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DANIEL L. BOLZ

Daniel L. Bolz (born 7 April 1952 in Bay City, Michigan) is an entrepreneur, inventor, teacher, writer, and business consultant. A Michigan native who lived most of his life in Northern Michigan; Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette, and grew up valuing the principles of rugged individualism and the American Dream.

He grew up appreciating the joy of good art and the beauty of nature. Daniel’s background encompasses the worlds of art, education, and business. His passion for the arts was developed at a young age through his mother’s work as a playwright, actress, and director of a children’s television program. His skills and interest in nature were honed through his father’s work as a forester and conservationist. Bolz is a third generation military veteran. In 1975, while serving in the U.S. Army with NATO in Western Germany, he received presidential recognition from President Gerald R. Ford, for his essay “Preservation of America”.

Mr. Bolz has been involved in the Scouting program both as a scout and as an adult leader serving as a Scout Master and a merit badge counselor for ‘Citizenship in the Nation’ and ‘Winter Outdoor Survival’. He has lead numerous scouting treks in both snow camping, summer camping and boating.

Daniel’s professional training came from universities in Michigan and Utah where he studied art, political science, community education administration, and business management. He holds a BA in Political Science and Art, an M.Ed., in Educational Administration, and an MBA, attending Northern Michigan University, Brigham Young University and the University of Phoenix. He has lived and worked in New York, Michigan, Utah, Germany, and Scotland. As an inventor, his stereo electronic invention, PillowPhonix, was successfully sold on national television. Since 1987 he has headed his own management consulting company, Paradigm International, Inc., providing executive level management and marketing consulting to private businesses, government entities and non-profit foundations. Daniel and his wife Ingrid are the proud parents of four daughters with several grandchildren.

He is the Founder of the Statue of Responsibility Foundation, a Delaware non-profit corporation whose mission is to build the companion monument to the Statue of Liberty, called the Statue of Responsibility, in a port city on the West Coast of the United States. This project is the inspiration of Holocaust survivor and author of ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl of Vienna, Austria, who wrote about the need to build a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast of America to complement the message of the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast.

Born Daniel Louis Bolz 7 April 1952 Bay City, Michigan United States

Ethnicity Parents of German and English decent

Citizenship United States of America

Marital Status Married to Ingrid R. Terri, August 1979 Four daughters, several grandchildren

Military US Army Veteran, West Germany, NATO (1972-75) Honorable Discharge, Also served in US Air Force Reserves and Army National Guard

Occupation President & CEO, Statue of Responsibility Foundation Owner, Paradigm International, Inc., a management consulting firm.

Favorite Book ‘Democracy in America’ by Alexis de Tocqueville

Favorite Movie ‘Miracle’, the story of the 1980 US Olympic Hockey Team who beat the USSR team at the Lake Placid Winter Games

Early Life

Bolz was born Daniel Louis Bolz on 7 April 1952, the oldest of five siblings born to Richard C. Bolz and Venetia E. Standridge. He sold ‘Wallace Brown’ gift cards and vegetables and fruit from the family garden door to door while in grade school and junior high school. While living in Sault Ste. Marie in the early 1960’s, he played drums in a rock band called ‘The Patriots’. He graduated from Marquette Senior High School in 1970. He was president of his high school Junior Achievement company for two years, creating a successful Naugahyde rifle gun case and yielding the highest stock dividend return of all Junior Achievement companies for two consecutive years. As a high school senior he founded a new ‘Ski Club’ association at his high school and together with a faculty advisor organized numerous ski trips throughout Northern Michigan. With a private sponsor and his British AJS Motocross motorcycle, he competed in AMA (American Motorcycle Association) motorcycle races in Michigan, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Canada, entering such races as motocross, hill climbs, scrambles, trials, and enduros.

Military

Bolz, a third-generation Army veteran, served during the ending years of the Vietnam War, 1972-1975. His grandfather served in France during WWI and his father served in Germany during WWII, barely surviving Hitler’s final offensive in the Arden Forest, later known as the ‘Battle of the Bulge’. Daniel’s three year enlistment took him to West Germany where he worked with the NATO forces. He served with distinction at his post in Hohenfels as the Kontakt Coordinator. The Kontakt project was a NATO-wide German/American cultural immersion program designed to integrate US soldiers with German citizens of similar age. Bolz was later assigned to the AFRC Mountain Patrol in Berchtesgaden where he taught skiing and outdoor skills such as mountain climbing and kayaking. He competed as a team member against 40 other ‘three man teams’ in a triathlon event in Southern Germany near Lake Chiemsee, where his team finished in first place. Bolz entered a Freedoms Foundation writing competition for all military individuals stationed in Germany and received a presidential recognition award from President Gerald R. Ford, for his essay “Preservation of America”. Bolz later served in the US Air Force Reserves and the US Army National Guard while attending college in Utah.

Political Views

Bolz assisted with the Ross Perot presidential campaign for both of his runs for the presidency. He is active in civic matters and has made presentations to state legislative committees. Bolz is a passionate advocate of free market capitalism and constitutional law.

