Photo Courtesy donaldbaumgartner.com
Donald Baumgartner and Kurt Chandler
7 p.m., Monday, Oct. 22
Boswell Book Company
2559 N. Downer Ave.
The endorsements are telling. Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and the Milwaukee Ballet’s Michael Pink penned blurbs for the dust jacket, praising the subject of With the Wind at His Back: The Charmed and Charitable Life of Donald Baumgartner. Written by onetime Milwaukee Magazine editor Kurt Chandler, With the Wind chronicles the life of one of Milwaukee’s most eclectic philanthropists. Baumgartner has supported local cultural institutions including the Florentine Opera, the Milwaukee Film Festival and yes, the Milwaukee Ballet and Art Museum. He earned a fortune from his Paper Machinery Corporation, whose beverage cups benefitted from the proliferation of fast food as well as the push back against Styrofoam (and he has transitioned the firm to employee ownership). An avid sportsman, Baumgartner has raced cars on several continents and sailed the oceans on his yacht. Aside the highlights of his life, With the Wind gives a glimpse of the inner workings of Milwaukee business and politics.
