In Pursuit of Excellence

The book chronicles my family’s journey as an independent mink rancher, operating at the absolute pinnacle of the international fur trade in the early 1980s.

While it celebrate the absolute dedication required to produce absolute top-tier agriculture goods.

It also exposes a cinematic, real-life corporate cover-up at the historic Seattle Fur Exchange;

* The $98.00 US Snub (1980):

Our ranch, Akagami mink ranch Ltd., only oriental mink rancher at that time, shattered world mink market records pulling an astronomical $98.00 US per pelt (224 pelts / bundle) on the EMBA DEMI-BUFF section in Seattle, beating out legendary Hudson’s bay company NY.

To protect the establishment’s prestige, the auction house and EMBA mink association handed the official EMBA “top bundle award” for the year to the Hudson’s bay’s $2.00 lower priced bundle instead.

* Missing Bundle (1981)

The following year our absolute best bundle was missing on the Rancher’s Catalogue.

Before live bidding began, alongside the Exchange’s top grader, Mr. Kurt Essman, we hurried into the president’s empty office and discovered the master catalogue on the table.  Our top bundle was crossed out by pencil, and “SOLD” on it. (Without us knowing it, Without our consent.) (price fixing?)

Despite the system closing ranks and stealing our finest product, the sheer undeniable merit of our remaining crop swept the live floor anyway.

On that day in 1981, we topped the EMBA Demi-Buff section at the Seattle auction for the second consecutive year on pure quality!

* 1987 Our several top-end EMBA Demi-buff bundles were miss-placed into the lower priced Buff section at Hudson’s bay auction co. 

* Mr. Kurt Essman became the Vice President of American Legend.

* Cover-up;

While our insider ally chose his career over the truth and stay silent, the ultimate confirmation of the cover-up came years later. Upon his retirement, Mr. Gary Dederer, the Seattle Fur Exchange’s ex-president confessed to me that he had personally taken that incriminating master catalogue home to permanently bury the evidence of their backroom’s deals!

This lifeblood of preserving authentic, untold new immigrant’s histories, In Pursuit of Excellence appeals broadly local readers who love real-life David and Goliath stories.

I would love the opportunity to have my ‘In Pursuit of Excellence’ in your hand.