"I don't think I could have been born at a better time or in a better place than the Delta in order to provide valuable life lessons for the 21st Century." So says Clifton Taulbert, best-selling author, businessman, and speaker, who, through his Tulsa, OK-based Building Community Institute, is exporting the Mississippi Delta to the world. Once introduced by Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating as the "Benjamin Franklin of our day", Taulbert has regaled audiences throughout the world with what he calls the "Eight Habits of the Heart." These are stories, truisms, and philosophical reflections which Taulbert learned at an early age in Glen Allen and which he teaches to Harvard grads, Chinese educators, the U.S. Supreme Court and Lockheed executives, among others, every day. "Legal segregation was, unfortunately, the law of the land when I was growing up," Taulbert says. "And because of that, it would have been much easier for people to close their emotional doors on helping others. However, the people I encountered in Glen Allen as a kid literally saw their future in their children and the neighbor's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. In spite of segregation, these extraordinary people went out of their way to define and build communities as a set of emotionally satisfying relationships. Years later, I realize now that those people, and their way of life, in this postage stamp-sized town, held life ideals that were timeless and universal. Now, through my Building Community Institute, I take the lessons I learned in the fields of Glen Allen to Europe, Japan, China, and Central America. I introduce audiences to Papa Joe Young. They meet Louis and Sara Field. They meet Mrs. Knight, the older white lady for whom I worked who also defied the social order by making sure that I sat at her table, too." Today, Taulbert, through his speeches, books, and the work of the Institute, attempts to convey these "habits of the heart" to executives, employees, teachers, politicians...anyone who will listen and who has a heart. The habits of Nurturing Attitude, Responsibility, Friendship, Dependability, Brotherhood, High Expectations, Courage and Hope are those which Taulbert believes have immense and rich implications for one's life. But were these habits unique to the Delta? Taulbert says no, but adds a caveat. "The habits were unique to my discovery of them, which was in the Mississippi Delta," he says. "Many would not believe that such positive lessons could have come from such a region during such a time. But they did." Because of this, Taulbert says he would not change being a Deltan (which he still calls himself) for "anything in the world. Had I not been where I was, among the people who grew me up, I would not have had the opportunity to travel the world as I do now, taking my lessons with me, or have been as successful in my career as I have been." And, indeed, what a successful career it has been. Born to an unmarried mother in Glen Allen, Taulbert was sent to live with his great-grandparents, "which was probably one of the best things that could have happened to me," he says. "This allowed my mother to finish high school, and I got to grow up among a very caring group of people. Legal segregation was a real barrier to us, but we all dreamed of going to a better place. Basically, we had two choices: go to college, or go North. Since I couldn't afford college, I went to St. Louis." After living in St. Louis for three years, Taulbert left to attend the American Institute of Banking, and then went into the military, serving in the prestigious 89th Presidential Wing of the U.S. Air Force. After an honorable discharge, Taulbert completed his undergraduate degree at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where he still resides today. He later received an associate degree in health care management from Tulsa Community College, subsequently becoming an administrator of the University Retirement Center. It was in the military when Taulbert began writing the rough draft of what would become, and still is, his calling card work of literature: Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored. When asked why he thought his story of growing up in Glen Allen would appeal to anyone, Taulbert laughs, "I didn't! To be honest, I didn't think they would matter to anyone. I just wanted to write these stories I had heard, and what I had seen, from within this incredible group of people who had shaped my life." When he completed his manuscript, Taulbert mailed it to a small Midwestern publishing company, Council Oaks, after he had already been rejected several times. That company took a chance and printed 3,000 first run copies. Today, Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored is in it's 10th printing. Not long after the book was printed and word of it began to spread, Taulbert made an appearance on the Phil Donahue show. The week the program aired, some 100,000 copies of the book sold. Another Delta literary career had been launched. "When all of this starting happening, I couldn't believe it," Taulbert recalls. "I was totally unprepared for the flood of mail that came in from all over the country. In fact, I'm still pinching myself today!," he laughs. Once Upon A Time When We Colored remains the most popular of his books, and was made into a successful 1996 movie, starring Phyllisia Rashad, and directed by "WKRP in Cincinnati" and "Frank's