Generous Millionaire Ends Column
By GREGG AAMOT
05:51 PM ET 09/28/99
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Percy Ross, who for 17 years used a syndicated column called
``Thanks a Million'' to share his fortune with people who wrote in with good sob stories,
says the money has run out. Ross published his final column last week. ``I've achieved my
goal. I've given it all away,'' Ross, 83, told readers in his farewell column. ``You've
given me so much over the years. In many respects, I'm far richer today than when I
started.''
Ross' columns featured letters from readers - he would get 10,000 a week -
seeking help, offering suggestions or simply saying thank you.
His editor, Nancy Webber, said Ross gave out between $20 million and $30 million
over the years, helping pay for everything from recreation centers to organ transplants.
He also was fond of giving children silver dollars along with his homespun wisdom.
``Thanks a Million'' ran in about 800 newspapers, from major dailies like the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch to weeklies like the Swift County Monitor in western Minnesota.
The column was distributed to about 150 of those papers through Creators Syndicate. The
other newspapers ran Ross' column as advertisements sponsored by local businesses.
In one recent letter, a 26-year-old woman whose teeth were gray because of her
bulimia asked Ross for $1,400 for dental work. ``You're willing to make changes because
your past lifestyle wasn't healthy. And, you're willing to meet me halfway,'' he
responded. ``Why on God's green earth wouldn't I be willing to help you?
He sent the woman a check for $700.
But he had no qualms about rejecting other requests, even with a tone of
disdain. One woman in prison asked Ross for money so she could buy her son a computer.
Ross said no.
``I tried to believe that there are white people who care,'' she wrote back,
``only to find the truth staring me in the face.'' ``Talk about being disappointed!'' Ross
shot back. ``Anyone who can promise a child you'll get him a new computer through this
rich, white, old guy you can write to while you sit in prison is deluded beyond compare.''
The son of poor immigrants from Latvia and Russia, Ross grew up in Michigan's
Upper Peninsula. He moved to Duluth, Minn., in 1936 to work in the metal and fur
industries, and by 1944 had made a small fortune in fur.
He lost that, but in 1969 he sold a company that made plastic film and trash
bags for $8 million. Later investments helped his fortune grow.
One night in the late 1970s he gave away more than 1,000 bicycles at a holiday
party for children at the Minneapolis Convention Center. He liked it so much that he came
up with the column idea, encouraged by such influential friends as Sen. Hubert Humphrey.
``On the few occasions when we didn't run his column, we heard about it,'' said
Mary Panzer, advertising manager for The Brainerd Daily Dispatch in central Minnesota.
``People just found it interesting that this man would give his money away and draw
attention to the problems we all face.''
Ross, who lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Edina, once pledged $50,000 to help
50 Vietnam refugees come to the United States. In 1980, he offered $50 million to Iran's
Ayatollah Khomeini in exchange for the U.S. hostages. That offer was refused.
This week, Ross is on a cruise in the Mediterranean, compliments of a son and
daughter-in-law, Ms. Webber said.
``For 17 years, he and his wife never had a proper vacation,'' she said. ``He
thought there would be a lot of kids around, so he brought his silver dollars.''
