By Way of Luck: How Chance Shaped a Storied Life

by Jim Perkins

What’s Luck Got To do With It? Everything! says author Jim Perkins. His colorful recounting of the oddly circumstantial events in which he has played a central role is proof of that. Sheer luck — much of it good, he says — put him at the center of the changes engulfing the media industry during the second half of the 20th and into the 21st century. In this book, largely about people caught up in extraordinary events, he tells stories of actors and directors, writers, editors and publishers, of advertising agencies and television executives, of communications and financial conglomerates and of the people who run them. His influence is today commonly seen in the blossoming of on-line shopping and the transition of delivering voice and data communications from wire hung on telephone poles to multi-use, wireless, hand-held, digital devices. Yet the most extraordinary story of all is how his commitment to the outdoors and the environment, by luck alone, led him to initiate a land, water and wildlife conservation program that today encompasses more than thirty million acres of public lands in the United States.

353 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 22, 2015

Reviews

[Tara Alemany · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the opening chapter, where celebrity movie star John Wayne invites the author out for drinks, this story reaches out and grips the reader. In a simple and straightforward way, the author reflects on his life, the choices he's made, and the incredible journey those decisions have taken him on.

Whether it was his off-handed remark that led to the conservation of 30 million acres of US public lands or his later pursuit of starting the Home Shopping Network, the impact of Jim's life on our society and culture is far-reaching.

While Jim is a client of mine, it's actually very rare for me to leave reviews on clients' books. However, this particular title has something for everyone, I believe. He has rubbed elbows with celebrities and corporate bigwigs, scoundrels and heroes. His military service and journalism/publishing careers each offer their own tales as well. Jim's conservation efforts and his uncanny ability to turn around floundering businesses draw in an even wider readership.

If any of these topics are of interest to you, you'll find this book incredibly difficult to put down. I highly recommend it!

[Anthony Stancomb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s something of a marathon, but it’s a very good document of life in corporate America at the end of the 20th century as the writer whirls you along from job to job, from board meeting to board meeting, from state to state, and gives you a huge amount of information about the multitude of people he has worked with.
Jim Perkins seems to have led an action packed life where business is concerned, and has met all kinds of people. I’m not so sure that ‘Luck’ was the right title for the book, as he certainly seemed to have worked his butt off in all the dozens of posts he had – and many times luck didn’t seem to go his way.
He was clearly an engaging man with many friends, and this book is both an interesting document of its time and a testament to what one man’s energy and application can do.