by Ted Turner
First published 2008
Ted Turner opens his life story with the motto that shaped him: work hard and advertise. He traces his path from a lonely childhood at boarding school to becoming one of America's wealthiest men and largest landowners. Turner explains how he created TBS and CNN, transforming television forever. He recounts winning the America's Cup as a champion sailor and bringing a World Series trophy to Atlanta as owner of the Braves. Turner doesn't avoid painful memories. He describes losing his sister at seventeen and his father's suicide when Ted was in his twenties. He discusses his marriages, including his relationship with Jane Fonda, who contributes her own insights about his character. Turner shares behind-the-scenes moments, like the day he made himself manager of the Braves and his near-death experience in the 1979 Fastnet sailing race. He reveals conversations with world leaders like Castro and Gorbachev, plus business titans including Gates and Buffett. Turner examines the disastrous AOL Time Warner merger and presents his ideas for saving the world. This autobiography captures Turner's unfiltered voice as he explains what drives him and what angers him.
Genres: history, business, autobiography
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: rags-to-riches, self-made-man
Setting: America, Atlanta, Cuba, Russia
Period: 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s
433 pages · Hardcover · Grand Central Publishing
Content warnings: death, suicide