Chester Francis-Jackson, Contributor 
You know, there are really precious few people in this society who have created anything of substance, as against the flash-in-the-pan, high-profile empty suits who seem to have the cure for all that ails, but whose track records point to them being abject failures.
Even more worrisome about the absence of people of real substance, as against pontificating talking heads, are those underachievers who have made it their task to undermine the greatness of those who toiled while their peers slept.
Well, my daahlings, there's a new coffee tome out now, in fact, it's been around for a little time now, but it's being doing the rounds (as it were) here, in more recent times, and how!
Titled All That's Good, the mega-sized full-colour coffee-table-tome is authored and edited by Pamela Lerner Jaccarino, of the Florida- based Sandow Media Corporation, and tells the story in a most picturesque format of the founder and chair of the Sandals Hotel empire, Gordon 'Butch' Stewart.
Now, and to be sure, All That's Good is not your page-turner, as this was not the presentation style preferred by the author/editor. It does, however, make for a sure and steady compelling read, with the urge to first flip through its 300-odd pages, and drink in the beauty of Stewart's achievements, as
chronicled by the fabulous collection of photographs that pepper the tome, and thus making it a page-turner.
The reader/browser may just find himself/herself however, at the end of the book, without having read a morsel of the great inspirational story of perseverance and gustiness that encapsulates the journey that took him from his modest beginnings to the top of one of the world's largest hotel chains.
Now, whether one browses through this volume or buckles down for the meat and gravy, there is one pre-eminent element which is inescapable, and that is, while there are those who have a penchant for partying and flaunting the good life, Stewart has a penchant for hard work, and in so far as there seems to be a tendency to love to party, it behoves the
reader/browser to look again as what appears to be a passion for partying is shrewd and skilled marketing at play. It's very clear that it was Stewart's promotional and marketing savvy that took him and his budding empire from the backwaters of nothingness, to the top of his game, thus making of him and his Sandals brand a world leader.
There's also an inescapable warmth communicated by All That's Good that not only warms the cockles of the heart, it also inspires, as here is the story of a man who not only made good for himself, but made good by those around him, as he travelled the long route that took him from that of air-conditioning salesman, to the eventual establishment of his Appliance Traders flagship, through to his internationally-acknowledged and celebrated Sandals chain of fine resorts.
Now, there are those, who see the hotel magnate and his success as being some kind of miraculous fly-by-night story. As those who know him and his struggles will attest, and as is now confirmed in All That's Good, the success Stewart now enjoys is the whirlwind reaping of the seeds planted decades ago with the founding of his Appliance Traders in 1968, and nearly two decades later, the founding of the Sandals Resort in 1981, with the purchase of what is acknowledged as rundown hotel, over there in Montego Bay.
Now, there were those who thought him a little batty, with his hotel venture. And indeed, there were times when the hotel, seemingly at the end of the Sangster International Airport runway, posed more than a little challenge for those who were guests there, as the noise from low-flying aeroplanes was more than a little testy, that soon was converted to a plus,
however, as later guests came to welcome the 'flypass' and came out of their rooms to wave them by.
And so it is, that the story of Gordon 'Butch' Stewart, the man behind the Sandals Resort Chain, is not only a timely intervention, it is a very formidable reminder, that this is still a land of opportunity. Especially for those who dare to dream and then manage those dreams to fruition. And if along the way one has to blow one's own trumpet, way to go, because those standing around will not, as they, like carrions, are here not to cheer you on, but feed on your carcass, should you fail.
Mercifully, failure was not an option for Stewart, and that is what makes All That's Good, such a fine read! And by the way - with foreword by Sir Richard Branson, y'all know we are talking more than your same ol, same ol, here! We are talking inspirational.
