"THE RIGHT WORDS AT THE RIGHT TIME, VOL. TWO: YOUR TURN," by Marlo Thomas and New Friends, Atria Books, 401 pages, $25.
Four years ago, famed TV actress Marlo Thomas (best known for the '60s sitcom "That Girl") edited a book about 108 famous people she admired, whom she asked to write about the words that had changed their lives.
"The Right Words at the Right Time, Vol. Two: Your Turn" is Thomas' follow-up book, allowing the same opportunity to 101 "everyday" people from 30 states and three countries.
She selected the essays for the book from more than a thousand submissions, many of them through Parade Magazine, which had championed Thomas' first book.
In the opinion of the author, "The right words can transform us. . . . They can be spoken with love or shouted in anger. The right words can be funny words, thought-provoking words, words that prop us up when we think we can go no further."
Kathleen Muldoon, an educator from San Antonio, Texas, suffered a devastating illness that resulted in the amputation of one leg, while the other leg was encased in a metal brace. As someone who always loved to dance, the loss of her leg was a big blow.
Then she remembered the words on her grandmother's handstitched sampler: "Dance as if no one's watching. Sing as if no one's listening. And live every day as if it were your last."
As she went to a party one evening, she was determined to dance, crutches and all. She asked someone she had dated to dance with her, saying, "Put your hands on my shoulders and lead." She stopped thinking of what others were thinking, stumbling a little, but enjoying the process.
When the dance was over, people applauded.
Jay Ratliff, a retired airline executive in Dayton, Ohio, was told by his father, "Know what you are going to do with the ball before you get it." Like any good son, Ratliff ignored his father's "stupid advice."
Then one night in a championship play-off game, his junior high school team was in a scoreless tie against a tough opponent. The lead-off batter in the ninth inning hit a triple.
Ratliff was playing first base — and when he saw his father in the stands, he was gesturing. He knew he was referring to the famous saying. Too many options. His brain was muddled. Then it occurred to him that if a ground ball was hit to him, he could prevent the third-base runner from scoring by sprinting down the first base line toward home and tagging the runner.
That's exactly what happened — and Ratliff's father suddenly became a genius.
E-mail: dennis@desnews.com