When I hear the phrases Musk, Bezos, Buffet, and Gates, greenback indicators flash in my thoughts like slot machines on the Horseshoe Casino. Like most individuals, I don’t consider myself as having a lot in widespread with billionaires. In this case, nevertheless, it seems I used to be unsuitable.
Robert Ralph Parsons, higher recognized to the world as Bob, is a 73-year-old Baltimore native whose memoir, Fire within the Hole: The Untold Story of My Traumatic Life and Explosive Success, invitations readers to affix him on a journey from his humble childhood in Highlandtown, by way of the thick mud of Vietnam rice paddies, into parenthood, failed marriages, and on to the momentous success of his many enterprise ventures, together with GoDaddy and Parsons Xtreme Golf, simply to call just a few. With stark honesty and the occasional crassness befitting a Vietnam-era Marine, Fire within the Hole! feels as simple as the person himself.
If the reply to the query “When ought to I write a e book?” is “when you have got sufficient tales to fill one,” then Parsons’s determination to pursue this challenge was smart—the person has tales. The first chapter incorporates a household historical past steeped in injustice and lawlessness, which offers an ideal rough-around-the-edges framework for the image of the Parsons household that follows.
Bob was born in 1950 to folks Elsie and Ralph, the primary of three youngsters in what we be taught was a loveless dwelling. “Mom was a stunningly stunning girl who had all of the love crushed out of her as a baby. As a end result, she didn’t know easy methods to give love.” His father, a failed businessman and a gambler, was usually absent, although Bob credit each dad and mom with “doing the very best they might.” Given his less-than-ideal begin in life, it is sensible that Bob struggled in school. In reality, he failed the fifth grade (although he managed to keep away from repeating it—find out how he pulled that off in “’Fair’ is What You Pay When You Get on a Bus”) and credit his enlistment into the Marine Corps as his solely method out of highschool. As he places it, “Had I not joined, I don’t consider there was a shot in hell I’d’ve gotten my diploma.”
Chapter seven, titled “Tell Your Mama to Sell the Toilet, ‘Cause Your Ass Is Ours!”, begins Bob’s journey into the sacred brotherhood of the United States Marine Corps. An Army vet myself, I felt instantly at dwelling amidst the chaos and camaraderie that comprised his fundamental coaching expertise (although the model I skilled in 2012 most likely was a cakewalk in comparison with his in ‘68). There is one thing sacred about shared struggling that bonds you to your fellow servicemembers. With the Marines, Bob found himself, growing self-respect and a way of belonging, a sense that has caught with him all through his life. Once a Marine, all the time a Marine.
Throughout the following a number of chapters, Bob recounts his time in Vietnam. Some of the lighter-hearted moments embrace errant snake taking pictures and failed makes an attempt at grenades, in addition to pilfering a “rubber woman” (and no, that doesn’t imply what you suppose). Mostly, although, Parsons tells of loss—misplaced sleep, misplaced innocence, misplaced Corpsmen. An harm led to his elimination from the jungle, although he tried exhausting to return. Eventually, his enlistment ended, however his gratitude to the women and men who fought alongside him stands robust to this present day. In reality, the e book is devoted to them.
After his time in service, Bob settles down and begins a household. Like me, he used his G.I. Bill to attend the University of Baltimore whereas working full-time to help his household. During that point, he discovered himself battling signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), although he didn’t perceive its implications totally till a lot later in life. Later, he acknowledges untreated PTSD from his time at conflict and his tough childhood had a major influence on his marriages and his youngsters. His pursuit of therapy many years later and his advocacy for veterans are indicative of his willingness to do exhausting issues. From a technology of males who have been taught to swallow their ache till they drowned, I discovered Parsons’s pursuit of therapeutic to be as refreshing as it’s inspiring.
There is extra within the e book about his enterprise ventures that skyrocketed his household from barely making it to dwelling the excessive life—tales value studying and maybe paying attention to in case you’re an entrepreneur. But I discovered the components about his childhood, time in service, and his relationships with family and friends to be probably the most compelling. That’s most likely as a result of, not like the billion-dollar concepts, I discover the opposite bits extra relatable. Overall, I discovered Bob Parsons to be relatable, which stunned the hell out of me. Bob Parsons—the billionaire I’d have a beer with (although, to make certain, he’s shopping for).
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Baltimore Launch Event
Monday May 6, 4 p.m.
Book discuss and Q&A with Bob Parsons, moderated by Kurt Schmoke
University of Baltimore Wright Theater, 21 W. Mt. Royal, fifth ground
Followed by signing and reception.
Send your R.S.V.P. for this occasion.
