The Cape Cod Chronicle
Not Just Another Inspirational Book
By Alan Pollock
April 16, 1998
CHATHAM --- Happy angels and a gentle pattern of stars grace the cover of Stone Soup
for the World (Conari Press, $15.95), a new inspirational book edited by Marianne
Larned of Vineyard Haven. But that feminine design belies the horsepower or the
stories inside. Larned will be signing copies of the book Sunday in Chatham.
A few years ago, Larned had the chance to take part in a grassroots community effort
or the best kind; she and other volunteers helped save the Martha's Vineyard
Agricultural Society's 139-year- old barn, which was due to be replaced with a
more spacious, modern steel barn. Bucking the odds, a group of people circulated
petitions and raised money, and eventually selected a three story barn which was
trucked to the island from New Hampshire and reassembled. The effort gained national
attention when singers James Taylor and Carly Simon reunited for a special concert
to raise money for the project. Larned was among 10,000 others at that concert.
There was such a sincerity. That was what touched me," she said. "These people
really felt a spirit of community." That experience inspired Larned to assemble
Stone Soup for the World.
The book consists of nearly 100 individual stories, each around three pages in
length, written by and about such people as Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela,
Jimmy Carter, Richard Dreyfus, Bette Midler, Eleanor Roosevelt, Paul Newman and
Gandhi. Some of the names are familiar, but many are not. "The stories represent
every culture, every religious tradition, rural
life and city life," Larned said. The vignettes are tied together with a central
theme: the familiar folktale, .Stone Soup.
There is the tale of Chris Gross, a young financial analyst for a high-tech company
in California. Like most Americans, Gross was deeply shaken by the bombing of the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, but unlike most, he took action.
"In Santa Clara, California, all Chris Gross could think about
were the children. 'I kept seeking the building and the images
of the children who died in the day care center' he said. He kept
thinking about them and the others, the ones who had lost their parents.
'Imagine being one of them," Chris thought. 'Put yourself in their shoes.
They're going to be missing their parents for the rest of their lives.'
Twenty-seven-year-old Chris wanted to give these kids a little extra something."
Gross resolved to start a scholarship fund; with $12,000 in savings and with no
family to support, he decided to donate one year's salary--$53,874--as seed money.
After hounding his employer and more than a dozen oilier Silicon Valley companies,
he raised $400,000. Some media exposure followed, and an additional $300,000 in
donations followed. Impressed with Gross' efforts, Oklahoma's governor made a $3
million contribution to the scholarship fund, using money from the general donation
fund. Because of the Oklahoma City Scholarship Fund, 207 children touched by the
disaster will be assured an education.
Gross' story is only one of many of the book's "life changing stories or
kindness and courageous acts of service." The tales range from a little girl's
efforts lo get a playground built in her inner city neighborhood, to an adaptation
of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famed A Letter from a Birmingham Jail. There Is
another story about United Farm Workers organizer Cesar Chavez and his work to
improve the plight or migrant farm workers. "I'm always shocked to learn how many
young people don't know who Cesar Chavez was," Larned said. .'They think he's a
prize fighter."
Perhaps as valuable as the stories are the tiny boxes at the end of each story,
which give addresses and telephone numbers of related charities and foundations.
There is also a resource guide at the end or the book, listing other worthy
organizations.
Larned's non-profit group, the Stone Soup foundation, is developing a teacher's
guide and a youth leadership training program to empower youngsters to make the
world a better place. "I think our kids need role models and people they can look
up to," Larned said. "It renews people's spirits."
Marianne Larned will sign copies of Stone Soup for the World Sunday, July 7, at
3 P.M., at A Quiet Place bookstore, 483 Main S., Chatham. For more information
about the Stone Soup Foundation, call (508)(696)(8514, write to P.O., Box 4301,
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568, or point your Web browser to www.soup4world.com.
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