $100 bill. She said, "It is such a blessing. Such a blessing." Some recipients were chosen at random, as when the Secret Santas saw an elderly woman walking or a man walking with the aid of a cane. An employee named Felicia Adams at a Goodwill outlet received $100, which she said she intended to use to help her visit her father, who was dying of cancer in New York. The Secret Santas saw Dynasty Taylor holding the hand of his 2-year-old son, Elijah. They gave Dynasty $100, saying about his son, "He's a good-looking boy. Buy something nice for him." At Thomasboro Elementary School, the Secret Santas gave away $100 bills to custodians, secretaries, and teachers. At a thrift store, the Secret Santas saw foster parent Donna Green, who cried after they gave her $100. She had recently been laid off from her job at a day care center. She said, "God bless you." As the Secret Santas continued going through the thrift store and passing out $100 bills, Ms. Green said, "God is so good. He sends people in your path to bless you." (112)

Lost: $1,200

On the Saturday before Christmas of 2010, Tricia Ayers, a waitress at Walt's Barbecue in Colerain Township, Ohio, found over $1,000 on a table where she had waited. She said, "[It was] a bunch of $100 bills and a couple of $20 [bills] in, like, a bank envelope. I thought that was crazy somebody left that here." Instead of keeping the money, she immediately turned it in. The man who had lost the money—which he intended to use to buy Christmas presents—was Fred Smith. He did not miss the money until two days later, when he checked his jacket pocket. Mr. Smith said, "I grabbed my jacket, the money was gone and I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I [thought], 'I got to suck this up. It's gone. There's no way I'll ever get the money back. Maybe I dropped it or it fell in a parking lot.' I just went nuts." He did spend a few days telephoning places that he had visited, hoping that someone had found the money and turned it in. He got good news when he telephoned Walt's Barbecue. Ms. Ayers said, "I had no thought of [keeping the money]. I just know how it is. I couldn't imagine if that happened to me. [I] so hope to God somebody honest would give it back to me." Mr. Smith said, "It's nice to know there are still honest people in this world. [It's] great she did this. I wish I was a millionaire; I would give her a million bucks." (113)

Caring and Generous Muslims

On Christmas Eve of 2010, members of a mosque paid $2,000—twice the minimum amount needed—to sponsor a supper for the homeless at the Old Brewery Mission in Montreal, Canada. Members of the Islamic Community Centre of Brossard served the meals of chicken, rice, and steamed carrots to the homeless. Ismail Mohammed came up with the idea of the mosque's sponsoring the meal. He said, "We [Muslims] don't celebrate Christmas, but serving humanity is serving God. That is what our teaching says." Mr. Mohammad was born in India, grew up in Pakistan, and then came to Canada. He added, "We want to work with people from all religions. We came for peace in this country, and we want to establish peace." Monique Khan said, "I feel happy when I make other people happy. It's a time for sharing, and we give what we can." Her husband, Irfan Khan, said, "When we came here, we didn't have anything. We worked hard and we did well. This society has given us so much, and now we have to give back." Said Suleman, who came to Canada as a refugee from Eritrea, said, "It's time to step in and do our share. We have to think of others, of feeding our neighbors, to really participate." Sabiha Sheikh added, "It's time for us to contribute to the city we live in. We want to show that we are caring people—we are generous and want to share." (114)

Three Good Deeds

A man who goes by the moniker "Cowboy" loves good deeds. He started and has made several posts to the Good Deeds thread at <CougarUteForum.com>. On Christmas Eve of 2010, he wrote, "Christmas time is full of good deeds. I live in a great community, and here are a few of the things that have gone on this Christmas." One good deed he writes about is that his town of 590 people has rallied around three little girls who need help. Their mother left them when they were very little, and their father ignores them. Their grandmother took care of them, but she died. One woman is going through the necessary process to be the girls' foster mother, and a group of women who had a Christmas ornament party decided to give the little girls Christmas. The women approached the girls' teachers, who made a list of what the girls wanted, and then the women bought the items to give to the girls. Another family in Cowboy's community is having a hard time. The mother is dying from cancer, and the father speaks little English and works for approximately $11 per hour. The family has 13 kids. The teachers in the school the kids attend raised money to help, as did the employees in the hospital where the mother is being treated. Together, they raised $2,200 to provide Christmas for the family: presents, grocery gift cards, and other gift cards. And then a donor gave $800 so the family could take advantage of after-Christmas sales. A third, non-Christmas good deed involves Cowboy's wife, who runs an RIF (either Reading is Fundamental or Reading is Fun) program that gives free books to kids. A man wanted to give a book to every kid in the town's elementary school, so she worked with teachers to get titles of books the kids wanted, and on the last day of school, every child got a free book. (115)

Secretariat

Joseph Triano, the grandfather of Rachel Estrada Ryan, loved the great racehorse Secretariat. On November 5, 2010, he went to a hospital for tests because he had been feeling lethargic, and he discovered that he had metastatic gallbladder cancer and not much longer left to live. He took the news well, but he did express a desire to see the 2010 movie Secretariat about the great racehorse. He had not seen it at the movie theater because he had the habit of waiting until the movies he wanted to see came out on DVD and then borrowing them from the library. Of course, his family wanted him to see the movie; unfortunately, the movie was in the limbo where it was no longer in movie theaters but had not yet come out on DVD. Ms. Ryan wanted her grandfather to see the movie, and so she emailed film critic Roger Ebert, who forwarded the email to his friend Bill Nack, who had written the book on which the movie was based. Mr. Nack in turn contacted Disney, the company that owned the movie, and asked if a pre-release DVD could be sent to Ms. Ryan's grandfather. Disney did that—and more. Sharon Lee of Disney emailed Ms. Ryan, "Your letter touched a lot of folks from the film and your request has come to me for handling. On behalf of Disney, I would like to inform you we will be sending a copy of SECRETARIAT for your grandfather Joseph R. Triano. Please send me his address as soon as possible. Happy Holidays!" In addition to the DVD, Disney sent a T-shirt, a replica of the pin that actress Diane Lane (who played the owner of Secretariat) wore in the movie, and a hat. The package from Disney arrived on December 17, 2010. Ms. Ryan and other family members watched the movie along with her grandfather. She says that the movie is "something magical, something transcendent, an object of my love for my grandfather. The fact that this horse lived, and died, and did something wonderful in between... it became both a universal truth and a specific one, as if pinpointing this very Joseph R. Triano, of Staten Island, New York, who has lived, and who is going to die, and who made me possible, me and my mother and my aunts and uncles, my cousins, my children." (116)

The Muslim Who Saved Christmas

On Christmas Eve of 2009, a 72-year-old woman named Felicia Lettieri left her bag containing $21,000, which was the traveling money for herself and six relatives, in a taxicab in Manhattan. Fortunately for them, the taxi driver was honest: a 28-year-old medical student and Muslim named Mohammad Mukul Asaduzzaman from Bangladesh. He found the purse, which was filled with Euros and some passports, and he found the woman's name and address. He and a friend drove 50 or 60 miles to her home. No one was there, so he left her a note saying, "Mrs. Lettieri, don't worry about your money. It is safe." He also left his phone number. Later, he received a call from her and went back to her house to give her the money. Mr. Asaduzzaman said, "My mother is my inspiration. She always said to be honest and work hard." He also said, "I'm needy, but I'm not greedy. It's better to be honest." Mrs. Lettierei's sister, Francesca, 79, said, "We really love what he did." (117)

A Tramp's Christmas

Between Christmas and New Year's Day, Howard Murphy was in his home in Scotland, looking through his kitchen window into the dark when he saw an elderly tramp whom he had seen many times before. Mr. Murphy knocked on the window to attract the tramp's attention, and then pantomimed drinking tea as a way to invite the tramp in. Once inside, the tramp pointed to a coffee percolator to indicate that he preferred that drink, and then drank cup after cup of coffee, ate four potatoes cooked quickly in a microwave oven, ate lamb sandwiches, and ate sardines from the can. When the tramp left, his pockets were carrying gifts: cans of food, and a can opener (when offered the can opener, the tramp smiled). Mr. Murphy says that this was one time "I took pleasure dipping deep into pockets, usually fast closed." (118)

Anonymous Charity

On December 17, 1933, during the Great Depression, an advertisement appeared in The Canton Repository newspaper. A donor using the pseudonym B. Virdot offered to send $5 to people in need who wrote him a letter telling him what they would do with the money. He promised anonymity, which was important because so many of the people who needed help also had pride and did not want it to be known that they had accepted charity. One woman, who was unemployed and caring for her sick daughter and for her disabled sister, wrote, "If I thought this would be printed in the papers, I would rather die of hunger first." B. Virdot was actually a pseudonym used by Samuel Stone, a Canton businessman who also wanted anonymity. He kept his good deed secret until after his death. In 2008, his grandson, Ted Gup, received a suitcase filled with his grandfather's papers, including letters written to B. Virdot. Mr. Gup, a former investigative reporter for The Washington Post, investigated, interviewing families that had received checks from his father. And in 2010, Mr. Gup published the book A Secret Gift, about his grandfather's good deed. Mr. Stone's monetary gifts led to some Christmas presents for children. Olive Hillman received a $5 check and used the money to buy her daughter, who at the time was eight years old, a doll with a porcelain face and leather arms. Now 85 years old, the daughter, Geraldine Hillman Fry, remembers the doll: "I was thrilled to get it. It really was the only doll that I ever had in my life, so it meant a lot to me." Edith May used Mr. Stone's check to buy her daughter a wooden horse at a five-and-dime store. The daughter, Felice May Dunn, now 80 years old and the owner of 17 Welsh ponies, also remembers the gift: "In my life it made a big difference. It was my favorite toy." (119)

"Save One Life, Save the World"

In 1939, British stockbroker Nicholas Winton prepared to go on a skiing vacation; however, a friend named Martin Blake called him and said, "I have a most interesting assignment, and I need your help. Don't bother bringing your skis." The assignment was to go to Prague, Czechoslovakia, and provide help in a refugee camp. There Mr. Winton learned of the plight of the refugees. He also decided to help as many of the children as he could. Mr. Winton said that at the refugee camp "the parents desperately wanted at least to get their children to safety when they couldn't manage to get visas for the whole family. I began to realize what suffering there is when armies start to march." Mr. Winton worked to save the children in the camp, arranging for their transport to Great Britain, where they would be placed in safe homes. He managed to save 669 children, mainly Jewish. To do so, he had to meet certain requirements. He said, "I decided to try to get permits to Britain for them. I found out that the conditions which were laid down for bringing in a child were chiefly that you had a family that was willing and able to look after the child, and £50, which was quite a large sum of money in those days, that was to be deposited at the Home Office. The situation was heartbreaking. Many of the refugees hadn't the price of a meal. Some of the mothers tried desperately to get money to buy food for themselves and their children." Little help was available. He pointed out, "Everybody in Prague said, 'Look, there is no organization in Prague to deal with refugee children, nobody will let the children go on their own, but if you want to have a go, have a go.' And I think there is nothing that can't be done if it is fundamentally reasonable." Mr. Winton left behind Trevor Chadwick and Bill Barazetti to look after things in Prague while he returned to England to find money and homes for the refugee children. He placed photographs of the children in newspapers, knowing that many people who saw the photographs would want to help the children. Between March 14, 1939, and August 2, 1939, children left Prague for Great Britain. Tragically in September 1939, 250 children were supposed to go to Great Britain, but Adolf Hitler invaded Poland and Great Britain declared war on Germany. No longer could trains travel to Great Britain through German-controlled territory. Mr. Winton said that "the train disappeared. None of the 250 children aboard was seen again. We had 250 families waiting at Liverpool Street that day in vain. If the train had been a day earlier, it would have come through. Not a single one of those children was heard of again, which is an awful feeling." On September 4, 2009, 70 years after Mr. Winton's rescue efforts, 22 of the children he helped save, now in their 70s and 80s, and members of their families visited him in London. Mr. Winton was then Sir Nicholas: On December 31, 2002, Queen Elizabeth II awarded Mr. Winton a knighthood for his services to humanity. At age 100, Sir Nicholas met the 22 survivors at the train station and shook hands with them. He said, "The trouble 70 years ago was getting them together with the people who were going to look after them. I've got no responsibility this time." He wears a ring—a gift from one of the children he saved—on which is inscribed, "Save one life, save the world." The 669 children he saved now have over 7,000 descendants. (120)

"They are Angels. You Seldom Find People like That"

The Catholic family of Maria "Marysia" Andzelm hid Jews during the Holocaust, saving two lives. They did this even though Maria, at age 13, realized about the Nazis, "If they're willing to kill Jews, they're willing to kill people who hide Jews." For a while after Germany invaded Poland, Jews who were hiding in the woods knocked on the door of the Andzelms' home in Poland, begging for food. Although food was sometimes insufficient in their own home, the Andzelms gave away some of what they had. The Andzelms then began to hide two Jewish men in a hideout they built in their barn, although they had seen people's corpses hanging in the street; on their corpses were signs saying, "FOR HIDING A JEW." The hideout was hardly comfortable: farm animals' urine and manure leaked into the hideout, and fleas infested the straw in the hideout. But at least Maria was able to get books for the two men in the hideout to help them forget the uncomfortable conditions for a while. To convince the person from whom she had borrowed the books that she had read them, Maria memorized something about each book. After the Holocaust ended, one of the hidden Jews, Moses Kershenbaum, married Maria. (The other hidden Jew was Srulik Schwarzfort.) Maria and her family had some frightening times with the Nazis. Once some Nazis came to take Maria away to help in the war effort, but Maria had jumped in bed and she pretended to be ill with a contagious disease, so the Nazis left her alone. Asked why Maria and her family had risked their lives to hide him and another Jew, Moses replied, "They are angels. You seldom find people like that." Maria and her parents are Righteous Among the Nations, and their names are inscribed on the Wall of Honor. (121)

"He was My Angel of Life"

Raoul Wallenberg rescued thousands of Jews from the Nazis. He was a Swedish diplomat in Hungary who issued Schutz-passes (protection passes) to Jews and then claimed that they were under the protection of the Swedish government while they waited to travel to Sweden. Often, Nazis and Nazi sympathizers tried to take the Jews to concentration camps anyway—something that Mr. Wallenberg vigorously resisted. Olga "Oli" Altman Spitzer Solti was in a Safehouse in Budapest when a Hungarian police officer ordered her and all others in the Safehouse to go outside. Once outside, the Jews were herded into trucks. Oli remembers that a long black car displaying small Swedish flags suddenly appeared and blocked the exit of the trucks. Mr. Wallenberg got out of the car and spoke to the Hungarian police officer, occasionally raising his voice a little to make a point. Finally, the Hungarian police officer ordered, "Let them go." Oli remembers, "It was a magical moment I would never forget. It was like a dam, halting the dangerous waters about to drown us. We were safe." Oli and her daughter and her husband survived the Holocaust. She says, "At this point, Raoul Wallenberg belongs to history. But his few minutes in front of a building in Budapest belong to me. I will preserve his memory to my dying day. He was my angel of life." (122)

"Public Knowledge and Private Pride"

During the Holocaust, the people of the town of Secchiano in central Italy engaged in a "conspiracy of goodness" to protect a Jewish family who had fled from persecution in Germany: Wolf and Esther Fullenbaum and their four-year-old daughter, Carlotta. Holocaust scholar Eva Fogelman has written about the Fullenbaums that in Secchiano, "Their presence was a matter of public knowledge and private pride." The citizens of Secchiano housed the Fullenbaum family and fed them. Even after the village priest was arrested by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp because he had helped Jews, the citizens of Secchiano protected the Fullenbaums. When Nazis saw Wolf and Esther working in a field, pretending to be farm workers, the citizens of Secchiano told the Nazis that the Fullenbaums were deaf-mutes; that way, their German accent would not give them away. Eventually, the citizens of Secchiano helped the Fullenbaums to leave Secchiano and reach safety in territory held by the British. (123)

Good News: I am Still Alive

During the Nazi horror, some people resisted evil by doing the good deed of helping Jews. Bianca Perlmutter Lerner lived in Warsaw, and when the Nazis conquered Poland, she was put in the Warsaw Ghetto. Her mother disappeared in one of the roundups of Jews that took place, and Bianca and her father never saw her again. Her father was determined to save Bianca, so he contacted Dr. Stanislav Popowski, whose daughter, named Hanna, was Bianca's best friend. Dr. Popowski agreed to take in Bianca. Bianca's father bribed the German guards, and Bianca walked out of the Warsaw Ghetto and met Dr. Popowski, who took her home and made her part of his family. However, Bianca had to stay always in their home and hide in a closet whenever anyone visited, so Dr. Popowski arranged for her to be hidden in a convent by Mother Superior Matka Matilda Getter, who took her in. At age 13, she joined the underground and ran messages. Eventually, she was captured but she hid the fact that she was a Jew. As a member of the underground, she was treated as a POW. Moved from prison camp to prison camp, she eventually communicated with an English soldier. They never saw each other—they tied their messages to small rocks and threw them over a wall. Eventually, she told the English soldier that she had an uncle who had escaped and gone to England. He suggested that she write a letter on official POW stationery and he would send it to his sister in England—perhaps she could find her uncle and send him the letter so that he would know that she was still alive. When the war ended, she was put in a Displaced Persons camp and sent letter after letter to her uncle. She did not know where he was in England, so she addressed the letters to various English cities and mailed them. An incredibly observant and kind person in the Dead Letter Office in England noticed the letters, concluded that the writer was searching for this man, and placed an ad in several English newspapers and located her uncle. She came to live with him and was happy to learn that he had received the letter that she had given to the English soldier. One day, as she was reading in the living room, a young man visited and told her uncle that he had been in a POW camp and had mailed to his sister a letter that had been written by a young girl (and delivered by "rock mail") who was searching for her uncle. His sister had sent the letter onward, and now he was visiting to find out what had happened to the young girl. Of course, she shrieked and greeted the young man—whom she had never expected to meet—and gave him the good news that she was still alive. (124)

Kiddush and a Mitzvah

R' Chaim of Sanz owned a gold goblet that had been given to him by a rich man so that the Rabbi could use it when saying kiddush in memory of the rich man. However, R' Chaim eventually gave the gold goblet away to a poor man. When asked how he could justify giving the goblet away, R' Chaim replied, "I'm sure that the dead man would agree with what I did. After all, he wished me to make kiddush in his memory so that the merit of the good deed would benefit his soul. I am sure that keeping a Jew alive will be of much greater benefit to his soul." (125)

Chant the Hymn After the Meal

After services on Friday evening the Chofetz Chayim invited a number of hungry, homeless people to his home for the Sabbath meal, where he invited them to begin eating immediately instead of waiting for him to chant the hymn, "Peace to you, ye ministering angels." He explained his action in this way: "My practice is to chant the hymn after the meal instead of before. Human beings are flesh and blood, and their hunger cannot be delayed. The angels who crave neither food nor drink can wait." (126)

Violating Yom Kippur?

A gravely ill man had been ordered to eat on Yom Kippur, and this had upset him. The Chiddushei HaRim visited the man, listened to his complaints, then said, "I don't know why you are complaining. The same One who ordered the rest of us to fast has ordered you to eat." By the way, before each Yom Kippur, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter made sure that he had food available in case it was needed in order to save a person's life. (127)

Violating Shabbos?

R' Hillel, the son-in-law of R' Chaim of Volozhin, was once seen carrying a lantern through the marketplace, although carrying a lantern is forbidden on the Sabbath. He entered a house, stayed a while, then came out again without the lantern. After being asked why he had carried a lantern on the Sabbath, R' Hillel explained, "Inside that house is a man who is mortally ill, and since all the other members of the household are ignorant and refused to do anything for him which they thought might be a violation of Shabbos, I felt that I had to show them in practice that, when someone's life is in danger, it is a mitzvah [good deed] to violate Shabbos for him." (128)

Good Deeds

Here are two impressive good deeds: 1) Rabbi Chaim of Brisk once wedded the children of two wealthy families, for which he was handed a sealed envelope filled with money. Later, Rabbi Chaim met a poor man and handed him the envelope without opening it. 2) The Chazon Ish was once walking with another man when he suddenly slowed down, then told the other man, "There is a man with a limp walking in front of us. We ought not to pass him and remind him of his handicap." (129)

A Church and a Lottery Ticket

In March 2011, a Baltimore, Maryland, pastor discovered a generous gift in the collection plate: a scratched-off lottery ticket that had won $30,000. The name of the church was not released, but the pastor said, "I have no idea who did this. I really have no clue." The money will go mainly toward the operating expenses of the struggling parish, but the pastor says that he hopes that some of the money can go toward helping the poor. By the way, the pastor had no experience with lottery tickets and had to ask someone if in fact it was a winning lottery ticket. (130)

Three Kind Brigham Young Students

A letter to the editor can be a good way of publicly thanking people who have done a good deed for you. For example, Frances Watkins of Provo, Utah, wrote this letter to the editor of the Universe, the student newspaper of Brigham Young University: "Last Thursday I was stranded at the Creamery on Ninth with a flat tire. Suddenly three BYU students came to my rescue. Elza Hartung, Pawnee Simmons and Landon Hale were willing to give, to show how much they cared—a rare and special quality. No matter how busy they were, they took the time to help someone in need. In 15 minutes I was on my way home thanks to these students, who taught me by their example to be more like the Savior." (131)

"The Black Community Saved Me"

In January 2011, the Reverend Sam Mann, a white man, retired after 40 years at St. Mark Union Church, a black church, in Kansas City, Missouri. He had grown up in an Alabama small town with an abusive racist father who worked as a traveling salesman and would stay only in motels that guaranteed that no black person had ever slept in its beds, but he rejected racism and marched with Martin Luther King. As a preacher, he had a social conscience that got him in trouble with white congregations. Once, a VIP of a white church he preached at told him not to talk about politics in his sermons. Mr. Mann replied, "Nobody but God tells me what to preach." He was thrown out of two white churches for speaking about social justice. He says, "I had preached since I was 15, and all of a sudden nobody wanted me. I wept. I thought I would never preach again." Fortunately, Mr. Mann found refuge at a black church. He says, "The black community saved me. My own people didn't want me. I had nowhere to go." At the black church, Mr. Mann is well respected. The Rev. Nelson "Fuzzy" Thompson says, "He just wanted to serve. I've been in the trenches with him. He's a warrior and a beautiful brother." Dorice Ramsey, who recently became Mr. Mann's successor as executive director of the St. Mark Children and Family Development Center, says, "What he's done here will never be forgotten. His mark is too deep. He's touched so many people." When Mr. Mann retired, journalist Donald Bradley wrote, "For 40 years he worked tirelessly to feed the hungry, house the homeless, train the unskilled and help minority entrepreneurs open businesses. He helped organize the first National Urban Peace and Justice Summit to address gang violence. He was part of a local effort to raise money to replace black churches burned in the South." Although Mr. Mann has retired from preaching, he still continues to do good deeds and to work for social justice. (132)

"I Know God is Watching Everybody, Every Second"

On February 1, 2007, a man named Peter lost a wallet containing $5,950 that he was going to use to buy a car. He had ridden in a taxicab and thought that he might have left it in the taxi. Stanley Lal, an airport taxi coordinator, called Vinod Mago, who had just started his shift in a Seattle-Tacoma International Taxi Association cab. Mr. Mago, who in 1984 had moved to the United States from India, looked and found the wallet in the back of his cab. Peter was joyous when he heard that his wallet had been found, and he hugged Mr. Lal a few times, saying, "That's my life savings!" Mr. Mago had months earlier found $640 and returned it to its owner. He says, "If money doesn't belong to me, I don't keep it. I know God is watching everybody, every second." Peter gave a $100 reward to Mr. Mago, who used it to take his family out to eat. (133)

Blessing the Throat

Bernard F. Law is a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. While on a visit near Boston, Cardinal Law was interviewed by a reporter with a sore throat. After hearing the reporter croak out a question, he asked if he could bless her throat. She gave him permission, and he put his right hand on her throat, then prayed for an improved voice and improved health for her. After finishing the blessing, he joked to the reporter, "Make sure you write something nice." (134)

"Lord, Don't Let that Gun Fire in my Church"

