Heroes in Business - Walter Scherr who brought the fax machine to the world in the late 1900s Interview

Episode Date: February 2, 2024

Walter Scherr who brought the fax machine to the world in the late 1900s is interviewed by David Cogan of Eliances Heroes radio show amfm. The fax tech pioneer not only revolutionized telephonic communication, he was the leader of major international corporations, but he didn't get his start there. A depression era boy who had tuberculosis and lived in a sanitorium for 6 years, he has lived his life with determination and a no-quit attitude to start or lead such companies as Visual Sciences Inc and Panafax, Sperry Gyroscope, and Litton Industries. In his book Walter's Way, he educates, entertains, and inspires everyone, from business executives to veterans to lovers of life, as well as giving a first-hand account of America’s emergence as a post-WWII industrial powerhouse.

Up in the sky, look, it's captivating, it's energizing, it's Alliances Heroes. Alliances is the destination for entrepreneurs, investors, CEOs, inventors, leaders, celebrities, and startups. Where our heroes in business align. celebrities, and startups, where our heroes in business align. Now, here's your host flying in, David Kogan, founder of Eliance's. Good morning. Thank you, Money Radio, and thank you again for having the opportunity today. This morning is absolutely incredible.

I have four incredible guests, heroes, true heroes. What is a hero today's world? Today's world hero is someone that is creating and building, creating jobs, leaving their mark, helping the community. And I've got just absolutely, I can't even believe who I've got. And that is, first lineup is going to be a hero who has introduced the fax machine to the world, impacting millions of people. In fact, he was also awarded Certificate of Congress, Congressional Recognition by the U.S. Congress. I've got another guest,

30-year veteran real estate attorney and also crowdfunding attorney who edited Crowdsourcing for Dummies. Another former vice president of Motorola. And when you hear what he's doing now, you're going to be amazed. And my last guest, well, somehow, someway, he's connected to Charles Lindbergh, and you're going to find out how. But without further ado, my first guest today is Walter Scheer with waltersway.org. And again, that's waltersway.org. Good morning, Walter. Good morning to you and your listeners. Thank you. Now let's first talk about the fax machine.

Why is the fax machine so important to, well, your career and what's taken place? It was a new form of communication that had been around for a while, but we made it into a commercial vehicle. And it was very hard to relate to people what was a fax machine. So the easy way to explain it, I renamed it the remote copier. So people wouldn't understand. You put a paper in one place, and it comes out the other place, because everybody knew what a copier machine was. So I had to introduce it to the world.

I actually went around to 40 countries in the world to introduce it, and most of the countries were hurt. It was difficult because in Europe at that time, it was the 1970s, and Europe was a dangerous place at that time. There was three different areas that were dangerous. One was the IRA was bombing London. One was the IRA was bombing London. In Italy, the Red Brigade was trying to take over the Italian government with force.

And the trade war was that they shot kneecaps off the executives of Italy. And the third, of course, was West Germany now, East Germany was now under the communist rule. And at one time in traveling, I traveled into East Germany by mistake. And that's the story in the book that nobody knew where I was. And they kept me for about six hours in East Germany and finally let me go. But when I went out to drive my car, I couldn't drive it because I couldn't put my hands, the shaker, so I couldn't get it in the ignition. I never thought I'd get away from the East Germans. I had a lot of experience in trying to bring

a new form of communication to the world. Now, what sparked it that said, you know what, this is something that, well, it's been invented, not being used. What made you go, you know, this is something incredible, because truly the fax machine, I mean, that absolutely revolutionized things. How, what said, what came to you that said, you know what, I can do something with this and make it, it's a household item, right? Yes, it was. It was actually in delicate essence. After a while, we never believed that would happen.

But in the 1960s, I was working for Lytton Industries, which was one of the premier companies in the world at that time and I was sent over to Japan to settle a dispute between a division of the Latin and the Japanese and while I was in Japan, Japanese have, you know, you need to know 2,000 words to read a newspaper. So they had their own form of facsimile. And all the transportation was done

by facsimile. And I said to myself, wow, you know, this is something that I could make for the Western world. Right. And I settled that dispute that they had in Japan with lead, and the Japanese were very happy the way I settled it,

and I became familiar with them, and I made a joint venture with them to produce the machine, now a different type of machine, Western style on the machine, and I sold it worldwide. And that's how I got into facsimile. And those of you just tuning in, you're listening to Alliance's Heroes on Money Radio, AM 1510 and FM 99.3. Are you a hero in business? Go to alliances.com. That's E-L-I-A-N-C-E-S dot com.

And I have live on the air Walter Scherer. Now, who's Walter Scherer? He is the one who introduced the fax machine to the world. He can be contacted at Walter's Way dot org. Now, Walter, let's talk about your book. What is the title of your book? Walter's Way. Why did you create a book? Why did you write a book? I'll tell you.

I wanted two or three reasons. One, in 1941, when I was listening to a radio and Pearl Harbor broke out, I was emotionally involved with that and thought I should join the Army. I went in June of 1942 to join the Army, and I was called out and told me, you're not joining any Army. You have active tuberculosis. And I spent the next six years in sanitarium. My 18th birthday to my 24th birthday. And when I came out, I was a social outcast. But I had been taken care of by caretakers.

At that time, in the sanatorium, there was no nurses or doctors because they were taking care of the people in the armed forces. We were taken care of by orderlies. But to me, they were the angels of the world, and I wanted to take care and elevate the role of caretakers. Now, Walter Scheer, again, the one who introduced the fax machine to the world, what would you say, you're 91 years old, what is your proudest moment in your life? The proudest moment in my life is my grandchildren.

The proudest moment in my life is my grandchildren. A great many grandchildren, my great-grandfather. And I wanted to leave some sort of legacy so they can understand that you have trials and tribulations at all different ages of your life. But you can overcome them if you have attitude is the most important thing. Attitude is everything. When Sarah looked at Goliath and said, she's too big to defeat, but David looked at her and said, I can't miss, he's so big.

It's just attitude. So you have to have the right attitude, the right faith in God, and believe in this country, he'd give you every opportunity. I was 28 years old. I was 28 years old, and I was a social outcast, and I was a soda drinker, 28 years old. In my was a social outcast. I was a soda jerk at 28 years old. In my lifetime, I have created four international companies that I founded. I was the board member of and ran those companies. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely. And again, you can reach Walter by going to waltersway.com.

From soda jerk to creating four companies to introducing the fax machine to the world, you are a hero. Waltersway.org. Thank you again for listening to Money Radio on AM 1510 and FM 99.3.