The Complex Man

Publisher Marketing: The Complex Man is the story of an average American who overcame many obstacles to achieve greatness in his work with the US Navy's nuclear-powered submarine program. I know of no one who loved this country more than he did and rather it was in the Army or leading shipyards to better controls he always had the thought of what was best for America in mind. Coming from a "dysfunctional family," which he supported from the age of ten, he triumphed over poverty, a lack of education, and a host of other issues in post-World War II America to become an amazing problem solver at work and in other areas of his life. Later on in his service as an Army paratrooper beginning when he was only fifteen, his life changed. He learned self confidence and that he could be anything he wanted to be. There are things that could not be written in this book. Some of which come from his service to his country not only as a member of the Special Forces in the Army but for many years later, as he was called upon by his country to do things, that only his Government, God and himself know about. There are many personal things having to do with his "Dysfunctional Family" that have not been written so family members would not be hurt. Afterwards, he became a highly regarded manager at naval shipyards and established standards that were subsequently adopted by the US Congress. For sure he was a man who believed in doing the right thing no matter how difficult it was to do and this included taking on the one and only Admiral Rickover head of the Nuclear Navy and this fight he won. This book is Bud Grammont's own story of his life and how he came to develop his common-sense, practical "Grammont's Laws" that he lived by. Even after he was fired, he continued to serve his country to the best of his ability, never giving up on the dream he had for America. His motto was: "things could be better let it start with me, I told two others and then there were three." All this from a man who at the age of 2 was sleeping under bridges at night and worked in fields picking beans as his mother and stepfather made there way to California. Though he was successful in his career, it took him many more years to learn what a real family was all about- and that was not until after he discovered his "other" family, the half brothers and sisters he'd never known, as well as the stepsons he loved as his own. After twenty-six years of retirement, with his body wracked by cancer, Bud decided to write his story in the hope of inspiring others. He worried about where this country was going and literally could not sleep wondering what could he say or do to get this country back to what we stood for. We spent some of his last days fighting over this book, because he would not sleep worrying about finishing it, hoping somehow he could get just one person to listen, and they in turn could get one more person to listen. It was not until shortly before he died that he let me read the first few chapters and start typing them. Having now finished this book, and completing my promise to him I know there are questions, but I have no answers. One question I can answer is, he was a registered Independent, having voted for both Republicans and Democrats, this is not about politics, it is about What's Right for America. He died before I finished typing and getting this book published but his spirit lives on in its words of wisdom. Mary Grammont