Synopsis
Find out how I, a nobody from the state of Rhode Island, was invited to travel Europe with the son of the richest man in the world at the time. We drove 19,965 miles through 12 different European countries in 10 weeks. We dined with Kings and Queens in Denmark, we gambled with the Shah of Iran in Monte Carlo, we had high tea with her Imperial Highness of Iran Princess Farah in Paris, we were rescued out of handcuffs by Shirley Temple Black during the Russian Invasion of Czechoslovakia, and Brigitte Bardot – The sexiest women in the world at the time – “Would you please dance with me? And that does not even scratch the surface of this mind-blowing adventure of 10 lifetimes that took me an additional ten years just to process.
How did my companion turn a ship around in the middle of the ocean just because we missed its departure? Within 8 hours of sending his dad to Iran, how did 30-$100 bills get hand-delivered to our hotel room in Switzerland even though no banks or wiring offices were open? After being told by the telephone company in Nice, France, to put my call through to the USA, how did my companion from the first payphone have me talking to my dad in the USA in 30 seconds flat?
How did Israel in 1948 get the oil needed to survive when no country in the world could or would sell the oil? Is it true that his father had permission from the Israeli government to build an entire city in Israel to move the total Jewish population from Tehran, Iran, to Israel at his own expense?
I was one of only eight people in the world who knew about this history-changing plan as I saw the actual blueprint of the city, which cost more than I would earn in my lifetime. Wait till you hear of the story of the 100 suitcases or the one about the prisoner who returned voluntarily to Dachau, a German concentration camp after escaping and being free.
If “Nothing Boggles the Mind of Simple Men like The Truth, ” I promise that you will be glad that you read it because as you do, you will come to realize it must be true because nobody could make this story up.”
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Excerpt
I got the call at work. I recognized Moritz’s voice immediately from his German accent. His voice was thick with grief. He could barely get the words out.
“It’s Maurice,” he said. “He’s gone.”
Gone? As in dead? I couldn’t seem to process the information. I stared blankly at the wall of my shop, specifically at a poster for Goodyear Tires. “How?” I managed to ask.
“Massive heart attack.”
A heart attack? It seemed such an unglamorous way to go, so incongruous with the enchanting no-holds-barred way Maurice had lived his life. I did the math in my head: he was only fifty-two.
I kept the call brief, thanked Moritz, one of Maurice’s other close friends from Munich, Germany, clearly in a similar state of shock, and hung up the phone.
I sat down in a chair and let the first wave of emotion wash over me. True, I hadn’t seen him in years, but I still thought of him as my best friend, and now that cherished friend was dead—the man who had opened the world up for me in ways I never imagined possible. Now, nearly 26 years after the fact, I had to remind myself that the time we spent traveling around Europe just after college was not a dream, that I did not imagine Maurice. But in truth I knew I had not. In the deepest depths of my mind, I could not have conjured up the times we had together.
Review
Wow is the first word that comes to mind. This stroll down memory lane for a trip taken by Gary and Maurice was terrific. While I would like to say it is hard to believe all of this happened and the details that Gary remembered, I don’t doubt a word that was written.
This is also a story of an unlikely friendship. Maurice is from a wealthy Iranian family, and Gary is from a small New England family. But this is what made it work. They each brought experiences to the table that the other may not have ever experienced had it not been for this friendship. Maurice’s experiences were ones that many of us might only dream of – meeting royalty, staying in nice hotels, and gambling with other people’s money. But Gary brought humble beginnings and family to the table. Despite all that Maurice’s money could buy, it can’t purchase home-cooked meals and close-knit family ties.
Their jaunt around Europe was one that most of us would not experience, or at least parts of it. I believe that most of us touring Europe would see other parts of the countries. However, this was 1968, and the times were different. I loved how you could send mail to a hotel, and they would hold it for you, whether you checked in or not. I’m unsure what sort of mail you would need to have sent this way, but it was intriguing.
This friendship and adventure across Europe was a joy to read. I imagined what taking this journey must have been like and that relieving these memories brought back some happy times.
We give this book 5 paws up.
About the Author
In 1965, Gary Orleck graduated from Babson College—a small but outstanding business college with students from around the world—in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and set out along Route 66, working his way around the US for four months. Most helpful was an agreement he had with the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company that he could work in any store during his travels, but he could not be paid locally. Instead, his pay was sent to his home later. Gary was well-versed in the tire business because his father owned the largest Goodyear Tire and Service store in New England.
For a young boy from Rhode Island, this was a life-changing experience. Gary was present for the Watts Riots and the world premiere of Fantastic Voyage with Raquel Welch and Fernando Lamas at Grauman’s Chinese Theater. He arrived in San Francisco the day topless was approved. The four-month trip wet Gary’s appetite for more traveling. While driving home from California, he made a promise to himself: to drive around all of Europe the next year.
Gary bumped into a college student who graduated with him. The student was from Iran, a country most Americans had never heard of. Gary didn’t know it at the time, but his friend was from the wealthiest family in the world. His friend had lived in Switzerland for four years of boarding school, four years of college in London, and seven summers in the South of France for summer school. He asked Gary to join him that following summer to drive through Europe—his friend offering to be his tour guide since he knew Europe like the back of his hand.
At first, Gary was hesitant because of his friend’s perceived reputation, but he was very persuasive, promising to be the best tour guide ever. Reluctantly, Gary agreed, which led to the most mind-blowing experience—a ten-week trip through 12 countries and 19,920 miles of earth-shattering adventures that included turning a ship around in the middle of an ocean, dining with the King and Queen of Denmark, and the King and Queen of Belgium, meeting The Who backstage, being entertained by the Empress of Iran Empress Farah in Paris, gambling with the Shah of Iran in Monte Carlo, and even being rescued by Shirley Temple Black after being arrested during the Czechoslovakian Revolution in the summer of 1968.
Gary says, “It took ten years for me to process that trip—five years of research plus five years of writing—because I wished to share the greatest adventure a young naïve boy from Rhode Island could ever imagine happening. So, fasten your seat belts for a ride inside the elite world of the rich and famous, and join me on the trip of my lifetime. A trip you will never forget. I promise you that!”
