Without Reservations in China

There’s a Chinese proverb, “Don’t listen to what they say. Go see.” China is full of people who “go see” … people who travel and explore the world. Today, the Chinese are leading the golden age of travel. When we opened our first hotel in China in 1979 I never...

Inspired Leadership

In a thoughtful break from my favorite detective novels, I decided to read some more about American history. I chose “Washington’s Revolution: The Making of America’s First Leader” by Robert Middlekauff. I was not disappointed. The book covers Washington’s life and career as a military leader. At the age of...

Thomas Jefferson

I recently read a book called Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power by Jon Meacham. To me, this book is a wonderful insight into the life and person of Thomas Jefferson. I’ve always known him to be brilliant and wide-ranging in his interests. I knew he wrote the Declaration of...

The Presidents Club

A Presidents Day Book Review "The Presidents Club" book was a wonderful insight in the behind-the-scenes events that took place during the presidencies of Truman through Obama. When I was young, the only president I knew about was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. When Truman succeeded Roosevelt, I was old enough to...

My Guilty Pleasure

I’ve blogged about my favorite books before. Having read almost everything there is about the Great War, I’ve turned to another genre and I’m addicted. I’ll let you in on my literary secret: It’s Lee Child’s Jack Reacher action/thriller novels. Everyone needs a guilty pleasure and this fun read is...

The Babe hits a deep home run to my Father

Babe Ruth hit 59 homers in 1921. My dad almost caught one. There’s a baseball story that I recently found in my father’s diary. It was dated July 30, 1921. It's interesting looking back on this event and what it says about my father. Dad was very disciplined, even rigid...

My Summer Book Club Recommendation: Those Angry Days

For my summer reading this year, I chose Those Angry Days by Lynne Olson. Those Angry Days covers the period of 1939-1941 and details the bitter conversation and discussion over whether or not the United States should enter the Second World War. President Roosevelt realized the danger to Great Britain...

LISTEN: Thomas Jefferson’s “Art of Power”

A Book Review Anyone who has studied American history knows that Thomas Jefferson was a brilliant thinker who wrote the Declaration of Independence and was our third president, and also founded the University of Virginia. But I learned so much more by reading Jon Meacham’s new biography, especially the quiet...

The "Last Lion" Keeps Roaring

A Book Review I have read William Manchester’s previous two books about Winston Churchill and thought they were quite wonderful. When Manchester died in 2004, I wondered how far along he was with his third and final volume about Winston. Writer Paul Reid took Manchester’s volume of work and has...

Without Reservations

Have you ever been talked into something? Well, I certainly was talked into writing my second book: Without Reservations: How a Family Root Beer Stand Grew into a Global Hotel Company. It was 16 years ago when I published Spirit to Serve. A lot has happened since then, and that’s...