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The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota—George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author’s paternal grandfather and Hormel’s Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel’s comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company’s coffers, nearly bringing the company to its knees.
The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesn’t end there.
In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our country’s early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives. The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy equally chronicles Cherington’s journey from blind faith in family lore to a nuanced consideration of the three men’s great strengths and flaws—and a multilayered, thoughtful exploration of the ways we all must contend with the mythology of powerful men, our reverence for heroes, and the legacy of a complicated past.
The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesn’t end there.
In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our country’s early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives. The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy equally chronicles Cherington’s journey from blind faith in family lore to a nuanced consideration of the three men’s great strengths and flaws—and a multilayered, thoughtful exploration of the ways we all must contend with the mythology of powerful men, our reverence for heroes, and the legacy of a complicated past.
257 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2023
15 people are currently reading
5169 people want to read
About the author
Gretchen Cherington
3 books38 followersI grew up in a literary family and around many literary icons from Robert Frost to Anne Sexton to James Dickey. Eschewing the writing life, I went into business and over nearly forty years advised hundreds of CEOs and their executive teams on how to turn their companies into places where both business and people could thrive. On the side, I sketched out scenes of what I thought might become a memoir, which they did in 2020 when my first memoir came out -- Poetic License. Arriving on June 6 is my second memoir The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy--A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry. It's about my paternal grandfather who helped George Hormel through twenty years from 1901-1922 build what would become an international brand. It's part memoir, part true-crime, part business history. My third book, in the works, will be fiction but will continue with my themes of complicated family legacy, our reverence for heroes, and the mythology of powerful men.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 17, 2023
When I hear stories about women being ‘casually’ (as in seemingly so easily & so often) assault3d by their fathers, grandfathers, uncles - I am always beyond horrified and disgusted at those depraved, filthy, evil men. 😔
(but this isn’t what this story is about - not really, not quite… )
𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Men, Meat, Mistakes and Mischief
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: George Hormel (ruthless)
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Normal
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Book
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Memoir - Historical
4.3/𝟱
🌱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
Amidst a family tale with multiple players, historical events (meatpacking giants & FDA predecessor being set up), movements by no-colour immigrants (I wonder at the moments of the recently freed coloured peoples) & men - meeting, greeting, traveling & playing; I am HORRIFIED by the casualness of this- because it screams in a tiny chamber with excellent acoustics 😬
“A few months later, back in New Hampshire, full of energy to change the world, “Dad” (I had to use these, because that was a demon creature that needed to be put down, not your dad) molested me. At the party for Anne Sexton, right after she’d won her Pulitzer Prize… All that passion just got squashed. Sometimes, it feels almost intentional, as if to dampen my emerging womanhood just as it was taking off. I just went inward in shame. “
🌱🦖
In Austin, Minnesota (circa 1900 - 1921) when immigrant men were building, women caring for homes, children children-ing & lies, deceit, impersonation, borrowing, massive loans, egos & indomitable spirits flying wildly; the author tells us the story of how three men (& their women) pushed a legendary company into being & were in turn disillusioned by each other.
✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.
🎁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 @booksparks 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁.
(but this isn’t what this story is about - not really, not quite… )
𝗠𝘆 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲: Men, Meat, Mistakes and Mischief
𝗙𝗮𝘃 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗿: George Hormel (ruthless)
𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Normal
𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗲: Book
𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: Memoir - Historical
4.3/𝟱
🌱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄
Amidst a family tale with multiple players, historical events (meatpacking giants & FDA predecessor being set up), movements by no-colour immigrants (I wonder at the moments of the recently freed coloured peoples) & men - meeting, greeting, traveling & playing; I am HORRIFIED by the casualness of this- because it screams in a tiny chamber with excellent acoustics 😬
“A few months later, back in New Hampshire, full of energy to change the world, “Dad” (I had to use these, because that was a demon creature that needed to be put down, not your dad) molested me. At the party for Anne Sexton, right after she’d won her Pulitzer Prize… All that passion just got squashed. Sometimes, it feels almost intentional, as if to dampen my emerging womanhood just as it was taking off. I just went inward in shame. “
🌱🦖
In Austin, Minnesota (circa 1900 - 1921) when immigrant men were building, women caring for homes, children children-ing & lies, deceit, impersonation, borrowing, massive loans, egos & indomitable spirits flying wildly; the author tells us the story of how three men (& their women) pushed a legendary company into being & were in turn disillusioned by each other.
