Original stories by
His Holiness The Dalai Lama, Paul McCartney,
Willie Nelson , Dennis Kucinich, Russell Simmons ,
Brigitte Bardot , Martina Navratilova , Stella McCartney,
Ravi Shankar, Oliver Stone , Helen Thomas...
and Dozens of Other Extraordinary Individuals
One Can
Make a
Difference
HOW SIMPLE ACTIONS CAN CHANGE THE WORLD
Ingrid E. Newkirk
with Jane Ratcliffe
Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it!
—John Anster in a loose interpretation of Goethe’s Faust
Copyright © 2008 by Ingrid E. Newkirk
All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any
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made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
Published by
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ISBN-10: 1-59869-629-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-59869-629-5
eISBN: 978-1-44051-532-3
Printed in the United States of America.
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Acknowledgments
For their help in reaching busy people, thanks go to Marjorie Fields-Harris, Simone Reyes, Alexi Tavel, Ina Behrend, Suzie Gilbert, Mandi Warrren, Claudine Erlandson, Holly Dearden, Stephane Jasper, Annaig Lamoureux, Paul Margolin, Mia McDonald, Mandi Warren, Katie Annen, Betty Oyugi, P. Gay Harrah, Lavinia Browne, Brenda Young, Chhime R. Chhoekyapaa and Karla Waples; for her most valuable practical assistance, Starza Kolman with help from Sara Chenoweth, Laura Brown, and Philip Schein; for their patience, Tony LaRussa, Mickey Rourke, Peter Barss, Robert Thurman, Marc Bekoff, Olav Heyerdahl, Robin Janiszeufski-Hesson, Jennifer Lauck, Jonathan F. P. Rose, and Steph Davis; for much more than suggesting this book in the first place, Mary Ann Naples; for helping make the work come together at Adams Media, Beth Gissinger and Katrina Schroeder; and, of course, to the essayists, Barbara Adams, Sean Astin, Kevin Bacon, Brigitte Bardot, Dr. Neal Barnard, Carol Buckley, Lady Bunny, Sue Coe, Susan Cohn, The Dalai Lama, Pierre Dulaine, Dr. Armida Fernandez, Kathy Freston, Sharon Gannon, John Gardner, Andy Grannatelli,Temple Grandin, Peter Hammarstedt, Ru Hartwell, Larry Harvey, Dr. Henry Heimlich, Dana Hork, Rebecca Hosking, Robin Kevan, Representative Dennis Kucinich, Heidi Kuhn, Raymond Kurzweil, Bonnie-Jill Laflin, Wangari Maathai, Lily Mazahery, Sir Paul McCartney, Stella McCartney, Mark McGowan, Keith McHenry, John McLaughlin, Arthur Mintz, Moby, Aimee Mullins, Martina Navratilova, Willie Nelson, Petra Nemcova, Wade Rathke, Doris Richards, Rachel Rosenthal, Dave Seegar, Ravi Shankar, Reverend Al Sharpton, Russell Simmons, Anita Smith, Oliver Stone, Helen Thomas, Cheryl Ward-Kaiser, Robert Young, and Benjamin Zephaniah, all of whom have contributed to a better world.
Contents
Introduction / INGRID NEWKIRK
Head in the Stars, Feet on the Ground /
BARBARA ADAMS
On Being a Good Son / SEAN ASTIN
Saving the World by Degrees / KEVIN BACON
Sex Kitten and Matriarch of Mice /
BRIGITTE BARDOT
A Healthy Outlook / DR. NEAL BARNARD
When Life Gives You Elephants, Make Orange Juice / CAROL BUCKLEY
I Just Want to Be Me / LADY BUNNY
Illuminating the Truth / SUE COE
A Focused Lens on Life / SUSAN COHN
Don’t Worry, Be Happy /
HIS HOLINESS THE DALAI LAMA
Helping Children Find Their Feet /
PIERRE DULAINE
Banking for Babies / DR. ARMIDA FERNANDEZ
Becoming the Architect of Your Own Good Fortune / KATHY FRESTON
Practicing Harmony and Connectedness /
SHARON GANNON
A Vision of Physical Loveliness / JOHN GARDNER
Just Pick Yourself Up . . . and Start All Over Again /
ANDY GRANATELLI
Thinking in Pictures / DR. TEMPLE GRANDIN
Defending Whales and Seals / PETER HAMMARSTEDT
Global Flight Control / RU HARTWELL
A Burning Desire to Connect / LARRY HARVEY
Sitting, Thinking, Creating, Saving /
DR. HENRY HEIMLICH
Change Is Healthy, Change Is Good! / DANA HORK
Helping Bag the Plastic Plague /
REBECCA HOSKING
No Point in Grumbling! / ROBIN KEVAN
Planning the U.S. Department of Peace /
REPRESENTATIVE DENNIS KUCINICH
From Mines to Vines / HEIDI KUHN
The Future Is Fantastic! / RAYMOND KURZWEIL
From Pom-Poms to Playbook /
BONNIE-JILL LAFLIN
When Life Calls, Be Packed and Ready! /
WANGARI MAATHAI
Throwing Out a Lifeline / LILY MAZAHERY
All You Need Is Passion, Passion Is All You Need /
SIR PAUL McCARTNEY
Creating with a Conscience /
STELLA McCARTNEY
Making Purposeful Laughter / MARK McGOWAN
You May Say I’m a Dreamer / KEITH McHENRY
Musically Speaking / JOHN McLAUGHLIN
The Soul with the Soles / ARTHUR MINTZ
We Are All Made of Stars / MOBY
Running on Cheetah Legs / AIMEE MULLINS
Champion of Fair Play /
MARTINA NAVRATILOVA
Greasing the Wheels to American Self-Reliance /
WILLIE NELSON
Put a Little Love in Your Heart / PETRA NEMCOVA
Powerful Communities from Little ACORNs Grow /
