Table Of ContentMore praise for The Twelfth Angel
“Love of the game, apprehension, camaraderie, good sportsmanship, the exhilaration of winning
and the anguish of losing—The Twelfth Angel transported me back to my own Little League days
in California.”
—Jim Palmer
Baseball Hall of Fame
“Mandino skillfully tells this story and fills it with familiar characters we want to care about.
Through this emotional story, he makes the point that life needs to be lived to the fullest using
whatever gifts we have. He also suggests we could do ourselves a favor by recognizing the angels
that live around us.”
—The Wilmington News Journal
OTHER BOOKS BY OG MANDINO
The Greatest Salesman in the World
The Greatest Salesman in the World, Part II:
The End of the Story
The Greatest Miracle in the World
The Greatest Success in the World
The Greatest Secret in the World
The Gift of Acabar (with Buddy Kaye)
The Christ Commission
The Choice
Og Mandino’s University of Success
Mission: Success!
A Better Way to Live
The Return of the Ragpicker
A Treasury of Success Unlimited
U.S. in a Nutshell
Cycles
The Spellbinder’s Gift
Secrets for Success and Happiness
A Fawcett Book
Published by The Random House Publishing Group Copyright © 1993 by Og Mandino All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Fawcett Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House,
Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
This book is not authorized, approved, or sponsored by Little League Baseball, Incorporated. Little League is a registered trademark of
Little League Baseball, Incorporated.
Fawcett is a registered trademark and the Fawcett colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
www.ballantinebooks.com
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-96750
eISBN: 978-0-30778478-0
v3.1
In loving memory …
Doug Turno
… the bravest little
guy I’ve ever known
&
Rev. Jack Boland
… the bravest big
guy I’ve ever known
Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
A Humble Acknowledgment
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
About the Author
A HUMBLE ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This book could have never been written without the help and guidance of my
son, Matthew. The story line for The Twelfth Angel came from Matt as well as
the good counsel and advice that I needed in order to do justice to this very
special tale.
Og Mandino
Everyone’s life is a fairy tale, written by God’s fingers.
—Hans Christian Andersen
I
S
olitary confinement.
Self-imposed.
For many days after the funeral I did little when I was out of bed except slump
at my desk in the den for countless hours and think about ending my life. The
phone was off the hook, fax machine disconnected, and all doors leading to the
outside world were locked and bolted. Still, each day, what seemed like an
endless stream of traffic had moved slowly up my long circular driveway,
always followed by a mournful tolling of the door chimes until I finally ripped
out some wires. Sympathy from my friends and neighbors was the last thing I
wanted.
The past seventeen years. How special they had been. Filled with hard work,
rewards, love, joy, success, achievement, laughter and even some tears. There
had been so many precious moments, such a long run of proud and unforgettable
experiences, and now, even before my fortieth birthday, life was suddenly no
longer worth living.
Occasionally I would push myself away from the desk, rise, and move slowly
around the room, pausing to stare at each of the framed family photographs on
my walls. Memories. The good times and special occasions depicted in each
picture were still so vivid to me that I could almost hear voices and laughter.
Was it Lord Byron who wrote that we can see farther through tears than with a
telescope?
I turned my high-back wooden swivel chair slightly to my right, reached down
to the bottom drawer of my large oak desk, tugged at the handle and it slid open
silently. Inside, resting atop a telephone directory and several seed catalogs,
where I had placed it yesterday after a long search through still unopened
packing cartons in the garage, was the dull-finished 45-caliber Colt automatic
pistol that I had bought, secondhand, during a rash of house burglaries back in
Description:"A very special story about life and love and courage."MERLIN OLSEN, SPORTSCASTERJohn Harding had a high-powered career, a loving wife, and a beautiful son. He's lost it all and has returned to his home town of Boland, New Hampshire, teetering on the brink of suicide. But an old friend asks John to
