Water from Stone

Award-winning author Jeffrey Greene provides a portrait of J. David Bamberger's unlikely transformation from a vacuum cleaner salesman to co-founder and CEO of Church's Fried Chicken and an internationally recognized conservationist.Growing up in rural Ohio during the Great Depression and World War II, Bamberger learned from his mother to love the natural world. She gave him a book that would set the course for his life: ""Pleasant Valley"", by Louis Bromfield. Inspired by his new role model, Bamberger would say, 'If I ever make money, I want to do what Bromfield did.'After finding that financial success, Bamberger bought what he describes as ""the sorriest piece of land in Blanco County"" and entered upon his decades-long effort to restore the ecological balance of 5,500 acres that had been virtually destroyed by more than a century of misuse. Naming his preserve Selah - from the Old Testament term meaning ""pause and reflect"" - Bamberger now dedicates himself and his resources to protecting species and educating everyone else who will listen to his central message, delivered with evangelical zeal: We must take care of the earth, and anyone can help.