Mary Contini Gordon

"Wine was free, but we had to pay for water."

Joe Chiriaco and his thirteen siblings heard this from their Italian immigrant father as he recounted his ocean journey to America. In the face of limited water and rudimentary dirt roads, Joe and his Norwegian wife, Ruth Bergseid, founded Chiriaco Summit in the 1930s, a desert travel oasis on today's Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Los Angeles, promising to serve the world on wheels.

The twenty-four-seven challenges are lightened with the courtship of two feisty lovers, the frolicking of youngsters in the desert, more loves, and the juxtaposition of some very imposing personalities, including those of Joe Chiriaco and General Patton.

After moving through new aqueducts and highways, military camps, societal upheavals, and a welcome new set of hard-working immigrants, the twenty-first century brings provisions for electric cars, modern aircraft, and ATV facilities outside Joshua Tree National Park from whence the first Summit waters flowed.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Contini Gordon is a meticulous researcher with years of examining organizational issues in the public and private sectors. She was the executive director of the Hughes Institute for Professional Development and oversaw professional and executive development across all five Hughes Companies. After retiring at the end of 2008, she became the facilitator for the Arizona Technology Council's CEO Network in Tucson, mostly small companies, some family businesses.

Her degrees and background in theater, TV production, and educational psychology contribute to her use of vignettes to bring the reader into the heart of the story.

Her previous book, TIQ SLO'W, The Making of a Modern Day Chief is also a book about leadership. It is used at UCLA and a subject of over thirty talks. Dr. Gordon's research method, which she refers to as Her-History Method, is featured on the Great Lakes College Association's Oral History in the Liberal Arts Initiative Resource Site.

Dr. Gordon is dedicated to telling the stories of those who may not be well known, but contribute mightily to the fabric of this country.