DeBoer shares lessons in new book

For two days, I lay there in the darkness, shades drawn and the covers pulled over my head. I was paralyzed — with fear, with self-loathing, with shame, and with a realization that I didn't know what to do next.

I had hundreds of creditors I couldn't pay. Hundreds, affecting the lives of thousands of people. A few days before, one of them had called me on the phone. "I want my money by Friday or I'll kill you," he said.

So writes entrepreneur Jack DeBoer in the prologue for his new book, "Risk Only Money: Success in Business Without Risking Family, Friends and Reputation ," which will be published June 8.

The 80-year-old has given countless speeches over the course of his roller-coaster career in hotel and apartment development. For years, people have asked for copies or for his notes — anything they could study.

So, out of a sense of obligation, DeBoer wrote this book to share the lessons he learned the hard way.

Lessons that "had I known, I wouldn't have suffered a lot of the pain I've been through."

Writing the book, which DeBoer has been working on the past three or four years, presented its own difficulty.

"I wish I could write it and not put my name on it, but I've been talked out of that," DeBoer says.

"I do not want this to be viewed as the story of Jack's life. That's not the point of the book at all."

He divides his book into three areas: striving, success and significance.

DeBoer says the latter, which is partly about figuring out how to effectively share the money you make, was fun to write. He had some help from Fritz Kling , president of the DeBoer Family Foundation .

Except for Kling's help, DeBoer wrote the book on his own, without a ghost writer.

"I had people look at it who know what they're doing," he says. He says they told him, "We like your straightforward style and think you ought to leave it alone."

Kansas City Star Books is his publisher.

All proceeds from "Risk Only Money" will go to World Vision , a global ministry to help children and their families.

DeBoer says there are a lot of interesting stories he wanted to include but nixed because they didn't teach lessons.

There are stories he included that were difficult to share from times in his life when, looking back, he says, "I really wouldn't have liked me."

For instance, in the early 1970s, DeBoer was the country's second-largest apartment developer and, thanks to his ego, turned down a $100 million offer for the business. The economy then tanked, along with his business, and that's when DeBoer took to the sheets in his dark bedroom.

While writing the book, DeBoer says, "I would say to myself, 'Jack, why are you doing this?'

"I'm doing this because I want to change the life of somebody who is struggling with something.

"If a business person or even people in life will read that book and say, 'Ah, I got it. I don't have to go through that,' it will make for a better life."

Not too many Wichitans make the book — especially by name — though DeBoer says some close to him will say, "I know who he was talking about."

DeBoer doesn't think he has a second book in him.

"I have no intention of being an author at my age."

Not that he's near the end of his career. DeBoer says being 80 has nothing to do with publishing the book now.

"No, I'm one of these guys who thinks he's going to live forever," DeBoer says.

He has a least another couple of decades in him, he says.

"Oh, easy. I've got too much work to do. You should see my desk."

Bossa Grill to close

Less than a year after opening, Bossa Grill is closing.

"Sometimes you need to know when you need to quit," says co-owner Alberto Moreira .

He opened what he and a partner from his native Brazil hoped would be the first in a chain of restaurants at Northrock Retail Center at 3242 N. Rock Road.

"So many people like my food — like everything," Moreira says.

But not enough.

Moreira says not enough people came through for a good return on investment.

"It's better we decide to close."

Leisa Lowry with J.P. Weigand & Sons is now working to sublease the space.

The Bossa concept may not be dead, though.

"We need to think about it," Moreira says. "We need to learn about our mistakes."

His partner is talking with someone in Miami about opening there, which Moreira says might make sense with the Latino community in that area.

Moreira says Saturday is Bossa's last day in business here.

"Thank you (to) my customers."

President Donald

Phil Ruffin's good buddy Donald Trump is considering a presidential bid. So what does Ruffin think?

"I told him I would advise him not to," Ruffin says.

"He's on top of his game right now. He really doesn't need that."

For starters, Ruffin says, Trump would have to trade his $50 million TV career for a $400,000 government salary.

"Hell of a drop down, isn't it?"

Ruffin is clear, though, that he'll fully support Trump's bid if he chooses to go that route.

"He's creating quite a buzz," Ruffin says. "He's a very good speaker. He's very entertaining. Speaks his mind."

And it just may work, Ruffin says.

"He might have a good chance."

This story was originally published April 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "DeBoer shares lessons in new book."