“At 21, Hawthorne’s parents shipped him off to New York, where his older siblings had already relocated. He eventually found a job, started college, and began to build the multi-million dollar business Golden Krust, whose Jamaican patties are a New York staple. Hawthorne’s story is compelling on many levels: it offers a peek into life in Jamaica, a classic immigrant narrative, and a testament to the strength of family. Hawthorne’s is a Horatio Alger tale with a Caribbean flavor, which should find an appreciative audience among entrepreneurs and business aficionados.”
—Library Journal

“The American question gets a great, real-life look in The Baker’s Son . . . Hawthorne’s story is at once inspirational and revelatory.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In his memoir, The Baker’s Son, Hawthorne shares how an idea inspired by his father’s bakery in Border, Jamaica, grew into the 120-branch Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery and Grill. After 23 years of selling patties, pastries, sandwiches and more through Golden Krust, Hawthorne hasn’t lost sight of his values.”
—New York Daily News

“The Baker’s Son is a deeply moving account that tells the story of an immigrant family from rural Jamaica that relocate to the Bronx in the 1980s . . . the Hawthorne family has scaled the heights of success to achieve the American Dream to an unprecedented degree.”
—The Philadelphia Tribune

“In gripping narrative that is both inspirational and instructive, Lowell Hawthorne shares how an idea infused with tenacity, intellect, and passion can become a dream realized. The Baker’s Son offers a successful playbook for any entrepreneur who seeks to play on the rough-and-tumble field of business—and win.”
—Earl “Butch” Graves Jr., president and CEO, Black Enterprise

“The Baker’s Son chronicles the journey of an entrepreneur of color as he encounters amazing business lessons valuable to all: success will likely require, among many things, an organization that either is, or performs like, a tightknit family; a commitment to advancing one’s own education; a willingness to continuously ‘bet the farm’ before swelling one’s personal bank account; and a solid foundation of belief in a higher power. If you consider yourself an entrepreneur in waiting, read it! I guarantee you’ll benefit from it!”
—Bob Holland, former CEO of Ben & Jerry’s and former founding director (retired) of the YUM Brands board

“Lowell Hawthorne’s chronicle of the development of a small Jamaican business into the highly successful Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery & Grill, an American business empire, is an invaluable guide to success as well as an inspiring autobiographical work. The Baker’s Son follows the visionary Hawthorne from a Jamaican childhood selling guinea pigs and rabbits for pocket money to his journey to the US in pursuit of the American Dream.”
—P.J. Patterson, former prime minister of Jamaica

“The Baker’s Son should be required reading for all young men and women at the dawning of America’s age of austerity. Faith, family, and community must be the foundations for the testing times ahead.”
—Stephen Hill, CEO, Caribbean International Network Television

“The Baker’s Son is an outstanding example of minority business success. In many ways, it represents a convincing case study of business success both within the Caribbean community, and in the larger American mainstream.”
—Robert A. Hill, editor in chief of the multivolume edition of The Marcus Garvey & Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers