Q. I already know this, but for the record, how old are you?

A: I was 91 years old on April 10th.

Where do you live?
East McKeesport, Pennsylvania, that’s about 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh.

Were you born and raised in the Pittsburgh area?
Yes, I was born in East Pittsburgh not too far from East McKeesport where I now live.

So you’re a lifelong Pittsburgh Steelers fan?
Yes, and also a Pittsburgh Pirates fan!

Tell me about your family.
I was married for 42 years to Dave Steinbaugh. We had two children, Donna and David. After Dave died, I met Armand DeCaro at the 1988 ANHS Conference and we were married. Armand died in 1999.

Where did you hear about Natural Hygiene?
It’s an amazing story.  I was about 27 years old and was working at Westinghouse Air Brake as a secretary. One day I was taking dictation from my boss and all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my side. At first I was diagnosed with indigestion. However, another doctor said I had pleurisy and sent me to a TB hospital to see if I had the TB germ. I went to the TB hospital but, as luck happened, and I know the Lord was with me all the way, the nurse came out and said that the doctor was called away on an emergency. She suggested that I leave my X-ray and he would refer me to another doctor.

Meanwhile, my fiancée suggested that I see an osteopath in McKeesport who had treated his sister. The next day I went to see him and his assistant came out to see me. It was Dr. William Esser, who had an office in East Liberty. He checked me and said I had a rheumatic acid condition from eating too many fried foods and candy. I had been given a bag of pills from all of the previous doctors but Dr. Esser told me to go home and throw them away. So I went home and put all of the pills in a bag and put them in the garbage. I went back the next day and Dr. Esser gave me some literature. The next thing you know I was reading about Natural Hygiene.

“After Natural Hygiene helped me to dramatically improve my own poor health, which was brought by my ignorance about proper food choice according to our biological adaptation, I thought it had to be my mission to disseminate Natural Hygiene in Japan. No one had ever heard of Natural Hygiene in Japan in the 1990s.”

“I started my health mission in Japan by translating Fit for Life into Japanese followed by organizing a Natural Hygiene group, now called the Japan Natural Hygiene Network to teach the Hygienic program to health seekers.  I issue newsletters and organize seminars and workshops periodically around Japan.

“I owe my vibrant health to what I learned through the ANHS and the book Fit for Life. This story is shared with anyone that might benefit from hearing it.

“I was 34 years old, seemingly very healthy, active and happy. I exercised daily and was involved in many boating and outdoor activities. But there had been some recent stressful changes: a divorce, a new job and a move.

“Then while on a business trip I woke one morning feeling like an old lady. My hands were stiff with what felt like arthritis. The symptoms worsened over the next couple of weeks and included additional joint pain and inflammation, low-grade fevers and exhaustion. After a visit to a rheumatologist and much testing, the diagnosis was Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, an autoimmune disease. The diagnosis was clear, as there were seven out of ten of the possible indicators — high SED rate, low white blood count, etc.

Mamiko Matsuda takes Natural Hygiene to Japan!

After I read Fit For Life by Harvey Diamond and Marilyn Diamond, and attended several American Natural Hygiene Society International Conferences, I knew that I wanted to do something to help bring Natural Hygiene to the Japanese people.

I translated Fit for Life into the Japanese language in 1995, and the book has sold very successfully in Japan. Most publishers in the diet and health field only print about 3,000 to 5,000 copies for the first edition of a new book. But we printed 15,000 for the first edition! The book was published by the largest newspaper publisher in the world, and more than 13,000 copies have been sold so far. [Fit for Life has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide.] People who have written to me after reading the book have expressed deep appreciation for the information and the health benefits they have received. So that means we are doing very well!

Meet Irving and Ruth Schoenfeld
Celebrating over 30 years of dedicated service

ANHS Life members Irving and Ruth Schoenfeld have been members of the Society since 1956. This year they were awarded the ANHS Distinguished Service Award for their more than 30 years of dedication to Natural Hygiene.

Irving is the Pied Piper of ANHS. His role at Conferences is, in his words, “to keep the children happy and out of the hair of their parents. When parents go to lectures, the children go wild running around not knowing what to do. So I take them, and we play games, go swimming and hiking, or we go on a field trip. I keep them busy and happy all day. And they make me happy, too!”

Meet Eleanor Wilson
Thyroid problems resolved through fasting

In this issue, we pay tribute to longtime ANHS Life member Eleanor Wilson. Eleanor learned about Natural Hygiene in 1970, but she didn’t make substantial changes in her lifestyle until her health began to suffer.

“My doctor told me I had a thyroid problem, and that the only solution was to take thyroxin for the rest of my life. I wasn’t ready to make that big a commitment, and decided to go on a supervised fast instead. Following a three-week fast, I never had any further problems.”

Recovery from polio through Natural Hygiene

Max and Ruth Huberman have been involved in ANHS and the Natural Hygiene movement for more than 45 years. They attend the ANHS Conferences each summer, where Max hosts the popular ANHS Talent Show. But it took a major health crisis to get them started on the path to Natural Hygiene.

“When I was a young man,” said Max, “I thought that I could go on forever, because I felt robust and healthy. I always considered myself in top condition, even though I smoked, drank beer, and didn’t give diet any thought.

Gerry Coffey
Career journalist credits miraculous recovery to fasting!

It was a long odyssey from the days of my initial interest in health until my recovery from a tumor that threatened my life. In high school, although I was very athletic and competed in acrobatics and gymnastics, I remember feeling tired all the time. I put on an act of feeling fine, but I wondered if everyone felt the way I did.

After I met and married my husband Ray, I had four children, each one year apart. Ray worked for the government, so we traveled quite a bit while our children were young. We were “party animals” during the early years of our marriage, which eventually caught up with me.