NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy welcomed a 16-year-old stranger into their home they had no idea their story would become the plot of the best-selling book and award-winning film “The Blind Side.”

In their own book, “In a Heartbeat,” the couple describes why they took Michael Oher, a boy from the ghetto who had been living in foster homes, into their care, provided a tutor for him to improve his grades and later adopted him.

They also describe their charitable approach to helping others, which they call the “popcorn theory.”

“Stay low key. Work around your area. Help those to the left and to the right,” Leigh Anne Tuohy said in an interview. “It’ll start a huge ripple effect. We’ve seen it.”

She and her husband barely thought about the possible risks when they took in 6.5 foot Oher, who later joined the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League.

“The popcorn theory is that there are all these kernels in the pan and if it heats up, the hottest pop up,” Tuohy explained. “We believe Michael was a hot kernel, a big one, and he popped right up in front of our face. We had no agenda.”

TIME MORE IMPORTANT THAN MONEY

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Extended Stay America Inc ESAIN.UL moved closer to emerging from bankruptcy on Tuesday as a judge confirmed the hotel chain’s plan of reorganization in which an investor consortium will take over the hotel chain for $3.93 billion.

Centerbridge Partners, Paulson & Co and Blackstone Group LP (BX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) won an earlier bankruptcy auction and will own the chain of about 680 hotels.

The company expects “emergence in early to mid September,” said Jacqueline Marcus, an attorney for Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, who is representing Extended Stay.

Court approval comes after a tumultuous year, marked by a battle between the Centerbridge/Paulson team and a Starwood Capital Group-led faction who were vying for control of the chain of extended stay hotels.

“I am delighted that the parties have managed to craft so workable a plan in the context of so difficult and contentious a bankruptcy,” U.S. Bankruptcy Judge James Peck told a full courtroom in New York.

Starwood Capital had initially objected to the results of the auction, but later dropped its opposition.

Acting U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis had also objected to the plan, saying that unsecured creditors would recover more if the Spartanburg, South Carolina-based company were to liquidate under Chapter 7 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, rather than reorganize under Chapter 11.

By Chelsea Emery

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Don’t look for rattlesnake or processed cheese in any of Emeril Lagasse’s recipes. Only fresh ingredients are on his menus and will be as long as the Gulf oil spill does not hurt supplies.

Lagasse, who worked in a local Portuguese bakery while growing up in Massachusetts, turned down a music scholarship to pursue a culinary career. After stints perfecting his skill in France, Lagasse now owns several restaurants.

The chef, cookbook author and television personality who is know for his New Orleans-style cooking and enthusiastic “Bam!” exclamations, spoke to Reuters about the impact of the Gulf oil spill, the links between music and cooking and the biggest challenges of restaurant work.

Q: Where do you find recipe inspiration?

A: “It really starts with the ingredients — seasonality and ingredients. There’s a movement about sustainability, there’s a movement about farm to fork– well, I’ve been doing that for 35 years. When you have a great product, you have great food. And that’s my philosophy in everything I do.”

Q: Any other inspirations?

NEW YORK/BANGALORE, July 19 (Reuters) – Innkeepers USA Trust (INKPP.PK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a U.S. hotel owner whose portfolio includes some Residence Inn and Hampton Inn hotels, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday, citing crippling debt that hurt its ability to maintain and upgrade its properties.

Innkeepers owns and operates a portfolio of about 72 upscale and mid-priced hotels under recognized brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt. About half of its properties operate as Marriott’s Residence Inn hotels.

The company, laboring under $1.29 billion in secured debt, is in default of all 11 of its loan agreements.

Private equity company Apollo Investment Corp (AINV.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bought the Palm Beach, Florida, hotel owner at the height of the real estate market in 2007.

“Is there a lesson to take away? You buy at the top of the market, you get whacked,” said Mark Podgainy, senior director at corporate turnaround firm Getzler Henrich & Associates.

Apollo Investment Corp is managed by an affiliate of the private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC. A spokesman declined to comment on the Innkeepers bankruptcy filing.

Apollo Investment Corp has already written down its original investment in Innkeepers by 99 percent, according to securities filings.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Smart, adventurous lead girl characters like Dora the Explorer and superheroine WordGirl have found time on children’s television, but Hollywood has preferred to keep princesses safe in their turrets.

There’s more than just the self-esteem of girls at stake. TV executives have found young boys have no problem watching shows with girls as lead characters, which can result in improved ratings — and advertising dollars.

Kids between 2 and 9 can tune their television sets to shows about Dora, the now almost 10-year-old adventure girl, or vocabulary heroine WordGirl, who came onto the scene three years ago to fight villainy and poor word choice.

When it comes to movies, Hollywood prefers to bet on male leads that can guarantee the interest of both girls and boys, such as Harry Potter. The culture of princesses — and the traditional fairy tale of being rescued — is still prominent.

“I’m not sure overall that the gatekeepers have completely signed onto the girl thing,” said Deborah Forte, president of Scholastic Media, the force behind WordGirl. “It has been more prevailing opinion among the gatekeepers that boys will not watch girl-centric shows.”

Television executives are more receptive than 20 years ago, Forte said, when she was trying to sell her first live-action TV show about girls — “The Baby-Sitters Club” — and found no buyers at first. It eventually became a successful show.

