Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Daring Venture: The Life Story of William H. Danforth
    Daring Venture: The Life Story of William H. Danforth
    Daring Venture: The Life Story of William H. Danforth
    Ebook170 pages2 hours

    Daring Venture: The Life Story of William H. Danforth

    By Gordon M. Philpott

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    “Daring Venture is the story of a great man who influenced the lives of many people. I write the story as one who has been helped by that influence and in the hope it will help his daring spirit to go marching on in the lives of those of us who knew him and loved him, and in others who meet him for the first time in these pages.”—Gordon M. Philpott
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPapamoa Press
    Release dateJul 23, 2019
    ISBN9781789126778
    Daring Venture: The Life Story of William H. Danforth
    Author

    Gordon M. Philpott

    Gordon M. Philpott (1894-1965) was a Canadian-born author. Born on February 1, 1894 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he first met William H. Danforth in Northern Canada in August 1914, whilst a student at McMaster University at the time and working as a government fire ranger during the summer holidays. It was an experience which Philpott claims changed the entire course of his life. When he returned to college in the fall, he received a letter from Mr. Danforth, enclosing some snapshots and praising him, and found himself writing to Mr. Danforth in St. Louis as often as he wrote to his own family. Through Danforth’s encouragement, Philpott’s grades in his senior year far surpassed any in his previous four years at college, having given him a new incentive to study. Philpott spent four years in France with the Canadian Field Artillery, and when America entered the war, Danforth visited him; their correspondence continued after the war, and Danforth advised Philpott to get into writing, offering him a position in his advertising department in St. Louis, Missouri. There, Danforth was guiding a rapidly expanding Ralston Purina Company, and for more than thirty-five years Philpott was associated with Danforth in business; he traveled all over the world, and continued to be challenged by him and encouraged to make his own dreams come true. Philpott married Drew Wilson in 1931 in Owensboro, Kentucky, and the couple had two children, Ann and Gordon Wilson. He died in Kirkwood, St. Louis, Missouri on January 13, 1965, aged 70.

    Related to Daring Venture

    Related ebooks

    United States History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Write AWAY

      Oct 28, 2020

      Write AWAY
      2 min read

    • Article

      Everything’s Coming Up Daisy

      Sep 25, 2020

      Everything’s Coming Up Daisy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Jimmy Webb

      Apr 18, 2022

      Jimmy Webb
      5 min read

    • Article

      Improve Your Position

      Feb 8, 2019

      Improve Your Position
      15 min read

    • Article

      The David Carr Generation

      Sep 14, 2017

      The David Carr Generation
      8 min read

    • Article

      Rise Above

      Aug 13, 2018

      Rise Above
      3 min read

    • Article

      Our Greatest Strength

      Feb 26, 2019

      Every winter, I serve as a judge for the National Magazine Awards. It’s an opportunity to study the amazing work that magazines from all over the country are doing. (Don’t let anyone tell you the web is killing print.) Of course, I can’t help but com

      1 min read

    • Article

      The Business Of Joy

      Nov 24, 2023

      The Business Of Joy
      6 min read

    • Article

      Where We Write

      Feb 9, 2017

      Where We Write
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Savvy Self-Publisher

      Aug 17, 2022

      NITA Wiggins knew when she was eight years old that she wanted to be a reporter covering the Dallas Cowboys. Her interest in sports originated from spending time with her father, who coached her younger brother’s basketball and baseball teams in Augu

      11 min read

    • Article

      Anouk Masson Krantz

      Oct 22, 2019

      Anouk Masson Krantz
      7 min read

    • Article

      Purposely Pop-Centric

      Nov 24, 2022

      Purposely Pop-Centric
      5 min read

    • Article

      Jon Snow

      Mar 6, 2023

      Jon Snow
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown

      Oct 30, 2021

      The Many Lives of H. Rap Brown
      16 min read

    • Article

      MIA: The Liberal Men We Love

      Feb 27, 2018

      MIA: The Liberal Men We Love
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Daring Venture

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Daring Venture - Gordon M. Philpott

      This edition is published by Papamoa Press – www.pp-publishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – papamoapress@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 1960 under the same title.

      © Papamoa Press 2018, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      DARING VENTURE

      The Life Story of William H. Danforth

      BY

      GORDON M. PHILPOTT

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

      DEDICATION 4

      PREFACE 5

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11

      LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 12

      1—THE MAKING OF A MAN 15

      2—BUILDER OF A BUSINESS 26

      3—CHALLENGER OF YOUTH 39

      4—WITH THE A.E.F. IN FRANCE 52

      5—LEADER OF AN INDUSTRY 64

      6—FATHER-AND-SON TEAM 83

      7—WIDENING HORIZONS 95

      8—MR. CHECKERBOARD 110

      EPILOGUE 139

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 140

      DEDICATION

      This book is dedicated to the thousands of boys and girls who were dared by William H. Danforth to stand tall, think tall, smile tall and live tall.

      PREFACE

      I first met William H. Danforth in the wilderness of Northern Canada in August, 1914. It was an experience that changed the entire course of my life.

