The tugs on the heartstrings are there: This book from Orange County entrepreneur Augustine “Augie” Nieto opens with his 2005 discovery that he has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, the nerve disorder better known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease. It covers his hitting emotional bottom and his publicized friendship with another ALS victim, chubby little Luke Christie, his “brother from another mother.” But what’s most intriguing about “Augie’s Quest,” especially for businesspeople and those already familiar with Nieto’s story, is the business angle. The book details his, relentless drive to find a cure for ALS. Not satisfied to be a high-profile fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Nieto decided to launch the second great business of his career, circumventing the existing ALS bureacracy and setting up a way to quickly identify and fund overlooked researchers. The first great business of Nieto’s career: equipment maker Life Fitness Inc., which he started in 1977, and now is part of Brunswick Corp. The chapters devoted to Nieto’s “quest” profile an entrepreneur at his best and will evoke admiration, not sympathy. The narrative, alternating between Nieto’s personal challenges and his business plan, and including a concise history of Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is riveting. The book comes with some big-time support,a forward by “Tuesdays with Morrie” author Mitch Albom and jacket blurbs by George H.W. Bush, Jerry Lewis, Lance Armstrong and Arnold Schwarzenegger. A minor quibble,the book is interspersed with observations by friends about Augie. While heartfelt, I thought they interrupted the fast pace of his story.
,Rick Reiff
