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The distinctive tombstone of Kemmons Wilson

He founded Holiday Inns, and he made sure everyone knew that when they visited his gravesite.

In 1996, Memphis businessman Kemmons Wilson published his autobiography, called Half Luck and Half Brains. But he was just being modest. It took an awful lot of brainpower to accomplish all that he did.

He got his start in the world of business by delivering prescriptions (by bicycle) for a local druggist, then started making a good bit of money supplying popcorn roasters to movie theaters. That convinced him to get more involved in these ventures, and so he opened his own theaters; among them was the well-known Summer Drive-In, and quite a few others around town.

Read more courtesy of MemphisMagazine.com