Writings

Bolz has written several children’s stories which are yet to be published. He has penned several quotes and other articles. A sampling is shown here: “Civilizations leave their legacy to future generations by the monuments they build. Great monuments have the ability to lift the human spirit, to crystallize inner beliefs, to foster discussion, and to link one generation to another. Great monuments can stir the soul, comfort and motivate the individual, strengthen resolve, and encourage renewed action.”

America’s founding document is called the ‘Declaration of Independence’, not the ‘Declaration of Dependence’… and for very good reasons, all of which point to the role responsibility plays, with liberty, in a democratic society. The Preamble begins…, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…,” that’s equal in opportunity – not outcome. In a free society, our liberties (or rights) allow us to pursue our dreams, while the role of government is to protect the pursuit, but never to guarantee the end result… It is the application of personal and institutional responsibility, applied in concert with liberties (or rights), that determines the end result of our lives work, and through extension, the long-term end result of our constitutional republic.

“By its very nature – freedom is a messy proposition…,but it is also the surest path to individual opportunity and enlightenment.”

“We live in an age of dependency, exacerbated by excessive reliance on the government dole, which saps the life blood of individual accountability and self-worth… The message of the Statue of Responsibility is one of patriotism, strengthened by the need to preserve and perpetuate freedom and democracy, which is inherently an act of individual accountability. • Patriotism will overcome dependency • Freedom will trump bondage • Responsibility lives in the act of preserving freedom This is the message of the Statue of Responsibility, a message of hope and meaning which goes hand in hand with the message of the Statue of Liberty.”

“Responsibility lives in the actions of preserving freedom.”

“Liberty has served America well for 200 plus years… Liberty with Responsibility will serve America well for the next 200 plus years…”

“With ‘super-power’ status - goes ‘super-responsibility’ duty.”

“Liberty, unchecked by responsibility, can lead to tyranny…”

“Responsibility and Liberty produce enduring Freedom; like peanut butter and jam produce a tasty sandwich…, they were meant to go together…”

“What is it about liberty and freedom? They are slippery things indeed… And what is it about responsibility? It can be the glue that holds them all together…”

Question – When is a monument more than just an artistically rendered heap of bronze? Answer – When that monument inspires individual thought and public dialogue of a noble ideal!

Mighty Do They Stand © 2004

Mighty do they stand, these guardians of the land, full of silent grace, endowed with majesty from on high, partial to none, friend to all. Keeper of the trust, giver of life. For some they provide shelter, for others livelihood to the end, muted in their communication to the world yet inspiring volumes in written word; givers of shade, providers of warmth. Graceful in their movement, always steadfast in their giving; never asking for a return from their years of quiet kindness.

Who be these - these guardians of the land? You surely do know them, for they are all around you. Every day they are passed by in the hurried bustle of life. Often overlooked, seldom revered.

Mighty do they stand. Companion to great and small; to some, a tool of peace, to others a shield from evil, yet to others, a weapon of war. To some, a peaceful haven of love. To others, a destroyer of all that is good.

Mighty do they stand, Called to the explorers charge, Taking some to soar with the clouds and others to cross the depths of the great blue. Yet others will trek the ice covered poles, their companions on foot and in hand. Some will find their use in the noisy circular paths of engine, rubber and spark: Never complaining, always willing, trusted to the end.

Some end up in the great halls of history, while others give only a brief moment of warmth. Yet always they stand true and proud, deferring all glory to those who drove them hard.

Mighty do they stand. From humble beginning, ever so small, to majestic grandeur, reaching high to the heavens, and stretching deep into the soil, providing safe haven to creatures of day and night, Shielding others from tempests violent in rage.

Stand close, listen to their quiet. Feel their wisdom. Their message to you they will speak.

Mighty do they stand.

(Written in memory of my father, Richard C. Bolz. A man who revered the forest and the tree, and who instilled in me an abiding reverence for all they do for us…)

Career

Bolz began his professional career as an educator, teaching high school history, civics and art. He also spent time as a junior high school administrator. He later went to night school and earned an MBA degree. He left teaching in the late 1980’s and began his second career in business. He invented a stereo-electronics product called ‘PillowPhonix’ and was successful in marketing it on national television. He worked in several fields and established his own management/marketing consulting company, Paradigm International, Inc. He has consulted for private companies, educational organizations and non-profit foundations. He leads the Statue of Responsibility Foundation, a non-profit corporation dedicated to building the companion monument to the Statue of Liberty. An idea envisioned by Holocaust survivor and author of ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’, Dr. Viktor E. Frankl. The Statue of Responsibility will be located in a port city on the West Coast of America. The projects website at www.MyStatueofResponsibility.org contains a detailed overview of the project including an introductory DVD. A long list of FAQ’s addresses many questions surrounding this historic monument project. Bolz has introduced the Statue of Responsibility monument project to audiences in Vienna, Austria; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Tallin, Estonia, plus numerous US states.