St. Louis Park, Minnesota residents Allen and Linda Anderson have discovered the secret to longevity: pay attention if your dog is smiling. Their yellow Labrador retriever Taylor's goofy grin on a walk around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis inspired the Andersons thirteen years ago to start the Angel Animals Network (www.angelanimals.net)
Passersby that day stopped the couple to ask, "Do you know your dog is smiling?" This gave these two mid-life empty-nesters the idea to show the world that animals have spiritual qualities such as joy, gratitude, creativity, and unconditional love. Even though they were like most other people and living from paycheck to paycheck, they also wanted to prove that it's never too late in life to make a difference by bringing more love and healing into this world. Today, the Andersons are best-selling authors of twelve books with over a quarter million books in print.
Although many people back in 1996 still thought of pets as property and disposable, the Andersons hoped to portray animals as sentient family members who fill a home with peace and joy. Allen Anderson says, "Our dream was to help ordinary people express to the world an appreciation and awe for animal heroes. We believe that the power of story can help decrease abuse and increase adoption." But the journey for both of them has included overcoming severe health and financial obstacles that would have derailed most people. They credit Angel Animals and their pets with saving their lives.
In a country where two out of three homes have pets the Andersons realized they had struck a deeply emotional chord. They concluded that the best service they could provide would be to gather such a large body of anecdotes that the spiritual nature of animals could no longer be denied. They would offer uplifting, undeniable messages that would cause people to never look at animals the same way again.
Within a few months, the Andersons were sharing stories they were receiving from around the world and publishing them in their first printed newsletter. Soon, they had a contract for their first book, Angel Animals. One book grew into a series of twelve, to date, and an enduring relationship with their publisher New World Library in Novato, California, a company that publishes Eckhart Tolle (The Power of Now), Deepak Chopra, Mother Teresa, Joseph Campbell, Wayne Dyer, and other authors of life-changing books. The Andersons' accomplishments so far include:
* Angel Animals books published in the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and Italy
* Certificate of Commendation from the Governor for contributions to the state of Minnesota
* features in Gannett, Associated Press, and other national wire service articles, Star Tribune, Pioneer Press, Washington Post, Today show, ABC's Nightly News, NPR, USA Today, Montel, Animal Planet, Shirley MacLaine's radio show, BBC Radio, and London Sunday Times
* their book, Rescued, chronicling the largest animal rescue operation in history after Hurricane Katrina, winning American Society of Journalists & Authors (ASJA) Outstanding Book Award.
Linda Anderson, instructor at The Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis and graduate of St. Cloud State University, says, "Our greatest satisfaction comes from people telling us that reading our books has helped them through the devastation of pet loss. Or that they decided to keep an animal they might have abandoned because a story revealed something they hadn't understood about pets. This project has seen us through the tough times because it continues to inspire us, too. We've learned that it's really true -- the secret to longevity is doing what you love and loving what you do."
The Andersons' new book is Horses with a Mission: Extraordinary True Stories of Equine Service (September, 2009, New World Library) available in bookstores and online nationwide.
