“But…and there’s almost always a ‘but’, isn’t there?!” she laughs, “My assistant, Karen and I were discussing fan mail the other day, trying to come up with a better, more efficient system to answer my mail! She suggested that we spend a little time clarifying some ‘hidden truths’ about fan mail in the hopes that we can all work together to make this process move more quickly, so that you get your photos signed and your responses back! I thought that Karen was right! We decided to use my blog on my website to try to help you help us with the process, so that you can get your collectors photos more quickly and easily!

“The following info comes from years – no, make that DECADES – of handling fan mail! I hope it helps.

“First of all, I want everyone to understand that whatever you mail to me first goes thru the Post Office and, well, let’s just say that people are human! The mail sometimes never gets to its intended destination as the Postal mail is NOT like email- it is not a sure thing! Snail mail can go astray! However, if it does get to its intended destination, that address is usually my agent’s office. It never comes directly to my home or to my own office. And my agents office gets lots of fan mail for lots of celebrities–so you are at the whim of the assistants at the agency who collect all of my mail, stockpiling it until they get a bunch together, to make it worthwhile to make a trip to the Post Office and to forward it on to me…..(Let me just say that that is usually at their convenience!) Therefore, depending on circumstances, mail can take weeks to reach my agent and then several more weeks to reach my office.

I understand that meanwhile, the writer is probably anxiously awaiting a reply! I can also understand that it feels like that reply may never arrive! They may even assume (perhaps) that I didn’t even bother to read their letter. Well I want to reassure you that nothing could be further from the truth. I PERSONALLY READ EVERY PIECE OF MAIL I RECEIVE.”

Karen picks up and explains further:

“Carol is a rarity is this respect, because she really does read every piece of mail that arrives here and sometimes it can be overwhelming. If she’s out of town on a shoot, for example, she might be gone for several months. All of the fan mail accumulates, unread, until she comes back. Then she has to designate hours and hours of her time to reading and answering the mail, all while she is trying to catch up on the rest of her life.

“That was why I thought if I could explain how the fan mail works in our office, and to set down a few easy ‘guidelines’ we could all help Carol to get thru the fan mail more quickly and thereby get responses back to anxious fans!

“First of all, if you’re requesting an autographed picture, please, please, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE). If you live in a foreign country, it is better to put U.S. stamps on the envelope then to buy the postal coupons for foreign postage. The Post Office in America will NOT redeem those coupons and we end up buying the stamps again anyway, thereby having given the Post Office twice the price for one piece of mail!!

“But seriously, the main reason for the SASE is because we put mail into piles and Carol gets to them in a hierarchy! Believe it or not! We choose who we answer first as it is not on a first come/first served basis because the mail arrives all together in a big pile from the agency! Depending on how much time she has to allocate to mail, Carol does the easiest and fastest mail first–those with a photo AND an SASE! Then she does those with just an SASE, moving onto those which have photos and no SASE– thereby leaving the most time-consuming fan mail of all until last- those that have no SASE and no photo included—and that can mean that it may be months that that mail sits in our office, since Carol is answering fans while juggling work and family!

So my suggestion to fans who want a more instant answer to their fan mail? Put the photo you want with an SASE into your envelope with your letter—by the way, some of the celebrities who I have worked for are really LAZY!! If you do not include an SASE AND a PHOTO they just toss your mail unread (I hope that answers any questions as to one of the reasons why you may not have received an answer back to your letter- no SASE, no autograph!) That, or their assistants read, sign and answer their mail FOR them! Not so with Carol, so we ask for patience in order to get an authentic signature!

“Keep in mind also, please, that we don’t keep huge piles of different photos in the office just for the purpose of supplying fans with them. If you want autographs on several different photos, supply them! Also, we sometimes run out of photos and we have to wait until the new prints arrive before mailing them to the fans. And, too, we may send you a photo that we are using at that moment to answer mail but you may not like the photo or the size of the photo! Or you may want your own special photo signed to you—not just whatever we have in the office. To be sure you get what you want, help us out! The last thing we want is for you to be unhappy or dissatisfied!

“Carol, like many other celebs I have worked for over the years, prefers to autograph a photo specifically to the person requesting it. If you’re asking her to sign one for every relative you have (oh, please don’t do that unless you supply the photos, then you have to give her their names. Otherwise, you might wind up with the same name on every photo you send! And that name would be yours–NOT good for gifts!! LOL!

“Next, if you write a return address, please make sure we can read it. I can’t tell you how many times Carol has written to someone, only to realize that neither of us could make heads or tails out of their return address. But because Carol is so intent on writing back to people who have written to her, she has been seen (because I have seen her) trying to copy illegible writing so it looks exactly the same as what appears on the incoming envelope. Or else she cuts the return address off the correspondence hoping that the Post Office or Postman can decipher it! It is funny really to watch her frustration, but sad when you don’t get your response, which we have worked so hard to get to you, because it comes back to us by our return address….

“Then there are the requests for donations. Carol has spent a lifetime donating to various causes and this is what we look for (oh, and just an FYI? We only have books left): Carol will gladly autograph one of her four books that she has written provided we receive the appropriate paperwork verifying the charity’s status. That is fair, right?

“Speaking of ‘requests’…Carol feels awful when something marked ‘urgent’ has been sitting in her agents office for months while she is on location, only to arrive in a pile of mail to sit in her office for some days, weeks or months! We realize that something urgent to you is not urgent to the Post Office or to Carol’s agents. Even though it is important to Carol to get it back to you ASAP, time has already been wasted. We apologize that the fan mail process is so lame! We apologize that we cannot figure out a way to make it any faster or any better. So if something was urgent and did not make it back in time for that birthday or holiday, please forgive us– it is not for lack of caring! And we will send it back anyway– even if I we already know it will arrive late!”

