John H. Kellogg: Medical Mogul and the Cereal War (Titans of Fortune)

Dr. John Harvey Kellog was a titan. He built the world's largest and most sophisticated hospital and health spa, was a prolific author—50 books, many of them leading medical texts—a health and fitness guru, inventor, surgeon and philanthropist. The novel and 1994 movie "The Road to Wellville," starring Matthew Broderick, John Cusack and Sir Anthony Hopkins, were based on his story and ostensibly tell about the darker, more lurid and questionable sides of his health practices, albeit with a large dollop of fiction and patently ill-conceived humor. But undoubtedly Dr. Kellogg--cereal king Will K. Kellogg's older brother--was a century ahead of his time, prescribing for his patients a diet of fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, yogurt, nuts, cereals and fresh milk coupled with lots of physical exercise, sunshine and fresh air. His gym introduced treadmills and standing bikes. He was also certain that tobacco caused cancer, penning his first book on the subject: “Tobaccoism or How Tobacco Kills.” Dr. Kellogg was a brilliant, successful and eccentric mogul who's story is a fascinating view of a man way ahead of his time. [2,637-word Titans of Fortune article]