Don Gale is President of Words, Words, Words, Inc., a communication consulting company. His work includes placing words on paper, speaking words into microphones, organizing words into ideas, and rescuing words from abuse. He also writes a monthly column for the Deseret Morning News and the Ogden Standard-Examiner.. He is the author of a book published recently by the University of Utah Press. Titled “Bags to Riches,” it’s about I. J. “Izzi” Wagner, a Utah businessman, civic leader, and philanthropist. Mr. Gale and his company also produced six videos about alcohol and drug abuse for the Edward G. Callister Foundation. The video presentations are used by professionals in the field of addiction disease. Prior to his “retirement,” he was Vice President for News and Public Affairs at Bonneville International Corporation. For 22 years, he wrote, produced, and broadcast daily editorial comments for KSL -- six thousand editorials, a million and a half words. His editorials earned state, regional, and national honors. He also served on the faculties of the University of Utah and Weber State University. He spends his day arranging one word after another . . . trying to figure out what he’s thinking. “Words are the architecture of ideas,” he says. “The finished structure must be both beautiful and functional.” His search for ideas and the words to express them has taken him to more than thirty foreign nations. He finds leisure time stressful, and so he serves on at least a dozen volunteer boards -- from the Utah Shakespearean Festival to the Utah Kidney Foundation. He enjoyed serving as President of the University of Utah Alumni Association -- because the board met on Fridays, served lunch, and avoided words beginning with ‘B,’ ‘Y,’ and ‘U.’ He is past chair of the University of Utah National Advisory Council. Mr. Gale is a shy, private, high-school dropout. He earned B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Utah. In the springtime of his senility, he was awarded a high school diploma by Salt Lake Community High after a wordy commencement speech. Southern Utah University gave him an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree -- again, after a wordy commencement speech. He gave up medical school to be a writer -- turning from sutures to sentences. He has since written books, poems, films, and countless letters of apology. He is married to Doris Chipman Gale, a woman of infinite patience, understanding, and good humor. They have three outstanding children and seven brilliant grandchildren. Reviews of Gale's book, Bags to Riches: The Story of I. J. Wagner Brandon Griggs, Salt Lake Tribune, April 8, 2007: “Wagner’s full life is chronicled in a new book, Bags to Riches: The Story of I. J. Wagner, by veteran Utah author and broadcaster Don Gale. After reading this biography, you’ll wonder why the city hasn’t erected a statue in Wagner’s honor. Because as Gale argues persuasively, the story of Wagner’s life and the history of 20th-century Salt Lake City are almost one and the same. Dennis Lythgoe, Deseret Morning News, January 28, 2007: “The author of ‘Bags to Riches,’ Don Gale, had long conversations with Wagner for five years, then made notes on their meetings and collected anything he could get to help tell his story. The result is not an academic biography, but a more personal one, told with warmth, love and respect.” |
||