Carol picks up the thread again: “I think the most important thing is for my fans to understand that I’m not ignoring them. In fact, some weekends all I do is answer fan mail! It is SO important to me that I will spend my entire weekend - 10 hours a day - answering mail. So you can understand that it truly hurts me when I get an angry note from someone, because he or she thinks I’ve been ignoring him or her– though I certainly understand why he or she might think that. You might write to me in March, but I might not even see the letter until November, or later! And then, of course, there is always the possibility that a piece of mail can be misplaced or never even arrive. I am a natural target for people who have been mistreated by other celebrities who have ignored them. But please know that each celebrity is different and to keep an open mind. Remember that perhaps your mail never even made it to my attention!”

“And may I take this moment to thank all my fans throughout the years who have written to me! I have read some of the most heart-warming, most incredible letters from my fans! As I said before, it is what I LIVE for! So keep ‘em coming!”

Plucked from obscurity, beautiful Melody Ann Croft is making her way up the industry ladder. But Melody Ann is gone… in her place is “Mac” and with her looks, brains, and drive, she may well be on the brink of becoming America’s top model.

Suddenly Mac’s seeing her name in the tabloids, being wooed by billionaire businessmen… and sharing intimate late-night dinners with movie stars. And she’s discovering that the supermodel life isn’t all fluff and glamour. It’s long hours, hard work, and even harder choices — like choosing to starve or to never work again.

But does Mac have what it takes to be super? Because deep down — behind the perfect body and million-dollar smile — she’s still the same hometown Melody Ann she’s always been…

“I knew the results I was getting throughout the years, but at first, I thought it would seem kind of strange to have me, my mom, my sisters, and my friends reporting these fantastic results, because – let’s face it – that would tend to look like some kind of set-up. But the reality is that I was shocked by some of the results that my friends were reporting. We have testimonials on HSN, raving about the results of Raw Essentials. For example, my friend Kitty’s remarks about always having been a ‘before’, never an ‘after’, and that her skin was basically controlling her life, really moved me. She had been somewhat shy and didn’t really want people to look at her too closely, because she didn’t like the way her skin looked after having spent a great deal of time outdoors. She credits Raw Essentials with completely changing her skin and her outlook – she walked into the studio to shoot her testimonial with a whole new attitude and demeanor!

“My mother came in without makeup on her face. I can’t remember ever seeing my own mother without foundation on her skin, so for her to go on camera with nothing on her face was a total shock! Add to that the fact that she had had a 4” scar across her nose and one on her lip, both of which had all but disappeared, and it just shows how fantastic the results of using Raw Essentials can be.”

Carol explained how these testimonials came about. She and her business partner, Steven Krane, were only given a total of 5 sample packets to give away prior to launching the skincare line, so Carol gave one to her mother, one to her sister and one to her friend, Kitty. Steve gave the remaining two to women that he knew.

“Steve and I discussed the fact that it probably wouldn’t be a very good idea to only have 5 people try the products, not to mention giving them only a couple of weeks to try them out before we launched the website. Well, needless to say, it did work and the written testimonials we’ve since received are right in line with the on-camera ones.

“I’m really surprised that we got so many letters so quickly (following the launch in December) from women who wanted us to know how thrilled they were with the results they were seeing right there in their own mirrors. Talk about gratifying! One 66-year-old, for example, told us that she had never gone without foundation in her adult life, but with Raw Essentials, she was finally able to just put a little color on her face! We now have five stars on HSN, which is very rare, all based upon these letters that have been pouring in.

“My sister, Christine, has had terrible problems with her skin for years. She comes and raids my cabinets now,” Carol laughs, “just so she never runs out. She can wash her face and not worry about having an adverse reaction from some non-raw product.”

With results and word-of-mouth support such as this, it’s little wonder that Raw Essentials sold out after the soft launch in December and then again after the official premiere in January. “This wasn’t even the anti-aging line”, Carol says. “It was just the normal/sensitive skincare products that were selling out. The anti-aging products hadn’t even arrived yet!

“You know, with most other skincare lines, the big push goes to the anti-aging formulas. My own skin is maturing, of course, but I wanted to promote the normal and sensitive products first, not only because that’s what I’ve been using myself for several years, but because that is the line used by the largest number of people. I really can’t wait to see how the anti-aging products are received, once they become available!”

Carol wants to share a little about the process she went through when it came to choosing the actual packaging for the various products. “We had some complaints in the beginning about a couple of the containers – that the dispensers on the night cream and day cream weren’t working as well as they should. I want people to know that we do listen to criticisms as well as compliments and, whenever possible, we intend to correct any problems that are brought to our attention. In this case, we have already changed the bottles, because those complaints were absolutely valid. As a matter of fact, we were in such a hurry to launch the line, after so much work on the products themselves, that we accepted whatever dispensers were available at the time. We already had pre-orders, prior to the official launch and just couldn’t wait for our chosen bottles to arrive.

“We were able to immediately correct the bottle that was spraying the product too forcefully. That means that when someone re-orders that product, they’ll automatically be getting the “new and improved” dispenser.

“We also had some – not many – negative comments on the scent of the night cream. Well, those were only samples of the night cream that we gave people who ordered another skincare product. It was never intended to be the final scent. Of course, it’s understandable that nobody knew that – we never mentioned it and probably should have. Now the night cream smells exactly the same as the day cream. Those samples were a gift that we added at the last minute, using the original light ginger scent, which we already knew we were never going to use.

“I must say, it kind of amazes me how some people are so ready to throw out the baby with the bathwater. I wouldn’t care how a product smelled, if it had the results on my skin that ours does. Yes, I understand that some people are highly sensitive to certain scents, but come on! We use healthy, low temperature processed essential oils, not synthetic fragrances, and they are a light scent that dissipates leaving behind only…fabulous results!”

Carol acknowledges that starting a new company such as Raw Essentials has been a fascinating experience. Despite the difficulties of finding a laboratory that would create exactly what she wanted; the design challenges; and the entrepreneurial life in general, she is absolutely thrilled with the results. She thinks you will be, too.

Since, as we all know, God works in mysterious ways, it was a full 9 years or so before he took me up on my offer. The way it began was so innocent and so natural that at first I did not realize what was happening.

I moved my office to New York City from Los Angeles, but I was quite upset, because I wondered where I would get my RAW milk, cream and cheeses, as L.A. is far ahead of NYC in the ability to obtain raw dairy.

