Screw Business as Usual
By Richard Branson

Way back in college I worked in socially responsible investing and was a teaching assistant for a course at the Stanford Business School on Entrepreneurship in High Technology (The late Steve Jobs was one of our speakers). Since that time, I have been interested in the power of business to change society and the evolving culture of business itself. For almost as long Richard Branson has been a hero, not only for his success at business, but also for his belief that business must serve people and that work and play must never be separate. He is a model of saying yes to life. It was a great joy and privilege to work with him and Jean Oelwang, the CEO of VirginUnite, on Richard’s new book, Screw Business As Usual, helping to explore his ideas on transforming business into an engine of social change and human fulfillment. Forget humans as “resources.”

One of the most fun “on the job” experiences I have had was working and playing with Richard on Necker Island. After important business conversations, sailboat racing and kite-surfing lessons were required. Talking about risk over an intense game of backgammon was a conversation I will never forget. I hope that Richard’s insights about business will reach many leaders and future leaders. To paraphrase the Virgin Mobile commercial, it was my pleasure to “service” Sir Richard.

What an incredible privilege it has been to serve President Mandela and his Foundation with this authorized collection of his most eternal and universal quotes. Working with Sello Hatang and Sahm Venter to select these quotes and to present them for the future has felt like a sacred responsibility. We have sold, entrusted really, this collection to a wonderful publishing partner, Malaika Adero at Atria.

Working with Archbishop Tutu and his daughter Mpho Tutu on this book was a great joy, as they make the case that we are actually much better than we think we are. This is not just optimism; this is pragmatism, not only from our wisdom traditions, but from life itself. Science has confirmed the truth about our social nature and our orientation to goodness and morality, but Father Tutu has witnessed and heard every possible atrocity, during his global mission and his tenure on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The fact that his hope for humanity has not dimmed emboldens us all.

Talk about dream projects, it’s hard to imagine a greater privilege for a former editor than to edit this Authorized Portrait of Archbishop Tutu. Along the way, I had the opportunity to interview Bono, Carlos Santana, Jimmy Carter and others with the Arch’s daughter, Mpho. The man that was revealed by the dozens of interviews shone like a diamond that has countless facets and that is ever more luminous with the addition of another ray of light. Tutu never wanted to be a saint, but he is something more profound and more relevant, the most human human I have ever met. A shining example of what is possible for all of us. I was daunted by the task of writing an Editor’s Note that would follow a Foreword by Bono and an Introduction by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. You can read the Editor’s Note and peak inside the book here.

Gene Robinson is in many ways the Martin Luther King, Jr., of the gay rights movement. The first openly gay bishop, he has become an icon and popular spokesperson for gay rights, including the right to marry. Gene did the opening prayer at the inauguration celebrations for President Obama on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A movie about his life and his struggle for marriage equality called Love Free or Die is premiering this fall and will air on PBS. Knopf will publish his book, God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage, in September. Victoria Wilson, the Associate Publisher at Knopf, understood the importance of Gene and of this book from the start. Gene’s John Stewart appearance on the night of the Inauguration is not to be missed: see it here.

The world has been waiting for a brain scientist like Dan Siegel. Not just a researcher, Dan is one of the world’s leading neuro-psychiatrists. In this accessible book, he shows us nothing less than how to “see” our own mind and the mind of others. Dan explains not only that we can rewire our brains,, but shows us how. In short, where we focus our attention is where our neurons fire, and where they fire is where they rewire. In short, our thoughts—and our relationships—really do reshape our brain. Did I say, really cool.

Whole Brain Child
By Siegel & Bryson

As parents Dan and Tina (and their humble agent and editor) knew that the new discoveries in neuroscience were so powerful that they needed to be presented to those most responsible for shaping the minds of the future: parents and teachers. It was a challenge to boil brain science down to simple stories and exercises that bleary-eyed parents could understand—I have parented twins and know what bleary-eyed means. With this as our goal, Dan and Tina did an amazing job of simplifying these concepts and even creating cartoons for parents—as well as for kids. It is brain science and it’s easy to understand. I am so grateful to Dan and Tina for this book, and my kids are grateful, too.

