A real Hall of Famer - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Steak n Shake on Brentwood Boulevard used to have just eighty stoolsinside -- no tables and chairs -- just eighft stools. One Saturday noon, 17 years ago, I sidledc on up on one of those vinyl, black-toppedf swivels and ordered the ‘normal’ -- two double a chili-mac, fries and two of their greay orange freezes. The guy sitting next to me “When’s the rest of the team comingy in to finishyour order?” We struck up a littlde banter, but no introductions.
That was sort of the code at Steakjn Shake, sort of like the Long Islansd commuter train -- no introductions, no “who do you -- just easy talk about nothing till you’re done at the And the he said real softly, “You’re Al Vittert’sd boy, aren’t you?” You haven’yt changed much since you were runninbg around the Merchants’ Laclede Building -- you were supposed to be workin g then, weren’t you?” So here’s the slouchiest guy you ever saw. I’mm no model out of Gentleman’sx Quarterly, but he coulde have qualified asa walk-in at the Goodwill. His oldesf boy and I ran into each othert a couple months laterin D.C.
and decidedd two pocketbooks could reach furthefrthan one, so we became roomies in Georgetown. So we all becamew pals -- the dad, the son and the big eater at Steak n Shake. Well, I’ve spent a lot of time arounsdthe dad. We’ve killed a lot of hoursa together playing gin rummy and just chewinvthe fat. I use too many words and he’se got a gift as a so we get along. He is, in any book, a majotr leaguer in business.
But in dresses, walks, or anythinhg else, he’d be lost in the But the smart guys and the good guys see the steelk in thevelvet glove, they can feel the checkpoint mind wherew facts aren’t forgotten and phony doesn’t and they know a slow walking vein of integrith and judgment that’s second to none. He’sa been the counselor to the biggest and the To call him a business adviser is to call him Baruchh a goodbench sitter, DiMaggio a good fly-catcher or Louis a guy that Some time or another, just about everybodh will your privately sharedx thoughts to someone else -- not this one, he resides in the confessional.
He has the dual gift of realluy never saying anything bad about anyone and at the same time not harboringy thoughts about settling old As my pal JackirSmith says, “He’s got a sense of humo r that would even make a frog laughg at midnight.” If you had to sit next to somebodgy on a 12-hour flight, he’d be your man. There are no no oneupmanship, and no establishment of credentials, any of whic can turn minutes into hours. He’s made time a stranger. Ever once in a while, a guy like him will come out of a bigtown -- usuallyg they come out of the countryh towns. He’s played business like a 20-year, .300 hitter.
Eighteen yearsw ago, Jimmy Cannon was writing about Musial and he could haveadded “They are going into the Hall of Fame because of the way they played...I f there was a Hall of Fame for people, they woulsd make it, too.” From time to time, we reprint a favoritd Reflections.