Place" star, Tim Reid. The film received lavish praise, and was given "two thumbs up" by critics Siskel and Ebert. Of course, after the immediate success of Once Upon A Time..., the pressure was on for another book. "Yes, I was challenged to write another book, which, at the time, I honestly didn't think I could do," Taulbert says. But, he took the challenge and the result was the follow-up to Once Upon A Time..., entitled The Last Train North. Ironically, the book Taulbert didn't think he could write was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 1992. The work also received the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Award for non-fiction, the Mississippi Library Award for non-fiction, and the Doubleday Discovery Book of the Year Award. Today, Taulbert finds that his books, including the third in his coming-of-age trilogy, Watching The Crops Come In, his philosophical Eight Habits of The Heart, and his children's book, Little Cliff and the Porch People, have become mandatory texts in countries such as Israel. He has received congratulatory letters form the Parliament of South Africa, and was named one of leading African-American businessmen in the country in the late 80's by Time Magazine, when he was (and still is) owner of The Freemount Corporation, which developed the worldwide government market for the Stairmaster Exercise Systems. It's sometimes hard for the Glen Allen native to fathom. "I'm finding myself being the subject of doctoral research, if you can believe it!" Taulbert chuckles in his inimitable way. "I'm being quoted by people whom I've never met. It's amazing." Yet Taulbert has also heard from those who believe he has sugarcoated his past and the segregation he grew up in. His response to such criticism is typical Clifton Taulbert: "You know, I'm not writing the story of racism, or segregation, or bias; I'm writing the stories of the amazing strength and character of a group of people who built my world in spite of those barriers." Taulbert, whose awards and accolades are much to numerous to mention, says he finds his greatest pleasure as an ambassador to the world for the Delta values he learned and lived. He relates the following story: "I was invited to San Jose Costa Rica five months ago to lead an international youth group forum. Every country in Central America was represented in this two-day youth development summit based on the Eight Habits of the Heart. And it struck me in a profound way: Here I was telling the stories of grits and fish to people immersed in sugar cane and Spanish. Three months ago in China, I spoke to 3,000 people hanging on to every word of my Glen Allen stories. In Scotland, the national press are comparing the stories of the Mississippi Delta to the work of their poet laureate, Robert Burns. It's truly amazing." Nowadays, between his many speeches and writing (two new books are due before year's endÑanother children's work, Little Cliff and the First Day of School, and A Letter That Matters, "an entire book that is a letter to my great-aunt who helped raise me," Taulbert says), Taulbert oversees his staff of five at the Building Community Institute in Tulsa. When asked what he does there, Taulbert replies with a laugh, "We worry!" Worry they may, but the Institute has become widely known for distributing curriculum to schools worldwide based on the Eight Habits. Asked if he gets back home to Glen Allen much these days, Taulbert pauses. "I came back last Christmas for the first time in five years. Because while Glen Allen is very dear to me, it is also where my young daughter, Anne Kathryn, took ill and subsequently died of sickle-cell anemia a few years back. So, it's difficult for me to return home because now it is also the source of my greatest pain." Still, Taulbert does return to the Delta from time to time, most recently speaking at Delta State University this past fall, and he says he plans to return to Cleveland in April. His beautiful wife of 25 years, Barbara, will more than likely be in tow. "My mother introduced me to Barbara, who is from Eudora, AK.," Taulbert says. "I called it an African-Chinese arranged wedding!" he chuckles. "My wife is an excellent lady, who incidentally is also a renowned cook." Taulbert cites his wife being covered recently by Cooking Life Magazine and, most recently, in a Southern Living spread. The two are the proud parents of a son, Marshall, who is 19 and a student, like his dad was, at Oral Roberts University, and who also works part time for Taulbert at the elder's Institute. Probably one of the finest speakers and communicators on the circuit today, Clift Taulbert embodies the best of the wonderful, mysterious region known as the Mississippi Delta. His message, and his own life, is a testament to perseverance, hard work, patience, and, yes, even old-fashioned kindness and civility. He is not just a classic, well and soft spoken Southern gentleman; he is a Delta Southern gentleman. The Delta is proud to call him one of its favorite, and most famous, sons. "Poor is poor is poor," Taulbert says. "If I don't get any other message across, I want people to know that, in the midst of affluence or of poverty, there always exist the opportunity for richness of soul, richness of good living, and richness of character, that can come to the forefront of anyone's life." It is obvious that such richness is indeed in the forefront of Clifton Taulbert's life. And we are all the better for it. DBJ