WADE RATHKE
Fighting for a Dog Park / DORIS RICHARDS
When the Chips Are Down, Do It Yourself /
RACHEL ROSENTHAL
Everyone Needs to Eat / DAVE SEEGAR
Plucking Music from Your Heart / RAVI SHANKAR
Born to Be a Rabble-Rouser /
REVEREND AL SHARPTON
The Importance of Delivering Respect /
RUSSELL SIMMONS
The Potholed Road from Shy to Shining /
ANITA SMITH
Guided by Ghosts / OLIVER STONE
Keeping Presidents Honest / HELEN THOMAS
The Strongest of Victims /
CHERYL WARD-KAISER
Building Tribal D
reams / ROBERT YOUNG
Verses with Purpose / BENJAMIN ZEPHANIAH
Resources
INGRID NEWKIRK
Introduction
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.
—Galileo (1564–1642, Italian astronomer and mathematician)
John O’Farrell, the English political writer and humorist, once noted how often people begin, “If I won the lottery, I would . . . .” Meaning that they would give more money to charity, feed the poor, go out and climb a mountain. He reminds us that, actually, we have won the lottery. That we scratched off our ticket on the day we were born and discovered that we were, say, a middle-class able-bodied person living in a Western country. (Rather than scratching it off, like most of the ticket holders, and finding we have been born a desperately poor child in a Third World slum or, God forbid, a despised cockroach.) He suggests that we count our blessings, our wealth, our health, our abilities. Count them a whole lot, and then set out to share them.
The wonderful thing is that the world is open to us, especially if we want to do positive things. We are surrounded by individuals, past and present, some stars, most not, who have followed their dreams, started programs, written books, invented useful gadgets, educated others, and simply turned what moves them into the magic of their lives. This book gathers the thoughts and insights of fifty such people whose sole wish is to help inspire similar changes in you.
Had Albert Schweitzer been alive, he would have been the first person on my list of essayists. I recently narrated an introduction to the remake of a 1957 documentary about this man who never wished to waste a moment of his life. Well into his eighties, he was tending to the sick in equatorial Africa, living in one room, working late into the evening, then playing his beloved organ music before going to sleep, satisfied with another day of service.
By and large, Dr. Schweitzer had a happy childhood (although he was teased by other boys at school for being overly serious), but it always troubled him that he had more than so many in the world. Cruelty upset him, and once, when he was asked to take up a slingshot and aim at birds who were happily singing their songs in the trees on the hillside, he sprang up and ran to shoo them away instead. From that moment on, he realized he could stop suffering. That is what motivated him to learn how to build a hospital in the jungle and to spend the time it took to get a medical degree so that he could serve in it.The phrase he coined, after much deliberation, was “Reverence for Life.” He extended that reverence to all animals: cats, goats, and the pelicans he had treated for illness that were always the first to greet incoming human patients who traveled to his hospital by canoe.
Watching out for others, fighting for their right to be treated with dignity and respect no matter where they are from, what their language, how many legs or arms they have, or whether you know them personally, is a great way for us to share our riches. Helping others translates into helping ourselves. And the better we feel, the more delight and energy we have to channel into helping others.What a wonderful cycle of change and joy our lives can be!
As the president of the largest animal rights organization in the world, PETA, I have spent the last twenty-five years traveling constantly and attending everything from community workshops to corporate board meetings, speaking on college campuses and to legislators, meeting people from all walks of life, including the rich and poor, foreign dignitaries, Hollywood stars, and private citizens. My most cherished encounters are with people who have social concerns, caring people who want to contribute to a better world.
Surprisingly, whether I’m in Mumbai or Missouri, Manchester, England, or Manchester, New Hampshire, people ask me the same question, over and over again: “How can I, living here, doing what I do, possibly make any difference?” They’ll say, “Oh, it’s easy for you to make an impact. But I’m no one of importance. No one would listen to me.” If I have learned anything, it is that they are wrong. Dead wrong. The world is waiting to hear from them, just as it is waiting to hear from you.
