(I submitted this 2000 character blurb on oprah.com, and decided I might as well share it here too; I'll probably write more about it in the future.)

--
(dear oprah.com)

My story: I attended my cousin's wedding reception; a piece of food got stuck in my throat, and I was taken to a local hospital. The doctor accidentally perforated my esophagus, asked me to sign a death waiver, and I found myself heading off in an ambulance for open chest surgery. In the ambulance, on the way to the regional hospital, I realized I might only have a short time to live. So I called up a few loved ones and friends, told them I loved them, and shared a few thoughts. This experience had a direct impact on my desire to help people gather and preserve their stories from their life - the stuff that really matters.

This happened during my PhD program at Illinois Institute of Technology, and I finished my coursework in the intensive care ward. I’m finishing up the PhD, and I have a new book coming out, an introduction to social networking. The book emphasizes life stories, and all author proceeds are going to charity.

Social Networking Spaces - From Facebook to Twitter and Everything In Between
Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/snspacesbook

It seems like Oprah's audience would be interested, such as “scrapbooking moms” who might need encouragement to explore social networks. The book is written in a friendly style, with step by step instructions and personal examples.

One example is a “lifelong blog” at http://2069.us, about the story of my goal of living to be 100 as I put my life back together. I want to inspire people to try blogging, and to set their own sustainable health goals. I use a car as an example, and compare the things I need to do with the car and my body, in order to keep them both in good shape.

So I wondered if you’d have any interest in developing a short segment on the Oprah show (or OWN), or if you might like to run a video or article on the Web site? If so, I would be glad to help develop material or appear on the show; I have appeared a few times on TechTV, helping people to learn about technology.
--