CHAPTER ONE
I have a hard time recalling much on the topic of my father, but I have a general recollection of the kind of man he was. He was a good sort of man. He was raised in the northern Appalachians, and he spent his early years living almost like a nomad. Later on in life, he settled down and made a considerable fortune out of nothing but hard work. These two contrasting periods of his life shaped him into a very wise and tough man. He was a survivalist, both in the wild and in society.
He liked to exercise his wisdom onto my brothers and me. “Most of the people you’ll meet in life will not be your ally,” he would say. “Most people will try to either take advantage of you or assert their dominance over you. Don’t let them do either. I didn’t get to where I am in life by playing nic
