In this wise and inspiring book, social entrepreneur Bill Shore shows us how to make the most of life and do something that counts. Like the cathedral builders of an earlier time, the visionaries described in this memoir share a single desire: to create something that endures. The extraordinary people Shore has met on his travels represent a new movement of citizens who are tapping into the vast resources of the private sector to improve public life. Among them are:

-- Gary Mulhair, who has created unprecedented jobs and wealth at the largest self-supporting human-service organization of...

A small cadre of scientists--collaborators and competitors--are determined to develop a vaccine for malaria, a feat most tropical disease experts have long considered impossible. Skepticism, doubt, and a host of logistical and financial obstacles dog their quest. Success may ultimately elude them. Why, and how, do they persist?

The kind of person who decides to combat malaria must have a very rare combination of attributes: dogged enough to keep going when results are slow; independent enough to continue, often alone, when other, more popular, causes distract attention from their work;...