Monday, October 13, 2008

The Secret Pleasure of Menopause - Christiane Northrup, MD

Valerie Ramsey is excited to announce that she has teamed up with Dr. Christiane Northrup in promoting her newly released book, The Secret Pleasures of Menopause (Hay House).

In celebration, Valerie is offering FREE Gifts for purchaing The Secret Pleasures of Menopause!

As a thank you and in recognition of Dr. Northrup's support of Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age, Valerie Ramsey and Heather Hummel are offering to Dr. Northrup's and their mutual readers TEN autographed copies of Gracefully.

To enter the drawing, please E-MAIL Valerie at Val@ValerieRamsey.com, use "Gracefully Drawing" in the subject line and include your name/address in the body of the e-mail.

In addition, Heather Hummel is offering ONE FREE Manuscript Evaluation and FIVE FREE copies of her suspense romance novel Through Hazel Eyes (PathBinder Publishing).

To enter the drawing for either a FREE copy of Through Hazel Eyes or a FREE Manuscript Evaluation, please E-MAIL Heather at Heather_Hummel@Yahoo.com, use either "Through Hazel Eyes Drawing" or "Manuscript Evalution Drawing" in the subject line and include your name/address in the body of the e-mail.

Winners will be announced on November 7th, 2008.

Visit www.heatherhummel.net for more information.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Tina Marie Jones - Holistic Living Radio

I had the honor of being a guest on the Tina Marie Jones Holistic Living Radio show last night.

To hear the show CLICK HERE.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Curled up with a Good Book Reviews Gracefully

Curled up with a Good Book

Thanks to Lillian Brummet for posting this review of Gracefully on her site:

Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age by Valerie Ramsey is a self-help guide for women around the globe. Readers will be pleased to find Susan Lucci's foreword and Heather Hummel's preface at the very beginning of the book useful, providing insight as to how other women feel about the content of Ramsey’s book.

A privileged life can still come with chains, and life issues do not avoid those in this position. Valerie Ramsey has had her share of life issues over the years, but she maintained a healthy marriage and raised six children as a stay-at-home mother. She began a career as a marketer in her mid-fifties for a resort community before retiring from that to begin a fresh career in modeling at the age of 63.

Gracefully offers numerous beauty tips that models use and defines various less invasive beauty-enhancing surgeries. Ramsey briefly covers finding the right clothes for the right age and how to minimize the variety of your wardrobe, saving some money and looking great at the same time. Readers also learn common fashion mistakes and the proper use of accessories. Nutrition, water intake, sleep and meditative exercises, including yoga and walking, are briefly covered in the book as well.

The book is generally what has been seen in various beauty and health magazines over the years but is provided in a friendly condensed guide that today’s busy women are sure to appreciate. The encouraging conclusion is worth the price of the book. Ramsey provides us with a wonderful example of how age is no longer a barrier to living a fulfilling life.

Eco-minded readers will be thrilled to know that the hardcover edition of
Gracefully is not only durable, it is also printed on acid-free paper.

Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com. ©
Lillian Brummet, 2008

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Lyme Disease

I wanted to share with you what my friend, Scott Friedman, wrote about his incredible battle with Lyme disease. Lyme is such a dreadfully pervasive illness and so little is known or understood about it. The need to get Scott’s story and others like his, out there, is critical.

The Today Show recently did a piece on Lyme with Dr Nancy Snyderman, and while informative, it did not begin to scratch the surface of just how serious this illness really is. Scott has posted this information on the attached website, and it has struck a tremendous chord having already received 72,000 hits IN JUST ONE WEEK! That is the second highest in the site’s history! And he only posted it just last week
http://www.healingwell.com/ I believe that exposure on a program that would be in a position to delve into the topic of Lyme in some depth would be a tremendous start to getting this awful situation out into the open. If more were known about it, perhaps a movement similar to those we see for prostate cancer and breast cancer might get underway, helping thousands, if not millions.

In Scott's words...

Although Lyme disease itself is becoming more and more prevalent, the media coverage seems to remain nearly silent and, if reported on at all, completely inaccurate. It was so refreshing to see a piece on the Today Show recently, longer than a five second sound-bite, that really showed how devastating Lyme disease can be. It was nice to hear a personal experience along with expert analysis from a well respected, yet usually ignored member of the Lyme community. I also enjoyed the preventative tips, however there really is so much more information surrounding Lyme disease that is just screaming to be exposed.

