Rita Emmett was so inspired by Mark Victor Hansen's
practice of donating a portion
of the profits of each of the Chicken Soup for the Soul books to
different charities, that
Rita decided to follow his example.
In the "Acknowledgement" section of her soon-to-be-published book, THE
PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now, Rita
thanks the
two Loretto nuns who not only taught her English classes in high
school, but also
encouraged her writing ability. The nuns believed in her when she
didn't believe in herself
and Rita has always been grateful for the education, values and
spiritual guidance she
received from them, as well as the examples they set as "women of
courage".
So, without hesitation, Rita and her husband Bruce decided to donate
10% of the
profits of THE PROCRASTINATOR'S HANDBOOK to the Loretto Convent, which
is also
known as The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It was an exciting day when Rita received the book's advance, and when
she sat down
to write the check to the convent, she was thrilled to be able to send
a token of her
gratitude. Then, in an amazing coincidence, that same day's mail
brought a check from
The National Enquirer which will print a section of Rita's book in
their September 9
issue.
Bruce said, "I'll bet not one nun in that convent ever even READ a
copy of the National
Enquirer." They laughed about what the nuns might say about the book
being featured in
the tabloid, but decided that since that check was part of the profits
of the book, they
would keep to their commitment and include the National Enquirer
profit in the check Rita
was writing to the convent.
A few days later, there was a delightful message on their voice mail
from Rita's former
English teacher, Sister Maria, who is now Mother General ("head
honcho") of the order in
North America. She happily expressed her appreciation and told Rita
that the nuns would
pray for the success of her book, and support her with her new
literary adventure. Sister
Maria laughingly said, "We're behind you every step of the way, even
with your book
being in The National Enquirer. You just tell us the publication date,
and all across
Canada and the United States, nuns wearing dark sunglasses and trench
coats will rush
out to the stores to buy a copy."
When Dottie Walters heard this story, she couldn't resist wondering
what would be the
Pope's reaction to a requisition from North America for huge amounts
of trench coats
and sunglasses. A "New Millennium liturgy", maybe?
