A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members. In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification and/or dominance patterns in subgroups.

Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap.

A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology.

More broadly, a society may be described as an economic, social, or industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals. Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups. A society can be a particular ethnic group, such as the Saxons; a nation state, such as Bhutan; or a broader cultural group, such as a Western society. The word ''society'' may also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. A "society" may even, though more by means of metaphor, refer to a social organism such as an ant colony or any cooperative aggregate such as, for example, in some formulations of artificial intelligence.

Etymology and usage

The term "society" came from the Latin word ''societas'', which in turn was derived from the noun ''socius'' ("comrade, friend, ally"; adjectival form ''socialis'') used to describe a bond or interaction among parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can refer to the entirety of humanity (also: "society in general", "society at large", etc.), although those who are unfriendly or uncivil to the remainder of society in this sense may be deemed to be "antisocial". Adam Smith wrote that a society "may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its utility without any mutual love or affection, if only they refrain from doing injury to each other."

Used in the sense of an association, a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language, or hierarchical organization.

Conceptions of society

Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an autonomous unit. The Great apes have always been more (''Bonobo'', ''Homo'', ''Pan'') or less (''Gorilla'', ''Pongo'') social animals, so Robinson Crusoe-like situations are either fictions or unusual corner cases to the ubiquity of social context for humans, who fall between presocial and eusocial in the spectrum of animal ethology.

In anthropology

Human societies are most often organized according to their primary means of subsistence. Social scientists have identified hunter-gatherer societies, nomadic pastoral societies, horticulturalist or simple farming societies, and intensive agricultural societies, also called civilizations. Some consider industrial and post-industrial societies to be qualitatively different from traditional agricultural societies.

Today, anthropologists and many social scientists vigorously oppose the notion of cultural evolution and rigid "stages" such as these. In fact, much anthropological data has suggested that complexity (civilization, population growth and density, specialization, etc.) does not always take the form of hierarchical social organization or stratification.

Cultural relativism as a widespread approach or ethic has largely replaced notions of "primitive", better/worse, or "progress" in relation to cultures (including their material culture/technology and social organization).

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, one critical novelty in human society, in contrast to humanity's closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobo), is the parental role assumed by the males, which supposedly would be absent in our nearest relatives for whom paternity is not generally determinable.

In political science

Societies may also be organized according to their political structure. In order of increasing size and complexity, there are bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and state societies. These structures may have varying degrees of political power, depending on the cultural, geographical, and historical environments that these societies must contend with. Thus, a more isolated society with the same level of technology and culture as other societies is more likely to survive than one in closer proximity to others that may encroach on their resources. A society that is unable to offer an effective response to other societies it competes with will usually be subsumed into the culture of the competing society.

In sociology

Sociologist Gerhard Lenski differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication, and economy: (1) hunters and gatherers, (2) simple agricultural, (3) advanced agricultural, (4) industrial, and (5) special (e.g. fishing societies or maritime societies). This is similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and Elman Service, an integration theorist, who have produced a system of classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of social inequality and the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:

Hunter-gatherer bands (categorization of duties and responsibilities).

Tribal societies in which there are some limited instances of social rank and prestige.

Stratified structures led by chieftains.

Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments.

In addition to this there are:

Humanity, mankind, upon which rest all the elements of society, including society's beliefs.

Virtual society, a society based on online identity, which is evolving in the information age.

Over time, some cultures have progressed toward more complex forms of organization and control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into city-states and nation-states.

Many societies distribute largess at the behest of some individual or some larger group of people. This type of generosity can be seen in all known cultures; typically, prestige accrues to the generous individual or group. Conversely, members of a society may also shun or scapegoat members of the society who violate its norms. Mechanisms such as gift-giving, joking relationships and scapegoating, which may be seen in various types of human groupings, tend to be institutionalized within a society. Social evolution as a phenomenon carries with it certain elements that could be detrimental to the population it serves.

