Aura of Mystique

David Adams is a successful real estate investor and businessman. He grew up in and around Los Angeles on the fringes of Hollywood life. His middle name, Vidor, is from his mother, Suzanne Vidor. She was the daughter of King Vidor, the pioneering American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades. His early life was a succession of schools, homes, fathers and an ever-increasing family. By the age of 18 he was a young man without direction or foundation. His story is that of a lost soul who found the meaning of his own life in self-examination and the quest for self-reliance. It is told with the humility and candor of a man who came to realize the true purpose of life, and the key to business success, is service to others. The title of his book, Aura of Mystique, is drawn from his philosophy that knowledge is power and the key to independence. His grandfather, King Vidor, wrote in his autobiography, A Tree is a Tree: "The magic of the movies is obvious, the illusion of the other world more subtle. But the stage is there, the drama is ours to construct, the climax is ours to create. We have been given the privilege of choice in the magic story we write...life has designated us all magicians. The illusion must not be permitted to dictate to its master." David Adams reached the same conclusion from an entirely different perspective. There's a distinctive quality, he writes, that surrounds a certain people, an aura of heightened value, interest, or meaning arising from their attitudes and beliefs. It imputes a special power or mystery, an air of glamor, charm, and mystery ¿ an aura of mystique, in fact.