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Reviews
The Spark and the Light: The Leo Adler Story
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By Adair Law
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The Leo Adler Trust, Boise, Idaho, 2004. Illustrations, photographs, notes, bibliography, index. 288 pages. $12.95 paper.
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Reviewed by William Willingham
Portland, Oregon
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| Leo Adler, whose life spanned most of thetwentieth century, had a major impact on the quality of life in the community of Baker City, Oregon, during that time. Adler, of German-Jewish parents who settled in Baker City in 1887, was born in 1895 and died in 1993. At about the age of ten, Adler began selling newspapers and magazines in and around Baker City; and by the time he graduated from high school, had done so well at it that he made it a life's work. |
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Over the next twenty years, Adler built a wholesale magazine-distribution empire that stretched from The Dalles, Oregon, to Grand Island, Nebraska. Although a highly successful businessman who traveled widely, Adler nevertheless kept his magazine distribution operations located in Baker City and took every opportunity to promote the economic and social development of his community. Never marrying, he engaged in community philanthropy throughout his long life and created two trusts worth $20 million to carry on such community uplift and generosity after his death. As the author notes, "he was a man who loved his home town. That love expressed itself as a boostering spirit and a willingness to put his shoulder to the wheel, start things rolling and see that they got done" (p. x). |
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This biography successfully places Adler's long life within the broad parameters of American history, the magazine-distribution business, and the specifics of Baker City during the twentieth century. The research is adequate and makes good use of oral interviews to describe the broad outlines of how Adler built his business and engaged in community development and philanthropic giving. Although the narrative is well organized and clearly written, it fails to explain fully what made Adler tick as a businessman or a community booster. In given situations, the reader is all too often left wanting to know more about the man and his community. |
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Adler was apparently a very private and reticent man. The author, in describing the growth of Adler's business and the specifics of his giving over time, never captures the true nature of his business acumen and the deeper meaning of his generosity to his community. Although Adler was clearly successful and well-regarded in the magazine-distribution business, it is unclear from this biography what exactly his unique contributions to the field were. Also, since the picture of Baker City for the most part is very broadly sketched, the reader is unable to grasp the full impact of his specific acts of civic generosity at any given time. Still, the book does establish that small towns especially are fortunate when they have strong, committed, and civic-minded leaders to help keep a community working together rather than pulling apart. |
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