Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story [Hardcover]

Kemmons Wilson (Author), Robert Kerr (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

Remember that success requires half luck and half brains Kemmons Wilson likes to say. It is one of his 20 Tips of Success the rules by which he made it big. In his autobiography Wilson illustrates those 20 Tips through the various episodes that shaped his incredible life story. Wilson offered the public a brand name it could trust in roadside lodging as big green-and-yellow Holiday Inn signs lit up skylines from Texarkana to Tahiti from Hong Kong to Casablanca. Wilson goes far beyond the epic of the most successful hotel chain in history. For the first time Wilson recounts his entire larger-than-life rags-to-riches story.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

An exhilarating story of a modern day Horatio Alger. I loved it -Ann Landers A must read. It's like receiving a recipe for a better life!...Thank you for this informative lively and lovely book. -Debbie Reynolds shows the reader how a family need was met. Kemmons Wilson's creativity and good sense make delightful reading.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 111 pages
• Publisher: Hambleton-Hill Pub; 1st edition (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571025065
• ISBN-13: 978-1571025067
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #888,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Hershey Did For Chocolate, May 31, 2005

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story (Hardcover)

After spending seven nights in a Holiday Inn, I picked up a copy of this book in the hotel gift shop, where it was on sale for 79 cents. I wound up going back to the desk clerk and asking if I could extend my stay. Kemmons Wilson, the man who invented the idea of the "Holiday Inn" (or at any rate bought the rights from famed songwriter Irving Berlin), has written a book which rivals THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS for sheer insight and business acumen. Why are we drawn to the combination of green and yellow that makes up the HOLIDAY INN logo? You'll never guess! But that duotone color flash, with its "Vacancy" sign blinking underneath, lures travellers in the way flypaper lures a fly.

He was a wealthy man even before he coined the phrase (I mean leased it), "Holiday Inn," and making a lot of money hasn't changed his basic character. If people teased him about being called, "Kemmons," he did not take it personally but stored up the energy he might have devoted to getting even, and turned it around into a way to get rich. Okay, so the Holiday Inn isn't the Trump Plaza, still, it's a way for the ordinary person to experience a little bit of the comfort of home when they're out on the road or just looking to get lucky. Kemmons Wilson knows all these facts and lays them out in his now-famous "Twenty Tips" to prosperity.

Never underestimate the other fellow's taste. If you had thought of the green and yellow sign you too might be raking in the chips and clipping your coupons. He made it onto the cover of TIME magazine in 1972. What Milton Hershey did for chocolate, I think you will find, Kemmons did for the motel business. Thought of the customers first. Selling his life story is just part II. They were going like hot cakes in the revolving rack in the gift shop, the two clerks could barely keep them on the shelf. Well, 79 cents is quite a bargain even if the book was bad.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Lodging Pioneer of Hospitality, October 19, 2010

By 

John Hogan "John Hogan HoganHospitality Hosp... (Phoenix AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story (Hardcover)

My background is what academia refers to as "clinical" in nature and several years ago, I addressed several classes at the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management at the University of Memphis in Tennessee. Having taught as an adjunct professor for 20 years at three different colleges, I have always been comfortable as both an academic and corporate educator, facilitating more than 3,400 classes and programs.

The classes were interesting and as I was leaving, I spent a few minutes in the small museum type setting that includes some of Wilson's memorabilia. I was never employed at Holiday Inns, but living in Tennessee (then global headquarters for the brand) for more than 15 years certainly brought me into substantial contact with many people who had been. While Wilson was not a traditional hotelier by schooling or experience, he definitely influenced many business practices in franchising, brand support, standards and values.

Displayed in the lobby of the Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management at the University of Memphis are what he called his Steps for Success.

#10 included the title of his book: Remember that success requires "Half Luck and Half Brains". He uses his 20 Steps as episodes and illustrations. I found the content of this book to be quite interesting and not the frequent "bragging" that some biographies lean towards. Written by Wilson at age 83, he shares his "better way" of offering affordable lodging in understandable and practical lessons. The book also includes more than 100 photographs of family, business partners and unique scenes in the evolution of Holiday Inns in the days before the industry became involved in heavy mergers and the danger of the industry becoming viewed as a commodity.

As always, comments are welcome

John Hogan
HospitalityEducators
HoganHospitality

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I can not put this book down, February 17, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story (Hardcover)

Excellent Read! This book starts with 20 tips for success. Kemmons' sucess examplifies those tips. He is so hardworking, never afraid of making mistakes. As he said, everyone makes mistakes only a fool makes the same mistakes twice but he himself made same mistakes twice. Even mistake pays.
He did not become rich in one night as those in the internet bubble. He was already a millionaire before the Hiliday Inn. Even after he retired from Holiday Inn, he was still creating enterprises.
Makes me want to act on my ideas.