Then I received a phone call from the NY Post Newspaper, asking if I would let them shoot a photo of me at a RAW food restaurant. I was shocked: First, that they knew I was a RAW FOODIST, as I had not yet gone public with this info and second, that there are RAW food restaurants in NYC.

When the paper called, I thought, “Not for nothing, but this I have to see.” So I agreed to do a photo I would not normally have done, just to get to see and eat at a RAW food restaurant.

I am very glad I did that photo shoot, because besides finding a whole network of RAW friends in NYC, that photo started me on the path to becoming a very outspoken advocate of raw food.
Prior to that event, I had not intended to write books on RAW food; I was writing another book inspired by my friend Bill O’Reilly- and only one chapter in it was about RAW food. Instead of selling that book, however, everyone I pitched my idea to wanted me to write about the chapter I was most passionate about: RAW FOOD! I immediately sold a book (or two) on RAW.

The letters from the Ottawa Citizen were depressing in more than one way. As each letter seemed to say that I was crazy and that I was the only one in the world who was doing RAW and that I was out of touch with the real human condition. These particular letters pointed out how in shape I was, how lucky I was, how rich, able to have chefs, that I had no kids and my lifestyle was such that no one else could do what I was saying they should do! They picked on everything, including the fact that I had a great boyfriend, that I was genetically blessed and that I did not know how to live life like a “normal” person, etc., etc., etc.

They were going after ME. They were not listening to the message. Therefore, I started to think that perhaps I was the WRONG role model for this lifestyle.

People are used to seeing “fat” people say they lost weight and apparently “ill” people say they found a cure for something. But I was silent about my cancer and I fought it not on the front page of People Magazine, but in my home, working diligently with the most brilliant minds in medicine. Yet, when I changed ALL that afflicted me and I came out to tell the world, I was told that my message was not worth listening to because I was SUPER MODEL Carol Alt, who was soooooo genetically blessed that I could not possibly have problems and I was soooooo blessed with my job and my boyfriend and my family, etc., that it could not BE that I did not really have a fairytale life!

In other words: “How could a famous supermodel possibly have human afflictions?” EVEN PEOPLE MAG WOULD NOT PUT MY STORY ON THE COVER AND I DID SPEAK TO THEM ABOUT THIS MIRACLE!

Of course, worse than being a super model, I was not a doctor, so how could I possibly find a cure for cancer? Therefore, anything I did was looked at with a wary eye, which I do, on a certain level, understand. Perhaps if I had started out fat, for example, and not just sick, tired, bloated, and aging rapidly with digestive problems, headaches, weight gain and skin rashes, and ultimately cancer — perhaps if I had gone to the press with my diseases and put my sick face on the cover of People Magazine, instead of coming forward with a possible cure - people could more easily believe my message. Perhaps if I were a secretary, or a teacher, or a factory worker, they would hold me up as “The Everywoman” who could make a difference.

It has been so depressing for me to hear comments like the ones from the Ottawa Citizen, because people attack the messenger and do not listen to the message. (And trust me, I do not mind that people attack me as crazy, as I have been called everything from a “Tsunami of stupid” to doing a “disservice to women”! The only thing I really mind is that they do not hear the message!) It has been SO demoralizing that I wanted to stop doing this work. And believe me - it is WORK.

Fortunately, I understand that it is in God’s hands and that it is progressing as God intended it to. I understand I was afflicted with cancer and was able to change my prognosis because that would make me a stronger, more credible advocate for this way of eating. (I mean, I understand free will - I got cancer because I CHOSE to eat badly and to stress my body, and starved myself on every diet there was!) I believe God has been able to use my mistakes to put me on a path to help other people.

I also understand that God’s intent with this way of life is because it changes a person SPIRITUALLY and that is probably one of His goals. I mean just LOOK at this world! So I cannot and do not question God. I cannot question the things I think He is asking me to do in order to get the word out. I can only thank Him for bringing me this knowledge and saving my life with it (and giving my life back to me, which is a whole other thing!), and then trudge on ahead, with all the slings and arrows that come with this journey.

I must say at this point, that the following incredible e-mail (which is one of many positive ones) was a real boost to me personally. It made me cry with sadness for all of the Lisa’s (see “Ottawa Citizen”) in the world; at the same time it made me cry with happiness for all of the Susan’s (below) in the world. Sometimes it is hard not to lose hope that people will see how polluted this world is, and how sick people really are, and how our food has changed so much in the last years - and how EDUCATION is REALLY, REALLY needed.

Letters like the following help me to not lose hope that people will want to look for something to give them an edge in this world.
I found it in RAW…as did many OTHER people. Read the following email to see this truth.

- Carol

“It’s been a very interesting experience, I must say”, Carol tells us. “For one thing, I ripped a 15mm tear in a muscle in my back and then there I was, dancing the jive with that kind of injury. I honestly never had a clear picture of what a dancer’s life is really like: The concentration, the intricate moves, and how incredibly technical it all is. Then there is the sheer number of dances. By the time this is finished, I’ll have learned 11 separate dances! And that includes, by the way…the Flamenco!

“Until you actually do it, you don’t really think about all the different steps and moves that go into the various ballroom dances – and each one is very, very different from the others. For example, sometimes both legs have to be kept straight; other times, they have to be bent; and then sometimes, one is straight, while the other is bent! And that’s just the lower half of your body! Some dances call for a really smooth, gliding style and then in others, you have to bounce. It’s a lot to learn and a lot of hard work before you feel comfortable doing any of it.

“I have to admit that when I accepted this project, I didn’t understand how challenging it was going to be. You know how when you’re out on a dance floor with your partner, you kind of learn how to dance together and it’s usually not any particular “formal” dance. But when you’re dancing on a professional level (or trying to!), you have to give up control and follow your partner, who, in this case, is a professional, highly experienced dancer. Of course, when I say “follow”, that also means the guys who are learning to dance with a professional female partner, too, even though they’re supposed to lead. You can’t lead OR follow if you don’t have a clue what you’re doing! And some of those moves are pretty bizarre, too.

