Atlas Shrugged, then and now

Atlas Shrugged

Posted on December 11, 2022

I wasn’t much of a reader or wordsmith until I quit my job and started my own business. It was September 3, 1993, my first day starting my own company. It was a similar feeling when my wife and I bought our first house. Some American dreams come true. That was 1993 and I was embarking on my goal to control my own destiny. I was married for 13 years at the time and a growing my family and my business. Regarding reading in high school, I’d get a book assignment and would run to Ulbrichs for the Monarch notes. All my National Honor Society Club friends read things in their entirety.

That first day in 1993. My business partner bought me an eclectic mix of books, “Swim with the Sharks”, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, “Siddhartha” and a unique mix with the philosopher Will Durant and his wife and a few history books which made the reading exciting. All the books had their own unique relevance to what was going on in my life at the time. I had a non-compete to sit out and my walkabout began.

I was pleasantly surprised that these books were so in sync to this “zone” I was in. Armed with a dictionary and a fine point pen, I became an avid reader and autodidact. I’d put question marks next to words I didn’t know and scribble notes in the margins as my mind was curious. I’ll never reach Gore Vidal’s breadth of words but yet I’m sure I’d score better on my English SAT’s current day.