John Hamilton:  

Born and raised in Chicago (near Riverview Amusement Park and Lane Tech H.S.). As a youngster, I delivered the Chicago Daily News and, later, the Chicago Tribune [at 5:00 a.m, before going to school] just west of Wrigley Field in the Lakeview neighborhood. I used to climb a fence along to Chicago River to enter Riverview (to save the 15 cent admission fee.) Other fond memories include entering Wrigley Field around the 8th inning when the Andy Frain ushers were not looking; and, swimming "off the rocks" near Belmont Harbor on Lake Michigan between ages 10 - 12 (and living to tell about it). My father's job took the family to live in downstate Illinois, where I spent 4 years before going to Minneapolis to complete my last two years of college at the University of Minnesota. I stayed in Minneapolis for 20 years except for 6 months living in Midtown Manhattan training to become a stockbroker in 1969. 13 years after graduating from the U of MN, I went to night school and obtained an MBA in '80. Nine years after that, I went to law school, full-time, day-time at age 45 surrounded by a sea of 26 year old students. I've lead what seems to have been a "Walter Mitty" life of various careers including being a Top 40 disk jockey (part-time, weekends, in Minneapolis at KDWB and KRSI, 1967-71.} Business experience includes working for the Lincoln-Mercury Division of Ford Motor Company after college; working for 3 major NYSE member firms during most of the 1970's; Senior Vice President of one of the largest Savings & Loans -- American Savings & Loan -- in the U.S. during the 1980's managing the company's "money desk" sales and operations -- first in Minneapolis, then Chicago, and finally in Los Angeles. I survived two different idiot Board Chairman who ran the company into the ground, in 1988) becoming the second biggest bank failure in history (second to Continental Illinois Bank), but I di...Expand for more