By Joe Winter
Catholic Herald correspondent
Uplifting Warm Fuzzy Stories available by e-mail
HUDSON -- If you really need to get that warm, fuzzy feeling, or something that goes a little deeper and is spiritually fulfilling, you can get it online, thanks to a Hudson business owner.
Warm Fuzzy Stories is a free e-mail list to which people can subscribe, giving a daily story to help you feel good and lift your spirits, said Randy Smith, who added that he's a sucker for stories "with a surprise, touching ending."
He started WFS in September 1999, as a natural offshoot to another popular mailing list he ran, then called Friday Funnies. Many people were sending feel-good stories for that list. But Friday Funnies is for humor and the stories didn't fit, so, Smith said, he started WFS. The list grew quickly and now has more than 2,000 members worldwide.
For a while, Smith tried to run his business, Midwest Computer Programming and Internet, while keeping four mailing lists going, maintaining the Friday Funnies Web site and writing a weekly article for a newspaper.
Eventually, Thelma Hartselle took over the job of moderating WFS. She had been a volunteer helping Smith edit the jokes for Friday Funnies and for the other mailing lists.
"Randy and I wanted to give everyone quality stories so I had to do some searching for good stories," Hartselle recalled. "The site had been open only for a short time when Randy decided to take his family on vacation. In one of my weakest moments, I agreed to send the material out, eventually for two sites." The task grew to two or three e-mails per day, and continued at a fast pace as members recommended the site to their friends.
Because of the content of the WFS, religious pieces started to pour in. Hartselle used the religious pieces to spawn another mailing list called World Of Hope, an online prayer chain.
WFS got to be too much for Hartselle, so Smith cast about for another moderator and found Phread (a.k.a. Fred Thaller) in Utah, who brought a diverse background to the job. He had gone back in school to finish two majors and has published poetry and short stories. He's also a radio DJ and a marketing director for KUTE Radio at the University of Utah.
Phread said, "I've been a list member for three years. When I heard Thelma was quitting, I thought it might be fun to do, so I responded to (Smith's) e-mail." He added," I really enjoy the stories, and I wanted to give something back to people. If I don't step up to the plate, who will? It also looks good on my resume, and I enjoy interacting with the authors and readers."
WFS had to be shut down for a short time last spring because of an unsuccessful legal challenge over ownership of something that was published, and over a period of time, readers wrote to express their concern. These are a sample:
n "This piece means an awful lot to me -- my maternal grandmother and cousin both died from breast cancer, my mother died from colon cancer. Yes, this brought tears of memory and love but it is well worth it. I am forwarding this on. Thank you and God bless. Nancy."
n "I would just like to say how glad I am that you are back. I use your stories frequently with clients and I send them to my Mum who prints them up on pretty paper and gives them to the local hospice for the terminally ill. They have made them into a folder that is left in the waiting room. The nuns are always eager to get them and put a selection up on the notice board as well."
Many list members forward samples to their friends and family, or even use the stories in sermons and speeches, Smith said. Others print them out and hand them out. One woman puts the stories into spiral books and gives them free to hospitals, doctors, nursing homes and anyone else who calls and said they would like a book.
That inspired Smith to work with Phread to generate Warm Fuzzy Stories books, which will come soon to bookstores. Even the idea of coffee mugs with printed slogans has been raised. Smith said. "People ask for it, so we'll give it." When asked which story is his favorite, Smith said, "so many are. I just like the genre."
Phread said, "Maybe we can incorporate as a non-profit and write grants to cover the cost of printing up copies of our books to give away to hospitals, lock-ups, nursing homes, etc. I would love to see us reach out and do good things for folks."
"A number of people would write to the authors of the stories and tell them how much one of their stories changed their lives," Hartselle said. "When I worked the site, I tried to send out a poem and a story or something of a religious nature. I enjoyed talking to the authors. People knew that they could wake up every morning to have WFS in their inbox. Several members told me that they couldn't go to church. They used the poems, stories, etc. and had daily devotions after breakfast."
Writing to the authors to ask for permission to use their work would often start friendships. "There was one lady that wrote a story that I wanted to use. I liked her stories and encouraged her to write. In fact, I pushed her," said Hartselle about Betty King, who has multiple sclerosis. "She started sending her stories to other sites similar to WFS. In a short time, she was a Heartwarmers Gem on the Heartwarmers site and was chosen as writer of the month."
King since has written two books that have been published and recently sold a story to "Chickensoup For Mother and Daughter Soul."
Phread said it is heartwarming to send out stories that make people laugh or cry, stories that remind people of things they might long have forgotten. "In some cases, I get messages from readers who thank us for sending out a particular story that touched them deeply in some way," he said. "Sometimes I almost feel guided to send a certain story on a given day, even when I had intended to send out another one. I never dismiss those proddings."
WFS also has ads for products that can be purchased for donation to a related charitable giving program.
Editor's note: To subscribe to WFS, send a blank e-mail to: WarmFuzzyStories-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. All of the lists mentioned can be found on Yahoo! Groups (http://groups.yahoo.com).
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2003