Diane Smith was born into a Wisconsin dairy farming family in 1947. She was one of nine children – all girls. When she was nine the family moved to a several hundred acre farm in Osseo, Wisconsin. Mary wanted to spend…
Diane Smith was born into a Wisconsin dairy farming family in 1947. She was one of nine children – all girls. When she was nine the family moved to a several hundred acre farm in Osseo, Wisconsin. Mary wanted to spend…
Melvin and Janice welcomed their son into the world on November 4, 1969. Living in Harlem, Janice was a model and a teacher’s assistant. Melvin worked the streets, reputedly an associate of a known drug dealer, Frank Lucas. What isn’t…
John was born in Hall, Indiana on October 14, 1910 – the second son of Joshua and Roxie Wooden. When he was 8, the family moved to a small farm near Centerton, Ind., a town which boasted a population of…
Imagine starting a successful business only to be fired by your board of directors when they become disenchanted with the company performance. Now think of the irony of being brought back by the same board of directors, fifteen years later, when…
The actual day he was born is unknown – much like Jack Daniel before him. They were both born into farming families – but that is where the similarities stop, at least in their early lives. For one thing, Daniel was born in…
Little girls love to fantasize about becoming a princess, living a special life filled with attention and riches. In reality, very few actually have their dream become a reality. The fact is that most princesses are born into royalty. Such…
Jasper was born on a farm in Moore County, Tennessee – one of Calaway and Lucinda Daniel’s 12 children. Exactly when that birth occurred is not known for certain – but the consensus is September, 1850. The hard times his family endured were made…
The decade of the 1960’s was a dynamic time in the U.S. The decade began with President Kennedy announcing his “New Frontier” domestic policy. Kennedy was assassinated and followed by Lyndon Johnson whose vision was to create “The Great Society”.…
When a Miami real estate speculator bought the land just outside of Augusta, Georgia from Fruitland Nurseries, his vision was to build a resort which would cater to the wealthy. However, the Great Miami Hurricane of 1926 destroyed much of…
Twins have a special bond – one that most people cannot understand. Such was the case with fraternal twins Christopher and Michael, born five minutes apart in Cedar Rapids, Iowa on February 7, 1978. Michael, the younger of the two,…
Lori was born in Des Moines, Iowa in 1982 – one of five children of an inter-racial couple. Her family was poor, in large measure because her father spent a good deal of time in and out of prison. For all…
Stanley Bert Eisen was born in upper Manhattan in 1952. Chaim Witz was born in Haiti, Israel in 1949, moved to Queens, New York at age 8. Each had challenges to face as youngsters. Stanley was born with a birth…
Max and Mollie had two sons – Michael and Arthur. They lived as a typical family in Queens, New York where Max owned a small pharmaceutical company. The youngest boy, Arthur, attended Stuyvesant High School, which offered accelerated academics to qualifying…
Her parents had immigrated to Baltimore, Maryland from Sri Lanka. Formerly known as Ceylon, Sri Lanka is an island nation just south of India. Despite a civil war which raged for over 30 years, ending in 2009, the nation is…
Joanne was born in 1963 and grew up in a council house in Kent, England. Her father, Peter, was a painter – her mother, Elaine, was a beautician. As a child, school was difficult for her as she was severely dyslexic.…
Arthur’s story is one of maximizing great talent, succeeding in the face of obstacles, resolving to actively address unfair obstructions, extending generosity to those in need and accepting the toughest challenge life can give with quiet grace and dignity. He…
Some boys who are born on St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th – are named Pat. In 1961 – in Minneapolis, Minnesota – a boy born on the ‘grand day’ was named Mark. Insignificant to some – bewildering to others,…
She was born in Clarksville, Tennessee, the fourth of five children. She grew up on the family farm with her three older brothers and younger sister. Farm life taught all of the children hard work, commitment and dedication. When their…
Most kids graduate from high school within four years – but not very many attend four different schools to do so. Of course, it can take that many schools when you are kicked out of the first three you attend.…
The eldest of five children, Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born on December 17, 1936 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was born to Italian immigrants who, in 1927, had fled Italy and the rule of Mussolini. The boy’s father, Mario, was an accountant…
He was thirteen and doing all he could to keep up with his brothers and the neighborhood kids. His siblings shouted their encouragement “Keep up Bob! Come on Bob!” That sounds like a brotherly thing to do – until you…
Marguerite Johnson was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She was three when her parents’ marriage ended. Her father sent her and her four year old brother, Bailey Jr., to live with their paternal grandmother. Annie Henderson lived…
