A Friendly Life: Edited and Expanded

S. Prestley ("Pres") Blake has lived the American dream. In partnership with his brother Curt and with the help of his parents, Pres started a small ice cream shop in Springfield, Massachusetts in the depths of the Great Depression. The brothers worked long hours, making ice cream at night and selling it during the day. From those humble beginnings, they created the Friendly Ice Cream Corporation, a 500+ restaurant chain now known as Friendly's. After selling Friendly to the Hershey Corporation in 1979, Pres set off to enjoy his leisure time with adventures around the world. But his retirement was interrupted at age 86, when he felt obligated to file a shareholder's lawsuit against the new management team that owned Friendly's. Today, fourteen years and eleven million dollars later, Pres is pleased with conversations he's had with current Friendly's management about the future of the company. Pres Blake's life story is an inspiration to anyone who works hard, asks for advice, and gives back. If I could do it says Pres, so can you.

S. Prestley Blake, at age 100, divides his time between homes in Florida and Connecticut, enjoys visits from his many friends around the world, still sails occasionally, and still dabbles in Rolls- Royces. He loves hearing from former employees. Every August he attends the retirees picnic, and occasionally, dressed jauntily in bow tie and blazer, he pays a visit to Friendly s manufacturing plant in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. Pres and his wife Helen support many causes, giving away $1.5 million a year. He especially enjoys speaking to audiences of young people, telling them that they, too,can enjoy a successful life if they work hard and play by the rules. Alan Farnham is currently a freelance writer. He has worked for ABCnews.com and at Forbes magazine as senior editor overseeing lifestyle coverage. Prior to that he was a senior writer at Fortune for 13 years. His books include Guts: The Seven Laws of Business that Made Chrysler the World s Hottest Car Company (John Wiley & Sons, 1998), ghost-written for Chrysler s then-vice chairman Robert Lutz, and Forbes Great Success Stories: Twelve Tales of Victory Wrested from Defeat (John Wiley & Sons, 2000), written under his own byline.