So many ill patients, including myself, never had the bulls-eye rash or swollen knees. Others were not lucky enough to obtain a positive blood test, due to extremely inaccurate testing and questionably strict and narrow guidelines of determining who is actually deemed to have Lyme. For us, the medical establishment had no answers, and we were left to suffer the unknown. The one case mentioned on ”Today” of a woman undiagnosed for 10 years is unfortunately incredibly common. After finally being properly diagnosed, most patients will continue a grueling battle against the disease itself, their insurance companies, and so many doctors who will continue to tell them, even after positive blood tests, that they are simply crazy and do not have the disease at all.

I spent 20+ years in the abyss of untreated Lyme disease. Numerous ticks bit me in my early childhood living in Wilton, CT. I had a dog that was diagnosed with Lyme and treated successfully. I slowly began suffering from strange symptoms like chronic neck pain, restless legs, insomnia, vision problems, and by the age of 12 full-blown depression. Not once was I tested for Lyme, nor did my doctors even suggest the idea. So it went on, years of painful, but not yet totally crippling symptoms. Heart arrhythmias, chronic headaches, back pain, gastrointestinal problems, profound fatigue and memory loss all came into play. I had been misdiagnosed with depression, ADD, Fibromyalgia, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Leukemia, Tendonitis, Dystonia, Radial Tunnel Syndrome, Candida, etc.

Finally, at the age of 26, my body gave in to the disease. I had overwhelming inflammation everywhere in my body. Eventually I could not use my arms and sometimes even my legs. I had such bad brain fog I couldn’t put the pieces together on my own. The pain was unbearable, making life itself seem not worth living. The medical establishment had utterly failed me. I had to give up my dream job in Santa Monica, CA, along with my beautiful apartment, car and friends. My girlfriend eventually left me, not able to continue watching my decline. The best doctors in New York and Los Angeles had no answers, as all my tests came back normal. Even the standard Western Blot Lyme Tests, taken four times, came back negative every time.

Only after I stumbled into a Lyme specialist’s office, referred to me by a fully recovered Lyme patient, did things start to make sense. My blood was sent to two tick-borne specialty labs this time. Two weeks later the results came back with Lyme-specific antibody markings through the roof. With these proper blood tests I was also clinically diagnosed with what the doctor called obvious signs of Lyme disease. I was properly diagnosed for the first time, and I slowly began to understand why it had taken so long. And yet, after all this, my journey had only just begun.

I was thrown into the middle of a medical war zone, known to the veterans as the Lyme Wars. On one side, holding all the cards and government grants are the university scientists and doctors, proclaiming with utter certainty that this disease is “hard to get, easy to cure.” These scientists and doctors are part of the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA), in charge of writing treatment guidelines for Lyme disease. Written more as a legal document they declare that two weeks of antibiotics will cure the disease, end of story. It just so happens that insurance companies, some who happen to provide funding to the four most prominent board members of the IDSA, agree completely with this short-term treatment approach and usually site the treatment guidelines when denying claims.

On the other side of the Lyme Wars are hundreds of thousands of patients, advocacy groups, and a dwindling number of brave doctors willing to treat patients differently. The only reason this side of the Lyme war exists is simply because the treatment guidelines written by the IDSA, and put into practice by so many doctors, have been failing since the immergence of the disease in the 1970s.

Risking their medical licenses, these Lyme doctors take another approach. They listen to their patients and treat them on a case by case basis, offering long term antibiotics if necessary, until they get well, which for some people could take years. For me, like so many others, treatment has been long and hard. 18 months of on and off IV and oral antibiotic treatment, and I am still sick. However, I have seen many of my symptoms disappear, slowly but surely. As the months go by the good days begin to outweigh the bad. A good day for me these days is being able to get out of bed and get myself to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription or some vitamins by myself. Most of my time however is spent in bed reading or watching TV.

Quite certainly, two weeks of treatment would have done absolutely nothing for me. The long-term antibiotic approach has proven to be the effective approach, especially for those of us who have been left undiagnosed for so long. Yet, this treatment is seen as quackery from those on the IDSA board, who say that anecdotal evidence is not science, while simply ignoring the large body of evidence proving them wrong. And because they are writing the treatment guidelines, they get the last word and have the loudest voice. So, for years, doctors successfully treating patients, bringing many back from near death, have been hauled in front of medical boards, having their licenses revoked followed by law suits from insurance companies. While the IDSA doctors simply treat patients for two weeks, or calls them crazy.