✨𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱.
🎁 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 @booksparks 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁.
June 14, 2023
This was such a wonderful behind the scenes of what went on at Hormel and all the key players. It was interesting to learn about George Hormel and how he got started in the meat packing business.
This is a scandal that is still talked about if you visit the Hormel house or the Spam museum.
It is still mind boggling to me that someone could steal over a million dollars and no one seemed to notice.
Gretchen did a very detailed exploration into the past and looking into her family.
This is a scandal that is still talked about if you visit the Hormel house or the Spam museum.
It is still mind boggling to me that someone could steal over a million dollars and no one seemed to notice.
Gretchen did a very detailed exploration into the past and looking into her family.
February 5, 2025
Another NH author. A little too much about the author that had nothing to do with story. Wish it had more pictures related to story about what was left of the amusement part. Felt like it had filler to make a certain length book.
June 4, 2023
I didn't want this book to end! Gretchen Cherington writes beautifully, lyrically and with great warmth and compassion for the three main players in this drama, as well as for the victims of collateral damage, including generations not yet born. The Butcher, The Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is a memoir, a history lesson, a story of a small city and an iconic midwestern business started in the early 1900s, a portrayal of family dynamics and, last but not least, a true crime story. Even though I knew from the beginning who "dunnit," I was on the edge of my seat while reading what actually happened and whether someone else was involved. That information was suspensefully withheld until the end. Cherington's research is deep and impressive and, though she was rooting for her grandfather to be uninvolved in the crime, she was gimlet-eyed throughout. She's comfortable with complexity and competing points of view. She sees the best in people, even while acknowledging their faults. And, the ultimate compliment for a memoir or a history lesson applies here: it reads like a novel!
April 25, 2023
This book is many things; I wonder if its author Gretchen Cherington realizes how many. It is the story of the founding of the Hormel meat company and an intimate glimpse of how the Midwest powered American progress and innovation in the early 20th century; it is a family memoir, and also a guide to writing family memoir. Cherington shows the reader or potential family memoirist how important it is to live for a while in the physical place where the tale evolved, how difficult it is to identify and then exclude the author’s personal experiences, memories, and biases, how important details are, and how selective the author must be in choosing what part of a massive bank of facts to present and in what order. Finally, and this is the reason the book reads in a flash, it is a mystery.
Cherington’s goal is to determine if her grandfather, Alpha LaRue Eberhart, known as A.L., was a good guy or a bad guy. The setting is Austin, Minnesota, the very definition of small town America, home of the Hormel meat company and the SPAM Museum. George Hormel, the company 's founder, was raised in hard times and was known as a rough person to deal with, but over a hundred years ago, he spied possibilities in Austin because the railroad ran through and it was in farmland where fine quality livestock were raised. Cherington’s grandfather A.L. was hired by George to pair his flair for sales with George's ambition.
George preferred to hire from within, and nurtured one of his employees, Ransome Josiah Thomson, known as “Cy”, to handle the accounts. Cy later confessed to siphoning off $1.187 million, (the modern equivalent of $18.7 million) through clever and brazen bookkeeping. His jail memoir is one of the personal journals Cherington mines for her story.
After the embezzlement was discovered, A.L. was fired, and Cherington wonders if he was complicit in the crime. Did George Hormel have good reason to fire him or was he looking for a fall guy?
