Everybody has a Story

Introduction to the Book: 

                  Everyone has three lives- the public, the private and the one nobody knows/

                                    Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The object of excellent writing is to educate and entertain.

                                    Dr. Ronald Newman, University of Miami

                  The hardest part is getting started.

                                   Me

I have either been listening to or telling stories all my life. Somewhere along the way, I began writing articles for various professional publications. Since I have never been enamored with dry detail and totally uninteresting “professional” content, I often chose to spice the articles up by weaving stories into the message or points I was trying to make- bringing my personal life experiences into the text. 

People seemed to like it, so I have made it a hallmark of my writing style. 

As I think of it, it started while I was an undergraduate at the University of Miami. One of my earliest classes was “The Nineteenth Century English Novel”. The instructor was Dr. Ronald Newman, a graduate of the University of Michigan. I remember two of his quotes. One was a line from a poem written by Robert Browning: “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for…” The second was the one mentioned above. 

I don’t know how many 19th Century English novels were covered during the semester-long class, but I do know this: I didn’t read a single one of them all the way through. What I did do was attend every single class and take an enormous number of notes. Along the way, I picked up the fact that when D. Newman was questioning someone, he was especially thrilled if their response to the question included something he had said in an earlier class. 

Putting the two together (notes and ego-stroking), I quickly became one of Dr. Newman’s favorites, and when the final exam came, I was ready. As he passed out the Blue Books in which we wrote our answers and the questions, I was confident. 

And my confidence was well-founded. Every single question had already been asked and discussed in class. Nothing was new. My answers filled two and a half books in the two hours allocated for the test. 

I left the class knowing I would get an A. Why? Because I wrapped his comments up in stories of my own and fed them back to him. 

I even managed to throw in Robert Browning’s quote.

I was so proud of myself… 

When we got our grades (posted on the door of Dr. Newman’s office, there was a note by my name- a cryptic, “See Me”. 

It was not a real confidence-builder. 

A couple of days later, I went to his office during regular Office Hours. I was met with a big smile. Dr. Newman was holding my two Blue Books. 

“I thought you might want these,” he said. 

On the cover of the first Blue Book was written: “A++ Mr. Crans, the object of excellent writing is to educate and entertain, and you have done both!” 

My God! I had stumbled across the shortcut. All I had to do was write entertaining final exam papers and I would get an A every time. 

And it worked- except for twice. The first time was in Russian History class. The class was taught by Dr. Govorchin who told us at the semester that if we couldn’t do research in original sources, we would not be able to get an A. Since I could not read Russian and was not bright enough to ask if translations of original sources counted as original sources, I got the only B I ever received in my major. 

I will tell you about the second time later in the book. 

A few weeks ago, I interviewed Brent Johnson, former VP of Supply Chain for Intermountain Health. During our conversation, he said something reminiscent of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez quote that precedes this Introduction. Brent said, “Fred, I have known you superficially for years, but it was nice to get to know you better during this conversation.” 

His statement resonated with me. My response was a flippant, “I know what you mean, Brent. I’ve known myself superficially all my life.” We both laughed and it was a nice way to end the interview. 

It occurred to me that most people only know each other superficially, and that is a shame. Be it from fear, reticence to share secrets, or a hundred other motivations, our knowledge of most people does not extend beyond what we see and experience when we interact with them. 

Were it not for the podcast conversation, I would not have known about Brent Johnson’s church mission to Oaxaca, Mexico. Were it not for several car rides together, I would not have known about Bob Simpson’s experience as an Army medic in Vietnam. If it weren’t for another conversation, I would not have known that Karen Conway once was a guest at a picnic with the 1961 Yankees or that Barbara Strain grew up a Giants fan in the East Bay. 

My intent as I write this book is to share at least some of all three parts of my life- the public, the private and the secret in order to give those who know me a better idea of who I am and what shaped my development, to share some of the stories that have stayed with me and perhaps to encourage others to do the same. The more we share about ourselves and our stories, the better. 

Let’s get started.