Enjoy Every Sandwich
By Lee Lipsenthal

Lee Lipsenthal was a dear friend and beloved doctor, who healed with his heart as well as his head. This story of his diagnosis with terminal cancer and his adventures on the edge of death has been life changing for me and so many others. This book is like the Last Lecture, but written by a doctor who understood the body and the soul profoundly. Tina Constable, Sydny Miner, and the team at Crown Archetype could not have been more wonderful in supporting this book and Lee even as he left us. I couldn’t have been happier when this book won for Best Inspirational Memoir, in the 2012 Books for a Better Life Awards. His wife Kathy traveled to New York City and accepted the honor on his behalf and I know Lee was looking on proudly.

Brilliant historian, archaeologist, and religion scholar James Tabor is back making important discoveries about early Christianity, this time with Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici. James and Simcha have discovered a tomb very likely of early Christian followers, just within a stone’s throw of the Jesus Family tomb that they exposed previously. The tomb includes potentially the earliest Christian work of art and testament of Christian faith. It is a stunning discovery, but the book is much more. It gives a full exploration of the archaeological and literary evidence surrounding Jesus’ life, including the possibility that he was married and even had a son. Regardless of one’s theological beliefs, would we not imagine this for a good Jewish rabbi of the ancient world? Always sober and thoughtful, James boldly goes where few scholars have been willing to go before.

The New Universe and the Human Future
By Abrams/Primack

This book is based on Nancy and Joel’s distinguished Terry Lectures at Yale University, and they make their transformational ideas about our place in the cosmos even more accessible than in their previous book. Beautifully illustrated, as Yale University Press does so well, this book shows our significant place in the New Universe and the possibilities of how thinking cosmically can transform the way we think about our world and our place in it.

What Color is Your Parachute? helped me and so many others (more than 10 million others actually!) find our calling in life, one of the greatest gifts. So it was a great honor to help Dick to bring his ideas into the digital age. After successfully negotiating the electronic rights, we set out with his son and experienced high tech entrepreneur, Gary Bolles, to incubate a next-generation job and career site.

Children of God Storybook Bible
By Desmond Tutu

What a joy it was getting to study and retell the biblical stories with Father Tutu. His insight into the core and eternal wisdom of these well-known stories as well as his sense of God’s love and joy has made this children’s bible a treasure all around the world. (“In the very beginning, God’s love bubbled over…”) We worked for months with a carefully selected group of the world’s leading illustrators to bring these stories to life. The work is truly a global bible. My favorite memory was working with Father to rewrite the Ten Commandments for children. In truth, they did need some freshening up!

Making Marriage Simple
By Hendrix/Hunt

Two of America’s leading marriage experts distill the secrets to a happy marriage into ten simple truths. The book is written in an engaging and accessible style, and illustrated with playful cartoons. Harville and Helen share their own story and struggles, candidly discussing their own challenges. Harville and Helen may come from different worlds—a sharecropper’s son and an oil baron’s daughter—but they share a profound love and commitment to healing the world once couple at a time. In all, this couple’s books have been published in more than thirty-two languages, with more than three million copies in print worldwide.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has long been a hero of mine. Like so many I was inspired by his fearless struggle to end apartheid in South Africa. He had offered the world his political message in several important books, but he had yet to give us his spiritual message—the beliefs and values that allowed him to have courage in times of often daunting despair. I contacted Lynn Franklin, Tutu’s longtime friend and agent, and together we presented the idea to the Archbishop. Lynn described our work together, "Doug has a unique ability to capture an author's inner purpose and to develop it for general readers. He has a vision for projects that have real inherent value and can make a difference for our society, and he is willing to go the distance to make them happen."

Since the publication of God Has a Dream, we were able to create an award-winning children’s picture book, God’s Dream, and are currently working on a global children’s bible. I am also working with the Archbishop and his daughter Mpho on a new book for adults: Made for Goodness (HarperCollins, 2010). We have also begun working together on a very exciting global initiative, The Desmond Tutu Training in Truth, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation.

