The guy who invented the Hershey bar failed six times before getting his famous concoction right.
What author John L. Herman Jr. wants people to think about is what would have happened if Milton Hershey had quit trying after five.
“I?m a business guy who has bought and sold over 300 companies in my life. I?ve been involved with a thousand companies that were losing money,” Herman said. “What I want to do now is be more of a teacher, give lectures and seminars and tell people out there that it?s OK to fail. It?s not fatal.”
Herman?s first book, “The Innkeeper Tales,” recounts his life and experiences as the owner of the Abacrombie, a bed-and-breakfast in downtown Baltimore. Written in a style modeled after Chaucer?s “Canterbury Tales,” the novel is a glimpse into the personal and business lives of 14 men strandedat the Abacrombie during an early spring Baltimore blizzard.
“The stories are 100 percent true,” Herman said. “But you have to read the whole book to get the twist that proves they are true at the end.”
The tales come directly out of conversations heard around the table in the inn?s breakfast room. Several of the men talk about how their lives took them down career paths they never expected, from fixing cars to joining the Air Force. Several of the tales tell of a rebuilding after failure and hardship.
The character Mike haltingly tells what it was like to suffer sexual abuse from one of his Boy Scout leaders. Tuck tells about being drafted into Vietnam almost immediately after college, shattering his dreams of going into business. Each man has a story about life topics that include divorce, business failure, scandal and corruption.
Herman says that one reason he decided to write the book is to encourage young people to try without fear of failure. After the book, which took him a year to write, hits shelves in early 2007, Herman will be starting a series of lectures and seminars aimed at inspiring and motivating college students and young businesspeople.
“Colleges today only teach about success, not what happens when you fail,” Herman said. “I want [readers] to get that it?s okay to try, it?s OK to get up off your butt and make something happen.”
