books

Michael D'Antonio might have had a modest success with Hershey: Milton S. Hershey's Extraordinary Life of Wealth, Empire, and Utopian Dreams (Simon & Schuster). At least history buffs and candy company employees would have eaten it up. Then the Hershey company decided to sue, objecting to the book's Hershey Bar-dominated cover and insisting that future editions bear a company-distancing disclaimer.

Hershey lawyers probably thought their December actions might make the book about as attractive as tainted candy. "I don't think they understood that books are not the same as other manufactured products," says author and journalist D'Antonio on the phone from his Long Island home. "People get very worried when people try to mess with them." The result? A lot more publicity and readers for Hershey.

D'Antonio says the Hershey company actually commissioned an official biography of its founder in the 1950s that they did not publish because of some of its author's findings. So D'Antonio might have suspected they would not like his book's first-ever revelation that Milton Hershey's wife probably died from syphilis, his (inconclusive) exploration of rumors that Hershey fathered several illegitimate children or D'Antonio's belief that the Hershey school's recent handling of the founder's now-massive endowment "borders on scandal"—although all should enliven his talk at the Borders on the Avenue of the Arts Wednesday. This despite the fact that on balance, D'Antonio says, "I actually liked the guy, especially as I got past the constructed image." D'Antonio also admires Hershey's altruism and idealism, and business acumen that continues to prove itself. "How many other 101-year-old companies who are still making the same product in the same place are still doing as well?" he wonders.

Michael D'Antonio, Wed., Jan. 25, 7 p.m., Borders, 1 S. Broad St., 215-568-7400.