Toby’s House supporters come to hear the guru

“Do you recall TV’s Archie Bunker telling his wife Edith to ‘stifle

yourself?’ ” asked Dr. Laura Schlessinger, addressing a dinner crowd

assembled this week at the Balboa Bay Club & Resort in Newport Beach.

“Everything that is true need not be spoken,” continued the radio

personality, heard weekdays on 240 stations nationwide. “We have

elevated our feelings to a place one step under God,” she said. “We

should behave based on moral values, principles of law and ethics, in

spite of how we feel.”

Schlessinger, dressed in a pink dinner suit and looking very fit,

took the microphone on the Balboa Bay Club stage in support of Toby’s

House, an Orange County home for pregnant women in crisis. She came

at the invitation of longtime pal Patti Edwards of Newport Beach, and

she came without charge to the nonprofit. Several hundred local

donors and supporters of Toby’s House converged in the Balboa Bay

Club Library Room prior to dinner and Schlessinger’s address for a

book signing with the woman who has become a household name. The

best-selling author of both adult and children’s books on life and

morals has recently published “The Proper Care and Feeding of

Husbands,” through Harper Collins. It is on the New York Times’

best-seller list.

“What is your mission in life? Every person on earth has a

mission. It’s like playing Clue. Together, we all help perfect the

world,” Schlessinger said. “There is a point to being here. I’m not

going to waste a moment of life on things like drugs.” They had come

to hear the guru who has sold more than 3 million of her advice

books, and they had come to raise funds to support a mission that

strives to protect unborn life and turn around the negatives in the

lives of mothers without support, direction, help and love. The

evening was chaired by a most dedicated Ali Woodard, and attended by

Toby’s House founder and executive director Kathleen Eaton. Clearly,

the love and support in the Library Room ballroom surrounded these

two women and their mission. It was something of a Bible meeting, a

religious experience, a connection between ordinary people and their

ideal view of the universe and how men should treat one another.

Schlessinger was the perfect guest. She has built a media empire on

what she terms as “doing the right thing.”

“I hate it when people ask me about finding a balance in life --

balancing family, career, marriage and the rest. I’m telling you that

you don’t have balance. When you live a life in terms of balance,

most often children and family lose,” Schlessinger said.

Schlessinger fielded questions, and issues revolving around

marriage and sex were at the forefront. Toby’s House, founded in

1998, shelters pregnant women and their children. Some come to Toby’s

House following abuse; others may be drug or alcohol dependent; and

still others have no formal education, job skills or financial base.

And Toby’s House attempts to protect unborn children and prepare

their mothers for the world awaiting them both.

Supporting the Schlessinger appearance were local guests including

Lewis and Sharyl Beeman, Pat Beekman, Mary Callahan, Jennifer

Segerstrom, Kathryn Glassmyer, Dan Malone, Greg and Jana McGrath and

Gary and Laurie King. Also present were Lupe Langan, Christin

O’Donnell, Dorlisa Fleming, Stephanie Moffitt, Laura Troup and Joanne

Trempala.

Dr. Laura shared with the crowd that her 19-year-old son Derek has

enlisted in the military.

“I must have done something right,” she told the crowd. “My son

said he has been raised in privilege and wants to give something back

to the country that afforded the privilege. I must have done a damn

good job.”

Nearly $40,000 was raised for Toby’s House. For more information,

call (949) 364-6674.