One can learn a great deal growing up on the family farm. Such was the case of a boy named Clay, the eldest child of Bill and Helen, owners of a forty acre farm in Portage, a small town in northwest Ohio.…
His was a turbulent childhood – born in Hayward, California, the only son of a Samoan mom and an African-American father. The family moved thirteen times during his youth. His father traveled often to find work – and that work paid…
Born in 1971, she was raised in Clearwater, Florida. Her father would ask her and her brother the same question every night at the dinner table – “What did you fail at today?” One night she answered – “I tried…
On rare occasions, it becomes apparent very early in a person’s life that they are unique, different – special. Such was the case on June 28, 1971 when a boy was born in Pretoria, South Africa to a South African-born British…
If there were one word to describe life in the United States after World War II it may be ‘boom’. There was an economic boom, a population boom and a boom in the television industry. As life returned to normal,…
It was the second marriage for both of his parents While he was the second son born to the couple (February 7th, 1962). he was the youngest of six children. His mother had three children from her first marriage, his father had one.…
It had been such an amazing week – one that was full enough to feel more like a month yet seeming to have lasted for mere moments. It was ten pm on a Saturday night as I sat through the…
He was born in Connecticut in July of 1969. His youth was spent there, in Boston, Las Vegas and ultimately Maine where, in 1987, he graduated from Herman High School. While his childhood wasn’t spent in necessarily tough areas, he grew up to…
There are many factors that give birth to new items and innovation – including technological advances, newly discovered materials, and of course, good old creative thinking. Yet it’s said that necessity is the mother of invention and there’s a great deal of…
Tim’s penchant for overcoming long odds and finishing strong began at the very start of his life. His mother had been treated for amoebic dysentery, which caused significant complications during her pregnancy – he wasn’t expected to survive to full term.…
Life is filled with choices – some are easy to make, some are much more difficult – some have little significance, others will be life changing. Augustine faced a difficult choice – one that would definitely be life altering. He…
There are countless children who love school – who love to learn. Many are afforded that opportunity freely – with easy access to schools, highly motivated teachers and the latest text books. For others, there isn’t that same access to…
As amazing as modern medicine is – there are times when routine procedures turn out to be anything but. Appendicitis is typically treated on an emergency basis, yet the operation boasts a extraordinarily high success rate. In the rare instances…
This weekend, the United States of America celebrates its birthday – and 239 years of independence. What does that mean? According to Merriam-Webster, independence means “freedom from outside control or support : the state of being independent”. Freedom is the…
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) boasts an enrollment of well over 40,000 students. It’s not a challenge to find co-eds who are bright, energetic, attractive and talented. Kirsten easily fit that profile. She graduated in 1993 with a…
John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, MO., has had more than its fair share of highly successful and world famous graduates – Andy Taylor, founder and CEO of Enterprise Rent-a-Car; Grammy winning musician John Hartford; world-renowned restaurateur Danny Meyer’ Pulitzer prize…
Many would view his childhood as anything but normal. Not too many kids get expelled from school three times – before they reach age twelve – and most don’t leave home at the age of 12 1/2. For Christian, however, his youth…
The American West of the 1800’s was a land filled with promise – not just of hope and great opportunity – but also the promise of diverse dangers and hard living. For one young man in his twenties, John –…
Tuskegee is a town of about 12,000 people in the southeastern portion of Alabama. It is home to Tuskegee University – a predominately black school founded in 1881 – that developed a national reputation for academics and philanthropy under the…
Before they had even met – much less conceived him – World War II played a significant role in the lives of his parents. In July of 1941, Ed Nye, the man who would become his father, left San Francisco…
Carville, Louisiana is located in Iberville Parish just south of Baton Rouge. The town was given its name in the late 1800’s in honor of its postmaster. It is home to the National Hansen’s Disease Museum – located at the site of a former sugar plantation…
He was born in Accra, Ghana in 1965 and raised in that country’s chaos of the sixties and seventies. Ghana was under the rule of a military dictatorship whose policies made life difficult, to say the least. Finding food was a daily challenge…