It feels churlish to be picky because the book reads smoothly, is paced robustly, and the descriptions of places and characters are lively and intimate. But I did object to the author's untrammeled love of metaphors and similes. I'd go along with the frequently encountered advice that metaphor should be used sparingly.
By the end of the book, Cherington’s meticulous research has solved the mystery, leading to even more evaluation. Finding an answer can often lead to a new trail of breadcrumbs... Perhaps the final conclusion of this book should be “life is complicated.” Complicated, but very interesting.
Cherington’s goal is to determine if her grandfather, Alpha LaRue Eberhart, known as A.L., was a good guy or a bad guy. The setting is Austin, Minnesota, the very definition of small town America, home of the Hormel meat company and the SPAM Museum. George Hormel, the company 's founder, was raised in hard times and was known as a rough person to deal with, but over a hundred years ago, he spied possibilities in Austin because the railroad ran through and it was in farmland where fine quality livestock were raised. Cherington’s grandfather A.L. was hired by George to pair his flair for sales with George's ambition.
George preferred to hire from within, and nurtured one of his employees, Ransome Josiah Thomson, known as “Cy”, to handle the accounts. Cy later confessed to siphoning off $1.187 million, (the modern equivalent of $18.7 million) through clever and brazen bookkeeping. His jail memoir is one of the personal journals Cherington mines for her story.
After the embezzlement was discovered, A.L. was fired, and Cherington wonders if he was complicit in the crime. Did George Hormel have good reason to fire him or was he looking for a fall guy?
It feels churlish to be picky because the book reads smoothly, is paced robustly, and the descriptions of places and characters are lively and intimate. But I did object to the author's untrammeled love of metaphors and similes. I'd go along with the frequently encountered advice that metaphor should be used sparingly.
By the end of the book, Cherington’s meticulous research has solved the mystery, leading to even more evaluation. Finding an answer can often lead to a new trail of breadcrumbs... Perhaps the final conclusion of this book should be “life is complicated.” Complicated, but very interesting.
June 9, 2023
“We understand the power of denial, but only after. We don’t see things we don’t want to see until we’re in too deep. We excuse behavior we don’t want to confront. We blind ourselves to realities we aren’t ready to face.”
Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota—George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author’s paternal grandfather and Hormel’s Executive VP; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel’s comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company, nearly bringing the company to its knees.
In 1922, George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying of what they believe is cancer. But his story doesn’t end there…
This is a meticulously researched book by the granddaughter of A.L. Eberhart. The story of the resignation has been passed down through the generations in their family, clouded by doubt and rumor. Did he know? The family thinks not. But the local talk sometimes says otherwise. Digging through old letters, bank statements, archives, and what she knows of the man she believes her grandfather to have been, Gretchen stitches together the truth as she uncovers it.
I really enjoyed the pictures throughout the book, giving many of the characters a face and the scale of their homesteads some perspective. I also found the history of the meat industry, the invention of refrigerated train cars, and how the FDA got its start to be fascinating. And SPAM! What an interesting story.
Thank you @BookSparks + @gretchencheringtonauthor for the #gifted book.
Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota—George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author’s paternal grandfather and Hormel’s Executive VP; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel’s comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company, nearly bringing the company to its knees.
In 1922, George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he’d helped Hormel build—is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he’d rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying of what they believe is cancer. But his story doesn’t end there…
This is a meticulously researched book by the granddaughter of A.L. Eberhart. The story of the resignation has been passed down through the generations in their family, clouded by doubt and rumor. Did he know? The family thinks not. But the local talk sometimes says otherwise. Digging through old letters, bank statements, archives, and what she knows of the man she believes her grandfather to have been, Gretchen stitches together the truth as she uncovers it.
I really enjoyed the pictures throughout the book, giving many of the characters a face and the scale of their homesteads some perspective. I also found the history of the meat industry, the invention of refrigerated train cars, and how the FDA got its start to be fascinating. And SPAM! What an interesting story.
