For many years, Parade magazine's Walter Anderson, one of America's most admired editors, harbored a deep secret about his heritage and the circumstances of his birth. With the publication of this affecting memoir, he reveals the truth about his life and tells the inspirational story of his rags-to-riches career.
Anderson grew up on the "wrong side of the tracks" in Mount Vernon, New York, the youngest child of an alcoholic, abusive father. He escaped his situation by quitting high school at sixteen to join the Marines. Four years later, while on leave to attend his father's funeral, he stuns his mother with a question that has inexplicably haunted him since he was a small boy: Was the man who had so tormented him in his childhood his real father? Her answer: Walter was born of a wartime love affair between his Protestant mother and the Jewish man she loved. His mother swears him to secrecy, and he honors their pact for nearly thirty-five years, and then one day he meets an unknown brother -- another son of his real father -- who has lived a similar, nearly parallel life. Their secret, in ways large and small, defines the course of his life.
 Meant To Be is a love story, a journey of self-discovery and spiritual reckoning, and a provocative challenge to commonly held notions about the role of heredity in our lives. Passionately told and deeply moving, Anderson's memoir is the mesmerizing story that he was always meant to tell.

Meant To Be

Biographies & Memoirs

Anderson, Walter

Arts & Literature

Harper

Published to strong reviews and major media attention, this heartfelt and inspirational rags-to-riches memoir by the highly regarded CEO of Parade Publications tells the emotional story of how he came to terms with an identity and a family that he never knew he had until he reached middle age.
Meant To Be begins when Anderson, a 21-year-old Marine returns from service to say goodbye to his dying father and tries to find the answer to a question that has inexplicably haunted him from his earliest years: Was the alcoholic, abusive man who has so tormented him in his childhood his real father? Shockingly, the answer turns out to be "No." Unbeknown to him, at least until that point, his mother, a German Protestant, fell in love during World War II with a Russian Jew and bore his child. Anderson learns this information as a young man but he and his mother keep this secret for another 35 years, until the day Anderson—now an unusually successful publishing executive—meets an unknown brother who, it turns out, has lived a nearly parallel life. Meant To Be is a love story, a journey of self-discovery and spirituality, and a provocative challenge to common notions about the role of heredity in our lives.

Meant to Be: The True Story of a Son Who Discovers He Is His Mother's Deepest Secret

Parenting & Relationships

Harper-perennial

Using exercises and real-world examples, the editor of Parade magazine offers seven principles for developing self-confidence and self-esteem, overcoming shyness, meeting new people, and handling criticism. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo. Tour.

The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment

Business & Money

Harpercollins

An inspiring step-by-step guide to overcoming self-doubt and achieving personal and professional success.
 Based on his popular course at the New School for Social Research in New York City, in The Confidence Course the former Marine, renowned storyteller and editor of Parade Walter Anderson teaches you how to choose what you want to be. In 20 interactive lessons, complete with excercises and real-life examples, Anderson offers rules to live by that can positively transform your life.

Addresses the problem of insecurity and fears of inferiority with advice drawn from his own experiences and from the recollections of famous achievers including Jack Anderson, John Glenn, Alex Haley, and Marlo Thomas

Courage Is A Three Letter Word

Self-Help

Success

Random House]

Courage is a Three Letter Word

Random House Audio |

Using his own experiences and those of Carol Burnett, Phyllis George, Elie Wiesel, Roger Smith, and Gloria Steinem as examples, a noted editor illustrates the rewards of risk-taking

The Greatest Risk of All Why Some People Take Chances That Change Their Lives - And Why You Can Too

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Psychology & Counseling

Houghton, mifflin, harcourt

Probing the painful and recurring themes in the lives of functional illiterates, this investigation into the miracle of reading provides a blueprint for fighting the national tragedy of illiteracy

Read With Me

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Addresses the problems of insecurity and fears of inferiority with advice drawn from his own experiences and from the recollections of famous achievers including Jack Anderson, John Glenn, Alex Haley, and Marlo Thomas

Courage Is A Three-Letter Word

Fawcett

The Greatest Risk of All

Random House Value Publishing

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Anderson, Walter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Anderson, Walter

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Anderson, Walter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Meant To Be

Meant to Be: The True Story of a Son Who Discovers He Is His Mother's Deepest Secret

The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment

The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment

Courage Is A Three Letter Word

Courage is a Three Letter Word

The Greatest Risk of All Why Some People Take Chances That Change Their Lives - And Why You Can Too

Read With Me

Courage Is A Three-Letter Word

The Greatest Risk of All