Randy Fertel Popular Books
Randy Fertel Biography & Facts
Ruth Ann Udstad Fertel (February 5, 1927 – April 16, 2002) was a Louisiana businesswoman, best known as the founder of Ruth's Chris Steak Houses, which was founded in 1965. Early life and teaching Ruth Ann Udstad was born into a poor family of Alsatian descent in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her father was an insurance salesman, and her mother was a kindergarten teacher. In 1932, during the Great Depression, she and her family relocated to her mother's birthplace, the community of Homeplace in Plaquemines Parish, which was about 60 miles from New Orleans. (Note: some sources claim she was either born or grew up in Happy Jack, Louisiana, also in Plaquemines.) She skipped several grades in elementary school, and graduated at age 15. The family used the money from her brother Sig's World War Two G.I. Bill benefits to send her to Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge at 15, from where she graduated at age 19 with honors in chemistry and physics. In 1946, Udstad obtained a job teaching at McNeese State University in Lake Charles. She left after two semesters. On October 2, 1948, she married Rodney Fertel, who lived in Baton Rouge and shared her love of horses, and they had two sons, Jerry and Randy. In 1951, they opened a racing stable in Baton Rouge. Ruth earned a thoroughbred trainer's license, making her the first female horse trainer in Louisiana. Ruth and Rodney divorced in 1958. Rodney failed in the 1969 mayoral election in New Orleans as "The Gorilla Man", often wearing a gorilla suit to campaign events, championing the cause of renovating the Audubon Zoo. Unable to support herself and her teenage sons on her alimony payments, she initially supplemented her income by making drapes out of her own home. In 1961, she took a job as a lab technician for physician-scientist George E. Burch at the Tulane University School of Medicine, earning $4,800 a year. Restaurateur Chris' Steak House (1965–1976) In 1965 Fertel, realizing she needed to earn more money to send her sons to college, found a classified ad in the Times-Picayune offering a restaurant for sale, the original Chris Steak House, a 60-seat restaurant at 1100 North Broad St, New Orleans. When she realized that it had opened on February 5, 1927, the day she was born, she took this as an omen. Ignoring the advice of her banker, lawyer, and friends, she mortgaged her house to purchase the restaurant, even though the business had previously failed six times under the previous owner, Chris Matulich, and despite knowing nothing about the restaurant business. She initially planned to raise just $18,000 to cover the purchase price, until it was pointed out to her that she would need an additional $4,000 to cover the cost of renovations and food. On her first day, May 24, 1965, she sold 35 steaks at $5 each. Within six months, she had made over double her annual salary from her previous job. Fertel personally took a hand in every part of the business. She had to teach herself how to butcher steak, and despite being just five-foot-two and 110-pounds, would saw up 30-pound short loins by hand until she could afford an electric band saw. She staffed her restaurant with single mothers, saying that they were hard workers and reliable. For many years, Chris Steak House was the only upscale restaurant in New Orleans with an all-female wait staff. From the beginning her restaurant attracted local politicians as well as athletes, businessmen and reporters. Local celebrities like Fats Domino were regulars. Ruth's Chris Steak House (1976 onwards) In early 1976, shortly after signing a new ten-year lease on the restaurant, a fire ruined the property. Fertel had recently acquired a second property nearby to rent out as party space. Within seven days, she had relocated the restaurant to its new location a few blocks away at 711 Broad Street and re-opened it, expanding to 160 seats in the process. The sales agreement prevented her from using the original name at any other address, so she named the new restaurant Ruth's Chris Steak House. She admitted later to Fortune Magazine that "I've always hated the name, but we've always managed to work around it." Political reporter Rosemary James noted that she "would not have missed a Friday before a major election at Ruth's Chris Steak House. That was the place to be if you wanted to get some scoops." Fertel bought two shotgun houses behind the restaurant, remodeled and connected them, and lived there for the rest of her life. The same year, Fertel agreed to issue her first franchise. The first franchised restaurant was opened in 1977 by a loyal customer, Thomas J. "T. J." Moran (c. 1931-2015), in Baton Rouge, who went on to open several more franchised Ruth's Chris locations, TJ Ribs, and Ruffino's restaurants in Baton Rouge. Fertel noted, "All our franchisees were people who had eaten at one time or another in one of our