Some societies bestow status on an individual or group of people when that individual or group performs an admired or desired action. This type of recognition is bestowed in the form of a name, title, manner of dress, or monetary reward. In many societies, adult male or female status is subject to a ritual or process of this type. Altruistic action in the interests of the larger group is seen in virtually all societies. The phenomena of community action, shunning, scapegoating, generosity, shared risk, and reward are common to many forms of society.

Types of societies

Societies are social groups that differ according to subsistence strategies, the ways that humans use technology to provide needs for themselves. Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history, anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige, or power. Virtually all societies have developed some degree of inequality among their people through the process of social stratification, the division of members of a society into levels with unequal wealth, prestige, or power. Sociologists place societies in three broad categories: pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial.

Pre-industrial societies

In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal labor, is the main economic activity. These societies can be subdivided according to their level of technology and their method of producing food. These subdivisions are hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, and feudal.

Hunting and gathering societies

The main form of food production in such societies is the daily collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. Hunter-gatherers move around constantly in search of food. As a result, they do not build permanent villages or create a wide variety of artifacts, and usually only form small groups such as bands and tribes. However, some hunting and gathering societies in areas with abundant resources (such as the Tlingit) lived in larger groups and formed complex hierarchical social structures such as chiefdoms. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies. They generally consist of fewer than 60 people and rarely exceed 100. Statuses within the tribe are relatively equal, and decisions are reached through general agreement. The ties that bind the tribe are more complex than those of the bands. Leadership is personal—charismatic—and used for special purposes only in tribal society. There are no political offices containing real power, and a chief is merely a person of influence, a sort of adviser; therefore, tribal consolidations for collective action are not governmental. The family forms the main social unit, with most societal members being related by birth or marriage. This type of organization requires the family to carry out most social functions, including production and education.

Pastoral societies

Pastoralism is a slightly more efficient form of subsistence. Rather than searching for food on a daily basis, members of a pastoral society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. Pastoralists live a nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another. Because their food supply is far more reliable, pastoral societies can support larger populations. Since there are food surpluses, fewer people are needed to produce food. As a result, the division of labor (the specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities) becomes more complex. For example, some people become craftworkers, producing tools, weapons, and jewelry. The production of goods encourages trade. This trade helps to create inequality, as some families acquire more goods than others do. These families often gain power through their increased wealth. The passing on of property from one generation to another helps to centralize wealth and power. Over time emerge hereditary chieftainships, the typical form of government in pastoral societies.

Horticultural societies

Fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots that have been cleared from the jungle or forest provide the main source of food in a horticultural society. These societies have a level of technology and complexity similar to pastoral societies. Some horticultural groups use the slash-and-burn method to raise crops. The wild vegetation is cut and burned, and ashes are used as fertilizers. Horticulturists use human labor and simple tools to cultivate the land for one or more seasons. When the land becomes barren, horticulturists clear a new plot and leave the old plot to revert to its natural state. They may return to the original land several years later and begin the process again. By rotating their garden plots, horticulturists can stay in one area for a fairly long period of time. This allows them to build semipermanent or permanent villages. The size of a village's population depends on the amount of land available for farming; thus villages can range from as few as 30 people to as many as 2000.

As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in horticultural societies include craftspeople, shamans (religious leaders), and traders. This role specialization allows people to create a wide variety of artifacts. As in pastoral societies, surplus food can lead to inequalities in wealth and power within horticultural political systems are developed because of the settled nature of horticultural life.

Agrarian societies

Agrarian societies use agricultural technological advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Sociologists use the phrase Agricultural Revolution to refer to the technological changes that occurred as long as 8,500 years ago that led to cultivating crops and raising farm animals. Increases in food supplies then led to larger populations than in earlier communities. This meant a greater surplus, which resulted in towns that became centers of trade supporting various rulers, educators, craftspeople, merchants, and religious leaders who did not have to worry about locating nourishment.

