People pegged John Pugh Jr. as a boy who did not pay attention. Eager to learn but frustrated, he dropped out of school in the ninth grade and went to work in a textile mill. He did not find out that he had a hearing problem until he was thirty-four, when an army doctor diagnosed it as Pugh was mustering out after service during World War II. Hearing aids changed his life. He opened a rural service station, which grew into a family business that serves the East Coast today. After he "retired" at seventy, he bought a bulldozer and cleared two hundred acres so he could start a cattle farm. He subscribes to a four-step plan for enjoyable living: 1. Find something that inspires you. 2. Get motivated. 3. Be creative. 4. Participate.