The rush of getting endorsements from Dr. Esselstyn and Dr. Barnard this past year for my book, the 1st Vegan Pizza Cookbook, let alone the efforts and opinion of one "Mad Cowboy" (aka, Howard Lyman), were probably some of the biggest thrills of my life (well, hard to top being in the West Wing of the White House with the heads of major Federal Agencies and Nobel Prize Winners as Al Gore explains El Nino and Global Fires with my work, or that cover for TIME, or in Scientific American, Science, yadda).
It was Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., in interviewing him for his landmark book, "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease," that convinced me I had to totally rethink my years of work in developing "cheese-like" topping sauces to be "no added oil." Here's the Esselstyn's endorsement (on the back cover of my book)... imho, the gold standard:
"Mark Sutton takes pizza to a new level of nutritional possibilities. After reading Heart Healthy Pizza, NO one will be able to eat ANY OTHER pizza without a conscience." - Caldwell B. Esselstyn, J., M.D. and Ann Crile Esselstyn
Dr. Neal Barnard wrote an incredible endorsement and it stunned me, as Robin Robertson, independently later used the same word about my book, "breakthrough." Here's his endorsement (on the back of my book), for which I'm so thankful.
"Heart Healthy Pizza is a breakthrough guide on making nutritious plant-based pizzas. Mark Sutton will show you how to make your own delicious dough, mouth-watering sauces, and vegan cheeses. This cookbook will be a favorite for anyone looking for a healthier way to eat pizza. - Neal Barnard, M.D., President, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
And then there's Howard Lyman. That amazing Force of Nature. I've worked for and with him for several years on many projects. He insisted I needed to write this book, was relentless in encouraging me past the many unforeseen obstacles, and was kind enough to write the Foreward. Here's an excerpt from that Foreward:
"Heart Healthy Pizza" is more than a pizza without cheese. It is about creating one that is added-fat free and nutritious from the pan up, and best of all, tastes great. This book will enable you to obtain all of the health benefits, plus allow you to please the most discerning taste buds to the joy of pizza. - Howard Lyman (aka, The Mad Cowboy, author of "Mad Cowboy" and "No More Bull!")
Finally, this is a review from "R.S." on Amazon. He bought my book and wrote this. At first I thought it was a joke, "I dropped dead...", but it wasn't. This review probably emotionally touched me more than anything the past several months. It helped me at a time of extreme stress, recovering from my injury, wondering what the hell was I doing, to continue to push onward, to do the best I can to help people understand that it's no joke, I've figured out how to make incredibly delicious plant-based pizzas without all the fatty, expensive faux dairy cheeses or using high-fat expensive, nutritionally useless and hard to find, ingredients in making "vegan artisan cheeses.""I dropped dead on a tennis court (and was lucky enough to be playing against a team with a cardiologist who did world class cpr for 12 minutes until a rescue squad arrived to shock me back to life). It took me about 30 seconds post-op from my bypass to adopt Caldwell Esselstyn's vegan cardiac disease reversal program. Though I ate a "good" diet most of the time, I was addicted to cheese pizzas for my whole (almost foreshortened) life. This book is a treasure. The visuals of the pizza are appetizing and valid relative to the finished product. The taste of the recipes I have undertaken is great. The nutrition is miraculous for a so-called comfort food. Thank you, Mark Sutton, for your tour de force collection of no oil vegan gourmet pizza. Incidentally, I run 10 k's, complete duathlons, and play USTA team tennis at the age of 64 on the Esselstyn diet." - R.S. (Amazon Review)
Let me make it quite clear: I don't like marketing. Self-publishing a book is tough, there's no big company or agency behind you to help market it. I often feel like a shill. It's tough on a creative. I not only wrote this puppy, I did the cover, mastered new software for the layouts, and indices (those alone took several weeks to get right). Howard convinced me that it's a service, that people would want to make healthy pizzas, and I needed to do whatever I could to provide same service. The most popular "comfort food" made heart healthy.
My recent flurry of marketing posts and tweats ends tomorrow sometime. My surprisingly popular Special Holidaze Discount ends tomorrow as well (midnight pst), to accomodate the Mayans. I wanted people to have the opportunity to buy this book at some 30 or more % of list (I'll do the math some other day, you can get an autographed copy for $15, I do the shipping... nice deal).
But with these kinds of endorsements and reviews from cookbook authors and noted bloggers (other posts), I'm encouraged. Wish I could write about all about what's to happen in the 1st quarter. I'm going to continue giving this all the best shot I can, providing means and information for making the "healthiest pizza in the world." Soon, you'll see me do videos on making pizza, and other surprises.My thanks to all those who've e-mailed me their support and encouragement. The first Vegan Pizza Cookbook HAS been published, and no one can take that away from me (VegNews has had over 8 months to pay attention to this, they've had the book since March 2012, wazzup people?), and whatever happens, others will build on this work.
I'll sleep well tonight knowing the word is getting out. You CAN make healthy plant-based pizza. It's easy, inexpensive, and fun. Most of all, tastes damn good (beer or wine optional).
Best to all for a Happy Holidaze! Mark