The son of a Syrian immigrant, Ed Hajim's riveting memoire is an inspiration about using adversity to one's advantage and avoid becoming a victim to life's circumstance. Helping young students to seniors figure out what's next at any decade in life, his book has become the ultimate mentor for any lifelong learner.

Having attended the University of Rochester on an NROTC scholarship and then Harvard Business School, Ed is a living example of the importance of education and how it can change your life. Today he is a seasoned Wall Street executive with more than 50 years of investment experience. He is also a married father of three children with a wonderful legacy of eight grandchildren. In 2015, he received the Horatio Alger Award, given to Americans who exemplify the values of initiative, leadership, and commitment to excellence, having succeeded despite personal adversities.

But things certainly did not start off that way. Ed's father kidnapped him at age three, told him his mother was dead, took him to another part of the country, and then basically abandoned him, leaving him in poverty to be raised in several different foster homes and orphanages. Decades later, with the help of letters found in an old suitcase and a private investigator, Ed discovered his mother was still very much alive. Angry with his then-late father and uncertain if his mother would accept or reject him 57 years later, everything Ed knew went upside down and his sense of trust was questioned. Now he describes his late mother, Sophie Hoffman, as a gift he found later in life, enjoyed by both of them for her last almost dozen years.

Come meet Ed and hear more about his rags to riches American success story, understand how his challenging beginnings stayed with him, and learn how, with his family's support and encouragement, he decided to share his remarkable story of resilience as a teaching tool to inspire other people.