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Overview
Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton PressThis is the story of a kid from Declo, Idaho who parlayed a few "bum" lambs into one of the largest privately-held companies in America. J.R. Simplot is one of the last of the classic Horatio Alger success stories - a man who spent seventy-five years building an international empire.
Synopsis
This is the story of John Richard "Jack" Simplot-who dropped out of school at age 14 to parlay a few pigs into one of the largest privately-held companies in America.
Today public stock offerings for new "dot com" companies make their young founders rich (at least on paper) overnight. J. R. Simplot is one of the last classic Horatio Alger success stories. He spent 75 years building his empire the hard way.
The 90-year-old Simplot also is one of the few 20th century industrialists to successfully make the transition to the high tech business world of the new millennium.
Dr. Louie Attebery uses hundreds of hours of research and interviews to paint a fascinating word portrait of this colorful, outspoken billionaire.
About The Author
Dr. Louie W. Attebery is an authority on American folklore. He is former chairman of the Department of English at The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. He was a member of the first executive council of the Western Literature Association. He has given numerous talks on American and Western folklore and was folklife consultant for the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane, Washington. He has written numerous articles for regional and national publications. Dr. Attebery is a former editor of Northwest Foklore and is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of American Folklore. He has written several books, and edited Idaho Folklife: Homesteads to Headstones.
Booknews
Folklorist Attebery (formerly English, the College of Idaho, Caldwell) tells the story of the self-made Idahoan, how he made his fortune in potatoes, his fervent patriotism, and his family's plans for their legacy. Reconstructed from archival research and interviews with Simplot and his family, and featuring long quotes from these sources, this rags-to-riches success story will appeal to entrepreneurs and those interested in the history of farming and the American West. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
The Idaho Business Review
"Finally, someone's written a biography of J.R. "Jack" Simplot. Idaho's spud king, and sometime computer-chip angel, is known for his homespun humor."βThe Idaho Business Review, Steven Anderson
β Steven Anderson
Capital Press
"First detailed biography of J. R. Simplot, one of Idaho and the West's most successful entrepreneurs."βDave Wilkins, Capital Press
β Dave Wilkins
The Idaho Business Review -
"Finally, someone's written a biography of J.R. "Jack" Simplot. Idaho's spud king, and sometime computer-chip angel, is known for his homespun humor."βThe Idaho Business Review, Steven AndersonCapital Press -
"First detailed biography of J. R. Simplot, one of Idaho and the West's most successful entrepreneurs."βDave Wilkins, Capital PressBooknews
Folklorist Attebery (formerly English, the College of Idaho, Caldwell) tells the story of the self-made Idahoan, how he made his fortune in potatoes, his fervent patriotism, and his family's plans for their legacy. Reconstructed from archival research and interviews with Simplot and his family, and featuring long quotes from these sources, this rags-to-riches success story will appeal to entrepreneurs and those interested in the history of farming and the American West. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)Steven Anderson
Finally, someone's written a biography of J.R. "Jack" Simplot. Idaho's spud king, and sometime computer-chip angel, is known for his homespun humor and salty anecdotes, and these characteristics are abundantly portrayed in J.R. Simplot: A billion the hard way , published by Caxton Press, Caldwell. ... Working with J. R. Simplot Co. officials, family members, associates and the main character himself, Attebery complied a straightforward but colorful story of the man who made french fries a giant industry and in later life supplied much of the capital foundation for what became Idaho's largest employer and the nation's only maker of computer memory chips, Micron Technology, Inc. Needless to say, this is an authorized biography, and while it certainly represents Simplot, now 91, in a positive light, its author can't be accused of hagiography; there is a muted warts-and-all quality to the story.&$151, The Idaho Business Review
Dave Wilkins
He dropped out of school and left home when he was 14, determined to make it on his own.He bought a few hundred pigs for practically nothing and kept them alive through the winter on a diet of cooked cull potatoes and wild horse meat. When the market rebounded, he sold them for $7,800, a good sum for a teenager in any era, but a small fortune indeed for a boy from Declo, Idaho, in 1922.
It's the stuff legend of legend, and most Idahoans-certainly most Idaho farmers and ranchers-will recognize it as the beginning of the J. R. Simplot story.
Now the legend has been put down on paper by a noted folklorist in the first detailed biography of S. R. Simplot, one of Idaho and the West's most successful entrepreneurs and the architect of what has become one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. ... Attebery recounts how Simplot parlayed his pig money into a string of fresh pack potato sheds all along the Snake River Valley from Vale, Ore., to Idaho Falls, then later, how he began producing dehydrated onions an potatoes for the U.S. military during World War II. He also tells how the company later played a key role in the development of frozen french fries for the retail and fast-food markets, landing such customers as Safeway and McDonald's Corp.
The book also contains 32 pages of photographs, many of them taken from Simplot family albums dating back to when J. R. Simplot was a toddler. Simplot, "is a far more complex figure than many people assume," Atterbery said in a review this week.
Β Capital Press