The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 43: The Paint Salesman

Episode Date: February 21, 2017

"Work hard, tell the truth, and don't be late for supper."

This is the way I heard it. Leslie King was a punk and a coward. He was also a drunk and a liar. But like so many other world-class douchebags, Leslie King was handsome and quite capable of concealing his true nature when it suited him. In this way, Leslie King persuaded Dorothy Gardner to say, I do, before revealing his true self.

On their honeymoon, Leslie drank like the drunk he really was, and slapped his new bride like the bully he'd always been. Why? For smiling at another man. Just days into the marriage, Dorothy knew she'd back the wrong horse, but the year was 1912, and divorce was simply not an option, especially in Nebraska. So Dorothy tried to stick it out, even when her husband's drinking got worse, even when his violent outbursts grew more unpredictable, even when she became pregnant. Leslie King's parents knew their son was trouble, so they did what they could to help. They set up their son in a career.

They took the young couple into their home, and when the baby came into the world strong and healthy, they encouraged Dorothy to name the boy after her husband. If the marriage couldn't turn Leslie around, maybe fatherhood would. Maybe he'd see the world anew through the eyes of Leslie King, Jr. Then again, maybe not. one night the new father stumbled home stinking of booze and sweat he shouted at the baby to shut up he shouted at the nursemaid to do her damn job he shouted at dorothy because shouting was what leslie king did but this time dorothy shouted back she threatened divorce and she meant it

senior's eyes grew narrow as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve no woman was going to tell him what to do no baby was going to rule his life No divorce would shame the King name. Leslie King, Sr., reached into the kitchen drawer and pulled out a butcher knife, a wedding present from his parents. The nursemaid trembled with fear, and the baby wailed. But Dorothy felt a new strength well up inside her. As Leslie brandished the knife and threatened to kill them all, Dorothy stepped between her wailing son and her drunken husband

and simply stared him down. Leslie Sr. dropped the knife and stormed out, shouting threats long after the screen door bounced closed three times behind him. Leslie Jr. was 16 days old. Dorothy filed for divorce. She was ruined. She knew her husband would never pay a cent in child support, and she was right.

She moved in with her sister, and then her parents in Michigan. There, her love for her boy grew with every passing day, along with her contempt for the name he bore, Leslie Lynch, King, Jr. How could she have saddled her sweet son with the name of such a hateful man? Three years later, Dorothy met a paint salesman from Grand Rapids. The two fell in love, married, and raised four children together, including, Leslie King Jr. The paint salesman had three simple rules, and they were not negotiable. Work hard. Tell the truth, and don't be late for supper. Leslie Jr. followed those rules, and in return, his new stepfather raised him like he was his own son. In fact, the paint salesman

gave the boy his first name, as well as his middle name and his last name. So Dorothy never had hear her husband's hateful moniker again. There was no official adoption to the courts. The boy was still Leslie King, Jr. But from that day on, everyone else called him Jerry. Fourteen years later, Jerry was busing tables at a Grand Rapids restaurant when a customer caught his eye. He was a tall man and prosperous with a knowing smirk. The son looked into the eyes of the father and waited for an apology, a confession, an admission of regret perhaps from the man who had not lifted a finger or paid a penny to raise him. But Leslie King, Sr., offered none of the above. He talked vaguely about the weather, and soon ran out of words. Then he handed the boy $25, shrugged, and walked out of his

son's life. And so the father wasn't there to see the son, because he was a man. an Eagle Scout or make All-American or become the most valuable player in college football. He wasn't there when the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers begged him to play professionally, and he wasn't there when his son declined their offer, choosing instead to study law at Yale. Leslie King, Sr. wasn't there when his boy enlisted in the Navy, right after Pearl Harbor, and he wasn't there to welcome him home after he nearly died at sea. And of course, Leslie King, Sr. wasn't there when Jr. married a pretty girl named Betty. But the paint salesman was.

Ironically, if it weren't for that paint salesman from Grand Rapids, Leslie King, Sr. would be completely forgotten today. Just another deadbeat dad who turned his back on his family. But I guess when your son gets a library named after him, along with a park, an amphitheater, an airport, and two interstates, you're going to be remembered as the man who sired him for better or worse. Thus, a quick Google search will reveal the inauspicious Wikipedia page of the utterly ignoble, completely forgettable, and breathtakingly unimpressive Leslie King, Sr. here. However, if you're looking for someone a bit more inspiring, try Googling Jerry the paint salesman. That biography is filled with praises, including this from Dorothy Gardner's son. I had two fathers, but Jerry was the one I loved and learned from. He was my dad, and one of the most outstanding men I ever knew. High praise from a stepson.

still from a stepson who made it all the way to the Oval Office. It's true. The poor kid from Omaha, the boy who refused to be a king, wound up becoming a president, but not before taking the name of the man who raised him, a paint salesman from Grand Rapids named Gerald Rudolph Ford. Anyway, that's the way I heard it. When you manage procurement for multiple facilities, every order matters. But when it's for a hospital system, they matter even more. Granger gets it and knows there's no time for managing multiple suppliers and no room for shipping delays. That's why Granger offers millions of products in fast dependable delivery so you can keep your facility stocked safe and running smoothly. Call 1-800-Granger, click granger.com or just stop by. Granger, for the ones who get it done.

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