Greater degrees of social stratification appeared in agrarian societies. For example, women previously had higher social status because they shared labor more equally with men. In hunting and gathering societies, women even gathered more food than men. However, as food stores improved and women took on lesser roles in providing food for the family, they increasingly became subordinate to men. As villages and towns expanded into neighboring areas, conflicts with other communities inevitably occurred. Farmers provided warriors with food in exchange for protection against invasion by enemies. A system of rulers with high social status also appeared. This nobility organized warriors to protect the society from invasion. In this way, the nobility managed to extract goods from “lesser” members of society.

Feudal societies

Feudalism was a form of society based on ownership of land. Unlike today's farmers, vassals under feudalism were bound to cultivating their lord's land. In exchange for military protection, the lords exploited the peasants into providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other services to the landowner. The caste system of feudalism was often multigenerational; the families of peasants may have cultivated their lord's land for generations.

Industrial societies

Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a new economic system emerged that began to replace feudalism. Capitalism is marked by open competition in a free market, in which the means of production are privately owned. Europe's exploration of the Americas served as one impetus for the development of capitalism. The introduction of foreign metals, silks, and spices stimulated great commercial activity in European societies.

Industrial societies rely heavily on machines powered by fuels for the production of goods. This produced further dramatic increases in efficiency. The increased efficiency of production of the industrial revolution produced an even greater surplus than before. Now the surplus was not just agricultural goods, but also manufactured goods. This larger surplus caused all of the changes discussed earlier in the domestication revolution to become even more pronounced.

Once again, the population boomed. Increased productivity made more goods available to everyone. However, inequality became even greater than before. The breakup of agricultural-based feudal societies caused many people to leave the land and seek employment in cities. This created a great surplus of labor and gave capitalists plenty of laborers who could be hired for extremely low wages.

Post-industrial societies

Postindustrial societies are societies dominated by information, services, and high technology more than the production of goods. Advanced industrial societies are now seeing a shift toward an increase in service sectors over manufacturing and production. The U.S. is the first country to have over half of its work force employed in service industries. Service industries include government, research, education, health, sales, law, banking, and so on. It is still too early to identify and understand all the ramifications this new kind of society will have for social life. In fact, even the phrase "postindustrial" belies the fact that we don't yet quite know what will follow industrial societies or the forms they will take.

Contemporary usage

The term "society" is currently used to cover both a number of political and scientific connotations as well as a variety of associations.

Western society

The development of the Western world has brought with it the emerging concepts of Western culture, politics, and ideas, often referred to simply as "Western society. Geographically, it covers at the very least the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It sometimes also includes Eastern Europe, South America, and Israel.

The cultures and lifestyles of all of these stem from Western Europe. They all enjoy relatively strong economies and stable governments, allow freedom of religion, have chosen democracy as a form of governance, favor capitalism and international trade, are heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, and have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation.

Information society

Although the concept of information society has been under discussion since the 1930s, in the modern world it is almost always applied to the manner in which information technologies have impacted society and culture. It therefore covers the effects of computers and telecommunications on the home, the workplace, schools, government, and various communities and organizations, as well as the emergence of new social forms in cyberspace.

One of the European Union's areas of interest is the information society. Here policies are directed towards promoting an open and competitive digital economy, research into information and communication technologies, as well as their application to improve social inclusion, public services, and quality of life.

The International Telecommunications Union's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and Tunis (2003 and 2005) has led to a number of policy and application areas where action is required. These include:

promotion of ICTs for development;

information and communication infrastructure;

access to information and knowledge;

capacity building;

building confidence and security in the use of ICTs;

enabling environment;

ICT applications in the areas of government, business, learning, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science;

cultural and linguistic diversity and local content;

media;

ethical dimensions of the information society; and

international and regional cooperation.

