Being Dead is Bad for Business

A Memoir

By Stanley A. Weiss

BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY

496 Pages, 6 x 9

Formats: Hardback, EPUB

Hardback, $25.95 (US $25.95) (CA $35.00)

Publication Date: February 2017

ISBN 9781633310124

Rights: WOR

Disruption Books (Feb 2017)

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Price:	$25.95

Overview

"Rumbustious, warm and disarmingly candid … This is an astonishing life, recounted with humor and wit."
—The Wall Street Journal

Most of us spend our lives talking ourselves out of things. But what could you accomplish if you never held yourself back?

What if, despite your fears, you went for broke every time? You might live a life as extraordinary as the one Stanley Weiss has lived for nearly a century.

A skinny Jewish kid from Philadelphia training to fight and likely die in the U.S. invasion of Japan in 1945, Stanley Weiss came home to the death of his loving but weak father, who left his mother penniless. Inspired by a Humphrey Bogart movie, Weiss moved to a foreign country to hunt for treasure—where Rule Number One was ”Don’t Die.” Along the way, his zest for living has taken him from the company of legendary artists and poets in Mexico, to writers and beatniks in 1960s San Francisco and Hollywood; from drunken nights with a notorious spy to friendships with three of the men who played James Bond; from glamorous parties in Gstaad and Phuket to power politics in London and Washington, DC. For those who believe the world is shaped by ordinary people who push themselves to do extraordinary things, Stanley Weiss’s story will inspire and surprise while reminding us all that being dead is bad for business—and being boring is bad for life.

Reviews

"Rumbustious, warm and disarmingly candid … This is an astonishing life, recounted with humor and wit."
—The Wall Street Journal

"Well written with great storytelling, the book is funny, poignant, and almost breathlessly candid about Weiss's own shortcomings. A rich, compelling read about a self-made man."
—Lesley Stahl, correspondent for 60 Minutes and bestselling author of Becoming Grandma

"A great read about a great life! Stanley Weiss's reflections are sonderfully introspective, refreshingly candid, remarkably self-effacing, and hugely fascinating."
—General David Petraeus, former Director of the CIA and the commander of coalition forces in Iraq and Afghanistan

"Just like the film characters he reveres, Stanley Weiss brings us a story of charm, courage, and adventure—and he tells it all with his trademark wit and insight. It is a masterful book."
—Lord Carrington, Foreign Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the last living member of Winston Churchill's cabinet

"Weiss recounts his life with vigor and possesses the easy narrative skills of a seasoned raconteur. The depth and width of his experiences over the course of the last half-century ensures that the book glitters with anecdotal diamonds."
—Kirkus Reviews

"Wow. After reading his memoir, I now see that I previously knew less than 5 percent of Stanley Weiss. He is a multifaceted, peripatetic, well-read, energetic, broadly connected, multi-movied bon vivant and more. Awesome."
—Josh S. Weston, former CEO and Honorary Chairman of Automatic Data Processing Inc.

"Being Dead Is Bad for Business is an engrossing read. It offers a clear-eyed, engaging look at one serial entrepreneur's journey from a driven, starry-eyed youth to an international business executive and philanthropist."
—Foreword Clarion Reviews

Author Biography

Stanley A. Weiss was the Founding Chairman of Business Executives for National Security and former chairman of the mining, refractories, chemicals and mineral processing company, American Premier, Inc. He has written widely on public policy matters. His work has appeared in HuffPost, the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Washington Times. His first book, Manganese: The Other Uses, is the definitive work on the non-metallurgical uses of manganese. He passed away in 2021.

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