The Reverend John C. McClurkin was once asked to do the very good deed of giving a guest sermon at the Evangel Fellowship Church about "the tools we can use to unlock doors, the doors to our blessings." To make his talk memorable, he brought props such as a padlock and a crowbar with him—and a blank-shooting starter gun. Otis Lockett, the pastor of Evangel, saw the starter gun and got worried, saying, "Man, don't shoot that gun in my church. Somebody's heart might stop," but the Reverend McClurkin wanted to shoot that gun. During his sermon, he tried three times to shoot the starter gun, but it would not fire. After the sermon, he went outside and pulled the trigger, and the gun fired. When he told the Reverend Lockett what had happened, the Reverend Lockett explained, "I prayed, 'Lord, don't let that gun fire in my church.'" (We should not be surprised that God does good deeds.) (135)

Speaking Up for the Oppressed

Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was an Irish Catholic statesman who spoke up for the oppressed everywhere, not just in Ireland. For example, he spoke up for English Jews and against slavery. Once, some slave owners from West India offered him support to help Ireland but only if he were to withdraw his opposition to slavery. Mr. O'Connell replied, "May my right hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to my mouth if to help Ireland—even Ireland—I forget the Negro for one single hour." (136)

Free Upgrades to First Class

In 2004, several American soldiers returning home from Iraq got upgrades to first class because of the generosity of fellow airplane passengers. On June 29, a man sitting in first class on American Airlines Flight 866 from Atlanta to Chicago asked a soldier, "Hey, soldier, where are you sitting?" The soldier replied, "Seat 22E." This was not a first-class seat, and the man sitting in first class said, "No, you're sitting here." Eleven other soldiers boarded the plane, and 11 first-class passengers traded their seats with the soldiers so the soldiers could sit in first class. (137)

"Even if an Animal Comes to You for Protection, You Give It Sanctuary"

In Rwanda, Hutus killed Tutsis—often with machetes—in acts of genocide beginning April 6, 1994, when Rwanda's Hutu President was killed when his plane was shot down during a civil war. However, some people became heroes. Damas Gisimba, a Hutu, ran an orphanage in Kigali. Mr. Gisimba realized that trouble was coming: "There were many signs of trouble ahead. Militia groups aligned with the Hutu hardliners and the government was bragging how they would kill anyone who supported the rebel Tutsi army. These militias had been training themselves how to kill ordinary citizens. Although I am a Hutu, they said I was a Tutsi sympathizer because I didn't agree with their Hutu Power ideology." After the President was killed, Mr. Gisimba went to the orphanage to be with the children. Alphonse Kalisa, who was one of the orphans, remembers, "That night we heard a lot of gunfire. There had been rumors going around that if anything bad happened, the Hutus would start slaughtering us Tutsis." Mr. Gisimba remembers that government soldiers and the militias went around telling Hutus, "Come out and start your work. The job has begun." Mr. Gisimba said, "And all of a sudden our neighbors who had lived with us for many years started killing people all around us." Rakiya Omaar, who was the director of the human rights organization African Rights, remembers, "In Rwanda they referred to Tutsis as cockroaches. They were not human beings. This is very important to understand; [there are] very close parallels to what happened in Hitler's Germany. [They said,] 'Don't worry, you're not killing humans like you. You are killing some vermin that belongs under your shoe. You're killing cockroaches.'" Many people went to Mr. Gisimba's orphanage seeking safety. Alphonse Kalisa remembers, "There [were] so many people coming to the orphanage to hide, looking for safety. Three or four hundred people. Damas had heard that the militia was going to attack the orphanage because of all the people coming in." Pie Mugabo sought safety at the orphanage: "My family and I lived next door to Gisimba, so we came here. Gisimba told me that because I was such a well-known opponent of the government, I would be especially wanted. He said it would be best for me and my family to hide in orphanage infirmary. There were six of us. During the day, the four women hid in this closet and we two men in this toilet room. I had to crouch a bit not to be seen through the window. Imagine—we stayed in this place for three months." Mr. Gisimba said, "I knew I was taking a huge risk hiding them. If Mugabo and his family were caught here, the militia would have killed us all, but I had been talking to my children for so long about the need for unity between Hutus and Tutsis. I couldn't change my mission now." Mr. Gisimba managed to rescue some people who had been left for dead by the Hutus. Claudine Mukabadege, a Tutsi, remembers, "They [Hutus] took us to the pit near Gisimba's place. They made us stand on a plank over the pit and hit us with clubs or machetes so we would fall into the hole. When it was my turn, they told me to pull off my rosary. They said, 'You have no God now. God is in Kibuye, because that's where the Hutu government had fled to.' I had a baby on my back, but they said to leave it. 'It's better you die with the baby.' They started clubbing my legs and I found myself in the pit. Somehow, a dead body rolled over on top and hid me.... The pit was full of maggots because they had been dumping bodies there for some time. There were snakes, too." That night, Mr. Gisimba went to the pit to rescue survivors: "Around midnight, we pulled two women out of the pit. One had a baby on her back, but it was dead. It suffocated. We brought the women to stay with us at the orphanage." Carl Wilkens, an American missionary with the Seventh Day Adventist Church, stayed in Rwanda after the genocide began. He sent his wife and three children out of the country to safety, and then he tried to help others. Mr. Wilkins was unable to leave his house until three weeks after the genocide had began. He remembers, "Finally the government said, 'Heads of organizations can leave their houses, come to government headquarters and get a permit to travel around the city.' From that point on, we moved about the city finding food, water, and meds for the orphans." Mr. Gisimba remembers, "This American showed up at the orphanage. He said he was just stopping by to see if anyone here needed help. I told him what we needed most was water. Carl Wilkens promised to come back the next day with water and anything else he could get his hands on. I kept wondering, 'How will this stranger get past so many checkpoints?' And besides the checkpoints, there were bullets flying everywhere." Rakiya Omaar, the director of the human rights organization African Rights, said, "There were so many roadblocks manned by drunken men armed with machetes. Their hands were so stained with blood." Mr. Gisimba said, "Carl [Wilkens] came back the next day with water and lots of goodies. And the next day, and the next day. There were some days he could not reach us because the militia blocked him or let the air out of his tires, but Carl kept his promise. He was fearless." The orphans and refugees at the orphanage were in danger. The militia tried to get Mr. Gisimba out of the orphanage so that they could kill everyone. Mr. Gisimba remembers, "They tried to trick me, saying, 'The governor of Kigali wants to see you.' I was suspicious, so I lied to them. I said, 'Has the governor forgotten that I have an appointment with him at 9 this morning?' So the militia pulled back but waited for me to leave. I snuck away to the office of the International Red Cross." Mr. Wilkins showed up at the orphanage with water. Mr. Wilkins said, "And then, all of a sudden, these militia guys began to appear, circling the whole compound. All of them with assault rifles and grenades and stuff. Then all of a sudden, a car comes sliding in the dirt parking lot there. A cloud of dust, and out gets a guy we called Little Hitler." The militia shot to death an orphanage worker who told them that he did not know where Mr. Gisimba was. Mr. Wilkins called the Red Cross to ask for help: "We're surrounded. Looks like we're about to have a massacre. How can you help me?" Kigali police showed up and stopped the attack. Mr. Wilkins, who made an urgent appeal to the Prime Minister of Rwanda, was able to arrange for the orphans to be evacuated to safety at the Church of Saint Michael in Kigali, where Mr. Gisimba was waiting for them. Mr. Gisimba says about the orphans, "They didn't know where they were going. They didn't even know I was still alive. So when they saw me, everyone shouted with joy; the children, my parents, the old people, everybody cried. It was like a miracle for them to see me still alive. Later, a soldier came up and said, 'Who is this man Gisimba? We were told all these people are for Gisimba.' They expected some sort of big, important man. I said, 'I am Gisimba.' They asked how I managed to keep so many people alive for so long. I answered with a Rwandan proverb: 'Even if an animal comes to you for protection, you give it sanctuary.'" Pie Mugabo is very grateful for the kindness and heroism of both Damas Gisimba and Carl Wilkens: "Where the international community and the U.N. practically abandoned us, [they] came to our aid and took risks. I still owe [them] many thanks. In fact, we should give [them] cows. That is what we do in Rwanda for someone who has done something extremely kind—we give them cows." Mr. Gisimba and Mr. Wilkens saved hundreds of lives during the genocide. (138)

No Laughs?

Comedian Joe E. Lewis once entertained the troops in a jungle. The approximately 60 troops were on a platform at the rear of a truck, and although Mr. Lewis told his funniest jokes for over an hour, he heard no laughter from the troops. Later, he found out why. Although they had enjoyed the show, all of the troops had mumps and could not laugh out loud. (139)

Dying While Helping Others the Day He Retired

Police officer John William Perry turned in his retirement papers on 9-11, but he did not stay retired. As soon as he heard about the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he got his badge back, bought and put on a police polo shirt (because he was not wearing his uniform), and rushed to the burning North Tower, where he helped people escape. He died when the North Tower collapsed. (140)

Free Eyesight

William Noriega of Victorville, California, started losing his sight when—at age 40—he developed cataracts in both of his eyes. Because he had no health insurance and because he lacked money, he could not get the operations needed to restore his sight. Mr. Noriega's father, Robert Mankin, wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper in November of 2009. The letter stated, "My 40-year-old son has developed cataracts in both eyes. He can no longer drive or work. He has lost the ability to support his family and pay for insurance. A simple operation would restore his sight and make him a taxpayer again instead of a welfare recipient. Although his condition is not life-threatening, how many people are there in similar situations? It is unacceptable that he needs to feel like a burden on society when he has been a productive citizen all his life. I'm sure he would gladly pay for a public-option policy if he could see to work!" One of the people who read the letter was Dr. Bryant Lum, an ophthalmologist with Lum Eye and Vision Center. Dr. Lum said, "As I read this, I thought, if that's all this guy needs, maybe we can help him. I do several hundred cataract surgeries a year at an ambulatory surgery center in Ventura, and one more wouldn't be a big deal. But this cataract surgery could change this patient's life. Even without a public option, we might be able to help him out from the private sector." In fact, Dr. Lum did perform the two eye surgeries free of charge in April of 2010. Dr. Lum said, "Most cataract surgery is done in the elderly; however, cataracts can be found even in infants. William is more rare because he has no family history of cataracts. He also has no predisposing factors such as trauma or high-risk medication use. We don't know why he developed his cataracts. They have progressed to the point that he is unable to work or function normally. He is unable to drive safely or read." The cost of the operations at the clinic would have been around $10,000—$5,000 per eye. Dr. Lum said, "This includes the surgeon fee, the surgery center fee, the anesthesiologist and the intraocular lens implant. If it were performed in a hospital, it would be substantially more expensive." Mr. Noriega also needed a lens implant. Keith Wintermute, the administrator of Ventura's Pacific Surgery Center, in which Dr. Lum is a shareholder, helped to get the lens. Dr. Lum said, "He contacted Bausch & Lomb, the maker of the intraocular lens implant. B&L was gracious enough to donate their best premium lens implant for the surgery. Unlike standard lens implants, this implant should allow William good distance- and near-vision at the same time." Mr. Noriega's father, Robert Mankin said, "We can't believe that he just read an article in the paper and was motivated to help a total stranger. This happened around Christmastime, and Dr. Lum called before Christmas; it was the best present we could ever have." Mr. Noriega said, "This has restored my faith in humanity. I couldn't get help anywhere in California. I found door close after door close after door close. But I'm a firm believer in karma, so this makes me kind of think I must be doing something right." Of course, Dr. Lum, Dr. Wintermute, Bausch & Lomb , and the people who assisted with the operation are also doing something right. (141)

IV Courage

Nicholas Perricone, MD, once witnessed a nine-year-old girl named Carrie perform a very good deed at the Yale University School of Medicine. She was scheduled for cardiac surgery—her eighth—and she knew that she would have to have an IV in her arm throughout the night before and during the operation. Lots of children were present at the hospital when Carrie arrived to be prepped the night before her surgery. One small boy in particular looked scared—make that terrified. Carrie took the small boy's hand and talked to him. Dr. Perricone greeted her, and Carrie said, "Hello, Dr. Perricone. This is Harry. I was explaining to him how the IV works." Carrie explained to Harry that once the IV was in her arm, it was easy for her to forget that it was there. She said, "In fact, this will be my eighth time. Dr. Perricone, would it be OK if Harry watched me so he can see how easy it is?" It was OK with Dr. Perricone, and Carrie showed no fear as the IV was inserted in her arm. Then it was Harry's turn to get an IV, and all went well. Dr. Perricone says, "The fearful, cringing little boy had taken a first step toward becoming a man." (142)

Free Wheelchairs

To people who cannot walk, a wheelchair is an instrument of liberation, but many people in third-world countries cannot afford a wheelchair when they need one. Mechanical engineer Don Schoendorfer once saw a Moroccan woman dragging herself across a dirt road, and he wondered, "What would it take to build and ship simple, durable, and inexpensive wheelchairs for those in need in the developing world?" He designed a wheelchair that used "a cheap plastic patio chair, a couple of bicycle wheels, a couple of rugged casters, some steel tubing, and some bolts." Building (in China), shipping, and distributing each wheelchair costs little money: $59.20 (in 2011). He also set up an organization to build and ship the wheelchairs to people in third-world countries who needed them: The Free Wheelchair Mission. As of May 2011, the organization had shipped over 500,000 free wheelchairs to people in 77 countries who need them. (143)

A BIG Thank You!

On February 20, 2006, Terry Sullivan received a liver transplant at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital's liver unit in Birmingham, England. He was grateful for the excellent treatment he received, and a few weeks later he posted this message on a billboard near the hospital: "I would like to say a BIG Thank You! to: Professors, Doctors, Nurses, Auxiliaries and all Staff at the Queen Elizabeth Liver Unit, which in my opinion is the Best in the world!" In an interview with BBC News, Mr. Sullivan said, "The staff were impeccable. It takes dedication—I know I couldn't do it—and I thought it was about time someone put their hands up and said thanks. I am 60 in June, but now I have two birthdays—then and also 20 February, the day of my operation." (144)

"When Someone Brings Me a Basket of Squash, I'm Happy"

Anne Brooks is a Catholic nun and a physician who provides health care to poor people at a clinic in Tutwiler, Mississippi, despite a constant struggle to come up with the money to do so. She says that it's a "hand-to-mouth existence." At age 44 she earned a degree from Michigan State University's College of Osteopathic Medicine in order to serve people who are poor. Why does she do this? She says, "Catholics are terrible about quoting things. But there is a place in the gospel of Matthew where it says something like, 'Freely you have received, freely give.'" She adds, "I have received so much." When she was a teenager, she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and used a wheelchair, but a physician at a free clinic in Clearwater, Florida, treated her and within six months she was able to walk. Mississippi is a good choice for her to practice medicine because of the state's high rates of poverty and heart disease and diabetes. In 2008, Brooks collected $552,572, which was only a quarter of the expenses of the clinic, which in 2010 had a staff of 32. Grants and donations help to keep the clinic open. Occasionally, she is able to find a hospital to do such charity work as perform surgery on David Kitchens to remove a large tumor. Mr. Kitchens says, "I was up a creek without a paddle, and drifting away pretty fast. They saved me." Approximately 40 percent of her patients have no health insurance. These patients are billed $15 for an office visit, but many of them cannot pay. Dr. Brooks says, "When someone brings me a basket of squash, I'm happy." (145)

"Paid in Full with One Glass of Milk"

Dr. Howard Kelly (1858-1943) was a distinguished doctor, one of four who founded Johns Hopkins, a great research hospital. In his earlier days, he took a walking trip in northern Pennsylvania. Thirsty, he knocked on the door a farmhouse and asked for a drink of water. The small girl who came to the door brought him a glass of milk instead, which he appreciated. Years later, when he was Dr. Kelly, he treated that same girl, but he wrote on his bill, "Paid in full with one glass of milk." Dr. Kelly did charge high fees for those who could afford it. Those high fees subsidized the free care that he gave to patients with no or little money—approximately 75 percent of his patients. In addition, the high fees paid for the services of a nurse he hired to give home health care to patients who could not afford to pay for it. (146)

The Kindness Linda Burhans Sees in the World

Linda Burhans and her 7-year-old granddaughter, Skylar, sometimes go out and have a contest they call "Who can make the most people smile?" Linda says, "It makes for a wonderful glorious day. We will be walking in the supermarket, and someone will be walking down the aisle with her head down. Skylar walks up to her and gives her a big smile. I watch her walk down the aisle, turn around and smile at Skylar again or perhaps smile at someone else." Linda does many good deeds, and she has witnessed many good deeds. She once baked cookies for a janitor at a post office. He asked, "Why, Linda?" Linda replied, "Because I appreciate you! When I get here at 6 a.m. and it is still dark out and it is a little scary, I know you are inside and I feel safe. And when I first moved here and my post office box was always empty, you always cheered me on. And you keep this place spotless." The janitor's wife was impressed by the good deed. She telephoned Linda and said, "No one even knows his name—never mind bakes him cookies! What can I do for you?" Linda replied, "Nothing, just go out and do something nice for someone else." A few weeks after baking cookies for the janitor, she witnessed a good deed at a drugstore. A woman with a baby was getting medicine for her child. Unfortunately, the medicine was not immediately available, but would be available in two hours. The young mother was upset enough that a tear trickled down her cheek. Seeing the tear, an elderly gentleman volunteered to wait, get the medicine, and deliver it to her house. (He had to wait to get his own medicine.) The young mother objected, "But I don't even know you." The elderly gentleman replied, "I won't come in your house. I'll just leave it by the door and ring the bell." She asked, "But why?" He replied, "I live on a really limited income and my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all live up north and I rarely get to see them so this would a privilege for me." The young mother gave him her address, and he delivered the medicine as he had promised. Linda got to know the gentleman, whose name was Michael and who was 82 years old, and she learned what happened later. The young mother was so impressed by the good deed that she told many friends about the elderly gentleman. The friends chipped in money and bought the elderly gentleman a plane ticket so he could visit his children and grandchildren. That was the last time he saw them before he died. Linda says, "When I am having a tough day, I recall this total act of unsolicited kindness and it always brings to me waves of gratitude. We are surrounded by kindness every day. Unfortunately, we get so wrapped in life that we forget to stop and smell the roses, as they say, or witness the acts of kindness that surround us each day. Little acts of kindness and love are the best parts of one's life. As the Dalai Lama said, 'When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us to develop inner happiness and peace.' So, go out today and experience the kindness around you. Bathe in it and be kind to others. You may discover that being kind to others is actually being kind to yourself." (147)

"I am Here. I am Your Sister, I will Take Care of You"

Journeywoman is a Web resource for female travelers. Among the articles it posts are stories of good deeds experienced by female travelers. For example, Ellen Rich, an ad copywriter in London, discovered that she was pregnant two days before taking a vacation in Tunisia with her husband. No problems were expected with the pregnancy, so they went on vacation. Unfortunately, she began to miscarry. Fortunately, she was able to see a doctor, Safia Zemni, who spoke some English along with French, and who took good care of Ellen. Of course, Ellen wanted to go home, but travel was dangerous in her condition, so she needed to stay in Tunisia. Dr. Safia told her, "Don't worry. I am here. I am your sister, I will take care of you." She did take good care of her and helped her through the loss of the miscarriage, even inviting Ellen and her husband to dine with her and her husband—a way to keep their minds off the miscarriage for a while. Ellen regards her encounter with Dr. Safia as being very like an encounter with an angel. (148)

A Special Patient—And a Special Nurse

Registered Nurse K. Lynn Wieck believes that every nurse has a special patient whom they will always remember. She once asked a nurse about her special patient, and the nurse replied, "I had just finished my shift in CCU [Critical Care Unit], and she took my hand and begged me not to leave so she would not have to die alone. She had no family, so I stayed by her bedside all night until she died, just before daybreak. She never let go of my hand." Such stories are often the reason people became nurses. Nurse Wieck asks, "Do you ever hear accountants talk about their most unforgettable ledger sheets or bank tellers talk their most unforgettable bank accounts?" (149)

Coffee and a Kidney

In Tacoma, Washington, Annamarie Ausnes was a regular customer at a Starbucks where Sandie Andersen was a barista. When Ms. Andersen asked Ms. Ausnes why she was looking sad one day, Ms. Ausnes replied that she had polycystic kidney disease and needed a new kidney. Ms. Andersen's blood type matched Ms. Ausnes' blood type (and testing revealed that other matches made her kidney likely to work well in Ms. Ausnes' body), and Ms. Andersen offered Ms. Ausnes one of her kidneys. In 2008, the operation took place, and Ms. Ausnes became the recipient of Ms. Andersen's left kidney. A year after the operation, Ms. Ausnes said, "I'm nothing special. She gave me my life back. How do you thank someone for that? I thank God every day for Sandie." Ms. Andersen said, "I am more aware of how fragile life is, but also how amazing people are. We all want to do good towards one another. Sometimes we just have to say 'yes' to an opportunity." (Ms. Andersen's husband, Jeff, told her, "Next time someone comes in and says they don't feel good, don't give away another body part.") (150)
CHAPTER 4: Stories 151-200

"Of the Synagogue?"

George Jessel was going to speak at the inaugural dinner of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman. Among those attending were the President's mother, Sarah Roosevelt, and a man named Mr. Klein, who requested that Mr. Jessel ask the President's mother if Mr. Klein's aged mother, who was also present, could meet her. Mr. Jessel asked, and the President's mother was willing. In fact, finding out that Mr. Klein's mother was a few years older than she was, she volunteered to walk to her. Mr. Klein was ecstatic that his mother was meeting the President's mother, and he told his mother, "Mama, do you know who this is? This is the mother of our President." His mother said, "Of the synagogue?" Then she hugged the President's mother. (151)

"If People can be so Caring, Why Can't Government?"

