UNCONVENTIONAL THINKING BLOG

I gave a speech the other night at a CBS event my company, MSCO, sponsored. The host introduced me with a grand recounting of my accomplishments to which the audience responded with enthusiastic cheers.

It was more than kind and respectful and it made me feel proud, to a point. I say “to a point,” because I know the dark side of my background you don’t find on Wikipedia.

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of talking extensively with a young Italian opera star, introduced to me by a dear friend — a former MSCO team member — who now lives abroad.

When I was a boy, my parents introduced me to organized religion. It didn’t go well. From the start, it became clear that I wasn’t big on anything “organized.”

Through the years however, I searched for the great value religion brings: something grander and greater than yourself to believe in. I always believed in God, but never in the flawed men and women who stood at the lectern and pretended to be His messenger.

This is an American celebration. That it was short lived, like a July 4th fireworks, is meaningless. It was a cosmic explosion. A transcendental experience.

Today I went to a funeral.
A rite of passage for a man who was an inventor, created the cordless electric knife, fought for his country in WW II, became a talented artist, graduated from Cooper Union and raised a wonderful family.
His story is uniquely American. Free to dream, to innovate, to build factories, to [...]