Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Nine Proven Principles from the Life of Paul Zurcher

In an abandoned barn in the middle of Italy, enemy fire tore through Paul Zurcher's shoulder. A distance of only a few inches―the distance from his shoulder to his heart―was the difference between death and his continued life. He came home knowing life was a gift, and he made something truly remarkable of his.

When Paul returned from the war, he took out a $300 loan and opened a one-bay service station in his small Indiana hometown. From these humble beginnings, he grew his business to encompass over 280 locations under the Best-One Tire banner, becoming the largest independent tire distributor of Bridgestone Firestone.

But Paul's business success makes up just a small fraction of his life's impact. He deeply influenced his family, friends, and countless others by faithfully following and sharing his nine life principles. Paul's life principles became the commitments he honored throughout his life, and they made him truly successful at business―and at life.

Paul's life principles provide the structure for this book. Each chapter opens with one of his principles as he himself described them. These are followed by stories from his life that illustrate how he lived what he believed. And this is what made Paul's life so distinct: the way his words and actions aligned. This speaks to his sincerity and commitment―and at the same time, it points to the potential we all possess.

Melinda Zurcher (BS, Elementary Education, Taylor University; Med, Elementary Education, Huntington University) joined the Best-One Tire family ten years ago, when she married her husband, Jon. She, Jon, and their three daughters live in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she cares for her family while also working on her writing and studying for her PhD in education.

Rachel Starr Thomson works with words from both sides of the desk―as both an editor and a writer, she loves to explore the intersections of faith and the written word. She wrote her first book when she was thirteen and has since published over thirty novels, nonfiction works, and short stories, including The Oneness Cycle and The Seventh World Trilogy. In 2003, she started freelance editing, a career she’s continued over since. Rachel dwells in southern Canada but regularly travels all over North America, writing, speaking, and singing with the arts ministry she cofounded, 1:11 Ministries. She’s a homeschool graduate, a lover of long walks, good books, and hot tea, and a countercultural revolutionary who thinks we’d all be much better off if we pitched our television sets out the nearest window.