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Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People

by Bradley N. Gallagher

295 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0519; ISBN 1-4120-0151-X; US$28.00, C$32.50, EUR23.00, £16.50

Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People contains letters written to the young author from 125 of America's most successful people containing their advice for what a young person needs to become successful. Responses are from presidents, senators, governors, professional athletes, coaches, college presidents, etc. Includes a foreword from U.S. Senator Max Cleland and biographies of all respondents.

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About the Book      About the Author      Sample Excerpts      Catalogue Info

About the Book At age ten, Bradley Gallagher began writing letters to famous Americans asking them what they believe are the keys to success in life. As the project grew from a few interesting letters to more than 300 responses, each containing tips for success for young people from the perspectives of leaders in politics, law, business, journalism, education, entertainment, and athletics, Bradley made the decision to share these letters with other young people in Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People. He sought each respondent's permission to include his or her letter in this book, with all profits from publication to be used to fund college scholarships for the children of fire fighters, law enforcement officers, and emergency personnel. Tips from the Top also contains each respondent's biography. The collective scope of these biographies demonstrates that success can be achieved regardless of one's beginning in life. The recommendations contained in these letters could be invaluable for a young person as he contemplates his future path in life.

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About the Author Bradley Gallagher is sixteen years old and is a junior in high school at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. His interests include politics, license plate collecting, and jazz and classical music as both a trombone player and as a listener. Bradley has a strong personal interest in fairness for all people. In October 1998, U.S. Representative John Kasich of Ohio offered him advice in the form of his own beliefs and observations, the spirit of which he has been inspired to attempt to emulate: "I believe that fairness is defined by the impact we as individuals have on the lives of those around us. Likewise, whether or not we have a lot or a little success is determined by our willingness to be involved, make a difference, and give of ourselves." More and more in this society, grandiose, attention-grabbing speech is the norm, but when one begins to search beneath the bluster, there are often, unfortunately, no actions or deeds supporting these promises and declarations. For the preservation of our democracy, and especially in the analysis of our leaders, it is important to scrutinize what positive change and accomplishment actually takes place, compared with what these individuals claim to espouse. That each person is able to exercise the same rights afforded to those with the most favorable personal situations and that all have access to the same benefits others enjoy and perhaps many take for granted are central issues for Bradley. From June 2001 until November 2002, he was significantly involved in U.S. Senator Max Cleland's re-election campaign. Bradley considered it an honor to work for and with the Senator because he believed and continues to believe in his principles and goals. As part of his quest for social equality and justice, Senator Cleland works to provide a voice for those who do not have the financial and often educational clout to be able to speak for themselves. Since Bradley was ten years old and over a period of several years, he wrote to famous and highly accomplished people asking them for advice for a young person to be both morally principled and successful in life. More recently, he decided to share these responses, along with biographies of the respondents, in a book entitled Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People. Consistent with his personal pursuit of fairness for all people, he had been troubled for years, since well before the tragedy of September 11, 2001, by the insufficient compensation firefighters, police officers, and emergency personnel receive in return for what they risk every day. The respondents in Tips from the Top provided their approval to include their letters in this book on the basis of his motivation for publishing it: the profits will help to fund college scholarship programs for the children of such overlooked heroes. Perhaps as important as providing opportunities through these scholarships, another significant benefit of the quest to publish this book has been the invaluable advice the respondents have provided. Much of this advice is consistent with the original goals of the project - to learn more about the values embodied by successful people. Counseled Supreme Court Justice David Souter, for example, "Give the other fellow a hand when you can, and remember that every good thing you receive is meant to be passed along to someone else." Last spring, Bradley founded a non-profit organization, Technology Initiative for Development and Education, or TIDE. He recognized that the economic divide between those less fortunate children and those with greater opportunity is also leading to a widening partition in technology. The goal of this organization is to secure used computer systems, mainly from large corporations, the most efficient means of collection, and to redistribute them to primarily school-age children with little chance of otherwise securing their own computers. Bradley is excited about the difference TIDE will make in the lives of others. Bradley's life has been guided, and will continue to be guided, by the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "In these days of difficulty, we...must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man." FDR was speaking during the Great Depression, but his words continue to ring just as, if not more, true today. Bradley has tried to live by these words through his personal efforts in working for Senator Cleland, through establishing TIDE, and through the creation of the scholarship fund from the proceeds of Tips from the Top.