Normally, Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan is healthy; however, once in a while she becomes physically ill and experiences a little of what it is like to be physically handicapped. At such times she says, "I shuffle and hang on to furniture like a toddler with a precocious capacity for swearing." Still, one advantage—if "advantage" is the right word—of being physically ill is that she experiences the kindnesses of strangers. She says, "Minicab drivers, on whom I rely more and more, help me in and out of their cars. A man on the train held passengers back to allow me enough room and time to alight painlessly. And I can't count the number of offers of help and expressions of concern I've had when I have to pause on the pavement to catch my breath." Liberal that she is, she wonders why government cannot be as kind as strangers. (In early 2011, the British government was cutting benefits of many kinds, and not just those to people with physical handicaps.) Ms. Mangan says, "Being temporarily incapacitated by ill health has opened my eyes to the true lot of the disabled in Britain. If people can be so caring, why can't government?" (152)

Donating a Kidney to a Constituent

April Capone Almon, the mayor of East Haven, Connecticut, responded when her Facebook friend Carlos Sanchez posted a plea on the social-networking site. Mr. Sanchez has diabetes, and he needed a new kidney. He was unable to get a good match from friends and family, so he made a plea for an organ donor on Facebook. When Ms. Almon responded, Mr. Sanchez was incredulous: "I thought she was joking. The mayor of East Haven would offer me her kidney?" However, the mayor emailed him back: "I am serious. I am willing to get tested." The match was good, and in April of 2010, the operation took place with good results. Ms. Almon said, "He calls me his little sister, and I'm proud to be. It's just a happy thing, and it's wonderful to see him and his family so happy." (153)

Running Toward the Gunshots

On Saturday, January 8, 2011, a gunman tried to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona. The gunman shot several people, killing six, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, before being overcome. Daniel Hernandez, who is both Hispanic and gay, and who had been Representative Giffords' intern for only five days, probably saved her life. When he heard the gunshots, he ran toward them. He said, "I don't even know if the gunfire had stopped." Seeing that Rep. Giffords had been shot in the forehead, he applied pressure to stop or slow the bleeding and he held her upright so her blood would not choke her. Beside Ms. Giffords was Ron Barber, Giffords' district director, who had also been shot. Mr. Barber told Mr. Hernandez, "Make sure you stay with Gabby. Make sure you help Gabby." Still helping Representative Giffords, Mr. Hernandez was able to tell someone else how to attend to Mr. Barber's wounds. According to state Representative Matt Heinz, D-Tucson, who is also a hospital physician, Mr. Hernandez' quick action probably saved her life. Later, after Representative Giffords had been taken to the hospital, Mr. Hernandez heard the rumor that Representative Giffords had died. When he learned that she was still alive, "I was ecstatic," he said. "She was one of the people I've looked up to. Knowing she was alive and still fighting was good news. She's definitely a fighter, whether for her own life, or standing up for people in southern Arizona." Why did he risk his life to help her? He said, "Of course you're afraid. You just kind of have to do what you can." He added, "You just have to be calm and collected. You do no good to anyone if you have a breakdown.... It was probably not the best idea to run toward the gunshots, but people needed help." (154)

Another Gay Hero

On September 22, 1975, Oliver Sipple, a gay man, saved the life of President Gerald Ford. Mr. Sipple was outside a hotel in San Francisco when President Ford, who had heavy security, came out. Mr. Sipple noticed that a woman had drawn a gun and was pointing it at President Ford. He grabbed her arm, and the bullet she fired missed President Ford. (155)

Thomas Jefferson Writes James Madison

On October 28, 1785, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to James Madison from France. In the letter, Mr. Jefferson described a good deed that he had done. In his words: "Seven o'clock, and retired to my fireside, I have determined to enter into conversation with you; this [Fontainebleau] is a village of about 5,000 inhabitants when the court is not here and 20,000 when they are, occupying a valley thro' which runs a brook, and on each side of it a ridge of small mountains most of which are naked rock. The king comes here in the fall always, to hunt. His court attend him, as do also the foreign diplomatic corps. But as this is not indispensably required, and my finances do not admit the expence of a continued residence here, I propose to come occasionally to attend the king's levees, returning again to Paris, distant 40 miles. This being the first trip, I set out yesterday morning to take a view of the place. For this purpose I shaped my course towards the highest of the mountains in sight, to the top of which was about a league. As soon as I had got clear of the town I fell in with a poor woman walking at the same rate with myself and going the same course. Wishing to know the condition of the labouring poor I entered into conversation with her, which I began by enquiries for the path which would lead me into the mountain: and thence proceeded to enquiries into her vocation, condition and circumstance. She told me she was a day labourer, at 8. sous or 4 d. sterling the day; that she had two children to maintain, and to pay a rent of 30 livres for her house (which would consume the hire of 75 days), that often she could get no emploiment, and of course was without bread. As we had walked together near a mile and she had so far served me as a guide, I gave her, on parting 24 sous. She burst into tears of a gratitude which I could perceive was unfeigned, because she was unable to utter a word. She had probably never before received so great an aid." (156)

A Ken-L Ration Dog Hero

Top, a Great Dane owned by Axel Patzwaldt, saved not just one life, but two. An 11-year-old girl took Top out for a walk one day, but she did not notice a truck coming toward them. Top barked, jumped in front of the 11-year-old, and pushed her out of the path of the truck. Top's leg was badly damaged by the truck, and for seven weeks his leg was in a cast. When the cast was finally off, Mr. Patzwaldt let Top loose outside, and quickly Top returned, barking loudly. Mr. Patzwaldt followed Top and discovered two-year-old Christopher Conley at the bottom of the apartment complex's swimming pool. A former lifeguard, Mr. Patzwaldt dove into the pool and rescued Christopher, bringing him to the surface and giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. For saving two lives, Top was named Ken-L Ration Dog Hero of the Year for 1969. (157)

"Yogi Saved His Life"

The Humane Society of the United States named Yogi, a Golden Retriever, the 2011 Valor Dog of the Year after he led neighbors to Paul Horton, his then-57-year-old owner, who lay paralyzed after a bicycling accident near Lake Travis, Texas. Mr. Horton, a retired mechanical engineer, had gotten Yogi as a puppy four years previous to the accident. Mr. Horton rode his mountain bike daily on trails to keep in shape. But on October 30, 2010, when he tried to jump a curb on his bike, he failed. He said, "I'm sure I've done it 100 times, but this time my front wheel stopped, and I went over the handlebars and landed on my head." He broke his neck and lay unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he realized that he was paralyzed and that Yogi was with him. He joked about Yogi, "I expected him to behave like Lassie and run down to the police station and tap out my location in Morse code or something." He told Yogi to get help, but for 45 minutes Yogi stayed by him. Mr. Horton was unable to call for help and he lay on a dead-end street where he was difficult to see. However, when neighbors appeared on the main street from which the dead-end street branched, Yogi went to the neighbors. Normally, Yogi is a quiet dog, but when he barked repeatedly at the neighbors, Bruce and Maggie Tate, they knew that something was wrong. Bruce Tate said, "Yogi is a quiet, happy dog, he's never noisy at all, but he was barking furiously to get our attention." They followed Yogi, who led them to the paralyzed Mr. Horton. Mr. Tate said, "I don't think we would have seen Paul without Yogi. I think Yogi saved his life." He added, "It's pretty amazing that Yogi first stayed with Paul when he needed to, then recognized us and came to get us. Paul was in desperate shape. He wasn't in a place where there's a lot of traffic." The Tates got help for Mr. Horton, who was taken to St. David's Round Rock Medical Center in Round Rock, Texas, where his wife, Shearon, and Yogi visited him several times. Dr. Juan Latoree, the Medical Director of St. David's, said, "For somebody who cannot move and cannot ask for help, you can develop a pressure ulcer, you develop an infection, a clot, and you can die if you are not rescued soon. So I think the dog was critical." He added, "The dog alerting his neighbor was instrumental in getting him to a hospital and preventing his choking to death or going into shock. He might not have survived if he hadn't been found until the next day." Nicole Paquette, Texas senior state director of the Humane Society, said, "It takes a very unique and special dog to do what Yogi did." Mr. Horton said about Yogi, "He's my buddy." Mrs. Horton added, "That's an understatement." Now, Yogi stays very close to Mr. Horton, who said, "He stays within sight of me in the house. If I change rooms, he changes rooms. If I move over five feet, he moves over five feet." Yogi will move away from Mr. Horton when Mrs. Horton plays "Fluttering Leaves in A-Minor" on the piano. Then he sits by Mrs. Horton and howls along to the music. (158)

"I Believe that Dog being with Him is What Kept Him Alive"

Toddler Tyler Jacobson, who was only 22 months old, wandered off from his home and spent the night in the deep woods of South Carolina as the temperature dropped into the 40s. Tyler was wearing only a T-shirt and a diaper, but one of the family's pet dogs, a medium-sized black Labrador retriever mix, went with him and kept him warm enough to stay alive during the night. Rescuers tried to find him that night, but failed, despite using both an infrared-equipped search helicopter and a bloodhound tracking team. Kershaw County Sheriff Jim Matthews said, "I believe that dog being with him is what kept him alive. I was with one of my officers talking to the helicopter crew when we got the call, 'They found him.' And I was like, 'Is he alive?' We worried there was no way, because of the coldness and because he had been out there all night. When they said, 'He's fine,' I'm thinking, Wow. How did that happen? And the answer is because of that dog." In the morning, Tyler was heard crying and was rescued about a quarter-mile from his home. (159)

Cow 569

On February 16, 2004, flooding developed on the North Island of New Zealand. Kim Riley and her husband had a dairy farm near the Manatawa River gorge, and the flooding river was threatening their livestock. Kim got on a tractor and started herding cows away from the flooded area, but the tractor got stuck, and cows were being swept away downstream toward the dangerous gorge. Kim tried to swim, but the current was too strong for her to make headway, and she was afraid that she would be swept into the gorge, tossed against rocks, and killed. Fortunately, she noticed Cow 569 swimming out of the flood. Kim knew Cow 569, who was a strong-willed animal. She said, "I could see even now how determined she looked, and I figured she was going to make it out of the river." Kim was able to throw her arms around Cow 569 and hitch a ride to safety. The Rileys lost 15 cows to the flood, but they did not lose Cow 569, and Kim did not lose her life. For three more years, Cow 569 worked as a dairy cow, and then she retired. Most cows end their careers by being made into hamburger, but out of gratitude the Rileys are letting Cow 569 live the rest of her life the way a cow likes to live: eating grass and sleeping. (160)

A Pony with a Prosthesis

Kaye Harris, the owner of a pony farm in St. Rose, Louisiana, took care of many animals that had been let loose because of Hurricane Katrina. Two such animals were a pony named Molly and a pit bull terrier. Unfortunately, the pit bull attacked Molly, chewing on her jawbone, belly, and all four legs. Ms. Harris said, "He gnawed on this pony like a meat grinder." She knew that many animals had been traumatized because of Hurricane Katrina, so instead of having the pit bull euthanized, she gave it to people who were skilled in handling problem pets. One of Molly's legs became infected, and it looked as if Molly would have to be euthanized. However, Ms. Harris persuaded the vets at the veterinary hospital at Louisiana State University to look at Molly. At first, they did not think that they could save Molly, but Dr. Rustin M. Moore, the director of the veterinary school's equine health studies program and a veterinary surgeon, watched Molly and noticed that she was taking good care of her infected leg and so he thought that she could successfully be fitted with a prosthesis. The vets amputated her infected leg below the knee and fitted her with a prosthesis that had been built and donated by the Bayou Orthotic and Prosthetic Center. Ms. Harris said, "She went out and she went right to putting her weight on it, and I just cried because I knew it was going to work." After being fitted with her prosthesis, Molly visited a prosthesis center for children who were getting prostheses for missing arms and legs; the children were amazed by the pony with a metal leg. (161)

Bear Rescue

On September 15, 2007, a bear was walking on the Rainbow Bridge on Highway 40 near Donner Summit in the Sierra Nevada, near Lake Tahoe. Some oncoming cars frightened the bear, and it jumped over the railing and off the side of the bridge, which was 80 feet above ground. Fortunately, it managed to grab a ledge and pull itself to safety on a concrete girder beneath the bridge. Although it was safe, it was also stranded. Officials did not take action that day, but the next day when they saw that the bear was still on the concrete girder, sleeping, they formed and executed a plan. They slung a net beneath the bear, shot the bear with a tranquilizer, and then used poles to shove the bear into the net, which they lowered to the ground. When the bear regained consciousness, it wandered off into the woods. "I've been on a lot of bear rescues," said Dave Baker of the Truckee BEAR League (People Living in Harmony with Bears), "and this is the most intense bear call that I've been on." (162)

Saved from a Bear Attack

On April 28, 2009, Tierney Tredo, 19, of Penhook, Virginia, was walking her two dogs when they encountered a black bear. Her Shetland sheepdog, whose name is Sophie, saved her from being attacked by the bear. Her other dog, a large, long-haired, mixed-breed dog named Cheyenne, who is two or three years old, first encountered the bear. Ms. Tredo said, "Cheyenne was in the thicket about five minutes before she came running out, tail tucked between her legs. She was hollering. Then I saw a shadow behind her and thought it was another dog. In a minute or so, I heard footsteps coming down toward me [...]. It was then I saw the face break through the thicket and realized it was a bear." Her dog Sophie was beside her as she yelled, "Get away, bear!" She said, "I could have touched it if I had wanted. I felt his breath on my legs." The bear swiped at Cheyenne, glancing it, and Cheyenne ran away. However, Sophie stayed with Ms. Tredo, barking at the bear and positioning herself between the bear and Ms. Tredo. Ms. Tredo said about the bear, "I knew it wanted to get at me." Ms. Tredo said that after a five-minute standoff, "Finally, Sophie ran the bear back into the thicket where it came from. I could see the bear in the woods walking back and forth. I could also see Sophie. Sophie looked back at me and barked like she was telling me to leave." Ms. Tredo said, "I ran a little way, and I heard the dog holler. I knew then the bear had gotten hold of her." Mary Plunkett, Ms. Tredo's grandmother, heard Sophie barking. Ms. Plunkett got into her pickup truck and drove toward the bear, honking the horn to scare the bear away. Ms. Plunkett and Ms. Tredo then took Sophie to the vet for treatment. Possibly, the black bear was a female with cubs. Lt. Karl Martin of the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries said, "Normally the black bear is shy and not aggressive with humans. The big dog [Cheyenne] may have posed a threat when it entered the woods, causing the bear to follow it into the open." Fortunately, Sophie recovered from the wounds the bear inflicted on her. (163)

Saved from a Cougar Attack

On Saturday, January 2, 2010, a golden retriever named Angel lived up to her name by saving Austin Forman, her 11-year-old owner, from a cougar attack in Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada. Austin said, "I'm pretty sure that if my dog wasn't there I wouldn't be here right now. Thank goodness we are both alive and she protected me." Austin was hauling firewood to his family's home when the cougar appeared. He said, "It was coming after me, and Angel intercepted. The cougar grabbed Angel." The two animals fought as Austin ran screaming into his home. His mother, Sherri Forman, called 911, and the dispatcher told Boston Bar RCMP Const. Chad Gravelle, who immediately jumped in his car and drove to the Formans' home. He said, "I could see the cougar had the dog in its mouth, around the dog's neck. It was chewing on its neck." Const. Gravelle shot the cougar twice, killing it. He thought that Angel was dead, but she took a noisy breath. Despite numerous wounds, Angel was expected to fully recover from the cougar attack. Sherri, Austin's mother, said, "It could have turned out a lot different if it wasn't for Angel. She's our guardian angel." (164)

Saved from a Coyote Attack

On August 1, 2009, Ronnie, a wire fox terrier, responded when a coyote threatened his owners (Eric and Janis Christensen) and another pet dog (Annie). He jumped between the coyote and his owners, and he fought the coyote. Although the coyote bit Ronnie, the coyote ended up running away. Usually, Ronnie is not all that courageous. According to owner Janis Christensen, "Ronnie has always been extremely timid. Yesterday we had a repair person in our house, and Annie was barking and growling and trying to get at him, and Ronald put his tail between his legs and ran." Because of Ronnie's brave action, the Los Angeles branch of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals named him Hero Dog of the Year. According to spcaLA President Madeline Bernstein, "Ronnie's personality was such that you wouldn't think he would spring into action like he did. This shows that treating your pet with love and respect can be returned by an amazing heroic act. Coyotes wandering into backyards looking for food [are] becoming more and more prevalent." Ronnie received a commemorative plaque and won a year's supply of California Natural brand pet food, and Ronnie and his owners received a weekend getaway at Hotel Maya in Long Beach, California. (165)

Angel to the Rescue

On January 31, 2011, in Port Charlotte, Florida, a man with a knife confronted a woman named Angela (no last name given), whose 2-year-old son was with her, and told her not to make any sudden movements or noise. Fortunately, a 65-pound Pitt Bull came to the rescue. Animal Control Lt. Brian Jones said, "I don't think the dog physically attacked the man, but he went at him and was showing signs of aggression, just baring his teeth and growling and barking. It was clear he was trying to defend this woman. I don't know what this man's intentions were, but it is very possible this dog saved her life." Angela had never seen the Pitt Bull before. Mr. Jones said, "You hear about family dogs protecting their owners, but this dog had nothing to do with this woman or her kid. He was like her guardian angel." After the dog frightened away the man with the knife, Angela went to her car. The Pitt Bull jumped into the back seat. The Pitt Bull was taken to an animal shelter, and if its owner does not claim it within five days, Angela has plans to adopt it. She has even named it "Angel." Angela said, "I'm glad that Angel showed up because I don't know what would have happened." (166)

Loyal Guide Dogs

In February 2011 an earthquake struck New Zealand, killing dozens of people in Christchurch. Blair McConnell, who is blind, was caught in the earthquake along with Kiwi, his eight-year-old Labrador mix guide dog. Mr. McConnell said, "I dived under the desk. Kiwi was already under it. I grabbed Kiwi's harness, and he was quite keen to get out of the building." Kiwi led Mr. McConnell out of the building, in which blocks of concrete were falling in the dusty air, to safety. Kiwi remained calm in the emergency. Mr. McConnell said, "I guess the fundamental motivation of any animal is survival. Based on a threatening situation, for them to put the safety of their handler... above the primeval requirement of survival is quite astounding." Other guide dogs were present with their handlers during the earthquake. Paul Metcalf, head of the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind's Guide Dog Services, said that all the dogs helped their owners—none ran away. Mr. Metcalf said, "Handlers and dogs worked very well to get out of the area as quickly as possible." Unfortunately, some of the guide dogs are now showing signs of severe stress. He said, "There is the harsh reality that some of the dogs will have to retire because of the stress they've been through. If one of the dogs is really struggling with it, we wouldn't put the dog under the same pressure again." In such cases, another home is usually found for the guide dog. The earthquake was severe. Jaydn Katene, a Christchurch resident, said, "We've had friends in town call us and say there are just bodies lying around: lots of dead bodies outside shops just lying there just covered in bricks." (167)

Surviving Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina hit the coast of states lining the Gulf of Mexico, 80-year-old George Mitchell stayed in his hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi, figuring that since he had already survived three hurricanes that he could survive one more. He did move into a neighbor's house that was on higher ground than his own, and he did have an elderly pet dog (a miniature poodle-schnauzer mix) named Frisky to stay with him. Hurricane Katrina was worse than the three previous hurricanes that Mr. Mitchell had survived. It destroyed his house, it ripped off the back door of the neighbor's house he was staying in, and it flooded the neighbor's house he was staying in. As the water rose, Mr. Mitchell put Frisky on an air mattress. The water kept rising, and soon Mr. Mitchell was treading water while holding on to the air mattress. Of course, soon Mr. Mitchell grew tired. He said later, "I started to give up. Then Frisky crawled to the edge of the mattress and licked my face." For all that night, whenever Mr. Mitchell stopped treading water, Frisky licked his face and kept him awake and moving. The next day the water began to go down. Both Mr. Mitchell and Frisky survived Katrina. (168)

Dog Rescues Boy

On Valentine's Day, February 14, 1993, Naiomi Johnston gave birth to a daughter. After giving birth, she recuperated in the hospital. Her husband, Darryl, and her three-year-old son, Donald, were in their home in Midland, Ontario, where the weather was very cold and the snowdrifts were very high. Donald wanted to see his new sister, and without telling his father, he got up very early and set out in his toy electric car. The car did not get very far, but Donald decided to walk to the hospital. Quickly, he learned just how cold the weather was. He started crying. His father got up, realized that Donald was missing, and contacted the police. According to Kirk Wood of the Ontario Provincial Police, little Donald was probably no more than 30 minutes from death. Fortunately, Brian Holmes, a neighbor of the Johnstons, was outside with his Samantha, his six-year-old German shepherd. Samantha took off on her own. Mr. Holmes figured that she was chasing rabbits, but instead Samantha found Donald. Samantha went to Donald, who put his arms around her neck, and Samantha led Donald to Mr. Holmes, who took Donald inside his farmhouse to get warm and to reunite him with his father. (169)

Dog Rescues Abandoned Infant

Stories of animals rescuing human infants appear in myths, such as the myth of Romulus and Remus being rescued and suckled by a mother wolf. Sometimes, animal heroes appear in real life. In August of 2008 a frightened 14-year-old girl gave birth to a boy in a shanty town near Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, and abandoned him in a field. The temperature was a chilly 37 degrees. Fortunately, an 8-year-old dog named La China, who had a litter of six puppies, came across the abandoned infant and saved him. La China picked up the infant with her teeth and carried him 50 meters to her litter. La China's owner heard crying and investigated and found the baby boy, only a few hours old, lying with the six puppies and covered with a rag. The frightened 14-year-old mother came forward soon after. She was hospitalized and received psychological care. The baby boy, who weighed 8lb, 13oz, had no bite marks. Daniel Salcedo, chief of police of the Province of Buenos Aires, said about La China, "She took it like a puppy and rescued it. The doctors told us if she hadn't done this, he would have died. The dog is a hero to us." (170)

"Dumb" Dog Becomes Hero

In June 2008, 12-year-old Tony Bailey went swimming in the Platte River near North Bend, Nebraska. In the past, that was not a problem, but this time the river was dangerous because rain had caused higher levels of water and dangerous currents. Tony said, "It was, like, over my head, and I couldn't touch." He cried for help, but the only one who heard him was Jake, his 4-year-old Labrador retriever. Tony said, "I was saying, 'Help, help,' and I saw him jump in, and then my head went under, and when I came up, he was right here by me." Tony grabbed the dog's neck, and the dog towed him to the riverbank and safety. Tony's mother, Doris, was surprised by Jake's heroism: "It's something that I wouldn't have expected him to do—to have the brains to do, I guess. He doesn't listen. He doesn't mind." Tony added, "Sometimes he can act real hyper and weird. He'll pick up rocks and think they're balls and wants you to throw them to him." Diane said, "You think you know your dog so well, but then he does something like this. He's got a big heart, and he does have a brain in there." Tony has the final words: "Thanks, guy. I love him so much." Jake did get a reward for his heroism: a really big bone and forgiveness for every time he tracked mud into the house or dug a hole in the yard. (171)

"We are Certain the Dogs Pulled Him out of the Dam"

In December of 2007, a couple of family dogs apparently saved a two-year-old boy from drowning. The boy had wandered from home and gotten onto a neighbor's property near Mackay, Queensland, Australia. The neighbor had a dam, and hearing a noise, the neighbor ran down to the dam, where she found the two-year-old boy covered in mud and lying on the embankment, with the two dogs—a Rottweiler cross and a Staffordshire bull terrier—lying by him. From the water to where the boy was lying were drag marks; in addition, the boy's arms had scratch marks that were apparently made by the dogs. A police officer said, "We are certain the dogs pulled him out of the dam. It is an amazing story." (172)

A Hero Pig

In February 1985, Priscilla, a three-month-old pet pig, became the first animal to be inducted into the Texas Animal Hall of Fame. Owned by Victoria Herberta, Priscilla wore a harness and a leash similar to those worn by dogs. During a trip to a lake in the Houston area, Priscilla began swimming. Wading in the water was 11-year-old Anthony Melton, who could not swim. Anthony reached a drop-off ledge in the water and found himself in water over his head. Priscilla swam close to the thrashing boy, who grabbed her harness. Priscilla then swam to shore, towing the boy behind her. Although Priscilla weighed only 45 pounds and the boy weighed much more, Priscilla saved the boy's life. (173)

A Careful Good-Deed-Doer

In 2010, Juli, a member of the Bailey family, did a good deed. An indigent man requested help from her because he was hungry. Rather than giving him money, Juli bought him a sandwich and a vitamin-fortified drink. (She knows that many indigent people use money to buy booze and illegal drugs.) As a good-deed doer, Juli is careful. She kept her identity secret from the indigent man, and she requested that he pay the good deed forward. In addition, she writes, "I've very rarely had someone take me up on the offer of food when I've offered it to them. They'll cuss you out, they'll call you cheap, they'll call you names but they won't take the food in lieu of cash. This one did and I was glad to do it. I paid by credit card so that he knew he wasn't going to get the change. I made sure the card numbers and name on the card were facing the palm of my hand so he couldn't steal the name or numbers. I held tight to my wallet, so that he couldn't steal money that way, either. Not that he would have, but I wasn't going to take any chances. It wouldn't be the first time a good deed doer came to regret the helping hand they gave [because they themselves became a victim]." (174)

A Special Surprise

Margaret Steller, who owns apartments in Athens, Ohio, had a special surprise for her tenants on Valentine's Day of 2011. She showed up bearing gifts of huge chocolate hearts door to door. Tenant Kaitlyn Fields says, "I don't think you'll find a lot of landlords doing that!" (175)

On the Lookout for Good Deeds

Kosher Kid from Brooklyn, NY, looks out for good deeds. For example, many Jews perform ritual washing before praying, and Kosher Kid observed this good deed: "He looked the same as everybody. Approaching the washing area, he quickly washed and then filled up two cups, one was placed in each sink... for the next to wash before prayer. He thought no one saw, but I did." And here is another good deed that Kosher Kid observed: "Sunday, an Orthodox Jewish neighbor gathered up his family of young boys and went to a lot that is held by an investor who does not clean cut the weeds that grow and the garbage that they hide partially from sight. This family cleaned the whole place up. It was a family outing, a generous deed for the neighborhood and prevented people from falling, etc." (176)

Chasing an Alleged Purse-Snatcher

On July 21, 2008, Troy Schafer, a 36-year-old employee at a Randalls grocery store in Round Rock, Texas, heard 52-year-old Ann Welch, a customer, screaming for help after someone snatched her purse and ran out of the store. Mr. Schafer, who is a United States Army veteran, and a customer chased the purse-snatcher. Unfortunately, Mr. Schafer lost sight of the purse-snatcher. He said, "I was just sitting there for about 30 seconds, saying, 'Come on. Make a mistake.' His head's going to pop up or something—and it did." Mr. Schafer collected Ms. Welch's purse, which the purse-snatcher had already gone through, and he chased the purse-snatcher another quarter-mile. Ms. Welsh had telephoned the police, and they arrested the suspect, who turned to be a 15-year-old. Despite Mr. Schafer's heroism, his story has a bad ending. He said, "We got [Welch] her purse back, all of her money, everything. Then, the next day, my loss prevention unit from Randalls came in and said I was suspended without pay." And then he was fired from his job. Randalls spokeswoman Connie Yates said all Randalls employees are trained not to pursue suspects: "The policy exists for the safety of our employees, customers, and others who may be seriously injured in a chase." Mr. Schafer said, "In a split-second decision, when someone is screaming for help, what do you do? I did what I thought was right. I still feel like I did the right thing. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror the next day if I didn't help that lady." Ms. Welch offered both Mr. Schafer and the customer who had helped pursue the suspected purse-snatcher a cash reward, but they declined. She also asked the Randalls manager to give Mr. Schafer his job back, but the manager said that he did not have the authority to do that. Ms. Welch said about Mr. Schafer, "He heard me needing help, and he helped me. And then you fire him in this economy? It's just wrong. It is absolutely wrong." (177)