Knowledge society

As access to electronic information resources increased at the beginning of the 21st century, special attention was extended from the information society to the knowledge society. An analysis by the Irish government stated, "The capacity to manipulate, store and transmit large quantities of information cheaply has increased at a staggering rate over recent years. The digitisation of information and the associated pervasiveness of the Internet are facilitating a new intensity in the application of knowledge to economic activity, to the extent that it has become the predominant factor in the creation of wealth. As much as 70 to 80 percent of economic growth is now said to be due to new and better knowledge."

The Second World Summit on the Knowledge Society, held in Chania, Crete, in September 2009, gave special attention to the following topics:

business and enterprise computing;

technology-enhanced learning;

social and humanistic computing;

culture, tourism and technology;

e-government and e-democracy;

innovation, sustainable development, and strategic management;

service science, management, and engineering;

intellectual and human capital development;

ICTs for ecology and the green economy;

future prospects for the knowledge society; and

technologies and business models for the creative industries.

Other uses

People of many nations united by common political and cultural traditions, beliefs, or values are sometimes also said to form a society (such as Judeo-Christian, Eastern, and Western). When used in this context, the term is employed as a means of contrasting two or more "societies" whose members represent alternative conflicting and competing worldviews.

Some academic, professional, and scientific associations describe themselves as ''societies'' (for example, the American Mathematical Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers, or the Royal Society).

In some countries, e.g. the United States, France, and Latin America, the term "society' is used in commerce to denote a partnership between investors or the start of a business. In the United Kingdom, partnerships are not called societies, but co-operatives or mutuals are often known as societies (such as friendly societies and building societies).

See also

{| |

Outline of society

Civil society

Community (outline)

Culture (outline)

High society

Mass society

Open society

Professional society

Religion (outline)

Scientific society

|

Secret societies

Social actions

Social capital

Social cohesion

Societal collapse

Social contract

Social order

Social disintegration

Social solidarity

Social structure

Structure and agency

|}

Notes

Further reading

Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations Mesa Community College.

Jenkins, R. 2002. ''Foundations of Sociology.'' London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-96050-5.

Lenski, G. 1974. ''Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology.'' New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc.

Raymond Williams, "www.flpmihai.blogspot.com", in: Williams, Key Words: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Fontana, 1976.

External links

Definition of Society from the OED.

Lecture notes on "Defining Society" from East Carolina University.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution

"The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."

BBC History Home Page: Industrial Revolution

National Museum of Science and Industry website: machines and personalities

''Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living'' by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.

Cliff Notes on Types of Societies

Perceptions of Knowledge, Knowledge Society, and Knowledge Management

Category:Anthropology Category:Cultural history Category:Economic anthropology Category:Political philosophy Category:Sociological terms Category:Types of organization Category:Sociology index

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name	Richard Simmons
birth date	July 12, 1948
birth place	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
nationality	American
birth name	Milton Teagle Simmons
occupation	Physical fitness expert, voice actor, Political Activist
years active	1974–present
education	Cor Jesu High School
alma mater	University of Southwestern Louisiana,Florida State University
home town	French Quarter, Louisiana
residence	Beverly Hills, California
religion	Catholic
television	''The Richard Simmons Show'' ''Fish Hooks''
height
website	www.RichardSimmons.com }}

Milton Teagle Simmons (born July 12, 1948), known professionally as Richard Simmons, is an American fitness personality who promotes weight-loss programs, prominently through his ''Sweatin' to the Oldies'' line of aerobics videos and is known for his eccentric, outgoing and frequently flamboyant personality. Currently, he also provides the voice of Coach Salmons on the Disney Channel animated series ''Fish Hooks.''

Simmons began his career by opening a gym called Slimmons in Beverly Hills, California, catering to the overweight, and he became widely known through exposure on television and through the popularity of his consumer products. He is often parodied, and a frequent guest of late night television talk shows such as ''The Late Show With David Letterman''. Simmons continues to promote health and has broadened his activities to include political activism, notably in support of a bill mandating non-competitive physical education in public schools as a part of the "No Child Left Behind" act.

