NEW YORK – John Catsimatidis’ book signing event at the Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity’s Chiotes Hall in Manhattan was a great success in every way! Community members, including the leaders and members of 15 Hellenic-American organizations who helped organize the book signing event in honor of the billionaire entrepreneur and author John Catsimatidis, owner and CEO of the Red Apple Group, were all the there! The event celebrated his life and his recently released book.
by Eva Metis Koutoumanou Photos by: Jillian Nelson
Participating organizations were AHEPA, Capital Link, Cyprus-U.S. Chamber of Commerce, East Mediterranean Business Culture Alliance (EMBCA), Federation of Hellenic-American Educators, Hellenic-American Association for Professionals in Finance (HABA), Hellenic-American Chamber of Commerce (HACC), Hellenic-American Cultural Foundation, Hellenic Congress of America, Hellenic Lawyers Association, Hellenic Medical Society of New York, Hellenic Professional Women, the International Coordinating Committee Justice for Cyprus- PSEKA, Leadership 100, and The Hellenic Initiative.
Eftihia Pylarinou-Piper, Red Apple Group Senior VP and HACC Executive Member of the Board, gave the welcoming remarks, thanking everyone present and especially the leaders of the participating organizations and the HACC for their help in organizing the event. She also spoke about the thousands of jobs Catsimatidis has created, the hundreds of scholarships he and his wife Margo have given over the years and their giving back to the community with their support to various charitable causes.
John Catsimatidis with Father Alexander Karloutsos and news anchor and WABC radio’s Positive Talk host, Ernie AnastosErnie Anastos, award-winning news anchor and WABC radio’s Positive Talk host, spoke next about John Catsimatidis whom he has known for over 45 years. “John has all of the qualities that we really want in a human being, and he knows I’m saying this from my heart, there’s nothing written here, it’s all coming from my memory and from my feelings for John. This man is one of the hardest working people I know.”, he noted. Anastos who recently joined WABC radio, said also that "I was honored to be joining WABC radio, number one in New York City and around the country, an amazing radio station, and you can credit John for that leadership."
Father Alexander Karloutsos, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Throne, spoke next noting Catsimatidis' ethos and character and recounting an incident during a meat strike in the 1980s when he called John Catsimatidis asking him to supply lamb for an event with the then-Archbishop Iakovos. Father Alex, as we all know him, highlighted Catsimatidis’ skill to solve problems with common sense and quoted from Rudyard Kipling’s poem ‘If’ which he said describes Catsimatidis: “If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, / Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch, / If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, / If all men count with you, but none too much; / If you can fill the unforgiving minute / With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run, / Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it, / And— which is more— you’ll be a Man, my son!”
John Catsimatidis then thanked Ernie Anastos and Father Alex- who is his mentor- as well as all those present, and spoke about what made him write his book. He spoke about his family and his family roots, the spirit of his father, his grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, who are watching over him and will be proud of the family name. “My mom came from a very educated family in Constantinople, her grandfather was the chancellor at the Patriarchate in about 1890, so I must have church blood in my veins. My father came from Nisyros.”, John Catsimatidis recalled with a sense of nostos.
John Catsimatidis with successful businessman Lou Katsos, famous in the field of construction“Both my grandfathers came to America in 1913, the same way a lot of your grandfathers, our forefathers did, to find the streets that were loaded with gold, it took me over 100 years to find it,” Catsimatidis joked, adding that he wrote the book in their memory. He also mentioned the novel 'For the Love of Others' by Justine Frangouli-Argyris, based on his mother’s life story and how that book is, in some way, a prequel to his book.
John and Margo Catsimatidis with Evageline Plakas, CEO and Founder of Hellenic Daily News and Hellenic Golden Directory“I tried to make it as simple as possible, I don’t want fancy words, I don’t want fancy anything,” John Catsimatidis continued “I grew up on 135th Street, I grew up in Harlem but one thing my mother and father taught me was trying to live doing nothing that’s going to ruin the family name and I try to teach that to my kids; to be proud of your family, be proud of where you came from.”
John Catsimatidis also answered a few questions from the audience and then the book signing followed with dozens of people queuing up with their copy of his book ‘How Far Do You Want To Go? Lessons from a Common-Sense Billionaire’ in which the Greek self-made billionaire shares the valuable lessons he learned on the road to success.
How Far Do You Want To Go? Lessons from a Common-Sense Billionaire by John Catsimatidis is available online.
Below are photos from the dazzling event. All the prominent community members were there!
The ever glamorous Margo Catsimatidis always sharing her husband's successes with a great smile!
Billionaire entrepreneur and author John Catsimatidis with Eftihia Pylarinou-Piper, Red Apple Group Senior VP and HACC Executive Member of the Board
