Chapter 1, 1950-1963 Summary and Analysis

Chapter one shows how Richard's childhood experiences instill a drive for challenges and derring-do that characterizes his adult life as an entrepreneur. He is raised in Shamley Green, Surrey, England. His Mum packs the twelve-year old a lunch for his fifty mile bike trip from there to Bournemouth, where he spends the night with a relative. On his return, she says "well done" and immediately sends him to the vicar who needs help chopping logs. Auntie Joyce pays him ten shillings when he is four or five to swim across the river despite the current that pulls him down stream. Before dying at ninety-nine, Granny tells Richard to make the most of life because you've only got one go at it. His parents Eve and Ted both love adventure. Ted proposes to Eve while speeding on a motorbike. They...