CULLEN, Bill 1942-

PERSONAL: Born 1942, in Dublin, Ireland.; son of Billy (a dock foreman) and Mary (a fruit vendor; maiden name Darcy) Cullen; married Rita Campbell (divorced c. 1971); partner of Jackie Lavin (a restaurant owner), 1979—; children: (with Campbell) two daughters. Religion: Roman Catholic.

ADDRESSES: Home—Sallins, County Kildare, Ireland. Office—Glencullen Group, Kylemore Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, Ireland.

CAREER: Author and businessman. Began selling fruits, flowers, newspapers, toys, and balloons on the streets of Dublin at age six; Walden Motor Corporation, office messenger, beginning 1956, became director general, 1965; Firlane Motor Company, director; Glencullen Group, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer, 1986—. Lifetime Success Institute, founder; Irish Youth Foundation, director.

MEMBER: Muckross Rowing Club (founder).

AWARDS, HONORS: Named among Ireland's Top 100 Businessmen; Lord Mayor's Award, 1998, for helping disadvantaged youths; named Maxol Irish Motor Industry Person of the Year, 2000, for fundraising on behalf of Irish children.

WRITINGS:

It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, foreword by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, Mercier Press (Dublin, Ireland), 2001, Forge (New York, NY), 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: Bill Cullen, one of Ireland's most successful self-made men, shares the story of his innercity childhood and eventual rise to success in It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, an autobiography that became a number-one best seller in its author's homeland.

Earning a living as a fruit vendor, Cullen's mother never let her fourteen children believe they were poor, telling them "the best thing I can give you is the independence to stand on your own feet." Cullen listened to his mother and learned to take care of himself by selling anything he could find on the streets of Dublin, including penny apples. As he explains in his book, Cullen learned additional life lessons from his grandmother, also a street vendor. She taught him that if you give someone a smile, "you'll get one back for yourself," and reminded him to "always push for a good deal, but never push a friend." She explained that "business is a two-way street between the buyer and the seller" and that the two need each other.

With little formal education and most of his life lessons learned on the streets, Cullen made his way from street vendor to office messenger to owner and CEO of the Glencullen Group, one of the most successful and profitable auto distributors in Ireland. The title of Cullen's book stems from Cullen's mother's reaction to the news that he was purchasing Renault Car Distributors for eighteen million pounds. She said, "God bless you Son, now that's a long way from penny apples."

Cullen's It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, which was written without the help of a ghostwriter, skyrocketed to number one on the Irish bestseller list shortly after it was released. Pauline Ferrie in Bookview Ireland commented on Cullen's writing style, noting that "by choosing to write of his early years in the third person, Cullen has avoided the twin dangers of sentimentality and self-congratulation, and has given us a glimpse of life … rich in reality of hardship, rough justice, wisdom and the warmth of a close family brought up to look out for each other." Other critics also commended Cullen's writing, as well as his candor. A Kirkus Reviews critic noted that "the author tells his story with considerable warmth and doesn't spare the low points, moments of humiliation and degradation." The same critic also stated that Cullen "takes particular care to provide evidence that the dictums his family abided by formed a steady source of good fortune in his life."

Despite his business success, Cullen has not forgotten his roots. He donated all proceeds from the sale of his book to the Irish Youth Foundation, an organization he founded to help disadvantaged children. In December of 1999 Cullen organized the "Children's Hour", in which workers donated their wages from the last hour of the millennium to children's charities. The project raised over four million pounds for charities across Ireland.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Cullen, Bill, It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, Forge (New York, NY), 2003.

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2003, review of It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, p. 35.

Library Journal, February 15, 2003, Robert Moore, review of It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, p. 145.

Publishers Weekly, April 8, 2002, John F. Baker, "Irish Rags-to-Riches Tale on Offer," p. 16; February 3, 2003, review of It's a Long Way from Penny Apples, p. 69.

ONLINE

Bookview Ireland,http://bookviewireland.ie/ (December 2001), Pauline Ferrie, review of It's a Long Way from Penny Apples.

Irish American News Online,http://irishamericannews.com/ (June 27, 2003), Cliff Carleson, "Sharing His Success: Million Dollar Bill Writes His Rags to Riches Story."

Penny Apples: Bill Cullen Web site,http://www.pennyapples.com (June 4, 2003).*