J.R. Simplot: A Billion the Hard Way

This is the story of John Richard "Jack" Simplot-who dropped out of school at age 14 to parlay a few pigs into one of the largest privately-held companies in America.

Today public stock offerings for new "dot com" companies make their young founders rich (at least on paper) overnight. J. R. Simplot is one of the last classic Horatio Alger success stories. He spent 75 years building his empire the hard way.

The 90-year-old Simplot also is one of the few 20th century industrialists to successfully make the transition to the high tech business world of the new millennium.

Dr. Louie Attebery uses hundreds of hours of research and interviews to paint a fascinating word portrait of this colorful, outspoken billionaire.

About The Author
Dr. Louie W. Attebery is an authority on American folklore. He is former chairman of the Department of English at The College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho. He was a member of the first executive council of the Western Literature Association. He has given numerous talks on American and Western folklore and was folklife consultant for the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane, Washington. He has written numerous articles for regional and national publications. Dr. Attebery is a former editor of Northwest Foklore and is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of American Folklore. He has written several books, and edited Idaho Folklife: Homesteads to Headstones.