Two of the greatest joys of my life were taking my son, Jesse, to Leah Tutu’s 70th birthday and my wife, Rachel, to the Archbishop’s 75th.

Frans De Waal is one of the world’s leading primatologists, and I was eager for him to use the depth of his research to shed light on the human primate. I asked him if he might contrast our species to its two closest cousins, the often murderous, power-hungry, and patriarchal chimpanzee, and the less-known peaceful, egalitarian, and matriarchal bonobo. Together we developed the structure and the proposal for a book that would not only reveal the bonobo’s fascinating counter image to ourselves as "killer apes" but what bonobos might tell us about our potential for compassion and altruism. Working as co-agent with Michelle Tessler, we sold the book, Our Inner Ape: The Past and Future of Human Nature, to Riverhead books, an imprint of Penguin, after a fierce auction.

I have had the privilege of working with Professor James Tabor for amore than a decade. James is a scholar and an archaeologist, and his book is a groundbreaking history of the life and times of Jesus as revealed by the untold story of the messianic dynasty he attempted to establish. This controversial and exciting book changes our entire understanding of Jesus and Christianity and became and international bestseller.

John Robbins has long been an inspiration to my wife and me and his books profoundly influenced our diet and health choices. When we moved to Santa Cruz, John became a close friend and then told me about his exciting exploration of the world’s healthiest and longest-lived cultures. His exploration of what these cultures have in common—their diet, their lifestyle, and their relations—became the extraordinary book, Healthy at 100.

A leader and inspiration to many in the movement toward a sane and more sustainable world, John is now working on a new book entitled, The New Good Life: Thriving on Less than You Ever Dreamed Possible.

Lee Holden is one of the country’s leading teachers of Qi Gong, the Chinese mindbody practice that, like yoga, is spreading around the world. His videos regularly appear on PBS, and in 7 Minutes of Magic he has created a mindbody workout that even I have time to do! Combining yoga, qi gong, and western exercise, these few minutes a day improve fitness, increase energy, and reduce stress. He’s also become one of my closest friends.

Kevin Bales is the world’s leading expert on "contemporary slavery," a reality that is often hard to accept. We worked together on a book entitled Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, which became a landmark book in its demonstration that the horrors of forced labor are not confined to history. It explained that there are currently over 27 million slaves—people forced by violence or the threat of violence to work with little or no hope of freedom. Kevin’s book helped him to launch a non-profit called Free the Slaves, which is working around the world to stop slavery and to bring this global problem to public attention. A documentary film based on the book called Slavery: A Global Investigation won two Emmys and a Peabody Award.

Their work revealing the use of child slavery in the chocolate industry in West Africa has led to an agreement by the world's leading chocolate manufacturers to end the use of slaves in the production of chocolate.

In 2007, I again had the privilege of working with Kevin on Ending Slavery, which Bill Clinton declared was the blueprint for ending this global tragedy.

Light on Life: The Yoga Path to Freedom, Wholeness and Inner Peace
By B.K.S. Iyengar

The world’s leading teacher of yoga offers the millions of yoga practitioners and countless other spiritual seekers a way to discover the freedom, wholeness, and inner peace that comes from living a life that is based on the principles of yoga on and off the yoga mat.

I was extremely pleased with the reaction from publishers. I submitted the proposal electronically and had an offer within twenty minutes. We were not able to go to auction because within days there were five preemptive offers.

Publisher’s Weekly reported a seven figure advance for the book. When I called to tell Mr. Iyengar the scale of the offer, he explained that he had just adopted the village where he was born and for which he is named (the ‘B’ in B.K.S. Iyengar is for Bellur). He said that this advance would help him support the schools and infrastructure for the entire village.