Lyme disease is not like a sinus infection or the common cold, therefore physicians and the media should not be treating it as such. Lyme is in fact a distant cousin to Syphilis, a spirochetal bacteria, which can become an all-encompassing debilitating nightmare. Ticks can carry other diseases as well, infecting humans not only with the Lyme spirochete, but also with diseases like Babesia, Bartonella and Ehrlichia. These tick-borne illnesses can leave patients crippled, sometimes for life, and has even managed to be the cause of death for the truly sick. Like Polio and HIV, this controversial illness will soon be recognized as one of the most serious of our time. Thankfully, Attorney General Blumenthal of CT has become involved. He has been investigating the IDSA board and the treatment guidelines for Lyme disease, finding serious conflicts of interest between the board members and insurance companies, as well as vaccine and test kit manufactures. He and the IDSA came to an historic agreement to let the treatment guidelines be reviewed by an independent panel, finally looking at all of the ignored scientific research surrounding the disease, including the area of untreated and chronic Lyme. Until an agreement is reached, doctors will continue to fight amongst themselves. While patients remain sick, waiting for answers, and hopefully, someday, a cure. This issue is like a bomb waiting to go off, demanding attention from the mainstream media. An in-depth look at the issues is critical to end the unnecessary suffering of so many.

Scott Friedman
Lyme, Bart, Babs and Ehrlichia for over 20 years
Misdiagnosed over 10 times
On treatment since 01/07

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Premiere Speakers

I am honored to be a member of Premiere Speakers!
CLICK HERE to view my profile.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Graying Gracefully makes the news again!

The Contra Costa Times ran a fabulous article on letting locks go gray, profiling fellow senior model, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Emmylou Harris and me while also promoting Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age

CLICK HERE to read the article.

Friday, June 6, 2008

Diet.com Promotes Gracefully's Nutrition Advice

Diet.com ran an informative, upbeat article based on the nutrition advice given in Gracefully.

CLICK HERE to read the article!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

CBS News NYC June 1st

Click Here to watch my segment on CBS News discussing the art of aging gracefully based on my newly released book Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age, coauthored with my daughter, Heather Hummel.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Gracefully Book Tour in Connecticut

To all of you who live or are traveling in Connecticut, I will be at RJ Julia Bookstore in Madison on Friday, May 30th at 7:00 p.m. and the Borders Bookstore in Southbury on Saturday, May 31st at 4:00 p.m.

Visit my website for an updated tour schedule.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Listen to Valerie's Interview on the Danielle Lin Show

Danielle and I had a wonderful conversation about life's experiences on her radio show on April 26th.

LISTEN NOW

Friday, May 16, 2008

Readers' Reviews Praise Gracefully!

Reviews posted on Amazon and Barnes & Noble:

Think you're too old to reinvent yourself and start a new career?

Valerie Ramsey says, 'Think Again'
Margaret Ferris, A reviewer, 05/08/2008

"Valerie Ramsey is a traditional woman that every modern day person can relate to. She is a great beauty inside and out..... tenacious, unselfish and inspirational, she gives us hope and practical advise on everything from raising a family of six children to selling golf balls at Pebble Beach. Her motto 'don't be afraid to start at the bottom and work your way up' is 'spot on'. I loved it."

Motivational and Practical

"I found this book to be so easy to read with practical useful advice on creating a life that you want. It was inspirational at the same time, making me reaffirm my beliefs that one can accomplish whatever one puts one's mind to. I have passed this on to my mother and recommended to my girlfriends and aunts, but the over-riding message of this book is applicable to both genders. Worth the read. I took away tips to apply in daily life as well as future planning/dreaming." LMC, Charlottesville, VA

Wonderful and Inspiring

"This is a book that is as fresh as a glorious spring day! Valerie Ramsey and Heather Hummel are two special women who share not only an inspiring mother-daughter relationship, but also a zest for life that touches and inspires others. Beautifully written, it's a book that you'll want to read more than once."

Buy Gracefully on Barnes & Noble
Buy Gracefully on Amazon

Gracefully Book Signing at Age Defy

























For those of you in the San Jose Area (Campbell), I'll be doing a book signing at Age Defy with Dr. Arlene Noodleman, a contributor to Gracefully, on Tuesday, May 20th from 3:00 - 4:30.