"Very Kind and Caring Young People"

Jerome Starkey (age 17) and Jamie Fagg (age 20) became heroes when they assisted Ewert Fitzgerald, a deaf man who had collapsed, possibly because of heart problems, in an alley in Faversham, England, at 10:35 p.m. on Sunday, June 13, 2010. Mr. Starkey said, "We saw that he had fallen, and we weren't sure if he had been attacked as he was crying out in pain. We started to ask if he was all right and he started to scream even louder, so I decided to call for an ambulance." The two men stayed by Mr. Fitzgerald and attempted to make him comfortable as they waited for the ambulance. The South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust praised them for their actions. Paramedic practitioner Nick Best arrived on the scene and was grateful for the help provided by Mr. Starkey and Mr. Fagg. He said, "These young lads demonstrate that there are some very kind and caring young people out there, who are all too eager to help, when the general public's opinion of most young lads is totally the opposite to. The patient was deaf, and the lads identified his disability and informed me of this when I arrived." Mr. Fitzgerald, who was taken to William Harvey Hospital, said, "I'm so delighted that the young men have had their actions acknowledged in this way. They were so helpful and caring. I cannot thank them and the ambulance service enough." (178)

Helping a Blind Woman

While Meilie Moy-Hodnett of Washington, D.C. was going to work, she saw a blind woman walking by the side of the street. The blind woman was very capable of walking by herself, but Ms. Moy-Hodnett saw that because of construction some wire fences had been newly erected. Aware that the fences could cause the blind woman trouble, Ms. Moy-Hodnett stopped her car, told the blind woman about the newly erected wire fences, and asked her if she wanted some help navigating around the fences. Ms. Meilie Moy-Hodnett says that the woman "was surprised, but quite delighted that someone would take the time to help her not have a mishap.... The whole act of random kindness was of little consequence to the world in whole, but it helped someone who could have hurt themselves and it made my day much brighter for doing so." (179)

A Used Pair of Boots—and $700

A man demonstrated great honesty after he bought a pair of used boots at the NU4U thrift store in Rancho Mirage, California, and discovered that hidden inside the boots was $700—he promptly returned the money to the thrift store, which is a project of Chabad-Lubavitch (a Hasidic group) of Rancho Mirage. Shirley Shapiro, who runs the thrift shop with her husband, told the Desert Sun newspaper of Palm Springs, "I was blown away." The editorial board of the Desert Sun wrote, "While we may never know who that man is, his honesty and integrity are welcome in our society. We hope his deed inspires others to do something nice for others—particularly for those in need." (180)

Child Good-Deed Doers

On April 12, 2011 the Fort Myers (Florida) Police Department honored six children for doing good deeds. Among the children was Lloyd Ford, a 5th grader at Franklin Park Elementary School, who saw a little boy who was four or five years old riding his bicycle by himself and looking for his mother, who worked in the school office at Fort Myers Middle School. Because Lloyd knew that such a little boy should not be riding his bicycle alone, he stayed with the boy until he reached the Fort Myers Middle School office. Another child who was honored was Jace Jones, a 2nd grader at Tanglewood Elementary School, who knew that only one student in his class had not met the Accelerated Reading goal for the quarter. Jace asked his teacher to allow him to tutor that student. According to the Fort Myers Police Department, "He told the teacher that he did not want the student to feel left out or be the only student to not receive an Accelerated Reading award. Jace is a very caring and honorable young man." These honors are a part of Florida's "Do the Right Thing" program. (181)

Returned: $45,000

In May 2011, Josh Ferrin, an artist who works for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City, Utah, bought a home in Bountiful, a suburb of Salt Lake City. As he walked into the garage, he saw a piece of carpet sticking out of a trapdoor in the ceiling above a small workshop in the rear of the garage. He climbed into the attic, where he discovered a metal box—that was filled with bundles of money wrapped in twine. And then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed with money. Mr. Ferrin said, "I freaked out [...] and called my wife to tell her she wouldn't believe what I had found." He took the money to a safe location, and he and his wife started counted it. He and his wife stopped counting at $40,000, but they estimated another $5,000 remained to be counted. Mr. Ferrin and his wife are honest, but of course they realized that $45,000 would pay a lot of bills. Mr. Ferrin said, "I'm not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn't mean I didn't think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren't able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought. But the money wasn't ours to keep, and I don't believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else, and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children." The house's previous owner was Arnold Bangerter, a biologist for the Utah Department of Fish and Game. He had died, and his children had inherited the house. Mr. Ferrin said about Mr. Bangerter, "I could imagine him in his workshop. From time to time, he would carefully bundle up $100 with twine, climb up into his attic and put it into a box to save. And he didn't do that for me." Therefore, Mr. Ferrin telephoned one of Mr. Bangerter's sons: Kay Bangerter. Kay said about his father, "He grew up in hard times and people that survived that era didn't have anything when they came out of it unless they saved it themselves. He was a saver, not a spender." Kay also said that the return of the money is "a story that will outlast our generation and probably yours as well." Mr. Ferrin said, "I'm a father, and I worry about the future for my kids. I can see him putting that money away for a rainy day, and it would have been wrong of me to deny him that thing he worked on for years. I felt like I got to write a chapter in his life, a chapter he wasn't able to finish and see it through to its conclusion." (182)

Separated from Her Parents

Anna from New York says, "A stranger with an older child is my hero." When Anna was a child, she got lost in a subway. Somehow, her parents were on the subway train, but she was still in the subway station. A woman with a child older than Anna saw her and spoke to her. Finding out that Anna had been separated from her parents, the woman and her child waited for a while with Anna to see if her parents would return for her. Her parents did not, so all three of them went to Chinatown, where Anna telephoned her father, who came and picked her up. Anna says, "I was so happy." (183)

A Former Cardiac Nurse to the Rescue

Bob Herrick, who is 69 years old, has a window-washing business in Austin, Texas. In April 2011 he had finished washing some windows at a Starbucks and was walking to his van when he collapsed due to cardiac arrest. Lauren Jones, a former cardiac nurse, was inside the Starbucks. She, another woman named Carrie [no last name given], and a female Starbucks' manager came to the rescue. Lauren and Carrie gave Mr. Herrick CPR. Lauren said, "Bob was not breathing. He was blue. He had no pulse. Carrie continued to give CPR, and I relieved her. I continued to tell him, 'Donna [his wife] is coming, and she needs to see you.' You need to stay with us." Paramedics quickly arrived and took over. Jarrod Frame, one of the paramedics, said that the CPR administered by bystanders is important to the ill person's survival: "It gives us a head start and gives the patient a much better outcome." Donna Herrick, Bob's wife, said, "There are no words that I can say that convey how much we appreciate what they did for myself and my family." Bob said, "It makes me feel really good and especially during a time when people would just walk away or not get involved." (184)

Anonymous Tipster Turns Down $40,000 Reward

In Kansas City, Missouri, an anonymous tipster gave police information that led to an arrest in the case of the murder of Ali Kemp, a 19-year-old college student who was strangled in Leawood, Kansas, in 2002. The anonymous tipster could have accepted a $40,000 reward, but instead requested that the money be donated to the Ali Kemp Educational Foundation. This foundation offers self-defense training and scholarships to high school students. Roger Kemp, Ali's father, said, "It just goes to show how wonderful people in Kansas City are." Crime Stoppers coordinator Craig Sarver said, "Everything is truly anonymous. We give [tipsters] code numbers." (185)

A Secret Multimillionaire

Roberta Langtry worked in Toronto, Canada, as a schoolteacher with a modest salary, but when she died at age 89 in 2005, she left behind millions of dollars for charity. Over $4.3 million went to the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which buys land to establish nature reserves. No one knew during her life that Ms. Langtry was a multimillionaire, although she was generous when giving to charity. For example, her next-door neighbor and friend, Enid Crush, collected money for the March of Dimes. Ms. Crush said about her friend, "She'd write a cheque for $300. I said, 'Roberta, most people, if I'm lucky, give $10.' It was things like that that she did. She was very, very generous to charity." In addition, Ms. Langtry would give anonymous gifts of money—$25,000 or $30,000—to people who needed it. So where did the money come from? Decades ago, she invested in IBM stock, which proved to be wise. In 1973, she asked Robert Borden, an executive at a stockbrokerage and the person who became her estate's executor, to invest $500,000 for her. He kept her in safe bonds and blue-chip Canadian stocks whose value rose over time. (186)

Ninjas to the Rescue

In May 2010 three men in Sydney, Australia, tried to rob a German student. They ordered him to give them his wallet, but he refused. The three men then followed the German student for a while and attacked him. They tripped him, kicked him, and grabbed his iPod and cell phone. Fortunately for the student, the attack took place outside Ninja Senshi Ryu, a ninja warrior school in western Sydney. Nathan Smith saw the attack taking place, and he alerted his teacher, Kaylan Soto, who with three of his students raced toward the attackers. One of the ninja students, Steve Ashley, said about the attackers and their intended victim, "It was probably the worst place in Sydney where they could have taken him." Shocked by four men dressed in ninjas' all-black clothing racing toward them, the three attackers fled. Mr. Soto said, "You should have seen their faces when they saw us in ninja gear coming towards them." (187)

A Good Deed, Then Back to Normal

Doing a good deed can be something out of the ordinary, although it is a good thing nevertheless. A person who signs him- or herself "Just Looking" while blogging remembers being on a bus and noticing a couple of people who were obviously tourists. The bus driver was being very considerate to them. Just Looking writes, "I hear the bus driver explaining exactly where they should get out. What they should do tomorrow to avoid traffic and delays. Which bus, what subway." The bus driver also looked carefully at the numbers on houses to make sure that the tourists got off the bus at the right place. When the tourists got off the bus, they thanked the bus driver and wished her a good weekend. After shutting the door of the bus, the bus driver said aloud, "So how was that for being nice to visitors?" Everyone laughed, and for the next few stops whenever someone exited the bus, the person treated the bus driver like an old friend, telling her to have a nice weekend. However, at a stop a man was smoking a cigarette. The bus driver told him that smoking was not permitted on the bus. The man inhaled smoke. The bus driver told him not to blow the smoke into the bus. In defiance, the man exhaled the smoke into the bus. The bus driver shut the door in the man's face. Just Looking writes, "The tourists are long forgotten. We're back to normal." (188)

His Last Deed was a Good Deed

In 1981, Philip Workman killed Memphis Police Lt. Ronald Oliver during an armed robbery attempt at a Wendy's fast-food restaurant. In 2007, he was executed by lethal injection. Mr. Workman wanted his last act to be a good deed, so his final request was that his final meal be out of the ordinary. He wanted his final meal to be a vegetarian pizza delivered to a homeless person located near Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. This final request was denied; however, lots of people heard about the request, and they ordered and paid for pizzas to be delivered to homeless shelters in Nashville. Marvin Champion, who works at Nashville's Rescue Mission, which provides shelter and food to over 800 homeless people a night, said, "I used to be homeless, so I know how rough it gets. I seen some bad times—not having enough food, the cupboards are bare. But we got pizza to feed enough people for awhile. This really shows the people here that someone out there thought of them." Donna Spangler called her friends, and together they sent $1,200 worth of pizzas—150 in all—to the Rescue Mission. Ms. Spangler said, "Philip Workman was trying to do a good deed, and no one would help him. I knew my husband would have a heart attack—I put some of it on the credit card. But I thought we'll find a way to pay for them later. I just felt like I had to do something positive." PETA President Ingrid Newkirk ordered 15 veggie pizzas that were sent to the Rescue Mission. She said, "Workman's act was selfless, and kindness to all living beings is a virtue." Nashville's Oasis Center, which serves homeless teenagers, also received paid-for pizzas. Executive director Hal Cato said, "We talked to the kids and they understand what this is tied to and they know that this man [Mr. Workman] wanted to do something to point out the problems of homelessness." (189)

Kindness Shown to an Ex-Con

Obviously, many people are suspicious of ex-cons, often with good reason. However, some people are willing to help an ex-con. For example, M. Williams had recently gotten out of prison and was required to do a few things that cost money he did not have. He had to get an ID that cost $70 so that he could register as an offender. Mr. Williams says, "I did not have the money to get an ID, couldn't register, and had an appointment with my parole officer in two hours. I was expected to have proof of registration and a $30 parole supervision fee with me at the time of reporting. As you might imagine, the situation made me anxious. If I failed to register or failed to report to my [parole officer], I could be sent back to prison for six months." He began calling churches to see if he could get help, but often no one answered the phones. Finally, he got hold of someone. Mr. Williams says, "I called one last number of what I thought was a church. The voice on the other end of the line explained to me who he was and rather than hanging up, asked me about my situation. After [I told him] my story, the man asked me where I was calling from, and then did something I never expected—he left work, picked me up, paid for my ID and parole supervision fees, and disappeared before I had a chance to thank him." Mr. Williams adds that "I know his kindness had an impact that will change me forever." (190)

The Rose Man

In Lake Placid, Florida, Willard Campbell, a retiree, is known as "The Rose Man." His hobby is growing roses, and he gives them away. He says, "The idea hit me—well, if I've got excess roses, why don't I take 'em and give 'em to the patients in the hospital?" In addition to that, he gives roses away to employees in businesses in town. He even gives free roses to the florists, one of whom said, "It's really nice that he remembers us. And I enjoy them just like everyone else does." Mr. Campbell explains why he gives away the roses: "Because, first, I want to keep busy. And I enjoy it. And I enjoy giving them away. And I like to see the smiles on the people's faces that gets 'em. A lot of women say, 'I want to hug your neck.' Well, I don't do it for the hug on my neck. I get all the hugs I want here." The hugs come from Opal, his wife of 65 years, who says, "I feel like if there was only one rose bouquet, that I would be the one to get it." Local office employees love getting the roses. One employee says, "It shows that people still care and want to brighten your day." A second employee says, "It makes our day. Everybody is happy. We all scurry out to get our flowers. Willard gives me more roses than my husband does. I think Willard gives most of us more flowers than our husbands do." So how many roses does Mr. Campbell give away each year? He estimates approximately 25,000. (191)

"Morgan, You are Very Beautiful"

A Marine walked into a Wal-Mart and bought some white roses. On his way out of the store, he saw a pretty girl in a wheelchair. The girl was accompanied by her mother, who told her, "That man is buying roses for his wife." The girl was unable to speak and to completely control her body movements, and the Marine asked her mother if she could hear and what was her name. In fact, the girl could hear perfectly well, and her name was Morgan. The Marine gave the girl one of the white roses and told her, "Morgan, you are very beautiful. This rose is for you." (192)

"Honesty Does Pay"

While eating lunch with her boyfriend in a car in a Wal-Mart parking lot—he worked at Wal-Mart—an impoverished college student named Julia (no last name given) saw a purse that had been left in a shopping cart. She left the purse alone, hoping that the woman who owned it would return and pick it up. However, rain began falling and so she took the purse inside Wal-Mart and gave it to the people at the customer service center so that the purse would not get wet. A little later, when she was back in her car eating lunch, she noticed a frantic-looking woman looking around in the area where the shopping cart was. Of course, the woman was looking for her lost purse. Julia told her that she had just taken a lost purse to the customer service desk. Julia relates, "As I was going to leave, she ran out with a gift card to Wal-Mart with a generous amount of money [on it] and thanked me very much for my honesty. With tears in my eyes, I took it. God had answered my prayers. I had desperately needed that money. I used that card for the next two months getting food and other necessary items. Honesty does pay." (193)

"Amen to the Kindness of Strangers"

While in Turkey, Holly from Montreal, Canada, needed to get to an interview for a very good job. Unfortunately, she spent about an hour looking for the site where the interview was supposed to take place but was unsuccessful. She was growing very frustrated, and she became more frustrated when a car bumper caught her skirt and ripped it from the hem to her thigh. She started crying. She remembers, "Out of nowhere, this couple appeared. Taking me gently by the arm, they led me into a nearby apartment building doorway. The security guard sat me down, brought me a damp cloth to wipe my face, while the couple stitched up the tear in my skirt. They dropped me off at the proper address, and I couldn't have thanked them enough. Amen to the kindness of strangers." (194)

"I'd Get Fired if They Knew I'd Left a Customer Waiting. We're Not Supposed to Do That"

In 2008, a Scottish man who goes by the name Wayfarer went to a supermarket in the west of Scotland. Having collected the items that he wanted to purchase, he stood in line behind an elderly man who was talking to the checkout lady. She had asked him about his wife, who was in the hospital. The elderly man was very worried about his wife, and he was upset because he had not been able to find the kind of talc she liked. The checkout lady apologized to Wayfarer, then took the elderly man to the part of the supermarket that sold talc and helped him find the kind of talc his wife liked. After helping the old man, the checkout lady apologized to Wayfarer: "I'm sorry about that. I'd get fired if they knew I'd left a customer waiting. We're not supposed to do that. I hope you don't mind." Wayfarer did not mind. Instead, he says, "I was touched and honored." He also told the checkout lady's supervisor that the checkout lady was a "gem" and deserved a raise. (195)

"Today You, Tomorrow Me"

During the past year, Justin Horner, a graphic designer in Portland, Oregon, experienced bad car trouble three times. Each time, he says that he was "disgusted" that so many people would not stop to help him. Eventually, however, in each case someone did stop to help him. He says, "But you know who came to my rescue all three times? Immigrants. Mexican immigrants. None of them spoke any [or hardly any] English." For example, once he had a blowout but no car jack. He put up big signs in the Jeep that said "NEED A JACK." A man with a family stopped, and the man said that his jack was too small for the Jeep, and so they would have to brace the Jeep. The man had a saw, and he used it to cut away part of a log on the side of the road so they could use it as a brace. Unfortunately, Mr. Horner broke the head off the man's tire iron. The man gave the tire iron to his wife, and she took it and walked off to buy a new tire iron. She returned in 15 minutes, and her husband and Mr. Horner finished changing the tire. Altogether, it was a two-hour job. Mr. Horner tried to give the man $20, but since he would not take it, he quietly gave it to the man's wife. Mr. Horner found out that the family lived in Mexico and were in Oregon to pick cherries and peaches before returning home. The family's little girl asked if he had eaten lunch. He had not, so the little girl brought him a tamale. Inside the foil of the tamale was the $20 bill that Mr. Horner had given the man's wife. Again, the man refused to take the $20 bill, and summoning up his English, said, "Today you, tomorrow me." Mr. Horner says, "In the several months since then I've changed a couple of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and once drove 50 miles out of my way to get a girl to an airport. I won't accept money. But every time I'm able to help, I feel as if I'm putting something in the bank." (196)

Japanese Earthquake #1

Yuka Saionji witnessed many good things during the aftermath of the destruction wrought by the earthquakes and tsunami that struck Japan during March 2011. For example: 1) She saw people at Disneyland giving away candies. Some high-school girls took a lot of candies, and then they went over to some children who had been evacuated and gave the candies to the children. 2) She saw a woman holding a sign that said, "Please use our toilet." In the devastation, finding a public restroom was difficult or impossible. The woman had opened her home to anyone who needed to use a restroom. 3) One of her co-workers held a sign saying, "If you're okay with motor cycle, I will drive you to your house." He gave rides on his motorcycle to anyone needing a ride to their home. 4) An old lady at a bakery gave away free bread long past closing time. 5) An old man at an evacuation center worried, "What's going to happen now?" A high-school student told him, "Don't worry! When we grow up, we will promise to fix it back." The high-school student also massaged the old man's back. In conclusion, Yuka was very impressed by the way that the people of Japan remained calm and helped each other during the crisis. (197)

Japanese Earthquake #2

A friend of blogger Kevin Rose worked at Apple during the great earthquake in Japan in March 2011. The friend wrote Kevin about the many wonderful things that Apple did during and following the destruction of the earthquake: 1) As the building was shaking, Apple employees led customers to safety under the very strong wooden tables that held the display computers. 2) The Apple store (in fact, all the Apple stores in Tokyo) stayed open late because people came to it to use the free wifi and get news from USTREAM and contact family members. Kevin's friend wrote, "Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones." 3) Even after the store finally closed, many staff members went outside to help people fix iPhones or contact family members. 4) Apple let all of its staff—retail and corporate—know that they could sleep at the Apple stores, which were among the most comfortable places to stay following the destruction of the earthquake. Senior managers had stocked up on food and water immediately following the earthquake. In addition, family members of employees were allowed to stay there as well. Kevin's friend wrote, "One business team member's stranded mother walked 3.5 hours to be with her daughter at the store. When she arrived, the Apple store staff gave her a standing ovation ('Warm Welcome') like they do for customers during a new launch." 5) Apple management let employees know that if anyone wanted to try to make it to their home that Apple would pay for their expenses: food and drink, and transportation fees. In addition, if anyone could not make it home but found a hotel with a vacant room, Apple would pay for the room. This was very generous because at that point the only hotels with vacant rooms were the very expensive luxury hotels. In conclusion, Kevin's friend says it is because of actions such as this that he is such a fanboy of Apple. (198)

Japanese Earthquake #3

When a massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan in March 2011, its Fukushima nuclear reactors were hit hard. Heroes rose to meet the emergency. Most employees at the facilities evacuated because of high radiation levels, but 200 employees stayed behind to keep the emergency under control. They are called the Fukushima 50 because they work in shifts of 50. A 27-year-old woman with the Twitter name @NamicoAoto tweeted that her father was one of the volunteers: "I heard that he volunteered even though he will be retiring in just half a year and [...] my eyes are filling up with tears. [...] today, I was really proud of him. And I pray for his safe return." Another person tweeted, "Whatever's the closest int'l equivalent to the Medal of Honor—Nobel Peace Prize?—The Fukushima 50 deserve that, and more." The Financial Times reported that Japanese Prime Minister Naota Kan told the volunteers, "You are the only ones who can resolve a crisis. Retreat is unthinkable." The volunteers apparently are older employees who are technicians. Exposure to high levels of radiation can cause cancer, but older employees possibly may die of old age before developing radiation-caused cancer. (199)

The Wedding's Still On

When a major earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand, in early 2011, Emma Howard, 23 years old, whose wedding was supposed to happen in three days, was trapped in a tiny cavity among the rubble of a collapsed building. She sent a text to her fiancée, Chris Greenslade, saying, "It's Emma here. I'm OK and I love you very much." He spent the next several hours digging her and other people out from the rubble, and he helped direct a rescue crew to where she was trapped under the rubble. He also kept sending her texts, such as this one: "I'm with your parents. I love you. There are lots of men trying to get you out." She said that after being rescued, "I said to people, 'When I was in there I was thinking, I'm meant to be married in three days.' And they said to me, 'You still are.'" They were right. The wedding took place on the day it was originally scheduled—with a few changes. The groomsmen wore white shirtsleeves because their suits were destroyed in the earthquake—along with the fancy wedding cake. Mr. Greenslade said, "But everything else has gone to plan. We are just so lucky." (200)
CHAPTER 5: Stories 201-250

Alexandria Perez: A Good Person

On October 30, 2008, a student left her cell phone in a girls' restroom at Crestview High School in Crestview, Florida. Fortunately, a student found the cell phone and did the very good deed of turning it in to authorities. Cpl. Greg Porch, Crestview High School Resource Officer, wrote in a letter to the editor of Crestview News Bulletin, "Too many times to count items are misplaced or lost, and the items are never located or worse case scenario, stolen. In this case a [10th-grade] student named Alexandria Perez found the cell phone in question and turned it in to administration. The rightful owner was located and the cell phone was returned."