Thank you @BookSparks + @gretchencheringtonauthor for the #gifted book.
June 6, 2023
The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is a lovely evocation of time, memory and meaning. Author Gretchen Cherington delves into what is now known as The Hormel Food Company’s 1921 forced resignation of her grandfather A. L. Eberhart, a man she knows only through family history. She wants to learn if the family story is true: that her honest and hard-working grandfather was forced by George Hormel to resign, plunging his family into poverty as his wife lay dying of cancer.
Although Cherington’s truth is elusive, Cherington’s facts are indisputable. George Hormel hired Eberhart to help him run Hormel, which turned out to be a smart move. In the first few years of Eberhart’s employment, sales sky-rocketed. Hormel then hired Cy Thompson, “a Minnesotan Jay Gatsby,” - -a smooth-talking, ambitious guy, and money started disappearing. But no one noticed.
Cherington deftly moves her reader between past and present. In her search for the truth about her grandfather, she makes several trips to Hormel headquarters in Austin, MN. She interviews locals about what they heard of the Hormel Company’s near-bankruptcy, reads George Hormel’s unpublished autobiography, examines Cy Thompson’s confession, talks to folks at the Hormel archives, and chats up a well-connected local historian. But she also relies on what she has learned about male CEOs from her years as a business consultant, and what she has learned about mythmaking from Richard Eberhart, her famous poet father.
Was her grandfather somehow involved with Cy Thompson embezzling? Was he a victim of George Hormel’s Mafia-like obsession with corporate loyalty? Or was he just too weak to fight back? In this meticulously researched volume, Cherington keeps us guessing. A wonderful read!
Although Cherington’s truth is elusive, Cherington’s facts are indisputable. George Hormel hired Eberhart to help him run Hormel, which turned out to be a smart move. In the first few years of Eberhart’s employment, sales sky-rocketed. Hormel then hired Cy Thompson, “a Minnesotan Jay Gatsby,” - -a smooth-talking, ambitious guy, and money started disappearing. But no one noticed.
Cherington deftly moves her reader between past and present. In her search for the truth about her grandfather, she makes several trips to Hormel headquarters in Austin, MN. She interviews locals about what they heard of the Hormel Company’s near-bankruptcy, reads George Hormel’s unpublished autobiography, examines Cy Thompson’s confession, talks to folks at the Hormel archives, and chats up a well-connected local historian. But she also relies on what she has learned about male CEOs from her years as a business consultant, and what she has learned about mythmaking from Richard Eberhart, her famous poet father.
Was her grandfather somehow involved with Cy Thompson embezzling? Was he a victim of George Hormel’s Mafia-like obsession with corporate loyalty? Or was he just too weak to fight back? In this meticulously researched volume, Cherington keeps us guessing. A wonderful read!
May 10, 2023
Gretchen Cherington sets a high bar for herself in this remarkable work that manages to be a compelling historic account of the Hormel company’s origins; an intriguing story of the complex, flawed man who nearly destroyed it; and a brave effort to distinguish the truth from the mythology in her own family’s narrative. The result is a page turner (how and why did Cy Thomson embezzle and was her father a part of the crime?) as well as an evocative portrait of driven entrepreneurs and the community they helped create during the early twentieth century. Cherington manages to weave these threads together seamlessly along with offering a contemporary look at Hormel and the community of Austin. Her professional business experience as a coach to powerful CEOs and as a bank board member serve her well. She clearly explains complex financial matters and offers informed insight into the motivations of success-driven men like her grandfather and George Hormel. As intriguing as the Hormel story is, for this reader, the center of the book rests in the Eberhart family’s saga. I found myself deeply moved by A.L. Eberhart’s courage and determination during the worst of times. Cherington manages to portray her family members with compassion as well as candor, never stopping in her determination to find and share the truth.
