Photo by Dwain Hebda
Full Throttle — Steve Landers Sr. cannot get business out of his blood
When Steve Landers Sr. crossed the Benton High School graduation stage, he was met by an English teacher who uttered one of the most famous sentences in the history of Arkansas auto sales, a single parting shot that would forever change the face of an industry and the fortunes of a family.
“She looked at me and said, ‘You’re not going to ever amount to anything,’” Landers said, the memory still sandpaper in his mind. “I said to myself, ‘I’m going to show her — and everybody — that I know how to get there.’”
Had he said his thoughts out loud, it might have come off as mere idle bluster. After all, the encounter was just one indignity he would suffer that day, the other being opening his diploma cover to come face to face with a blank piece of paper informing him he had failed one class and would have to retake it to get the official document. That one class? Advanced English, taught by the aforementioned instructor…