“Take the waltz, for example. Your hips are together, his leg is placed between your legs, you’re bending backwards, with your heads away from each other and you aren’t even looking at each other!” Carol pauses and then laughs as she continues: “In the olden days, when young ladies could only dance with their chaperones in attendance, I can certainly understand why they wanted to waltz. Think about it: From the waist up, they looked like they weren’t even touching. All the “action” was from the waist down…!”

Carol was fortunate to have Raimondo Todaro, winner of previous “Ballandos”, as her partner/instructor. The unfortunate part was that Carol and Raimondo each lost a lot of valuable rehearsal time, she by having to fly to Florida for work and he by having to attend a competition in London. In addition to that, Carol was invited to join the show rather late in the game and already had commitments that prevented her from starting at the same time as the others (they began rehearsals on December 15th, but Carol wasn’t available until January 5th). The producers and agents involved were all aware of this situation when they offered Carol the show, but she is so popular in Italy that they apparently felt it was worth taking a little risk. All in all, she and Raimondo were 5 weeks behind everyone else and were never really able to catch up on that lost time – although they certainly gave it their all, as you can see in the following clip of their beautiful waltz, from Italian YouTube:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdih8fc5OwM&feature=channel_page

“Raimondo was very patient with me throughout and that really helped. For some reason, the rhumba was particularly difficult for me, because you have to keep your legs straight and the muscles tight, while executing lots of turns. But other dances, such as the tango, quick-step, waltz and jive are really good for someone of my height, because they’re somewhat looser and yet still sensual, and I found I was able to move more freely. Of course, many of the movements involved here go completely counter to the way I’ve had to move most of my life as a model.”

The competition aspect of “Ballando Con Le Stelle” is over now for Carol. She and Raimondo were eliminated after the fourth episode. Of course, that doesn’t mean her work in Italy is over quite yet, since she’ll be participating in various ways until the season ends for “Ballando” in late March.

“Tough as it was – especially knowing that we were coming into it late, with a couple of weeks less practice time than everyone else – I still feel that it was a wonderful, amazing experience. I actually enjoyed being tired physically for a change, since most of what I do now is pretty cerebral and I’m usually exhausted mentally at the end of the day, yet fully awake physically. Plus, I learned more than I could possibly have imagined and I know that from now on, I will certainly be able to hold my own on a dance floor. I’m more versed in a type of social interaction than I ever would have been otherwise, for which I am truly grateful.

“Now, if someone would just invite me to waltz in Vienna…!”

With the kind permission of the Ottowa Citizen, we are going to share not only Carol’s interview with you, but also a couple of interesting responses from women who see things in a rather different light. Carol, of course, has her usual thoughtful and pertinent response. First, the article that triggered it all:

Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy

Boyfriend Yashin ‘had no problems’ with photo spread
By Tony, The Ottawa Citizen - November 19, 2008

Playboy has finally got the “Most Beautiful Woman in the World” on its cover.

Carol Alt was given that burdensome moniker more than 20 years ago when she was at the height of her modelling career and appearing on dozens of top fashion magazine covers. But after being pursued by Playboy for just as long, she finally agreed to pose for the magazine’s December issue.

It was a decision that didn’t come easily, considering what was at stake, personally and professionally.

“I just never thought to do it,” says Ms. Alt, 47, in an interview this week from her New York apartment.

“There’s a saying I always remember when I started working: At 20, you have the face you’re born with, at 30 you have the face you work for and at 50 you have the face you deserve.”

Ms. Alt says posing nude at her age — she turns 48 in two weeks — “ain’t easy,” but she adds, “it’s only easy if you have an edge and my edge is raw food.” She has been on a strict raw food regimen for 14 years.

“The reason I showed my body is because my body would not have been like this if it hadn’t been for the fact that I had gone raw,” says Ms. Alt, adding that before she had a physical makeover with a raw food diet, she was overweight, bloated and always felt bad.

The decision to pose nude for Playboy came this past February after consulting with longtime boyfriend Alexei Yashin and her family, she says.

“When I talked to my mother, at first she thought I was kidding. Then she thought about it and then said ‘you know what, I can go to the museum and see that everywhere’ because she knew I wasn’t going to show the bottom front.”

She says Mr. Yashin responded with a definite yes after she told him about her decision to go ahead.

“He wanted me to do it eight years ago. He kept saying you should do Playboy. When I asked why he wanted me to do it, he said, ‘I just want everyone to see how beautiful you are.’ He had no problems with it.”

Ms. Alt says she also wanted to make a statement for those 40-plus women who think they can’t be beautiful when they hit their mid-40s.

“I want people to know that after 40, it’s not the end of your life. Life goes on. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

The photo shoot was done in June over a three-day period in Ballast Key, a 26-acre private island estate off the coast of Florida.

She worked with Timothy White, a celebrated American celebrity photographer whose current book, The Hollywood Pinups, features movie stars such as Cindy Crawford, Kate Hudson and Susan Sarandon in sexy poses.

In the eight-page photo spread titled In the Raw, Ms. Alt is shown cavorting on the beach, sitting on a deck chair wearing a bright orange hat (her favourite shot) and several shots of her sprawled on a bed — Alexei’s favourite. She said while thousands of photos were taken, she was comfortable knowing that she had the final veto over which ones were chosen for the magazine.

“One of the big stipulations about me doing Playboy was that I didn’t want to be re-touched to death. I saw a photo they were retouching and I said no. I want my hips, I want my belly, I want my face there. I just didn’t want to show an unattainable body to the world. I want my body with all its flaws and problems.”

© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

An Ottowa reader by the name of Lisa had her own thoughts on this subject:

Help us to look like Carol Alt
The Ottawa Citizen - November 22, 2008
Re: Reluctant Alt decides to go ‘raw’ for Playboy, Nov. 19.

Last night my partner felt comfortable enough in our relationship to share with me that he wanted to see the latest Playboy magazine as he had read in the Citizen that Carol Alt at age 47 had posed for the magazine and he was intrigued to look (I dare not say ogle) at a beautiful “older woman.”