June 3, 2023
There are many facets to The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy. It is a story of the origin and early years of the Hormel Foods company, a slice of midwestern history, a white-collar crime mystery and a family memoir. Gretchen Cherington's goal was to find out whether her grandfather, A.L. Eberhart, knew about or was complicit in, the embezzlement of 18.7 million dollars (in today's money) by another employee, "Cy" Thomson. Thomson's massive embezzlement had ripple effects for the company, the town of Austin, Minnesota, and the author's family. The book is meticulously researched and well-written, with the author delving into the how and why of events as well as the what. She is uniquely qualified to investigate these events at Hormel, having been a corporate consultant for decades. I enjoyed reading about how Hormel started as a small business and became a household name, the personalities involved, life in Austin, and the crime itself. It's astounding that a theft of such magnitude went undiscovered for so long; however, such crimes occur even today (eg. Theranos). The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy is an interesting and thought-provoking book. Thank you to BookSparks and SheWritesPress for a copy to review. @BookSparks @gretchencheringtonauthor #TheButcherTheEmbezzlerAndTheFallGuy #SummerPopUp
June 20, 2023
Well this story was absolutely fascinating!! I knew exactly nothing about Hormel going into this so this was an interesting little history lesson.
This is also one of the most readable nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Most nonfiction is heavier and I have to take some time with it but this book was well crafted and kept me turning the pages! I absolutely flew through it!!
This also read as more of a memoir than a definitive history of the company which I enjoyed as well. I loved learning about the author and her family as well as their place with the company and the fallout.
Also there’s a Spam museum?!? (Why was that my takeaway from this?) Who knew??? It also sounds… interesting.
ANYWAY. This is a fascinating little nonfiction number with some truly beautiful writing. I learned a ton and really enjoyed my time with this story.
I also really feel for the author and her grandfather and wish his place with the company had turned out differently. But I’m so thankful the author chose to share this story with us! This is an excellent read that I highly recommend!!
And thank you to BookSparks for sending a copy of this my way in exchange for an honest review!
This is also one of the most readable nonfiction books I’ve ever read. Most nonfiction is heavier and I have to take some time with it but this book was well crafted and kept me turning the pages! I absolutely flew through it!!
This also read as more of a memoir than a definitive history of the company which I enjoyed as well. I loved learning about the author and her family as well as their place with the company and the fallout.
Also there’s a Spam museum?!? (Why was that my takeaway from this?) Who knew??? It also sounds… interesting.
ANYWAY. This is a fascinating little nonfiction number with some truly beautiful writing. I learned a ton and really enjoyed my time with this story.
I also really feel for the author and her grandfather and wish his place with the company had turned out differently. But I’m so thankful the author chose to share this story with us! This is an excellent read that I highly recommend!!
And thank you to BookSparks for sending a copy of this my way in exchange for an honest review!
May 25, 2023
This novel follows writer Gretchen Cherington and her quest to discover whether or not her grandfather, Alpha LaRue (A.L) Eberhart, was part of a multimillion dollar, decade long embezzlement scandal of the multi-billion dollar company, Hormal Foods in Austin Minnesota in the early 1920s.
This book is packed full of history - (family and business), scandal, drama, legacies, legalities and the determination, cunning and grit it takes to make it to the top and come back from the brink of financial destruction. I found some parts a bit dry, while other parts were incredibly interesting. Plus I learned where SPAM came from!
Part memoir, part research, part of the author’s own conclusions and interpretations of events, this novel is rich in history, metaphor and complicated relationships.
An interesting and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Book Sparks and the author for the copy in exchange for review.
This book is packed full of history - (family and business), scandal, drama, legacies, legalities and the determination, cunning and grit it takes to make it to the top and come back from the brink of financial destruction. I found some parts a bit dry, while other parts were incredibly interesting. Plus I learned where SPAM came from!
Part memoir, part research, part of the author’s own conclusions and interpretations of events, this novel is rich in history, metaphor and complicated relationships.
An interesting and thought provoking read.
Thank you to Book Sparks and the author for the copy in exchange for review.
