GOOR, Ron(ald Stephen) 1940-

PERSONAL: Born May 31, 1940, in Washington, DC; son of Charles G. (a statistician) and Jeanette (a statistician; maiden name, Mindel) Goor; married Nancy Ruth Miller (an author and illustrator), March 12, 1967; children: Alexander, Daniel. Education: Swarthmore College, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1962; graduate study at University of Chicago, 1962-63; Harvard University, Ph.D., 1967, M.P.H., 1977.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Choice Diets, Inc., P.O. Box 2053, Rockville, MD 20847-2053. E-mail—goor@ choicediets.

CAREER: National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, laboratory assistant, 1967-70; Smithsonian Institution, Natural History Museum, Washington, DC, special assistant to director, 1970-72; National Science Foundation, Washington, DC, program manager, 1972-76; National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, clinical trial coordinator, 1976-84, national coordinator of Cholesterol Education Program, beginning 1984; creator of Eater's Choice dietary programs.

MEMBER: American Chemical Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Children's Book Guild, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS: Shadows: Here, There, and Everywhere was chosen as outstanding children's science book by National Science Teacher's Association/Children's Book Council Joint Committee, as notable book by American Library Association, and as one of Library of Congress's best books of the year, all 1981; In the Driver's Seat was chosen as one of the best children's books of the year by New York Times and School Library Journal, both 1982; Signs was named one of the Notable Children's Books for the Language Arts, 1983; All Kinds of Feet was named an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children, 1984; Best Books of 1986 citation, School Library Journal, 1986, for Pompeii, which was also named on the American Library Association Booklist's Children's Editor's Choices list, the Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies list, and the Notable Children's Trade Books for the Language Arts list, all 1986; Heads was named an Oustanding Trade Book for Children, 1988.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION; WITH WIFE, NANCY GOOR

Eater's Choice: A Food Lover's Guide to Lower Cholesterol, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1987, 5th edition, 1999.

(With Katherine Boyd) The Choose to Lose Diet: AFood Lover's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1990, revised edition published as Choose to Lose: A Food Lover's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, 1995.

Eater's Choice Low-Fat Cookbook: Eat Your Way toThinness and Good Health, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 1999.

Choose to Lose Weight-Loss Plan for Men: A Take-Control Program for Men with the Guts to Lose, Houghton Mifflin (Boston, MA), 2000.

NONFICTION FOR CHILDREN; SELF ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

(With Millicent Selsam) Backyard Insects, Scholastic (New York, NY), 1981.

(With Nancy Goor) Shadows: Here, There, and Everywhere, Crowell (New York, NY), 1981.

(With Nancy Goor) Williamsburg: Cradle of the Revolution, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1994.

ILLUSTRATOR WITH PHOTOGRAPHS; WRITTEN BY NANCY GOOR

In the Driver's Seat (Junior Literary Guild Selection), Crowell (New York, NY), 1982.

Signs, Crowell (New York, NY), 1983.

All Kinds of Feet, Crowell (New York, NY), 1984.

Pompeii: Exploring a Roman Ghost Town, Crowell (New York, NY), 1984.

Heads, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1988.

Insect Metamorphosis: From Egg to Adult, Atheneum (New York, NY), 1990.

SIDELIGHTS: Ron Goor has achieved success as a health care worker, a photographer, and an author. When Goor was thirty-one years old, he learned that he had dangerously high cholesterol levels in his blood. His wife, Nancy, began creating and adapting recipes that would be tasty as well as low in saturated fat, the substance that raises blood cholesterol levels. Goor soon became the National Coordinator of the Coronary Primary Prevention Trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This trial determined that lower cholesterol levels mean a lowered risk of heart disease. Goor also noted that the factors that lowered cholesterol almost inevitably led to weight loss as well. Later, Goor left the NIH to develop health programs on his own. Together with Nancy Goor, he created some books based on his small-group weight-loss counseling program, which has been offered in many hospital and workplace wellness programs and cardiac rehabilitation programs across the United States.

Their first offering on the subject was Eater's Choice: A Food Lover's Guide to Lower Cholesterol. That was followed by The Choose to Lose Diet: A Food Lover's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, which guides the reader to determine his own fat budget. Then, by becoming aware of the fat contents of foods, the dieter can choose whatever he or she wants to eat as long as it fits into the daily fat budget. A light, humorous tone to the text helps to encourage readers and dieters, as do the 320 recipes created for the books and program. The authors contend that if one keeps an eye on fat calories and restricts them, it will be very difficult to consume too many calories in the total diet, no matter what else is eaten. Reviewing Eater's Choice, a writer for Environmental Nutrition credited the Goors with doing a "first-rate job" in explaining how fat leads to heart disease and why everyone should eat a heart-healthy diet. In an Environmental Nutrition review of The Choose to Lose Diet, another writer remarked: "While the concept of reducing total fat in the diet for weight loss is not new, the Goors' approach of counting fat calories simplifies the process."

Goor once told CA that he has been interested in biology for as long as he can remember. It wasn't until he had a Ph.D. in biochemistry and was doing lab research, however, that he decided he needed to express himself through teaching. He began to take photographs while at the Smithsonian Institution developing biological exhibits for the lay public. He discovered that "photography opened up new avenues of self-expression as well as exploring and documenting the world."

Goor believes that writing books for children was a natural outgrowth of his interest in photography. As he stated: "Good photography helps us see the world through fresh eyes. In my books I share with the reader a heightened awareness and appreciation of the beautiful and intricate natural world and new ways to see the complex man-made world."