More than half of the 20 kids’ shows on Viacom Inc’s Nick Jr. channel profile female characters in the lead or in equal roles with their male counterparts. Pink-haired problem solver Pinky Dinky Doo and Blue, the female dog lead of “Blue’s Clues,” are two examples.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – George Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees owner known as “The Boss” for his colorful and tempestuous style, died in Florida at age 80, his family and baseball club said on Tuesday.

Media reports said he suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Tampa and was rushed to hospital.

Steinbrenner demanded results and got them as he ran America’s most successful sports franchise. The Yankees won seven World Series titles and 11 American League pennants since he bought the fabled club in 1973.

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing,” he once said.

Steinbrenner handed over daily operations of the club to his sons in recent years. His Yankees empire, which he bought for $10 million, is now worth $1.6 billion, nearly twice as much as any other team in baseball, Forbes magazine estimated.

“He was an incredible and charitable man,” his family said in a statement. “He was a visionary and a giant in the world of sports. He took a great but struggling franchise and turned it into a champion again.”

The family said funeral arrangements will be private but there would be an additional public service.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eden Prairie, Minnesota, was named the best small city in the United States in a new poll because of its low unemployment, abundance of lakes and safe streets.

The family-friendly city also boasts job growth of 12.6 percent and 125 miles of running and biking trails, according to Money magazine, which ranked 100 small cities with populations of 50,000 to 300,000 in terms of housing, affordability, safety and economic strength.

Columbia/Ellicott City, Maryland, came second due to the 8,000 jobs provided by the nearby National Security Agency and the Fort Meade Army base, plus highly rated schools. Thousands more jobs are expected in the next year, Money said.

“Affordable homes, booming economy, education are the things,” said Beth Fenner, editor of the survey.

She added that that the poll showed a slew of “Midwestern towns where you can get a ton for your money, the schools are good, there’s low unemployment. You should really think about checking these places out.”

Newton in Massachusetts, Bellevue, Washington and McKinney, Texas rounded out the top five small cities.

The findings are based on information from data services firm Onboard Informatics.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – What do you get one of the world’s most famous musicians for his birthday? Former Beatle Ringo Starr, who celebrated being 70 years-old on Wednesday, wants a little peace and love.

Starting in 2008, Starr began asking his fans to say “Peace and Love” at noon on July 7, wherever they were. This year, the drummer was at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square to continue spreading his message.

“We’re just trying to keep the promotion going from the ’60s,” said Starr.

“There’s a little more peace and love than there was, I think, 40 years ago, and certainly it’s a lot more peace and love than 70 years ago, when it was crazy,” he said.

As for turning 70, Starr said he was still full of energy.

“It’s really impossible to say how it feels to be 70 since yesterday I was only 69,” he said. “Nothing’s really happened. The clock has ticked and now I’m a day older.”

But for fans hoping Starr might turn his energy into a new round of touring this fall, the drummer made no promises.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Groups that care for Great Danes are preparing for a surge of rejected dogs, expecting the Hollywood movie “Marmaduke” will spur adoptions — then abandonments — of cute puppies which can grow to 170 lbs and eat 10 cups of food a day.

The film, about an adorable yet clumsy pooch, debuted in theaters last month but stumbled at box offices. Still, it is prompting some demand for the breed, and dog groups are cautioning people that few families realize the resources needed to care for the big animals and can become overwhelmed.

“We’re all holding our breath,” said Sandy Suarez, director and founder of Michigan-based Great Dane Rescue Inc. “We’re planning on seeing a problem in about eight to nine months when the dog starts to get really big.”

Movies and TV shows about animals often spur consumers to buy them for pets, and Kathie Shea, rescue chair for the Great Dane Club of America, said “Marmaduke” has increased demand for Great Dane puppies tenfold.

“The problem is, a nine-month puppy will be over 100 pounds and they still have a puppy brain,” said Shea. “Your Labrador puppy will be chewing your slipper. Your Great Dane puppy will be chewing your dining room table.”

To combat what they expect will be increased demand, U.S.-based Great Dane rescue groups have set up tables at movie theaters showing “Marmaduke” to introduce rescued dogs to moviegoers. They have staffed tables outside retailers such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc to teach potential buyers about the costs and space problems that come with such a massive animal.

“I went to the Rockaway (New Jersey) mall and set up with the Dane,” said Mary Fran Cini, president of the Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League. “It was great. The dog was shedding, drooling. People could see it was a big dog.”

By Chelsea Emery

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Forget California dreaming. Colorado offers the best quality of life and job possibilities, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Boulder, Fort Collins and Colorado Springs took three spots out of 10 in an analysis of mid-sized cities with healthy economies, moderate living costs, light traffic and strong educational systems, according to business news website Portfolio.com.

A study “of best mid-sized places to live can serve as a resource for those who are trying to start a business in new territories,” J. Jennings Moss, editor of Portfolio.com, said in a statement.

Boulder ranked No. 1, followed by Provo, Utah.

The others in the top 10 were Fort Collins; Madison, Wisconsin; Ogden, Utah; Holland, Michigan; Colorado Springs; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Des Moines, Iowa; and Manchester, New Hampshire.

Portfolio.com compared 109 medium-sized markets with populations between 250,000 and 750,000.