TRUE WEALTH

Lee Roderick is an award-winning journalist and author with broad national and international experience. During two decades in Washington, D.C. he was bureau chief for Scripps League Newspapers--30 papers in 15 states. He directed a staff of reporters, personally covered the White House and Congress, and wrote a national political column. Roderick traveled the globe covering major stories and was the only U.S. correspondent to succeed in interviewing Americans held hostage by Iran before their release in 1981. Roderick in 1988 was elected by his peers as president of the National Press Club--the leading public forum in the United States for national and world leaders. A native of Idaho, he returned to the Mountain West in 1990 as managing editor and then news director at KSL Television in Salt Lake City.

Eleanor Ricks left her Idaho home and journeyed to Salt Lake City to enroll at the University of Utah. Entering the freshman girls' dorm, she got on the elevator from the front. At the same moment Nancy Colton entered the back of the elevator, with her brother Sterling, who carried her luggage. Both girls punched the third-floor button. When the elevator opened, Sterling dropped Nancy's suitcases and picked up Ellie's, carrying them to her room."I liked him right away!" said Ellie. After a five-year courtship, Sterling and Ellie were married. "Her mother sent her to the 'U' to find a husband," quipped Sterling. "I was fortunate that she was not very picky and chose the first boy she met." Ellie said, "He has been carrying my luggage ever since."Rarely do two people complement each other so perfectly and are so completely in love.Sterling is serious and responsible. Ellie is full of fun and occasionally irreverent. Both are excellent leaders. Their life together has unfolded over seven delightful decades. They have raised four outstanding children--three boys and a girl--traveled the globe, assisted numerous needy individuals, and spearheaded a variety of good causes.Sterling and Ellie were born and reared in the Rocky Mountain West. They remained there as a couple and family until 1966 when J.W. Marriott, Sr. recruited Sterling to Washington, D.C. to head his company's legal team. The Coltons began an adventure-filled new life in the nation's capital.As Marriott International's general counsel, Sterling became widely known among colleagues as the "conscience" of the company. J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr., who succeeded his father as company leader, called Sterling his best friend and relied on his legal judgment as Marriott grew from a relatively small enterprise into the world's largest hotel company.In the early 1990s, a tumultuous time for financial and construction industries, Marriott came perilously close to insolvency. It was saved by splitting the company into two companies. Sterling was credited with directing the split that saved Marriott.At home the Coltons were a cohesive, all-American family--working side by side in their house and yard; volunteering community service; supporting their daughter's creative activities; cheering their sons' basketball and football teams. The Coltons skied; visited Disneyland; fished in Alaska; and soared over France's Loire Valley in a hot-air balloon.Sterling bungee-jumped in New Zealand; Ellie rode a camel into the Egyptian desert withher "Sheik." Together they sailed the Mediterranean on a romantic cruise ship, Sea Cloud; safaried in southern Africa; rode elephants in Thailand; and watched for birds from Canada to Antarctica.The Coltons adopted as their family motto: "Choose you this day whom ye will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15) All three sons served two-year missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and were married in an LDS temple. Sterling and Ellie presided over a variety of local Church organizations as well as a mission and a temple.Undergirding everything is the love between Sterling and Ellie. This book is their story.

Jim Sorenson was born into poverty to teenage parents. As a small boy in California he shelled walnuts and sold things door-to-door to help put food on his family's table. Hope for a better future was dashed for a time by a teacher who branded him "mentally retarded." Yet he died a billionaire, having risen to rare heights as an inventor and entrepreneur. Dyslexia made reading extremely difficult, but also planted the seeds of awesome abilities. He invented many medical instruments that today are standard in hospitals across the world, and pioneered entire industries while launching some 40 companies. Jim was an American original––eccentric and complex, who preached teamwork but was utterly incapable of being anything but the leader; insistent on his rules but indifferent to everyone else's. After co-founding one of the nation's first biotechnology companies, he left and began Sorenson Research. Jim coveted results, not resumes. He hired a machinist and a sewing-machine repairman. Starting almost from scratch, the three invented ingenious medical devices, selling the company fifteen years later for $100 million. Real estate was the other pillar of Jim's wealth. He was reputed to be his state's largest private landowner. His genius in acquiring land and holding, selling, or developing it created a blueprint others can profitably follow. Jim was a philosopher and idealist, pouring a fortune into a quest for peace. He brought antagonistic religions together in international summits, and gathered 100,000 human DNA samples from 90 percent of all countries, believing that if diverse peoples are shown they are related, they will learn to leave peaceably. Jim was also a husband and father of eight whose family struggled to relate to him as he single-mindedly pursued his dreams.

ContentsAcknowledgements 9Prologue 111 Tough Start for Teen Parents 172 Mentally Retarded 333 A Giving Heart 484 Boy Innovator 585 Beverley Born in Idyllic Family 736 First Love 887 Mission Trumps Medical School 1018 Champion Baptizer 1109 Whirlwind Courtship 12110 Upjohn 13411 Hiking Goat Pastures 15012 Boy’s Death Sets Course 16313 Deseret Pharmaceutical 17414 First Paper Surgical Mask, Disposable Catheter 18915 Sorenson Research Soars 19616 LeVoy’s, Religion, Music 20717 The Greatest Mind 22518 Jim, Dr. Homer Warner Team to Mend Hearts 23619 Cardiac Catheter Opens New Era 24920 Device Saves, Re-Circulates Patient’s Own Blood 26121 Selling Sorenson Research 27222 Jim Turns His Back on Family 28423 Lure of the Land 30124 Sorensons Create a City 31525 White Sage Ranch, Farm l 32826 University of Utah Gift Fiasco 34427 Jim, Beverley Generous With Needy 35928 New Companies Launch, Fail 37029 Sorenson Bioscience 38030 Jim a Volatile Leader 39531 Crime v. Basketball 40932 Beverley Saves Kids With Art 42033 DNA Kinship and World Peace 43234 Fostering Faith, Choosing Family over Fame 446Epilogue 463Appendix 469Sources 484Index