FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: John Baroody/DJG PR
212-370-9700 ext. 118

ELIZABETH ALLEN NAMED GUIDEPOSTS BOARD CHAIRMAN
RUTH STAFFORD PEALE ELEVATED
TO CHAIRMAN, EMERITUS

New York, October 17, 2003…Elizabeth Peale Allen has been named Chairman of the Board of Guideposts, effective at today’s board meeting by vote of the board of trustees. Also announced today was that Ruth Stafford Peale, the previous Board Chairman, will become Chairman, Emeritus.

Mrs. Allen has served on the Guideposts board, as a trustee, since 1995. She has been an active board member, and a mainstay of the finance committee, during a period of tremendous vitality and technological growth for the organization. Mrs. Allen has also been a member of the board of trustees of Trinity-Pawling School for over 20 years and currently serves as President of the Board. Mrs. Allen has previously served on the boards of Premier National Bank, Progressive Bank, Inc., and Pawling Savings Bank, where she was a past Chairman of the Board.

Mrs. Allen was born in Olean, New York, a daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Norman Vincent Peale. She attended Friends Seminary New York City and later was graduated from Mt. Holyoke College. Mrs. Allen is the mother of three children and was married to the late John Milton Allen, formerly a vice-president of Reader’s Digest.

Ruth Stafford Peale, appointed Chairman Emeritus, served as Guideposts Chairman of the Board from 1992 to 2003. Mrs. Peale co-founded Guideposts in the 1940s with her husband, the late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, one of the foremost clergymen and motivational speakers of the twentieth century and author of the inspirational bestseller, The Power of Positive Thinking. She has previously served on the Guideposts board as a trustee during Dr. Peale’s tenure as Chairman of the Board.

A native of Fonda, Iowa Mrs. Peale is a graduate of Syracuse University. She is the recipient of numerous national awards and honors, including the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans, four honorary doctoral degrees, and listings in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. Mrs. Peale has also served as a trustee of Hope College in Holland, MI, Champlain College in Burlington, VT, Syracuse University in New York, and as a member of the National Women’s Board of Northwood Institute.

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Guideposts, a non-profit organization headquartered in Carmel, New York, was co-founded in 1945 by Ruth Stafford Peale and her husband Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, one of the foremost motivational speakers of the twentieth century. His landmark book, “The Power of Positive Thinking,” has sold over 20 million copies in 42 languages. Guideposts is America’s pre-eminent publisher of inspirational books and magazines with annual book sales of over 3 million copies and a combined paid magazine circulation of over 4.3 million. The flagship publication is Guideposts magazine, one of America’s top 10 largest monthly magazines with a circulation of 2.6 million and a readership of 8 million.