The title “Skyscrapers” reflects the landscape of Powhaten, the city in which the story takes place. It also reflects the location of the two main characters’ offices. And metaphorically, it reflects the characters’ natures. “The sky’s the limit” could be the motto of both.
Fiction allows such associative overlaps. The name “Powhaten” does, too: for the Indians it mean “place where tribes meet,” but it was also the name of a great leader. Although “Skyscrapers” is about Chicago, I fictionalized…..
“Skyscrapers” reflects my experience as the CEO of a big-city independent non-profit for eight years. During that time, I became more aware of the role CEOs of for-profits played and the long years of ladder-climbing most of them put in before they reached the top. I also became aware of the disastrous effects of corporate mismanagement. My non-profit, which distributed 160,000 free books to inner-city kids each year, ended up homeless as a result of corporate greed at Enron, the…..