Losing Money in a Casino

Using a letter to the editor to thank a person for doing a good deed need not take much time or space. On March 7, 2011, this letter by Janie Horning of New Holland, PA, appeared in the Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA): "I want to thank the person who turned in my daughter's wallet when she lost it at Hollywood Casino. You make this world a better place and give hope that there still is a lot of good in this world." By the way, this interesting comment on the letter appeared when the letter was published on the Web: "This is probably the first time someone lost money in a casino and actually got it back...." (202)

The Challenge Coin

On December 4, 2009, an elderly woman was walking her dog in Tanner Creek Park in West Linn, Oregon. She fell, hit her head and broke her hip, and rolled down a hill out of sight. Fortunately, two 13-year-old girls, Ali Isaacson and Kristin Wible, saw what happened. Ali said, "We were walking home from school and going by the tennis courts when we saw these arms fly up. There was a dog barking. Then I saw someone over there." Kristin and Ali ran to the woman. Kristin called 9-1-1 and stayed with the woman. Ali ran to the woman's home to tell the woman's husband what had happened. Ali said, "That was the hardest thing I've ever had to do: Go to someone's house and tell them their wife had been hurt." Soon, police and emergency workers arrived on the scene. Just before Christmas vacation, Ali and Kristin attended a school assembly at which they were surprised to be honored with the Challenge Coin, which is given to people who perform an important and special public service. The two girls had plans to do something over Christmas break: Ali said, "We're going to visit the lady over Christmas break and give her some roses." (203)

Pay It Forward

A man named Dave (who requested that a newspaper reporter not to use his last name) once lived at a homeless shelter in north Portland, Oregon. Five years later, he inherited some money. How much? He said that the amount was "a little more money than a guy like me should have." Thinking about the best way to use the money, he decided to use some of it to buy gasoline for other people, then request that the recipients of his good deed pay it forward. After all, other people have done good deeds for him. He said, "I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't had the same thing done for me." Dave (and his wife, Annie) went to a local gas station and started paying for other people's gasoline. He said, "If I buy people $50 worth of gas and five of those people reach out and touch five more people, the world will be a whole lot better." Alma Lopez, who worked at the Chevron gas station, estimated that Dave paid for 10 to 30 tanks of gasoline in one day alone. She said, "Nothing like that has ever happened here before. We were amazed." Dave even bought pizza for the gas station employees, and he filled the gas tank of the delivery driver. On October 7, 2008, Jennifer Waggoner was among the first customers to get free gas. She said, "It was such a great thing and so touching to see somebody doing something like that." Liz Spooner also received free gas for the rental car she was driving. She appreciated the good deed because of financial troubles; her old car had caught on fire due to engine problems and she needed to buy a new car. She said, "His doing that today is really awesome." Marie Larson also received free gas. She cried when she thanked Dave; his good deed was especially appreciated because her 3-year-old daughter had recently spent a week at Doernbecher Children's Hospital because of a kidney infection. Ms. Larson already knows how she will pay the good deed forward. She will buy toys because her daughter requested that they give some of the other children at the hospital gifts. (204)

A Leg Up in Life

Willis (who was nicknamed Ish) and Arlene Hatch were an elderly couple—both were in their 90s—who lived on a farm near Alto, Michigan. They seldom spent money on anything but necessities. They had no children, but they had a lot of friends. Sandra VanWeelden, a neighbor, said, "You could not name how many kids are a part of their family, even though they're not blood related. Once you met them, if they liked you, you were family. That was it." She added, "She [Arlene] said, 'We both went through the depression. We don't see a need. We're comfortable with what we have.'" Steve Vanderziel spent hours talking with the Hatches. He said, "They went through their life very simple. And they didn't need to spend money on fancy things." Unfortunately, the Hatches were in a car accident in which Mrs. Hatch died instantly. Although Mr. Hatch suffered only minor injuries, he died three days later. After the Hatches died, many of their neighbors began receiving letters. By living frugally, the Hatches had accumulated $3 million, which they left to many of their neighbors, including children who often stopped to visit them. Ms. VanWeelden's letter read in part, "Aunt Arlene and Uncle Ish wanted you to have an expression of how much your friendship and kindness over the years meant to them." Mr. Vanderziel said, "This was their way to give everyone in the neighborhood a leg up in life." (205)

"Whatever is Wrong will Pass"

Many people post stories of good deeds on the Web site <helpothers.com>. For example, EsTeeBee wrote about a time of being depressed during the first year of college. EsTeeBee was fighting tears while walking across campus to catch a bus. An old man saw that EsTeeBee was in distress, and he looked into EsTeeBee's eyes and said, "Whatever is wrong will pass. You're going to be OK. Just hang on." That was 30 years ago, and since then EsTeeBee has tried to help others. EsTeeBee writes, "And I've never forgotten that moment. Over the years, whenever I see someone in distress, I think of that old man and try to give a glimmer of hope in the dark wherever I can—carrying groceries for people, sitting with cranky babies in airport lounges while the mother got up and got herself food/restroom, talking to tired couples at the checkout line, it could be anything. If you keep your head up, your heart will show you the place that need[s] a small dose of hope." A reader named Wendy commented on the story while remembering when she was 17 years old: "My boyfriend and I just broke up and I sat in the alley crying [and] hoping that he would come back to dry my tears. He did not come back, but a stranger with a smile passed by and kneeled down to me and said those exact words! It made more of a difference than my boyfriend could have." (206)

"It was Quite a New York Day"

Chad Lindsey is a subway hero. In March 2009 he saw a man get too close to the edge of a New York subway platform and fall onto the tracks. Mr. Lindsey narrates what happened: "I saw this guy come too quickly to the edge. He stopped and kind of reeled around. I felt bad, because I couldn't get close enough to grab his coat. He fell, and immediately hit his head on the rail and passed out. I dropped my bag and jumped down there. I tried to wake him up. He probably had a massive concussion at that point. I jumped down there and he just wouldn't wake up, and he was bleeding all over the place. I yelled, 'Contact the station agent and call the police!' which I think is hilarious because I don't think I ever said 'station agent' before in my life. What am I, on [the action TV series] 24? He was hunched over on his front. I grabbed him from behind, like under the armpits, and kind of got him over to the platform. It wasn't very elegant. I just hoisted him up so his belly was on the platform. It's kind of higher than you think it is. I couldn't see the train coming, but I could see the light on the tracks, and I was like, 'I've got to get out of this hole.'" People helped to pull the unconscious man onto the subway platform, and Mr. Lindsey then climbed onto the platform. A few seconds later, the subway train arrived. A little later, so did the police, who took care of the unconscious man. The rescued man—Theodore Larson, 60, of the Bronx—was treated at a hospital and then released. Other people congratulated Mr. Lindsey and patted him on the back. Mr. Lindsey says that after rescuing the man, "I was nervous and shaky. These five women opened their purses and gave me Handi-Wipes. I was covered in blood and dirt from the subway tracks." Mr. Lindsey summarizes his rescue in this way: "It was quite a New York day." (207)

Paying the Co-Payment

Journeywoman is a Web resource for female travelers. Among the articles it posts are stories of good deeds done by female travelers. For example, Ursula from Atlanta, Georgia, has a history of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and so needed to stop at a medical clinic to get her blood levels checked. Ahead of her was a woman with an ill child. The woman did not have the necessary co-payment and asked the clinic to bill her, but the clinic refused to do so. Ursula put the money needed for the co-payment into the woman's hands and then left to go into the doctor's office. (208)

A Charitable "Homeless" Man

On December 2, 2009, Ben Kennedy died in Helena, Montana, aged almost 87. To many people, he appeared to be homeless, but he lived in a small subsidized apartment and received Social Security. He used to search trashcans for recyclables, which he took to a recycling center. Also, remarkably, he donated lots of money to charities. Twenty years before he died, Mr. Kennedy went to The Nature Conservancy in Helena, and he talked to Brian Kahn about the work that The Nature Conservancy was doing. He then donated $200. Mr. Kahn did not want at first to take the money, as it seemed that Mr. Kennedy needed it, but Mr. Kennedy insisted. Periodically, Mr. Kennedy returned to make other cash donations. Mr. Kennedy also donated money to other charities and did other good deeds. He once went to a store where a homeless person had recently shoplifted, and he asked to see an expensive wheeled child carrier. As Mr. Kennedy looked it over, the salesperson asked him, "Is that for your grandchild?" Mr. Kennedy replied, "No, I don't have any. But I know someone who could use it." And then he pulled out his money. (209)

Saving Starving Islanders

On May 5, 2010, Alex Bond, a 46-year-old yachtsman from Cornwall, England, stopped with three crewmembers at Kanton Island—an atoll between Hawaii and Fiji—where he discovered starving villagers. The 14 adults and 10 children living there were surviving on only coconuts and fish. Normally, supplies arrived by ship, but the ship was three months late and not expected to arrive for another five weeks. Mr. Bond, who had stopped at the island because he liked the way it looked, said, "We were greeted by the islanders who were in a right state. It was the kids who were really bad. They have trouble growing what they need because of problems with the soil and were in desperate need of fruit, veg, rice, sugar and flour." Mr. Bond was able to help the villagers: "We gave them what we could from the yacht and radioed home to get them more help. They were extremely glad to see us and we've stayed on to help co-ordinate the food delivery. We're not leaving until I know they are OK. They are wonderful people." Kanton Island is a part of the island nation Kiribati, which in 1979 became independent from the United Kingdom. (210)

A Very Good Chef

Narayanan Krishnan is a very good chef. He used to cook for a five-star hotel group, but now he cooks for the homeless. He had planned to move to a job in Europe, but a visit in 2002 to a temple in the city of Madurai in south India changed his life. He said, "I saw a very old man [under a bridge] eating his own human waste for food. It really hurt me so much. I was literally shocked for a second. After that, I started feeding that man and decided this is what I should do the rest of my lifetime." He quit his job and moved back to India. He said, "That spark and that inspiration is a driving force still inside me as a flame—to serve all the mentally ill destitutes and people who cannot take care of themselves." In 2003, he started his nonprofit organization: Akshaya Trust. Akshaya is a Sanskrit word that means "undecaying" or "imperishable." Mr. Krishnan said that he chose the name Akshaya "to signify [that] human compassion should never decay or perish.... The spirit of helping others must prevail for ever." In addition, the name is appropriate because in Hindu mythology, the goddess Annapoorani had a bowl that fed the hungry without ever running out of food. Since founding Akshaya Trust, he has served over 1 million meals to the homeless, of whom India has many. He said, "Because of the poverty India faces, so many mentally ill people have been... left uncared [for] on the roadside of the city." Mr. Krishnan gets up at 4 a.m., and he and a few workers feed nearly 400 people per day (in 2010). The meals are vegetarian, and often he and his workers must hand-feed the homeless. He also often gives the homeless free haircuts and shaves. At first, Mr. Krishnan's parents did not understand why he was doing the work he does; after all, they had given him an expensive education. Mr. Krishnan said, "They had a lot of pain because they had spent a lot on my education. I asked my mother, 'Please come with me, see what I am doing.' After coming back home, my mother said, 'You feed all those people; the rest of the lifetime I am there, I will feed you.'" He added, "Now I am feeling so comfortable and so happy. I have a passion, I enjoy my work. I want to live with my people." (211)

An Honest Man

In Overland Park, Kansas, on February 20, 2011, a 21-year-old man ordered a take-out meal at a fast-food restaurant. When he got home, he discovered no food in the bag; instead, he found a bank deposit bag filled with money. An honest man, he telephoned the police and gave them the money so they could return it to its rightful owner. Overland Park Police Chief John Douglass wrote in "Just the Facts..." (his blog), "Thank you to this 21-year-old man for showing us this great example of honesty and doing the right thing." (212)

Pizza Delivery Person, and Hero

Memphis, TN, resident Jean Wilson, who was age 82 in 2011, really likes pizza. For three years, she telephoned the local Domino's pizza every day and ordered a large pepperoni pizza to be delivered to her home. Delivery driver Susan Guy said, "We make her pizza every day before she even calls, because we know she's going to call." However, for three days Ms. Wilson did not call in her regular order. When Ms. Guy heard the news after returning to work on Monday, she immediately decided to check to see that Ms. Wilson was OK. She said that her boss "was like, 'Naw, you don't have to do that,' and I said, 'Yeah I do. Clock me out if that's what you gotta do.'" Ms. Guy went to Ms. Wilson's residence and knocked on the door, and then she knocked on the windows. No answer. She then asked a neighbor who said, "Maybe she's not home." Ms. Guy asked, "'How many times have you see her leave?" The neighbor replied, "Never," and Ms. Guy called 9-1-1. Police arrived and found Ms. Wilson lying on the floor. She had fallen on Saturday and had been unable to reach a telephone to call for help. The police took her to a hospital, where she was expected to recover. Ms. Guy said, "She treats us really well. She appreciates us, and that's something we don't get in customers a lot." (213)

Finding $6,000

In June 2010 housekeeper Jeanne Mydil found $6,000 that someone had left behind in a room at the Miami International Airport Hotel. She promptly turned it in to a supervisor. The money turned out to belong to a missionary group that was traveling to her native Haiti to help in the aftermath of an earthquake. When word of Ms. Mydil's good deed got out to the public, people responded by making donations of money—over $7,500—to Ms. Mydil, who makes just over minimum wage. She planned to use some of the money to pay off the loan she had used to pay for the funeral of her husband, who had recently died because of complications from diabetes. Some of the money she planned to send to her sister, whose husband had died in the earthquake in Haiti. One person dropped off $1,000 cash in an envelope and did not leave a name. A man who wished to remain anonymous telephoned the hotel and donated $6,000 to Ms. Mydil by putting it on his credit card. This anonymous donor said, "It's a spiritual law of the universe. The way you receive is by sharing, and just like gravity, it affects everyone the same way." Heidi Herzberger, the hotel controller, was shocked when she asked this man how much he wished to give to Ms. Mydil. She said, "I asked him how much he wanted to give, he told me $6,000 and I said, 'Excuse me?' Then he said it again. And there was silence. And he said, 'Hellooo?' And I said, 'I'm sorry, I just fell off my chair.'" The missionary group also gave her $100. Ms. Mydil, a mother of three, said, "I am overjoyed. If all of these people are responding to help me, first I have to give thanks to God. Then I have to say to everyone, 'A big thank you.'" (214)

Peace Pilgrim

Peace Pilgrim (July 18, 1908 – July 7, 1981) led a remarkable life that was devoted to spirituality and to peace. Her official name was Mildred Lisette Norman Ryder, but she renamed herself Peace Pilgrim at age 44 and started walking, journeying over 25,000 miles until her death in 1981 just before her 73rd birthday. Her purpose in walking was to spread her message: "This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love." She did not carry money, and relied on the kindness of other people for food and shelter. Admirer Norm Cohen wrote about her, "Peace Pilgrim walked until given shelter and fasted until fed. She talked with people on dusty roads and city streets, to church, college, civic groups, on TV and radio, discussing peace within and without." Peace Pilgrim once said, "We must walk according to the highest light we have, encountering lovingly those who are out of harmony, and trying to inspire them to a better way. Whenever you bring harmony into any unpeaceful situation, you contribute to the cause of peace. When you do something for world peace, peace among groups, peace among individuals, or your own inner peace, you improve the total peace picture. No action is fruitless. There is within the hearts of people deep desire for peace on earth, and they would speak for peace if they were not bound by apathy, by ignorance, by fear. It is the job of peacemakers to inspire them from their apathy, to dispel their ignorance with truth, to allay their fear with faith that God's laws work—and work for good." (215)

Three-Year-Old Hero Calls 9-1-1

In January of 2010, a 3-year boy in Maple Shade, New Jersey, called 9-1-1 and probably saved his grandmother's life. His grandmother, Patricia Bolli, whom he calls Mom-Mom, was babysitting the boy, Jaden Bolli, when she had a stroke. She says, "I fell on the floor and passed out. Jaden, I remember him calling, 'Mom-Mom, Mom-Mom, wake up.'" Fortunately, a few days earlier, Jaden's mother, Candace Robbins, had told him how to call 9-1-1 when he needed help. She says, "I told him '[that if] you have to call 9-1-1, hit the green button and tell them that you need help,' and he said, 'OK.'" Young Jaden showed intelligence by locking up the family's pet dog in a bedroom to keep it out of the way, and then, after the police and paramedics had arrived, he unlocked the door to let them inside the home. John Bolli, Jaden's father, said young Jaden impressed him: "The fact that he did what he had to and didn't freak out or panic or get shy or embarrassed and go hide somewhere, like he knew what to do and he was calm about it." Jaden's grandmother was rushed to a hospital, where doctors said that Jaden's call to 9-1-1 had most likely saved her life. (216)

A 40-Pound Cabbage

When Katie Stagliano of Summerville, S.C., was in the 3rd grade, she planted a cabbage that grew to be 40 pounds. She donated it to a soup kitchen, and the cabbage became part of a ham-and-rice dinner that was served to 275 people. Katie, who was 11 years old and entering the 6th grade in 2010, says, "I thought, 'Wow, with that one cabbage I helped feed that many people?' I could do much more than that." And she did do much more than that. She started a nonprofit: Katie's Krops. Using seeds donated by Bonnie Plants and the help of volunteers, Kate planted a number of gardens (she had six in 2010). With volunteers helping her tend the gardens, Katie has donated over 4,000 pounds of vegetables to help feed hungry people. Sue Hanshaw, CEO of Tricounty Family Ministries, a soup kitchen in Charleston, S.C. (where Katie donated her 40-pound cabbage), said, "She just walks in like a proud little girl with her treasures in her arm. I love what she exudes, caring for others. It's made a big impact on a lot of people." Elois Mackey, 49, a mother of two and a former homeless person, gets a weekly delivery of vegetables from Katie. Ms. Mackey said about Katie, "She is showing that you can help other people no matter how young you are. I love the vegetables she brings." Why does Katie do what she does? She said, "It makes me feel good. I feel bad for those people who have to go to Palmetto House [a homeless shelter], but I feel good that I'm helping people." (217)

Deliberately Causing an Accident

On July 23, 2010, Bill Pace, who is 80 years old, became semi-conscious while driving. Although he did not realize it, he had suffered a mild heart attack a few days earlier, and his circulation was so poor that he nearly passed out. Fortunately, 48-year-old Duane Innes was driving to a Seattle Mariners game. He noticed that Mr. Pace's truck was drifting on the road and sideswiped a concrete barrier. It also nearly hit the minivan that Mr. Innes was driving. Mr. Innis looked in his rearview mirror and saw that the driver of the truck was slumped over the steering wheel. Realizing that something was wrong with the driver, and knowing that an intersection with heavy traffic was ahead, Mr. Innis positioned his minivan in front of the truck, slowed down slightly, and allowed the truck to hit his minivan so that he could brake and bring the truck to a stop. After learning that Mr. Pace, a retiree, does such good deeds as organize food drives and volunteer for the Special Olympics, Mr. Innis said, "For all the good that he's done, he's probably deserving of a few extra lives." Mr. Pace's insurance company, State Farm, paid the approximately $3,500 worth of damage to Mr. Innis' minivan. In addition, State Farm representative Clayton Ande wrote Mr. Innis a letter of appreciation in which he stated, "We wish to thank you for the actions you took to save Bill's life. State Farm and the Pace family consider you to be a hero. I wish there were more people like you in the world." Mr. Pace said, "He saved my life, really—and God knows who else." (218)

A Knight in Shiny Shoes

Elsie Clark, a 79-year-old Canadian, was having a bad day. On Dec. 30, 2009, she was returning home to Winnipeg, Manitoba, after visiting family in Texas. She received bad information at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and missed her flight. Another flight was delayed by bad weather. Also, because of a bad hip, she needed to use a wheelchair while traveling. Now, she was on a flight to O'Hare International Airport, and she did not feel well. "I was so thirsty and hungry," Ms. Clark said. "I felt absolutely deserted, and I was scared because I kept thinking, 'What is going to happen in Chicago if I miss my plane?' I would have to sit on the hard airport bench all night." She needed someone to talk to, and she began to talk to a man with polished shoes because she had learned as a child that people who dressed well respected both themselves and other people. She said, "I wanted to talk to somebody to get my mind off things for a little while. So, I said, 'Sir, do you mind telling me what you do because I've always admired shiny shoes.'" The man, Dean Germeyer, 43, runs a technology-consulting group in Chicago. He remembers, "People were coming by and putting their hands on her shoulders and saying, 'I hope you get home tonight.' She was doing OK, but you could tell she was at a breaking point." He adds, "There was a connection between Elsie and myself. She wasn't asking for anything at all." Mr. Germeyer is a Good Samaritan. Once the plane landed in Chicago, he wheeled Ms. Clark as quickly as he could to her terminal, but her flight had already taken off. Since she had missed the flight to Canada because her flight from Texas to Chicago had been delayed due to bad weather, the airline gave her a voucher for a hotel. Mr. Germeyer, however, said about Ms. Clark, "She is somebody's grandmother. And to slide this piece of paper across the desk and say, 'Here is your voucher, good luck,' when she hasn't eaten, doesn't have her luggage and doesn't know Chicago... that really aggravated me." He telephoned his wife, Nina, to announce that he was bringing a guest home for dinner. His wife said later, "This is why I married Dean. He couldn't [let] this little old lady [...] just sit at the airport all night while he went home and had a nice meal and [slept in] a warm bed." After dinner, he took Ms. Clark on a brief tour of Chicago, and then he paid for her stay at a suite at the Affinia Hotel, which is located next to the building he lives in. He also paid for a limo to take her to the airport the next morning so she could catch her flight home. Ms. Clark said, "He even gave me a new toothbrush and toothpaste. I just sat down when I got to the hotel, and I cried and cried and cried. Everything he did for me was just so beautiful." She added, "He walked in with me on his arm so I wouldn't slip and said, 'Look after this lady.' When I got up to my room, it wasn't a room—it was a suite! I had to use my cane just to walk to the bathroom." As a way to repay Mr. Germeyer's kindness, Ms. Clark told her local newspaper (the Winnipeg Free Press) about his generosity. As a result, Mr. Germeyer was also written up in The Chicago Tribune, and he received many emails (many of them from Canadians) thanking him for his kindness to Ms. Clark. Mr. Germeyer said that he did not spend much money on his good deed: the cost of the hotel room and limo were less than $250. He said, "I just wanted to make sure that she got some sleep that night." Ms. Clark said about his good deed: "Have you ever heard anything like it before in your life? My daughter asked if he had a brother!" (219)

Worth £40,000

Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885), who possessed millions of British pounds, was once asked how much he was worth. He replied that he was worth £40,000, for the true measure of a person's wealth is what he spends to help the less fortunate and £40,000 is what he had given to charity in the past year. (220)

Saying Goodbye to a Dying Grandson

In January 2011, Mark Dickinson was hurrying through the Los Angeles International Airport to catch an airplane to see Caden Rodgers, his 2-year-old grandson, before Caden's life support would be disconnected. (Caden had suffered a mortal head injury.) Mr. Dickinson was running late because of airport security, and he was afraid that the airplane would take off without him. He said, "I was kind of panicking because I was running late, and I really thought I wasn't going to make the flight." His wife called Southwest Airlines to ask that they hold the plane. The pilot, who requested that his name not be disclosed, learned about the request, and he held the plane. Mr. Dickinson was in such a rush that he arrived carrying his shoes, having not taken the time to put them back on after going through security. Mr. Dickinson says, "I told him, 'Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.' And he said, 'No problem. They can't leave without me anyway.'" Holding a plane for a customer is very unusual, but this was an extraordinary situation. Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said, "You can't hold a plane for every late customer, but I think we would all agree that these were extenuating circumstances and the pilot absolutely made the right decision. I don't think you could ask for a better example of great service for our customers." She added, "As you're reading the story, you absolutely get tears in your eyes and just an overwhelming sense of pride that our pilot took such an action. It really makes you proud to work for Southwest." (221)

Megan Rayborn: Woman of Integrity

In February 2009, Kay Brown of Liberty, Kentucky, was in a hurry and accidentally left an envelope filled with money at a cash register in an IGA store. The cashier, Megan Rayborn, found the money and turned it in. When Ms. Brown discovered that she had lost the money, she called the IGA store. After correctly answering questions about such things as the amount of money and the kind of envelope the money was in, she was able to get the money back. Unfortunately, not everyone is as honest as Ms. Rayborn. In a letter to the editor of The Casey County (Kentucky) News, Ms. Brown writes that two women had tried to claim the money, but they were unable to because they were unable to correctly state the amount of money in the envelope. Ms. Brown is truly appreciative that Ms. Rayborn turned in the money. She writes, "I was blessed, truly speechless at just how blessed I was." (222)

A Kindle for a Lover of Books

In September 2009, 50-year-old Cynthia Hammond was beaten up by her former live-in boyfriend. The beating left her with a broken neck and made her a quadriplegic. After the ex-boyfriend was convicted of the crime, Ms. Hammond went public with the story, revealing her name and encouraging other people to leave abusive relationships. In a published article in the Sacramento Bee, Ms. Hammond revealed that she loved reading but that now she finds it difficult to turn printed pages. After reading the article, a 72-year-old retiree named Justine Bunnell bought a Kindle electronic reader—which Ms. Hammond is able to use—for Ms. Hammond and met her. The two women talked about their favorite books. Ms. Hammond said, "I'm so pleased. This is absolutely wonderful." Ms. Bunnell said, "I am so happy that I was able to meet Cindy. I'm not sure who got the greater gift today, her or me." (223)