      My partner and I were students at McMaster University, and we were working during the summer as government fire rangers in order to pay our way through college. While building an addition to our log cabin my ax slipped, and my hand was severely cut. I was afraid I would lose a thumb if I did not get medical attention, so we headed for the nearest doctor, who was at a Hudson’s Bay post some fifty miles away and three days’ hard travel by canoe.

      Just before we made camp the first night, we met the Danforth party. He and his family and some friends were on a camping trip. After a brief greeting, Mr. Danforth asked to see my injured hand. In a surprisingly short time he had unpacked a first-aid kit, washed and disinfected my wound, and bandaged and protected the thumb with adhesive tape. He did such a workmanlike job, I decided it was unnecessary to see a doctor. Instead, we turned around and accompanied the Danforth party back to our fire-ranging station on Rawson Lake, where they camped for several days.

      Those days were memorable ones for two young fire rangers, who were starved for company of any kind. We received mail only once a month and seldom saw anyone but prospectors. These were by far the most interesting people who had come to our lake in the three summers I had fire-ranged there. And the most exciting one in the group to me was Mr. Danforth.

      He was in his early forties then and full of such boundless energy that few in the party could keep up with him. He wanted to go everywhere and see everything, and we were delighted to show him the best fishing spots, the places to find blueberries, and to guide him across new trails.

      His genuine interest in people fascinated me. He soon knew all about my family, my college work, and what I intended to do in life. He expressed his confidence in me and my future in such a way that it whetted my ambition and made me determine never to fall down in this man’s estimation.

      When I returned to college in the fall I found a letter from Mr. Danforth, enclosing some snapshots he had taken and telling me what a fine young man I was, and what a bright future lay ahead of me. This was so contrary to the opinion held by my professors that I hoped they would never get together. I found myself writing to this man Danforth in St. Louis as often as I wrote my own family. I liked to hope that some day I could measure up to the high standards he had set for me. It was more than a coincidence that my grades in my senior year were by far the best I had made in four years at college. He had given me a new incentive to study. Somehow I would have been ashamed to admit a poor college record, and I knew he would ask me.

      During my four years in France with the Canadian Field Artillery, Mr. Danforth and I corresponded regularly. When America entered the war he came to France as a Y.M.C.A. secretary, and once drove hundreds of kilometers from the American to the Canadian lines just to see me.

      After the war our correspondence continued. When I wrote him that I was selling insurance, he advised me to get into writing and offered me a position in his advertising department in St. Louis. I was doing well in the insurance job. My family and friends were in Canada. But I left them all just to be near this man.

      Arriving in St. Louis I was even more astonished that this extremely busy executive had found the time to keep up his contacts with me. He was guiding a rapidly expanding Ralston Purina Company. He was in the midst of all the problems in connection with the founding and organization of the American Youth Foundation. He was active in church work, college boards, Y.M.C.A., and other community projects. But he was never too busy to take a personal interest in those he classified as promising young people. Soon I discovered that I was only one of literally hundreds of young men and women he was challenging to lead a bigger and fuller life.

      For more than thirty-five years I was associated with Mr. Danforth in business. We traveled all over the world together. We hunted together. I saw him in his home, in his church, in youth camps, and on vacation with his family. Since his death I have read his diaries, which he had kept daily for more than fifty years.

      To me he is the most unforgettable character I ever knew. I am frankly and completely prejudiced in his favor. Not that he didn’t have faults. He had plenty of them, but that’s what made him so human. It was the way he treated his faults and his failures that appealed to me. He refused to brood over a mistake. If something went wrong he tackled a new and bigger project. Yesterday and its failures were forgotten. He concentrated all his energy and attention on today and tomorrow.

      Sometimes his methods made even his best friends furious. He could be positive and dictatorial when he set out to accomplish something. Once when a group of us arrived in an eastern city to put on a big dealer convention, he suddenly decided the night before the program opened that it needed to be changed. We had worked for weeks in preparation. The dramatizations were all rehearsed, properties were made. We told him it was impossible to change at that late date. But we stayed up all night, wrote new lines, rehearsed new skits and prepared new properties. Next morning the convention opened with a bang. The new approach was right on the beam. After it was all over we realized his intuition had saved the day, and all the unpleasantness we had gone through was for the benefit of all of us.

      I have often wondered what direction my life would have taken if I had never met William H. Danforth. He introduced me to an exciting world of people, places and ideas. He never ceased to challenge me to dream big dreams, and then encouraged me to make those dreams come true. He filled his own eighty-five years with rich and joyous living. He was a successful businessman and a successful Christian at the same time. He believed that nice guys can finish first and that it is more fun to do right than wrong. He loathed waste in any form, but especially the waste of human talents. He maintained that all people have latent capacities which will enrich their lives if they will only develop them. His own life was a direct projection of that belief. He founded and built one of America’s largest business corporations. Through his church, Y.M.C.A., and the American Youth Foundation, he stimulated thousands of young people to strive for higher ideals and more rewarding lives. Successful in making money, he became even

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1