Confessions of an Accidental Businessman: It Takes a Lifetime to Find Wisdom: James A Autry
Editorial Reviews
In true rags-to-riches fashion, James Autry’s Confessions of an Accidental Businessman recounts his inspirational climb from childhood struggle to installation as a Fortune 500 executive. In his 31 years at magazine publisher Meredith Corporation, Autry juggled his own ambitions with a desire to be a fair and sensitive leader. His honest and open memoir exposes the good as well as the bad and paints an intriguing picture of the changes wrought in corporate America during his tenure.
From Publishers Weekly
This is billed as a business book, but it’s really a hybrid. Autry (Love and Profit) is a journalist and poet who had a successful career at Meredith Corporation, where he began as a copy editor, worked his way up the corporate ladder to retire in 1991 as senior vice-president and president of the company’s magazine group. He writes with vigorous enthusiasm of the challenges of leadership, which he recounts with anecdotal detail in this rambling autobiography. Commenting, “Toto, I think we’re not in journalism anymore,” he plunges into reflections on strategic planning, procuring financing, acquiring new properties and guiding staff. We learn what worked for him and what his blunders were. Among his personal reflections, we find that his father abandoned his family, his mother witnessed for Jesus, he himself was married three times and one of his children is autistic. Autry’s poems grace this memoir, along with the self-appreciation that he was among several poets featured in a Bill Moyers series on PBS, and that the Kentucky Poetry Review has published a special James Autry issue. 25,000 first printing; $50,000 ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.