From the Ground Up - McCain Foods Limited

Acknowledgements
From Dale Morrison
McCain is filled with many stars … one of those stars deserves a special mention here.
It was the tireless efforts of Tony van Leersum that provided remarkable illumination
to tell this tale. Semi-retired after leading our agriculture division, Tony continues to
be at the forefront of McCain’s development. He deserves enormous credit for building
the bridges to bring the right people together on this project, including the author
Daniel Stoffman, who has done an excellent job in bringing life to the McCain story.
In doing so, Tony has honoured the founders and those people chosen by them to
build the company.
From Daniel Stoffman
This book exists because Dale Morrison, ceo of McCain Foods, decided that the
company’s colourful history should be captured and preserved in book form as part
of the celebration of McCain’s fiftieth anniversary. Wisely, he assigned the project to
quasi-retired McCain executive Tony van Leersum, confident that Tony would not
rest until the idea of a book became reality.
Tony was my invaluable collaborator in researching From the Ground Up. He located
retired McCain people and persuaded them to be interviewed, conducted interviews
himself, and shared his knowledge of all aspects of McCain’s business. After the text
was completed, he spent countless hours checking facts to ensure accuracy, helping
to obtain and select photos and other illustrations, and providing information for
captions.
Janice Wismer, in her capacity as head of the McCain Learning Centre, backed the
project from start to finish. Her enthusiastic support was indispensable. And her son,
Kyle Wismer, deserves credit for coming up with the title.
Linda Gustafson, book designer extraordinaire, thinks a book should be a work
of art. She worked tirelessly to design the pages into a seamless combination of text
and image. She searched the globe to find the best illustrations available to help bring
the story of a great international company to life. In her role as book producer, Linda
expertly co-ordinated the project right up until delivery of the finished product from
the printers.
Editor Judy Phillips was relentless in exposing points that needed further explanation
or elaboration. She helped to clarify a complex story.
This book would not exist without the cooperation of dozens of McCain employees,
past and present, who gave their time and knowledge to help us tell the company’s
remarkable story. Their generous cooperation is greatly appreciated. I would also
like to thank Nina Colangelo of the Toronto office who was always ready to find a
phone number or email address and Darlene Koenings for arranging my interviews
in Lisle, Illinois.
Assembling the illustrations to document a history that spans five decades and six
continents was a huge task. Linda Gustafson is especially grateful to the following for
their help: Dawn Shaw, Edwina McBrine, Scoop Fredstrom, Donna McCarthy, Pam
Procter, Shona Adams, Heather Partner, Francine Bouquillon, Erik Haasken, John
Walsh, Christine Alexander, Sarah Zilik, and the staff of Alethio bv.
Finally, the author would like to thank his in-house editor, Judy Stoffman, for her
advice, support and encouragement.
242 From the Ground up
AcknowledG ements
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