Speaking Frankly

In Frankly Speaking, Clyde Riley tells the story of how he left the rural South as a young man, with little formal education beyond high school, relying on his energy, intelligence and personality to rise to the top of a major company in the U.S. food industry. Along the way, he met global political leaders, earned the trust of wealthy entrepreneurs and devised marketing strategies in collaboration with personalities from advertising, business and finance. Having started with few possessions or advantages, Riley has shown with his life story how much can be accomplished in American society with ordinary determination and grit.

David Clyde Riley - known as Clyde - was born on a farm in rural Alabama. After completing high school, he served a short stint in the U.S. Navy before accepting employment in a slaughterhouse in Dothan, Alabama. Over the next half century, Riley rose through the ranks to become president of Detroit-based Hygrade Food Products, a meatpacking company that created Ball Park Franks, the nation's most popular hot dog brand. He also served as chairman of the American Meat Institute, the industry's top trade organization. Riley retired in 1994 to his home in Howell, Michigan where he lives with his wife, Helen.