Mike O'Mary
Mike O'Mary Quick Facts
Main Areas:Appreciation, Gratitude, Creative Writing, PublishingBest Sellers:The Note, Wise Men and Other Stories, Saying Goodbye to the People Places and Things in Our Lives
Career Focus:Author, Business owner
Affiliation:Dream of Things, the Note Project
Mike O’Mary is founder of the Note Project, a campaign to make the world a million times better by inspiring 1 million people to share notes of appreciation with others. Mike is also author of two books:
- The Note , a book about the power of appreciation that was named Best Gift Book of 2011 in the Living Now Book Awards
- Wise Men and Other Stories , a collection of holiday-related essays
In addition, Mike is founder of Dream of Things, a book publisher and online book store that he started in order to publish anthologies of creative nonfiction. Saying Goodbye to the People, Places, and Things in Our Lives, edited by Julie Rember and Mike O'Mary, is the first anthology from Dream of Things.
In his career, Mike has written essays, fiction, drama and sketch comedy. He has published stories and essays in the Sunday magazines of the Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, Baltimore Sun, Cleveland Plain Dealer and Detroit Free Press . Mike has also written and produced sketch comedy in Chicago, and he was a commentator on WNIJ – Northern Illinois Public Radio, doing weekly commentaries as part of the local segment of National Public Radio’s "Morning Edition" program.
Mike is a graduate of Knox College (BA in Economics and English-Writing), the University of Montana (MFA in Creative Writing, MA in English Literature), and the Second City Comedy Writing Program.
In addition to his creative work, Mike has more than 20 years of experience in corporate communications, producing speeches, annual reports and other executive communications for the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, including AAR Corporation, Andrew Corporation, Bank One, Discover Financial Services, Federal Signal, Hewitt Associates, Nicor Inc., RR Donnelley, Tellabs, UOP and others.
Other Programs & Highlights
The Power of Appreciation: a three-part audio series featuring ten of the world's leading authors and experts on appreciation. Download it for freewhen you "Pledge to Send a Note" as part of the Note Project . (No cost to participate.)
Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Mike O'Mary
As an author and activist, I am most interested in helping people improve the quality of their lives. The following thoughts sum up my philosophy when it comes to the Note Project (sharing appreciation with others) and Dream of Things (publishing meaningful books by authors with distinctive voices):
"The heart has an infinite capacity for love. All you have to do is open up and let it out." - Mike O'Mary, from The Note, named Best Gift Book of 2011 in the Living Now Book Awards
"The goal for Dream of Things anthologies is to be not short and sweet, but short and deep . With depth comes authenticity. The result is stories that are easier to swallow because they are authentic, and easier to digest because they average 1,250 words in length." - Mike O'Mary, from the Preface to Saying Goodbye to the People, Places and Things in Our Lives , the first anthology from Dream of Things
And finally: "If what is said is not what is meant, then what ought to be done remains undone." - Confucius
Getting Started With Mike O'Mary
The best way to learn more about me (and, more important, about the Note Project and Dream of Things) is to click on the following links:
Note Project - making the world a million times better by sharing appreciation
Dream of Things - Meaningful Books, Distinctive Voices
On The Internet! Take the Self Improvement Tour
