http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-robert-taylor-20130912,0,4935947.story

Diana Nyad said this past week after completing her monumental historic Cuba-to-Florida swim after the fifth try:  ‘Never, ever give up:’

In a CNN story about Diana:

“Maybe during our own lives’ rough patches as well as their still waters, we can also follow Nyad’s example: Hum lullabies or Beatles songs. Never give up on a dream. Be thankful for those who cheer us on.

During her post-swim interview, Nyad told Gupta that she writes “all the time about — you tell me what your dreams are. What are you chasing? It’s not impossible. Name it.”

We all have dreams. Whispered to ourselves, written on paper, wandering through that part of ourselves we share with no one (or anyone who will listen), they’re a given and a constant to being human.

Our dreams might not be swimming 110 miles from Cuba to Key West or across the English Channel. Maybe they’re to travel the world or to write a novel; to be healthy or to fall in love; to face down fears or go to college or just see another sunrise.

We dream them because we want to feel alive, Mineo says. Nyad’s achievement reminds us of our own potential.

“That’s the pinnacle and the imagination,” he says, “and she did it, absolutely.”  ”

Robert Taylor, while I never knew him, to me also brings in this “Never, ever give up”.

The story talks about making soaps in his kitchen with his daughter, trying to get the right formulation, and then making Soft Soap into an empire.  He truly was an Empire builder.

He bought Calvin Klein’s cosmetics line for the paltry price of $1 Million dollars, and then helped orchestrate “Obsession” Perfume and it’s marketing, and made a mountain of money from persistence and hardwork.

I’m reading and re-reading his obit from today’s LA Times…

Paul Kiler – Building the Empire of PK Perfumes