All the Way Up

Book excerpt: Take your front row seat as Steve Heard looks back at his "life lived all the way up," and shares seven decades of adventures and real-life accounts involving some of history's most influential decision-makers through one of the most rapidlychanging times in American history. Steve's story begins before his own birth, chronicling his family's roots, particularly his great-great-great grandfather, Colonel Stephen Heard. A soldier and a politician, Steve's namesake fought with George Washington in the French and Indian Wars and the Revolutionary War before becoming the first governor of Georgia. Steve's own account opens with his upbringing in Westwood, Massachusetts, his private education at Milton Academy in the 1950s, and his years of sports, friends, and academics at Harvard. Shortly after receiving his degree, Steve was quickly commissioned in the United States Air Force and served three years as an intelligence officer in Spain. While living on the civilian economy and making local connections, he participated in some of the Cold War's most challenging episodes, a number of which are still largely classified today. At the close of his eventful three-year tour, Steve became only the third American to fight bulls in Spain as a licensed matador, earning him a framed picture in one of Barcelona's oldest and best known restaurants, Los Caracoles, among some of Spain's most well-known, historical matadors. After his return to the United States in the 1960s, Steve attended Stanford Law School while working as a Santa Clara Deputy Sheriff. Steve then began five successful, eventful decades of practicing international law in several law firms--two of which he started. He investigated and litigated international transborder transactions, including smuggling and financial matters, cases that took him to the farthest reach of Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. All The Way Up also reveals Steve's philanthropic side, serving 20 years on the Board of the New York City Fresh Air Fund, the last 13 of which he was president. He also served several terms on Stanford Law School's Board of Visitors. Steve now enjoys his retirement with his wife, Susan, in Seabrook, South Carolina. Borrowing a line from Teddy Roosevelt, Steve's lifelong friend and Charleston neighbor, John Winthrop, likes to say, "Steve Heard is truly a classic 'man in the arena.'"