When I was a librarian I was assigned to inventory a business biography collection. I didn't expect to find much excitement in the stacks, but as the week went on I found myself spending a little more time than I should have assessing the merits of particular volumes.
It might not be great literature, but who can resist a well-told, real-life success story? And if the road to success is filled with twists and turns, perhaps a land mine or two, so much the better.
"A Summer for a Lifetime" is the life story of businessman George I. Purdy who passed away on March 27. As a good story should, Purdy, through writer Thomas Caldwell, stressed the journey rather than the destination. A longtime resident of Japan, Purdy made a name for himself in the metals-trading business after World War II. However, he will be remembered not only for having built a successful business but also for his success in building bridges between his one-time enemy, Japan, and his homeland, the United States. For this he was presented with the Award of the Third Class Order of the Sacred Treasure by Emperor Showa in 1985.