Biographies

In this book, Becca Braun writes (not ghostwrote) about brilliant, 20th-century, Ohio inventor and Wright-Brothers protégé, Frederick J. Hooven. He invented the SHORAN bombsight, the radio direction finder, electronic printing equipment, and a digital synthesizer; he also led advanced engineering for the famed Ford Falcon. The foreword is written by Hooven’s grandson, a top Midwestern innovator, and Becca dedicates the book to the engineers, inventors, and innovators of Ohio.

When Lily Derwin is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she undergoes a shift experience where she decides to live entirely in love. In this incredible book, Lily writes about her four point plan for living in love, not fear. Her beautiful plan includes Love & Positivity; Faith & Spirituality; Owning Her Journey of Health and Wellness; and Giving and Gratitude. She shares specific actions she takes every day to live in accordance with the plan and passages from books she loves.

A Shaker Heights, Ohio, native, Norman Harbert loved leading divisions of major operating companies like Reliance Electric and others. Eventually, he co-founded Hawk Industries and co-led its IPO. He tells of his love for business, operations, and—of course—family in this classic memoir.

Friends and family pay humorous (and serious) tribute to Ham Biggar by recalling his years of playing squash, hunting, and building restaurants and night clubs. Each vignette beats with love for the man and his passion for life.

Philanthropist and investor Bob Gries tells the remarkable stories of five generations of his family, from Simson Thorman, who arrived in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1830s and became the city’s first Jewish settler, to the founders of May Company and the Cleveland Browns football team. Love of Cleveland is a life theme for Gries and his ancestors.

The true, detailed, and humorous story of building and financing the Trans Alaska Pipeline as told by John Miller, an engineer turned financier who raises over $6 billion (in the 1970s) to pay for the Standard Oil Company of Ohio’s portion of the Alaskan venture.

This book traces the history and lives of three of the author’s ancestral families, detailing how people migrated to the Connecticut Western Reserve in Ohio in the early 19th century, bringing with them a strong sense of independence, freedom, and love of education.

The former vice chairman of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice recalls growing up in the Great Plains during the Depression and how his father’s skill in the dairy products market shaped his own career in industrial marketing.

John Burns is one of the largest collectors of golf memorabilia in the world, and his Bobby Jones collection is a true treasure. We learn about the collector, the act of collecting, and the collection itself.

Joe Milgram writes about serving in the army during WWII (especially the Battle of the Bulge), the risky move of leaving a career to buy a business after the age of 50, and developing his love for photography.

When Betty Kidder Ruddock was three, her mother died of diphtheria. Then her father lost his job, succumbed to alcoholism, and was unable to support his family. By age eight, Betty was living with strangers in a boarding house near Akron, Ohio, begging for food and making money by picking strawberries. Betty’s husband tells her story of resilience, forgiveness, and joy.

John Haugh and Mike Shaughnessy pioneered the liquid colorants industry with ColorMatrix, a company that thrived in spite of labor challenges, urban politics, failed business relationships, and a raid by federal authorities. It was acquired for a sum of money that, when they started the business, they never imagined they’d see.

Dr. Jack Matloff, a famed cardiothoracic surgeon, loves his patients—commoners and Hollywood hoi polloi alike—with all his heart. He takes us from his beginnings as the son of a Jewish immigrant milkman to becoming the first chairman of cardiothoracic surgery at the newly formed Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

The former CEO of Alcan tells us about growing up in Depression-era Canada, serving on a convoy escort ship in World War II, and rising up the ranks to run a multi-national, multi-billion dollar company during the rise of American industrial capitalism.

Al Whitehouse went from being corporate lawyer to chairman of the Standard Oil Company when it was developing and financing the biggest private peacetime project in US history (the Trans Alaska Pipeline). Whitehouse also discusses his rich family life as both a Northerner and Southerner, and covers his love for the American west.

A revered entrepreneurship professor takes readers on an international adventure, profiling 20 global entrepreneurs who energized the startup ecosystems in their communities. Beyond Silicon Valley will change how you think about entrepreneurship.

In his book, Bob tells tales of his remarkable mountain climbing, biking, and long distance running adventures around the world. Incredibly, he didn’t start his 108 (and counting) adventures until age 51. This story is as much about aging as it is about adventure.