Gwen sat up and stretched her legs out in front of her, exhaling slowly. She told me about a buying trip Wendell had taken to Southest Asia about ten years before. On his way to a meeting, his limo had broken down in the center of Seoul, and he had to sit on the side of the road for two hours until the company could send out another car. According to Gwen, those two hours changed Wendell’s life. As he sat there amid dozens of poor starving children, he wondered how it was that he had been to that city dozens of times and never really noticed the squalor of the row houses, the protruding, malnourished bellies of the children. He decided right there to do something about it. By the time all was said and done, he had formed a sister company—a nonprofit organization—dedicated to the eradication of hunger throughout the world.

“We’ve done so much, so very much,” Gwen said, standing and pacing excitedly. “If you could hear about some of the lives we’ve touched, the children we’ve saved. Building wells, planting crops, teaching Third World communities about irrigation and sanitation—it’s just been incredible.”

“And Wendell’s son Derek is the CEO of the hunger relief fund?”

“Yes.”

“Is he a brilliant businessman like his father?”

“Like Wendell?”

Gwen hesitated, a bemused expression crossing her face. She reached the edge of Wendell’s desk and leaned against it.

“Just between you and me,” she said softly, “comparing Wendell to his son Derek would be kind of like comparing the sunshine to…to a light bulb.”

“I see.”

“Don’t get me wrong—Derek’s good at what he does, perfectly suitable for heading up Feed the Need.”

“Light bulbs do give light,” I replied, carrying along her metaphor. “But…”

“But Derek is not the visionary his dad was. What Derek has to offer is good ‘people skills,’ enthusiasm, compassion. As long as he has a competent staff working for him, which he usually does, things are fine.”

“What do you mean?”

“Derek’s not particularly strong in finance or public relations. But he’s good at spotting top talent and bringing it in. He’s got a fantastic PR person. And as soon as his chief financial officer gets back, he’ll be at a hundred percent.”

I thought about what Alan Bennet had said that first day, that he was helping out because Feed the Need’s CFO was on maternity leave. I asked Gwen about that.

“Nancy started having complications about four months ago,” Gwen said, “so I guess you could call it an extended maternity leave. The baby was just born last week. She’ll be back soon.”

“And Alan Bennet’s been handling the finances while she was gone?”