Dr Richard Carlson Biography

Dr. Richard Carlson died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 45 in December 2006 while in flight from San Francisco to New York where he was scheduled to make two TV appearances for his latest book Don't Get Scrooged: How to Thrive in a World Full of Obnoxious, Incompetent, Arrogant and Downright Mean-Spirited People.  He is survived by his wife, Kris and his two daughters Jasmine and Kenna. 

As the author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff and at least 20 other titles, he is considered one of the foremost experts on happiness and stress reduction in the United States and around the world. Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff made publishing history as the USA Today’s #1 bestselling book for two consecutive years. The title spent over one hundred consecutive weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and is considered one of the fastest selling books of all time. In 2004, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff was voted one of the top ten most read books in the past decade.

His message proved phenomenally popular, with Don't Sweat the Small Stuff published in at least 135 countries and translated into Latvian, Polish, Icelandic, Serbian and 26 other languages.  In all, there are at least 26 million of his books in print.  

He grew up in Piedmont and received his undergraduate degree from Pepperdine University.   He practiced meditation but was not a conspicuous religious seeker.  He was a generous supporter of charities, donating much of his book profits.  He was a key supporter of the National Center for Family Literacy and, at the time of his death, was working on a project with them calling for "A Penny a Book" from publishers, authors and literary agents to promote literacy.

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