The Most Important Lessons in Life: Letters to a Young Girl - Hardcover

Chandler, Rachel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1862044201 ISBN 13: 9781862044203

Publisher: Element Books Ltd, 1998

Synopsis

Responses to a letter sent out to celebrities by a young girl share these famous people's views on what is really important in life

About this title

From Publishers Weekly:

In 1993, 10-year-old Chandler asked her parents "what they thought was the most important lesson they'd learned in their lives." They answered that they'd learned to value perseverance and family. Chandler then posed the same question in letters to famous people, hoping to use the project to earn a Girl Scout patch. This small, illustrated book is comprised of excerpts from 74 of the responses she received. It is interesting to note the range of celebrities and dignitaries chosen by a young girl from Virginia, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Jesse Helms, Whoopi Goldberg, Fred (Mr.) Rogers, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa and John Mellencamp. Those who failed to respond included Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth and "several rock stars," while other letters were answered by staffers (including those who work for Sarah Ferguson, M. Scott Peck and Billy Graham). Some wrote long, personal letters (Danielle Steel, Angela Lansbury and Jack Kent Cooke), but not all correspondences could legally be included in the book (the Clintons and Gores were out because letters from serving public officials can't be used for commercial purposes). There's nothing surprising or even particularly insightful here, as most respondents simply agreed with Chandler's parents, predictably adding that they'd learned to value and strive for responsibility, kindness, faith, education, self-knowledge and honesty. Still, this is an attractively packaged gift book. Chandler, by the way, won the Girl Scout Silver Award.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Element Books Ltd
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1862044201
• ISBN 13: 9781862044203
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128