The exceptional lives of our industry's leaders
Jerry Epperson -- Furniture Today, February 8, 2004
On occasion, my wife and I take a moment to recall our travels and remember the extraordinary experiences we have enjoyed. Trust us, when we were married 34 years ago, we had no idea we would visit several continents and have friends around the globe. From dining with the mayor of Hong Kong to being invited to the White House is quite a ways from Mildred's Meals, which is near our hometown of 1,500 on the Virginia/North Carolina border. By the way, Mildred's Meals has better food. Ask Clyde Hooker; he knows.
We owe all this to the furniture industry and to the people we have come to know. Unfortunately, most of us seldom have the opportunity to see how very talented many of these people are in other fields.
Since the founding of the American Furniture Hall of Fame, I have successfully nominated four gentlemen — Wade Kincaid, Smith Young, John Vaughan and Bo Bland. In every instance, as I prepared my nomination, I learned about achievements I found hard to believe. How could they do all that and still run furniture companies?
For example, did you know that La-Z-Boy's Pat Norton flew bombers over Germany in World War II? Or that Smith Young served on destroyers in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans? Did you know Nat Ancell considered playing professional sports? Our industry's leaders have been mayors of their towns, started hospitals, served on key government committees and defended our nation.
Recently, I had the opportunity to have dinner with Farooq Kathwari and his lovely wife when he was presenting the America's First Freedom Award, an honor he won in 2003. We all know he has taken Ethan Allen into new concepts and broadened its appeal, but did you know he is on the executive committee of the America Furniture Manufacturers Assn. as a manufacturer and a director of the National Retail Federation as a retailer?
He also is on the Council on Foreign Relations, is a trustee of both the World Conference on Religion and Peace, and Freedom House, a director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University and of Refugees International and the Henry L. Stimson Center, and has won several important awards, including the National Human Relations Award from the American Jewish Committee, Worth magazine's "50 Best CEOs in the U.S.A." and the NRF's Gold Medal.
On top of all that, he's chairman of the Kashmir Study Group and has been a key player in trying to bring peace to his homeland.
There's no question that Kathwari is exceptional among men, but so are many of our industry's leaders.
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