This detail from my reading pile. All NPR lovers have heard of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. They also fund the famed “genius” grants every year. But a new book, Eccentric Billionaire, focuses on their odd life. A recent piece in USA Today includes this gem:

His questionable ethics persisted as he and Catherine continued to acquire insurance companies and increase the MacArthur wealth.

Bankers Life garnered positive press in the late 1940s for employing 650 older and handicapped workers. Of course, Kriplen writes, “With John … there was often more to any action than what appeared on the surface.”
The twist to this story of diversity in hiring? “(The) basement ceilings were unusually low. … Bankers was still able to make this usable space, however, by hiring dwarfs as custodians.”