restaurants. We never looked for franchisees. They came to us." The chain expanded rapidly over the next two decades, with over 80 locations in the US and overseas, and earning Fertel a number of accolades as an entrepreneur, and the epithet The First Lady of American Restaurants or The Empress of Steak. She continued to run the Ruth's Chris business throughout her life. In 1997, the year she turned 70, she personally visited 42 of her restaurants to "smell out how they're doing." When she fell ill in 1999, she sold the chain to Madison Dearborn Partners of Chicago, Illinois. Death A smoker for more than fifty years, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2000, and died two years later in 2002, at age 75. She was buried in Lake Lawn Metairie Cemetery, in a lavish mausoleum she and her friend and business partner, Lana Duke, had commissioned in 1995, and which cost over $500,000. The granite building, on a square 27-foot plot, has black columns and stained glass windows featuring angels and the words "It's A Wonderful World". The Fertel-Duke mausoleum can hold six, and is intended to have Fertel family on one side and Duke family on the other. It was designed by the art department at Duke's advertising company. In 1999, Fertel and Duke held a party for over 150 guests to mark the completion of the structure. The event was presided over by Father Bob Massett, who blessed the crowd with a sprinkling of beer. Honors and awards Her many awards include: 1992 – Regional Entrepreneur of the Year, Inc. Magazine 1995 – Entrepreneur of the Year, Horatio Alger Association 1999 Lafcadio Hearn Award, presented by the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute 2001 – Ella Brennan Savoir Faire Award DiRōNA (Distinguished Restaurants of North America) Hall of Fame Member Executive of the Year, Restaurants and Institutions Magazine Restaurant Business High Performance Leadership Award Legacy and philanthropy During her lifetime, she was known for her charitable work. In 1965, when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans, she was left without power, and realized that the food in her restaurant was in da.... Discover the Randy Fertel popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Randy Fertel books.
Best Seller Randy Fertel Books of 2024
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Beautiful Storm
Barbara Freethy“ "Barbara Freethy’s Romantic Suspense books are explosively good!"  –New York Times bestselling author Toni Anderson. From #1 NY Times Bestsel...
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The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre DumasAn Apple Books Classic edition. Alexandre Dumas’ classic paints a portrait of Edmond Dantès, a dark and calculating man who is willing to wait years to exact his perfect plan for r...
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Knock Knock
Chris Merritt⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘ Wow. I absolutely loved this book!... I was not able to put it down from the moment I started it, so much so that I devoured it in just two days .’ Goodreads reviewer Natas...
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Become A Better Version of Yourself
Ben LeightonThis ebook contains golden nuggets on how to motivate, inspire and improve your current situation. It encompasses the holistic view of self improvement from mental& emotion...
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The Cottage on Nantucket
Jessie NewtonAfter their mother dies, two sisters return to the cottage where they spent their summers growing up. Nantucket Point is exactly the same: charming, warm, and filled with memories ...
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10-Minute Social Psychology
Albert RutherfordWould you like to instantly catch people's thoughts, emotions, motivations, and intentions through mere observation? If yes, you've come to the...
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The Art of War
Sun TzuAn Apple Books Classic edition. It’s believed that Sun Tzu wrote this Chinese military primer during the 5th century BChundreds of years before the Bible. The book’s 13 chapters ex...
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Pride and Prejudice
Jane AustenAn Apple Books Classic edition. Jane Austen’s beloved classic opens with this witty and very memorable line: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possessio...
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The Next Girl
Carla KovachIF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS YEAR, MAKE IT THE NEXT GIRL... You thought he’d come to save you. You were wrong. ‘ Absolutely the best thriller I’ve read this year! ’ Goodreads Rev...
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Rascal
Katie McCoy"My hot new neighbor is keeping me up all night..." Discover the fakedating steamy romance, perfect for fans of Tessa Bailey, Elle Kennedy, and Hannah Grace! Emerson Haye...
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Just One Time
Samantha BacaThere are worse things than turning forty.    However, I can't seem to evade my worry of my biological clock, and my fear that time is running out. I've...
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The Odyssey
HomerAn Apple Books Classic edition. Homer’s eighthcentury epic poem is a companion to The Iliad . It tells the story of Odysseus, who journeys by ship for 10 years after the Trojan War...
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Boy Toy
S. E. LundTate McNaughton. 24 years old. Gorgeous. An artist independenly wealthy and the heir to a huge fortune. He's way too hot for my own good and seems intent on doing eve...
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The Holy Bible - King James Version
King JamesHoly Bible King James Version Few Sample Paragraphs from The Holy Bible eBook, Genesis (OT) 1 Gen. 1 IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was with...
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Ice Crown
Kay L MoodyThe competition could save her life... But only if she wins. Talise can manipulate the elements with ease. Water, air, earth, and fire all bend to her will. As a citizen of the Sto...
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Sunrise at Crystal Bay
Mia KentA decadelong secret. A devastating betrayal. And a chance to return to the placeand the boyshe left behind. Leah Turner had it alla happy marriage of twentyfive years, two grown ch...
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Winnie-the-Pooh
A.A. MilneAn Apple Books Classic edition. If you haven’t met Winnie the Pooh yet, stop reading this, and start reading the bookyou’ll be so glad you did. The jovial stuffed bear and his ragt...
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Finding Cinderella
Colleen Hoover#1 New York Times bestselling author of It Starts with Us and It Ends With Us writes a free novella about the search for happily ever after. A chance encounter in the dark leads ei...
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The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel HawthorneAn Apple Books Classic edition. Hester Prynne lives in infamy. After committing adultery and bearing a child with a man whose name she refuses to divulge, the heroine of Nathaniel ...
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Silenced Girls
Roger Stelljes“ Wow wow wow! Grips you in a choke hold and does not let go … Oozes suspense and bonechilling twists and turns . Astonishing … One of those rare books you stay up all night to rea...
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Wormwood Abbey
Christina BaehrAs a Victorian clergyman's daughter, Edith Worms has seen everything until a mythical salamander tumbles out of the fireplace into her lap. When a letter arrives from estrang...
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Wuthering Heights
Emily BrontëAn Apple Books Classic edition. If you’ve only ever seen Wuthering Heights on screen, you may have an image of Catherine and Heathcliff as the ultimate starcrossed lovers. But that...
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Doubly Claimed
C.D. GorriWill this curvy redhead find her match with two smexy shifters? Needing a break from her nightmare boss, Ginger is more than ready for the Freeman sisters' annual vacation. Sh...
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Enemies With Benefits
Roxie NoirI don’t love him. I don’t even like him. I just want him. Eli Loveless was my nemesis from the first day of kindergarten until we graduated high school. Everything I did, he had to...
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Close to the Ridge
Lexy TimmsClimb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you. In the end, all I learned was how to be strong. Alone. Lincoln is a former Navy Seal, hiding away in the ...
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Through the Looking-Glass
Lewis CarrollAn Apple Books Classics edition. Travel back to Wonderland in Lewis’s acclaimed sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland . When Alice’s game of “Let’s pretend” turns real, she fi...
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The Great Gatsby
F. Scott FitzgeraldAn Apple Books Classics edition. The Roaring Twenties are in full effect in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s riveting classic. Manabouttown Jay Gatsby seems to have it all, including loads of...
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Brush With Death
Mia HallMy first year at the Dreadmore Academy. What can go wrong? How long do you have? The list of stuff that can go right is much, much shorter.  I'm probably going to fai...
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Wrong Places
Teralyn MitchellSometimes the path to happily ever after runs through all the wrong places… Romance never did Maggie Anthony any favors. So now that she’s back in her small hometown as a divorced ...
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The Girls on Chalk Hill
Alison BelshamThey lie on the hillside, wearing matching white dresses, tiaras in their blonde hair. Each of them clutches a red rose. They could be sleeping, but frost shines on the lashes of t...
