Alexandra Stoddard. Famous writer and healthy eater…

Posted on 08/23/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

Endorses our book; adding “healthy eating” information in her next book

The first Alexandra Stoddard book that I ever read was Living A Beautiful Life — about twenty-five years ago and fifteen years before I met her. In 2003, imagine my delight when I learned that the woman who wrote all about beautiful living had chosen the same seaside community as I had; for her home — Stonington, CT.

They really do “live a beautiful life” every day. This was taken in the early afternoon of a sparkling Tuesday in the early summer of 2011 — at the Dog Watch Cafe in Stonington.

During the past eight years, Alexandra and her husband, Peter Megargee Brown (Yale grad, attorney, author) have become dear friends and fellow pioneers on the road to eating foods that promote not only our own health, but the health of the planet as well. Just after finishing our manuscript last November, I invited Alexandra and Peter to attend a packed-house private viewing of Forks Over Knives (where I was the M.C.) in a cinema in Mystic, CT.

Already moving toward a plant-based diet, that movie really got their attention and influenced them to pick up the pace. Since then, they report a number of health benefits such as weight-loss, not getting sick as often, feeling better in general, etc. But the most impressive thing that I have heard from them is that Peter’s chronic arthritis has simply disappeared — in his 90th year. Hallelujah!

Click on image for a book preview.

After writing about beautiful living, happiness and joy for over thirty years, Alexandra is in the process of adding a chapter on healthy eating in her twenty-eighth book — which will be published in 2012. After all, how beautiful can your life be if you don’t have your health? And how much more beautiful could it be if you’re promoting the health of the planet, saving fossil fuels, feeding the world’s hungry and ending the suffering of animals—all at the same time?

For the past year, I have visited with Alexandra and Peter often while they were dining at the Water Street Cafe in Stonington — always talking about the grassroots revolution that is taking place in plant-based nutrition.

From the very beginning, Alexandra has told me repeatedly that I was onto something really big. Earlier this year, she asked for a copy of our manuscript as she was thinking that she might like to write an endorsement for our book. And here it is, a wonderful endorsement — one of only four that will be featured on the book’s cover:

“J. Morris Hicks’s world-changing book, “Healthy Eating –Healthy World,” is compelling in transforming our health — promoting dietary choices to be over 80% from whole plant foods. Not only will we restore our own fitness, vigor and happiness as we become healthier; we will be celebrating a world-wide paradigm shift by living in harmony with nature on our precious planet.” — Alexandra Stoddard

With millions of fans around the world, this highly regarded author, speaker and former columnist for McCall’s, will influence many of those fans to lend an open ear to the message in our book. We are thrilled that she wrote this wonderful endorsement and delighted that she will be saying a few words at our book launch party at the Saltwater Farm Vineyard on September 29.

Not familiar with Alexandra’s books? Click here to view her author page that includes many of her books, hest-selling Living a Beautiful Life on Amazon, 500 Ways to Add Elegance, Order, Beauty and Joy to Every Day of Your Life.

Handy 5-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

Why should we be eating mostly plants? The “big picture” in 4 minutes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

International. We’re now reaching people in over 100 countries. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter or get daily blog notices by “following” us in the top of the right-hand column. For occasional updates, join our periodic mailing list.

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

To order more of my favorite books—visit our online BookStore now

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, visit our 4Leaf page and also enjoy some great recipes from Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation

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LEADERSHIP. Grassroots revolution or one-term president?

Posted on 08/22/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

How about both?  A one-term president leading that revolution

Yesterday, I blogged about the concept of a “one term president” who actually ran for the office with no desire whatsoever of serving two terms. But rather, running with the platform of hitting the ground running on Day One — using the biggest pulpit in the world to promote positive change for all humankind, for our precious planet and for all of her creatures. (See link to yesterday’s blog below)

To me, this concept would not be in lieu of, but would work in concert with the grassroots revolution that I have mentioned often. We all know that within our system of checks and balances that the American president, while holding the world’s most powerful office, has very little real power to make any sweeping changes. But he does have the world’s ear and has unlimited access to every leader in the free world, which hopefully later today will include Libya. He also has access to “big picture” information generated by some of the brightest minds in the world.

With all of that information, relationships, and an unlimited international stage — coupled with exceptional leadership skills; a results-oriented American president could accomplish a great deal in four years. Not by forcing change through the tedious congressional process but by inspiring the general population of the United States of America.

In other words, that president could give our grassroots revolution the biggest shot in the arm possible. And we’d be able to take it from there; but that presidential leadership during the early stages could possibly shave decades off the entire process.

As it stands today in American politics, the focus from the get-go is to serve two terms as president and for every senator or member of the House to serve as many terms as possible. An incredible amount of time, energy and money is wasted as the entire process is driven by the “great dead weight of public opinion.” (a phrase I borrowed from Donald Watson — yesterday’s blog). The result is that virtually everything we do seems to be sub-optimized — our health care dilemma is the most urgent example of this process. We seem to always reach solutions with which almost no one is truly happy.