She was born on the Spanish island of Mallorca – the sixth of ten children. She first stood out because of her natural blonde hair – her family warmly referring to her as the ‘blonde sheep’ of the family. The…
By his own account, his childhood was average at best – but more accurately, it was mundane, if not downbeat. The oldest of three boys, he was born in Ryan, Oklahoma on March 12, 1940. His father – a truck…
About the only thing the two boys had in common was the same first name. One was born into a Catholic family in 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio. He grew up with the no-nonsense, hard working, blue-collar persona the city itself…
People who have not been to Pittsburgh, PA might imagine it to be a steel town – dirty with soot-filled skies. The image might be one which includes a town past its prime, comprised of a blue-collar population with a…
Though he was born in Chicago, IL- the fifth of eight children – he was raised in the small town of Clinton, Missouri, his mother’s hometown. She had moved to Illinois in the 1940’s, however, because her family wanted her…
At first glance he was just one of countless blue collar workers living with his wife of 22 years in Queens, NY. It was the early 1970’s – a time of turmoil – anti-war protests, student unrest, civil rights activism- and a…
As the forty-second largest city in the U.S. – Omaha has a lot going for it. Some consider it a small city – others think of it as a big town. Either way, the city is home to five Fortune 500…
There are people who seem to be destined for one particular position in life – to fulfill a particular role or profession. Such was the case with a boy born in Henderson, North Carolina in May of 1983. Located near the…
Until the age of thirteen she had lived a quiet life with her parents and older brother in Metairie, La. – just outside of New Orleans. The family – Christian Scientists – attended weekly services together. There, the signs on the wall…
Essentially homeless for three years at the end of the 1980’s, he lived in his 1976 Ford Tempo. He was divorced, sending three quarters of his limited income to his ex-wife to support their two children. With an Igloo cooler for…
What are the chances that someone’s vision comes to life and changes the world? What are the chances that two people with a similar vision each succeed in their pursuit of making it a reality? What are the chances that…
In October of 1955, a banker and his wife welcomed their baby girl into the world in Madras (now Chennai) southern India. At that time it was generally accepted that a girl would follow a certain path to marriage and motherhood. This…
The entire U.S. oil industry was changed in 1908 when his father patented the two-cone roller bit. Wells could be drilled faster and in more diverse locations. That drill bit also had a significant impact on the family and the…
He was the middle child – number five out of nine. As a youth, he enjoyed reading books about heroic figures in American history. Being born and raised in Chicago, there was an endless list of local heroes in the four major professional…
Lives are filled with changes and twists – his was no exception. Early in his life those changes were driven by his father. whose various occupations included welder, shopkeeper and swimming pool manager to name but a few. His various jobs…
Born in Rockville Centre, NY in 1952 she was the only daughter in a family with four sons. That could have been daunting for her had it not been for her parents. They encouraged her to compete equally with her…
His career in sales began quite early – selling matches to neighbors when he was five years old. Later, he used his bicycle to expand his geography and diversified his line of products by becoming aware of his customer’s needs and…
She attended grade school at the Horace Mann School in Beverly Hills where she aspired to be a writer. With that in mind, she wrote the eighth grade graduation play and ended up starring in the lead role. It was…
He was a student at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in his hometown of St. Louis when it happened. Pearl Harbor. America was drawn into World War II. He enlisted in the Navy where he became a…
It must have been cool that his father owned a recording studio in New York. It is also quite cool that he knew early in life what he wanted to do in the future. As a young boy he was able to…
It was right at dusk one summer evening in June of 1975 when Chrissie Watkins left a beach party on Amity Island to go skinny dipping. She wasn’t seen again until her remains were discovered on the beach. The medical…
While still but an infant – his father, who struggled with addiction, ended up going to prison for drug possession. When his biological father was released, he signed parental rights over to the boy’s stepfather – a sergeant in the…
Born to Italian immigrants, he grew up in Torrance, CA. There he and trouble become good friends. It’s not that he was a bad kid – you might get away with calling him curious. He began smoking at age…
His talent was seemingly unlimited. He had burst on the scene with the promise of being one of the best ever. He had an imagination which paired foods and seasonings never before seen – or tasted. He had a flair for creating…