For more of my book tour and media appearances, visit my website at http://www.valerieramsey.com/

BOOK TOUR

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Valerie's Guest Appearance on the Steven and Chris Show!

I recently finished the Canadian leg of the Gracefully tour and had a great time as a guest on the Steven and Chris show! Steven, Chris and I discussed makeup, marriage, nutrition, positive thinking, and so much more of the powerful messages written about in Gracefully!


WATCH the Video

READ the Article

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Happy Mother's Day - And Watch the Gracefully Book Trailer

Many sons, daughters, spouses and friends have bought Gracefully for at least one mom in their life as a Mother's Day present.

Having coauthored Gracefully with my daughter, Heather Hummel, and as a mother of six and a grandmother of eight, it's incredible to think of all the mothers out there receiving the message of Gracefully on such a special day.

Thank you to all who thought of it as a gift!

For those of you who are yet to be familiar with Gracefully, you can Watch the GRACEFULLY BOOK TRAILER.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

MSN Money - Get Your Dream Job at 55

MSN Money ran an article on babyboomers who are ignoring the word "retirement" and who continue to persue new adventures in life. My story is included in the article and aligns with the message of Gracefully.

READ ARTICLE

Sunday, May 4, 2008

LA Times Festival of the Book Photos

Valerie and Heather
Display inside the Borders' Tent
Signing with Martha Beck

Santa Monica Beach

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Watch the Today Show Segement

From the Today Show Website:

5 tips on aging gracefully

April 30: Valerie Ramsey, who launched a modeling career at age 63, visits TODAY to talk about her new book "Gracefully" and share her top 5 suggestions for looking great at any age.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24386673#24386673

Bill Simmons of ESPN2 Recommends Gracefully for Mother's Day

Bill Simmons, the popular ESPN 2 Page 2 writer, recommened Gracefully to his readers as a gift for Mom for this Mother's Day (May 11th).


He Writes:
BONUS LINK: POTENTIAL MOTHER'S DAY GIFT CROSSED WITH A SHAMELESS CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND A GRATUITOUS PIMP
This book about beauty secrets for older women was written by Valerie Ramsey, the mother of my buddy Gus and the wife of my ninth-grade basketball coach and eighth-grade English teacher (as well as the creator of the Hall of Fame Pyramid), Wally Ramsey. Come on, your mom would love this book!

The Today Show and Neil Cavuto- April 30th

I just came from my 3rd appearance on the TODAY SHOW . I had so much fun talking to Hoda and Kathie Lee about the pure benefits of aging Gracefully.

The Today Show listed Gracefully under their Book section - CLICK HERE

Watch my segment on Your World with Neil Cavuto this afternoon between 4 and 5 EST (or tomorrow evening in the 6 o'clock hour if not today).

And to top the day off, I'll be doing a book signing and reading at: Books & Greetings Talk at 7:00 p.m. - 271 Livingston Street, Northvale, NJ 07647

Visit my website for the most recently updated Gracefully tour information.

Please visit my coauthor and my daughter Heather Hummel's site for more information on her.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

USA Today Recommends Gracefully!

Today's (April 17) issue of USA Today recommends Gracefully as one of the newly released books that focus on the beautiful side of aging...

"How-to books make aging a thing of beauty"

Monday, April 7, 2008

Gracefully is already a Bestseller!

Gracefully is now a Bestseller on Amazon in their "Aging" and "Retirement Planning" categories!

Don't forget Mother's Day is May 11th! Surprise the special Moms in your life with Gracefully!

Packed with 18 inspiring chapters on topics such as: nutrition, exercise, friendship, learning something new, and loving yourself, there's more than just something in there for everyone.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

LA Times Festival of the Book

Meet the co-authors of Gracefully - Valerie Ramsey and Heather Hummel - at the LA Times Festival of the Book!

Event: Book Signing
Date: Saturday, April 26th
Time: 4:00 pm
Place: Borders booth #301, located on the west end of Dickson Plaza near Royce Hall.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Health Magazine Quotes Gracefully!

Health magazine provided an inspirational quote from Gracefully as a "Top 3 Anti-Aging Tip" in their April issue (pg 26).

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Body & Soul Magazine lists Gracefully as an "Editor's Pick"

Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age chosen as an "Editor's Pick"!

