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145 Postscript The line between success and failure is so finely drawn that often all that is required is one step forward to land on the winning side. —L. R. Steel, December 24, 1920 We always hear about the winners; this book is about the losers. We have all heard the rags-to-riches stories told by those who succeed against the odds. We have heard the inspirational messages about how anyone can do it with hard work, frugality, honesty, perseverance, and a good heart. Everybody knows that story. We never hear from the losers, especially the losers who had all the talent and dedication to win, who should have won, but did not. Those people can be more interesting than the ones who won. L. R. Steel was one of those losers. His company could have been WalMart , but it ended up more like Enron. He died penniless at only fortyfour with all of his net worth in his own company’s worthless stock. Thousands of Steel’s employees lost their jobs. All sixty thousand investors lost everything that they invested. Everybody lost everything. And my great-uncle, Clayton, lost his family. If L. R. had been just a huckster or scam artist, this story would have little interest. But he was a creative genius who foresaw the value of corporate charity, hiring and promoting women, vertical integration taken to an extreme, and creative financing that actually resulted in building a new four-story building with funds contributed by his own employees. And, of course, he invented the infomercial. He should have been a success. ...

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