Turning the Page

Aspen Daily News
David Danforth, Publisher

July 5, 2007

Sam Wyly doesn't like labels. Yet many have been cast on him.

Tax dodger. Political smear meister. Billionaire buddy to President Bush.

But the new owner of Explore Booksellers is much harder to pin down. The same men and women who despise him for bankrolling negative ad campaigns against Sens. John McCain and John Kerry might be surprised to hear a few other labels that could be thrown his way. Environmentalist. Avid reader. Generous philanthropist. Animal lover. Pro-choice.

"There is a reason Sam doesn't like labels. It's because he doesn't fit in any boxes," says wife Cheryl, who married Wyly just over 13 years ago, in an exclusive interview she and her husband agreed to with the Aspen Daily News.

There was a tremendous buzz when Sam and Cheryl Wyly purchased Explore Booksellers for $4.6 million earlier this year. It marked the end of an era as Katharine Thalberg, who founded the bookstore in 1975, had passed away. Thalberg's daughters, Brooke and Ashley Anderson, were too involved with other life pursuits to care for Explore themselves. So the sale was made to the Wylys, triggering wonderful relief that Explore would be sticking around and relentless cynicism because Wyly was connected to several conservative controversies – an ironic contrast to the famously liberal Thalberg.

Wyly, who spends most of his time at his home in Dallas, maintains the controversy in Aspen doesn't bother him.

"I don't go around feeling misunderstood. I don't take offense," Wyly says. "Everywhere we go, people thank us for buying the bookstore and saving Explore. It's a real feel-good thing. People care about Explore and so do I."

The biggest change made so far at the 4,922-square-foot Victorian is the introduction of a store cat, Cashmere. Cheryl and Sam thought it would be nice to have a pet around. Cosmetic changes have been minor. There is new carpet on the first floor, some fresh wallpapering in the vegetarian bistro and energy-efficient light bulbs were installed throughout the building. Operationally, patrons can order books and receive as quick of a turnaround rate as Amazon.com.

"Sam is a voracious reader. He reads so much and he orders such great titles," says Linda Shultz, the new general manager at Explore. "He had a favorite bookstore in Texas that closed and he felt really bad about that."

Schultz started out at Explore as a children's book buyer in August before the Wylys tapped her to manage the operation. A former schoolteacher who ran an advertising business in Wisconsin for 23 years before moving to Aspen, Schultz is impressed with the Wylyls - "two of the most wonderful people" - and says they have been very supportive.

"I haven't heard any negative feedback at all. What we hear consistently is people say how grateful they are that Explore is still here and a big corporation didn't come in. We're all excited and glad that we're still here."

But letters to the editor haven't always been so genial.

Several residents have aired their displeasure that the Wylys are in control of an Aspen institution and the politics of the new owners are incessantly cited. There is also the matter of the Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the offshore bank accounts of Sam, 72, and Charles, 73, Wyly - who made their fortune founding a software company and investing in ventures such as Michaels craft supply stores and Green Mountain Energy, which markets electricity from "clean sources." Wyly declined to discuss the matter.

Earning His Way to Aspen

Sam Wyly was born to cotton farmers in Lake Providence, La., in 1934. Seven years later, his parents were forced to leave farming behind and make ends meet working at the state prison. They saved their money and moved to Delhi, La., and began publishing a weekly newspaper for the town of 3,000 residents. Sam worked at the newspaper and says his first well paying job was laying pipe for the oil industry. He made $1.35 an hour. Sam and Charles excelled in academics during high school and Sam eventually followed Charles to Louisiana Tech where he was named "outstanding freshman."

Upon graduating, Sam earned an MBA at the University of Michigan before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force Reserve for six years. While serving as a reserve, he joined Charles working for IBM in Texas. Sam departed for rival Honeywell before founding his own company, University Computing Company (UCC) at the age of 29 with a mere $1,000. Charles joined the company six months later.

The two brothers have always been close. Charles began skiing in Aspen more than 30 years ago. Although he never took to the slopes, Sam would visit often and loved the area. He and Cheryl bought a West End home about 14 years ago.

Each year, Sam and Cheryl spend more and more time in Aspen. This year their stay will total about five months.

"We love it here and we love it here more as we get to know more people and get more involved," says Cheryl.

Their charitable contributions speak for themselves. There is more than one building in the Roaring Fork Valley bearing the Wyly name. They have contributed substantial sums to the Aspen Animal Shelter, the Aspen Writers Foundation, Aspen Valley Hospital, Aspen Center for Integrative Health, Colorado Mountain College, the arts and the environment. Wyly was also one of the first investors in Hypercar Inc. – an offshoot of Rocky Mountain Institute in Old Snowmass.

But when the Wyly name is brought up at cocktail parties, political debates often follow.

He claims no party affiliation and cringes at the word independent. Independent, after all, is another label.

"Any political party wouldn't creep up to 30 on my interest list," he says. "In Dallas, you go to the fire station and whatever line you get into that's what you are that year. You get into whatever line you want to vote in."

Many times, Wyly has found himself in the Republican line. He is a close friend to both of the Bush presidents.

"What I've done in the past is more like Scottish clan loyalty," he says. "I backed a guy who was a good friend of mine as a freshman congressman a long, long time ago (George Bush Sr.). Then he had a boy who wanted to be governor and after he was governor for six years, he wanted to be president. It wouldn't have mattered which party he was in."

With the 2008 presidential election on the media's lips, Wyly is quick to point out, "I have no horse in the race now…If I had to pick someone to run for the Democrats, I'd pick (Sen.) James Webb. If I had to pick someone to run for Republicans, I'd pick (actor-turned-politician) Fred Thompson," Wyly says when pressed to pick a candidate.

President Bush is term-limited. Despite low approval ratings and the widely unpopular Iraq war, Wyly still supports the president. Despite the risk of labels, Wyly describes himself as "very independent, even a contrarian."

Wyly, however, tires of politics quickly. He is passionate about Aspen and its only bookstore. For him, it isn't political. And despite suggestions to the contrary (serious and otherwise), there will no Ann Coulter Library.

"We'll keep it like it is," he says.