Rain, Sleet, and Lifesaving

In July of 2010, Keith McVey, a postal worker in Akron, Ohio, saved a life while delivering mail. A man was trying to revive his friend, who was not breathing. Mr. McVey saved the non-breathing man by using CPR. Remarkably, this was the third life he had saved in the past 20 years. Two years previously, he saw a young girl drowning in a lake. He swam out into the lake and saved her. (And then he returned to delivering mail, although he was soaking wet.) Approximately 20 years ago he provided assistance to a young man who had jumped from a bridge into a snowbank. After his third rescue, Mr. McVey said, "I've got so many handshakes and hugs. [...] People are thankful, grateful, just happy to hear the good stories, I guess." (224)

Donating a Kidney to a Complete Stranger

Nathan Saavedra, a toddler who was almost two years old, needed a kidney transplant because he suffers from Prune Belly Syndrome, a rare disorder that affects the urinary system. The Elgin (Illinois) Courier-News wrote two articles about the toddler after Nathan's mother, Tina, contacted the newspaper, and Chris Doing, a 38-year-old Information Technology specialist who did not know the boy or the boy's family, read the articles and decided to donate his kidney if it were a good match for Nathan's body. Mr. Doing did not at first let the family that he was being tested to see if he would be a suitable donor. He said, "I was really motivated and touched by the story and picture of Nathan. It prompted me to keep pushing forward. But I didn't want to give the family the play by play, in case I was disqualified. I didn't want to give them false hope." His kidney was a good match, and on October 25, 2010, the successful transplant took place. Mr. Doing did not meet Nathan and his family until after Nathan was released from the hospital. Nathan's mother, Tina, said about Mr. Doing, "He is very heroic. I will always feel so happy to have met him and for him to have saved my son." Mr. Doing said about his donation, "I don't think of it as an act of heroism. Help was needed, and I was able to help. I can't fully explain how or why I was motivated. Just knowing Nathan is doing well was all I was looking for." Mr. Doing was influenced by the donation of his grandmother's organs after her death 17 years previously. He said, "I remember how rewarding it was to get letters from recipients and for something good to come of it. I always hoped that if someone was in need in that way, I'd be man enough to assist them." (225)

Donating a Kidney to One of His Players

When Wake Forest baseball player Kevin Jordan needed a new kidney because he was suffering from ANCA vasculitis, which an Associated Press article defines as "a type of autoimmune swelling disorder caused by abnormal antibodies," his coach, Tom Walter, got tested to see if he was a match. (Kevin's father was ineligible to donate a kidney because of high blood pressure, and Kevin's mother and brother weren't good matches.) Mr. Walter said, "I didn't want Kevin to wait one more day if I could help it." In February 2011, the transplant occurred. Kevin, who is 19 years old, said, "I'm just really thankful. This is as good as it gets. I don't have words for it right now." Kevin did not ask his coach to be an organ donor. He said, "I didn't even ask him. He asked me." Mr. Walter investigated to see if he would violate NCAA rules against extra benefits by donating one of his kidneys to one of his players, but even if it meant violating NCAA rules he would have donated the kidney. He said, "I talked it over with our athletic director [Ron Wellman], and he probably said it best when he said we were answering to a higher calling on this one." (226)

Help Up a Hill

In June of 2010, Nancy Uhren of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was leaving a Walgreens when she noticed a man in a wheelchair struggling as he attempted to wheel himself up a steep incline to the parking lot. The weather was hot—90 degrees—and she knew that the man must be having a hard time. She writes, "Then about three cars behind me, a young man turned his flashers on his car and stopped. The young man ran down the hill and proceeded to push the gentleman into the parking lot. I thought, 'What an awesome sight and a reaffirmation of my belief that, deep down, most people have good hearts.'" (227)

No Starbucks Coffee for Over 230 Days

Chicago, Illinois, resident Carlo Garcia says, "One day this idea popped into my head: How hard would it be to give back to charity every day? What's stopping us from doing that? Because I don't make a whole lot of money, I had to look at my finances and see what areas of unnecessary spending I could cut." He decided to do just that, recording his efforts on his blog titled Living Philanthropic. Putting his idea into action, he started making small changes to his life, such as not buying Starbucks coffee but instead drinking the free coffee at work so that he could donate to charity the money he used to spend on Starbucks coffee. And so, on December 22, 2010, Mr. Garcia had not bought Starbucks coffee for over 230 days. Each day, he donates amounts of money ranging from $5 to $200 to non-profit charities. He says, "You don't have to be rich and famous to make a little bit of good." Whenever Mr. Garcia makes a small donation to a charity, the readers of his blog often also make small donations to the same charity. These small donations add up. For example, Mr. Garcia once gave $10 to the charity Alex's Lemonade Stand (which raises money for childhood cancer research); the followers of his blog donated an additional $567. One person who has been inspired by Mr. Garcia's microphilanthropy is Julie Gosselin, a professor in Ottawa, Canada, who says, "It changed my outlook about charity and giving. It made me think of giving a little bit less but more regularly, and developing a life ethic about giving to others. It doesn't have to happen around Christmastime; people need things all year long." She adds, "We have to help each other. Me having a little bit less is far better than people having none." (228)

"I'd Never Seen That Much Money in My Life"

In the summer of 2010, in Spanish Fork, Utah, sisters Michelle and Jessica Pientka (21 and 16 years old, respectively) found a bag containing $17,811 and some papers that identified car salesman Ben Hunstman in a cart outside a store. The sisters called the police, and the money (the proceeds from some car sales) and the papers were returned to a very relieved Mr. Hunstman, who rewarded the sisters with $250 each. When Michelle was asked whether she and her sister considered keeping the money, she replied, "No, no. It's true I was shocked when we opened [the bag]. I'd never seen that much money in my life. But I believe in karma; what you do comes back to you. To keep it would've been wrong." (229)

"Pay Back What People Give You"

An unemployed African-American man, Herman Travis, helps his impoverished neighbors, many of them disabled and elderly, in the Bernal Heights neighborhood by delivering to them groceries from the San Francisco Food Bank. He says, "It makes me feel good, seeing them smile when I knock on their door; it just makes me feel good." He lives at the Holly Courts low-income housing complex, and a truck drops off the food. Mr. Travis and some volunteers sort the food and put it in paper grocery bags, and he delivers it with the aid of his own two feet and a shopping cart. Millie Sheehy, who is 93 years old, says, "It means a lot to me, as a senior. I can't get out. I'm sort of confined to my house. It's just a blessing, a blessing, something you can depend on. Herman's always there with a smile." She adds, "He spoils me rotten by coming to my door. And he's always positive; he's always got something nice to say. So I enjoy him." Bebe Castaine, who is 81, says, "I don't know how we would express it, except for saying that we would be completely lost without him." Mr. Travis began doing this, he says, when "I didn't have no work. I'm paying back because they helped me, so I'm paying back—that's what any human being should do. Pay back what people give you. It makes me feel good, seeing them smile when I knock on their door; it just makes me feel good." (230)

Helping a Stranded Motorist

In December of 2010, firefighter Christopher Weir saw a woman with car trouble by the side of the road near City Center in Port Orange, Florida. He discovered that the woman was Heather Manolas, a 33-year-old Orlando nurse, who was with her two-year-son. Mr. Weir tried several times to start her car with jumper cables, but her car's battery was worn out, so he recommended that she buy a new battery. Ms. Manolas says, "I told him I only had $50 in my bank account." In addition, all of her family members and friends were 50 or more miles distant. Mr. Weir did not want to leave her and her young son stranded, so he went to a store and bought her a new $85 battery. Ms. Manolas says, "I was in tears that he would do that. It was so generous. Nothing like that has ever happened to me before." Mr. Weir says, "She was scared. It was something I could afford to get her back home. I was glad to do it. Besides, this is the season to do good deeds." He did ask her to do one thing. She says, "He said to pay it forward, to help someone else when I can. And I hope one day I'll be able to do that." (231)

Saving the Life of a Little Girl

In October of 2010, an 8-year-old girl was abducted from her home in Fresno, CA, by a man who had earlier exposed himself to two other children. An Amber Alert was put out quickly, and Victor Perez, a 29-year-old father of two, noted the information about the vehicle. The next morning, he noticed a truck that matched the description of the suspect's truck. He followed the truck, and eventually he saw a little girl's head. He then made several attempts to cut off the vehicle, eventually succeeding. The suspect shoved the little girl outside the truck, and then he drove off. Mr. Perez said, "I kept telling him, 'That's not your little girl.' We argued. We exchanged words." In addition, he said, "When she was dropped off, I just stayed with her, and the guy took off again. I didn't give chase no more 'cause the little girl was safe. So the cops took over after that." He added, "She said like twice, 'I'm scared, I'm scared.' And she asked me if she was going to be OK. I said you're OK for now, and [we're] just waiting for the right people to get there to help her out." The little girl said that she had been sexually assaulted. If not for Mr. Perez, she might have been murdered. Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said, "We know that the longer a victim who has been abducted is with the assailant, the more [likely it] is that we're not going to be able to recover them alive. So Victor's a hero, and rightfully so, he's being recognized." Mr. Perez said, "I just felt like I was doing my part.... I just felt like everybody should step up in their own communities and when something like this happens, come together and try to do your part to help out. And, you know, I just thank God that I was put in the right situation to do what I did. Thank the man above for that." (232)

Upselling Can be Unethical

To upsell is to persuade a customer to order something more expensive, thus increasing profits and tips. Servers, including sommeliers, do this in restaurants. This need not be unethical, but sommeliers can make a host feel cheap in front of guests by doing such things as trying to persuade the host to buy a bottle of wine that costs $100 more than the wine the host ordered. A good sommelier can make recommendations, but the recommendations should be within the host's price range, as indicated by the price of the bottle of wine the host ordered. Aldo Sohm, wine director of Le Bernardin in New York, is against unethical upselling. Once, a customer was upsold a bottle of wine that cost $20 more than the bottle the customer had wanted. Later, the customer felt sore about the upselling, so the customer called Mr. Sohm, who invited the customer to come back to the restaurant to enjoy a bottle of wine at the restaurant's expense. Mr. Sohm says about unethical upselling, "When you do something like that, you break the customer's trust." (233)

Some Men Can be Trusted

Some women and dogs are distrustful of men—unfortunately, often with good reason. However, some women and dogs learn that some men can be good. An example is Mary and Bonnie. Mary is an old lady who walks Bonnie, a dog that is distrustful of men after having been beaten and kept in a shed for much of her life. Mary has had her own bad experiences with men, and she can relate to Bonnie, whom she got from a rescue charity. One day, Mary was walking Bonnie when Mary tripped and was knocked unconscious. When she woke up, a young man named Andy was kneeling over her. So was Guardian columnist Lucy Mangan, who had arrived on the scene after the man had. Andy had already called an ambulance, which would quickly arrive. He had also put his jumper under Mary's head. When Mary woke up and saw Andy, she became, Lucy says, "visibly more stressed." Andy understood that Mary was afraid of him and moved a little away from her. The ambulance arrived, and Mary was also afraid of the male paramedic. Fortunately, Mary was OK. She had simply tripped, not fallen because she was dizzy. She also was quickly reunited with Bonnie, whom Lucy's husband had gotten out of her hiding place with the aid of a food treat that Bonnie especially liked. The paramedic—somewhat reluctantly—agreed with Mary that she did not need to go to the hospital, and Mary, aware that the paramedic and Andy were concerned about her, told them, "Thank you. Thank you very much." One week later, Lucy says, "She has been talking about it ever since. She just can't get over how nice they were. 'To me and Bonny, both.'" (234)

"Excuse Me, but Who the Hell are You and What are You Doing in My House?"

On July 14, 2010, smoke started pouring from a house in South Buffalo, New York. Fortunately, bus driver Richard Lucas, age 45, saw the smoke and ran to the house and started beating on the door. Inside, 10 people—two families—were sleeping. Shannon Reiter woke up. She said, "I scrambled to the door. I was only wearing a T-shirt. Then, I saw him. He had pushed through the door and was yelling 'You gotta get out!' and I said 'Excuse me, but who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?'" Then she realized that smoke was filling the house. Juan Huertas lived downstairs with his wife and three children. He said, "I woke up to a guy screaming in the house. I had no idea who it was, and then I heard my wife screaming 'Get out of the house.'" Emily Hunter lived upstairs and got her three children and her nephew out of the house. She said, "I heard the bus driver banging on the door, and said 'Get out.' Then I grabbed my kids [and] my nephew and ran out the door." Without the heroism of Mr. Lucas, everyone in the house probably would have died. Ms. Hunter said, "You couldn't breathe. Within minutes it all went black." She added, "I just wanted to thank the bus driver. That's my guardian angel." Ms. Reiter agreed, "He saved our lives. He's truly our guardian angel. I am so thankful for him, for our health and for our lives." After everyone had gotten safely outside the burning house, which ended up being destroyed by the fire, Mr. Lucas got back in his bus and finished driving his route. Mr. Lucas said, "You realize that maybe you did do something different. Something that, you had a chance to do and you made the right choice." Mr. Lucas' wife said, "He had tears in his eyes [when he arrived]. Even to this day, I get tears just thinking about what happened. There is so much that we had taken for granted." (235)

A Freezing Rescue

On December 12, 2010, Shriram Kodali, age 74, lost control of his car in Tampa, Florida, and drove into a retention pond. In shock, he was unable to get out of the car. Fortunately, two brothers, Tony Swedberg (age 27) and Andrew Swedberg (age 18), who were driving to their sister's house for dinner, saw a crowd of people. They then saw the car—and they saw that someone was inside. Both jumped in the icy and deep water and swam to the car. Andrew took a hammer with him, but when he tried to break a window, the hammer broke. Tony tried using his right fist to break a window. The attempt failed. Tony therefore swam back to shore and got a tire jack and then broke a window. Just in time, they got the man out of the car, which sank, and took him to the shore. Tony said, "If I didn't have my hand on the man, he probably would have gone under with the car." He added, "My hand was gushing blood. My brother's elbow was gushing blood." An ambulance arrived, and the brothers got their wounds bandaged and then went to their sister's house. Tony said, "I took a hot shower. But I was still freezing even an hour after the shower." (236)

Dying A Hero

In June of 2008, the 38-foot sailboat Cynthia Woods capsized in the Gulf of Mexico during a regatta (a gathering for boat races). On board were four college students and two safety officers. Safety officer Roger Stone saved the lives of Steven and Travis Wright, who attend Texas A&M at Galveston, by pushing them to safety after the boat capsized. The other safety officer, Steve Conway, said, "Roger was down below with Steven and Travis Wright [...] water was coming in and then when the boat went turtle, he pushed Steven and Travis up through the hatch and was obviously trapped below." Mr. Stone sacrificed his life to save the two college students. The five survivors had only four life jackets in a sea that had 4- to 6-foot waves. Steven Guy said, "I got out of the cabin without a life jacket, because that was the only way I would be able to get out. If not, I wouldn't be here today." He managed to stay afloat by holding on to the other survivors. R. Bowen Loftin, the CEO of Texas A&M at Galveston, posted a message on the school's Web site that stated in part, "We now know that Roger Stone died a hero in the classic sense of the word." (237)

200 Meters from the Summit of Mount Everest

In May 2006, Canadian Andrew Brash and his group were 200 meters from reaching the summit of Mount Everest when they ran across Australian climber Lincoln Hall, who had mistakenly been left for dead. Mr. Hall was suffering from attitude sickness, and Mr. Brash and the people he was climbing with (including team leader Dan Mazur of the US, Myles Osborne of the UK, and Jangbu Sherpa of Nepal) stayed with Mr. Hall as a rescue team of Sherpas climbed up the mountain. According to Wikipedia, the Sherpas included "Nima Wangde Sherpa, Passang Sherpa, Furba Rushakj Sherpa, Dawa Tenzing Sherpa, Dorjee Sherpa, Mingma Sherpa, Mingma Dorjee Sherpa, Pemba Sherpa, Pemba Nuru Sherpa, Passang Gaylgen Sherpa, and Lakcha Sherpa." In May 2008, however, Mr. Brash returned to Mount Everest and succeeded in reaching the summit. His wife, Jennifer, who was in Canada, said, "I'm just so happy for him that he's reached his goal and is safe. He'll be a happy guy when he gets back." When Mr. Brash helped rescue Mr. Hall, he said, "At the time, we didn't realize we had done anything out of the ordinary, really. It just seemed like the only thing to do." After saving Mr. Hall's life, Mr. Brash and his group were unable to climb Mount Everest. At the time, Mr. Brash did not expect to attempt to climb Mount Everest again. However, Mr. Mazur said, "The summit is still there and we can go back. Lincoln only has one life." (238)

"New York's Most Honest Taxi Driver"

On July 17, 2004, Nestor Sulpico, a Filipino taxi driver in New York City, drove from New York City to Connecticut so he could return approximately $70,000 in black pearls in a blue backpack that had been left behind in his taxi by a passenger. For a long time, he had wanted to do something heroic, like the heroes of the Philippines. He said, "I dreamt of doing something good that would make me popular and respected before I die, just like our heroes." Lawrence Policastro, a manager of a hedge-fund company, had left the black pearls behind on July 14. Mr. Sulpico called the number that was labeled "Home" in a mobile phone that he found with the jewels. Mr. Policastro was, of course, grateful to have the black pearls returned to him; he gave the honest cabbie a $500 reward. Mr. Sulpico knew that returning the jewels was the right thing to do. He said, "I believe that honesty is the most important virtue which serves as a foundation of all other virtues." He also said, "I'm happy living a simple life, and I thank my family for bringing me up morally upright even if I'm not financially well-off." Mr. Sulpico's 83-year-old mother, Elena, said, "My children are all honest. I always taught them not to take what's not theirs." She is happy that he was able to show the world that Filipinos can be good people: "I also want to thank him for uplifting the image of our compatriots abroad. Money and wealth will not last, but one's honor will be there forever." Mr. Sulpico is happy: "I could not ask for more, and even if I die, I feel that I have become a role model for the younger generations." In 2008, Mr. Sulpico died of colon cancer. He was awarded a nursing degree posthumously from the Phillips Beth Israel School of Nursing. Dean Janet Mackin said, "There was a sweetness about him that you would like to have in a person and in a nurse. He brought an incredible spirit, joy, and tight friendships to the school." When Mr. Sulpico returned the black pearls to their rightful owner, the New York Daily News wrote that "he's gotta be New York's most honest taxi driver." (239)

"I Can Never Keep Anything That Belongs to Any Other Person"

In early 2009, a woman left a bag containing $500,000 of diamond rings in a Manhattan taxicab. Fortunately for her, the taxicab driver was honest. The driver was Osman Chowdhury, a 41-year-old Muslim Bangladeshi green card holder. He and the New York City Taxi Workers' Alliance, which is a cabbies' advocacy group, were able to find a phone number that led them to the bag owner's mother, who then contacted her daughter, who thanked Mr. Chowdhury and tried to give him a reward, which he declined. Mr. Chowdhury said, "I never thought about any reward or anything in return. I can never keep anything that belongs to any other person. I have been this way all my life." His neighbor Shafiq Alam said, "There are good and honest people in every community. But with his deeds Osman has made all us Bangladeshis very proud." (240)

"You're a Saint"

On April 22, 2009, Santiago Gori, a taxi driver in the coastal city of La Plata (just south of Buenos Aires), Argentina, drove an elderly couple a short distance and then later found a bag with $32,500 (£21,600) in cash in his taxi. Fortunately, in the bag of money was a slip of paper with the names of the elderly couple. An honest man, Mr. Gori, who works two jobs, tracked down the elderly couple, who had recently sold their house, within a few days and made sure that the money was returned to them. Mr. Gori's honesty impressed many people, including Nicolás Diaco, who said, "I arrived home and my parents had heard of the story of this gentleman. When they told me what had happened, the gesture surprised me. It should be normal, but it's not... and the idea came to me to do something similar." Mr. Diaco and Ezequiel de Luca, who both work at the advertising agency Publicis Graffiti, set up a Web site so that people could praise Mr. Gori. Some people have used the Web site to donate money to Mr. Gori. One person wrote, "I'm only 17 years old, I don't have anything to donate to you, but I admire you and you are an example for everyone. God bless you." When Mr. Gori returned the money to the elderly couple, the woman told him, "You're a saint." (241)

"It's Totally Normal that We Give Your Bag Back"

In late November of 2010, Richard and Marilyn Smiley of Pendelton, Oregon, traveled to Paris, France. On their very first morning there, they took a cab, and Marilyn left in the cab a black daypack containing such items as a Canon camera, sunglasses, lipgloss, and gloves. Later, she realized that she had left her daypack in the cab, but she did not know which of over 15,500 cabbies in Paris was driving. Moreover, she realized that the cabbie would not know whose daypack it was because of a lack of identifying papers in the daypack. The Smileys returned home, and a week later, they received a telephone call and an email from the cabbie's daughter. Richard says, "We were amazed." For one thing, there seemed to be nothing in the daypack to identify its owners—no papers with names and addresses and telephone numbers. Then Richard remembered that the camera contained identifying information: their names, telephone number, and email address. He says, "I typed the information on a white piece of paper and took a picture of it. Then, I locked the photo into the camera so when we deleted our photos, it wouldn't disappear." The cab driver, Althony LaLanne, had found the photo with the identifying information, and Emannuelle, his daughter, had called and emailed the Smileys. The daypack found its way back to the Smileys in a roundabout way, with Paris native Emilie Lucas, who was once an exchange student living with the Smiley family, picking it up from the cabbie, then giving it to an American friend, Molly Bloom, who returned to the United States and mailed it to the Smileys. Everything was in the daypack, including the camera, which contained a surprise. Richard says, "There was an extra photo. It showed the taxi driver, Althony LaLanne, in the living room of his home in Paris. What joy. But, even greater is the honesty and extraordinary effort that was taken to return these belongings to us." Marilyn says, "We have a new best friend—our cabbie. This one honest man got this whole thing going." The Smileys made plans to reimburse the cabbie for the international telephone call and gave him some merchandise from Pendelton. In addition, they are going to help his daughter with an English version of her resume. The Lalannes don't think that getting the daypack back to its rightful owner is a big deal. In an email to the Smileys, Emmanuele wrote, "It's totally normal that we give your bag back." (242)

"This Could Have Been a Homicide, Absolutely"

On May 20, 2008, Margot Hines, an employee of the Royal Bank of Canada, helped a 26-year-old woman, a college student named Nicole MacDonald, who was the victim of an unprovoked stabbing attack by a mentally ill stranger in Toronto, Canada. The woman had been stabbed three times, and Ms. Hines, remembering what she had learned about first aid while attending Camp Oconto 13 years previously when she was a child, realized that she needed to keep pressure on the wounds to stop the bleeding. The woman was taken to a hospital, where Ms. Hines visited her: "I told her how happy I was to see that she was doing okay, and she thanked me for being there and said she didn't know what she would have done if I wasn't there." She also explained why she helped the woman, "It's just the way I was brought up. I like helping people." If Ms. Hines had not helped Ms. MacDonald, the result could have been death. Detective Darren Laing said about Ms. MacDonald, "She suffered very serious life-threatening injuries, and if possibly not for the assistance she received... right there on the street, this could have been a homicide, absolutely." (243)

A Human Shield

On July 29, 2006, Australian tourist Kimberley Dear, 21, took a skydiving lesson at an airport near St. Louis, Missouri. Tragically, the plane developed engine problems after takeoff and crashed. The skydiving instructor, Robert Cook, 22, was able to save the life of Kimberley by acting as a human shield to cushion her, although he and five other people died. Kimberley's father, Bill, said about Mr. Cook, "When he realized the plane was actually going to crash, he grabbed Kimberley and he calmly talked to her and he told her that the plane was going to crash. [He] told her what to expect and what to do and kept her calm and focused her attention on him and what he was saying rather than what was happening around her. [...] as the plane was coming down, he put his arms around her and pulled her close. As he pulled her close, her head rested on his shoulders. He put his head against hers to stop it flopping around. He said to her, 'As the plane is about to hit the ground, make sure you're on top of me so that I'll take the force of the impact.' The plane actually hit, they believe, a power pole or a power line and it went into a vertical situation, and she became a little bit disoriented, but she felt Robert actually twist his body around until Kim was on top of him and when the plane hit the ground, he took the full force of the impact." Kimberley's sister, Tracey Dear, said, "There's nothing... I can't even put it into words, but the only thing I can think of is saying thank you so much. I can't believe that in this world when so many people are so jaded that there are people out there like that. He met Kimberley, as far as I know, that day. I would do that for her but I can't believe that a stranger who just met her would knowingly give up his life for her. I just want his family to know we appreciate that from the bottom of our heart." In 2008, the Governor-General of Australia awarded Mr. Cook the Star of Courage. Kimberley said, "There aren't many people who would put their life on the line for a stranger—you might do it for the people you love, but would you do it for someone you just met?" Kimberley was severely injured in the plane crash, but she learned to walk again. (244)

