James Lick: Eccentric mogul

The story of James Lick, one of California's earliest millionaires and an extraordinary eccentric, covers half the globe. Although he was born in Pennsylvania, Lick left America as a young man after the father of the woman he fell in love with, and with whom he had a baby, decided Lick was not a suitable suitor for hid daughter. Lick spent much of his life living in South America, from Argentina and Brazil on the Atlantic seaboard to Chile and Peru west of the Andes, building pianos as a trade. He accumulated money over the years and arrived in California before the gold rush. With ample funds in his pocket, Lick went on an unprecedented land buying spree in San Francisco and its environs. Some of the land was under water, but after gold was discovered and a mass migration to the gold fields began, land prices exploded. Moreover, parts of San Francisco Bay were reclaimed, these "water lots' became premium land holdings. Lick provided the funds to build the world's then largest telescope and the Lick Observatory was born. Lick persuaded one of his neighbors in Peru to come to California and establish a chocolate enterprise--Domingo Ghirardelli. Award-winning author Daniel Alef tells Lick's strange and moving story of pain, failure and ultimate success. [2,129-word Titans of Fortune article]