Now being a 49-year-old woman, I felt a little troubled by this revelation and was inspired to read the original article in the Citizen myself.

Ms. Alt tells us that “after 40, it’s not the end of your life. You can feel good, look good, be beautiful and sexy and that’s all an attitude which comes from health.”

Most of us women were not fortunate enough to have been called the “most beautiful woman in the world” in our 20s; we do not have the financial resources or the time to spend maintaining the looks we might have, nor do we have the will power to eat only raw food.

I for one would have been happier if my partner had told me that he wanted to purchase a calendar of real women who might be comfortable enough to bare their bodies, bravely displaying stretch marks, sagging breasts and flabby thighs.

So for all you middle-aged men out there who might share my partner’s feelings, please do not be surprised if the women in your lives are more reluctant than usual to be undressed in front of you, support us when we decide to turn the basement into a gym, hire a personal trainer five days a week, undergo liposuction, breast augmentation, botox injections and join us every evening as we forfeit those succulent lamb chops in favour of grated carrots, diced tomatoes and sliced peppers (What example are we giving to our teenaged daughters?).

And to you younger men, please be supportive when your partner informs you that she intends to have a surrogate woman bear your children, a wet-nurse suckle your young.

After all, don’t we all have the right to look like Carol Alt in our late 40s.

Lisa, Ottawa
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Here is Carol’s response:

We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me’
The Ottawa Citizen - December 7, 2008
Re: Help us to look like Carol Alt, Nov. 22.

I find Lisa Fischer’s letter symptomatic of the view held by women the world over. I find it sad that women want to hide behind the gene pool theory about how they cannot “look like Carol Alt” to keep from bettering themselves.

Even being called the “most beautiful woman in the world” at age 20 does not mean at 48 I would even have been in the running.

At 34, I was hardly the supermodel I had once been. Weight gain, dry skin, wrinkles, moodiness, general malaise and sickness had set in. Everyone told me I was just getting older and to deal with it. I could have accepted that they were right. I could have decided my career was over and I could have given up.

Why did Playboy magazine put me on the cover at 48? Because I was successful at changing myself into the best “me” I could be — better not only at 34 or 48 but better than I was at 25. I wanted to show other women that there is another way that worked. And that it is so easy to do. Playboy supported that.

But Ms. Fischer missed the point. And unfortunately, she may not be the only one. But then it is easier to say that I had it so easy and look good naturally, that I am blessed or rich or something.

At 48, it’s not easy to look good and be healthy but it is possible. Maintenance is not optional. It is mandatory. Eating raw is part of that maintenance. But it will not make a short woman tall. It will, however, make the sick feel better, and the moody happier. It will help the fat to be thinner, it will definitely give you energy. It will change your mind about everything.

The idea is not to look like “Carol Alt” but to look like you, just a healthier, well-kept and more in shape, sexier, funnier and happier you. I do all this to look and be the best “me.” I do it for me and for Alexei (Yashin).

The point of the Playboy photos was not to say “don’t I look great, I am a model.” Even if I were genetically blessed, I would not or could not look like this if I had not done something to save my life and limb. I would have been a fat, bloated, old lady, depressed and out of shape with scars from hip-to-hip from the surgeries that the doctors wanted to do.

I chose a better life. And I offer that way to other women. The life and career I have now was made possible only because I switched to a raw food regimen.

So I feel sorry for all the women who have given up hope and who think that making the changes are just silly or stupid and that these things are just for the rich and famous. It just shows me I have so much more work to do.

Carol Alt, New York City© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

Carol and Lisa’s exchange was followed by this letter from another Ottawa Citizen reader:

Having kids
The Ottawa Citizen, Sunday, December 14, 2008
Re: We need to work hard at becoming the best ‘me,’ Dec. 7.

Carol Alt is well meaning in explaining in her letter to the editor what she is doingwith her eating raw food campaign. I commend her efforts to educate women on the merits of proper nutrition. But her choices reflect those of a woman who has never had children. I am not judging Ms. Alt on this circumstance (which was perhaps out of her control). She must realize that she is not representative of most women whose bodies have gone through the rigours of pregnancy and child birth. Further, add in the years of sleepless nights that it takes to raise children as well as the reality of family meal planning.

After 48 years of looking after herself, I am happy that Ms. Alt has found her answer to good health and nutrition. But for most women raising a family, there is a reason why we won’t look like her at this age and it has nothing to do with diet — it’s called “having kids.”

Julie
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen

There is nothing new or unique in what women such as Lisa and Julie feel when confronted with the “possibilities” of how their own lives could have turned out, had they chosen different paths, or had different strokes of luck, or different genes. Common sense, however, tells us that even the wealthiest, the most beautiful, or the most talented people have their own crosses to bear. With a little concentrated effort, as Carol points out, anyone can improve, or even just maintain, those qualities (especially health and a positive attitude) which can, with luck and some diligent work (!) be a lifelong asset.

Carol wrote the following in response to these comments, which, by the way, certainly weren’t the first such reactions she has encountered:

Sometimes a cry for help can be found in the strangest places! If, at first, I saw that in this letter the “messenger” was being picked apart again and the message ignored, upon further contemplation, I realized that a call for help was actually the inspiration.

Of course, I have not had kids, but that makes no difference. If something is important to you and it stresses you, the body doesn’t know if it is “kid” stress or “work” stress. Stress is stress. Period.

The fact is, for thirty years I HAVE gotten up in the middle of the night - for my career! I have traveled to far-off distant lands, slept in different hotels and strange beds, and worked 18 hours a day for 7 days a week and that is just as stressful to me as waking with a child in the middle of the night is for some (not all) mothers.

As I said before, the body does not judge what you wake for or what you stress over, it just knows stress…!

But to answer the more demanding question, if a person with children can eat healthy, I turn to my best friend Holly. Holly not only has two beautiful daughters who eat raw (one is 10 years old and one is 6), but she runs her own successful business, as does her husband.

Holly is only 5’2” and weighs a whopping 95 pounds, but she blew up to 187 pounds during one of her pregnancies, when she went off raw. She went back to her raw diet as soon as she could and quickly dropped the extra weight. So you see, being small and/or having kids does not interfere in the ability to maintain a healthy weight and keep yourself in shape.

