Description
"Charley Ellis has written a magnificent portrait, capturing the indomitable spirit of Joe Wilson and his instinctive understanding of the need for and commercial usefulness of a transforming imaging technology. Joe Wilson and his extraordinary team, which I had the good fortune to first meet in 1960, epitomized the wonderful observation of George Bernard Shaw who said, 'Some look at things that are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were and ask why not?'
Xerox and xerography are not only a part of our vocabulary, but part of our everyday life. Charley Ellis gives the reader a poignant understanding of just how this happened through the life, adventures, critical business decisions, and dreams of Joseph Wilson and a cadre of remarkable individuals.
This book will surely join the library of memorable biographies that capture the building of America into a risk-tolerant, technologically sophisticated, idea-oriented society that thrives by understanding what Charles Darwin really said:
'Survival will be neither to the strongest of the species, nor to the most intelligent, but to those most adaptable to change.'"
—Frederick Frank, Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Inc.
Table of Contents
Introduction
by Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation ix
Foreword
by Joel Podolny, Dean, Yale School of Management xv
1 Early Years 1
2 Peggy 13
3 The Thirties 19
4 Years of Struggle 29
5 Chet Carlson 39
6 Battelle 51
7 Contact—Just Barely 57
8 Sol Linowitz 67
9 Toward Xerox 79
10 The University 97
11 Worst of Times, Best of Times 111
12 Joe Wilson 131
13 IBM, RCA, and GE 135
14 Gathering Strength in Finance 147
15 Building the Organization 157
16 Going International 177
17 Going It Alone 191
18 5¢ 199
19 The 914 209
20 Go! 225
21 Getting on Message 239
22 Xerox: Zoom-Zoom 259
23 Fuji-Xerox 267
24 Challenges of Success 275
25 Minister Florence 289
26 LIFE 301
27 Public Service 315
28 Winding Down 325
29 No Longer CEO 337
30 At the Rockefellers’ 353
Afterword 359
Joe Wilson: In His Own Words 371
Acknowledgments 377
Index 381