Early life

Richard Simmons was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Simmons was born to show business parents and raised Catholic in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. He attended Cor Jesu High School (now Brother Martin High School). He was obese throughout his adolescence and by the time he graduated from high school, he weighed 268 pounds.

His first job, in New Orleans, was selling pralines at Leah's. After starting college at the University of Southwestern Louisiana, he transferred to Florida State University. While enrolled there, he studied as an exchange student in Florence, Italy. He graduated with a BA in Art. After graduation, Simmons moved to New York City where he worked in advertising, as a waiter, and for cosmetics companies Revlon and Coty Cosmetics.

Fitness career

Upon moving to Los Angeles in the 1970s, Simmons worked as the Maître d'hotel at Derek's, a restaurant in Beverly Hills. He developed an interest in fitness, but was dissatisfied with the unhealthy fad diet methods and the established gyms and exercise studios of the day which favored the already fit customer. It was his interest in fitness that helped him lose .

Simmons later opened his own exercise studio, originally called ''The Anatomy Asylum'', where emphasis was placed on healthy eating in proper portions and enjoyable exercise in a supportive atmosphere. The business originally included a salad bar restaurant called "Ruffage," the name a pun on the word ''roughage'' (dietary fiber), though it was eventually removed as the focus of the ''Asylum'' shifted solely to exercise. Now called ''Slimmons'', the establishment continues operations in Beverly Hills, and Simmons teaches motivational classes and aerobics throughout the week.

On February 16, 2010, Simmons was on the ''Dr. Oz Show''. At that time it was stated that Simmons has kept off his own 100+ pound weight loss for 42 years, has been helping others lose weight for 35 years, and that in the course of his fitness career has helped humanity lose approximately 12,000,000 pounds. Simmons now uses the web as a method of outreach by running his own membership based website, and also indicates on his home page that he has established official pages on numerous social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and YouTube.

In media

Simmons began to draw media attention due to the success of his health club that began with him on the television show ''Real People'' where he was shown at work. He introduced customers whom he had helped to lose weight. He later made guest roles on the celebrity game shows: ''Battlestars'', ''Body Language'', ''Super Password'', the ABC version of ''Match Game'', the syndicated version of ''Hollywood Squares'', ''Win, Lose or Draw'' and Nickelodeon's ''Figure It Out''.

Positive viewer reaction landed Simmons a recurring role as himself on the American soap opera ''General Hospital'', over a four-year period. This in turn led to further media notoriety, as well as being in shopping malls, where he taught exercise classes. In the early 1980s, Simmons hosted two shows; ''Slim Cookin'', and an Emmy Award-winning talk show, ''The Richard Simmons Show'', in which he focused on personal health, fitness, exercise, and healthy cooking.

Simmons has been featured as himself on numerous TV shows, including ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', ''CHiPs'', ''Saturday Night Live'', ''The Larry Sanders Show'' and on an episode of ''Arrested Development'', "Bringing Up Buster". In 1999, he hosted a short lived TV show called ''DreamMaker''. Eight years later he filmed a pledge drive special for PBS, called ''Love Yourself and Win''.

Simmons has been featured in TV advertisements for Sprint, Yoplait, Herbal Essence Shampoos,and toward the end of 2007, he was in a "This is SportsCenter" commercial on ESPN as the show's "conditioning coach." In Canada, Simmons was in an advertisement for Simmons mattresses. The mattress company hired the exercise celebrity because of the similarity in name, and for his appeal to the company's target audience of women over 35. Beyond this, there is no further business partnership between the two.

For three years, he hosted a radio show on Sirius Stars, Sirius Satellite Radio channel 102, called ''Lighten Up with Richard Simmons''. The show is no longer in production.

