Jack Canfield

Jack Canfield (born 19 August 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 over 124 titles and 100 million copies in print in over 47 languages. According to USA Today, Canfield and his writing partner, Mark Victor Hansen, were the top-selling authors in the United States in 1997. He has worked as a teacher, a workshop facilitator, and a psychotherapist. He is a Democrat and a Christian, and his hobbies include tennis, travel, skiing, running, billiards, reading, and guitar.

Biography

Canfield was born in Fort Worth, Texas, United States, North America. He is the son of Elmer and Ellen (a homemaker; maiden name, Taylor).

In 1962, Canfield graduated from high school at Linsly Military Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. He went to college at Harvard University, receiving a B.A. in Chinese History in 1966. He continued on to graduate school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, which granted him a M.Ed. in 1973.

In 1971, Canfield married Judith Ohlbaum, with whom he had two children, Oran and Kyle. They divorced in November 1976.

In 1978, Canfield was named Outstanding Young Man of America by the U.S. Jaycees.

On 9 September 1978, Canfield married Georgia Lee Noble, with whom he had one more child, Christopher Noble. They divorced in December 1999.

On 4 July 2001, Canfield married for a third time to Inga Marie Mahoney, from which marriage he obtained a stepson and a stepdaughter.

Career

Canfield is the founder of "Self Esteem Seminars" in Santa Barbara, and "The Foundation for Self Esteem" in Culver City, California. The stated mission of Self Esteem Seminars is to train entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders and employees to achieve their personal and professional goals. The focus of The Foundation for Self Esteem is to train social workers, welfare recipients and human resource professionals.

In 1990,he shared with Hansen his idea for the Chicken Soup for the Soul series. 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's most recent book, The Success Principles (2005), shares 64 principles that he claims can make people more successful. 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 which meets twice a year, and allows thought leaders to network and support each other.

Resume

Canfield's resume includes the following highlights:

• Motivational speaker, author, and editor.
• High school social studies teacher in Chicago, IL, 1967–68;
• Clinton Job Corps Center, Clinton, IA, director of teacher program, 1968–69;
• W. Clement and Jessie V. Stone Foundation, Chicago, associate director of education, 1969–70;
• New England Center, Amherst, MA, founder and director, 1971–77;
• Institute for Holistic Education, Amherst, founder and director, 1978–80;
• Insight Training Seminars, Santa Monica, CA, director of educational services, 1981–83;
• Self-Esteem Seminars, Santa Barbara, CA, president, 1983–;
• Foundation for Self-Esteem, founder and chairperson of the board, 1986–;
• Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, Santa Barbara, chief executive officer, 1998–.
• National Council for Self-Esteem, co-founder and member of board of trustees, 1986–96, member of advisory board, *1996–.
• Maui Writers Conference & Retreat School, faculty member, beginning 1996.

Transformational leadership council

The Transformational Leadership Council (TLC) was founded by Canfield in 2004. Initially, he invited about 30 people to his house in Santa Barbara, California, with the intention of creating dialog and networking among writers and teachers in the personal development field. The second meeting was at the ranch of John Gray in Mendicino County later in 2004. Since that time, the TLC has met twice a year, in January and July, usually in fairly exotic resorts in the United States or Mexico.

In the summer of 2005, at the meeting in Aspen Colorado, the film The Secret was filmed at the TLC meeting. Almost all of the speakers featured in the film are TLC members

The TLC is a closed organization, with membership by invitation only. New members are selected by first being nominated by an existing member, and the entire membership then votes before the new member is accepted. The current membership (as of 2008) is about 100.

Board of Directors

The members of the TLC board of directors include:

• Jack Canfield, Founder & President
• Marcia Martin, Vice President
• Marci Shimoff
• Pete Bissonette, Secretary/Treasurer
• Stewart Emery, Vice President
• Raymond Aaron