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Spiritual Teacher to Stars Gets Book Deal

ReligionNewsBlog.com • Wednesday August 13, 2003

Associated Press, Aug. 13, 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/

NEW YORK – Eckhart Tolle, a spiritual teacher whose fans include Oprah Winfrey and Meg Ryan, has agreed to a one-book deal with Penguin Group USA.

Tolle, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, is author of the best seller “The Power of Now.”

“Two editors within Penguin independently gave me `The Power of Now’ as a gift,” Penguin President Susan Kennedy said in a statement Tuesday.

“When two people give you the same book, something is afoot. I read it, admired it, and, in turn, I have given it to many others.”

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

A native of Germany, the 55-year-old Tolle became widely known in 2000 after Ryan recommended “The Power of Now” to Winfrey, who gave the book a plug in her magazine, “O,” and praised it again in 2002. More than 700,000 copies have been sold.

“The Power of Now” first came out in 1997, from the Canadian-based Namaste Publishing, a company established by Tolle’s friend Connie Kellough just to release his book.

“His work is inclusive,” Kellough, who represented Tolle in his negotiations with Penguin, told The Associated Press Tuesday. “He does not affiliate himself with any religion or any tradition. He embraces it all.”

Kellough says Tolle’s new book, not yet titled, should come out next year.