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Sample Excerpts

Foreword

      Winston Churchill once said, "Success is never final; failure is never fatal; it's courage that counts." Words like this - words that inspire, but at the same time show that success is not attained easily - are important to hear, especially for young people. And that's why the collection of letters in Tips from the Top: Advice for a Young Person from 125 of America's Most Successful People was such a fantastic idea.
      Bradley Gallagher has compiled letters from leaders in their fields, searching for common ground and sparkling gems of advice from the people we all look up to. Leaders in politics, leaders in sports, and leaders in entertainment have all contributed to this project, offering their own keys to success and suggestions for making the most of your opportunities and abilities.
      And such a project has never been more important. Today's kids live increasingly hectic lives. Shuttled between sports practices and other after-school activities, our young people are busier than ever before. They spend more time in the classroom, more time on the athletic field, and more time volunteering. Young people today are amazing not just for what they accomplish, but for the sheer volume of what they undertake.
      Today's young people know they want to be involved, and parents today facilitate that involvement without wavering, even if it means spending less time with the children they so adore.
      But being successful in today's world is about sacrifice. It's about rising to the occasion, seizing opportunities, and working tirelessly to be the best person you can be. It's about taking the road less traveled and bringing others down that road with you. It's about being involved, being dedicated, and being interested.
      Success is not based on money or possessions; it's a state of mind we can all attain, and Tips from the Top can help each of us to take it to the max!

United States Senator Max Cleland
August 29, 2002
Atlanta, Georgia

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Introduction

      "Always do your best. Be a doer and not a critic. If you are fortunate enough to take something out of the system, put something back into it. Give life everything you've got- don't look for the easy way out."
      The forty-first president of the United States, George Bush, passed along to me these such simple but powerful thoughts in his letter of August 4, 1997. This is the kind of advice I was seeking when I began my letter writing campaign to famous and accomplished individuals in 1996. I was hoping to learn from those who had demonstrated great success just what is important to attain such success. President Bush's letter, a copy of which is included in this book, remains one of my most valued responses.
      We have all heard of the American Dream, in which a person starts from humble means and ascends to greatness. What is most impressive about many of these high achievers is the difficult circumstances they had to overcome in order to make it to the top of their chosen professions. One of my favorite stories is that of Dave Thomas, the founder and Chairman of the Wendy's restaurant chain. Mr. Thomas provided one of my earliest replies when I was seeking to gain an understanding of just what it takes to achieve tremendous success. He was adopted at the age of six weeks, lost his adoptive mother when he was five, and then was moved from town to town as his father sought work. Mr. Thomas was working twelve-hour shifts in a restaurant each day when he was just twelve years old. He was determined to create restaurants where families could eat together because family meals were rare for him when he was growing up. Mr. Thomas credited pure hard work as the key to his particular success.
      I have always been intrigued as to what attributes a person must possess, or what rules a person should strive to follow, in order to achieve greatness or experience significant accomplishment. I have long been interested in studying details about successful people in the hope of trying to gain a better understanding of what is most vital for success in this world. What better method could there be for a young person to establish an early model for achievement than to study the important elements that already accomplished people deem crucial for success?
      I began to write letters to famous people when I was ten years old. It seemed quite beneficial to ask these well-known people if they had any clear ideas about what might have made them so successful. I realistically thought that most of the people might decide that my questions were not sufficiently important or that they would not bother to take the time to respond and just throw my letters away. I concluded, however, that it was at least worth a try to see who might answer me.
