In Memorium – To My Sister

My sister, Valli Louise Dennis Schieltz, passed away on the morning of June 29, 2015. She fought a courageous battle against cancer, but it finally took her life. She was sixty-four years old. This photo of Val with her doll was taken outside a home on Harvard Road when we lived in Winston-Salem. That street was only one block over from our house. Val loved her dolls when she was growing up. It was a blessing for me to be able to edit her books and get them into print before she passed. She received proof copies several weeks ago. It seems like only yesterday when we were playing together at our grandmother’s home in Elizabeth, NJ. It’s almost unbelievable how fast time passes. Before you know it, loved ones are gone, and we are left with only memories. Val’s book, Valli’s Valley, contains a lot of photos, including some of our grandmother’s magnificent home. Clink the link and get one or both of her books. You can also find a link to her books on her Web site. I will maintain her site as a tribute to her life. I will miss not hearing her voice and receiving her weekly calls. She is now without pain in her new home. Thank you for being a wonderful sister. God bless...

Mr. Wonderful. Oh My! Shark Tank

Mr. Wonderful on @ABCSharkTank sometimes speaks with forked tongue. I am a regular viewer of Shark Tank, ABC’s hit show that lures budding entrepreneurs onto the set to, at times, do battle with the rich and famous. If you pay attention, you can learn from the presentations and reactions. But on more than one occasion, two plus two doesn’t add up to four. Case in point. The January 24 episode introduced a musician hawking a pill that potentially could keep a person from starving to death given an unforeseen bad situation. This presentation had its issues, among them, as the sharks so vehemently pointed out, were no research, no testing, no FDA approval, and on and on. They got quite upset with this guy. Enough already. I focused on one point Mr. Wonderful targeted. I’ll paraphrase it. “How can I make money with this product? A person will buy it one time and that’s it.” The implication here – if the product doesn’t generate repeat sales, it can’t make money for the investor. Wait a minute. What about hammers? There are plenty of them on the market. I bought one once. But I don’t buy a new one every month. They’re still on the market making money for someone. The size of the target audience determines a product’s success given adequate marketing. Here’s another Mr. Wonderful pronouncement, “You haven’t got a business, you only have a product.” This statement, or a version of it, has been shared quite a few times. Implying what? My conclusion – so what? In a past episode, a Rabbi presented a plastic sound diverting...