"Charley Ellis has written a magnificent portrait, capturing the indomitable spirit of Joe Wilson and his instinctive understanding of the need for and commercial usefulness of a transforming imaging technology. Joe Wilson and his extraordinary team, which I had the good fortune to first meet in 1960, epitomized the wonderful observation of George Bernard Shaw who said, 'Some look at things that are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were and ask why not?'

Xerox and xerography are not only a part of our vocabulary, but part of our everyday life. Charley Ellis gives the reader a poignant understanding of just how this happened through the life, adventures, critical business decisions, and dreams of Joseph Wilson and a cadre of remarkable individuals.

This book will surely join the library of memorable biographies that capture the building of America into a risk-tolerant, technologically sophisticated, idea-oriented society that thrives by understanding what Charles Darwin really said:

'Survival will be neither to the strongest of the species, nor to the most intelligent, but to those most adaptable to change.'" Frederick Frank, Vice Chairman, Lehman Brothers Inc.

CHARLES D. ELLIS is a recognized expert on business management. For thirty years, he was managing partner of Greenwich Associates, the leading worldwide strategy consultant to the financial services industry, which he founded and where he developed close working relationships with senior executives at most of the major investment firms in North America, Asia, and Europe. His other activities include teaching the Investment Management course at both Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School; chairing CFA Institute, the investment professionals' organization; serving as a Director of Vanguard; advising some of the world's largest investing institutions; and chairing the investment committees at the Whitehead Institute and Yale University. He is one of ten individuals recognized by the investment profession for lifetime leadership. Among his eleven prior books isCapital: The Story of Long-Term Investment Excellence (Wiley).

Introductionby Anne M. Mulcahy, Chairman and CEO of Xerox Corporation ix

Forewordby Joel Podolny, Dean, Yale School of Management xv

1 Early Years 1

2 Peggy 13

3 The Thirties 19

4 Years of Struggle 29

5 Chet Carlson 39

6 Battelle 51

7 ContactJust Barely 57

8 Sol Linowitz 67

9 Toward Xerox 79

10 The University 97

11 Worst of Times, Best of Times 111

12 Joe Wilson 131

13 IBM, RCA, and GE 135

14 Gathering Strength in Finance 147

15 Building the Organization 157

16 Going International 177

17 Going It Alone 191

18 5¢ 199

19 The 914 209

20 Go! 225

21 Getting on Message 239

22 Xerox: Zoom-Zoom 259

23 Fuji-Xerox 267

24 Challenges of Success 275

25 Minister Florence 289

26 LIFE 301

27 Public Service 315

28 Winding Down 325

29 No Longer CEO 337

30 At the Rockefellers 353

Afterword 359

Joe Wilson: In His Own Words 371

Acknowledgments 377

Index 381