Clement to hold book signing
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Larry Clement is returning to his Fort Dodge roots on Wednesday.
The long-time local businessman will host a book signing inside Olde Boston's Restaurant at 5:30 p.m. with author Mike Chapman, who worked with Clement to pen his biography, "Life In The Fast Lane: The Larry Clement story" late last year.
The 81-year-old Clement worked and lived in Fort Dodge from 1971 until his retirement. The Newton native and current Sioux Falls resident grew up on an 80-acre farm in Jasper County’s unincorporated Metz.
After a Hall of Fame athletic career at Newton High School, Clement went on to play football at State College of Iowa before it became the University of Northern Iowa.
The book covers 16 different chapters of Clement’s career and personal life. The former owner of Clement Auto and Truck was a dominant figure on the Mack Truck selling and leasing scene with connections all the way up to Walmart founder Sam Walton; a regular provider of transportation for many of the state’s key collegiate athletic figures and departments; a race-car owner for nine ARCA championship seasons alongside driver Frank Kimmel; and a founding father of the Iowa Speedway project in Newton.
The book is 159 pages and includes a foreword by Bob Bowlsby – the former Northern Iowa, Iowa and Stanford athletic director who also served as Big 12 commissioner.
Chapman is a native of Waterloo. He retired from a 35-year newspaper career in 2002, with his last position being publisher of the Newton Daily News.
Chapman is an author of 33 books and has been inducted into 13 different Halls of Fame. He founded the Wrestling Insider Magazine (WIN), the WIN Memorabilia Show and the Dan Hodge Trophy -- presented to the top college wrestler in the nation.
In 1998, Chapman created the International Wrestling Institute and Museum, which was located in Newton before moving to Waterloo in 2008 and being named for Dan Gable. He served as its executive director until retiring in October of 2009.
Clement and Chapman have been long-time friends.
“Life In The Fast Lane” is available for $25. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at Olde Boston's on Wednesday during the meet-and-greet session.
“All proceeds will be donated to organizations and charities in Fort Dodge,” Clement said. “It’s a community I will always hold dear and it represents, in so many ways, the most important chapter in my life. I still bank at Availa Bank, and my wife comes down to town for her physical checkups.
“We consider ourselves blessed to have so many friends and connections there still to this day.”
Olde Boston's is located at 809 Central Ave. in Fort Dodge.
For more information, please contact Clement at (515) 570-5000.