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Dracula
Bram StokerAn Apple Books Classic edition. Few characters have seized readers’ imaginations quite like Count Dracula of Transylvania, the hero of Bram Stoker’s classic. The 1897 novel put vam...
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Imperfect Chemistry
Mary FrameShe's never understood the point of romance, but now he's going to show her. Lucy London puts the word genius to shame. Having obtained her PhD in microbiology by the age...
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Little Women
Louisa May AlcottAn Apple Books Classic edition. Meet the Marches! Louisa May Alcott’s classic introduces us to four unforgettable sisters: beautiful Meg, tomboyish Jo, delicate Beth, and Amy, the ...
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The Power of Unlimited Faith
Kynan BridgesTake The Limits Off Your Faith! Do you ever hear people talk about “getting more faith” or “increasing their faith?”  When we buy into this idea, we never have enough. Tho...
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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
L. Frank BaumAn Apple Books Classic edition. You’ve seen the iconic 1939 movie, but do you know about the talking field mice, the Winkies, and the Witch of the North that appear in the original...
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Anna Karenina
Leo TolstoyAn Apple Books Classic edition. “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Thus begins what many consider the world’s greatest novel. Leo Tolst...
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Game Changer
Piper LawsonA steamy, grumpy sunshine sports romance featuring a woman down on her luck, a star basketball player with a filthy mouth, and a connection neither of them can deny. After being du...
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You Are Kind
Michael GordonA little kindness goes a long way. How can you help encourage your kids to be kind from a young age? Teach kindness to preschoolers Acts of kindness can be fun, easy, and make a ...
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Bedtime Stories
Uncle AmonBedtime Stories: 5 Magical Adventures for Little Dreamers Embark on a whimsical journey to dreamland with "Bedtime Stories: Magical Adventures for Little Dreamers". This ...
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Heartbreaker
Melody GraceDiscover the steamy smalltown romance now a USA Today bestseller! Perfect for fans of Elsie Silver and Lucy Score. They say that time heals a broken heart, but you try moving on w...
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Opal
Freya BarkerWhen Opal goes undercover in a youth center several teenagers have disappeared from, she’s shocked to find a ghost of her own traumatic past at the helm. However, her worry for the...
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Dream Psychology
Sigmund FreudAn Apple Books Classic edition. Written by the founding father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud’s 1899 book is the definitive text on learning to interpret dreams. Freud’s groundbr...
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Frankenstein
Mary ShelleyAn Apple Books Classic edition. Mary Shelley was just 18 when she had a nightmare vision: “I saw the pale student of unhallowed arts kneeling beside the thing he had put together. ...
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Her Texas Ex
Katherine GarberaShe couldn't forget him, even if she tried... When Amelia Corbyn was a vulnerable teen, she found out she wasn’t a Corbyn by blood. Her biological father was a legendary count...
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Beautiful Darkness
Autumn GazeYou can have anything you want in life... You just can't have everything you want... Gareth is Fae. Sort of. His mother was a Nymph, and with that cross, he finds himself to b...
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Scorned Queen
Lisa Renee JonesThe protégé king wants the king unseated but it will be war, and a bloody one. And you can only push a future queen so far before she says enough, and proves she's as worthy f...
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The Secret Diary of an Arranged Marriage
Halima KhatunWinner of the 2021 Bookbrunch Selfie Award for Best Adult I know I'll land a husband… but will he be the one? The Secret Diary of an Arranged Marriage – A Hilarious Romcom Tha...
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The Hookup Equation
Roxie NoirTeach me everything. My whole life, I’ve been a good girl. I follow rules like nobody’s business. I obey guidelines like I was born to it. Show me a line, and I’ll toe it. I’m even...
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Mischief after Midnight
Jennifer BernardBartender Toni Del Rey is the quickwitted queen of the Olde Salt Saloon, famous for trading barbs with grizzled fishermen and putting rowdy customers in their place. Independent an...
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Behind Closed Doors
Sherri HayesFalling For His New Neighbor Was Never Part of the Plan  Chris Daniels is single, and he prefers to keep it that way. Women are trouble. One look at his new neighbor has a...