Kemmons Wilson


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Kemmons Wilson (January 5, 1913 – February 12, 2003) was the founder of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels.

He was born Charles Kemmons Wilson in Osceola, Arkansas, a son of Kemmons and Ruby "Doll" Wilson. His father was an insurance salesman who died when Kemmons was nine months old. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Doll, moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she raised him.

He opened the first Holiday Inn motel in Memphis in 1952, and quickly added others to create an entire hotel chain. Holiday Inn went international in 1960.

Wilson was married to Dorothy Lee.

His autobiography, Half Luck and Half Brains, tells the story of the Holiday Inn.

Kemmons Wilson died in Memphis and is interred in Forest Hill Cemetery - Midtown in Memphis, Tennessee.

Basketball team owner

In July, 1974, Wilson, along with Isaac Hayes, Al Wilson (singer), Mike Storen and others, bought the Memphis Tams franchise in the American Basketball Association. They changed the team to the Memphis Sounds. They quickly built a strong roster, obtaining players such as Mel Daniels and Rick Mount. The team was the most successful pro basketball team that Memphis ever fielded; it finished fourth in the ABA's Eastern Division, advancing to the 1975 ABA Playoffs before losing the Eastern Division semifinal series four games to one to the eventual 1975 ABA champion Kentucky Colonels. Following the season, the Sounds were sold to a group in Baltimore, Maryland where they moved to become the short-lived Baltimore Claws.

References

  • De Lollis, Barbara. (2007). Holiday Inn chain gives itself a face-lift. USA Today. Retrieved on September 23, 2007 from http://usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-07-19-holiday-inn_N.htm
  • Economist, The. (2003). Kemmons Wilson. Economist, 366 (8313). Retrieved September 12, 2007 from Academic Search Premier.
  • Hendricks, Nancy. (2006). Charles Kemmons Wilson (1913-2003). [Electronic version]. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture. Retrieved on September 23, 2007 from http://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia
  • Kerr, Robert, & Wilson Kemmons. (1996). Half Luck and Half Brains: The Kemmons Wilson, Holiday Inn Story. Nashville, TN: Hambleton-Hill Publishing, Inc.
  • Salomon, Alan. (2001). Dorothy Wilson, Wife Of Holiday Founder, Dies At 84. Retrieved on September 27, 2007 from http://www.hotelinteractive.com.
  • Shaw, George Bernard. (2006). George Bernard Shaw. Retrieved on September 27, 2007 from http://www.wisdomquotes.com.
  • Shook, Robert L. & Bingaman, Ron. (1975). Total commitment. New York, NY: Frederick Fell Publishers, Inc.
  • Success secrets of Memphis’ most prolific entrepreneur. (1997). [Electronic version]. Business Perspectives. 10 (1). Retrieved on September 23, 2007 from EbscoHost.
  • The Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation. (2005). Retrieved on September 23, 2007 from http://kwilson.com/wilsonfoundation.html.
  • Weathers, Ed. (1985). The Last Tycoon Is This Man America’s Happiest Millionaire? [Electronic Version] Memphis. Retrieved September 23, 2007 from http://www.orangelake.com/kem_archive_07.html.
  • Wilson, Kemmons. (1997). What accounts for success? USA Today Magazine, 126 (2628). Retrieved September 12, 2007 from Academic Search Premier.

External links







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