June 15, 2023
Thank you @booksparks @shewtitespress for this complimentary copy to read and review using my own voice.
Ahhh, the politics of meat business et al. This memoir’ish novel is packed with many interesting facts and stories about Hormel, small town of Minnesota and most of all greed. Gretchen Cherington’s writing has unveiled many leads for readers to digest and understand the successes and challenges of Hormel Food at its prime. The Gretchen’s intention to clear Eberhart’s name, Gretchen’s grandfather, has helped or made the situation worse? Amazing book with plenty more of pictures and information to support the storyline. I really liked this book because as a “Spam” enthusiast, I have been given the opportunity to learn about Hormel and the behind the scenes of the causation of the company. Great book!
Ahhh, the politics of meat business et al. This memoir’ish novel is packed with many interesting facts and stories about Hormel, small town of Minnesota and most of all greed. Gretchen Cherington’s writing has unveiled many leads for readers to digest and understand the successes and challenges of Hormel Food at its prime. The Gretchen’s intention to clear Eberhart’s name, Gretchen’s grandfather, has helped or made the situation worse? Amazing book with plenty more of pictures and information to support the storyline. I really liked this book because as a “Spam” enthusiast, I have been given the opportunity to learn about Hormel and the behind the scenes of the causation of the company. Great book!
May 6, 2023
Who would have thought that a tale about the early 20th century beginnings of Hormel Foods, the makers of Spam (the kind that comes in a can, not from your computer) could be such an engrossing whodunnit? Gretchen Cherington has written a thoroughly engaging saga about a true-life crime (but don't worry, no dead bodies) that had rippling effects on an industry, a community, and a family. Cherington skillfully weaves this tale of the beginnings of commercial meat processing in the U.S. with a scandal that leads to her paternal grandfather's downfall. This is a story of a crime and its aftermath that reverberates through three generations, beautifully told by a consummate writer. Don't miss it!
March 16, 2023
Gretchen Cherington is a bold, brave, and honest writer. Her heartfelt search for family truths is always grounded in thorough research and deep reflection. Was her beloved grandfather guilty by association and rightly forced by Hormel to resign, or was he treated unjustly at the most difficult point in his life? With both the clear-eyed perspective of a consultant to CEOs and the compassion of a granddaughter who can forgive human faults and frailties, Cherington skillfully maintains a balanced approach as she strives to honor her grandfather’s legacy, while uncovering complicated truths. A powerful read.
June 7, 2023
As I grew up in Minnesota, I was originally drawn to this book because of the setting - small town Austin, Minnesota- but I was quickly captivated by Cherington's lyrical writing and her willingness to interrogate all the family stories she grew up with about her grandparents and her grandfather's employment with the meat industry giant, Geo. A. Hormel and Company. Cherington skillfully weaves a storyline combing the past and the not so distant past as she takes us along on her journey and faces many difficult questions that continue to reverberate in her current life. A mix of investigative reporting and memoir, Cherington keeps us riveted to the very last page of the story.
May 4, 2023
This book by Gretchen Cherington is a powerful, compelling must-read. Cherington digs into a real-life embezzlement at Hormel Foods to try to discover whether her grandfather, the Fall Guy of the title, had a role in the crime and if so, what kind? She takes us on her journey of discovery with her incredible skill as a writer, her keen insights as a former Fortune 500 consultant working with CEOs and executives, and the brash curiosity of a granddaughter who seeks to know her beloved grandfather and, ultimately, the truth. A real page-turner.
September 30, 2023
In this well-written memoir, the author takes us on a journey to Minnesota to learn about her grandfather’s possible role in a century’s old embezzlement scandal. Interweaving a personal odyssey, a slice of business and family history, a crime saga, and a study of larger-than-life personalities, she keeps us engaged, curious, and sympathetic as she unpeels the complicated layers to this story. The accompanying photographs connect us to place and time. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
March 16, 2023
Cherington’s The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy combines what I love best about John Carreyou’s Bad Blood and Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City—the fascinating interplay of history, business, personality, and crime. Not just what happened. But, why it happened, and why we ought to care.