      Such a project can produce much discouragement. The world and its leaders in government and industry move at a fast pace. More than a month had passed before I received my first response, but Mr. Thomas' was a wonderful, thorough letter. He told me what he thought the key for a person my age was to begin to prepare for a life of accomplishment. Within a few weeks, I had received several more letters, and all fascinated me.
      Parents, teachers, coaches, and other people of authority and experience give advice to those my age. It seemed to me that famous people who had really done some great things in their lives would also have some particularly excellent advice to share. I was now on a mission to obtain information concerning the prerequisites for success, and the goal was to obtain words of advice from a variety of people with proven records of success.
      One cannot succumb to discouragement when attempting such a project. Long delays and long periods of no responses were the norm. Patience is a virtue in this line of endeavor because people, especially successful people with constant demands on their time, often will not have a spare moment to respond even if they care to address the questions. I decided early in this project that I would simply stay the course, no matter how high the frustration level might become at times.
      In the past few years, I have written nearly 1,200 letters, sometimes to the same people numerous times. Some people will never write back, but I have received at least 300 responses to my letters, and this is certainly not an insignificant return ratio. In this book are just over one hundred twenty five of my favorite pieces of advice. I asked the writers for their permission share their letters when it occurred to me that in doing so I might raise funds for a worthy cause - to fund college scholarships for the children of fire fighters, police officers and military personnel. This book is dedicated to these often unrecognized and under-compensated individuals, and proceeds from the sale of this book will benefit their children. I hope I am "putting something back," as President Bush suggested.
      I have determined that there are several common themes in these letters. Most of them mention honesty; just keeping one's word is extremely important. Gaining the trust of others is crucial for success. Whatever the religion of the writers, many mentioned their belief in God as a large part of their moral foundation. Working as hard as possible in school was another common idea; securing a strong education is vital, regardless of where one attends school. Education is what a person makes of it, and many respondents also recommended reading as much as possible, possibly the most common advice of all. Not everyone has access to a formal education at a highly-regarded school, but many high achievers were able to overcome this seeming difficulty by reading voraciously. There are many sources of information out there, and the Internet now enables a person to educate himself on just about any topic imaginable.
      Pure hard work, the ability to stick with one's pursuits, and diligence appear to be essential qualities for accomplished people. These letters are sprinkled with recommendations to never give up on one's goals. I gained a clear understanding from studying these replies that success rarely comes quickly or easily. The old "overnight success" label usually had about ten years of hard work behind it. Perhaps a few truly blessed individuals achieved success without any bumps in the road first, or without any discouraging failures on the way to the top, but such situations are very rare. More often than not it seems that achievement-oriented people experienced sometimes numerous setbacks before they experienced success. These individuals mention maintaining perseverance as a natural reaction to such setbacks and suggested enhanced personal growth from failures. Perhaps it is just as the quote attributed to German philosopher Frederick Neitzche, "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger." The lesson here is to stay on course and maintain focus even in the face of rejections.
      I learned perhaps as much in researching the backgrounds of these people in order to provide their biographies in this book as I did from reading their letters. What struck me was that some of our country's most famous and accomplished people, even in similar areas of endeavor, came from incredibly different backgrounds. As many of our United States Senators, for example, seem to have come from small rural towns as from large metropolitan areas. And from this same group, as many have graduated from top Ivy League universities as from lesser known small pubic and private universities. This told me that opportunity exists for the vast majority of our citizens and that great success can be achieved regardless of the circumstances into which a person is born. Success is out there for all of us, but it needs to be pursued. Waiting passively for success will result in little actually happening. Hard work, honesty, dedication to a task, and determination are among those factors in the formula for success.