Simmons was a frequent guest on ''The Howard Stern Show'' in the 1990s. While he resolved at one point to refuse future involvement after Stern insulted him one too many times, he finally was on Stern's show on November 16, 2006, then returned again January 24, 2012. Simmons was also a frequent guest on ''Late Night with David Letterman'' (NBC) and ''The Late Show with David Letterman'' (CBS). On November 22, 2000, they had a falling out after an incident that occurred on that night's show. Simmons (while dressed as a turkey) was sprayed in the face by Letterman with a fire extinguisher after Simmons grabbed Letterman as if to hug or kiss him, causing Simmons to have a severe asthma attack. Simmons did not attend the Letterman show for six years, finally returning on November 29, 2006. During that time, Letterman once again set Simmons up for a prank. While Richard Simmons was demonstrating a steamer branded with his name, Letterman insisted on placing a tray under the steamer which Simmons did not believe belonged there. When Simmons turned the steamer on, something in the tray exploded and caught fire. Though initially frightened, Simmons took the incident in fairly good nature, even joking that he "felt like Michael Jackson" (referring to a mishap where Jackson's hair was set on fire by a pyrotechnics accident). Simmons also was on ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''. He and Leno went door-to-door to market Simmons' health program, only to have people spew as many insults at him as they could.

Simmons was a guest on the U.S. version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''

Simmons is on tracks 1 and 10 of Bob Rivers's 1997 holiday album ''More Twisted Christmas''.

Simmons has multiple times been on ''The Glenn Beck Program'' on HLN. Simmons is featured heavily in the film clip of 'Hawker Boat' by Tobacco, taken from the album ''Fucked Up Friends''. Simmons provides the voice for Coach Salmons, a reoccurring character modeled after his own likeness, for Disney Channel's animated television series ''Fish Hooks'', a Disney Channel Original Series that premiered on September 24, 2010. On December 8, 2010, it was announced that the show has been picked up for a second season. In 2011, Simmons starred in "Fit to Fly with Richard Simmons", an Air New Zealand inflight safety briefing video modeled after his aerobic workouts.

Personal life

Personality

Simmons is noted for his flamboyant, high-energy, motivational demeanor, an attribute he uses to help encourage people to lose weight. His high energy level is always featured in his workout videos. His trademark attire is candy-striped Dolfin shorts and tank tops decorated with Swarovski crystals..

Simmons is known for interacting at a personal level with people using his products. This began by personally answering fan mail he received as a cast member of ''General Hospital''. Simmons still personally answers emails and letters, and makes hundreds of phone calls each week to those who seek his help. He also talked to people on the air during his radio show, and holds weekly live chats in the "clubhouse" area of his website. His appearances also include a "meet and greet" time, so that people can speak to him one on one.

Simmons claims to have few friends, saying "I don't have a lot to offer to one person. I have a lot to offer to a lot of people." Aside from his three Dalmatians and two maids, Simmons lives alone in the Hollywood Hills. Although there has been frequent speculation about his sexual orientation due to his campy personality, Simmons has never publicly discussed his sexuality.

Hurricane Katrina response

In September 2005 Simmons was on ''Entertainment Tonight'' to discuss the effects of Hurricane Katrina on his family in his hometown of New Orleans and his involvement in aiding those affected by the hurricane. On August 29, 2006 Simmons was on ''Your World with Neil Cavuto'' while making a return visit to New Orleans one year after the flooding, a visit he repeated on March 2, 2007, now talking about his recent trip to Washington D.C. to promote and raise awareness about The Strengthening Physical Education Act of 2007 (bill HR 1224).