Holly told me that going raw was as easy as a little education on label reading, food preparation and sometimes mixing her own dressings and sauces. To her, it was just a matter of what is important! Holly’s kids are the healthiest in their classrooms, so she doesn’t mind making some of her own food – it’s better than waking up in the middle of the night with sick children! This was important to her!

She doesn’t mind having to take a minute to educate herself - it has saved a lot of time at doctors offices! Again, it was important to her that her kids be healthy and if it costs a few pennies more, so what? Better to spend money for healthier food than on children’s over-the-counter medicines.

Holly is not the only example I can cite: Donny Goode, whom I wrote about in my book “The RAW 50”, has two children under the age of 5 and when I last spoke to him, neither had EVER eaten cooked food!

Hard for people with kids? Nah! What is hard is to read that heart problems, diabetes and cancer are all on the rise in children. That, to me, is harder than
taking the time to educate yourself on healthy foods.

In terms of the complaint that RAW FOODS is expensive, no story can tell it so eloquently as that of a woman who wrote me from San Francisco (I think is was) who was confined to a wheelchair for the last 15 years with MS - or MS symptoms. She was told she had MS and took every kind of new Medicine out there. She only got worse and was in deep pain.

One day she saw me on TV. She did not say, “Oh, she is healthy. I can’t do that. I have no money; I have no way around; I am in a wheel chair. Carol Alt does not know what it is like for me!” No! She said, “I need something different. Perhaps I should CHECK THIS OUT!”

Having limited funds and resources, she went to the library, got my book (the only book on the subject of raw that the library had, by the way) and read it! She educated herself, FIRST! Then, when she “got it”, she prepared the easy recipes, shopped using the book’s shopping list and even with her limited funds, she was able to go RAW and to eat healthier.

This woman today is writing a book about her experience! She is up and out of her wheelchair (as she had MS symptoms apparently brought on by malnutrition and chemicals in her food). She felt better almost immediately- it took longer for her to ultimately get out of her chair, but she managed that too! She found a therapist to help with the physical rehabilitation of her muscles and such.

The point here is: Imagine if she just sat there and picked ME apart instead of listening to what my MESSAGE was? Imagine if she hadn’t EDUCATED herself first, but just decided she “couldn’t”?

Please, please understand that this is a simple thing to do - just a little education and a bit of label reading. If you cook dinner now, you can make dinner healthier.

By the way, I don’t mind someone who is educated on RAW Nutritional Foods to taking me to task if they disagree with something I’ve stated. That makes for stimulating discussion! But someone who has not even taken the time to do a little self-education - that is another story! I know that obviously intelligent, thinking women such as Lisa and Julie may not be educated on RAW, because, if they were, they would all too readily see how easy this really is, kids or no!

I’m sending a big “Thank you!” to so many of my fans who have written to me. I want to take a moment to tell you that I do read a great deal of my mail…not all of it, of course, as that would be a practical impossibility, since I am still shooting movies, and modeling, and promoting my skin care line, and oh, dear…my next book is due! But I read enough of it to know that I have some detractors and naysayers out there! So, I’m going to take a pause, albeit a boring pause for some of you, to address a couple of blogs that caught my attention.

Who knew that raw food would arouse so much controversy? The emotions run the gamut from anger, curiosity and judgment to absolute joy and grateful disbelief from the people who actually did try eating RAW before they wrote to me! Those “pioneers” who stuck with it did experience some of the same kind of amazing results that I did! And when I write “grateful disbelief”, I mean it! Many people could not believe that the simple act of changing the preparation of their food could alleviate so many health problems. Certainly I didn’t believe it when I started! But boy, what great results I got from taking that first leap of faith! The changes in my health were so numerous and incredible to me that I have documented some of them in my book, “Eating in the Raw”! Not only did I get relief from certain health problems, but in the 12 years I have been eating RAW, they have not come back! And some of these were chronic problems that had persisted for years before I went RAW!

Now, let me state the obvious: I am neither a doctor nor a scientist and I do not speak (or write) in specific doctor or scientific language. To put it more clearly, I cannot and don’t really want to speak in language that normal, everyday people find difficult to understand! To speak of primary, secondary, or tertiary protein links when speaking of enzymes - well that is boring even to me, an old hat at this who loves to learn new stuff about foods and the human body! Imagine how boring that is to people who are just starting out learning about raw food?

So for those of you who have written in and asked - and not for those of you who could care less “how” it works, but rather “that” it works - I respond in the following way:

Enzymes are of course protein links!
The body uses proteins (amino acids) and fats (essential fatty acids) to rebuild and regenerate the tissues, muscles, tendons, bones, and other systems of the body, skin, hair and nails. It uses only trace amounts of carbohydrates (glucose) for cell metabolism. And those carbohydrates are best coming from long chain carbohydrates such as veggies - not short chain carbs such as breads and pasta, etc.

Enzymes are what make fruit appear to go bad. When air hits the meat of the fruit, the enzymes start to “digest” the fruit. This is when I want to eat it!! When the nutrients are released. The easier it is to get at the nutrients, the better for me - as I need to be ‘nutritioned’. Same idea for nuts: A raw nut (say an almond) can germinate when put in water - meaning it can start to grow, releasing the nutrients. That is when I want to eat it; when the nutrients are easier to get at! A cooked almond will not germinate - go figure! Heat causes that much of a chemical change that a cooked nut will never grow again!! Man, you killed it!!! I am a ‘living’ being; why do I want to eat dead food?

Whatever heating does on a molecular level, I don’t need to have explained to me nor do I need to explain it to anyone else in detail.
All I NEED to know and all I ABSOLUTELY DO know is this: I digest raw food better and it makes me feel better. Period!

(By the way, if you do want more info on enzymes, I found the following website to be very informative and easy to follow: www.healingdaily.com/detoxification-diet/enzymes.htm — It covers much of the information that I really don’t have the time to write about….I mean, come on guys, I can’t do it all!!)

