Too easy a joke to make, but not to notice
How a former madam learned the tricks of running a legit business
John Koopman
Friday, April 2, 2004
©2004 San Francisco Chronicle
Marlene Baldwin knows business.
She learned from the best business minds in the country. Chief executive officers. Business owners. The rich and famous.
And not at any snobby East Coast business school. We're talking up close and personal. Whispered in the ear, in some cases.
So it comes as no surprise that Baldwin has been named California Businessman of the Year by the National Republican Congressional Committee.
Surprise would better describe the reaction by the Republicans when they found out how Baldwin came to know so much about business.
Fifteen years as the most famous brothel madam in San Francisco.
"Really?" said Carl Forti, a representative of the committee's Business Advisory Council. "We did not know that, I'm sure."
In fairness to the Republicans, the Businessman of the Year award is not really about success in, or knowledge of, business. Forti said hundreds of people get the award every year. It has to do with contributing to Republican causes, or Republican candidates.
There are no background checks.
