Gary Friendshuh is still alive and may God grant him many more years but the country he was born in, the nation that nurtured his charmed boomer life is dead. The property values have gone up and the wages of honest work have gone down. None of that is Gary's fault, and why shouldn't he reap some of the profits to be made in the consolidation, subdivision and development of the real estate that ensued during the unprecedented prosperity and peace and suburbanization of the country?
Even after you consider the post-WWII-20th Century privilege, Gary is an interesting fellow. I admire his commitment to recording his life and wisdom for the benefit of his descendants, who are numerous, and one of whom kindly sent me this book for review, having been a long time reader of LaFond's.
Gary and his crew of wife and sons criss-cross the west from Minnesota to Alaska to Colorado and enjoy many wilderness adventures. Gary is a gifted athlete, a hard worker and very lucky in business and real estate. He is relentlessly upbeat about things, even in the rare case they don't go his way.
The chapter about Gary’s difficulties in publishing and selling his children’s stories hit close to home for me, familiar as I am with the process, and it allowed Gary to introspect as he ran up against the end of his lucky streak in business ventures. The Midas Touch just isn’t what it used to be now that we are in the 2020s.
Gary recounts the episodes of his life in mostly chronological order, from a wholesome childhood, to courting his future wife in college, to quickly growing his family and throughout, he quite single mindedly follows his own impulses and dreams of owning land, hunting, sailing, competitive handball, ranching and more. His straightforward storytelling made it easy for my daughters to follow along as I read a chapter or two each night. Only in a couple places did I need to smooth over some PG-13 content for them but it's all very tame in comparison to the average LaFond story. Biographies of uncommon yet unfamous men are a theme in the LaFond world, and A Path Less Taken makes a worthy addition to the virtual bookshelf.