Transcript
Introduction
People write and read biographies because their subjects stood out for doing something, for being something out of the realm of the everyday. They created something new, solved the problem, sparked a movement, altered established courses, method, and thinking. That's what Levi was. He didn't invent blue jeans, but without him the most iconic garment in fashion history might never have been more than just duck cloth pants on the rear ends of Nevada's miners and teamsters.
Without Levi's business sense and vision, which allowed him to see the potential of those little metal rivets, the overalls might have seen the light of day, but they would not have thrived. Levi didn't run orphanages and kindergartens, but he saw to it that their doors were kept open for those who ran them and for those who desperately needed the safety of their walls. He wasn't a teacher, but he gave enough money to a growing university so that its teachers could steer new generations of students towards the future.