How to Be Like Walt: Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life (Paperback)

~ (Author), Jim Denney (Author) "When Walt Disney was just a boy, his father put him to work in the harsh conditions of a Kansas City blizzard-then kept the money..." (more)
Key Phrases: backyard railroad, multiplane camera, great salesman, Walt Disney, Mickey Mouse, Snow White (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I’ve read every book that has ever been written about Walt Disney, going back to some that were published in the 1930s. [How to Be Like Walt] is by far the most enjoyable to read of them all!" (Tim O’Day, Disney Scholar )

"How to Be Like Walt is a fitting tribute to Walt’s memory and an important contribution to the Disney legacy . . . Now more than ever, we need people with the qualities Walt had: optimism, imagination, creativity, leadership, integrity, courage, boldness, perseverance, commitment to excellence, reverence for the past, hope for tomorrow, and faith in God."
(Art Linkletter )

Product Description

An inspiring biography of one of the most influential and beloved figures of the 21st century, based on more than a thousand interviews.

How to Be Like is a "character biography" series: biographies that also draw out important lessons from the life of their subjects. In this new book—by far the most exhaustive in the series—Pat Williams tackles one of the most influential people in recent history.

While many recent biographies of Walt Disney have reveled in the negative, this book takes an honest but positive look at the man behind the myth. For the first time, the book pulls together all the various strands of Disney’s life into one straightforward, easy-to-read tale of imagination, perseverance, and optimism. Far from a preachy or oppressive tome, this book scrapes away the minutiae to capture the true magic of a brilliant maverick.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: HCI (August 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0757302319
• ISBN-13: 978-0757302312
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,998 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Power of One Life, August 27, 2004

By	Truth Pursuer (Lake Forest, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Just when I thought I knew everything there was to know about Walt Disney, along comes this brilliant book. How to Be Like Walt shines fresh light on the person and character of Walt Disney, a man I never knew but have loved all my life. More than that, it encourages all of us that we can be like Walt, too - if we study his life, discover what drove him, learn from his failures and examine his interactions with others. There will never be another Walt, but we can all be like Walt if we want to be. This book tells us how. He wasn't perfect - but neither are you or I. Still, as the book says, the world would be a poorer place if it hadn't been for just one Walt Disney. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't mind being remembered for making my world better like he did.

How to Be Like Walt tells his story through the eyes of people who knew him and loved him, people who have admired his accomplishments, and people whose lives have been shaped by the force of his personality. It's the most complete picture of Walt Disney available to date from any book. In the bargain, we get lessons to apply to our own lives. Everything to gain and nothing to lose! Read it today.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A biography with great insight into the man, Walt Disney..., August 18, 2004

By	R. HAMILTON (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a self-help book, "How to Be Like Walt" is a powerful tool with 17 lessons exemplified by Walt Disney's life. As a biography, the book is one of the finest written about Walt Disney.

Disney was a unique Hollywood success story. The squeaky-clean Disney reputation was built on a lifetime of doing good work. It's not that Disney was without fault or rough edges. But Disney was more often the victim of unscrupulous dealings rather than one who was putting a deal over on someone else. This book explores those aspects of his life, and reveals how these experiences shaped his career and led him to bigger and bigger accomplishments.

Just as each of Disney's successes was based on telling a compelling story, Pat Williams and Jim Denney have told Walt's life story in a unique and interesting way. The narrative is filled with stories and challenges in Walt's life, as related by friends, family, and co-workers.

The stories tell about the man, Walt Disney, more effectively than most biographies which are loaded with impersonal facts.

This book provides a multifaceted look at his personality as well as his behaviors. Different people saw him in various ways; that is all fully explained and reconciled as well as can be expected of a complex, creative genius who is not easily explained.

Disney was a workaholic and a taskmaster, yet he was also compassionate about his creative staff and his family. As you read the story of Walt's life, you will learn how we can adapt our lives to achieve greater creativity, success, and fulfillment.

As an author who has read and written about Disney, I recommend this book as one of the best Disney resources available.

Buy this book and read it several times; with the extensive details of the many Disney stories, you will find each reading reveals new insights about Disney's approach to success.

-- Rich Hamilton

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great biography and great lessons, February 16, 2005

By	Jim Carlisle - See all my reviews

I've enjoyed Pat Williams' spoken pearls of wisdom for years, mostly in quotes as GM of the Orlando Magic NBA team. I've also known that he's a Christian and that he and his wife have adopted about 15 children over the years. But this is the first book of his I've read and I was extremely impressed.

Pat obviously admires Walt Disney deeply and figures he has many qualities worth pursuing. Pat not only brings those qualities into sharp focus so that we can apply them to our own lives, he also looks at Walt's shortcomings. No punches are pulled: Virtually every criticism people have leveled at Walt Disney is examined honestly, but a great man is still found when all is said and done.

Even if this wasn't a "self-help" book, it would stand alone as a dynamite biography. Questions about Walt Disney's life that I've never seen anyone even deal with in print before were examined here in depth. Pat interviewed about 250 people and spent years probing into Walt Disney's life. The result is absolutely the best book on the man I have ever read.