Backyard Insects, Goor's first book, explores the many ways that the shapes and colors of insects protect them from their enemies. He recalled, "Ever since my wife, Nancy, and I started the nation's first live insect zoo at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum in 1971, I became aware of the natural interest most children have in insects. These tiny, ubiquitous creatures illustrate many of the most important biological principles and are so easily found, observed, and raised that they make ideal teaching tools for understanding biology."

The enlarged photographs of the insects in the book help the reader see the insects in more detail than is possible with the naked eye. The text describes the variety of ways that color and shape protect the insects. Goor explained: "The lessons learned in the book provide a basis for seeing the animal world with fresh eyes. The use of domestic insects, easily found in both city and countryside, as examples in the book encourages readers to go outside to observe firsthand the phenomena described. Armed with this knowledge, the readers can go beyond the examples to understand and appreciate new observations in the field."

In Shadows: Here, There, and Everywhere, Ron and Nancy Goor explore the world of shadows, using carefully conceived black-and-white photographs. Set-ups consisting of a child's blocks and hand-held flashlight accompany each environmental scene and show how shadows are formed. As Goor observed: "Shadows are all around us—on the floor, the ground, the walls. They are long, short, bent, folded. They are beautiful, useful, scary. Yet how often do we notice them? The book is designed not only to heighten awareness of shadows but to increase understanding of the interactions of light, objects, and surfaces in the making of shadows."

With In the Driver's Seat, the Goors explore what it is like to drive a variety of vehicles—a blimp, a tank, an engine, the Concorde supersonic jet, a race car, a combine, a wrecking crane, a front-end loader, and an eighteen-wheel truck. Wide-angle lens photographs put the reader into the driver's seat of these nine vehicles. The text, by Nancy Goor, explains how to drive each vehicle and what each is like to operate. Additional pictures show the vehicles in action.

Prior to producing their third book, Signs, the Goors questioned a number of children and discovered that all either learned to read or practiced their reading on signs. As a result, Signs is aimed at reading-ready children or children who are just learning to read. Photographs on every page show signs in settings that help to convey their meanings and reinforce the beginning reader's sense of accomplishment in word-recognition.

Of another collaboration, Ron Goor said: "In All Kinds of Feet we focus on how animals' feet have adapted to moving in different environments, getting food, defending themselves, or escaping from enemies, and, in the case of man, making and using tools. The book is designed to make children look at animals analytically and see differences in animal structure as solutions to problems."

The husband-and-wife team have developed a compatible working method when producing their books. Goor told CA: "Nancy and I are often asked how we work together on a book. Generally, I begin by exploring the topic photographically. At the same time, Nancy and I begin to develop conceptual approaches to the subject matter. As Nancy develops the text, she suggests specific pictures that I have not yet taken during the early photographic exploration. Likewise, the photographs sometimes suggest changes in the text. Obviously, it is most helpful to have the writer and photographer working so closely together. Also, it is more fun that way!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 15, 1995, Carolyn Phelan, review of Williamsburg: Cradle of the Revolution, p. 916.

Environmental Nutrition, December, 1988, "New Cholesterol Treatment Program," p. 2; September, 1990, review of The Choose to Lose Diet: A Food Lover's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, p. 8; December, 1995, review of Eater's Choice: A Food Lover's Guide to Lower Cholesterol and Choose to Lose: A Food Lover's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss, p. 8.

Horn Book, February, 1982, Nancy Sheridan, review of Shadows: Here, There, and Everywhere, p. 63; December, 1983, Ann A. Flowers, review of Signs, p. 700; August, 1984, Nancy C. Hammond, review of All Kinds of Feet, p. 484; January-February, 1987, Margaret A. Bush, review of Pompeii: Exploring a Roman Ghost Town, p. 72; September-October, 1990, Elizabeth S. Watson, review of Insect Metamorphosis: From Egg to Adult, p. 619.

Instructor and Teacher, November-December, 1982, Allan Yeager, review of In the Driver's Seat, p. 151; May, 1984, Allan Yeager, review of All Kinds of Feet, p. 102.

Library Journal, April 15, 1987, Allayne C. Heyduk, review of Eater's Choice: A Food Lover's Guide to Lower Cholesterol, p. 92; February 1, 1990, Linda S. Karch, review of The Choose to Lose Diet, p. 100.

New York Times, November 14, 1982, Sherwin D. Smith, review of In the Driver's Seat, p. 60; November 30, 1982, George A. Woods, review of In the Driver's Seat, p. 23; July 26, 1989, Marian Burros, review of Eater's Choice, p. B6.

Popular Photography, February, 1982.

Publishers Weekly, December 12, 1986, Diane Roback, review of Pompeii, p. 58; December 19, 1986, Penny Kaganoff, review of Eater's Choice, p. 41; January 26, 1990, Molly McQuade, review of The Choose to Lose Diet, p. 416.

School Library Journal, September, 1981, Ann G. Brouse, review of Shadows, p. 107; November, 1982, review of In the Driver's Seat, p. 68; September, 1984, Carolyn Vang, review of All Kinds of Feet, p. 102; December, 1986, Marguerite F. Raybould, review of Pompeii, p. 103; December, 1988, Leda Schubert, review of Heads, p. 98; June, 1990, Diane Nunn, review of Insect Metamorphosis: From Egg to Adult, p. 112; December, 1990, review of Insect Metamorphosis, p. 22; June, 1995, Margaret C. Howell, review of Williamsburg, p. 120.

Scientific American, December, 1981, Philip Morrison, review of Shadows, p. 38.

Washington Post, June 16, 1987, Carole Sugarman, review of Eater's Choice, p. WH14; July 20, 1993, Jay Siwek, review of Eater's Choice, p. WN15.*