The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Scandal and Greed in the Meat Industry
Gretchen Cherington
Oct 2023 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Linda Jones
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7 hr 17 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern Minnesota-George Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the author's paternal grandfather and Hormel's executive vice president and corporate secretary; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormel's comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the company's coffers, nearly bringing the company to its knees. The Butcher, The Embezzler, and The Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company he'd helped Hormel build-is Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement? Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth he'd rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesn't end there. In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our country's early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives.
About the author
Gretchen Cherington's first memoir, Poetic License, has won multiple awards; her writing has appeared in Crack the Spine, Bloodroot Literary magazine, Women Writers/Women's Books, MS. Girl, Yankee, and more. Gretchen and her husband split their time between Portland, Maine, and a saltwater cottage on Penobscot Bay.
Linda Jones is an award-winning narrator and NYC actor with a penchant for dark edges and curious truths. She has narrated for Penguin Random House, Recorded Books, Audible Studios, and Dreamscape, as well as a variety of independent authors and publishers. She holds a BFA from Ithaca College.
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