I was in New York last week just before Thanksgiving to speak at the Guideposts offices in Pawling for their annual Thanksgiving Day of Prayer.  The highlight of my visit was tea with Ruth Stafford Peale, wife of Norman Vincent Peale, the author of THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING.  Back in the days when I wrote on a rented typewriter and received a barrage of rejections, the one thing that kept me going, that gave me hope and encouraged me, was this book.  Later, after I sold my first novel, I wrote Dr. Peale and thanked him.  The most amazing thing happened.  He wrote me back and that was the start of my association with Guideposts and the Peale family.  My time with Mrs. Peale was a blessing I won’t soon forget.