Doug Diehl '70, started a produce business by himself in 1971 (top).
Today, Diehl's Produce is one of the state's most successful fruit and
vegetable markets. Enjoying the summer's bounty with Diehl are his
daughter Jennifer Diehl-Micek (far left), and granddaughter Madeline.
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For Doug Diehl '70 A&S, the notion of wearing a suit and tie and joining
The Establishment after four years of college didn't sound too hip. The
early 1970s saw many young people yearning to "drop out," live off the
land and do their own thing, even if they happened to possess a college
degree. And while many of these free-spirited grads eventually reentered
the mainstream as lawyers, accountants and executives--dutifully
embracing a lifestyle they once loathed--Diehl has also found a
profitable niche in life ... still sans the suit and tie.
Diehl's Produce recently celebrated 29 years at its original Severna
Park location. What began as a solitary operation from a picnic table
under a shade tree has blossomed into one of the state's largest and
most successful outdoor produce markets. A typical Saturday in July
normally sees 1,000 dozen ears of corn and 800 melons sold, with people
traveling from throughout Anne Arundel County to shop under the four
large, open-air tents staffed by eight cashiers.
As sometimes happens, Diehl's prosperity began with grand failure. A
year spent teaching elementary school after graduation "wasn't really
what I wanted to do," he says. The 1971 Baltimore City Fair offered an
opportunity to make a go of it in the retail trade, Diehl says, so he
and his wife spent all night making 300 candied apples to sell opening
day. His plan ended on a sour note when a rainstorm put a damper on
sales and most of the apples ended up in a dumpster.
But Diehl enjoyed going to a local farm to buy the apples, and he soon
developed a good rapport with other area farmers. "My business
philosophy remains simple," he says. "I treat the growers fair and they
do the same for me." Diehl now buys from 250 growers in four states,
with some planting acres of sweet corn exclusively for his produce
stand.
"It's been a lot of hard work," Diehl says of his success, "but if you
give the customer both quality and service, they'll always come back."
He admits to making a six-figure salary that would rival many successful
lawyers or accountants, and his chosen profession offers a few other
perks: besides having a direct line to some great food, Diehl enjoys
taking off work from January through March.
--Tom Ventsias
Jewel of the East
Michal Golan's jewelry designs
recall the richness of Byzantium.
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As a child, fashion jewelry designer Michal Golan, A&H '80 heard echoes
of the past each time she saw the carved designs enduring in the ruins
near her home in Haifa, Israel. Since then, she has approached her life
as she does her work, seeking a pattern rich in happiness and cultural
texture. She has managed to weave her creativity with the practical
considerations of running a successful business by designing and selling
affordable, stylish jewelry, gifts and religious pieces.
"There are repetitions of symbols and patterns in my work, taken from
different cultures from all over the world, old and new," Golan says.
"What I'm trying to do is make people happy, both in my jewelry and in
my painting. I think it has a very positive feeling about it. People are
drawn to it because it's joyful."
Golan came to the university in 1977, after travelling across the United
States the previous summer. She wanted to be close to her father, who
was a guest scientist at the National Bureau of Standards in
Gaithersburg.
After graduating from the university with a degree in graphics and more
than 30 miniature oil paintings, she returned to Israel for six months,
just long enough to show her work in a one-woman exhibition at the
Rothschilds Center in Haifa. When she returned to the United States, it
was to attend graduate school at New York University. It was there she
first discovered that one of her creative outlets, jewelry design, might
also prove a financial boon. She began selling her jewelry at weekend
craft sales, and the business grew from there.
Today, her jewelry is sold in exclusive boutiques, museum stores,
galleries and department stores. She has a staff of 30 in her Manhattan
studio and more than 2,000 active accounts. In her designs, one can see
traces of the ancient cultures she was exposed to as a child. Her lavish
use of cloisonne, pearls and gemstones recalls the extravagance of
Byzantium, while her delicate, web-like patterns can be traced to the
timeless abstract designs of the Middle East. Motifs of pattern and
symbol also show up in her paintings, prints and mosaics.
"Everywhere you go in Israel, you can see remains and ruins and
excavations of those cultures of the Middle East," she says. "I guess it
became a part of me."
--Jamie Skinner '00
