8/8/2019 CF - Ed York Person of the Century Article

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8/8/2019 CF - Ed York Person of the Century Article

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9/26/10 11:leanfax Online :: Brought to you by Grand View Media

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 of his many downfalls. He is both the most loved and respected and the most hated and reviledfigure the industry has known. Charming, endearing, rude and maddening all accurately describedifferent elements of his complex character.

His populist crusades are legendary: leading a group of cleaners in a picket of the BetterBusiness Bureau when it threatened to ban the use of the word "steam" to describe hot waterextraction cleaning; skewering DuPont for "anointing" Stanley Steemer the "approved" cleaner of Stainmaster carpet; chiding and challenging "the elites" (including this writer) when York thoughtthey failed to serve the interests of rank-and-file cleaners.

The cost of York's populist crusades has been great and enduring. York's keen insights intocomplex issues often were undermined by his antagonistic, uncompromising style, leaving himwith many bitter enemies and ever fewer defenders.

The consequence is that for all he's done, York's largely an outcast in the industry he playedsuch an important role in molding. "The elites" have taken over many of the babies he andWanda birthed. Surely he recognizes the irony.

Never one to fully retire

Over the past decade, York has "retired" at least a dozen times, only to return when a newidea comes to his still nimble mind. Ozone cleaning, a discount buyer's club and - in truecontrarian fashion - his championing of "dry" cleaning have been causes in recent years.

Even as this story was being prepared, a press release came announcing York's latest

"unretirement." It is vintage Ed York:

Ed York Shuns Retirement for Millennium

Eleven years ago, Ed York suffered a heart attack and received a five-bypass open heart surgery.The doctors informed him that if he cut down on his activities he might have an additional fiveyears. Well, he did cut back. After three more heart attacks he retired from all new projects andawaited his final call.

Recently, York bought a new computer and, finally accepting that the Internet is here to stay,he tapped into it and found a new source of energy. With email and a new Web site, York is onceagain active. He is sending out his Tips N Chat (newsletter) free of charge to anyone whoprovides him an email address. He plans on providing new marketing and procedure information,along with comments on unresolved issues related to cleaning, free via email. York also will

review articles in three leading trade journals, and provide "the other side of the story." To beincluded, send your email address to York@yorkent.com, or visit his Web site atwww.yorkent.com.

Ever the promoter, ever the bombastic iconoclast, ever the compulsive sharer of sometimesbrilliant, always entertaining ideas, Ed York's now gone cyber. Readers, send him an email. By allmeans, subscribe; you will learn something new. Most importantly, thank Ed York for all he'sdone for your industry, a debt that can never be repaid.

And Ed, welcome to the new millennium. We're glad and fortunate to have you with us.

John M. Downey IV is the founder and editor of Cleanfax.