As for heat changing minerals, I am sorry I did not get specific enough!! Of course heat does not change minerals! In any case, I said it “denatures vitamins and minerals”, not wanting to go into specifics there again. I did not realize that the “scientists” in the group would want to take me to task for not being clear.

What I understand is that the “bonds” between the vitamins and minerals and proteins are very sensitive to heat. When heated, these bonds can be altered or broken. As any woman who takes Calcium knows, Calcium can be absorbed more readily in the presence of Vitamin D and Magnesium. That is supposedly the way they are found in nature - with bonds linking them together, helping to make them easier to absorb. (Also fat plays a role here, but I digress.) So, by heating them and breaking the “bonds” between the vitamins and minerals, we have essentially “denatured’ them from the way they are found bonded together in nature. (Again, I have found other websites that explain this better and in more detail. But for a general explanation of how this RAW food stuff works, take a look at www.rawguru.com/reshape.html - it may help you understand it better and me explain it better, too!

To any of you raw-food naysayers I say this: If eating processed, preserved, non-organic, chemically induced, altered, cooked or GMO’d food makes you happy and feeling healthy, go for it!!

However, please do remember: When (and notice I did not say “if”, but “when”) you are not feeling so well, and when you start to take that first over-the-counter med (assuming you are not taking any already i.e. stomach remedies, aspirin, allergy/sinus meds, sleeping aids etc. etc!!), please, please, please, let go of your ego and your anger towards the idea of RAW food, and just try it! It is an inexpensive way to help your self!

You see, even if I don’t know the scientific terms for every chemical process that happens with food in the body and even if I am not a doctor, I do not need to be one to know that I have reversed my own problems and taken myself off of all the over-the-counter meds I was taking - and I have never looked back! Nor do I miss those meds or their side effects! (or the expense!)

Bottom line: Whatever the scientific explanation - and yes, some, if not all of you can explain it better than I can! In the end, when you don’t feel well… remember RAW FOOD. Regardless of HOW it works, just remember THAT it works!! And it may just save your life!!

- Carol

Last night many of you joined me in a wonderful SOLD OUT debut on HSN of the first four products in my new line of skin care Raw Essentials! Thank you, thank you for your support….

As I realize some questions may arise from that debut I wish to take a moment out of my crazy schedule (I am packing for a 3 month job overseas!) to alleviate some concerns and to answer some questions….

My History in the beauty business is well documented. In fact, NOTHING is secret in this business….
that said, let me get to the meat of your questions:

Did I have a face lift?

NO! I have a problem with keyloiding in my skin. If I had a face lift, I would have scars- and any makeup artist would love to be the whistle blower who becomes famous from unveiling any improprieties…. I do have dermabrasion- every now and again- maybe twice this year. and maybe once last year for a deep clean….

I had no acid peel. I once tried a cool lazer…did not see much change…. My lids are not cut or tucked…. I had an injection of restyln when I made the mistake of injecting a pimple because it became a nagging problem and my girlfriend told me to get it injected- as much as I fought it, I could not see going on the “celebrity apprentice” with a big bump on my face that was not really quite a pimple…. well, the injection ate my skin and collagen… and you know what? The CAUSE of the pimple did not go away (a blocked pore that needed to be cleaned out!! simple problem- simple solution!! but NOOOOO! I had to deal with the symptom and cause my self other problems!! Sound familiar? Go to the cause of problems and save yourself more problems!!)

So I had to have the “hole” left by the injection-filled…. and as it already went against my philosophy to get anything chemical….I kicked myself the whole show and while watching it because you can see the “hole” on the left chin area all the way…. eventually my own collagen filled the spot and the filler-as I am told is normal- disappeared… So injections? Yes….

What else? Ask me by posting your questions on carolalt.com for anything I missed…

Le Mirador

Yes! I was under contract for Le mirador with QVC! Le Mirador was the homegrown QVC brand. I love QVC! They were great with me…. When my books came out, I decided to create my own line! Following the Philosophy of Raw! And QVC was very understanding of that…. I believe you can still get those products from the Spa in Switzerland.

My Raw calling!!

My line is as close as I can possibly get to how I eat! In fact, some of my ingredients are coconut oil and tamanu oil and Aloe Vera in their “purest” form possible and cold manufactured to keep all the integrity of these ingredients-or as much as humanly possible…

I know raw is a controversial subject, I know many people don’t think you get any benefit from raw…. Well, I am a walking bill board to the benefits of raw…. I changed my health…. Not a stomach/acid problem, not a headache, not a flu in 13 years!! (and I was ALWAYS sick with one thing or the other!!)

I had terrible allergies since I was a kid…oh my gosh!!! Terrible- no live Christmas tree for the Alt’s, Carol can’t handle the dust and pollen etc off a live tree…..my brother and sisters were so mad at me…
well, not any more, I have no more allergies!!

I feel better, I think I look better (although there was some debate about that, I will answer that below….) I am definitely healthier…..and I owe it all to the change in my diet… I went “cold turkey” with my diet changes….not everyone can do that!! I understand!! Believe me I have friends and family following in my foot steps and I went thru the changes with them all….. I wrote Eating in the Raw, my first book, as a response to people wanting know how to do it!! I took an non-raw foodie thru the process and we basically wrote about it! All his questions answered for you to read…. but I digress…..

The point is that you just need a little education on label reading and to understand how “normal” food is processed to change… and in fact, if weight is your problem (as it was mine) eating this way is the best way I know of to keep the weight off…and to find your most natural, healthiest weight! And man, I eat like a race horse now….Yum!

So I always suggest if you do not have access to your own “raw food” escort, find a doctor who knows this way of life and ask for help….you can’t believe the benefits and you can’t believe how easy…
I wrote Eating in the Raw to be a guide to helping you find the raw, and I wrote The Raw 50- (meant to be the Raw 50 Menus but hey even supermodels make mistakes…LOL) to help you remain healthy and safe while changing to the raw food way of life…

There has not been a person who has talked to me who has gone raw who regretted it…. And don’t forget, the first couple weeks, you may detoxify! you may feel worse first! Stick to it, follow your “escort’s” guidelines….and you will get thru it…and the “other side” of the detox experience is not like anything you have experienced before…funny, how after I detoxified….and I was feeling great…I then thought back to how I felt before I went raw and was astonished to think that I had THOUGHT I FELT GOOD BEFORE….BUT it was nothing like how good I felt after….

