Belding Sprigg, Publisher
Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, where his father was vice-president for quality control at the Spartan Rubbers Corporation, Belding Sprigg recalls an idyllic childhood. "I and my 11 siblings wanted for nothing. My parents had come through the Great Depression very well. My father pointed out that his line of work was second-best only to that of funeral home operators. Out of earshot of womenfolk, I often heard him crack wise: 'Digger O'Dell may have the best job, because people are always going to die. But I've got the second best, because people are also always going f---!' And he'd give that huge jovial laugh bubbling out of the depths of that huge belly. I can still hear it." A three-sport letterman at Our Lady of Extreme Virtue High School in Toledo, Belding attended Whittlesworth College, an elite Jesuit institution near his hometown. After graduating with honors in Business Administration, he took a position as office manager of a prestigious law firm in Columbus, Ohio. "I wanted to see what life in the big city was like," he explains. Impressed by what he learned in three years around high-pressure corporate and criminal lawyers, he saved his pennies and attended law school in Dayton. The successful practice he set up in that city (specializing in malpractice suits against aviation manufacturers) enabled him to achieve financial independence by the age of 40. He expanded his office to include financial counseling and estate planning and now has well-known franchise branches throughout North America. Few citizens are not familar with his widely advertised slogan, "No case is hopeless until Belding Sprigg has had a go at it." In the early 1980s, he opened an office in Palo Alto, which eventually led to contacts with the fledgling tycoons of Silicon Valley. From those friendships grew the idea of an on-line magazine like no other, and thus Magellan's Log was born. Having given daily management of his many interests over to a carefully selected team, Belding now devotes all his time to the development of the magazine. His jolly laugh and endless supply of jokes are well-known features of the Magellan's Log office complex. |