cover image The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty

John Seabrook. Norton, $31.99 (368p) ISBN 978-1-324-00352-6

New Jersey’s Seabrook family, if less well known today than the Murdochs or the Redstones, had a Succession story every bit as dark, according to this captivating account. New Yorker reporter Seabrook (The Song Machine), a scion of the family who plumbed its history while undergoing therapy and recovering from alcoholism—a disease he attributes to his lineage—traces the dynasty back to its founder, C.F. Seabrook (1881–1964). A second-generation farmer, C.F., through his innovations in mechanization, became the “Henry Ford of agriculture.” By WWII’s end, Seabrook Farms was packing 40% of America’s frozen spinach; the company later diversified into frozen dinners. C.F.’s youngest son—the author’s father, Jack Seabrook—partied at the 21 Club and dated Eva Gabor before marrying Seabrook’s mother, a glamorous United Press reporter. Seabrook’s research reveals that C.F. relied on the KKK to suppress labor unrest on his farms. The magnate later sold the family business rather than allow his sons to assume control, evicting and disinheriting them in the process. Relegated to consulting, Seabrook’s father nevertheless maintained an eccentrically lavish lifestyle—sustaining a coach-and-four on funds allegedly looted from a fraudulent firm and concealed in a Swiss bank account. Throughout, Seabrook emphasizes that generations of his ancestors, try as they might, could not win the respect of their fathers. It makes for a unique and enthralling family saga. (June)
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