Seeking the Summit: Sam Switzer’s Story of Building and Giving is the biography of Sam Switzer, a builder, entrepreneur and philanthropist who was born into an impoverished Calgary family and became one of the province’s most successful businessmen.

While much of the book explains Mr. Switzer’s various business accomplishments, it also analyses living conditions in Poland, the home of Mr. Switzer’s forebears; the social background of early 20th century Calgary and Alberta, especially life in rural Jewish collectives and inner-city communities; and the social and economic structures that made Mr. Switzer’s rise to success possible.

From his first business at the age of five supplying ice to Calgary’s red light district to his job delivering prescription drugs via bicycle through his developments in the construction industry, casino business and more, we learn of Switzer’s lessons, motivations and mistakes.

Sydney Sharpe is a journalist, anthropologist, and author or co-author of eight books, including The Gilded Ghetto: Women and Political Power in Canada. She was a senior columnist for the Calgary Herald and Calgary Bureau Chief for the Financial Post, and has written for numerous magazines and newspapers and anthologies. She lives in Calgary.

Sydney Sharpe's profile page