Saving the House of a Family of Ten

In 2007, Brent Burger, a Maine man who has businesses in hardware and in agriculture, kept a family of ten from losing their home. Karen Champagne had become a widow, and she was unable to keep up with the mortgage payments on her home, which also housed her nine children, then aged 4 to 15. Mr. Burger said, "When she came closer and closer to being evicted, the house went up for auction." Mr. Burger bought the house for $76,000, and he allowed the family of ten to live there. Ms. Champagne is paying him back. Mr. Burger also helped to renovate the house. Articles in local media and a Web site that he started—<ninechildren.com>—resulted in 212 volunteers and the support of local businesses. In nine days, the house was renovated. In 2009, he said, "When you can, you should give. It has always struck me to ask 'when do you have enough and how much more do you need to collect, how much more do you need to have?' I'm not independently wealthy, but I have enough to share. I am very blessed and sharing just seems reasonable. I think everyone can give, just at different degrees." (245)

Bridge Collapse Hero

On August 1, 2007, the Interstate 35W bridge fell in Minneapolis, MN, and a bus filled with children fell with it. Jeremy Hernandez, a 20-year-old who worked as the Waite House's summer program gym coordinator, jumped over two rows of seats, kicked open the back door, and then began handing out children to helpers. "I just acted," Mr. Hernandez said. "I just moved. My feet were just moving. My body was following." On the bus were 61 people. Nobody died. Kaliegh Swift, 10 years old, believes that Mr. Hernandez saved her life; after all, she said, he was "the person who rounded everyone off the bus and helped everyone into the ambulance." For a long time—what seemed like "forever," Mr. Hernandez said—he was "grabbing kids and putting them out, grabbing kids and putting them out." While driving, Mr. Hernandez has to cross many bridges because his mother lives on the north side of the Mississippi River. He said, "I'm going to invest in a map and try to go around them." (246)

Standing Up for Sassy

Sassy, a magazine for North American teenage girls, did a few articles on sex and on homosexuality when it first started, with the result that many advertisers that were afraid of controversy abandoned it. One person who supported Sassy was gay celebrity make-up artist Kevyn Aucoin. He was working for Cover Girl, and he told the company, "I'm not going to work with you anymore unless you put your ads back in Sassy." (247)

Supporting Gay Friends and Co-Workers

Supporting your gay friends and co-workers is a good deed. The Boy Scouts of America discriminate against gay men. After finding out that Chuck Merino, an El Cajon, California, police officer who had served for four years as a scout leader, was gay, the Boy Scouts fired him. Mr. Merino sued the Boy Scouts in 1997, but the California Fourth District Court of Appeals ruled that as a private organization, the Boy Scouts could discriminate if they wished. However, to show support for their colleague, the police departments of El Cajon and San Diego cut their ties to the Boy Scouts. (248)

Fighting Back Against Sexual Harassment is a Good Deed

In the university town of Arcata, California, a man was sexually harassing a woman. She complained to the university officials—without success. Fortunately, she complained to riot grrrl Kirsten Frickle, telling her, "They won't do anything." Ms. Frickle replied, "Well, we'll do something." She and another riot grrrl approached the man after one of his classes, and she said to him, "So, we hear you like to harass women." The man replied, "Yeah, I like harassing women. It's fun." Ms. Frickle's friend snapped the man's photograph with a Polaroid. The two riot grrrls then made up flyers with the man's photograph and this message: "HE THINKS SEXUAL HARRASSMENT IS FUN. WE THINK HE IS UNACCEPTABLE." The flyers affected the man's life. Ms. Frickle heard that the flyers were talked about during a custody dispute that the man was involved in, and she also heard that he had lost his job. Ms. Frickle, of course, had no regrets. She said, "In that thirty-second confrontation, you knew he was a jerk on purpose and he liked to rile people up. He had a rapist mentality." Someone called Ms. Frickle and threatened to press slander charges against her, but she was majoring in journalism and knew the law. She said, "Slander is spoken; libel is written, and it's not libel if it's true." End of discussion. (249)

The Good Conductor

In 1982, British author Bernard Hare was an impoverished student who was unable to pay his rent. When the police came knocking at his door, he did not reveal his presence because he was afraid that he would be evicted. However, he realized that since his mother had not been well, and he did not have a phone, perhaps the police had come to tell him to get home quickly before his mother died. He went to a public telephone, called his father, and learned that yes, his mother was dying and was expected to die that night. His father told him, "Get home, son." He went to the railway station, but he learned that he could get only partway home that night. Normally, he would have transferred to another train to get home, but he would miss that connection by 20 minutes. He bought the ticket anyway. Mr. Hare says, "I was a struggling student and didn't have the money for a taxi the whole way, but I had a screwdriver in my pocket and my bunch of skeleton keys. I was so desperate to get home that I planned to nick [steal] a car in Peterborough, hitch hike, steal some money, something, anything. I just knew from my dad's tone of voice that my mother was going to die that night, and I intended to get home if it killed me." The train conductor saw how upset Mr. Hare looked and asked him, "You okay?" Mr. Hare was not in a mood to talk, but the train conductor said, "You look awful. Is there anything I can do?" The train conductor added, "If there's a problem, I'm here to help. That's what I'm paid for." Mr. Hare told the train conductor his story: "Look, my mum's in hospital, dying, she won't survive the night, I'm going to miss the connection to Leeds at Peterborough, I'm not sure how I'm going to get home. It's tonight or never, I won't get another chance, I'm a bit upset, I don't really feel like talking, I'd be grateful if you'd leave me alone. Okay?" The train conductor disappeared for a while, and then he came back and said to Mr. Hare, "Listen, when we get to Peterborough, shoot straight over to Platform One as quick as you like. The Leeds train'll be there." He then explained, "I've just radioed Peterborough. They're going to hold the train up for you. As soon as you get on, it goes. Everyone will be complaining about how late it is, but let's not worry about that on this occasion. You'll get home, and that's the main thing. Good luck and God bless." Mr. Hare thanked the train conductor, who told him, "If you feel the need to thank me, the next time you see someone in trouble, you help them out. That will pay me back amply. Tell them to pay you back the same way and soon the world will be a better place." Mr. Hare wrote in 2010, "I was at my mother's side when she died in the early hours of the morning. Even now, I can't think of her without remembering the Good Conductor on that late-night train to Peterborough and, to this day, I won't hear a bad word said about British Rail. My meeting with the Good Conductor changed me from a selfish, potentially violent hedonist into a decent human being, but it took time. I've paid him back a thousand times since then, and I'll keep on doing so till the day I die." He tells other people who perhaps think that they owe him something, "You don't owe me nothing. Nothing at all. And if you think you do, I'd give you the same advice the Good Conductor gave me. Pass it down the line." (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: 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 C: EXCERPT FROM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S THE TAMING OF THE SHREW: A RETELLING IN PROSE BY DAVID BRUCE

— 4.5 —

Petruchio, Katherina, Hortensio, Grumio, and some servants were traveling on the road to Padua to go to Katherina's father's house.

Katherina was thinking:

I have a decision to make. Do I allow myself to be tamed, or do I continue to resist obeying my husband, Petruchio?

Or, better, do I tame myself?

If I am tamed through the use of hunger and lack of sleep, I am no better than an animal, a hawk that a trainer tames. If I am tamed, I will obey my husband, but I will do so without love and without honoring him. He will not get the wife he wants, and I will no longer be Katherina. I will have no spirit.

If I tame myself, I do what I have decided to do. The hunger and exhaustion do not determine what I shall do, although they make it clear that I need to make a decision. If I tame myself, and if I keep the vow that I made before God, I will love, honor, and obey my husband. I will still be Katherina, and I will still have spirit.

Should I tame myself? Has being a shrew made me happy?

I have tied up and beaten my own sister because she would not tell me which of her suitors she liked best. She said that she had no preference. I did not believe her.

Is that the kind of person I want to be? Is that the kind of person God wants me to be? No.

And is that the kind of wife that Petruchio wants me to be? No.

What kind of husband do I want Petruchio to be? Do I want him to be a husband who ignores me? No. Do I want him to be the kind of husband who will tolerate a shrewish wife? No. I need a husband I can respect, a husband who has as much spirit as I have.

I have learned how shrewish behavior affects other people. It is not pleasant to witness. I have learned to consider the feelings of other people — now I have empathy for other people and do not want to see them harshly criticized for minor faults or for things that are mostly or entirely out of their control.

If anyone needs to be tamed, I do. I need to decide whether I should now tame myself.

If I tame myself, how will I benefit? I will be a better person, and most likely, I will get a better husband. Is Petruchio a bad husband? Does he always act like this? Will he continue to act like this if I tame myself? I doubt it. It is obvious that he seriously takes the vow I made before God — to love, honor, and obey my husband. I think that he seriously takes the vow he made before God — to love and cherish his wife. If he had no intention of keeping his vow, he would ignore me and allow me to remain a shrew. Instead, he is going to great lengths to be married to a good wife. Also, what he does to me he is doing to himself. I am hungry, and I can look at him and see that he has lost weight. I sleep very little, and he sleeps very little so that he can ensure that I stay awake. He treats his wife as he treats himself.

But am I his wife? Are we husband and wife? Not yet. Not really. We have not consummated the marriage. I respect that in him. He is not a rapist. He will not sleep with me and consummate the marriage until I am the wife he wants and until I truly embrace a Christian marriage.

So, I have a decision to make: To be a shrew, or not to be a shrew?
APPENDIX D: 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 E: BOOK BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Deedy, John. A Book of Catholic Anecdotes. Allen, TX: Thomas More, 1997.

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Dusterberg, Kurt. Journeymen: Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers. Wilmington, OH: Orange Frazer Press, 2007.

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

Finck, Henry T. Musical Laughs. New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1924.

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Grodin, Charles, et al. If I Only Knew Then... Learning from Our Mistakes. New York: Springboard Press, 2007.

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Himelstein, Shmuel. Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, Ltd., 1993.

Hinton, Milt, David G. Berger, and Holly Maxson. Playing the Changes: Milt Hinton's Life in Stories and Photographs. Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 2008.

Jesella, Kara, and Marisa Melitzer. How SASSY Changed My Life. A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc., 2007.

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King, Vera Ramone. Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years). Beverly Hills, CA: Phoenix Books, Inc., 2009.

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Macht, Norman L. Lou Gehrig. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1993. Baseball Legends. Ser. 55 pp.

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McPhaul, John J. Deadlines and Monkeyshines: The Fabled World of Chicago Journalism. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1962.

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APPENDIX F: ENDNOTES

(1) Source: Esther Liang, "The Generous Vegetable Seller." Reader's Digest. <www.rdasia.com/the-generous-vegetable-seller>. Accessed on 8 February 2011.

(2) Source: Liz Thomas and Jo Clements, "Eddie Izzard triumphantly finishes 1,100 mile marathon around Britain in Trafalgar Square." Daily Mail. 16 September 2009 <<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1213682/Eddie-Izzard-completes-mega-seven-week-marathon-blisters-blisters.html>>.

(3) Source: Don Rickles, Rickles' Book, pp. 7-9.

(4) Source: Danny Thomas, Make Room for Danny, pp. 59, 293.

(5) Source: Marlo Thomas, Growing Up Laughing: My Story and the Story of Funny, pp. 19, 173-174.

(6) Source: Darryl Lyman, The Jewish Comedy Catalog, p. 213.

(7) Source: Maxine Marx, Growing Up with Chico, p. 24.

(8) Source: Nina Berglund, "Canadians hail Norwegian coach's sportsmanship." Aftenposten. 20 February 2006 <<http://www.aftenposten.no/english/sports/article1225796.ece>>. Also: "Norwegian rewarded for Olympic sportsmanship." CBC Sports. 6 April 2006 <<http://www.cbc.ca/sports/story/2006/04/05/syrup-skicoach060405.html>>. Also: "Project Maple Syrup lives on—7400 Cans of maple syrup distributed to Norway with the Coastal Express." Canadian Norwegian Business Association. 31 May 2006 <ttp://www.cnba.no/page?id=6&key=18743>.

(9) Source: Kameel Stanley, "Tampa woman saves man's life, then finishes triathlon." St. Petersburg Times. 1 May 2011 <http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/tampa-woman-saves-mans-life-then-finishes-triathlon/1167114>.

(10) Source: Jerry Kramer, "Winning Wasn't Everything." New York Times. Op-Ed Classic 1997. Posted 5 February 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/opinion/06opclassic.html?_r=1&ref=opinion>.

(11) Source: Steve Wyche, "Let's dance: Bears rookie Thomas helps girl with spina bifida." NFL.com. 24 May 2011 <http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81ff5cb1/printable/lets-dance-bears-rookie-thomas-helps-girl-with-spina-bifada>.

(12) Source: "Carolina Panthers Reward Greensboro Boy for Good Deed." WGHP-TV. 3 January 2010 <<http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-panthers-game-reward-100103,0,5909576.story>>.

(13) Source: Shannon J. Owens, "Chris Johnson: Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson does good deed in private." Orlando Sentinel. 12 April 2010 <<http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2010-04-12/sports/os-chris-johnson-good-deed_1_chris-johnson-tennessee-titans-rb-elaine-thompson>>.

(14) Source: Joe Johnson, "Trucker killed in four-vehicle crash." Athens (GA) Banner-Herald. 18 May 2005 <http://onlineathens.com/stories/051805/new_20050518069.shtml>.

(15) Source: Tiger Woods, "What I Did with My Coin Collection." Published in this book: Marlo Thomas and Friends, Thanks & Giving: All Year Long, pp. 47-48. Check out <www.stjude.org>.

(16) Source: Susanna Baird, "Professional Golfer Beth Allen Donates Kidney to Brother." AOL News. 3 March 2011 <http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/03/lpga-golfer-beth-allen-donates-kidney-to-brother/>. Also: Beth Ann Baldry, "Allen takes time off to donate kidney to brother." 1 March 2011 <http://www.golfweek.com/news/2011/mar/01/allen-takes-time-donate-kidney-brother/>.

(17) Source: Speedi, "Small Town Hockey Hero with a Big Heart." Helpothers.org. 2 September 2008 <http://www.helpothers.org/story.php?sid=9831>.

(18) Source: Kurt Dusterberg, Journeymen: Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers, pp. 126-127.

(19) Source: Jack Douglas, "Off-ice good deed." Letter to the Editor. Pittsburgh Tribune. 14 January 2010 <http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/s_718056.html>.

(20) Source: Mark Gallagher and Neil Gallagher, Mickey Mantle, pp. 23-24.

(21) Source: Tyler Kepner, "Pitcher Spurns $12 Million, to Keep Self-Respect." The New York Times. 26 January 2011 <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/sports/baseball/27meche.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=general&src=me&adxnnlx=1296216177-Bad1xww9od1IvCBoaewz4w>.

(22) Source: James Tackach, Roy Campanella, pp. 49-57.

(23) Source: John Grabowski, Stan Musial, pp. 22-23, 48, 51.

(24) Source: "Person of the Week: Jon Farrar." ABC News. 17 February 2006 <http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/PersonOfWeek/story?id=1633136&page=1>.

(25) Source: "Danny Graves of the Cincinnati Reds Encounters An Honest Man." Posted on <<http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/002810.html>>. Accessed on 6 May 2011.

(26) Source: Charles Grodin, et al., If I Only Knew Then... Learning from Our Mistakes, pp. 36-37.

(27) Source: Carrie Muskat, Mark McGwire, pp. 14-15, 31, 53.

(28) Source: Norman L. Macht, Lou Gehrig, pp. 52-55.

(29) Source: "Girardi stops to help after Series win." ESPN. 5 November 2009 <http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs/2009/news/story?id=4625899>.

(30) Source: Rachel Gordon, "SF Giants to make video for 'It Gets Better' drive." San Francisco Chronicle. 17 May 2011 <<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2011%2F05%2F16%2FBA5C1JGU8E.DTL>>.

(31) Source: Andy Katz, "Jamie Dixon talks about accident." ESPN. 25 October 2010 <<http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5725361>>.

(32) Source: "David Beckham rescues family in broken-down car." Saudi News Today. 10 February 2011 <<http://www.saudinewstoday.com/article/47920__David+Beckham+rescues+family+in+broken-down+car>>.

(33) Source: Kevin Baxter, "World Cup: Good deeds by Italians, Germans." Los Angeles Times Blogs. 12 June 2010 <<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2010/06/world-cup-good-deeds-by-italians-germans.html>>.

(34) Source: Deepak Chopra, "What Nana Told Her." Published in this book: Marlo Thomas and Friends, Thanks & Giving: All Year Long, pp. 36-37. Check out <www.stjude.org>.

(35) Source: Leonard S. Marcus, Ways of Telling: Conversations on the Art of the Picture Book, pp. 219-222.

(36) Source: Newspaper Guild of New York, Heywood Broun as He Seemed to Us, pp. 19-20, 37.

(37) Source: Kevin Fagan, "Gallery patron once begged at its door." San Francisco Gate. 21 July 2004 <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/07/21/MNGET7KUKG36.DTL&ao=all>. Also: "Blue Room Gallery." <<http://www.sanfrancisco.com/blue-room-gallery-b573>>. Accessed 3 May 2011.

(38) Source: Susan Rayfield, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, p. 56.

(39) Source: Stuart A. Kallen, Claude Monet, p. 37.

(40) Source: "John Mayer Performs with 11-Year-Old Austin Christy." iGossip. 25 February 2010 <<http://igossip.com/outbound/1131339>>.

(41) Source: "John Mayer, the Good Samaritan." Style.com. 14 December 2009 <<http://news.style.com/view/437703/>>.

(42) Source: "Lady Gaga wants to bring out the freak in her fans." Celebitchy.com. 25 November 2009 <<http://www.celebitchy.com/category/good_deeds/page/2/>>. Also: Michael Y. Park, "Lady Gaga Does It for the Freaks." People. 25 November 2009 <<http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20322691,00.html>>.

(43) Source: GhostWriter, "Elderly man thankful for Sunye's good deeds." Allkpop.com. 7 January 2011 <<http://www.allkpop.com/2011/01/old-man-thankful-for-sunyes-good-deed>>. Also: GhostWriter, "Elderly Mountain Man moves and contacts Sunye." Allkpop.com. 3 February 2011 <<http://www.allkpop.com/2011/02/elderly-mountain-man-moves-and-contacts-sunye>>. Also: Vitalsign, "The Wonder Girls secretly volunteered and donated for two years." Allkpop.com. 17 January 2011 <<http://www.allkpop.com/2011/01/the-wonder-girls-secretly-volunteered-and-donated-for-two-years>>.

(44) Source: Stephen Schochet, Hollywood Stories, pp. 206-207.

(45) Source: Henry T. Finck, Musical Laughs, p. 195.

(46) Source: Rose Heylbut and Aime Gerber, Backstage at the Opera, p. 167. Also: Henry T. Finck, Musical Laughs, pp. 60-61.

(47) Source: David Goodnough, Pablo Casals: Cellist for the World, pp. 44-45, 49.

(48) Source: David L. Groover and Cecil C. Conner, Jr., Skeletons from the Opera Closet, p. 112.

(49) Source: "Remarks by President William R. Brody." University-wide Commencement Exercises. The Johns Hopkins University. 26 May 2005 <<http://www.jhu.edu/news/commence05/speeches/brody.html>>. Also: Jerry Speyer, "Living in Challenging Times." MBA Recognition Ceremony Remarks. Columbia University. 21 May 2008 <<http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/publicoffering/post/136565/Living+in+Challenging+Times>>.

(50) Source: "'I didn't know it was stolen': Boy George hands back religious icon." The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia). 21 January 2011 <http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/i-didnt-know-it-was-stolen-boy-george-hands-back-religious-icon-20110121-19ybh.html>.

(51) Source: Todd Oldham, Joan Jett, Chapters 6, 12, 17, and 18. The pages of this book are unnumbered.

(52) Source: Leslie Gourse. Billie Holiday: The Tragedy and Triumph of Lady Day, pp. 62-63, 70.

(53) Source: Elliott K. Snedecor, "The tale of the airline pilot and the seeing-eye dog." The Bee (Portland, OR). 1 March 2007 (updated 30 October 2009) <http://www.thebeenews.com/features/story.php?story_id=117244399846398300>.

(54) Source: Tanya Bolden, Take-Off: American All-Girl Bands During WWII, pp. 21-22.

(55) Source: Wendie C. Old, Duke Ellington: Giant of Jazz, p. 60.

(56) Source: Max Judelson, "Ten Rules for Street Musicians." Wall Street Journal. 11 January 2011 <http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/01/11/ten-rules-for-street-musicians/>.

(57) Source: Sylvia and Don Hampson, "Musicians' good deed." Letter to the Editor. The Huddersfield (England) Daily Examiner. 4 January 2011 <http://www.examiner.co.uk/views-and-blogs/reader-letters/2011/01/04/examiner-letters-86081-27927345/>.

(58) Source: Chip Deffaw, Jazz Veterans: A Portrait Gallery, p. 161.

(59) Source: Milt Hinton, David G. Berger, and Holly Maxson, Playing the Changes: Milt Hinton's Life in Stories and Photographs, pp. 229, 249.

(60) Source: Chip Deffaw, Jazz Veterans: A Portrait Gallery, p. 58.

(61) Source: Vera Ramone King, Poisoned Heart: I Married Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones Years), p. 44.

(62) Source: Bill Zehme, The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin', p. 77.

(63) Source: Alicia Markova, Markova Remembers, p. 175.

(64) Source: Jim Haskins and N.R. Mitgang, Mr. Bojangles, pp. 190, 196.

(65) Source: Mike Walker, "JEFF BRIDGES SECRETLY SCHLEPS GLAMOUR GOODIES TO HOMELESS CAMP." National Enquirer. 15 March 2011 <<http://www.nationalenquirer.com/mike-walker/jeff-bridges-secretly-schleps-glamour-goodies-homeless-camp>>.

(66) Source: Stephen Schochet, Hollywood Stories, p. 220.

(67) Source: "Refugee All-Stars." Good. Issue 003. 14 February 2007 < http://www.good.is/post/refugee-all-stars/>.

(68) Source: Dick Cavett, "My Life As a Juvenile Delinquent." New York Times. 11 March 2011 <http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/11/my-life-as-a-juvenile-delinquent/?ref=opinion>.

(69) Source: Dick Cavett, Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets, pp. 207-212.

(70) Source: Ed McMahon, Here's Johnny! My Memories of Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show, and 46 Years of Friendship, pp. 185-186, 199-200.

(71) Source: Tim Boxer, The Jewish Celebrity Hall of Fame, p. 116. Also: "Bea Arthur Leaves $300,000 For Gay Homeless Charity." Starpulse.com. 28 October 2009 <<http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2009/10/28/bea_arthur_leaves_300_000_for_gay_homele>>.

(72) Source: Mike Walker, "Holly Hunter's Good Deeds." National Enquirer. 6 June 2007 <<http://www.nationalenquirer.com/mike-walker/holly-hunters-good-deeds>>.

(73) Source: Interviews by Tim Lusher, "Pete Postlethwaite remembered." The Guardian. 3 January 2011 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/03/pete-postlethwaite-remembered-colleagues>.

(74) Source: Susan King, "'True Grit' memories from Kim Darby and Glen Campbell." Los Angeles Times. 4 January 2011 <http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-true-grit-nostalgia-20110104,0,637096.story>.

(75) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes, pp. 56-57.

(76) Source: May Wale Brown, Reel Life on Hollywood Movie Sets, pp. 70-71.

(77) Source: Edward Wagenknecht, Merely Players, pp. 83-84.

(78) Source: Sam Norkin, Drawings, Stories, p. 250.

