
Jack Canfield
Jack Canfield (born August 19, 1944) is an American motivational speaker and author. He is best known as the co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which currently has nearly 200 titles and 112 million copies in print in over 40 languages. According to USA Today, Chicken Soup for the Soul and several of the series titles by Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were among the top 150 best-selling books of the last 15 years (October 28, 1993 through October 23, 2008).
In July 2004, The Jack Canfield founded the Transformational Leadership Council, a group of thought leaders, speakers, authors, coaches, trainers, researchers, consultants, and other leaders in the fields of personal and professional development. The members of TLC meet semi-annually to network, connect, and learn from each other, to enhance members’ effectiveness and contribution in the world. As of January 2009, membership numbered 99.
Canfield has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist. He is a Democrat and a follower of “the secret” and the Law of Attraction, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar. In 1962, he graduated from high school at Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia and he received a BA in Chinese History in 1966 from Harvard University and an MEd at University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973. In 1971 he married Judith Ohlbaum, with whom he had two children. In 1978 he was named Outstanding Young Man of America by the U.S. Jaycees. On September 9, 1978, he married Georgia Lee Noble, with whom he had a son. They divorced in December 1999. On July 4, 2001, Canfield married for a third time to Inga Marie Mahoney. In the recently released Long Past Stopping Canfield’s first son, Oran, details a troubled childhood with a distant father, as well as his skepticism of the entire self-help genre in which his father became famous.
In 1990, Canfield shared with Mark Victor Hansen the idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series and after three years, the two had compiled sixty-eight stories. Canfield has appeared on numerous television shows, including Good Morning America, 20/20, Eye to Eye, CNN’s Talk Back Live, PBS, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Montel Williams Show, Larry King Live, and the BBC.
Canfield is the founder of “Self Esteem Seminars” in Santa Barbara, and “The Foundation for Self Esteem” in Culver City, California. One of Canfield’s most recent books, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. In 2008, he wrote The Success Principles for Teens with Kent Healy, as a result of the success of his original book. In 2006, he appeared in the DVD, “The Secret”, and shared his insights on the Law of Attraction and tips for achieving success in personal and professional life. In the summer of 2004 Canfield founded The Transformational Leadership Council (TLC), a closed membership, invitation only members’ club.
Chicken Soup for the Soul
Chicken Soup for the Soul is a series of books, usually featuring a collection of short and dense inspirational stories and motivational essays. The 101 stories in the first book of the series were compiled by motivational speakers Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen.
There have been numerous volumes of Chicken Soup issued. As of January 2006, there were over 105 titles. Many of the books are directed at specific groups of people, e.g. Chicken Soup for the Mother’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul, Chicken Soup for the Prisoner’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Volunteer’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Grandparent’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Ocean Lover’s Soul, Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover’s Soul, etc.
The first book sold over 2 million copies and launched the series. There are now over 100 million copies in print and in 54 languages worldwide. The Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul series, consisting of over over 14 titles, is one of the first series of non-fiction books which have sold directly to teens in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.
The series has spawned a number of imitators and parodies including Chicken Soup for the Vegetarian’s Soul and MTV’s Beavis and Butt-Head: Chicken Soup for the Butt, as well as a line of licensed products, including greeting cards, calendars, gift products, pet food, CDs, DVDs, and nutritional supplements. A parody can also be found within the PC game A Vampyre Story; a book titled Chicken Soup For Those Without A Soul can be found in the library.
The name “Chicken Soup” was chosen for this series because of the use of chicken soup as a home remedy for the sick.
From 1993 to 2008, Chicken Soup for the Soul was published by Health Communications, Inc.
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