Five years ago, my son in law, Mike, was working for a startup company that was not keeping up with payroll. Christmas was fast approaching so he asked me if there was anything he could do in the shop to earn a little extra Christmas money. I couldn’t say no or my daughter would have thought me a Scrooge. So I begrudgingly gave him a job sweeping floors. He showed a real talent for it so I tried him on some other tasks. Before too long, I had him making subassemblies for the Peerless 7000. Lo and behold, he was a very fast learner and was doing a really good job. At the time, my wife was traveling with me for work about 10-12 weeks a year, but it was becoming evident that she would not be able to travel for much longer. I asked Mike if he would like to take over for me. He was willing but my daughter was concerned that he and I would not get along (a very realistic concern), that we would fight and then we would never speak to each other again. I told her that was possible but it was also possible that if Mike didn’t take over for me in our time of need, I would resent him, there would be a big fight and we would never speak to each other again. I assured her that while both were possible, neither were likely. She relented and Mike, Michele and I went on his first road trip (a story for another day). I then sent him to several high end courses to be trained by some of the best equipment managers I know. To my surprise, they all liked him. Then COVID hit and what was supposed to be a three month training period turned into over a year before he could go out in the field. That was probably the best thing that could have happened. Instead, he started doing PGA and LPGA tournament support. He was not afraid to work hard and ask questions. He was like a sponge for knowledge. He continued this quest for knowledge both while in the field doing demos and tournament support. He also relied heavily on Larry Robinson, our western Regional Manager, with about 50 years of experience in the turf industry. He developed great relationships with the smartest people in the industry who were more than willing to help him and answer his questions. This is a really wonderful characteristic or our industry, the fact that people in it are willing and eager to help. It was becoming evident that Mike was becoming very knowledgeable and he was encouraged to make a presentation on all the knowledge he had accumulated (borrowed) and Cutline is King was born. The first time he gave it at the Turf Industry show, It was the second highest attended and one of the top rated presentations. He gives it at least a dozen times a year all over the world and he is considered a world class expert in the field. There are people who would disagree with this assessment. “How can somebody who has only been doing this for 5 years know more than me, I’ve been doing this for 27 years!” is something that is occasionally said. What Mike is presenting and what he knows is not from his experience but from 40 or so of the best people in the industry with at least 600 years of combined experience that have helped him. What he has done is put all of that knowledge in one place…his Cutline is King presentation. The most frequent request at one of his presentations is “Can I get a copy of it?” The problem is that it doesn’t make a lot of sense without him speaking. We have now solved that problem with our new book, Cutline is King, with full text explanations of all the photos and graphics. This book is almost 300 pages with over 45,000 words and hundreds of images. We believe it is the most comprehensive source for cutting unit maintenance. The best part. It is a free download on our website. We are also considering producing it in a printed version and would love your feedback on that idea. Now I just have to figure out why I am the only person in the world who doesn’t like Mike.