It is a rather special honor to be able to present this forward for Paula Stark’s second book. My reason for stating that is two-fold. Much like the character in her story, Babe, Paula’s rise up the ladder of success is nothing short of amazing – and worthy of sharing! From humble beginnings as a salesperson for the Osceola News Gazette in her adopted home town of Kissimmee, Florida, she has risen to the top spot in the organization as publisher of that newspaper. This was by no means an easy task. Like Babe, she had to endure many different changes and overcome obstacles along
the way.
Like Babe, Paula persevered through all those challenges. Her work ethic and commitment to excellence, allowed her to climb that ladder despite numerous management and ownership changes. Also, like Babe, she has hit more than one critical “homerun” as her newspaper has received numerous awards under Paula’s leadership.
I am also excited to write this forward, as it is a baseball story. Baseball is our national past time, a great sports that teaches the importance of teamwork and the reason that I met Paula in the first place. Being the first Houston Astros employee in Osceola County when we were building the new spring training facility, Paula was one of the first people that I met as she was our sales representative from the News Gazette and assisted us greatly with our advertising needs.
Now she is assisting young readers with learning about history through her wonderful series of tales about the heroes of our past and portraying them as lovable animals to appeal to these youngsters. Like her first book, Abraham the Alligator, Babe the Bear is a story that will capture the imagination of your child or grandchild as you read it to them. Enjoy!
