The Rivers of Chance: An Autobiography

The Rivers of Chance: An Autobiography is Dean J. Hirschfield's exciting tale of his birth, education, naval service, and subsequent careers in the wholesale jewelry business and in real estate. Hirschfield uses his life story to offer advice to his friends and family about the vicissitudes and happenstances that have shaped his life and career. In response to each of the challenges along the river of chance, he has drawn on resources from his faith, family, and friends. Hirschfield recounts his courtship, marriage, and continuing companionship with his wife Melva, and touches on the joys and sorrows of his children and their children. His story underlines the importance of his relationships with his alma mater Carnegie Mellon University, his fraternity Beta Sigma Rho, and his synagogue Temple Emanuel. Begun in 1979 as a letter to his first granddaughter Elizabeth, the autobiography was worked on regularly when Hirschfield retired in 2005. Five years later at its completion, Carnegie Mellon University Libraries undertook its publication using a newly purchased University of Pittsburgh Lubraries' Espresso Book Machine, graciously provided by Rush Miller, University Librarian.