They don't live close to one another (Scott's in Michigan, Mike's in Oklahoma). They work in different industries (Mike is an independent investor and the former CEO of Heritage Propane, Inc., a propane distribution company with 450 customer service locations in 34 states; Scott is president of National Logistics Management, a high-tech transpor
tation management company in Detroit).
But during the last 30 years they've maintained a unique friendship and stayed in close contact…all because of a song.
It's some old song!
Guitar player Scott and lyricist Mike wrote it about foreign study when they were on foreign study. They sent their recording to their parents so they could get a flavor of their sons' experiences in Aix en Provance, France.
Experiences like…weight loss.
“We were studying in France at a time when the French, generally speaking, didn't care a great deal for Americans,” said Scott.
“Half the time we pretended to be Canadians just to get around,” added Mike.
“But our host mother loved Americans,” Scott continued. “Her husband had been liberated from a German prisoner of war camp by American soldiers.” Although her husband passed away some six months later, the liberation had at least briefly reunited the couple before his death, and his widow, forever grateful, remained fond of Americans.
“Madame B. was a wonderful host mother,” Scott recalled. “She wasn't financially well off.” And she wasn't accustomed to the amount of food two young American athletes could pack away.
“We ate morsels,” said Mike. Scott lost 20 pounds, Mike 30. On their daily 4-mile walk to classes they'd buy baguettes to get through the day. Occasionally they'd conceal canned vegetables home, which they'd cook and eat surreptitiously in the middle of the night, carefully clearing and replacing their dishes so that Madame wouldn't know.
Their diet had no ill effect on their class work. They took history, art, and French language classes, and learned there's nothing like witnessing a dramatic car heist to monitor your progress in the latter.
“We were returning home at night when we saw the thieves drive the cars right through the dealership's show window,” said Mike. “We ran to the nearest police station to report it and then returned to the scene in police cars, sirens wailing.
“We didn't speak French real well. The police asked which way the robbers had fled, which seemed a strange question since you could see a long trail of glass on the road. I excitedly exclaimed ‘Regardez la glaceé!'—‘Look at the ice cream.' They shook their heads and left us to pursue the car thieves.”
“We'd lost our credibility,” laughed Scott.
But the duo's colloquial French improved, in large part because they played city league basketball—Scott at forward, Mike at point guard. A six-foot eight-inch French Canadian teammate made their group quite formidable. Taylor and Krimbill became known for Taylor-to-Krimbill full-court fast-break baseball passes (a technique new to French players at the time). In many games, by the second quarter, the score differential was lopsided enough to safely allow Mike, Scott, and their teammates to drink a few beers, the reason league officials cited when they eventually dismissed the team—ahead in the standings at the time—from the league.
“Playing was great fun,” said Scott, “and a great conversational complement to our university French class.”
“I remember thinking when my freshman year began that I was on my own,” said Mike. “But I learned that you're really not on your own until you live in a country a continent away where they don't speak your native language. That's ‘on your own!'”
And its benefits are many—a sense of authentic independence, an ability to adapt, and a skill to manage change: all vital for success in business.
Nor was study abroad the only element of the “K” experience relevant to an education for business.
“My entire executive team was educated at liberal arts colleges,” says Scott. “I need people in my company with the wherewithal to deal with rapid change because our business moves at warp speed. A liberal arts education grooms people who want challenge and seek change. They know how to learn and adapt. They're creative and may get bored unless they're challenged, but they sure can move your business to a new level.”
For Mike, the liberal arts was the way to discover his passion, to take courses in a variety of areas—science, history, art, French, sociology, and finally economics—until he discovered his love of finance and business. This particular strength of liberal arts learning is captured by the Yogi Berra's malapropism, “When you get to a fork in the road, take it.” You never know where you'll discover a guru of the liberal arts.
Mike transferred to Michigan State after his junior year to complete a degree in business and finance, but his liberal arts experience of “taking all forks” was indispensable to finding that path.
And his experience in France is part of that path. The two friends will never forget it. “The memories remain vivid after 30 years,” said Mike. “A few years ago my mother found that song we recorded and played it for me.”
Of course, it's best to venture into the unknown with a good friend. The foreign study experience forged a bond between Scott and Mike “unlike any I have with any other person,” said Scott. In a way it's strange. Kalamazoo College scatters its students across the globe; who would have guessed that it is those separations that make inseparable friends.
