The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy: A Family Memoir of Greed and Scandal in the Meat Industry

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Three powerful men converge on the banks of the Red Cedar River in the early 1900s in southern MinnesotaGeorge Albert Hormel, founder of what will become the $10 billion food conglomerate Hormel Foods; Alpha LaRue Eberhart, the authors paternal grandfather and Hormels Executive Vice President and Corporate Secretary; and Ransome Josiah Thomson, Hormels comptroller. Over ten years, Thomson will embezzle $1.2 million from the companys coffers, nearly bringing the company to its knees.

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy opens in 1922 as George Hormel calls Eberhart into his office and demands his resignation. Hailed as the true leader of the company hed helped Hormel buildis Eberhart complicit in the embezzlement Far worse than losing his job and the great wealth hed rightfully accumulated is that his beloved young wife, Lena, is dying while their three children grieve alongside. Of course, his story doesnt end there.

In scale both intimate and grand, Cherington deftly weaves the histories of Hormel, Eberhart, and Thomson within the sweeping landscape of our countrys early industries, along with keen observations about business leaders gleaned from her thirty-five-year career advising top company executives. The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy equally chronicles Cheringtons journey from blind faith in family lore to a nuanced consideration of the three mens great strengths and flawsand a multilayered, thoughtful exploration of the ways we all must contend with the mythology of powerful men, our reverence for heroes, and the legacy of a complicated past.

Reviews

A dazzling account that deftly combines crime, drama, history, and introspective remembrance.
Kirkus Reviews

A fascinating story that will keep you captivated from start to finish! Beautifully written with an attention to the details of history, Gretchen creates a tale that brings the intriguing facts of management, corporate greed, and the fate of Geo. A. Hormel & Company to life.
Dr. Marshall Goldsmith,Thinkers50#1 Executive Coach andNew York Timesbest-selling author of The Earned Life, Triggers, and What Got You Here Wont Get You There

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guycomes to life with its deeply personal exploration of the darkest chapter in the 130-year history of Geo. A. Hormel & Company. This marvelous and meticulously researched book by Gretchen Cherington is packed with arresting detail and personal insights. In her search for answers, Cherington weaves a robust account.
Ben Welter,author of Minnesota Mayhem:A History of Calamitous Events, Horrific Accidents, Dastardly Crime & Dreadful Behavior in the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes

Gretchen Cherington is a bold, brave, and honest writer. Her heartfelt search for family truths is always grounded in thorough research and deep reflection. With both the clear-eyed perspective of a consultant to CEOs and the compassion of a granddaughter able toforgive human faults and frailties, Cherington skillfully honors her grandfathers legacy, while uncovering complicated truths. A powerful and beautifully structured read.
Debra Thomas, Sarton Award-winning author of Luz: A Novel

The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guyis a compelling book of family history, an urgent look inside the machinations of wealth and power, and a wonderfully well-written journey into a fully realized past. Cherington, the daughter of a poet and the granddaughter of an astute businessman, wields the many elements of her inheritance with grace.
Beth Kephart, National Book Award finalist and author of three-dozen books, includingWife | Daughter | Self: A Memoir in EssaysandWe Are the Words: The Master Memoir Class

What happens when we unravel family myths In her newest memoir,The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy,Gretchen Cherington finds no easy answers as she unfolds a true crime tale concerning a grandfather she never knew. As we're drawn into this intricate story of high life and deceit in the early 20th century, both author and reader wonder if Cheringtons grandfather was complicit in an embezzlement scheme that rocked a name-brand company. With characteristic honesty, and relevant to readers everywhere, Cherington's powerful prose prompts us to look at our own family stories in new ways.
Ashley E. Sweeney, author ofHardland

CheringtonsThe Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guycombines what I love best about John CarreyousBad Bloodand Erik LarsonsThe Devil in the White Citythe fascinating interplay of history, business, personality, and crime. Not just what happened. But, why it happened, and why we ought to care.
Shelley Blanton-Stroud, author of the Jane Benjamin Series

