Wendy Diamond

Wendy E. Diamond is an American author, reality television personality, and founder of pet-related businesses, including Animal Fair magazine, Paws For Style, a pet fashion show, and Yappy Hour.^[1][2][3] For her charitable efforts, Wendy was presented with the Ellis Island Medal of Honor^[4] on May 7, 2016. She is also the founder of Women's Entrepreneurship Day.

Early life and education

Wendy E. Diamond was born in Chagrin Falls, Ohio and in 1992, graduated from Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts with an associate's degree.^[5][6]

Career

Author

While volunteering at the Coalition for the Homeless, she met Peter Jennings^[6] and launched two cookbooks^[3] which raised about two hundred thousand dollars for homeless charities.^[7] The first, A Musical Feast, features the recipes of musical artists such as Madonna and Steven Tyler. The second was called An All-Star Feast, which features the favorite meals of various athletes, including Michael Jordan and Derek Jeter.^[8]

Diamond's volunteering with the Coalition for the Homeless inspired her to turn her focus towards homeless animals.^[9] She adopted^[10] her Russian Blue cat Pasha from The Animal Care and Control facility in New York City. She later adopted^[9] her Maltese, Lucky. Soon after that, she conceived, created and founded Animal Fair,^[11] the first ever^[9][12] pet lifestyle media company. Diamond has partnered with animal rights organizations in order to use her book launches and charity fundraising events.^[13]

Animal Fair magazine

The magazine is the first^[9] lifestyle magazine for animal lovers in support of animal rescue. Each issue of Animal Fair is dedicated to highlighting non-profit animal organizations, providing pet parenting and health tips, and showcasing celebrities and their pets.^[14] Renée Zellweger appeared on the cover of the premiere issue in 1999, and since then celebrities including Beyoncé Knowles, Halle Berry, Regis Philbin, Charlize Theron, Pamela Anderson, Ashley Tisdale, Shania Twain, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Serena Williams, Kim Cattrall, Matt Leinart, Hilary Duff, Eric McCormack, Kristen Bell, Bo Derek, Diane Lane, Alicia Silverstone, Hayden Panettiere and LeAnn Rimes have all appeared on the cover with their pets. The magazine was founded after Diamond adopted her dog Lucky, as a non-profit organization.^[15] Diamond and Lucky travelled to several countries on animal rights and awareness tours.^[16]

In 2003 the magazine teamed up with Cesar Canine Cuisine to introduce the Cesar Five Dog Bones Awards, an annual awards competition for establishments that cater to pets. Winners are voted for by Animal Fair readers each year.^[17] The awards are broken down into seven categories: Destination, Airline, Automobile, Hotel, Product, Resort, and Shelter. Past winners have included Continental Airlines, New York City, Volvo and The Humane Society of Louisiana.^[18]

Television career

Diamond has appeared on television series including Single in the City on the WE: Women's Entertainment network, Lucky Travels on Animal Planet and Relationship Rehab on the Style Network.^[19] She frequently contributes to Today, Fox News Channel, CNN, Good Morning America and has appeared in countless other media outlets worldwide, including The View, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Extra (TV series), Forbes, The New York Times, People, Vogue, MTV, VH1, and E!. She has been dubbed by The New Yorker as the "Martha Stewart of the Milk and Bone dish",^[20] New York Post called her the "Pet Diva",^[21] and Forbes dubbed her the "Canine Queen".^[22] In Summer 2008, Diamond was featured as one of the judges of the summer CBS prime-time series Greatest American Dog alongside Victoria Stilwell and American Kennel Club board member, Allan Reznick.^[23] Diamond served as a judge alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Betty White for the American Humane Association's Hero Dog Awards on The Hallmark Channel.^[24]

Other venues

Diamond's production company Lucky Diamond Productions are Executive Producers and Creator of the pilot for NBC Mutt Makeover, Executive Producer and Host of Paws for Style Special on Fox. Lucky Diamond Production's latest project is In Search Of Puppy Love, a docucomedy that premiered at the Boston Film Festival and also played at the Cancun International Film Festival.^[19] The film is based on Wendy's Yappy Hour Rescue Tour that raised over $200,000 for animal rescue and features celebrity appearances and interviews with Warren Beatty, Hugh Hefner, Jeremy Piven, Paula Abdul, Kathy Griffin, Hilary and Haylie Duff, Betty White, Fred Willard, Delta Burke, Moby, Aaron Pike, and many others.^[19]

Diamond was appointed to the World Entrepreneurs Day Advisory Board in March 2010 as Chief Pet Officer^[25] She later spoke at the World Entrepreneur's Day kickoff on April 14 at the UN.^[26] She later founded the Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, held annually on November 19, with the first day held in 2014.^[27] Diamond and her dog, Lucky, served as the celebrity Grand Marshals for the 2010 Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade on February 7, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana.^[28][29][30] Diamond also co-chaired and hosted the unveiling of the Katrina Pet Memorial for animals affected by Hurricane Katrina^[31][32]

On June 12, 2010 Diamond spoke at the H+ Summit (an event considering issues within transhumanism) hosted by the student organization Harvard College Future Society in conjunction with Humanity+.^[33] Her talk examined her projections for the future of pets and the pet industry.^[33] That year she also held the Yappy Hour Rescue Tour, which visited 15 different US cities to raise money for local animal rescue groups.^[34]

In November 2011, Lucky Diamond earned the Guinness World Record for most photographed dog with celebrities.^[35][36] At that date, Lucky had taken a total of 363 photos with celebrities.^[35][36] In 2012, Diamond’s pet Baby Hope Diamond as a part of the Guinness World Record for most expensive pet wedding. The total cost was $270,000, all entirely donated from donors raising awareness for the Humane Society of New York. The donated amount was about $250,000 higher than the previous record holder. An additional $50,000 was raised for the society on top of the in-kind donations to the ceremony. Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog served as the ceremony’s officiant, and the other dog used in the ceremony was the winner of an online vote.^[15]

In 2013 Diamond led the Bark Business Tour, which partnered with groups like K9s for Warriors.^[37] The tour was initiated to bring awareness to the issue of US Army veteran suicides, visiting ten different cities and raising $220,000. The money raised went to raising service dogs and pairing them with soldiers suffering from PTSD.^[38] In 2015 Diamond sued an online stalker that had been sending false and defamatory emails with the intention of ruining her reputation since 2010, including false claims about the allocation of funds raised in her fundraisers.^[39]

Selected bibliography

• Diamond, Wendy (1995). A Musical Feast. Diane Pub Co. ISBN 978-0-7881-6014-1. 
• Diamond, Wendy (1997). An All-Star Feast. Global Liaisons Inc. ISBN 978-0-9647316-1-5. 
• Diamond, Wendy; Perilli, Marilena (2006). How to Understand Men Through Their Dogs. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 978-1-4027-3096-2. 
• Diamond, Wendy; Perilli, Marilena (2006). How to Understand Women Through Their Cats. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 978-1-4027-3095-5. 
• Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark Victor; Newmark, Amy (2009). Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Cat. ISBN 978-1-935096-37-5.  (Forward by Wendy Diamond)^[40]
• Canfield, Jack; Hansen, Mark Victor; Newmark, Amy (2009). Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog. ISBN 978-1-935096-38-2.  (Forward by Wendy Diamond)^[41]
• Diamond, Wendy (2010). It's a Dog's World. Random House. ISBN 978-0-345-51692-3. ^[42]

References

External links

• Official website