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      These responses to my letters were consistently fascinating, and I am very thankful to all of the extraordinary people who took the time to write back to me. My sincere hope is that you find these letters to be as interesting as I do and that they might be of assistance to you. Sometimes it is easy to forget what needs to be done in order to put ourselves into an advantageous position for the future. Perhaps these letters will make easier clarifying how we should be building our foundation for future achievement.

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      My letter writing campaign began when I was ten years old and continues today. At present, I am sixteen years old and a junior in high school at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta, Georgia. The advice in these letters can be incredibly useful to those my age, young people who are just getting started in life. As I continue my studies, and then my career in whatever I decide to pursue, I hope to always remember the recommendations of those who have clearly demonstrated achievement, and contributions to the world.
      I believe that by sharing these letters with young people, especially those around my age, and with those who advise young people, I might help others get started down the path to success in life. I'm trying to get on this path myself.

Bradley Gallagher
Atlanta, Georgia
December 2002

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The Responses

1) President Gerald R. Ford
2) President George Bush
3) President and Former Texas Governor George W. Bush
4) Vice President Al Gore
5) Alabama Governor Fob James, Jr.
6) California Governor Pete Wilson
7) Delaware Governor Thomas R. Carper
8) Georgia Governor Zell Miller
9) Guam Governor Carl T. C. Gutierrez
10) Hawaii Governor Benjamin J. Cayetano
11) Idaho Governor Philip Batt
12) Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad
13) Kansas Governor Bill Graves
14) Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton
15) Louisiana Governor Mike Foster, Jr.
16) Maine Governor Angus S. King, Jr.
17) Maryland Governor Parris N. Glendening
18) Massachusetts Governor Argeo Paul Cellucci
19) Michigan Governor John Engler
20) Minnesota Governor Arne H. Carlson
21) Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura
22) The Late Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan
23) Nebraska Governor E. Benjamin Nelson
24) Nevada Governor Bob Miller
25) New York Governor George E. Pataki
26) North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr.
27) North Dakota Governor Edward T. Schafer
28) Northern Mariana Islands Governor Pedro P. Tenorio
29) Ohio Governor George V. Voinovich
30) Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating
31) Oregon Governor John A. Kitzhaber, M.D.
32) Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Almond
33) South Carolina Governor David M. Beasley
34) U.S. Virgin Islands Governor Roy L. Schneider, M.D.
35) Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt
36) Vermont Governor Howard Dean, M.D.
37) Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer
38) Arizona Senator John McCain
39) Colorado Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell
40) Florida Senator Connie Mack
41) Georgia Senator Max Cleland
42) Georgia Senator Sam Nunn
43) Indiana Senator Dan Coats
44) Indiana Senator Richard G. Lugar
45) Kansas Senator Bob Dole
46) Mississippi Senator Trent Lott
47) Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel
48) Nebraska Senator J. Robert Kerrey
49) North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms
50) New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith
51) Ohio Senator John Glenn
52) The Late Rhode Island Senator John H. Chafee
53) South Carolina Senator Ernest F. Hollings
54) South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond
55) South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle
56) Texas Senator Phil Gramm
57) Virginia Senator John Warner
58) Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich of Georgia
59) California Representative Henry A. Waxman
60) California Representative Lynn Woolsey
61) Georgia Representative Mac Collins
62) Illinois Representative Philip M. Crane
63) Illinois Representative Henry Hyde
64) Ohio Representative John R. Kasich
65) Oklahoma Representative Steve Largent
66) Attorney General Janet Reno
67) Former Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara
68) Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt
69) Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
70) Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
71) Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter
72) Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
73) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Henry H. Shelton
74) Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell
75) Chester, Illinois, Mayor Frank Derickson
76) New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani
77) Presidential Advisor Oliver L. North
78) Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox
79) Astronaut and Corporate Executive Frank Borman
80) The Coca-Cola Company Chairman and CEO M. Douglas Ivester
81) Delta Air Lines President and CEO Leo F. Mullin
82) Home Depot Director and Co-founder Bernard Marcus
83) Nike, Inc. Chairman and CEO Philip H. Knight
84) The Late Wendy's International Chairman and Founder Dave Thomas
85) Syndicated Newspaper Columnist Dave Barry
86) Journalist William F. Buckley, Jr.
87) The Late Cartoonist Hank Ketcham
88) Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger
89) Duke University President Nannerl O. Keohane
90) Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Charles M. Vest
91) Princeton University President Harold T. Shapiro
92) Stanford University President John L. Hennessy
93) Yale University President Richard C. Levin
94) Entertainer Dick Clark
95) Entertainer and Jimmy Dean Foods Chairman and Founder Jimmy Dean
96) Entertainer Buck Owens
97) Entertainer Randy Travis
98) Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig
99) National Basketball Association Commissioner David J. Stern
100) National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue
101) National Hockey League Commissioner Gary B. Bettman
102) Atlanta Falcons Football Coach Dan Reeves
103) Buffalo Bills Football Coach Gregg Williams
104) Carolina Hurricanes Hockey Coach Paul Maurice
105) Chicago Bulls Basketball Coach Tim Floyd
106) Detroit Tigers Baseball Manager Phil Garner
107) Golden State Warriors Basketball Coach Dave Cowens
108) Indianapolis Colts Football Coach Jim Mora
109) New York Giants Football Coach Jim Fassel
110) New York Yankees Baseball Manager Joe Torre
111) Philadelphia 76ers Basketball Coach Larry Brown
112) Philadelphia Flyers Hockey Coach Bill Barber
113) St. Louis Rams Football Coach Mike Martz
114) San Antonio Spurs Basketball Coach Gregg Popovich
115) Seattle Seahawks Football Coach Mike Holmgren
116) Toronto Raptors Basketball Coach Lenny Wilkens
117) Duke University Basketball Coach Mike Krzyzewski
118) Florida State University Football Coach Bobby Bowden
119) Penn State University Football Coach Joe Paterno
120) University of Florida Football Coach Steve Spurrier
121) Hall of Fame Football Player George Blanda
122) Professional Golfer Jack Nicklaus
123) NASCAR Driver John Andretti
124) NASCAR Driver Kyle Petty
125) NASCAR Driver Rusty Wallace

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Catalogue Information

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