We interrupt this blog to report: The CNN Special “The Last Heart Attack” was re-scheduled due to breaking news in Libya last night. Now airing on Saturday, August 27 at 8 p.m. ET

Back to leadership; yesterday I consulted a good friend who is also someone that I respect as a great leader. I asked him to take a look at my blog and let me know what he thought. His response:

Nice post!!  I believe our democracy is proving to be very expensive as true leaders don’t want to get involved…….

To be sure, our system doesn’t seem to appeal to the great leaders — only to the great managers. And there’s a huge difference between the two. Having spent most of my 40-year career in the world of business, I have worked for both managers and leaders, but had a lot more fun when I was working for the latter.

No question the world needs both; but the world will be much better served if most of the managers are reporting to the leaders — instead of basing every decision on the great dead weight of public opinion.

So what’s the difference between managers and leaders? Drawing from my own experience and searching the internet for the wisdom of others, today, I have compiled my top ten list that best describes what leadership means to me:

  1. Managers concentrate on strategy — Leaders nurture culture
  2. Managers wield authority — Leaders apply influence
  3. Managers consider dangers — Leaders seek opportunity
  4. Managers seek markets — Leaders serve people
  5. Managers control people  — Leaders empower people
  6. Managers employ consistency — Leaders elicit creativity
  7. Managers see complexity — Leaders see simplicity
  8. Managers refine — Leaders revolutionize
  9. Managers are skeptical — Leaders are optimistic
  10. Managers perform duties — Leaders pursue dreams

Ted even has a chain of restaurants that he could transform quickly —  He’s already got part of a great tagline. Just needs to add “Save the Buffaloes — Eat More Plants!”

Yesterday, I asked the question: “What if someone like Ted Turner became inspired to serve as President of the United States for one term only?”

Whoever it is, we need someone with exceptional leadership skills, a reputation for getting things done, solid international recognition, a genuine concern for the environment and enough money to convince the world that he wasn’t doing this for personal gain. Maybe there are others who are better qualified — but Ted was just the first one that came to mind.

A final thought. Not once in this entire blog have I mentioned the process of humankind returning to the natural diet for our species. But since I feel that it is inevitable for many reasons, I have no doubt that if we truly “lead and nourish” the process that it will be much less traumatic for all concerned. I have also heard from a few friends that Mr. Turner may be receptive to hearing our message regarding this inevitable change. And if he chooses to help lead this process; he could make a tremendous difference even if he never came near the office of president.

For the record, there are four compelling reasons why our typical Western diet is simply unsustainable for much longer: too many people, not enough land, not enough energy, and not enough water. We need leadership to address this impending disaster NOW; rather than waiting for Mother Nature to do it herself.

Yesterday’s blog: “One Term President” — just might be the answer

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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

 

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“One Term President” — just might be the answer

Posted on 08/21/2011 by J. Morris Hicks

As the late Dr. W. Edwards Deming would say, we only need three things to fix the mess that we are in: Leadership, Leadership and Leadership.

When I arrived at the Mystic Starbucks this morning at 6 a.m., I had no idea what I was going to write about. A few minutes later, I read Maureen Dowd’s opinion column from yesterday’s New York Times. And while I was reading that piece, I received a message from my new friend on the Isle of Wight. Drawing inspiration from both of those inputs, my topic today is LEADERSHIP.

Donald Watson (1910-2005) the founder of the Vegan Society in the UK in 1944

Writing about Donald Watson (1910-2005) co-founder of the Vegan Society and author of the first issue of Vegan News in 1944, Frances writes today:

Hello Jim, this was taken from the original vegan newsletter in 1944 by Donald Watson.  He was a modest pioneer whose wisdom is echoed in your own campaign.

I have selected a brief excerpt from that first newsletter, one whose tone sounds a bit like our Declaration of Independence. He clearly points out the absurdity of our current (67 years ago) human “feeding model,” then challenges the civilized people of the mid-twentieth century to take action to get us back on the right path. From that very first quarterly newsletter (November 1944), Mr. Watson writes:

We can see quite plainly that our present civilisation is built on the exploitation of animals, just as past civilisations were built on the exploitation of slaves, and we believe the spiritual destiny of man is such that in time he will view with abhorrence the idea that men once fed on the products of animals’ bodies. Even though the scientific evidence may be lacking, we shrewdly suspect that the great impediment to man’s moral development may be that he is a parasite of lower forms of animal life. Investigation into the non-material (vibrational) properties of foods has yet barely begun, and it is not likely that the usual materialistic methods of research will be able to help much with it. But is it not possible that as a result of eliminating all animal vibrations from our diet we may discover the way not only to really healthy cell construction but also to a degree of intuition and psychic awareness unknown at present?

A common criticism is that the time is not yet ripe for our reform. Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? Did Wilberforce wait for the ‘ripening’ of time before he commenced his fight against slavery? Did Edwin Chadwick, Lord Shaftesbury, and Charles Kingsley wait for such a non-existent moment before trying to convince the great dead weight of public opinion that clean water and bathrooms would be an improvement? If they had declared their intention to poison everybody, the opposition they met could hardly have been greater. There is an obvious danger in leaving the fulfilment of our ideals to posterity, for posterity may not have our ideals.

