Sometimes, Things Do Work Out
Christmas Day, Joyce and I attended church with one of our daughter’s here in Spokane Valley. Also visiting was Wayne Gould. While I hadn’t met Wayne before, I quickly found out he was the son of my friend, William Gould, and after church we kept our families waiting a bit while we talked about his dad. Bill Gould was a most extraordinary man whose example and kindness affected me deeply.Bill passed away 10 years ago at the age of 86 and was literally known throughout the world as the pre-eminent voice for renewable energy. He was also chairman of the board and CEO of Southern California Edison, one of the largest privately-owned utility companies in the world. Bill, in his career, had met and counseled with the world’s industrial giants and leaders of nations both large and small. I invite you to look at his obituary to get an idea of the stature of this man.I first met Bill in 1987. He was a regional representative for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and was visiting our stake in Orange County where I served as a counselor in the stake presidency. To this day I can’t tell you why there was almost instant bonding between us, as he was 21 years my senior. Maybe it was because we both loved to write. In any case, virtually from the git-go we traded writings—mine, fiction and self-help articles; his, memoirs and personal history. And what a history! From a boy of small stature with a horrific stuttering problem and son of a coal-dust-eating railroad engineer, to a man known throughout the world for his accomplishments and contributions.
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