CNN ANCHOR LOSES JOB, STARTS INSPIRATIONAL WEBSITE

A fixture on CNN for 12 years, Daryn Kagan's contract was not renewed (2006). What did the former anchor, 43, do? On Nov. 13 she launched darynkagan.com. Subject matter: inspirational stories, including videos whenever possible. She said she wanted to show the world what’s possible.

Stories are grouped by category, e.g. “Half Full,” “Never Too Late,” and “Love.”

Critics sneered but Kagan didn’t mind. She started the site for herself, she said, and said she believes in creating what you seek. “If you want inspiration,” she said, “then create that.”

Quote Super Bowl Champion QB Roger Staubach:

“Confidence doesn't come out of nowhere. It's a result of something ... hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication.”

HIKER SURVIVES MOUNTAIN LION ATTACK, CREDITS GOD

Hiking in a Colorado park sounds peaceful and fun. For Andy Peterson, it was a weekly busman's holiday; he was a park ranger in a nearby park. But the weekly fun hike turned into sheer terror. He was attacked by a mountain lion, for 30 minutes, yet still escaped and lived to tell about it. It took 70 staples just to close his head wounds. Describing the end of the attack, he says "The lion was back for the final kill and there was nothing I was able to do. I again glanced over my right shoulder, expecting to see the demonic visage of my tormentor one final time. Instead, I was given a glimpse of Heaven. The face of the Lord was in plain view where once the lion had been. The canopy thinned and the empty trail lightened. I’m positive this is divine intervention. For the first time since I saw the lion, I felt safe. Or should I say, saved?"

Quote baseball legend Ted Williams:

“A man has to have goals - for a day, for a lifetime - and that was mine, to have people say, 'There goes Ted Williams, the greatest hitter who ever lived.'”

“God gets you to the plate, but once you’re there you’re on your own.”

“There's only one way to become a hitter. Go up to the plate and get mad. Get mad at yourself and mad at the pitcher.”

TALK HOST BEATS ABUSIVE CHILDHOOD

While still a youngster, talk host Tavis Smiley was falsely accused by his minister of some Sunday school mischief; as a result, his enraged father beat him within an inch of his life. Tavis was hospitalized for 10 days. He used the tragedy to fuel his success. He tells the story......

Quote baseball legend Satchel Paige:

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?”

“Work like you don’t need the money. Love like you’ve never been hurt. Dance like nobody’s watching.”

“You win a few, you lose a few. Some get rained out. But you got to dress for all of them.”

Owner of #1 private co. loses millions enroute to success

Working for his father’s engineering and pipeline company in Wichita, Charles Koch lost $50 million on supertankers and crude oil in the mid-1970s. He wiped out $120 million more on a misguided attempt to turn Purina Mills into an integrated feed-to-steaks agribusiness in the late 1990s. But despite these setbacks, Koch has been successful, very successful. During the 38 years he has been running Koch Industries, the company has grown more than a hundred times in value, to an estimated $30 billion, compared with a 13x increase in the S&P 500 index. After acquiring Georgia-Pacific in December, 2005, it is now the largest privately held company in the world. Unlike many wheel-and-dealers, Koch has no plans to go public. Shares in Koch Industries, 40% of them owned by Charles, will be offered to the public “literally over my dead body.” Featured in Forbes, March, 2006

Quote Super Bowl champion QB Joe Namath:

“You learn you can do your best even when it's hard, even when you're tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage.”

Asha's successful war on disease

We publish a violin teaching aide, Violin Scale Charts™, and came in contact with musician Asha Mevlana, an intelligent (Wellesley grad), and creative professional violinist. She contracted breast cancer at 24, but fought back successfully with courage and humor. Her web site tells the story... Original post: Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Quote U.N. Sec. (1953-61) Dag Hammarskjold:

“When the morning's freshness has been replaced by the weariness of midday, when the leg muscles give under the strain, the climb seems endless, and suddenly nothing will go quite as you wish -- it is then that you must not hesitate.”

First business fails, $35 billion success follows

Billionaire Jeff Skoll. First business venture, a computer rental business, failed. Realizing he needed more business acumen, he went to MBA school, and teamed with eBay founder. Now one of the world's wealthiest with more than $35 billion. He is also a Hollywood producer, philanthropist, and founder of Participate. Featured on ABC News as "Person of the Week" Friday, December 2, 2005. Original post: Monday, December 05, 2005

Self-described "has-been" Teri Hatcher comes back with mega-hit "Desparate Housewives"

Teri Hatcher who took a seven-year break from the limelight to raise her daughter, and then snagged the lead in the prime-time "Desperate Housewives," thanked ABC for giving her "a second chance at a career when I couldn't have been a bigger has-been." She also came back from a sexual attack when young, helped convict the perpetrator, and tells her story in this memoir. Original post: November 15, 2005

NFL linebacker returns to gridiron after stroke

New England Patriots' linebacker Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke in February, 2005, underwent an operation to repair a heart defect that caused it the next month, and returned to the gridiron October 30, 2005 -- a remarkable comeback that has inspired millions. Original post Oct. 30, 2005.

Fired from Ford, Nasser rebounds with Polaroid

How Jacques Nasser and his fellow buyout artists at J.P. Morgan made a killing on Polaroid. Forbes says: Don't fret, Carly Fiorina, there are second acts in the lives of fallen chief executives. Witness Jacques Nasser, Ford Motor's ex-chief. After his ignominious ejection in 2001 Nasser peeled himself off the pavement and joined One Equity Partners, Bank One's private equity unit (now part of J.P. Morgan, which acquired Bank One last year). Nasser earned millions after deftly navigating his firm through an investment in Polaroid, the has-been instant camera company that filed for bankruptcy in 2001. Original post: March, 2005, migrated to new blog today.