“Then we heard the high-pitched whir of a snowmobile engine far in the distance. It was like a scene from a World War II movie, where the Americans hear the ominous sound of an approaching Japanese bomber before they see it. The sound kept getting louder and louder, and we were horrified when we suddenly realized what Jack was planning.
I stared at my dad. “He’s not really going to do this, is he?” “I think he is.”
We both turned, watching and holding our breath. Jack Hunter had retreated to get as long a running start as possible because he intended to hit the snowdrift at full speed. When he finally breached the horizon, his snowmobile was wound to 40 to 50 miles per hour.
Reckless abandon—this is what made Jack Hunter Jack Hunter, and we stood helpless as he raced by the fence…Jack hit that snowdrift wide-open, striking a virgin patch of snow and launching into orbit. This time, Jack soared a good ten or twelve feet into the air. And instead of flying a short distance beyond the snowdrift, he must’ve gone about fifty feet, riding that rocket until he was as high as the tree branches—and these were tall trees!
Miraculously, he hung on to the machine, but he sailed so far that he landed on a frozen part of the field without much snow cover.
The snowmobile hit the icy ground with a WHOOMP! WHOOMP!
WHOOMP!
Jack gripped the handlebars while his body dislodged and dragged behind the machine—like a cowboy flailing behind an out-of-control horse. Eventually, Jack could hold on no longer and released the snowmobile, which coasted riderless and finally ran out of steam. As we bolted to Jack’s listless body from our perch near the fence, I glanced at my dad. This had to be déjà vu, reminding him of how he dashed to save me after the delivery truck accident.”
This is just one of the many crazy stories in my book Back to the Futures that I tell about my best friend—Jack Hunter—while growing up on an Iowa farm. I use Jack as my stand-in for speculators in commodity futures markets in the book. Of course, you will have to buy the book to know how this particular daredevil stunt worked out for Jack.
Speaking of buying the book. I know Thanksgiving is next week, but it’s still not too early to start thinking about Christmas gifts. Back to the Futures might just be the perfect Christmas gift idea for a family member, a friend, a colleague at work, or a customer who loves investing, markets, and business. The hardcover version is sure to bring a smile to that hard-to-buy-for-person. Back to the Futures is available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, and audio versions from many of your favorite retailers.
To see all of the purchase options, visit the webpage for the book: https://scotthirwin.com/books/back-to-the-futures/.
If you prefer to go straight to the Amazon page for Back to the Futures, here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Back-Futures-Crashing-Unraveling-Commodity/dp/B0BZ31TC7L
Enjoy!
Laurence J. Norton Chair of Agricultural Marketing
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign