Czech ‘Em Out Book Club meets on the third Monday of each month with NCSML volunteer Steve Pederson in the Skala Bartizal Library following the reading of each months selected book.
November’s selection — The Advantage of Being Born Poor, by Ernie Buresh
NCSML is excited to welcome Ernie Buresh’s wife, Joanne, and daughter, Wendy, for the discussion. The discussion will start immediately following the ceremonial closing of the 2025 Orloj season. The Buresh Immigration Clock Tower is named for Ernie Buresh and contains the only Prague-style astronomical clock in North America. For more information about the Orloj, visit NCSML.org/orloj
When you’re born poor, you quickly learn the difference between needs and wants. You want a new pair of shoes, but your parents can’t afford them. Instead, you need to make the old shoes last. So, your mother cuts out a piece of cardboard to fit inside the shoes you have. The cardboard covers a hole in the sole and the lesson sticks with you for the rest of your life. Ernie Buresh wore those shoes more than 80 years ago. While the shoes are long gone, Ernie’s memories of them provided the foundation for building his own soul thanks to many similar examples given to him by his mother. Now 88, Ernie reflects on a life that turned out to be more adventurous, more successful and more rewarding than he ever imagined. More than a biography, The Advantage of Being Born Poor not only examines one man’s life, but passes on the valuable advantages of hard work, learning from other people’s examples and making your own luck.
About the Author:
Ernie Buresh was a poor kid who thought earning a quarter to mow a lawn seemed unbelievably fortunate. Ernie forged a successful 52-year career in banking that has allowed him to give away millions of dollars to causes close to his heart. But, more importantly, this shy and quiet child grew up to embrace the notion that giving of yourself can come back two-fold, that a positive attitude makes you look forward to waking up every morning and that developing hundreds of friendships along the way is the real secret to success.
