User:Wordshooter/W Mitchell

W Mitchell was born William John Schiff III on April 11, 1943. He subsequentlly changed his name to W Mitchell in honor of his stepfather, Luke Mitchell. He was burned over 65% of his body on July 19, 1971 when a laundry truck turned in front of the motorcycle he was riding in San Francisco. Even though his face and hands were badly scarred and his fingers were burned off, after he got out of the hospital he co-founded a $65 million company, bought a Cessna 206 and learned to fly. On November 11, 1975 he crashed on take off due to ice on the wings which paralyzed him from the waist down.

In 1977 he was elected mayor of Crested Butte, CO where he stopped AMAX from building a billion-dollar molybdenum mine on Mount Emmons.

As the author of It's Not What Happens To You, It's What You Do About It and an award-winning keynote speaker, he speaks to audiences around the world about "Taking Responsibility For Change." http://www.wmitchell.com