Books

Alumni

As an ROTC cadet and pledge in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at The University of Texas at Austin in 1947, Ralph Aniol, BBA ’51 and author of “High Forties, Low Fifties,” befriended veterans of World War II who had returned home to attend college under the GI Bill.

“[They] looked like middle-aged people to us because they had been through so much,” Aniol recalls. “They were our mentors as much as our professors ever were.”

As his mentors transitioned from soldiers to students, Aniol charted the opposite course, receiving his military orders in 1951 to fight in the Korean War. Aniol chronicles those experiences in his new book, a memoir of those times.

Set in a time when America itself was changing dramatically, “High Forties, Low Fifties” (AuthorHouse) is a blend of the humorous and the heroic, says Aniol, who served as a first lieutenant platoon leader in an Army company with a motorized transport battalion. In one of the memoir’s anecdotes, Aniol describes leading a midnight combat mission that nearly turned disastrous because his vehicle’s horn malfunctioned and blared just as he approached enemy lines.

Humor aside, the book is also a story of valor. Aniol says he wrote it to pay tribute to past veterans of America’s wars who have shaped history.

In October, Aniol spoke about his book to a Houston chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution. He linked the experience of soldiers in the Revolutionary War with his own experience in Korea.

“Somehow the United States has always been able to prevail because of its leadership,” he says.

Aniol, a Distinguished Military Graduate of the university who went on to head his own advertising agency in Houston for two decades, says writing the memoir marked the first time he documented his war experiences. He found the process to be arduous at times, he says, but also rewarding. In fact, writing the book spurred him to reconnect with old classmates and those he fought alongside in Korea—including his company commander, to whom he’d not spoken in 50 years.

One of the greatest rewards, he says, was a meeting with former President George H.W. Bush in Houston last summer. Bush later followed up with a letter thanking Aniol for the copy of his book. In the letter, Bush wrote, “Thank you for your own service to our country and for paying worthy tribute to all those that have fought to achieve and preserve our freedom.”

—Behnaz Abolmaali

Alice Schroeder, BBA ’78 and MBA ’80, wrote “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” (Bantam Books). Schroeder’s research and writings on Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway and her eventual friendship with the much admired businessman and philanthropist gained her unprecedented access to Buffett’s life and work and insights into his investment acumen.

Staff

Matt W. Turner, a marketing researcher at the McCombs School, has published his first book, “Remarkable Plants of Texas: Uncommon Accounts of our Common Natives” (University of Texas Press). More than a mere field guide, Turner’s book contains 65 entries about the state’s most common trees, shrubs and wildflowers and explores how they have figured into the lives of people in this area throughout history—from medicinal and culinary uses to economic subsistence. The book, with more than 100 photographs, provides a natural history of the state, surveying the human connections with Texas’ botanical landscape from prehistoric times to present. Turner is a member of the Natural Plant Society of Texas and frequently writes articles and lectures on botanical topics.

Faculty

Paul Damien professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management, has taken aim at self-help authors such as Deepak Chopra and Rhonda Byrne in his recent book “Help! Debunking the Outrageous Claims of Self-Help Gurus” (Synergy Books). With biting humor and sharp satire, Damien exposes these authors’ “secrets.” For more information, visit www.pauldamien.net.

In his latest book, “Africa Rising,” Marketing Professor Vijay Mahajan introduces readers to Africa as a place of remarkable optimism and ingenuity, where entrepreneurs and businesses are working to create a better future for the continent. Crossing thousands of miles across many countries, Mahajan shares the lessons that Africa’s businesses have learned about succeeding on the continent.