Man on the Move

Book excerpt: Pete Friesen trusted his intuition and employed his skills to create a lifetime filled with extraordinary achievements. Born in post-revolutionary Russia and raised on the Canadian prairie during the Great Depression, Friesen overcame challenging odds and found his way to the pinnacle of engineering success in the United States. As noted by Peter Rowlands, who was involved in production of Friesens bio-documentary Pete: Moving Man Made Mountains, Pete Friesen considered life on earth to be an adventure where every challenge and every failure was a learning experience. With little formal education, he became an inventor and innovator who moved more than four thousand buildings in his structural-moving career. Possessing the ability to visualize resolution of complex problems, Friesen designed machinery and developed procedures that propelled his chosen profession into the modern age. Rowlands chronicles Friesens fascinating life from beginning to endfrom a turbulent childhood through inventions and innovations to international acclaimcreating a fitting memoir and an unforgettable tribute to a man who lived by his credo of hopeto never, never give up.