The first full insider's account of Viacom's meteoric rise to become the largest entertainment conglomerate in the world, this inspiring account of the life of Ralph Baruch can be read by those seeking to overcome their own personal and professional challenges or simply by those interested by a fullfilling human-interest story. As a teenager, Ralph faced the Pyrenees Mountains separating Nazi-controlled France from Spain as his family fled Hitler's Europe for freedom; in his adult life he faced CBS, government bureaucrats, Hollywood stars and shysters, greedy outsiders coveting Viacom, and the loss of his wife and mother of four young daughters. Intimate and uninhibited, this autobiography also provides a revealing top-to-bottom tour of the television industry with anecdotes of the stars including Bill Cosby, Lucille Ball, Jackie Gleason, Raymond Burr, Ted Turner, and Mary Tyler Moore.