My parent’s gave me a yogic book on breathing when I was in high school—I have had asthma—and I started doing Iyengar yoga in college. I was grateful to have learned of the life riches in the yogic tradition and was frustrated to see how often yoga is equated with exotic stretching. I had for many years wanted Mr. Iyengar to share with his millions of admirers the deeper wisdom that yoga offers for how we live and move in the world. I was immensely pleased with his recognition of the importance of sharing these teachings at this time. Getting to work together on the book and to do yoga with him in India was a great personal as well as professional joy. One of my favorite memories was sitting on the floor next to him, typing, while he was standing on his head.

The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos
By Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack

Move over Copernicus! One of the world’s leading astrophysicists and a poet/historian of science present the first attempt to create a science-based cosmology that can begin to show us an accurate and meaningful picture of humanity’s place in the universe.

Joel and Nancy have profound gifts to give us in learning to live at home in the universe and I feel privileged to have helped them convey their knowledge to the public. After our work together on this book, I will never look at the night sky the same again.

Kendall Webb believed that the power of the internet could be used to transform philanthropy and bring many more donors to worthy charities. She asked me to serve as Editorial Director and Vice-President of Content for the start-up. Together with a team of extremely talented Internet professionals, we created a philanthropy portal, JustGive.org, which has donated over 100 million dollars to charity and was named by Forbes Magazine "the best philanthropy site on the web."

Linda Acredolo and Susan Goodwyn discovered that babies can be taught a natural sign language to express their needs, thoughts, and feelings up to a year before they can talk. Having used Baby Signs with my twin girls, I knew its power and how it opened up a world of communication that could replace tears and tantrums. Their discovery and method had lowered the bar for human communication by a year or more. I approached Linda and Susan about their work and together with acclaimed baby photographer Penny Gentieu we developed a board book series to teach Baby Signs to children that is being published by HarperCollins. Linda and Susan then asked me to revise their classic book to make it easier for parents and asked me to oversee the redesign and re-launching of their website: www.babysigns.com.

Ultimately, they asked me to help them to start a company, Baby Signs, Inc., and to serve as Interim CEO. I was able to help them identify their vision and draft a business plan for a company that offers a comprehensive family of research-based educational products.

The products help babies and toddlers develop their ability to communicate, to think, and to feel during the crucial first three years. Perhaps my most important responsibility was hiring key personnel including Baby Signs’ extraordinary CEO, Ron Berry, who is now continuing to build the company.

I worked with Islam scholar Michael Sells to bring alive the horror and devastation in Bosnia. The book was named the best book of the year by the American Academy of Religion, but it’s highest honor came when it was reported in The Washington Post that then-President Bill Clinton had read the book and had given copies to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and other top advisors. According to the article, the book had changed Clinton’s opinion on the region and influenced his decision to stop Slobodan Milosevic and intervene in Kosovo. When the book was conceived, Milosevic was seen as the legitimate head of a nation-state exercising its territorial rights; after the book’s publication and his indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal he was seen as a war criminal who used his military and media propaganda to destroy centuries of coexistence for personal and national goals.

Jamling Tenzing Norgay was the Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 IMAX Everest Expedition. The IMAX movie depicted many of the triumphs and tragedies that were shared with the failed expeditions chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. Jamling is also the son of Tenzing Norgay, who together with Sir Edmund Hillary first reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. I approached Jamling to see if he would write a book about his journey to the top of Everest, which was for him as much a Buddhist pilgrimage to his father’s soul and memory as it was a feat of physical and psychological endurance. Together with the skillful help of gifted coauthor Brot Coburn, we developed a book that was part adventure and part Buddhist teachings on the nature of life and death called Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of Everest. The book was introduced by Jon Krakauer and His Holiness the Dalai Lama and climbed The New York Times Extended Bestseller List.

At Home on the Earth: Becoming Native to Our Place, edited by David Barnhill, included essays by Wendell Berry, bell hooks, N. Scott Momaday, Leslie Marmon Silko, Gary Snyder, Alice Walker, and Terry Tempest Williams. This book about living in a rooted way on the earth was a powerful and rewarding project for a New York City kid like me who knew more about asphalt than soil. That we can live with native values and with intimacy and connectedness in the city as well as the country was a powerful revelation.