The first person to remind me of this was a nurse named Sue. Years ago, Sue was living with her mother and father in Delaware. One day, soon after PETA started but long before it became a household word, I received a letter from her. She wrote that she cared a great deal about animals and that the ways in which they are cruelly treated upset her. “But,” she went on, “I feel helpless to have any impact. I’ve looked, but there is no group here for me to join. I am in the middle of nowhere.”
I called Sue that evening. Sure enough, she was a deeply caring person who was willing to volunteer a few hours every week to help animals even if she had to drive many miles to do so.“Sue,” I said. “If there’s no group where you are, don’t sit around waiting for someone else to start one.You must start one yourself.” It took a little work to convince Sue that she could overcome her fear of public speaking and that like-minded souls would come out of the woodwork once things were rolling. The short version of the story is that Sue took a deep breath and did just that. Within a few months, her knowledge and her files grew like bamboo in a rainforest. After putting up notices on bulletin boards announcing her new group and after setting up a few literature tables at the local mall, she soon became the “go-to” person for local media calls and school talks on animal issues. Sue not only awakened and engaged a whole community, but she felt useful and fulfilled, finally doing what meant a great deal to her. Her life had new meaning, and, by extension, others’ lives were slowly changed as well. What started with a small wish to contribute ended up nurturing a plant whose tendrils today reach into every junior high school from Wyoming to Winnipeg with materials Sue helped develop.
This example is about someone who wanted to help animals, but the crux of it pertains to anyone hoping to change the status quo. There are as many worthwhile ways to make a mark as there are people. Sue’s worries simply reflect the ubiquitous “who am I?” question. Who am I to make a difference in a world in which huge corporations control the marketplace; massive empires run the media; the government turns a blind eye on the poor, the indigent, and the elderly; the environment is being laid to waste; animals are kept in chains to “entertain” us in circuses; children go uneducated and often uncared for; and excess food is discarded in one part of the world while millions starve in another?
Such discouraging observations can form a never-ending list, but they should be no deterrent! There is a saying I love that does away with that list of horrors. All you have to do is look at society’s “impossibilities”—like, aptly enough, the collapse of the Berlin Wall—that became possible, sometimes overnight, and know this saying is as true as it is wonderful. It goes like this: “If you bang your head against a brick wall long enough, the wall will fall.” And once you start banging your head against that wall, others will join you.
In this book, you will discover essays written by people who have harbored a variety of desires, faced the accompanying challenges, and been spurred into action, borne into action, or found themselves inching forward into a new role that now fits them beautifully. Each essayist—and I have chosen a deliberately diverse group spanning ages and interests—invites you to peek into his or her psyche. Fueled by enthusiasm (a feeling the ancient Greeks regarded as a holy state), optimism, and determination, and often armed with nothing grander than their own beliefs, each has pursued a course that beckoned to them. Through their essays we are permitted to see what was and is inside their hearts, to hear of their personal evolution, to learn what pitfalls and high points they found on the journey to helping themselves overcome a fear or problem, from which we can take a lesson, or in carving their name on society’s rock. Some of these names will be familiar to you, others will not. By including both the “known” and the “unknown,” I hope this book illustrates (a) that even those we admire from afar invariably face obstacles and have to find ways to keep their belief alive and (b) that you don’t have to be a household name to make a difference, to become an e
xample to others; you just need to have conviction. Hopefully, their stories will inspire you to find your own path, just as the influences I encountered in my youth inspired me to be true to myself.
I wasn’t born fearless, but in no small part due to my father, who took great risks in his adventures, I soon became so. My father drove across the notorious sinking sands of the Indian desert known as the “Little Rani of Kutch,” braved landslides and typhoons, took his small boat out at the first sign of a squall in the gulf, and climbed ice mountains in ordinary shoes!
And while much of this was work related, he categorized it as pleasure. Under his tutelage, I grew to be fearsomely opinionated about anything that mattered to me, from the “right” way to spit cherry pits to how people treated their dogs. If I turned my vigor toward my family with some impassioned plea to not eat chicken or let me take up the piano instead of the violin, my weary mother would say, “Dear girl, I think you would argue with Jesus Christ himself if he walked into this room.”
During my childhood, I was inspired by the adventurers who dared traverse the Sahara Desert on foot, though it was commonly accepted it couldn’t be done. Or the brave Sherpas who climbed Mount Everest in flimsy shoes and cotton trousers, without the benefit of supplemental oxygen. If they had listened to their insecurities, rather than to their powerful hearts, they would most likely have never left home. During this time, I also wanted to be a ballerina like Dame Margot Fonteyn or a great pianist like Chopin, but I had such poor balance I toppled our pyramid during the school gym class presentation for parents’ day and I couldn’t stretch my small fingers all the way to an octave and I’m almost tone deaf. I do believe, however, that if either of these had been my passion, the way moral values came to be, I would have applied myself with the diligence, desire, and fortitude that have helped me champion animals’ rights.
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