"The trail is the thing, not the end of the trail. Travel too fast and you miss all you are traveling for."
- Louis L'amour, Ride the Dark Trail
All About Me
David Fitz-Gerald writes historical fiction in his spare time, with the hope of transporting readers to another time and place.
If It's the Last Thing I Do is his 7th novel.
Dave has worked for more than 30 years as an accountant, employee owner, and member of the management team at a "silver" ESOP (employee-owned) company. He has championed the cause in national, non-profit association leadership roles.
Dave’s family roots run deep in the Adirondacks, going back generations. He attended college and worked at a deli in Saranac Lake during the 1980s. He spent two summers as an elf at Santa’s Workshop on Whiteface Mountain in the 1970s and is an Adirondack 46-er, which means he has hiked all of New York’s highest peaks.
My HP Books
An engaging and creative story filled with tremendous challenges, and of never giving up even in your twilight years.
It's 1975, and Misty Menard unexpectedly inherits her father's business in Lake Placid, New York. It never occurred to her that she could wind up as the CEO of a good old-fashioned manufacturing company.
After years of working for lawyers, Misty knows a few things about the law. Her favorite young attorney is making a name for himself, helping traditionally owned companies become employee owned, using a little-known, newly-passed law. When he offers to help Misty convert Adirondack Dowel into an ESOP, pro bono, Misty jumps at the chance.
The employees are stunned, the management team becomes hostile, and the Board of Directors is concerned. Misfortune quickly follows the business transformation. A big customer files for bankruptcy. A catastrophic ice jam floods the business. Stagflation freezes the economy. A mysterious shrouded foe plots revenge. Misty's family faces a crisis. The Trustee is convinced something fishy is going on, the appraiser keeps lowering the company's value, and the banker demands additional capital infusions. Misty thought she had left her smoking addiction and alcoholism in the past, but when a worker's finger is severed in an industrial accident, Misty relapses.
Disasters threaten to doom the troubled company. After surviving two world wars and the Great Depression, it breaks Misty's heart to think that she has destroyed her father's company. All she wants is to cement her father's legacy and take care of the people who built the iconic local business. Can a quirky CEO and her loyal band of dedicated employee owners save an heirloom company from foreclosure, repossession, and bankruptcy?
Get your copy of the thrilling If It's the Last Thing I Do now... if it's the last thing you do!
Book Excerpt
When I returned to the undertaker's den, Winslow was standing beside the door, waiting for me. He offered his arm and escorted me back to the chair, and said, "It must have come as a surprise to you, Misty. Weren't you expecting to be your father's heir?"
I shook my head slowly and my voice softened. "I thought he would leave me his house, but I never imagined owning a business and having to be concerned about paying people's wages. Father said he was going to leave the company to the general manager. What happened? Why did he change his mind?"
"Indeed." Winslow rubbed his pointy, clean-shaven chin. "He never said." Winslow looked distracted and muttered, "Many times over the last ten years, AJ changed his will. For a while, he declared that Doyle Polk would inherit the business, but it never stayed that way for long. Once he changed the will to leave it to his grandson, but then he changed it back to you, Misty."
My breath came faster again, and I said, "What should I do, Winslow? I can't run a business, can I? What if I refuse? I can't be forced to own a business if I don't want to, can I?"
"There, there, Misty. No, you don't have to run the business. We can close it, let everybody go, and sell what remains. Would you like to do that?"
"Oh, no. We mustn't do that, Winslow. How many people work there?"
"Sixty-five, last I knew."
"And it isn't just them, Winslow. We have to think about the people that depend on them. How will they make ends meet?"
"I suppose they'll have to find a way. Maybe they have savings set aside. They could collect unemployment for a while. That's what it's there for, after all, just such emergencies."
"No, that wouldn't do. But, I could sell the business. Someone would buy it, wouldn't they?"
"I expect so, Misty. If it had to be sold quickly, it might not bring in enough to pay the bank loans. If it were properly marketed, it could sell for more as a stable company. That could take a year, perhaps two or three even."
"Oh."
"Just because you own the business, doesn't mean you have to run it. You could hire someone to run the business. Or you could let Mr. Polk run it."
"But Father must have had concerns about Mr. Polk."
"Yes, I guess he must have. I wonder why."
A shiver crossed my body and I pulled my arms in close beside me. Why didn't I bring a shawl? With a grimace, I said, "Shall we take care of the paperwork then? I don't know if I'll keep the company, but we must make the payroll this week. What do I need to do?"
Book TRAILER
Book Reviews
"FIVE STAR BOOK! Readers who enjoy a well-paced, gripping novel should put If It's The Last Thing I Do on top of their reading list. Misty's complex relationships with her family and her own mortality, combined with her efforts as a CEO, turn this novel into a true page-turner." - Chanticleer Reviews
*****
5.0 out of 5 stars A Rollicking Ride to Employee Ownership
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2024
I never imagined reading about a small-business transaction could be so much fun! Having come in contact with a few employee-owned companies of its size, I was quite impressed by how true to life Adirondack Dowel and Spindle Company was. I imagine the same can be said of Fitz-Gerald's depiction of the Adirondacks themselves.
Beyond that it is a page-turner by a master entertainer. The characters are all engaging enough to coax a willing suspension of disbelief at the disasters that befall them. The story has the wild plot twists that we mystery buffs demand. The author knows how to appeal to multiple generations. For the young there is a recurring element of magical realism. For those of "a certain age" like myself, there is an unexpected but believable "senior romance."
*****
5.0 out of 5 stars An Unusual and Really Good Read
Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2023
David Fitz-Gerald crafts a gripping mystery within terrains he knows well. "If It's the Last Thing I do" is set in the Adirondacks with its own contributions to the lights and darks that unfold. The death of the founder of Adirondack Dowel and his daughter Misty's inheritance of the company seem straightforward enough but early on there are hints that things may not be quite what they seem. A lawyer she meets offers to help her transition the business to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (an ESOP). The employees are not as happy as Misty hoped they would be. Then, underneath, what in most circumstances might have been an ordinary business deal Fitz-Gerald brings us on a rather wild ride of intrigue, danger, fraud, romance, heartwarming happenings weather disasters, customers difficulties--all keeping this reader engaged. This is an unusually good read.
