Very sad news from the West Coast about two people in the industry:
Richard Carlson, the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and 30 other motivational books, died Wednesday of cardiac arrest while on a flight from San Francisco to New York, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. He was 45 and was to have made several TV appearances to promote his new book, Don't Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant and Downright Mean-Spirited People.
A psychotherapist, motivational speaker and stress consultant, Carlson became what the Chronicle
called "one of the world's foremost happiness expert. . . . He didn't
just tell people to be kind, patient and grateful, he showed them how
to make those values a part of their daily lives.
"Don't answer the phone when you're rushing out the door, Carlson
advised. Give yourself, and others, a second chance. Don't kill
yourself over a mistake. Don't finish other people's sentences for
them. Take a vacation, not a guilt trip. Your in box is not your life."
Patti Breitman, one of his former literary agents, told the paper: "He
preached what the Buddha preached, but without the preaching. 'Don't
take your thoughts too seriously.' He called it a thought attack. What
you need to do is live in the present."
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Kate Fleming, the narrator of a range of audiobooks, died on Thursday,
one of four people to perish in the storm that hit Seattle, Wash., the Seattle Times
reported. She was 41 and drowned when a surge of water flooded into and
trapped her in her basement office, where she and her business partner,
Lyssa Browne, ran Cedar House Audio.