http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/10785324p-11703483c.html

     Marjie Lundstrom: Breast cancer crusader Bodai going global with cause
     By Marjie Lundstrom -- Bee Columnist
     Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, September 18, 2004

     He is a self-described "maniac" who's taking his act on the road -
this time, globally.
     But is the world ready for Dr. Ernie Bodai?

     The 53-year-old Sacramento surgeon and mastermind of the breast cancer
research stamp has hatched a new plot, this more ambitious than the last.

     Having waged and won a two-year fight in this country for approval of
the fund-raising stamp - the nation's first - Bodai is gearing up for battle
all over again. Never one to think small, he has decided the stamp belongs
in "as many countries as possible - as many as there are!

     "How many are there?" he quickly asks, glancing furtively about his
office for a globe, perhaps, or a world atlas - anything to help him gauge
the magnitude of what he's just said.

     Don't count him out.

     Aided by an internationally connected Roseville businesswoman, and the
Liv Foundation, established by singer-actress Olivia Newton-John, the global
version of the breast cancer research stamp appears off to a promising
start. Bodai and his partners say at least 10 countries are exploring the
stamp's feasibility - countries as diverse as Brazil and Hungary and Canada
and Kenya.

     Bodai, director of Breast Surgical Services at Sacramento's Kaiser
Permanente, promises to begin traveling the world this fall to coax and
cajole foreign leaders and postal officials into issuing the stamp. The
money raised for research would remain in the respective countries.

     "I'm going to hit the road running, big-time," says the doctor, who's
in talks with Oprah Winfrey about an appearance on her show.

     Part of the stamp's allure worldwide will undoubtedly be its success
here.

     After much congressional dillydallying and Postal Service
hand-wringing in the 1990s, the stamp - which debuted in 1998 - has raised
$39.6 million, as of July 31.

     Its success far exceeds that of the nation's other two "semi-postal"
stamps. The Heroes of 2001 stamp, issued in June 2002, has raised $9.9
million for families of emergency workers killed or injured during the 9/11
terrorist attacks. The Stop Family Violence stamp, issued last October, has
raised $1.2 million.

     After deducting its costs, the Postal Service turns over money raised
from the 45-cent breast cancer stamp to the National Institutes of Health
(70 percent) and the Department of Defense (30 percent). A 2003 report by
the General Accounting Office found that the stamp had been an effective
fund-raiser, but that the program needed better accounting.

     "They have to say something negative," grumbled Bodai, who is
unflinchingly positive about every aspect of the stamp - here and abroad.

     Yet even he is a bit surprised by the momentum the global effort seems
to have. It was only in June that he and Newton-John, a breast cancer
survivor, committed to the idea during a visit to Australia. (Bodai had
teamed with her earlier in the year to help promote the Liv Kit, an approach
to breast self-exam that includes a special pad.)

     But Bodai said postal authorities in Australia, where Newton-John grew
up, were lukewarm about the stamp, throwing up some of the same roadblocks
he had seen in this country.

     Things may be more promising elsewhere.

     Vivienne Kjono, communication director for American Health Care in
Roseville, saw Bodai last month at a business dinner and became enthralled
with his global dream. With a master's degree in international business and
years spent representing clients worldwide, Kjono was well-wired -
especially in Scandinavian countries. Her mother had survived breast cancer.

     She went right to work, prodding business leaders in Sweden, Norway
and Iceland. She believes Sweden could issue the stamp as early as next
year.

     Meanwhile, Ulli Haslacher, an Austrian businesswoman who heads
Newton-John's Southern California-based Liv International, is working with
Bodai through the foundation on securing still more countries.

     Like Kjono, she finds Bodai inspiring - and utterly unstoppable.

     "If there's one man out there who's really for women in this world,
it's Dr. Bodai," says Haslacher.

     Says Kjono: "He walks the walk."

     Even if it's around the world. For the record, doctor: Only 192
countries to go.

     Reach Marjie Lundstrom at (916) 321-1055 or mlundstrom@ sacbee.com.
Back columns: www.sacbee.com/lundstrom.