In this fascinating historical memoir, Gretchen Cherington sets out on a determined quest to discover why her grandfather, who played a pivotal role in the early success of the Hormel meat company, was ultimately forced out of the company. To understand this pivotal event that forever changed her familys fortunes, Gretchen returns to her midwestern roots to uncover the truth about the meatpacking industry and the powerful men who shaped it. Engrossing me from first page to last, this is a compelling mystery of corporate greed, family legacy, and a granddaughters search for answers.
Laura Davis, best-selling author ofThe Courage to HealandThe Burning Light of Two Stars

Cherington dismantles myth after myth in this visceral and emotional story, one complicated by family legacies large and small that are twined by love and loss. At the books center, a small town that orbits around buttoned-up businessmen and an industry that feeds the nations bellies with slaughtered hogs.
Kerri Arsenault, author ofMill Town: Reckoning with WhatRemains, aNew York Times Editors ChoiceandChicago Tribune Top Book for 2020

A fascinating story in whichthe authorcaptures the texture of prosperous early twentieth-century uppermiddle class life in a Minnesota company town. Cherington seems to have it all nailed down, but, at the end, a fresh discovery challenges her own narrative. Finely crafted, this book is strong reporting and reflects Cheringtons deep emotional ties to her quest for the truth.
Steve Taylor, farmer, newspaperman, and longtime Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of New Hampshire

Cheringtons second book is a fascinating blend of history, family biography, and personal memoir. Who knewthe Hormel company's history was so infused withdrama and intrigue Cherington is a meticulous researcher with keen insights into human flaws and subtleties, born of her professional training in consulting work. She is also a woman on a soul-searching quest into her own familys shadowy past. A poetic sensibility infuses Cheringtons prose, making this engaging, multi-dimensional story a highly compelling read.
Robin Clifford Wood, author ofThe Field House: A Writers Life Lost and Found on an Island in Maine

Engagingly written, combining elements of history, memoir, and mystery. This book is a delight.
Monica Wood, author ofThe One-in-a-Million Boy,When We Were the Kennedys, andErnies Ark

Im not often a reader of history, but The Butcher, the Embezzler, and the Fall Guy, with its blend of fact and memoir and family lore, kept me entranced. Through her vivid prose and clear-eyed honesty, Cherington guides readers skillfully back to a time and place that bustles with lifea trip I would take again and again with this talented author.
Cheryl Suchors, author of 48 Peaks: Hiking and Healing in the White Mountains

A wonderfully written book with great backstory about the early days at Hormel. The author treats her subjects fairly while shining a light on misguided trust between friends, the importance of innovation to leapfrog competitors, and the deep determination needed to succeed.
David Barber, executive at Barber Foods

With crisp writing and an eye for detail, Cherington masterfully weaves a story of ambition, intrigue, and family legacy. Equal parts mystery and memoir, Cheringtons curiosity takes her to the farmlands and feedlots of southern Minnesota as she unearths shocking and long-hidden details of this true-crime tale. I was totally hooked.
Bob Keyes,author ofThe Isolation Artist: Scandal, Deception, and the Last Days of Robert Indiana

Author Bio

Gretchen Cheringtons first view of powerful men was informed at the feet of her father, Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Richard Eberhart, and his eclectic and fascinating writer friends, from Robert Frost to Allen Ginsberg to James Dickey. As an executive management consultant, she figured out what made powerful men tick by working alongside nearly three hundred of them in their corner suites during her thirty-five year career. Her first memoir, Poetic License, has won multiple awards; her writing has appeared in Crack the Spine, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, Women Writers/Womens Books, MS. Girl, Yankee and more; and she was nominated for a Pushcart Prize for her essay Maine Roustabout in 2012. Gretchen and her husband split their time between Portland, Maine, and a saltwater cottage on Penobscot Bay. Learn more at www.gretchencherington.com.