Jack Canfield reacted like many people. Shock and disbelief and curiosity washed over him the morning of Sept. 11 as he sat in bed in Santa Barbara, Calif., watching the attack on America unfold on television.

        Mr. Canfield, 57, is co-author of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul series. Millions of people have bought the 39 books, which are filled with inspirational stories of hope, love, strength and survival.

Jack Canfield

        In the wake of the terrorist attacks, one might imagine the need for a mega-bowl of chicken soup aimed not just at golfers, teens or mothers, but all of us. And in fact, one is in the works, with the working title, Chicken Soup for America's Soul: Healing the Heart of Our Nation. Profits from the book will go toward organizations involved in relief efforts.

        Mr. Canfield will be the featured speaker at tonight's fifth annual YMCA of Greater Cincinnati Character Awards. While in Oklahoma City last week for a speaking engagement, he spoke by phone.

        Question: When did you start work on Chicken Soup for America's Soul?

        Answer: At first I was reluctant. I didn't want to capitalize on the problem. I didn't want it to look like we were capitalizing on it. As we started to look at our e-mails (the day after the attack), people were saying, hey, you guys need to do something for America. There were hundreds and hundreds of those.

        We got a (story) from a ground zero worker in New York who was e-mailing all his friends. It was touching and powerful. Finally we were getting so many e-mails ... I thought, maybe we should do something.

        At the moment we've collected about 35 stories that we think are worthy of being in print. We're going to keep at it. And if it seems we've got enough for a book, we'll do it.

        Q: How many of those are from people at ground zero in New York?

        A: About a third of them. We got a couple from the Pentagon. A couple pilot stories.

        Q: What kind of stories are you hearing?

        A: I went to my son's back-to-school parent night. I spoke with a man who said he worked in the computer world. He had lived in New York City until August and recently moved to Santa Barbara. (After the attack), he got in his car and drove to New York. He got as close as he could to ground zero and offered to volunteer.

        They took him about three blocks away where they were setting up a clothing station. One of the biggest issues has been boots. The temperatures at some places at ground zero are still (so hot), the soles of boots melt, so some guys change boots every couple of hours. He became captain of the boot detail. Every day he went down there for 16 hours. By the third day, they made him clothing captain. He said, "Jack, you wouldn't believe the number of people ... wanting to contribute.'

        Q: What are some stories you'd like to pursue?

        A: St. Louis had a famous statue of a fireman kneeling in prayer. People in St. Louis decided it belonged with the firefighters in New York. It's already been delivered. I want to get the story behind that.

        The last woman who was rescued was underground for 27 hours. Her head was caught between two pillars, like a neck brace. Her legs were crushed. I saw her interviewed on TV, and she was very profound about her experience, about how she prayed and her conversation with God. And how she fell asleep and woke up and was surprised to be alive. Then she heard this tapping, and tapped back. Somebody said, “Can you see the light?” She said no. “Can you move anything?” She raised her hand out of the rubble, and a fireman grabbed her hand. She talked about what that meant to her. I want to get that story.

        Q: How do you get such stories?

        A: We did an e-mail to 3,000 writers who have stories published in our 39 books. We said, if you come across a story, please let us know. We're already getting stuff. I don't want to rush this to print. I want to make sure the book stands on its own as a good piece of work.

        Q: You'll be in Cincinnati to speak at a character awards program. This tragedy has brought out examples of that.

        A: Character is living the values you profess. I think we all can agree what those values are: integrity, love, bravery, courage, compassion and so forth. We're seeing all those values.

        We have a ground zero story about a woman who works at one of the major consulting companies in New York. Her boss said anyone who wants to volunteer, take the next two weeks off. This woman went down and said, I'm a good cook. She made like 25 pounds of ziti and noodles and spaghetti sauce and put 'em in big trays. They just went down, she and three of her girlfriends. Cops saw they were bringing good things and said, keep going, keep going. All of a sudden they're at ground zero, feeding firefighters. She goes back every day, eight hours cooking, eight hours feeding.

        Q: In these troubled times, what are our souls hungry for?

        A: No. 1, there's a lot of people in grief, and they need to know they're not alone. Our books often have been referred to as support groups between the cover of a book. From a support group, you hear how other people are coping, so it gives you new skills and abilities. You realize people do get through this.

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