Published: February 10, 2010
KATRINA SURVIVOR/AUTHOR TO DONATE PERCENTAGE OF PROCEEDS FROM NEW BOOK SALES TO HAITI RECOVERY EFFORTS
Gary Simms
Dallas, TX (BlackNews.com) -- Gary Simms, a Hurricane Katrina survivor and author of the recently published The Top 25 Things You Can Do To Change Your Life for the Better...Forever, announced that he would donate 25% of the profits from his book to the Haiti Recovery Efforts.
With a full understanding of what post disaster devastation feels like, Simms, who now lives in Dallas, TX, struggled through the aftermath of the devastation in New Orleans and empathizes with the level of frustration, helplessness and despair that is the long term reality of those enduring the Haiti tragedy.
"Recovery from this level of tragedy is decidedly slow and dramatically painful" he reflects. "We need to do all we can to support them through this time-especially when the cameras stop rolling and it becomes yesterday's news. It will be a slow process and they will need support for some time to come."
Grateful to be in a position to utilize this platform to extend aid to those who need it, Simms says he is confident that his book can help readers make positive change in their lives. He relishes being able to use a portion of the profits from the book to help those whose pain he feels, knows and understands.
Hailed by a panel of health and wellness and fitness professionals as the "handbook for healthy living", Simms' book is available electronically and in paperback at www.GSimms-TheTop25.com.
10 QUESTIONS WITH THE AUTHOR:
1. What was your career before becoming an author and how does it tie to this book?
A: Before becoming an author, I spent most of the last 20 years owning/operating a mortgage business and a communications consulting business. The relevancy to my book is that the underlying business was that of people and their behaviors and motivations.
I had the benefit of 53 years of life's experience, most of which, I closely studied what encourages and inspires people. Throughout the entire time, my goal has always been to supply necessary services and information to the benefit of those that I've served.
2. What prompted this The Top 25 Things...and what is Gary Simms's story?
A: When I was faced with the task of rehabbing following my heart-related health crisis, I did an inventory of what I knew about being healthy...what I knew about conditioning...what I knew about striving for success in any endeavor...what I knew about trying to win when losing seemed inevitable...and, what I knew about winning and defending your crown when the bulls eye is on your back and I knew that my effort to return to a healthy state would be no different from any other pursuit. Those efforts all have patterns that engage the mind, body and spirit (which is how my book is divided). So I pursued my recovery the way I pursued every other life achievement.
The condensed version of my story is that I'm from New Orleans. At the time when Katrina hit, I was a business owner and lived in the area of the city that ultimately drew the attention of the world. This area became ground zero in the storm's aftermath-the Lower Ninth Ward.
Regarding my life's story, I've been a high-performing student, athlete, corporate professional, and independent businessman who's earned the spoils of achievement. I am also someone who has tasted my share of life disapppointments and have scaled my share of hurdles.
At the same time, I've also always extended the benefit of my experiences to any and everyone that I recognized as having that "fighting spirit".
In many ways, my book is a larger effort to do what I've always done. I moved through my early adulthood as a model picture of health after being an elite athlete and never being sick to aging gracefully through the ordinary challenges of life to then fighting for my life in a Dallas hospital for nearly 30 days while just in the fifth decade of my life.
3. Why is Gary Simms qualified to write this The Top 25 Things...?
A: Aside from being a communications professional, Gary Simms is qualified to write this work because I've lived the approach that this book outlines. I concentrated on this while rehabbing with the expectation of recovering and I recovered. While I'd never minimize the role that medical doctors played in my recovery, I certainly will not discount or deny that I was the recipient of divine blessings. However, I credit my recovery to the work and research that I was inspired to do and the implementation of the strategies that I found.
During the post hospital portion of my recovery, the doctors' responses to my questions and requests for direction yielded very little. Some of the questions were responded to with the answer, "I don't know." In those instances, I never heard the follow up, "...but let me find out for you." Outside of being able to prescribe medications that address symptoms, you typically can't expect much else from most of the medical community at this point.
As a result, I had to look beyond that. I didn't want to become a human toxic waste dump for the many medicines that they'd prescribe (many of which would only mask problems and ailments). I wanted a fighting chance to live. And today, I'm grateful to say, "I live."
Much of what I have done has taken me back to things that I learned years earlier. That foundation was subsequently bolstered by the latest research. Within my commitment to living were the qualifications to tell the stories that surfaced because of this journey.
4. What is the core concept of this book?
A: The core concept of this book is represented by tips and resources that cover 25 topics that once would have been viewed as a "common sense" approach to health, wellness and self help.
