"Cylde Riley tells his story, how he left the rural South as a young man, with little more than a high school education, pocket money and a few months experience in the Navy. Relying on energy, determination and the skills learned growing up on a small farm, he rose to the presidency of Hygrade Food Products, a major U.S. corporation. He spent most of his career in Detroit, parlaying his merchandising and marketing talent into the creation of a brand based on the tasty hot dog formula created for the Detroit Tigers baseball team. Today Ball Park Franks is one of the nation's most recognized and valuable brands. Along the way, Riley earned the respect and trust of political leaders and powerful entrepreneurs, as well as factory workers and fellow executives. His remarkable and quintessentially optimistic tale of American business success rebuts the belief that it's impossible, or nearly so, to reach great heights from humble beginnings."--Back cover.