Ruth Stafford Peale

Sometimes I like to read obituaries, because the people profiled are invariably interesting, and I usually learn something about history. Today, there was a profile of Ruth Stafford Peale in the LA Times. She was the widow of Norman Vincent Peale (who died in 1993), who wrote The Power of Positive Thinking. Apparently he had some frustration when he tried to get it published. However, she wouldn't give up:

"She encouraged her husband when his manuscript for "The Power of Positive Thinking" was rejected by publishers, and once pulled it out of the garbage can when he had given up on it. It went on to sell more than 21 million copies."

Wow, there's a chunk of irony for ya. The author of The Power of Positive Thinking didn't believe his own message, but his wife did! I guess the message got through to her! Reminds me of my grandmother.