Sons in the Shadow explores the dynamics of family relationships in businesses both large and small about which relatively little has been written. The book examines father-son relationships and what it's like to be the son of a self-made entrepreneur working in a family business enterprise. Roy H. Park was a Forbes 400 entrepreneur who grew up on a small North Carolina farm, put himself through college during the Great Depression and went through four careers to build a multimedia empire. His Park Communications, Inc. radio, TV and newspaper media and outdoor billboards in 23 states reached 25 percent of the American public before his death in 1993. The book describes the way he built his empire and dealt with those who worked for him - or got in his way. The thousands of sons or daughters of founders and bosses who work for their fathers or for a family business will be able to relate to and profit from the frank discussion of the bare-souled relationship in this book.
Comments from bestselling author P.J. O'Rourke:
"Sons in the Shadow is a wonderful book. I was particularly moved by the "Forbes and Fallout" and "Never Sell - Never?" chapters. I admire Park's honesty and bravery in putting all this down on paper (and I loved naming the dog "Forbes"). Having grown up in a family business (albeit on a much smaller scale), I'm alive to the politics involved. My grandfather, J.J. O'Rourke, started O'Rourke Buick in Toldeo, Ohio and everyone in my enormous Irish family was involved. (My first job was there, of course.) I took my wife to meet my family and she said, afterward, "All anybody talks about is your Grandpa Jake - and he's been dead for 50 years." I told her, "They'll still be talking when he's been dead for 100." Sounds like the same will be true of the senior Roy Park. I also want to thank the author for a thought I intend to drill in to my children: "God gave us a soul. Our duty is to give it meaning. He wants it back." Congratulations on a splendid book - one that should be a text in every MBA program. Business is a lot more than a bunch of numbers. (As some business types on Wall Street have been finding out.) Everything in life is about people. We can finish our MBA studies or our Poly Sci studies or our J-School studies, or whatever, but we're never done with our study of people. And Park has written a great one."