With those insightful words fresh in your mind, let’s fast-forward sixty-seven years to what’s happening with the person who is currently occupying the most powerful office in the world — that of President of the United States. Maureen Dowd wrote yesterday about a resident of Alpha, IL, and her frustrations which are shared by a majority of our nation’s voters:

“Everyone was so hopeful with him, but Washington grabbed him and here we are. I just want him to stay strong and don’t take the guff. We want a president who is a leader, and I want him to be a little bit stronger.”Hers was a gentler message than the sign stuck on a post outside Alpha: “One Term President.”

But her three words summed it up: Washington grabbed him. Why did this man whose contempt for Congress is clear, who ran on the idea that he could transform a broken Washington, surrender to its conventional timetable and bureaucratic language?

My Main Point. What this country (indeed this world) needs right now is a one-term president who actually runs on that promise. Someone who spends ALL four years aggressively leveraging the unique strengths of the most powerful office in the world to bring about positive change. What we need is a true leader who will put 100% of his/her effort into getting something done — bringing to life a simple concept that can dramatically change the world.

What if someone like Ted Turner ran for office on such a platform? Our latest debt ceiling fiasco, our futile attempt at fixing health-care, and a host of other problems should make it perfectly clear — like a blinding flash of the obvious, that our current system is not going to provide the LEADERSHIP that we must have to get the human race back on the right track. No one seems to be happy with what we have today and it’s not the fault of President Barack Obama. Nor was it the fault of President George W. Bush or President Bill Clinton before him. It’s the system.

A very "presidential looking" Ted Turner

Okay, so you may not be a Ted Turner fan, but let me ask you this. How many people do you know that gave one billion dollars of their own money to the U.N. — with no apparent political agenda? Whether you like or dislike him is not the point; the point is that we need a LEADER who is not primarily concerned with getting re-elected in four years. In fact, we’d prefer a leader who does not wish to be re-elected.

We could do much worse than Ted Turner at the helm for the next four years.  In case you’ve forgotten, the man knows a thing or two about vision, leadership and getting things done. He may be down to his last billion, but he still knows how to get things done. Wikipedia provides this summary.

Robert Edward “Ted” Turner III (born November 19, 1938[2]) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable newschannel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television. As a philanthropist, he is known for his $1 billion gift to support UN causes, which created the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden support for the UN. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors.[3]

J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

Bottom Line. When it comes to our health, the cost of health care, the environment, the energy crisis, world hunger and the future of life on this planet as we know it — I am absolutely convinced that the single most important step that we humans can make is to simply return to the natural diet for our species — as quickly as we possibly can. If we depend on the normal snail pace of social change, it will take way too long. What we need is LEADERSHIP — and we need it NOW.

As for Ted, I actually met him long ago at the Atlanta airport, but I do not know him personally. However, I do know a dozen or so people who are quite close to him and was advised recently that he might possibly be receptive to listening to the message in our book. After listening, maybe some of it will resonate with him and maybe, just maybe, he will find an interesting challenge for himself to embrace. And we all know what he can do when he embraces a challenge. From the last paragraph of the Introduction, I wrote:

Publisher -- BenBella Books (the same publisher that brought you The China Study)

The primary objective of this book is to outline in simple, everyday terms the extent of the problems we face, how we got ourselves into trouble, and what each of us can do to make things better. Fortunately, despite the incredible complexity of our current dilemma, the solution is refreshingly simple.

All we have to do is educate ourselves, start making better choices about what we eat, and then share all that we have learned with everyone we care about. I am convinced that there has never been anything more important in the history of the world.

In closing, a note to Mr. Turner. Dear Ted, I was speaking earlier this week with Dr. T. Colin Campbell of Cornell. He and I would be interested in having a discussion with you about this crucial topic. I would be happy to arrange such a meeting and would also like to include Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (Cleveland Clinic) who is appearing tonight on your CNN with Dr. Gupta.

Can time ever be ripe for any reform unless it is ripened by human determination? 

Click below for the another edition of the Ted Turner Story

LEADERSHIP. Grassroots revolution or one-term president?

Best regards, J. Morris Hicks

(See links below to the Vegan Society Newsletter and the Maureen Dowd piece mentioned earlier.)

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If you like what you see here, you may wish to join our periodic mailing list. Also, for help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4-Leaf page. From the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

If you’d like to order our book on Amazon,  visit our BookStore now.

—J. Morris Hicks…blogging daily at HealthyEatingHealthyWorld.com

PS: Occasionally an unauthorized ad may appear beneath a blog post. It is controlled by WordPress (a totally free hosting service). I do not approve or personally benefit whatsoever from any ad that might ever appear on this site. I apologize and urge you to please disregard. 

The Original Vegan Newsletter from 1944 in pdf

Maureen Dowd 8-20-2011 One Term President – NYTimes.com.

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