FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Linda or Allen Anderson
Angel Animals Network
POB 26354
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55426
Email: angelanimals@aol.com
Websites: www.angelanimals.net, www.rescuedsavinganimals.net, www.horseswithamission.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Minnesota Authors Discover
Secret to Longevity:
Pay Attention If Your Dog Smiles
Minneapolis,
Minnesota, September 10, 2009 – St. Louis Park, Minnesota residents Allen and Linda Anderson have
discovered the secret to longevity: pay attention if your dog is smiling. Their
yellow Labrador retriever Taylor’s goofy grin on a walk around Lake Harriet in
Minneapolis inspired the Andersons thirteen years ago to start the Angel
Animals Network (www.angelanimals.net)for sharing miraculous benefits of human-animal relationships.
Passersby that day stopped the couple to ask, “Do you know your dog is smiling?” This gave
these two mid-life empty-nesters the idea to show the world that animals have
spiritual qualities such as joy, gratitude, creativity, and unconditional love.
Even though they were like most other people and living from paycheck to
paycheck, they also wanted to prove that it’s never too late in life to make a
difference by bringing more love and healing into this world. Today, the
Andersons are best-selling authors of twelve books with over a quarter million
books in print.
Although
many people back in 1996 still thought of pets as property and disposable, the
Andersons hoped to portray animals as sentient family members who fill a home
with peace and joy. Allen Anderson says, “Our dream was to help ordinary people
express to the world an appreciation and awe for animal heroes. We believe thatthe power of story can help decrease abuse and increase adoption.”
But thejourney for both of them has included overcoming severe health and financial
obstacles that would have derailed most people. They credit Angel Animals and
their pets with saving their lives.
In
a country where two out of three homes have pets the Andersons realized they
had struck a deeply emotional chord. They concluded that the best service they
could provide would be to gather such a large body of anecdotes that the
spiritual nature of animals could no longer be denied. They would offer
uplifting, undeniable messages that would cause people to never look at animals
the same way again.
Within
a few months, the Andersons were sharing stories they were receiving from
around the world and publishing them in their first printed newsletter. Soon,they had a contract for their first book, Angel Animals.
One book grew into aseries of twelve, to date, and an enduring relationship with their publisher
New World Library in Novato, California, a company that publishes Eckhart Tolle
(The Power of Now), Deepak Chopra, Mother Teresa, Joseph Campbell, Wayne Dyer,and other authors of life-changing books.
The Andersons’ accomplishments so far include:
-
Angel Animals books
published in the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and Italy
-
a Certificate of
Commendation from the Governor for contributions to the state of Minnesota
-
features in Gannett,
Associated Press, and other national wire service articles, Star Tribune,
Pioneer Press, Washington Post, Today show, ABC’s Nightly News, NPR, USA
Today, Montel, Animal Planet, Shirley MacLaine’s radio show, BBC Radio,
and London Sunday Times
-
their book, Rescued,
chronicling the largest animal rescue operation in history after Hurricane
Katrina, winning American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA)
Outstanding Book Award.
Linda Anderson, instructor at The Loft Literary Center in
Minneapolis and graduate of St. Cloud State University, says, “Our greatest
satisfaction comes from people telling us that reading our books has helped
them through the devastation of pet loss. Or that they decided to keep an
animal they might have abandoned because a story revealed something they hadn’t
understood about pets. This project has seen us through the tough times because
it continues to inspire us, too. We’ve learned that it’s really true -- the
secret to longevity is doing what you love and loving what you do.”
The Andersons’ new book is Horses with a Mission:Extraordinary True Stories of Equine Service (September, 2009, New World
Library) available in bookstores and online nationwide.
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