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Article: Philanthropist, Founding Father.(BOOKS)(BIOGRAPHY)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- December 17, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Washington Times LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: John M. and Priscilla S. Taylor, THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie was once described by his secretary as "the most consistently happy man I have ever known," and he had much to be happy about.
As distinguished historian David Nasaw describes at great length in Andrew Carnegie (Penguin, $35, 877 pages, illus.), Carnegie lived in an age when wealth was being produced "as if by magic." Being in the right place at the right time meant settling in Pittsburgh just as an abundant supply of a coking coal suitable for smelting ore had been discovered, thereby enabling the cheap production of steel. Luck played a role ...