The Nicholas Effect
"The Nicholas Effect" is the story of the shooting of seven-year-old Nicholas Green. It tells how the Greens' decision to donate their son's organs saved the lives of five Italians and restored the sight of two others. It covers the murder trial, the making of "Nicholas' Gift," the Jamie Lee Curtis made-for-tv movie, the bell sent by Pope John Paul II to the Greens for their memorial tower and their unceasing campaign to bring attention to the tens of thousands of deaths caused every year by the worldwide shortage of donated organs. Running through it, like a thread, is the heartbreaking journey of Nicholas' parents and little sister to make something good come out of a senseless act of violence.
87 and Still Wandering About
“Reg Green is a pitch-perfect writer and these highly-entertaining essays allow us to accompany him as he hikes along mountain trails, braves raging rapids and makes his way through a remarkably rewarding life.” —Robert Kiener, senior writer, Reader’s Digest “For nearly 50 years, I have reveled in the friendship of Reg Green. He is adventurous, funny and mischievous -- sometimes all at once. Reg is irrepressible. A transplanted Fleet Street journalist, nowadays you can find him -- if you can keep up -- hiking alone in the San Gabriel Mountains, near his home in Southern California. He sets a mean pace for a man of 87. But there is something else you must know about Reg: he is lifesaver. When his seven-year-old son, Nicholas, was murdered in Italy in 1994, Reg and his wife, Maggie, donated seven of Nicholas’s organs so others might live. Since then they have traveled the world, promoting organ donation, and many are alive as a result. Part of this book is about the extraordinary people Reg and Maggie met on their mission. But there is more: there are essays, op-eds and photographs. This is a dufflebag of a book, full of wonderful things -- full, if you will, of the essential Reg Green, bon vivant, humanitarian and writer.” —Llewellyn King, executive producer and host, White House Chronicle on PBS, and Huffington Post columnist Praise for Reg Green’s previous books: “I can think of no book that surpasses The Nicholas Effect [www.authorhouse.com] in opening the heart and changing attitudes for the common good throughout the world.” —Bud Gardner, editor, Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul The Gift that Heals (www.authorhouse.com): “No one has done more for public awareness in organ donation in the entire world.” —Howard Nathan, president and CEO, the Gift of Life Donor Program
The Gift that Heals
The stories in this book are about life coming out of death. A police officer, left for dead in a hail of bullets, can golf and fish again; a woman, whose lungs were at one time so diseased that she was dependent on oxygen, has since climbed 5,000 feet to the summit of Half Dome in Yosemite National Park carrying a 25-pound backpack; a man who was fighting for his life went on to become an Olympic champion.
On one side, they tell of transplanted human organs and tissue transforming lives and, on the other, the inspiring selflessness of the families who donated them at the bleakest moment of their lives.
The Gift that Heals is published jointly by United Network for Organ Sharing (www.unos.org) and the Nicholas Green Foundation (www.nicholasgreen.org). It was written by Reg Green, the father of a seven-year-old California boy, Nicholas, who was shot in an attempted robbery while the family was on vacation inItaly. The story captured the imagination of the world when he and his wife, Maggie, donated their son’s organs and corneas to seven Italians.
United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the non-profit membership organization that administers theU.S. organ sharing system and focuses on increasing organ donation through technology, education and research. In 2001, UNOS created the National Donor Memorial (www.donormemorial.org) to celebrate and thank America’s organ and tissue donors and their families.
For information on registering to become an organ and tissue donor, please go to the Donate Life Americawebsite (www.donatelife.net) or call 800-355-7427.