Books - #? Titan, the life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow

I seem to have become a little obsessed with "real life" - at least for those noble few. Fiction looses the appeal because without question, truth is stranger than fiction. So would be the case with John D., Sr.

This was an excellent book written about what is known without any un-due judgements on the man. Some nice thoughts conclude that he lived his imperfect life clearly by his own choices. Good example. And he lived his last years a little lonely... still desiring to live to be 100. He lived to be almost 98 years old.

Also interesting is that people still condemn him for his business practices. Correctly no heavy judgments were passed in the book, but was he really so wrong? He made deals that worked in the favor of his company for the lowest possible shipping. Was he suppose to "try" to pay more? It was legal, even if a little odd. But why must a man communicate deals freely made between consenting parties? He would undercut competition by pricing them out of the market. I think it was kind of cool... isn't the nature of business that the best man wins? He played hardball. I'm just not sure I think what he did was wrong. Another interesting thing is that he regularly paid off elected officials. This too was common for the period. But people condemn John D., and fail to place any of the burden on the officials. I'm not sure if I would have done what he did, but sometimes I think I work too hard for the competition. Perhaps I should focus more on winning the game?

Because he played hard, people (including me) often question his religious devotion. He was Baptist and always supported the Church. Yet he seemed so greedy in his work? How could this be? Well, I don't know for sure. John D. may have made an excuse that he felt God wanted him to make this money because there was a work for him to do - in giving away this money. It seems that he gave away at least a third, maybe much more... maybe like half. Given the money he had, he spend a very small percentage on himself.

Some other interesting things... he was a golfer. He didn't like to read... he knew how many shares of stock he owned in dozens of companies. He was incredibly organized. He was comfortable acting as an advisor... he did not feel the need to do the work himself.

I'm so grateful for this man and this book. Perhaps I need to feel more comfortable making more money, and looking after myself. I relate to this man... not to the same degree of success, but certainly in how he reasoned.

Finally, I read this book as a reference from a tour guide at Kykuit, John D.s' home in Tarrytown, New York. Now I've read the book, I'd like to return.