The following is a guest post from peta2's Ryan.

Rory Freedman

Best-selling author Rory Freedman has already spared millions of animals from unnecessary deaths in slaughterhouses simply by promoting a healthy and cruelty-free vegan diet in her iconic book Skinny Bitch. But now she's taking her compassion to the next level!

You see, rather than buying her mom another meaningless foot massager or something this Mother's Day, Rory has offered to donate $5,000 to peta2 in her mom's honor—but only if you follow her example!

Here's how it works: Rory is going to match donors like you dollar-for-dollar, up to $5,000 total. So, for example, if you donate $20 to peta2, she will also donate $20 to double the impact! As Rory said in an e-mail to peta2, "Show your mom who you are and how well she raised you—that you know what is really important."

Thanks to Rory, your donations—no matter what the amount—will go twice as far to help us raise awareness and combat cruelty to animals raised for food, clothing, experimentation, and other industries.

Your support helps us win countless victories. From convincing top retailers such as J. Crew and Urban Outfitters to go fur-free to pushing for the first-ever felony charges of cruelty to factory-farmed birds, peta2 is changing how the world treats animals, but we can't do it alone!

Take Rory's challenge and have your donation doubled!

Posted by Ryan Huling

Some people ask me if it is true that my latest book, One Can Make a Difference, contains essays by people who have done things like make documentary films or compose songs, collect shoes for South American village children, clean up the base camp at Mount Everest, or make people laugh—instead of being all about animals? Well, yes, but I'll reveal my secret. Every single one of the more than 50 people in the book—from the famous people such as Sir Paul McCartney (the world’s most famous "veggie"), Stella McCartney (who is adamantly opposed to fur and leather), Petra Nemcova (the supermodel who stopped eating fish after she saw them on the beach in Thailand after a tsunami), Dr. Henry Heimlich (a staunch anti-vivisectionist), and Willie Nelson (who fought to ban horse slaughter) to the little-known seal-hunt protesters, soup-kitchen operators, performance artists, and sanctuary founders—are kind souls. If they weren't, they wouldn't have made the cut.

As the author John Galsworthy said (and those of you who've heard me speak know that I often repeat this), the three most important things in life are to be kind, to be kind, and … yup, to be kind. His Holiness The Dalai Lama is in my book, and he says pretty much the same thing in his lovely little essay about how a person's religion should be based on compassion—nothing else matters. Now, some essays, including those by Brigitte Bardot, Rachel Rosenthal, Carol Buckley, and Peter Hammarstadt, are all about animals: elephants and cats and mice and whales specifically, but you will find animals—such as Doris Richard's dogs—peeking out of other essays too. And in the essays that do not mention animals, the spirit of the writer leaves you no doubt that he or she would no more ignore a bird fallen out of a nest than he or she would step over a destitute human being.

I hope that my book will open hearts to the diversity of life and open eyes fully to the stunning number of ways in which one—anyone—can make a difference. Writing it was a great experience. I hope that reading it will be just as much fun!

Posted by Ingrid E. Newkirk

P.S. Tell us why you make a difference! Comment below to win an autographed copy of One Can Make a Difference! You can also go here to nominate someone who makes a difference.

You can post comments until October 6 to win the book. We will contact the winner on October 7. Be sure to read the contest terms and conditions and PETA's privacy policy before you comment. By leaving a comment, you're acknowledging that you have read and agree to both.

… Well, a number of dates. Dan Mathews' last cross-country book tour was such a big hit that he’s doing a whole new one. Sometimes I wonder whether the guy doesn’t enjoy sitting around the office and going to endless meetings as much as the rest of us do. There was a nice little piece about Dan in The Windy City Times last week, and another great one in the latest issue of Ocean Drive magazine, which, annoyingly, I can’t link to because they didn’t put it up on their website. I’m not sure I fully understand how people “read” stuff these days if it’s not on the Internet, but they presumably have some kind of system.

Anyway, here’s the schedule for Dan’s book tour in case you live in one of these cities, and even if you don’t, you can order a copy of Committed here. It’s a very funny piece of literature. And it’s got some good stuff in there about animals.

Tuesday, July 24
Atlanta
Borders Atlanta-Buckhead
3637 Peachtree Rd NE
Atlanta, GA 30319
7:30 PM

Wednesday, July 25
Nashville
Davis Kidd Booksellers
The Mall at Green Hills
2121 Green Hills Village Drive
Ste 281
Nashville, TN 37215
6:00 PM

Monday, July 30
Pittsburgh
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
2705 E. Carson Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15203
7:00 pm

Wednesday, August 1
Detroit
Borders
34300 Woodward
Birmingham, MI 48009
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 2
Austin
BookPeople
603 N. Lamar
Austin, TX 78703
7:00 PM

Friday, August 3
Hastings
1306 W. Davis St.
Conroe, TX 77304
7:00 pm

Tuesday, August 7
Tampa
Barnes & Noble
11802 N. Dale Mabry Highway
Tampa, FL 33618
7:00 PM

Thursday, August 9
Orlando
Borders
600 North Orlando Ave
Winter Park, FL 32789
7:00 PM

Monday, August 13
Minneapolis
Magers & Quinn
3038 Hennepin Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55408
7:30 p.m.

Monday, August 27
St. Louis
Left Bank Books
399 N. Euclid
St. Louis, MO 63108
7:00 p.m.