Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

By George Horace Lorimer

Categories: Business & Money, Literature & Fiction

George Horace Lorimer's 1904 sequel to Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son brings back John Graham, a Chicago pork packer known as Old Gorgon, writing to his son Pierrepont at the Union Stock Yards. In shrewd, humorous letters, Graham offers advice on work, money, selling, character and dealing with people, drawing on homespun stories from his own rise. Lorimer, editor of The Saturday Evening Post, published the letters anonymously in the magazine before they were collected as books.

Recommended by 1 person

• Ryan Holiday: “This book is the preserved correspondence between Old Gorgon Graham, a self-made millionaire in Chicago, and his son who is coming of age and entering the family business. The letters date back to the 1890s but feel like they could have been written in any era. They are surprisingly stoic. Honest.”