Golden: An American Odyssey starts in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and ends in southwest Florida. In between, Michael L. Hughes, a wild kid who raced stock cars before he had a driver's license, morphed into an entrepreneur. He founded Hughes Computer Systems, which he later sold to ADP. This is the story that almost didn't happen and of lessons learned along the way as it did happen. The book spans a lifetime that begins prior to World War II and continues into the first decade of the twenty-first century.