Jim Sorenson was born into poverty to teenage parents. As a small boy in California he shelled walnuts and sold things door-to-door to help put food on his family's table. Hope for a better future was dashed for a time by a teacher who branded him "mentally retarded." Yet he died a billionaire, having risen to rare heights as an inventor and entrepreneur. Dyslexia made reading extremely difficult, but also planted the seeds of awesome abilities. He invented many medical instruments that today are standard in hospitals across the world, and pioneered entire industries while launching some 40 companies. Jim was an American original--eccentric and complex, who preached teamwork but was utterly incapable of being anything but the leader; insistent on his rules but indifferent to everyone else's. After co-founding one of the nation's first biotechnology companies, he left and began Sorenson Research. Jim coveted results, not resumes. He hired a machinist and a sewing-machine repairman. Starting almost from scratch, the three invented ingenious medical devices, selling the company fifteen years later for $100 million. Real estate was the other pillar of Jim's wealth. He was reputed to be his state's largest private landowner. His genius in acquiring land and holding, selling, or developing it created a blueprint others can profitably follow. Jim was a philosopher and idealist, pouring a fortune into a quest for peace. He brought antagonistic religions together in international summits, and gathered 100,000 human DNA samples from 90 percent of all countries, believing that if diverse peoples are shown they are related, they will learn to leave peaceably. Jim was also a husband and father of eight whose family struggled to relate to him as he single-mindedly pursued his dreams.
About the AuthorRoderick, Lee: - Lee Roderick is an award-winning journalist and author with broad national and international experience. During two decades in Washington, D.C. he was bureau chief for Scripps League Newspapers--30 papers in 15 states. He directed a staff of reporters, personally covered the White House and Congress, and wrote a national political column. Roderick traveled the globe covering major stories and was the only U.S. correspondent to succeed in interviewing Americans held hostage by Iran before their release in 1981. Roderick in 1988 was elected by his peers as president of the National Press Club--the leading public forum in the United States for national and world leaders. A native of Idaho, he returned to the Mountain West in 1990 as managing editor and then news director at KSL Television in Salt Lake City. His book career began with the critically acclaimed Leading the Charge: Orrin Hatch and 20 Years of America (Gold Leaf Press, 1994). He has since written seven other books, including True Wealth: The Vision and Genius of Innovator James LeVoy Sorenson (Probitas Press, 2017). His feature articles have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, American Heritage, Christian Science Monitor, and Parade magazine among other publicans. Roderick majored in journalism and political science at Utah State University, where he edited the campus newspaper and was student body president. He served a two-year mission to New Zealand for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As an undergraduate he was the northern Utah-Southern Idaho reporter for the Associated Press. Roderick received a master's degree in international affairs from George Washington University. He received an honorary doctorate from Southern Utah University. Roderick and his wife Yvonne have six children and live in northern Utah.
