2008, Call Me Ted , By Ted Turner and Bill Burke. (ISBN: 0446505439 / 0-446-50543-9)

Book Description: 2008, Grand Central Pub., USA. Hardcover. 1st Edition November 2008, numbers on copyright page are 10-1, Large Text Copy. Purple boards with black cloth spine with gold gilt text. 375 clean pages, 6.5"x 9.25" tall, 1.75" thick, illustrated.

Book Condition: Brand New.

Dust Jacket Condition: Brand New, not price cliped, original price of $32.00 US.

About This Book: Ted's larger than life colorful and very succesful story is a real life adventure and at 70 years old he's only slowing down marginally! Call Me Ted is an autobiography written by American businessman Ted Turner and released on November 10, 2008. The book was written over the course of three years with the help of Bill Burke, a former executive for TBS. The book delves into several facets of Turner's personal life, including the death of his teenage sister, the suicide of his father, and his ten year marriage to Jane Fonda, an Academy Award winning actress. Also discussed are some of Turner's more controversial business moves, such as the disastrous merger of his corporation Time Warner with AOL. Critical reaction to the book has been mixed. Chief amongst the concerns cited is that his desire not to dwell in the past raises inherent difficulties when writing an autobiography. However, the details of his business transactions have earned praise.

About Ted Turner: Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television. As a philanthropist, he is known for his $1 billion gift to support UN causes, which created the United Nations Foundation, a public charity to broaden support for the UN. Turner serves as Chairman of the United Nations Foundation board of directors.

Ted Turner in 2007

Turner's media empire began with his father's billboard business, which he took over at 24 after his father's suicide. The business, Turner Outdoor Advertising, was worth $1 million when Turner took it over in 1963. Purchase of an Atlanta UHF station in 1970 began the Turner Broadcasting System. Cable News Network revolutionized news media, covering the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Turner turned the Atlanta Braves baseball team into a nationally popular franchise and launched the charitable Goodwill Games. He helped reinvent interest in professional wrestling when he owned one of the most popular wrestling companies of the middle to late 1990s known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The Monday night show that it put on was the highest rated on cable and helped boost Turner's channels of TNT and WTBS.

Turner's penchant for controversial statements earned him the nicknames "The Mouth of the South" and "Captain Outrageous". Turner has also devoted his assets to environmental causes. He was the largest private landowner in the United States until John C. Malone surpassed him in 2011. He uses much of his land for ranches to re-popularize bison meat (for his Ted's Montana Grill chain), amassing the largest herd in the world. He also created the environmental-themed animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Turner was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Florence (née Rooney) and Robert Edward Turner II, a billboard magnate. When he was nine, his family moved to Savannah, Georgia. He attended The McCallie School, a private, boys' preparatory school in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Turner attended Brown University and was vice-president of the Brown Debating Union and captain of the sailing team. He became a member of Kappa Sigma. Turner initially majored in Classics. Turner's father wrote saying that his choice made him "appalled, even horrified," and that he "almost puked." Turner later changed his major to Economics, but he was expelled before receiving a diploma for having a female student in his dormitory room. Turner was awarded an honorary B.A. from Brown University in November 1989 when he returned to campus to keynote the National Association of College Broadcasters second annual conference.

In 1991, Turner became the first media figure to be named Time magazine's Man of the Year.

He used to be America's largest private landowner, owning approximately two million acres (8,000 km²), greater than the land areas of Delaware and Rhode Island combined. According to documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, Turner's land has a higher gross domestic product than Belize. He has the largest private bison herd, with 50,000 head. In 2002, Turner co-founded Ted's Montana Grill, a burger restaurant chain specializing in bison meat.

Under his ownership, World Championship Wrestling became the only federation to outrate and outsell the McMahon family and their World Wrestling Federation. This event brought about a rise in popularity to professional wrestling and is now known as the Monday Night Wars. WCW television ratings were also heavily competing with ABC's Monday Night Football.

After the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics, Turner founded the Goodwill Games as a statement for peace through sports.

In 1990, the American Humanist Association named Turner the Humanist of the Year.

In 1998, Turner pledged to donate $1 billion of his then $3 billion to United Nations causes, and created the United Nations Foundation to administer the gift. The foundation "builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN through advocacy and public outreach." In 2006, the foundation delivered its billionth dollar to UN causes — $600m of which came from Turner and $400m from public and private partners. Turner has pledged to use the remaining $400m of his commitment to leverage additional funds for UN causes and activities.

Turner served in the United States Coast Guard. He is also a recipient of the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism.

In 2006, Turner received the Bower Award for Business Leadership from The Franklin Institute.

Turner was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame on April 26, 2007.

Books

In the 1997 biography It Ain't As Easy as It Looks by Porter Bibb, Turner discussed his use of Lithium and struggles with manic depression. In 2008, Turner wrote Call Me Ted, which documents his career and personal life.

Source: Wikipedia