Being well (physically, emotionally and even financially) is a whole body experience. By that, I mean that you have to take into account the body, mind and spirit and those things that impact those areas. Health and Wellness and self improvement happens from the inside out, not from the outside in.
I make the effort to say some things in a straight forward manner to put you on track.
Additionally, I provide resources (all of which I've used in some form or fashion) that will give you a structured process to follow as extra help.
5. Why do you think you can reach people with this book and can people actually change their lives by following your advice?
A: I have written this book in an easy to read conversational tone. I write as I speak. I am a straightforward kind of guy. The book is not filled with a lot of fluff and filler material that would make it thick and cumbersome. It's direct and to the point. The text is intended to provide useful information and resources to provide readers with HELP.
Over the years, I've had an opportunity to mentor a few people. I guess I did some life-coaching before that became a discipline. I stand behind the mindset that is addressed in the book. It works. I know it works.
I will say to anyone that their adherence to the principals in this book will positively impact their lives.
6. Are the ideas you put forth in "The Top 25 Things..." ones that you actually follow?
A: Absolutely...every day of my life. When I finished the copy that was initially reviewed, this was one of the first questions posed to me. My response now, as it was then is this, "you're reading my diary for healthy living."
7. Had you not gone through Katrina, do you think you would have escaped this health crisis and never written this book?
A: This is a difficult question to answer on many levels; however, because I can't speak to alternative outcomes, I will honestly have to say I don't know.
On the other hand, I think it is a good bet that I would not have suffered the fate that I did had I not endured the aftermath of that storm. All of the research that I did points to intense stress, amplified by tremendous frustration as being core elements that contributed greatly to my health.
Having had writing to occupy much of my focus (even in business) over the years, there's a good chance that I might have made it back to the keyboard in a full time fashion, but I may not have had the inspiration to enter into this genre at this time.
8. Why donate a portion of the sale of your book to the Haitian relief effort?
A: The people of Haiti have a long, hard struggle in front of them. I know that struggle and am still fighting to reclaim the wholeness of my life. Their ability to rebuild their lives has everything to do with resources. I know that I was benefited from those whose hearts were moved to express compassion and share their resources with me in my time of need.
As fate would have it, I finished this book at this time. I feel a sense of obligation as a human to act humanely. I want to make it possible for someone to open his or her eyes tomorrow and have a sense of hope even though their daylight only illuminates the bleakness of their current situation.
I've been there. I know how it feels.
9. Would the refugees benefit from reading this book?
A: I am sure that some would benefit from reading this book. I understand that the scale of relativity has to be considered here, but anyone wishing to expand upon his or her current situation could benefit from this book.
My team of advisers are considering ways that we might be able to put a copy into as many hands of those affected by this catastrophe as possible. As rebuilding efforts begin, there will be many obstacles in front of the Haitian people. Those obstacles will be compounded by stress, economics, etc., but through it all, a mindset shift will have to occur and I am convinced that it can. As that shift takes place, many of those whose lives are turned upside down now, can participate in the new opportunities that will arise.
Just today, I spoke with my team and discussed how we might engage corporations and other entities to purchase blocks of books that would then be distributed to Haitians at ground zero.
We don't have all of those questions addressed just yet, but we're considering them.
10. What's next in terms of your writing and your life?
A: I will continue to write about health and wellness. In addition to my book, I maintain a website (www.GSimms-HealthandWellness.com) that features a blog and provides breaking information that benefits my readers.
I am developing other sites that will feature resources and products that I stand behind as tools to help those who embrace their journeys to 'quality of life' improvements.
I am available as a speaker for events to tell my story, to motivate and to be an ambassador to inspire the level of reflection that change springs from. I will soon launch a podcast and am considering other media formats to discuss relevant topics that are centered around this movement as well.
There's an opportunity to provide a better quality of life to people who need this. I know that I have a greater appreciation for life having had the experiences that I've had. I've seen and continue to see that the lack of information, competing agendas, greed, indifference, and misplaced trust are culprits to the ever growing problem of health for so many people. If I can provide information and a voice to those who will benefit from what I do, I pledge to continue.
Additionally, I am working on a book about my personal Katrina experience. A second book on the topic will follow. It will illuminate some of the untold stories that took place as many of the New Orleanians tried to return to normalcy in the months (now years) after the storm of the century.
Finally, I have also been moved to put on the hat of a novelist. There's a story of another sort that I've begun to unravel...a love story that transcends time and rises from the settled smoke and ashes of life's travails.
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