Newton Author Publishes Biography of former Waban Resident

NEWTON -- Longtime Newton resident Barry Wanger is the author of a new biography of Arnold Hiatt, former Waban resident who was widely recognized as one of the most progressive and successful corporate executives in the last half if the 20th century.

Arnold Hiatt: Turning Business into a Force for Good is an inspirational story about this social and political activist and philanthropist who used his bully pulpit to call for corporate support of early childhood education and social issues decades before others.

Hiatt launched the nation’s first on-site corporate childcare center and later the nation’s first intergenerational center, promoted women to senior leadership positions years before anyone had heard of a glass ceiling, and encouraged his employees to take time off with pay to volunteer in distressed neighborhoods.

He sacrificed some of his own stock options in order to convince the Board of Directors to invest an unheard of 10 percent of pre-tax profits into the Stride Rite Foundation which provided millions of dollars to fund scholarship programs to encourage college student to consider careers in public service as well as nonprofit organizations, mostly those supporting children and community outreach initiatives.

“Business is the most powerful force in our society – particularly if it is willing to accept moral, civic and financial leadership. Business has the tools, the energy, and the will to fill the growing leadership vacuum in government,” he said at a conference at the President Reagan Presidential Library in 2002.

Wanger’s biography tells the story of a man who dropped out of Harvard to join the Merchant Marine, bought a bankrupt shoe company when he was only 24, turning it into such a success that Stride Rite made him an offer too good to refuse.

He left Stride Rite after only a few months (he later returned) to become treasurer of the presidential campaign of Sen. Eugene McCarthy, a leading opponent of the Vietnam War. That experience launched a lifetime of involvement in progressive political causes.

Arnold Hiatt: Turning Business into a Force for Good also offers new information on some of Hiatt’s least publicized activities, including his important behind-the-scenes role in seeking to recover the stolen artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, serving as mentor to one of the nation’s leading chefs, and his pivotal work in launching Business for Social Responsibility.

This biography by Barry Wanger is based on more than 30 interviews with Hiatt and those who worked with him on his corporate and charitable endeavors, access to corporate and personal records, and a review of extensive media coverage of Hiatt and Stride Rite.

The author will donate 25 percent of book sales to Mila Milagros, a program in Guatemala designed to improve children’s health care and education and combat hunger and malnutrition. The book is available at Lulu.com, Amazon.com as well as selected bookstores. Personalized autographed copies at a discounted price ($12 + $3 postage) is available by contacting Wanger directly at bdwanger@gmail.com