Print and other media

Books

''Never Say Diet'' ISBN 0-517-40284-X

''Never Say Diet Cookbook''

''The Better Body Book''

''Reach for Fitness: A Special Book of Exercises for the Physically Challenged'' Warner Books 1986 ISBN 0-446-51302-4

''Deal-A-Meal Cookbook''

''Richard Simmons' Never Give Up: Inspirations, Reflections, Stories of Hope'' Warner Books, 1984 ISBN 0-446-60085-7

''Farewell to Fat'' Atlantic Books 2002 ISBN 1-57719-102-1

''Sweetie Pie''

''Still Hungry After All These Years: My Story'' Gt Pub Corp 1999 ISBN 1-57719-356-3

''The FoodMover Cookbook''

''Cookin' on Broadway''

''Steam Away the Pounds''

Audio

Analog compact cassette

''Project Me'' (six tape set)

''Sweatin' and Sharin'''

''Colors of Your Life'' (single tape)

''Colors of Your Life'' (six tape set)

''Secrets of the Winners'' (single tape)

''Take a Walk''

''Take a Hike''

''Take a Classical Walk''

''Walk Across America''

''Walkin' on Broadway''

''Walk Around the World''

''Never Give Up'' (book on tape, read by Simmons)

Compact disc

''Richard Picks the Hits, Volume 1''

''Richard Picks the Hits, Volume 2''

''Country Cardio''

''Oh Happy Day''

''Fitness Fiesta''

''Wicked Workout''

''Big Screen Burn''

''Shimmy Into Shape''

''In the Mood to Lose''

''Classical Chillout''

Vinyl record

''Reach'' (Elektra Records, 1983)

Digital compact cassette

''Colors of Your Life (single tape)'' (Goodtimes Entertainment, BASF 90 Min. 1998)

Visual media

DVD

''Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes''

''Disco Sweat''

''60's Blast Off''

''80's Blast Off''

''SuperSweatin': Party Off the Pounds''

''SuperTonin': Totally Tonin''

''SuperTonin': Totally Tonin' with Toning Rings''

''Sit Tight''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 2''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 3''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 4''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 5''

''Love Yourself and Win''

''Boogie Down the Pounds''

''Tonin' to the Oldies''

Video cassette

''Everyday with Richard Simmons''

''The Stomach Formula''

''Get Started''

''Reach for Fitness''

''Richard Simmons and the Silver Foxes''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 2''

''Sweatin' to the Oldies 3''

''Sweat and Shout'' (also sold as Sweatin to the Oldies 4'')

''Day By Day'' (Volumes 1-12)

''Pump and Sweat''

''Step and Sweat''

''Tone and Sweat''

''Disco Sweat''

''Stretchin' to the Classics''

''Dance Your Pants Off!''

''Tonin' Uptown''

''Tonin' Downtown''

''Groovin' In The House''

''The Ab Formula''

''No Ifs Ands or Butts''

''Love to Stretch''

''Blast Off''

''Broadway Sweat''

''Tone Up On Broadway''

''Broadway Blast Off''

''Platinum Sweat''

''Sit Tight''

''Latin Blast Off'' (also marketed as ''Sudar Mucho'')

''Mega Mix Blast Off''

''Mega Mix 2 Blast Off''

''Disco Blast Off''

''60's Blast Off''

''80's Blast Off''

''Blast and Tone''

Notes

References

Richard Simmons 2006 Interview on ''Sidewalks Entertainment''

Richard Simmons discusses his physical education campaign with education blogger Kevin Carey

Richard Simmons audio interview on physical education at Education Week

Interview with Richard Simmons

Richard Simmons Pushes to Get Kids Active in School interview with USA Today

Fitness Guru Takes Message to Congress on NPR

External links

The official Richard Simmons website

Richard Simmons is a Diet and Fitness Coach at AOL Coaches

Richard Simmons talks about how to remain motivated at Lemondrop.com

Category:1948 births Category:Living people Category:Aerobic exercise Category:American exercise instructors Category:American health and wellness writers Category:American motivational writers Category:American radio personalities Category:American television personalities Category:American voice actors Category:Florida State University alumni Category:People from New Orleans, Louisiana Category:American restaurateurs

es:Richard Simmons fr:Richard Simmons he:ריצ'רד סימונס ja:リチャード・シモンズ pl:Richard Simmons tr:Richard Simmons