Jim Whittaker Mountaineer
Whittaker was the first American to summit Mount Everest.
From This is True for 12 April 2026
business
Known for their business and/or finance abilities
Bill Fries “C.W. McCall”
A TV commercial maker turned music star.
From This is True for 3 April 2022
Sasha Petraske Bartender
Petraske wasn’t “a” bartender, he may have been the most influential bartender ever.
From This is True for 23 August 2015
Roger Mayer Film preservationist
“He saved hundreds of films that would have been lost had he left them where he found them.”
From This is True for 29 March 2015
Joel Moskowitz Ceramic engineer
“We would get letters from the guys whose lives we saved.”
From This is True for 22 March 2015
Michele Ferrero Chocolate magnate
A candy maker, Ferrero took over the company his father had built, and turned it into a world-wide powerhouse.
From This is True for 15 February 2015
Lowell Steward Airman
In high school, Steward was interested in going to college, but the school steered him to a vocational career instead — because he was Black. Instead, he went to Los Angeles Junior College until he could be accepted at Santa Barbara State College (now the University of California at Santa Barbara). He was the only … Read more
From This is True for 21 December 2014
Cosimo Matassa Rock producer
“Virtually every R&B record made in New Orleans between the late 40s and the early 70s was engineered by Cosimo Matassa.”
From This is True for 14 September 2014
Oscar Dystel Book editor
Simply, Dystel was not a writer, but had an eye for great writing.
From This is True for 1 June 2014