PREFACE

PREFACE

In 1910, the Samsonite company was founded in Denver, Colorado, by luggage salesman Jesse Shwayder. A religious man, Shwayder named one of his initial suitcases after the Biblical character Samson who, like the salesman’s new carrying case, was strong, tough and durable. In 1941, Shwayder began using the trademark “Samsonite” for a tapered vulcanized model. Because of the product’s success, the company changed its name from the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company to Samsonite, while also expanding its line of products.

Sigma Medolf, the protagonist of my novel, is an inventor who, in the year 2030, accidentally happens upon the image of the Samsonite Freeform Spinner case during a computer search. He’s inspired by the Freeform’s simple yet rugged design and incorporates the product into his proposal for a Personal Use Robotic Assistant that is intended to be offered at no cost to every human on the Earth.

The successful creation and development of the product seems implausible at first but due to Sigma’s inventive skills, the prototype gains recognition from the National Science Foundation and also wins the prestigious XPrize Innovation Challenge.

Samsonite, the novel, is a work of speculative fiction, and although it uses elements of science in common use today or under development, the book has no connection with the Samsonite company or its products, other than the similarity in the design of the case and the tenacity and determination of two ingenious innovators, the real-life Jesse Shwayder and my fictional character, Sigma Medolf.

— George H. Rothacker, 2025

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George H. Rothacker

George Rothacker grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, and earned an associates degree in mechanical engineering from Temple Technical Institute in 1968. Largely self-taught, Rothacker has owned and operated a successful design and marketing firm since 1978, and has built a parallel career as an illustrator and painter over the past 50 years. Samsonite is his 11th published book, and is partially based on his own experiences with ADHD, and the alternative paths he’s used to assimilate into the more conventional world around him.

Samsonite – Making a Strong Case for Human Evolution – Click image to purchase

Sigma Medolf is a polymath, a person who has a wide variety of interests and abilities, but is primarily self-taught. Sigma has one or more learning disabilities that could prevent him from achieving many of his longterm goals despite early successes that enabled him to become financially self-sufficient at a young age. Over time, Sigma forges his way to Stanford University and becomes part of a prize-winning team responsible for the conception of a system intended to help humans evolve at a quicker pace in order to keep up with the scientific and technological achievements they’ve created . Samsonite, the novel, focuses on ways in which individuals with alternative learning styles can harness their creativity to achieve results beyond those of their more traditionally-schooled counterparts to create systems needed to help humanity as well as save our fragile planet.

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“As you grow older, Edie, and things don’t happen the way you hoped they would, try to be mindful of the story of Job. Then decide how you choose your own ending.” – Hilda Wilson At age 16, Edie had the perfect blend of beauty, brains and talent. She also had a diagnosis of the crippling and misunderstood disease of multiple sclerosis. Her response was not what one would expect, even as additional problems pursued her, and the realities of life took turns she hadn’t counted on. The Book of Edie uses a story of the modern era to reexamine stories from the Old and New Testaments that many of us have become familiar with in simpler forms through children’s books, religious study groups, TV shows and movies. Using the science of the 20th and 21st centuries, “The Book of Edie” explores the source of our talents and strengths, and how, despite our weaknesses, we may have the ability to choose our destiny throughout our life rather than having it chosen for us. Although the book contains religious themes, it’s primarily about the science of our times, the mysteries of humanity and a universe we still don’t understand. But, most of all, it’s about the complexities of the human race, the scriptures that are timeless, and one woman’s journey to overcome the odds and use all that her DNA had given her — for better and for worse.