PREFACE
On the trail of another man, the biographer must put up with finding
himself at every turn: any biography uneasily shelters an autobiography
within it.
—Paul Murray Kendall Tolstoy said all happy families resemble one
another; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. This also can
apply to family businesses, and if you’re thinking of working in the family
business, think twice. Those of you who are may already know why.
This is the story of an SOB in a family-owned enterprise. Not my
father. Me, the Son of the Boss. It’s also told by another son who worked
closest to Roy Hampton Park—John B. Babcock, the son of the man who
gave my father his first big break. With the exception of my mother, no
