TWENTY-FIVE
Excerpt
We were in position behind our lectern minutes before the
7:00 pm starting time, and Don started telling jokes. It was the first time I
heard the “Archibald Barrasshol” joke that has been a mainstay of my joke
telling ever since. I was laughing so hard, as was the staff, that I started
to relax. I recovered just in time to say right on cue, “Good Evening, my name
is Jim Kaiser. I am a stockbroker with Paine, Webber, Jackson, and Curtis and
welcome to “This Week On Wall Street.” (This was the name of the firm before
it became PaineWebber.) The mention of stockbroker and the firm was a New York
Stock Exchange requirement when speaking to the general public.
After the show, our Advertising Director took Don and me
and our wives out for dinner. I told him I wanted to continue as one of the
participants on the show. Much to my surprise, he agreed It was a half hour
program, and because it was Public Broadcasting, there were no commercials,
not even the brief ones you see today. This meant a full thirty minutes of air
time. The first thirteen minutes were devoted to reporting the news and giving
some closing quotes on local companies. Then we played a taped interview with
one of our security analysts in New York. However, it was more complicated
than that.
We would receive a script of the taped audio message, but
only the answers were on tape. While live on the set, I would pick up a phone
and start “talking” to the analyst, who at this time was probable just
finishing dinner some place in New York.
The audiotape started to roll and I had to time my
questions, so it appeared he was actually on the phone answering them. Tricky
stuff for a neophyte. This would take about three or four minutes, and then we
would switch to a guest who would be in the studio, and this took place around
a coffee table.
We had most of the Captains of Industry from the area as
guests. Included were the CEO’s of 3M, Pillsbury, General Mills, Honeywell,
Northern States Power, Northwest Airlines, and many more. We went through
them, one each week, and it provided some interesting moments.
Meeting with them before air time, we would review what was
going to happen. This was a new experience for many of them; TV exposure was
not what it is today. I did not preview any of the questions for fear I would
think I had already asked it. On one occasion, the CEO asked if I would start
the interview by asking him a specific question.
“Sure. What is the question?”
“Could you start by asking me: To what do I attribute my company’s success?”
That sounded innocent enough, so when the time came I
introduced him to the audience, including his background and a brief company
history. Then I asked the question.
“John, to what do you attribute your companies success?”
He paused, rubbed his chin, and then repeated the question,
as though it was something he never considered before.
“PEOPLE, it has to be the people.”
Don and I almost lost it.
We were not satisfied, and continued to make the program
more complicated. Back then the price of gold did not float as it does today.
One Friday morning, the United Kingdom devalued the Pound. It was a
significant economic story. I called KTCA and asked them if we could have the
option of expanding our program to one hour, if I could find a suitable guest.
They had no idea what I was talking about, but they agreed. Great, now I
needed a guest.
I called the President of the Ninth Federal Reserve Bank,
which was located in Minneapolis, and described the situation. It took a
little convincing, but he finally agreed.
Shortly after booking him, Bob Punch called me from out of
town. He saw the London story and suggested we include this event in our
evening broadcast. I told him it was a great idea, then preceded to tell him
what I had done. He was impressed. Bob was a powerful man in the firm and
impressing him was a good thing.
While Don and I were preparing for the program, we were
also watching the Networks’ coverage of the story.
It is 1968 and life is good. My phone is now working both
ways. Customers are calling me, but out going calls still exceed incoming by
20 to 1. It is time to move up in the world.
Bonnie and I purchased a 2.25acre lot in North Oaks,
Minnesota. What an appropriate name, the lot is full of mature white and red
oak trees. I have always had a love affair with trees. It may have started
with my favorite willow tree, or maybe it is the apple and plum trees we had
when I was a youth. Or, it could be my experience on that long rope hanging
from my friend’s tree! I am always looking for another spot to plant a tree.
North Oaks was not new to Bonnie and me. It is located ten
miles north of where we lived, and both of us had driven past it many times,
even in our youth. Previously it had been the 5,000-acre residence and farm of
James J. Hill, the Empire Builder, who had created the Great Northern
Railroad.
His career started as railroad agent in 1866, and by 1893 he
had built the GN that stretched from Minnesota to the Puget Sound in
Washington. He died in 1916 and was buried in North Oaks on a family plot of
seven acres surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The body has been removed, and
the site overlooking Pleasant Lake is now an arboretum.
After his death, the land was carefully divided into
individual lots of an acre or more. Tight control was used to maintain the
beauty of the heavy forest, the four lakes, and many ponds. All the roads
followed natural contours. The Hill Estate was in no hurry to develop the
land, and they sold only seven or eight lots a year. There was a manned
gatehouse at the entrance, which was unusual at the time.
We moved in to our new house one week before Christmas in
1968.The house was set back from the road by 200 feet, and in that dense
woods, it was barely visible from the road. But I still found places to plant
more trees, and ordered 1,500 small pine trees from the Minnesota Forestry
Department. Steve, Kathy, and Mark stayed home from school for two days to
help me plant them.
As the trees matured, we would cut one of them for our
Christmas tree. There were so many trees that they arched over the driveway,
and made it look like a tunnel. When I stood outside by the house and looked
up, I felt like I was at the bottom of a well and all I could see was a small
circle of sky.
One day I was clearing the underbrush from this area when a
car stopped. The man approached me and introduced himself.
“Hello, I am Louis Hill.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hill. I know who you are. You are the
grandson of James J. Hill. My name is Jim Kaiser.”
Mr. Hill continued, “When driving by, I couldn’t help but
notice where you are standing.”
Read more in the book. . .
