I think this is a pretty good  description of my book

ForeWord Clarion Review   BUSINESS & FINANCE

Rescuing the American Dream

G. Webb Ross and Howard Klausner

Ross 264 pages  978-0-692-00378-7

Rescuing the American Dream

offers two such Horatio Alger tales. These suspenseful play-by-plays feature young, college-educated American men fulfilling their dreams. The authors also offer evidence that what makes the reach for the American Dream successful is a twelve-step process based upon honesty and integrity. What is currently missing from the business scene, the authors insist, is “character.”

“We have abandoned the very foundation of the American Dream in our headlong pursuit of wealth, success, comfort, and power,” Ross and Klausner write. “These things are…the destination. They are not what this Journey called life is about. The Journey…is in what we become in pursuit of these things. Ultimately, this journey comes down to one thing, our character.”

G. Webb Ross tells the story of his son, Tom, in order to demonstrate the twelve steps to success and how ethical and honest men can achieve the American Dream. Tom and his college friend, Rob Anthony, tenaciously cling to their business plan of perfecting and selling another man’s port cleaning invention for the paper pulp industry. The story is rife with cliff-hangers, and conflict flows easily with an informal writing style. “Rob took Fletcher’s tee-up, and made the presentation of his life. In his sports-oriented mind, this

truly was the bottom of the ninth for his company…. No mulligan here. His team was in the hole and they needed a break,” the authors write.

Tom’s statement that he plans to be a millionaire before he turns thirty seems to contrast with Ross and Klausner’s altruistic statement about “the Journey.” But even so, readers will cheer for these two young entrepreneurs who started their business on a shoestring and attracted a small “team” of loyal employees. When the story ends, however, it omits reference to the team and whether they received any of the proceeds.

The second half of the book features Wayne Gullstad and his dream to run an ink removal and recycling business, also for the paper pulp industry. The son of a man with “big ideas” and a mother who prefers a risk-free lifestyle, Wayne seems conflicted. When he marries Carol, Wayne finds a kindred risk-taker and together they grow his dream from a little basement office into a multi-million dollar business leader, CityForest. In an ironic twist, Gullstad’s endeavor benefits when his $30 million debt to ENRON is settled for $6 million in ENRON’s bankruptcy settlement.

This well-written book offers a feel-good read with a message. Eighty-year-old G. Web Ross knows the paper business, having retired as CEO of a large newsprint manufacturing company. He teamed with Klausner who writes and produces films and television, to offer this self-published book.

Readers may sense that the authors never quite settled on the real purpose of the book nor do they offer any new solutions. Yet readers who enjoy tightly written underdog success stories with an added pitch for ethics and integrity should love this book.

Dawn Goldsmith

Dear parents, I am publishing a newsletter every other week giving tips on success on things that affected my career. If you are interested you can sign up on my web page at http://www.rescuingthedream.com or my facebook fan page search “small business entrepreneurs” A professor at the University of Arkansas read my book and made it required reading. After they finished the course he asked me to talk to the class. I made a video of our discussions and also of an interview with several students and the professor. You can view two of these clips at youtube.com/gwebross. The students were very receptive and seemed to get a lot out of the book. It occurred to me that my book would make a terrific graduation present for sons, daughters, grandchildren or friends. I am offering a 25% off graduation discount. You can order at my web site or fan page listed above. Thanks for your attention. G. Web Ross

Jeff Amerine teaches entrepreneurship at the Walton School of Business at the University of Arkansas. After reading my book, Rescuing The American Dream The Entrepreneur’s Way he decided to use it for his class study this spring quarter. While the book is not a text book it provides many lessons told through real life stories that are not only interesting, but educational as well. After the class completed their study of the book, Jeff invited me to speak to them. I had our discussion video-taped and will be presenting short clips on youtube. You can follow these by searching gwebross. I also will be posting interviews with Professor Amerine and 3 of his students. I was very pleased with the participation of the class, they had obviously studied the book and were very engaged. If you take time to listen to these you will certainly get a good picture of what my book is about. I encourage you to take a look. George Web Ross

I have just posted the last video clip of 4 on my interview on The BigBiz TV show in San Diego. I think this is the best one becaue I talk about the need to support entrepreneurs with lower taxes and regulation. Chek it out at youtube.com/gwebross

Yesterday I posted my newsletter, the first of a series on “Tips for Management success”. The first subject is “RECOGNITION”. Whether you have read my newsletter or not I would be interested in hearing about anything you might have done to get recognition on your job. You can post your answers here or on my facebook fan page http://www.facebook.com/rescuingtheamericandream

“This year more than ever, the Axiom Award winners represent knowledge that will help businesses survive and thrive, and also give young people just starting out some advice and inspiration from the world’s best business minds,” said company founder Jerrold Jenkins. “There’s an entrepreneurial current running through the business world, with new enterprises being created by highly talented people, and they keep up on the latest trends through reading. These awards are meant to bring great books and great business people together.”

See a complete listing of results at the IndependentPublisher.com website: http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=1353

FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS DISCUSSION
I wanted to share this video with you because I think it is a great example of the importance of parent/teacher relationships. This little episode may very well have changed this young ladies future. Here is why it worked, the teacher recognized a problem and she pulled no punches in telling it like it was. The parent listened and followed up, and the girl found out she couldn’t get away with half truths . I would like to encourage all teachers to know their students well enough to communicate their strengths and weaknesses to the parents. And for parents, keep in touch with your children’s teachers with an open mind. Teachers often see things that you may miss and can be a valuable source for information that could help you with your parenting. Grades 1-6 are your child’s formative years so it is most important to have this parent/teacher relationship during this time. Please may I have your comments. G. Web Ross

These are the topics for my upcoming newsletter.  You can scroll down on this blog page to sign up or go the home page on this site.

 Introduction  Find Passion, Set Goals and Evaluate

1&2) Recognition-(two letters)  Don’t let yourself be pigeonholed no brown nosing, seek recognition by performance.  I will relate some of my experiences where I gained recognition.

3) Education  I thought I learned everything I needed to know and could leave the books behind when I graduated from College.  Was I ever wrong!  My education just started after graduation and I will give you some examples of what I mean.

4)  Be Decisive  I will share with you some of my experiences with managements indecision and the consequences that followed

5)Time For Change  Generally it is better to stay with one company.  However there are situations where a change is prudent.  I will discuss my reasons for changing jobs 5 times during my 36 year career.

6)  Company Politics and there will be some.  Try not to become involved stay neutral.  I will explain this further by an example of where I inadvertently became involved in a personality clash between two people that resulted in my leaving the company.

7)  Caring  Your future will depend on other people.  You need to cultivate the people around you, not just your boss, but peers and people that work for you.  By cultivate I mean taking a genuine interest, going out of your way to be helpful.

  Tenacity  “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”  There will be difficult times, your ability to hang in there will prove to be a real asset. 

9)  Detail Frankly this was one of my weaknesses that I had to overcome.  I just did not like detail, reports, financial information seemed to me to be a waste of time.  My boss and mentors demand for detail taught me its importance and how to use it to my advantage.

10) Management Style  I will give you my perspective on two types of management style, autocratic and participative.  This may very well be the most important of all my newsletters.  I will show you example of each.

Our book now has a YouTube Channel.  Check it out!  Rescuing The Dream on YouTube

Millions of readers will get a chance to save 25% off the purchase price of our book next week. American Profile magazine is a newspaper insert published in hundreds of newspapers across the country. This week’s issue, February 21-27, features the following advertisement. Please be sure to check it out and to tell all of your friends how they can save this week!