Be sure to check out the new book by author Wendy Shanker, Are You My Guru? How Medicine, Meditation & Madonna Saved My Life. On the day of the book’s release party one of those inexplicable coincidences took place in downtown Manhattan. It was Tuesday, September 7th when Shanker’s best friend Samantha Saturn was headed for the Greenwich Village book release party being hosted by author Susan Shapiro (Overexposed, Speed Shrinking and Five Men Who Broke My Heart). Samantha Saturn had left her work building and locked the door when she spotted Madonna flanked by her entourage. Madonna approached Saturn asking if she could let her into that building because she and her crew were scouting for filming spots. Nearly numb from shock Saturn smartly snapped out of it long enough to seize the mind-blowing serendipitous op to tell Madonna about her friend Wendy Shanker’s book title, topic and release. Shanker handed Madonna a flyer with a photo of the book cover. The Material Girl’s response was polite and friendly—and she actually read the flyer. Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, the pop icon folded the paper neatly in her famous meticulous attention-to-details manner, and secured it safely in her jeans pocket.
Shanker’s book tells the tale of a battle with a rare autoimmune disease. Despite the sad topic, Shanker’s hysterically funny prose and deep admiration for Madonna, plus a willingness to pursue every arsenal available to fight off the disease, makes for a precious gem of an inspiring book. P.S. Shanker, Shapiro and Madonna are all from Michigan which is another oddity given that this story illustrates a sequence of events that prompts the exclamation, “Only in New York!” Mazel tov Shanker, your karma seems mighty good.