Ruth Handler: From Lilli to Barbie

The American dream comes in many shapes and colors, limited only by one's imagination and work ethic. Ruth Handler, the daughter of poor Russian-Jewish èmigrès, is a prime example. She turned a Swiss toy sex doll into a quintessentially American icon -- Barbie -- one so well-known that more than a billion have been sold. Barbie is so much a part of the American landscape that in 1976, she was included in the American bicentennial time capsule. The voyage from humble beginnings to great wealth, the creation of Mattel Inc., a company with sales exceeding $5 billion, was not smooth sailing. It began in fairly rough waters and the storms, corporate and personal, never abated. But Ruth Handler's marketing strategies were emulated the world over, and more so, the classy way she faced her battles with cancer or the SEC were earmarks of the vision, persistence and perseverance that were her trademarks. Award-winning author Daniel Alef tells Handler's story of failures, successes, tragedies and enlightenment. [2,148-word Titans of Fortune article]