FRESNO, Calif. — Even during Mark Whitacre’s darkest days in prison, he considered himself a fortunate man. He had the love of his wife and family and the support of friends. As he tells it now, it took hitting rock bottom and losing everything for him to learn the most valuable lessons in life: family and supportive friends are more important than power and materialism, he had more to gain from serving others than serving himself, and faith in God would carry him through prison not only safely, but with peace and contentment.
Whitacre’s story of how he caved to corporate corruption, blew the whistle on his own employer, was sentenced to federal prison for over eight years for his own greed, and then found a silver lining in all of the drama is chronicled in a new book from publisher Xlibris, “Mark Whitacre: Against All Odds” (ISBN-13: 978-1-4415-4132-1, Trade Paperback). Author Floyd Perry (pen name) was a fellow inmate during the latter years of Whitacre’s sentence, and spent many hours talking and walking the prison yard with him, listening to his amazing story. The book shares how, via faith in God and the patient love of his wife Ginger, Whitacre became an inspiring spiritual force for good in the world.
Written with finesse and passion, this book reveals the family’s perspective, especially how Ginger kept Whitacre alive. Through her, his story begins where most other men’s ends – in prison. It details how Whitacre got down on his knees in a filthy cell and begged God for guidance; how, from that moment on, he removed fears or doubts in his existence. Liberated after over eight years in prison, Whitacre’s essential message is simple: live by the Golden Rule, always tell the truth, look for the good in everyone, and know that spiritual wealth is far more important than material wealth.
And Whitacre has lived up to his promise to serve others since he was released from prison in 2006. As COO of Cypress Systems, maker of a selenium ingredient with scientifically-proven cancer-preventing properties, Whitacre has become an ambassador of change, speaking passionately to audiences all over the country about his gift of a second chance to help others and his passion for promoting health and cancer prevention. His PhD thesis at Cornell was on selenium, so he was able to apply his knowledge, which aligns with the core mission of Cypress, to promote selenium’s role in helping fight cancers such as colon, lung and prostate.
Whitacre’s incredible story will also be the subject of a major motion picture, THE INFORMANT, slated to hit theaters on October 9, and starring Matt Damon as Whitacre. The movie is already being heralded as an Oscar contender. Visit http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130080/ to see movie trailer, or visit www.markwhitacreagainstallodds.com for more information and to purchase the book.
Cypress Systems, Inc. is a manufacturer of premium food forms of organically bound minerals and nutritional yeast products, which are distributed throughout the global nutraceutical, functional food and animal nutrition markets. CEO/President Paul A. Willis founded Cypress Systems, Inc. in 1995 with the primary goal of developing a specialty fermentation, biotechnology and nutritional yeast company. For more information about the company, SelenoExcell(R), branding partners, and how to become one, visit www.cypsystems.com.
For more information about Mark Whitacre: www.markwhitacre.com.