I did have cancer…in 1990 I had cervical and in 1999 I had uterine. I got help from both sides of the issue: conventional doctors and homeopathic. As I had gotten rid of all my “little” problems: allergies, sinus infections, colds, flu, headaches, stomach acid…with raw I called my homeopathic doctor who taught me raw and said: how can this be? I am raw 3 years…..he told me the following:

“Carol, I am surprised that is all you have!! When you came to me with your little aches and complaints, i knew you were in for a long haul. You had so many illnesses about to happen that i could not tell you because I did not want to scare you. But, I knew if you did not go raw, you would have had a very different future than you have now. you would have had many more problems than this and far more serious problems (more serious than cancer?? wow!!). Stay the course, and keep diligent, follow my Protocol for you and we can beat this!”

and I did- it was a roller coaster ride, but I followed my path of raw and supplements and enzymes and herbs, and I have had clean tests for the last 5.5 years. No surgery, chemo or radiation….This was my path….

Then I wanted to keep my environment clean, too, chemical free to help my healing and healthy process… Well, when it came to looking at all the things around me that had chemicals, the research that I did, in order to help save my own life, led me to understand that the air and water is polluted and that the body ends up trying to clean this…and it is taxing on the body…. And then I looked at skin care and realized that whatever we put on the skin goes into the bloodstream and becomes part of the body!! Scary!! Even more scary? THE FDA DOES NOT REGULATE SKIN CARE OR BEAUTY PRODUCTS!!!!

So, I decided that if I am putting it on my skin, I want the cleanest possible, most raw possible, most pure possible products…. Well, nothing that existed passed my test! So I made my own! In my home, in my blender!! And everyone loved them… And then I got the chance to make it for you! or as close to what I was making as possible! The biggest tests were the preservatives!! And the cold processing!! And we pioneered both. I believe this is the future… OH- and so does some of the other cosmetic companies… as they told me to my face, that in 5 years, they will be copying me… So draw your own conclusions!!

The before and after photo on HSN….

The before and after of me seemed to be of big debate online… Well here it is- first of all, the lightening in the photo was a yellow light and HSN has a more FLAT blue light! Better to show you FAB products!! But well, Yellow light is much more flattering for people and skin. I did the best with what i had….LOL

I had no foundation OR blush….I wanted to show you clean skin!!

I am 26 years older than that photo- so you need to separate the maturing of a “look” and the “quality” of the skin…. I was trying to show you that my skin quality is just about the same…as 26 years ago- as any makeup artist can tell you- I mean any artist who has been up close and personal with me that is!!

My raw line:

I will have another 7 products in the normal to sensitive line in January on the 27th…I will fly in from Europe and go right on air….so please be kind if i look stressed!! Listen to the message and stop picking apart the Human messenger…. We will have a melting scrub….I hope….I am working on it NOW!! We will have body moisture, masks, toners, scrubs….bath products…..what ever you need to start your Raw Skin Care Regime! I did the work for you…. join us and learn more!!

OK, OK…. I am not a scientist, but I hired the best, most unbelievable scientist!! One who loves natural ingredients and was up to the challenge of making a natural preservative and pioneering the cold process of mixing the line… In March, I will come out with my FAV line- as I have mature and ageing skin!! It is the Anti-aging line…

Do they Work? I aim for all the best results you need for skin, and then I work backwards to find the ingredients that are in nature that do this!! Then I work forward again to create a LUX, elegant, sexy line that is easy to use (no refrigeration!!) try it!! You will not go back……
AND JUST WAIT ’til you see my testimonials in January 27/28th! (most after two weeks of use only- some only 10 days of use!!) Even I was most pleasantly shocked at the results!!! I knew this line was good…..but THAT GOOD???? Wow!!

Feed your skin…. I am trying to educate you to make the right choices in your skin care and food regime…. Education is the beginning of change. it was for me…. and I do not force this philosophy on anyone….it is just that I had such amazing, incredible results from it, I cannot imagine that other women-IF THEY KNEW ABOUT IT- would not want those same changes…

Do I get too thin on raw, yup! I do- minor side effect….

I am happier, healthier, more aware, in less pain, more clear in my thinking and my spirituality than ever before….than even when I was 20!! I thank God for that… all I am doing is “Paying it Forward…”

“I was so excited,” says Hardesty, 20, “but I was trying to pay attention, too.”

The contest stems from veteran supermodel Carol Alt and other industry execs, who chose four contestants from thousands of entrants. Hardesty, a Columbus native, didn’t enter herself — her mother, Kristen, did. Then Kristen didn’t tell Rianna about it until she was picked as a finalist.

On Thursday, Hardesty heard about her win, chosen by online voters. She receives a trip for two in February to New York City, where she will participate in a photo shoot with her picture likely landing on the cover of Alt’s book “Model, Inc.” While in New York, she will meet with a top modeling agency and receive a $500 wardrobe package.

Hardesty, who studies communication arts, is an intern at International Learning Community in UW-Madison’s Adams Hall, a dorm with sections concentrating on different languages.

She has never done professional modeling, but she was interested in pursuing it. “I didn’t think I’d get anywhere with it,” said Hardesty, a 2006 graduate of Columbus High School. “I have a friend really into photography and she would use me as her model. But that’s it.”

Hardesty’s mother will join her daughter in New York. They’ll meet Alt, and Rianna will receive the chance to break into a highly competitive industry.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” she says. “Whatever comes of it, either way, I’ll enjoy it.”

Posted in Wisconsin State Journal on Dec 14, 2008

The grand prize winner, Rianna (and a guest) will be flown to New York City, where Rianna will stay for two nights in a four-star hotel. She will also receive a professional photo shoot; HarperCollins will consider the images for the cover of Carol Alt’s next book. The prize also includes a Lord & Taylor wardrobe gift valued at $500.