Madelaine Palko

Fourty - seven heroes, one journey, unlimited hope.  Hope & Heroes is many stories.  Each reveals a different path, real people achieving the extraordinary at home, in our communities, on the national or world stage. Men, women, teenagers and seniors alike, adopting the challenges of the environment, racism, war and peace, self-esteem, physical and mental handicaps, corporate integrity, food and drug protection and more.  Whether acting on the spur of the moment, or by some grand scheme. Commiting themselves variously for the season, the term or for life.

Faith, hope and charity in the service of others is their creed. Faith in themselves to realize and seize the opportunity with confidence not conceit. Hope arising from sharing the dream, leading and inspiring, expanding hope among others.

Hope & Heroes reminds us that there really is a hero who lives within each of us.

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Barry Shainbaum wasn't always a a professional photographer, author, interviewer, broadcaster and inspirational speaker.  As a teenager and for the next 18 years, Barry suffered the personal hell of manic-depression, now known as bipolar disorder.   After a very long journey through life, he got well, thanked his lucky stars, and discovered the joy of giving something back every day.

Hitting bottom was like a swirling dark cloud, at his lowest point, Barry was living in a psychiatric boarding house and looking like a tramp.  Fighting back took courage, determination, even defiance.  Modern medicine predicted that Barry would be mentally ill and drug dependent for life.  Instead, Barry is now living 25 years drug free, which the medical community debates to imply cured, recovered or still in remission.  So much for labels.  By the grace of God and assuming responsibility for himself, Barry has embraced self-study, traditional and alternative healing, diet, lifestyle and visualizaton, first to save his own life, and now to motivate others.

Hope & Heroes features some of the people who were heroes for Barry during his troubled times; and many more whom he has learned to appreciate for what they too, contribute to the world and to all of us as individuals.