IN SERVICE TO THE MOUSE: MY UNEXPECTED JOURNEY TO BECOMING DISNEYLAND'S FIRST PRESIDENT

Jack Lindquist enjoyed the ballet with the Shah of Iran, convinced Gene Autry to sell the Anaheim Angels to The Disney Company, and was gently reprimanded by Imelda Marcos. Throughout his thirty-eight year career with The Disney Company, starting out as the first advertising manager of Disneyland just months after its opening to ending his career as the first president of the park, Jack took risks some successful, some not so successful but always with his characteristic humor and joie de vivre. Disneyland and Walt Disney World serve as the backdrop for Jack s experiences, as he established himself as a maverick and helped form a large slice of Americana dominated by Disney. When Jack wasn't rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of every decade that he worked for the Disney Company, he was busy creating Disney Dollars and Date Nite. He recounts all of this and more, including his humorous mistakes, in this touching memoir, In Service to the Mouse.

After moving from Chicago to Los Angeles at the age of four, Jack Lindquist became a child actor and performed in various films including Best Foot Forward with Lucille Ball. He currently resides in Villa Park with his wife, Belle. Jack joined The Disney Company a few months after Disneyland opened and worked his way up until he became the first president of Disneyland, a position he never anticipated. After thirty-eight years with The Disney Company, he retired. He has spent the last few years writing his memoir and working as a consultant on various projects. He s not sure that his retirement is actually a retirement. His next big project is to write another memoir called Before The Mouse, with the assistance of Ms. Combs. --bio written by Melinda J. Combs Melinda J. Combs is a patient, talented, professional woman who endured almost one hundred hours taping and transcribing Mr. Lindquist s Disney career before she and Mr. Lindquist were able to put it into finalized form. A trying, yet satisfying, four year adventure. Besides that, Ms. Combs' non-fiction essays have appeared in Women's Best Friend, and Far From Home - anthologies published by Seal Press. Ms. Combs also teaches creative writing at Orange County High School of the Arts. --written by Jack Lindquist