Pizza magnate recalls odd fellow Marine
Tom Monaghan, the founder of Domino’s Pizza, regaled a Denver audience last week with tales of his life and times, including a rough patch in Denver.
Raised during part of his childhood in a Catholic orphanage in Michigan, Monaghan enlisted in the Marines in the late 1950s. He said he was in the same boot camp as Lee Harvey Oswald at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Monaghan described Oswald as a “strange guy” and said he was “right next to him because I was short and he was shorter, and they lined us up by height.”
In 1959, Monaghan left the service and ended up hitchhiking through Denver. He spent a sleepless night here bunking in a mission for the homeless.
“It was one of the miserable nights I spent in my life,” said Monaghan, who said he walked from Denver to Littleton in search of a job at a bowling alley to make money for a bus ride back to Ann Arbor, Mich.
“I always knew I could make a living setting pins,” said Monaghan, who made his fortune over the next four decades selling pizzas. Domino’s has more than 8,000 stores worldwide.
Monaghan sold the company in 1998 to focus on Catholic causes, including the creation of Ave Maria University as part of the new town of Ave Maria, Fla.
Monaghan, 69, spoke to an audience of more than 100 people at the First Friday Forum, held at the John Paul II Center in Denver.
Toffler notes big shift in economic system
What would our workforce be like if employees weren’t toilet trained? That’s one of the questions author Alvin Toffler presented to a Denver audience Wednesday during a book tour.
There are an endless number of activities that create wealth, many of which – like toilet training – aren’t measured in terms of economic value.
Toffler is the author of “Future Shock” and, most recently, “Revolutionary Wealth” with his wife, Heidi. They are often described as futurists, although Toffler says he doesn’t try to predict the future, but “there are patterns you can detect.”
The current economic system would be unable to survive if it weren’t for an underlying, unmeasured, secondary economy, Toffler said. The person who paints his or her house might pay for the paint but doesn’t get paid for the labor, Toffler said.
“We are no longer an industrial society,” he said. “It needs to be rethought, and there needs to be different metrics. You can’t think about economics without social implications.”
He said the technological revolution is occurring at a pace faster than the Industrial Revolution, with a breakdown in the synchronization of the economy, driven by people working at all hours and the 24-hour availability of many goods and services. However, the public education system is poorly positioned to train students to function in a high-tech world, Toffler said.
“I would like to for us to ask questions that aren’t sufficiently asked … questions that are painful and decisive,” he said. “Should education be compulsory? Why should all children start at the same age? Why is the system designed to create workers in an industrial society?”
People living 1,000 years from now will not remember events such as World War II but instead will note the use of outer space to deploy communications satellites, Toffler said.
Young inventors vie for $20,000 prize
Two Coloradans are among the finalists in a nationwide contest seeking America’s Best Young Inventor.
The contest, hosted by the Electronic Retailing Association and Future Business Leaders of America, carries a $20,000 cash prize, which will be awarded June 14 in Washington.
Tyson Williams of Fruita Monument High School in Fruita and Christopher Dean Messick of Sargent High School in Monte Vista are among six finalists.
Tyson invented a floating gaming table with drink holders and chip tray. The tabletop can be used to play games while in a pool or spa. The product has a provisional patent pending.
Christopher invented gloves that converts the users’ hand movements into computer commands. A user can flex his hands in different manners in order to type, move a pointer and input phrases without touching a keyboard or a mouse. Christopher has two U.S. patents and five foreign patents for his invention.
Luxury rail tour plans a Denver departure
All aboard! For discerning travelers willing to pay a pretty penny, GrandLuxe Rail Journeys announced last week that it plans to depart from Denver.
Formerly known as the American Orient Express, local tourism veteran Tom Rader bought the luxury rail tour last week. He then announced that in the fall of 2007, he will offer five week- long tours from Denver’s historic Union Station, with stops in Salt Lake City, Lake Tahoe and Napa Valley. Prices range from $3,999 to $6,370.
From staff and wire reports
