How Mitchell Energy and Development Corp. Got Its Start and How It Grew » (UPDATED)

George P. (for Phydias) Mitchell grew up poor in Galveston, the son of a one-time goatherd from the Greek Peloponnesus. He's a soft-spoken oilman who created a new community that will soon have a population of more than 100,000. He's a top geologist, with an enviable record as an oil finder. He's invested millions in a crusade to shepherd the earth's resources in order to achieve a sustainable future. He built a freewheeling wildcatting company into one of the nation's largest and most successful independent energy producers. And he's smart, intuitive, lucky and persistent. The updated "How Mitchell Energy & Development Corp. Got Its Start and How It Grew" is the story of Mitchell and his company told in narrative form and in a series of interviews of the people who nurtured the company through the years. It is Horatio Alger, Texana, human conflict, tales of the oil patch, and a study of the shaky start of what is now one of the most innovative and successful new communities anywhere, all rolled into one. Its author is Joseph W. Kutchin, an experienced journalist who served many years as the corporation's vice president in charge of public relations.