200607 - English Language Learning

RD I JULY 2006The experts on shopping TV were lessthan certain. They gave it a try, and itfailed. Mangano was sure it would sellif they’d let her do the on-camerademonstration. “Brave little me. I said,‘Get me on that stage, and I will sellthis mop because it’s a great item.’ ”So QVC took a chance on her. “I gotonstage and the phones went crazy.We sold every mop in minutes.”Today she’s president of IngeniousDesigns, a multimillion-dollar company,and one of the stars of HSN, theHome Shopping Network. Talkingabout her household inventions is “asnatural for me as it is for a parent totalk about their child,” Mangano says.Today one of her favorite productsis Huggable Hangers. The thin, spacesavingimplements are the most successfulgadget ever sold on HSN, with100 million hanging out there in closetsacross the country. Of course, youcouldn’t possibly sell hangers on TV.If You’re Not Dead,You Can Get BetterRandy Kraus was paralyzed. His leftside was useless. But his right handwas good enough to lift the barrel ofa .38 to his temple.Once, he’d been a police officer inFresno, California, and owneda private-eye agency. Once,he’d been strong and able.Now, he felt he was nothing.His trouble started withParkinson’s disease, but itdidn’t end there. In July 2002,the 60-year-old Kraus went88into the hospital for an operation thatimplanted electrodes in his brain tocontrol the shaking. But during theoperation, he had a stroke. He was paralyzed.The cop, the tough guy, theman who loved golf, “could think, butcouldn’t move.”Transferred to a rehab hospital,Kraus wanted the therapists to give itto him straight. “You may never walkagain,” they told him. “Maybe youwon’t even be able to talk.”Once home, he found he couldn’tlift a fork or take a drink by himself.Physical therapy was so painful andslow. What did he have to live for?So now Kraus held the gun againsthis head. Feeling the cold metal on hisskin, he began to consider not his pain,Randy Krausdiscovered thatall journeysstart with onestep, even if it’sa small one.MARK CROSSE/FRESNO BEE