Lists

Ron Crider

Call for more info: 772-913-2209

People I have admired over the years. Not in any significant order.

President Ronald Reagan

President John F. Kennedy

President Eisenhower

Joe Lieberman, Senator

Orrin Hatch, Senator

Steve Jobs, Apple. I admire Steve Jobs because he had the ability to produce quality products without being dictated by the bean counters and still show an excellent bottom line. That is talent.

Bill Gates, Microsoft, Bill had a much different management style than Steve Jobs but non the less extremely effective. He is truly one of the greatest business entrepreneurs of our time. I further admire Bill for his family life and his stellar dedication to charities of value.

Steve Forbes, Steve Forbes totally understands what this country needs with respect to our financial situation. Unfortunately the chances of many of his ideas being implemented are slim to none. It seems that the majority of Americans now are looking to the government for their support. What ever happened to JFK's ideas of "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country".

Billy Graham, When it comes to Billy one needs to say no more. Billy Graham is the pillar of Christianity. Few if any measure up to his stature.

Johannas Faessler, Sonnenalp, Vail Colorado. Although Johannas was born into a Hotel family in Germany, Johannas started a small hotel in Vail and built it into one of the premier small Resorts in the United States. I had the pleasure of spending some interesting evenings with he and his wife. He gave me great advice on a tower deal that I didn't follow. He was right, I was wrong. Johannas is an excellent innkeeper, super designer. He could have been an architect.

Steve Bartolin, Broadmoor, Colorado Springs. Here is another super hotel operator. Steve started as a golf caddy at the Greenbrier. He worked himself all the way to the GM. Once the Greenbrier was a solid FiveStar he was offered the job of running the Broadmoor properties in Colorado Springs. The rest is history. With his magic touch, his ability to manage people and lots of them as well as his attention to detail the Broadmoor reached an even higher level of success. Once again I was fortunate to be able to spend some quality time with Steve during numerous interviews. Steve is in my opinion a living legend in the modern day hotel business.

Edmond Baydush, WFOG, Deceased 1982 Norfolk Va Edmond was one of the most intellectual people I have ever met. He had the ability to look a a deal from a different prospective than the rest of us. We spent may hours working on music for our stations as well as discussing and implementing tower deals. Unfortunately someone put a bullet in his head at his front door. The murder was never solved. Very sad. An awful loss.

Winifred Amaturo, Fort Lauderdale. Winnie raised 5 children as well as her husband Joe. Yep, she was the only one that was able to keep him in line. Winnie is an excellent cook, a great mother. I never heard her raise her voice but everyone knew if she wasn't pleased about something. Winnie was the Administrative Assistant to the President of Motorola in her youth. She was very tuned into business life. I remember ridding with she and Joe as she was sitting in the back seat reading the Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. No fashion magazines in her stash. The few times we traveled together Winnie was always 100% supportive of our projects, was always interested in learning more about what we were doing. Winnie is truly a remarkable woman.

Bill Caldwell, Crystal River Florida Broadcaster. I worked with Bill on his St. Pete station in 1967, his Chattanooga station in 1971 and his Crystal River station in 2004. Bill is truly a man of God. That said he was also an excellent businessman and music director. Bill's word was always as good as gold. You always knew where you stood with Bill. With Bill there was never a gray area. Everything was either black or white. Bill was a US Marine, grew up in a family of means.Once he found the Lord he never looked back, not even a little bit.

Randy Hood, Indianapolis, Businessman. I have known Randy since 2000. This man operates many businesses, but somehow he figures out how to return every call timely. He makes decisions quickly following a great deal of fact gathering. I have never met a person that is a true to his word. If Randy tells you something is going to happen on a particular day at a particular time. You can set your watch by that event. He has never let me down. Randy is a wonderful family man, an excellent Sunday School Teacher and a great friend.

Jimmy Wilson, Larcan, Deceased, I worked with Jimmy during the Lodestar years. Jimmy was the only guy I have ever met that could come into a deal that was about to totally come apart and in a few hours have it totally repaired to everyone's sanctification. Jimmy was a great people person, and a good listener. When Jimmy spoke everyone paid attention, seldom did anyone interrupt, because what Jimmy was saying always seemed to sense to everyone. Jimmy was humble always giving credit to everyone around him when in fact it was he who deserved the credit. I greatly admired Jimmy Wilson.