LIVE RAW AROUND THE WORLD LIVE RAW AROUND THE WORLD INTERNATIONAL RAW FOOD RECIPES FOR GOOD HEALTH AND TIMELESS BEAUTY Mimi Kirk Photography by Mike Mendell Skyhorse Publishing Copyright © 2013 by Mimi Kirk All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018. Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or [email protected]. ® ® ® Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc. , a Delaware corporation. www.skyhorsepublishing.com 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file. ISBN: 987-1-62087-613-8 Printed in China “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ~ Mark Twain ABOUT THE AUTHOR I’m a septuagenarian born in 1938. I am grateful for my outlook on life today. I like sharing what I’ve experienced to help others recognize that age is not a barrier to enjoying life. Anything can happen. A surprise turn in one’s life can take place at any age. For example, I completely changed to a raw vegan diet at the age of sixty- nine, and in September 2009, one week before my seventy-first birthday, I won the title “Sexiest Vegetarian over 50” in a nationwide contest conducted by PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. This title put me in the public eye and on the covers of magazines around the world, including Bulgaria, Portugal, Australia, Germany, and the U.K. I’ve appeared numerous times on national television in the United States and have been interviewed by major television and radio stations, newspapers, webinars, and Internet blogs. I was featured on Bulgarian and German television and appear in an Australian documentary titled Eternal Youth, to be released this year. MY HOLLYWOOD DAYS I was born in Hollywood, California, the youngest of seven children. I was married at seventeen and widowed at twenty-nine; I am the mother of two girls and two boys and a grandmother of seven grandchildren. After being a stay-at- home mother, I immediately had to find a job to support my family as there was no insurance or bank account after my husband’s death. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to find a job as a screen extra in the film industry. I worked in numerous television shows and movies. You might have seen me offering Captain Kirk a tray of fruit in an episode of the original Star Trek, in which I played an Indian handmaiden, or walking an ape on a leash in Planet of the Apes, or if you didn’t blink, you might have seen me sitting at a table with Red Buttons and Shelley Winters in the original Poseidon Adventure, where I eventually jumped (or supposedly was tossed) over a railing as the boat was sinking. In 1970, Mary Tyler Moore hired me to be her stand-in on her new sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I also worked with Valerie Harper, designing and creating a good deal of her wardrobe, including the famous headscarf she wore in Rhoda. Throughout my entertainment career of eighteen years, I appeared in front of the camera as well as behind the scenes. FINDING MY SPIRITUAL PATH In 1968, shortly after my husband’s death, I found my spiritual path. Meditation gave me strength and knowledge and taught me about the ebb and flow of life. It inspired me to live more in the moment and enjoy everything that each day had to offer. I was blessed to study with two living gurus: Swami Prabhavananda of the Vedanta Society and, later, after Swami Prabhavananda’s death in 1976, Swami Muktananda of Siddah Yoga. In 1983, shortly after Swami Muktananda’s passing, I traveled to Ganeshpuri, India, and studied in my guru’s ashram with his successor, a woman known as Gurumayi, or Swami Chidvilasananda. In her 2006 book Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert mentions she lived in an ashram for a short time. It was the same ashram I studied in years before, and just reading her words took me back to my own life-changing experiences. I also reminisce every time I see the movie. CAREER MOVES A short time after returning from India, I decided to leave the film industry and try my hand at being entrepreneurial. I started a jewelry company and designed and manufactured costume jewelry sold to stores around the country. After selling my company, I took a job in a private home in Beverly Hills as majordomo for a wealthy family. I oversaw all aspects of their estate and helped to create and implement charitable events. My environmental concerns became very strong, and after three years I left my job to create, publish, and edit The City Planet, an environmental newspaper in Los Angeles. I later moved to Taos, New Mexico, to find the “simple life,” and while there, I helped start the city’s first film festival. In 1998, I created the first board game specifically geared toward women, titled Cowgirls Ride the Trail of Truth, and in 2000, I authored my first book, Cowgirl Spirit. This is only a small part of my many incarnations, including a short stint as a Las Vegas showgirl at the Flamingo Hotel in 1957. CURRENTLY I manage my social networks and make YouTube videos on how to prepare raw foods. I write, research, and wander around my tiny kitchen creating new raw food recipes. I walk almost every day, do some yoga, tend my garden, travel with my boyfriend, and spend time with my family. I give plant-based food demonstrations, coach clients, and consult. All this activity is something I would have never expected to be part of my life in my seventies, and this experience has taught me that anything is possible at any age. www.youngonrawfood.com www.facebook.com/pages/MimiKirk/109888045694543 https://twitter.com/mimikirk