(79) Source: Jim Suhr, "Dying student's wish a lesson in generosity." Associated Press. Houston Chronicle. 11 April 2004 <<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/2499600.html>>.

(80) Source: "Pizza Hut Waitress Gets $10,000 Tip: Jessica Osborne Got a Very Generous Gift From a Family of Regulars." ABC News. 13 July 2007 <http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnlyinAmerica/story?id=3374034>.

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(105) Source: Kurt Dusterberg, Journeymen: Bittersweet Tales of Short Major League Sports Careers, p. 194.

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(112) Source: Eric Frazier, "Merry Christmas... and here's $100." The Charlotte Observer. 4 December 2010 <http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/12/04/1886360/merry-christmas-and-heres-100.html>.

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(119) Source: Christopher Maag, "Kindness of a Stranger That Still Resonates." The New York Times. 7 November 2010 <http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/us/08canton.html?_r=2&hp>.

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(122) Source: Arnold Geier, Heroes of the Holocaust, pp. 228-233.

(123) Source: Ted Gottfried, Heroes of the Holocaust, pp. 42-43.

(124) Source: Arnold Geier, Heroes of the Holocaust, pp. 19-29.

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(129) Source: Shmuel Himelstein, Words of Wisdom, Words of Wit, pp. 93, 98.

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(134) Source: John Deedy, A Book of Catholic Anecdotes, p. 151.

(135) Source: Craig Marberry, Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom from Black Barber Shops, pp. 101-103.

(136) Source: John Deedy, A Book of Catholic Anecdotes, pp. 185-186.

(137) Source: Rebecca Ann Markway, "Soldiers get a first-class gift: A generous man starts a trend of trading seats with war-weary troops." The Houston Chronicle. Knight Ridder Tribune News. 28 July 2004 <<http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/2704878.html>>.

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(139) Source: George Jessel, Jessel, Anyone?, pp. 12-14.

(140) Source: "A Tribute to the Heroes of 9-11." June. National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. 2010 Calendar.

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(142) Source: Charles Grodin, et al., If I Only Knew Then... Learning from Our Mistakes, pp. 201-203.

(143) Source: Jamais Cascio, "Free Wheelchair Mission." Worldchanging. 29 July 2004 <http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/000973.html>. For more information, go to <<http://www.freewheelchairmission.org/site/c.fgLFIXOJKtF/b.4916275/k.BE91/Home.htm>> and <<http://www.freewheelchairmission.org/site/c.fgLFIXOJKtF/b.4922379/k.B0A5/FAQs.htm>>.

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(150) Source: William Yardley, "A Donor Match Over Small Talk and Coffee." The New York Times. 4 March 2008 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/us/04barista.html?_r=1&ex=1362373200&en=465443a300fe44f5&ei=5089&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&oref=slogin>. Also: John Iwasaki, "Once strangers, they now share so much more than a kidney." Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 8 March 2009 <http://www.seattlepi.com/local/402792_donor09.html>.

(151) Source: George Jessel, Jessel, Anyone?, pp. 3-4.

(152) Source: Lucy Mangan, "We're in a right state." The Guardian (UK). 12 March 2011 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/12/disability-britain-society-lucy-mangan>.

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(154) Source: Jaimee Rose and Mary Jo Pitzl, "Daniel Hernandez, intern, stays by Gabrielle Giffords' side." The Arizona Republic. 9 January 2011 <http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/01/09/20110109daniel-hernandez-gabrielle-giffords-arizona-shooting.html>. Also: Katy Steinmetz: "Daniel Hernandez: The Intern Who Helped Rescue Giffords." Time. 12 January 2011 <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2042329,00.html#ixzz1B0urqZb1>.

(155) Source: "Oliver Sipple Saves President Ford's Life." American Presidents Blog. 3 August 2006 <http://www.american-presidents.org/2006/08/oliver-sipple-saves-president-fords.html>. Also: "Oliver Sipple." Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Sipple>. Accessed 14 January 2011.

(156) Source: Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison. 28 October 1785 <<http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/founders/documents/v1ch15s32.html>>.

(157) Source: Peter C. Jones and Lisa MacDonald, Hero Dogs: 100 True Stories of Daring Deeds, pp. 146-147.

(158) Source: Elaine Furst, "Texas Dog Earns Award For Saving Owner's Life." The Dog Files. 25 May 2011 <<http://www.thedogfiles.com/2011/05/25/texas-dog-earns-award-for-saving-owners-life/>>. Also: Jim Bergamo, "Dog saves man paralyzed in biking accident." Kvue News. 7 December 2010 <<http://www.kvue.com/home/related/Dog-saves-man-paralyzed-in-biking-accident-111453219.html>>. Also: Pam LeBlanc, "Dog earns award for helping save a life." American-Statesman (Austin, TX). 23 May 2011 <<http://www.statesman.com/news/local/dog-earns-award-for-helping-save-a-life-1491722.html>>.

(159) Source: Lisa Holewa, "Family Dog Credited With Keeping Missing Boy Alive." AOLNews.com. 3 April 2011 <<http://www.aolnews.com/2011/04/03/family-dog-credited-with-keeping-missing-boy-tyler-jacobson-aliv/>>. Also: Rachael Myers Lowe: "Sheriff: Dog kept missing child safe + video." The State. 3 April 2011 <<http://www.thestate.com/2011/04/02/1762268/toddler-missing-overnight-found.html>>.

(160) Source: Sandra Markle, Animal Heroes: True Rescue Stories, pp. 20-24.

(161) Source: Brenda Goodman, "After Surviving Hurricane and Being Mauled by Dog, Pony Is Still Standing." New York Times. 15 May 2006 <http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/15/us/15pony.html?_r=2&n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FAnimals&pagewanted=all>.

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(163) Source: Morris Stephenson, "Hero dog fights for her life: Shetland Sheepdog was clawed by a bear while protecting her master." The Franklin News-Post (Virginia). 15 May 2009 <http://www.thefranklinnewspost.com/article.cfm?ID=13634>.

(164) Source: Lora Grindlay, "Family dog saves B.C. boy from cougar attack." Canwest News Service. 4 January 2010 <http://www.globalnews.ca/story.html?id=2403988>.

(165) Source: "Terrier That Saved Owners from Coyote Named 'Hero Dog.'" KTLA News. 5 May 2010 <http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-hero-dog,0,1992477.story>.

(166) Source: "Stray Pit Bull Saves Woman, Child From Attacker." The Dog Files. 3 February 2011 <http://www.thedogfiles.com/2011/02/03/stray-pit-bull-saves-woman-child-from-attacker/>.

(167) Source: Elaine Furst, "Guide Dog Saves Owner In Christchurch, New Zealand Earthquake." The Dog Files. 9 March 2011 <http://www.thedogfiles.com/2011/03/09/guide-dog-saves-owner-in-christchurch-new-zealand-earthquake/>. Also: "New Zealand earthquake: 65 dead in Christchurch." BBC. 22 February 2011 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12533291>.

(168) Source: Sandra Markle, Animal Heroes: True Rescue Stories, pp. 25-31.

(169) Source: Brad and Sherry Hansen Steiger, Animal Miracles: Inspirational and Heroic True Stories, pp. 81-84.

(170) Source: Daniel Schweimler, "Argentine dog saves abandoned baby." BBC News, Buenos Aires. 23 August 2008 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7577275.stm>. Also: "Dog protected abandoned newborn, doctors say." CNN. 23 August 2008 <http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/08/22/argentina.dog.tale/index.html?iref=newssearch#cnnSTCText>.

(171) Source: "Dog Rescues 12-Year-Old Boy From River." Omaha (NE) TV station KETV. 17 June 2008 <http://www.turnto23.com/family/16630197/detail.html>.

(172) Source: "Dogs save drowning toddler." The Daily Telegram. 14 December 2007 <<http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/dogs-save-drowning-toddler/story-e6freuzr-1111115110916>>.

(173) Source: Brad and Sherry Hansen Steiger, Animal Miracles: Inspirational and Heroic True Stories, p. 43. Also: "Priscilla." Texas Animal Hall of Fame. <<http://www.tvma.org/Pet_Owners/08_hof_priscilla.phtml>>. Accessed 21 February 2011.

(174) Source: Juli, "Juli, Good Deed Doer." The Bailey Family Blog. 25 August 2010 <http://blog.baileyscabin.com/2010/08/25/juli-good-deed-doer.aspx>. Juli's blog entry is well worth reading. In it, Juli submits a report of her good deed to Secret Agent L in Pittsburgh, PA.

(175) Source: Personal anecdote.

(176) Source: Kosher Kid from Brooklyn, NY, "Deeds." One Small Deed. 12 Oct 2010 <<http://onesmalldeed.com/deeds/listdeeds/user:113>>.

(177) Source: Miguel Liscano, "Randalls employee fired for chasing theft suspect." Austin (TX) American-Statesman. 28 July 2009 <<http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/2009/07/28/0728randalls.html>>.

(178) Source: "Good deed praised by paramedic." Press Release of South East Coast Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust. 14 October 2010 <<http://www.surrey-ambulance.nhs.uk/latest-news/october-december-2010/good-deed-praised-by-paramedic>>.

(179) Source: Deb, from Toronto, Ont. "Day 644: Doesn't hurt to ask." Good Deed a Day. 21 March 2011 <<http://gooddeedaday.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/day-644-doesnt-hurt-to-ask/>>.

(180) Source: Joshua Runyan. "Anonymous Good Deed Earns Newspaper's Admiration." Talk of the Planet. Chabad Lubavitch News Blog. 3 January 2011 <<http://www.chabad.org/blogs/blog_cdo/aid/1401191/jewish/Anonymous-Good-Deed-Earns-Newspapers-Admiration.htm>>.

(181) Source: "FMPD honors 6 children for good deeds." ANC-7.com. 12 April 2011 <<http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=14431516>>.

(182) Source: Associated Press, "Family finds $45,000 in new home—then returns it." Newsvine.com. 19 May 2011 <<http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2011/05/19/6677771-family-finds-45000-in-new-home-then-returns-it>>. Also: Wendy Leonard, "Big cash discovery leads to a lesson in honesty for new Bountiful homeowners." Deseret News. 18 May 2011 <<http://www.deseretnews.com/mobile/article/705372941/Big-cash-discovery-leads-to-a-lesson-in-honesty-for-new-Bountiful-homeowners.html>>.

(183) Source: Anna from New York, "Lifesaver Hero: A Stranger." My Hero Project. 25 May 2004 <<http://www.myhero.com/go/hero.asp?hero=stranger>>.

(184) Source: Steve Alberts, "Good Samaritans help save Austin man's life." KVUE News. 29 April 2011 <http://www.kvue.com/news/Good-samaritans-help-save-mans-life-120995194.html>.

(185) Source: "Tipster Turns Down $40,000 Reward." Associated Press. Posted on Russian Atlanta. 7 December 2004 <<http://www.russianatlanta.net/forums/thread/7933.aspx>>.

(186) Source: Martin Mittelstaedt, "Modest School Teacher Wills Millions to Charity." The Globe and Mail. 29 September 2006. Posted on <<http://www.charityfocus.org/blog/view.php?id=1317>> on 24 October 2006. Accessed 13 April 2011.

(187) Source: Nick Ralston, "Men in black are the white knights of the night." The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia). 20 May 2010 <<http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/men-in-black-are-the-white-knights-of-the-night-20100519-vfc5.html?autostart=1>>.

(188) Source: Just Looking, "The Good Deed." Simple Stories. 28 May 2004 <http://simplestories.blogspot.com/2004/05/good-deed.html>.

(189) Source: Ashley Frantz, "Executed man's last request honored — pizza for homeless." CNN. 9 May 2007 <http://articles.cnn.com/2007-05-09/us/execution.pizza_1_pizzas-nashville-s-rescue-mission-homeless-shelters?_s=PM:US>. Also: Ashley Frantz, "Convicted killer fears his last moments." CNN/ 2 May 2007 <http://articles.cnn.com/2007-05-02/us/lethal.injection_1_lethal-injection-three-drug-cocktail-cocktail-of-lethal-drugs?_s=PM:US>.

(190) Source: M. Williams, "The Kindness of a Stranger – Good Deeds Story #7." Honestyblog.com. 8 June 2010 <http://honestyblog.com/2010/06/08/the-kindness-of-a-stranger-good-deeds-story-7/>.

(191) Source: Michelle Singer, "The Rose Man's Petal Power." CBS News. 3 August 2007 <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/03/assignment_america/main3132106.shtml>.

(192) Source: Your Neighbor, "A Rose For Morgan." Gooddeedsforoursouls. 4 April 2007 <http://gooddeedsforoursouls.blogspot.com/>.

(193) Source: Julia, "My Honesty Rewarded Me – Honesty Story #26." Honestyblog.com. 12 March 2009 <http://honestyblog.com/2009/03/12/my-honesty-rewarded-me-honesty-story-26/>.

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(201) Source: Cpl. Greg Porch, Crestview High School Resource Officer. "Letter to the Editor: CHS student performs good deed." Crestview (FL) News Bulletin. 8 November 2008 <http://www.crestviewbulletin.com/news/student-4078-good-school.html#>.

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(203) Source: Cliff Newell, "Two West Linn girls rewarded for good deed." The West Linn Tidings. 24 December 2009 <http://www.westlinntidings.com/news/story.php?story_id=126159734610112600>.

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(210) Source: Steven Morris, "British sailor saves Kanton islanders from starvation." Guardian. 10 May 2010 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/10/british-yachtsman-kanton-island-resue>.

(211) Source: Danielle Berger, "Once a rising star, chef now feeds hungry." CNN. 2 April 2010 <http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/04/01/cnnheroes.krishnan.hunger/index.html>. See also the Akshaya Trust Web site: <http://www.akshayatrust.org/>.

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(213) Source: Nick Kenney, "Alert pizza delivery driver saves customer's life." WMC-TV. 22 February 2011 <http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=14071806>. Also: <http://www.wmctv.com/global/category.asp?c=195967&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5595120&flvUri=&partnerclipid=>.

(214) Source: Susan Miller Degnan, "For Haitian housekeeper, windfall after her kindness." Miami Herald. 12 June 2010 <http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/12/1676348/for-haitian-housekeeper-windfall.html>.

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(216) Source: "3-year-old's 911 call saves grandma's life." WPVI-TV. 25 January 2010 <http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=7239080>.

(217) Source: Diane Herbst, "From Seedlings to Servings: 11-Year-Old Grows Tons of Veggies for the Homeless." Tonic.com. 25 July 2010 <http://www.tonic.com/article/katies-krops-katie-stagliano-11-grows-donates-tons-veggies-to-homeless/>.

(218) Source: Sean Collins Walsh, "Driver thanks man who hit him on purpose." Seattle Times. 20 October 2010 <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2013215629_hero21m.html>.

(219) Source: Cynthia Dizikes, "A missed connection leads to a special bond: Chicago man helps Canadian woman who was stranded at O'Hare." Chicago Tribune. 6 January 2010 <http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/happynews/chi-good-samaritan-06-jan06,0,6934448.story>. Also: Mary Agnes Welch, "Her knight in shiny shoes: Modern Good Samaritan comes through for senior." Winnipeg Free Press. 3 January 2010 <http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/Good-Samaritan-rescues-stranded-Winnipegger-80534977.html?viewAllComments=y>.

(220) Source: Lawrence J. Epstein, A Treasury of Jewish Anecdotes, p. 162.

(221) Source: Natalie Avon, "Pilot holds flight for man going to see dying grandson." CNN. 14 January 2011 <http://articles.cnn.com/2011-01-14/travel/southwest.pilot.holds.flight_1_pilot-grandson-security-checkpoint?_s=PM:TRAVEL>.

(222) Source: Kay Brown, "Letter: Cashier's good deed one of integrity." Letter to the Editor. The Casey County (Kentucky) News. 24 February 2009 <http://www.caseynews.net/content/letter-cashiers-good-deed-one-integrity>.

(223) Source: Cynthia Hubert, "Moved by story of quadriplegic woman's love of reading, a Fair Oaks retiree donates a Kindle." Sacramento Bee. 24 January 2011 <http://www.sacbee.com/2011/01/20/3337351/moved-by-story-of-quadriplegic.html>.

(224) Source: "Through Rain, Sleet, Snow, Lifesaving." NPR. 16 July 2010 <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128571993>. Also: Kathryn Hawkins, "Postal Worker Keith McVey Delivers CPS Along with Mail." Gimundo.com. 16 July 2010 <http://gimundo.com/news/article/postal-worker-keith-mcvey-delivers-cps-along-with-mail/>. Also: "Keith McVey: A mailman with a knack for saving lives." Americantowns.com. <http://www.americantowns.com/oh/akron/heroes/keith-mcvey-a-mailman-with-a-knack-for-saving-lives-1>. Accessed 25 January 2011.

(225) Source: Julie Mullen, "Stranger donates kidney to save boy's life." The Elgin (Illinois) Courier-News. 4 January 2011 <http://couriernews.suntimes.com/news/2296352-418/doing-nathan-tina-kidney-courier.html>. Also: Charlie Wojciechowski and B.J. Lutz, "Stranger Donates Kidney, Saves Boy." NBC Chicago. 12 November 2010 <http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/saavedra-doing-kidney-donation-107577123.html>.

(226) Source: Paul Newberry, "College baseball coach donates his kidney to player." Associated Press. San Jose Mercury News (California). 12 February 2012 <http://www.mercurynews.com/college-sports/ci_17375552?nclick_check=1>.

(227) Source: Nancy Uhren, "Letter to the editor: Good deed reported." Tulsa World. 13 June 2010 <http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectid=62&articleid=20100613_62_G2_Recent664770&allcom=1>.

(228) Source: Elizabeth Chuck, "For microphilanthropist, donations are a part of daily life." Msnbc.msn.com. 22 December 2010 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40607088/ns/us_news-giving/>.

(229) Source: Marc Hertz, "Sisters Find Nearly $18,000, Return to Owner." Tonic.com. 4 June 1010 <http://www.tonic.com/article/sisters-return-nearly-18-thousand-dollars-to-owner/>.

(230) Source: Toan Lam, "Paying it Back: Unemployed Man Serves as Lifeline to 60 Neighbors." Tonic.com. 12 January 2011 <http://www.tonic.com/article/paying-it-back-unemployed-man-serves-as-lifeline-to-60-neighbors/>.

(231) Source: Ray Weiss, "Firefighter's good deed rescues mom, son." Daytona Beach News-Journal. 23 December 2010 <http://www.news-journalonline.com/news/local/east-volusia/2010/12/23/firefighters-good-deed-rescues-mom-son.html>.

(232) Source: David Lohr, "Samaritan Hero: God 'Put Me Here' to Rescue Girl." Aolnews.com. 6 October 2010 <http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/06/samaritan-hero-i-thank-god-he-put-me-here-to-rescue-girl/>. Also: Diana Marcum, "Concerned citizen helps free kidnapped Fresno girl." Los Angeles Times. 6 October 2010 <http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/06/local/la-me-1006-kidnap-20101006/2>.

(233) Source: Lettie Teague, "The Outrage of the Upsell." Wall Street Journal. 8 January 2011 <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203525404576049671256695638.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_11_1>.

(234) Source: Lucy Mangan, "Of nice and men." The Guardian. 8 January 2011 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/08/lucy-mangan-nice-men-shock>.

(235) Source: Sevil Omer, "Giving Thanks for Everyday American Heroes: No. 1: Bus Driver to the Rescue." MSNBC. 25 November 2010 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40111347/ns/us_news-life/>. Also: Aaron Saykin, "Buffalo Metro Bus Driver Saves 10 People From Burning Home." 2010 <http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=79180>.

(236) Source: Howard Altman, "Brothers rescue man from sinking car in pond." The Tampa Tribune. 13 December 2010 <http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/dec/13/131405/strangers-save-tampa-man-from-sinking-car-in-pond/news-breaking/>.

(237) Source: CBS News and Associated Press, "Dead Sailor Called A Hero For Saving 5 Capsized Sailboat Left Sailors Stranded For More Than A Day In Gulf Of Mexico." CBS News. 9 June 2008 <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/09/national/main4162659.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_4162659>.

(238) Source: "Calgary climber 'exhausted but very happy' to conquer Everest." CBC News. 23 May 2008 <http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2008/05/23/cgy-everest-brash.html?ref=rss>. Also: "Calgary man says Everest rescue was 'the only thing to do.'" CBC News. 2 June 2006 <http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2006/06/02/ca-climber-rescue-20060602.html>. Also: "Climber safe, speaks to wife." The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 May 2006 <http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/climber-safe-speaks-to-wife/2006/05/27/1148524925275.html>. Also: "Lincoln Hall (climber)." Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Hall_(climber)>. Accessed 24 December 2010.

(239) Source: "Honest Cabbie Driver in New York." Posted on <http://www.skyscrapercity.com/archive/index.php/t-248862-p-9.html>. Accessed on 1 May 2011. Also: "Nestor Suplico. Proudly Filipino. <<http://proudly-filipino.blogspot.com/2010/10/nestor-suplico.html>>. Accessed on 1 May 2011. Also: Kamelia Angelova, "Hero cabbie gets posthumous degree." New York Daily News. 6 June 2008 < http://articles.nydailynews.com/2008-06-06/local/17900191_1_colon-cancer-nursing-cabbie>.

(240) Source: Salim Rizvi, "Bangladesh cabbie is toast of NYC." BBC News. 9 February 2007 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6345901.stm>. Also: "Muslim Cab Drivers Return Thousands of Dollars Left in Taxi." The Islamic Workplace. 13 January 2010 <<http://makkah.wordpress.com/2010/01/13/muslim-cab-drivers-return-thousands-of-dollars-left-in-taxi/>>.

(241) Source: Candace Piette, "Honest taxi driver reaps rewards." BBC News, Buenos Aires. 7 May 2009 <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8039240.stm>. Also: Hannah Mendoza, "Taxi Driver's Honesty Pays Off." The Argentina Independent. 8 May 2009 <http://www.argentinaindependent.com/currentaffairs/newsroundups/roundupsargentina/taxi-drivers-honesty-pays-off-/>. Also: "The Amazing Story of Santiago Gori." Taxi Gourmet. 11 May 2009 <http://www.taxigourmet.com/2009/05/11/the-amazing-story-of-santiago-gori/>.

(242) Source: Kathy Aney, "From Paris to Pendleton: A lost bag's journey." East Oregonian.19 January 2011 <http://www.eastoregonian.com/mobile/article_7707eaf6-2408-11e0-a486-001cc4c03286.html>.

(243) Source: "Good Samaritan credits camp for first-aid training." CTV. 22 May 2008 <<http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20080522/greys_stabbing_080522/20080522/?hub=TorontoNewHome>>. Also: "Good Samaritan Meets Stabbing Victim A Day After Harrowing Crime." 21 Mary 2008. CityNews Toronto <<http://www.citytv.com/toronto/citynews/news/local/article/1927--good-samaritan-meets-stabbing-victim-a-day-after-harrowing-crime>>.

(244) Source: "Skydiver's bravery saves Aussie's life." The Sydney Morning Herald. 2 August 2006 <<http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/skydivers-bravery-saves-aussies-life/2006/08/02/1154198169252.html>>. Also: Dan Silkstone, "Father's tears for battered daughter lying in pain." The Age. 11 January 2007 <http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/fathers-tears-for-battered-daughter-lying-in-pain/2007/01/10/1168105052459.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2>. Also: Jordan Baker and Beck Eleven, "Bravest of the brave honoured for selfless acts." The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 March 2008 <http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/at-23-he-gave-his-life-to-save-another/2008/03/16/1205602195110.html>.

(245) Source: Darla Pickett, "Success fuels his desire to aid others." The Kennebec Journal (Augusta ME). 19 July 2009 <http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/kennebec-journal/mi_8137/is_20090719/success-fuels-desire-aid/ai_n50899975/?tag=content;col1>.

(246) Source: Ellen Barry, "Stunned Victim Turns Hero." The New York Times. 3 August 2007 <<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/us/03bus.html>>.

(247) Source: Kara Jesella and Marisa Melitzer, How SASSY Changed My Life. A Love Letter to the Greatest Teen Magazine of All Time, p. 37. Also, "Kevyn Aucoin." <<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevyn_Aucoin>>. Accessed 8 August 2010.

(248) Source: Marilyn Tower Oliver, Gay and Lesbian Rights: A Struggle, p. 40.

(249) Source: Sara Marcus, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot GRRRL Revolution, pp. 284-285.

(250) Source: Bernard Hare, "A real Good Samaritan." BBC News Magazine. 24 December 2010 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12043294>.

