Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story

Remember that success requires half luck and half brains, Kemmons Wilson likes to say. It is one of his 20 Tips for Success, the rules by which he made it big.
In his autobiography, Half Luck and Half Brains, Wilson illustrates those 20 Tips through the various episodes that shaped his incredible life story. It took some luck to bail him out when he mistakenly built his first house on the wrong lot. But it took brains to leverage his investment in that house many times over with borrowed money.
In evaluating a career, put opportunity ahead of security, says Wilson in another of his tips. And he shows how he lived by his own advice. Even in his late 60s, he put his fortune on the line to build Orange Lake Country Club, which became the world's largest timeshare resort.
In Half Luck and Half Brains, Wilson gives readers not only the chance to share the fun he had along the way, but also the opportunity to learn the secrets of one of America's greatest self-made entrepreneurs.