The April issue of Body & Soul magazine lists Gracefully as one of "Four new titles that offers guidance on how to maximize good health at every stage of life"! (pg. 134)

How to Journal to Create the Life You Want

How to Journal to Create the Life You Want - an E-Class - is a 7 week e-class that expandsupon the concepts in the Journaling and Visualization chapters in Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age.

Taught by Heather Hummel, coauthor of Gracefully.

I have been a journal writer for thirty years. It wasn't until about two years ago that I woke up one day and realized that all of my journal writing was having a major impact on the outcome of my life, and not always in a good way.

From that moment on, I chose to only journal positive thoughts, gratitude, and the goals I wanted to acheive in life.

Within a few months of changing what and the way I wrote in my journal, I:
1) signed with a literary agent in New York City (after having looked for one for over a year),
2) landed a book deal with McGraw Hill within a few months,
3) and am now the author of an already bestselling book,
Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age.

I learned that through changing the way I wrote in my journal, my life began to change for the better.

How to Journal to Create the Life You Want will share with you the tools for writing in your journal in such a way that your life will begin to change for the better.

You will be guided through a variety of journaling techniquesthat will inspire action and results in your life based on your journaling.

Personal, yet informative and enlightening, thise-class is designed to allow you to:

** Become comfortable with the art of journaling bybreaking down barriers and misconceptions

** Create enriched and happier lives throughgratitude and desire-based journaling

** Discover the joys of journaling** Enhance current positive journaling techniques

** Experience a comfortable, safeenvironment to grow as a journal writer*Flexible, inspiring assignments

What the Course Offers:

Weekly readings and assignments

Personal attentionEncouragement and freedom to grow

In addition, each participant will receive a free copy of Gracefully!

Go to: http://www.heatherhummel.net/writing/journalingtocreateyourlife.html to register and start creating the life you want!

Heather Hummel
Co-Author, Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age

p.s. What did you write in your journal last night? Last week? Was it positive? Did you feel good writing it? If the answer is "No" than this class might just be for you!

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Publishers Weekly

We're very excited about Publishers Weekly review for Gracefully:

Gracefully: Looking and Being Your Best at Any Age Valerie Ramsey with Heather Hummel, foreword by Susan Lucci. McGraw-Hill, $24.95 (304p) ISBN 978-0-07-154623-2

Ramsey's best friend in high school was the beautiful Ali MacGraw, who “hopscotched right over the gawky stage” of adolescence. With such a friend, Ramsay says, “you couldn't help but feel insecure.” Readers might be tempted to feel the same as Ramsey describes hopscotching over her own gawky, aging stage. Beautiful and accomplished, she has gone from happy stay-at-home mom of six (of whom coauthor Hummel is one) to older career woman and runway model in her 60s. But while few women have her genes, or her success, they may benefit from Ramsey's frank advice and beauty tips. She includes such useful information as how to pose for a photograph, strategic uses for Botox, what to eat, how to exercise, what makeup to use, the advantages of meditation and how to stay sexual in a long-term marriage. None of it is particularly original, but it is heartfelt and admirably health conscious (except perhaps for the Botox). Not everything has been roses for Ramsey. She's a survivor of uterine cancer and was diagnosed with a weak heart. How, then, does she do it? Ramsey attributes much of her success to the power of positive thinking. And then, of course, there are those genes. (May)

Friday, January 25, 2008

Eat, Pray, Love Paired with Gracefully on Amazon!


Amazon has paired Gracefully with Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert so that buyers can purchase both together...We are grateful to be in such wonderful company!

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Christiane Northrup, MD Says Gracefully is "Simply Wonderful"!


Gracefully is simply wonderful. Valerie Ramsey is living proof that being older than 50 can be exciting, healthy, and sexy.”


Author of Mother-Daughter Wisdom, The Wisdom of Menopause, and Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom

Golden Endorsement from Golden Girls' Rue McClanahan


“I like the snappy way this gal thinks. She sends out a powerful message!”

-Rue McClanahan, Actress

Ken Dychtwald of Age Wave Says Gracefully is "Uplifting and Informative"!


Gracefully

"Valerie Ramsey is the new face, style and attitude of aging. In Gracefully, she inspires us to bring out the best in ourselves - physically, mentally, and spiritually - in order to make the 50+ years the best years of our lives. A terrific, uplifting and informative book."

-Ken Dychtwald, Ph.D., President and CEO of Age Wave and Author of Bodymind, Healthy Aging, Age Wave, The Power Years: A User's Guide to the Rest of Your Life