May 2, 2023
Holy cow this woman can write. It’s like watching a great film noir. You’re pulled deep into the story and you can’t stop reading. Something big happened in Austin, MN in 1922 and Cherington shows us how that story impacted the generations of her family to come. Amazing. I can’t wait to read her next book.
May 4, 2023
I came for the title and stayed for the story. It brought to mind The Lehman Trilogy - early 20th century families determined to forgo established cities and succeed in the vast American countryside. My book group can discuss topics from the Midwest to banking practices to family secrets. I highly recommend this well-written and researched book for a rich book discussion.
June 21, 2023
I loved this research memoir. Cherington never met her grandfather except through family lore. He was asked to resign and gave up all his stock in Hormel Foods, a company he had worked so hard to build. Cherington takes the reader on an adventure to find "the truth" if that is possible. The writing is engaging and beautiful.
November 18, 2023
Very interesting read if you are familiar with Austin and Hormel. A lot of information I did not know about the area or the Hormel company. I learned things even though my Dad grew up in Austin and my grandfather worked for Hormel!
March 16, 2024
Very readable and interesting. The title doesn’t suggest a page turner, but Gretchen shares her journey through a pivotal period in her family history in graceful prose. I really enjoyed reading her story.
July 27, 2023
Won this as a giveaway. Loved the book. It was written well and was so interesting. My grandparents and family lived in Austin and worked at Hormel in the ‘50s. Bought another one for my dad!
October 18, 2024
Interesting but no real conclusion.
September 30, 2023
I can smell the bacon frying in Gretchen Cherington’s new book “The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy” which is about an embezzlement that nearly brought Hormel Foods to its knees in 1921. Cherington brings a unique perspective to this story. Her grandfather played a pivotal role in the early success of the Hormel meat company and was ultimately forced out of the company. The family narrative is that he was unfairly terminated and had nothing to do with the embezzlement. The book is the story of Gretchen Cherington’s journey to uncover the truth.
Cherington’s consulting career allows her keen insight into the world of CEOs and executives. To understand the event that forever changed her family’s fortunes, Gretchen returns to her midwestern roots to uncover the truth about the meatpacking industry and the powerful men who shaped it.
I love stories about businesses (J. Ryan Stradal’s new novel “Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club,” about restaurants in Minnesota, MJ DeMarco’s “Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship,” about the Sumner Redstone family, and the TV show, “Succession,” about the fictional Roy family, who fight for control of their global media and entertainment conglomerate.)
The best business stories aren’t about the business at all, they’re human dramas about family and flawed people. Although I thoroughly enjoyed loved learning about the meat packing industry (and SPAM!) Cherington’s novel is more about family legacies and secrets, the sometimes-misguided trust between friends, and the deep determination/ruthlessness needed to succeed in the corporate world.
A compelling, thought-provoking read, impossible to put down.
Cherington’s consulting career allows her keen insight into the world of CEOs and executives. To understand the event that forever changed her family’s fortunes, Gretchen returns to her midwestern roots to uncover the truth about the meatpacking industry and the powerful men who shaped it.
I love stories about businesses (J. Ryan Stradal’s new novel “Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club,” about restaurants in Minnesota, MJ DeMarco’s “Unscripted: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Entrepreneurship,” about the Sumner Redstone family, and the TV show, “Succession,” about the fictional Roy family, who fight for control of their global media and entertainment conglomerate.)
The best business stories aren’t about the business at all, they’re human dramas about family and flawed people. Although I thoroughly enjoyed loved learning about the meat packing industry (and SPAM!) Cherington’s novel is more about family legacies and secrets, the sometimes-misguided trust between friends, and the deep determination/ruthlessness needed to succeed in the corporate world.
A compelling, thought-provoking read, impossible to put down.
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