The name Miller is practically synonymous with Utah. Wife of the late Larry Miller, Gail Miller is known across the state as a woman of virtue, fortitude, and perhaps most of all, generosity. Now, Gail shares her story in her new book, “Courage to be You: Inspiring Lessons From an Unexpected Journey”. Coming from a humble childhood, Miller hopes her life struggles and successes can inspire others.
“I think the important part about growing up in a humble home is you learn what’s really important and what isn’t and you learn skills to make what you have enough.”
Before his death, Gail stood by her husband Larry. She, alongside Larry, helped build an iconic empire from the ground up. At the time, she was more than happy letting Larry be the front-man of the company, as she didn’t care much for being in the public eye. After Larry’s passing, though, there was still work to be done and Gail took on the challenge of running the company. She decided to take over and spent no time setting the tone for future growth,
“I have to step in and make sure they understand who we are, what we stand for, how we’re going to go forward.”
In her nearly 75 years, Gail has experienced poverty and wealth, love and great sorrow. She’s also earned the admiration of many, so it only seemed fitting to put it all on paper, though she admits, she had her doubts.
“All I could see was, well I don’t see how anybody could get a message out of this. This is just my struggle”. Now that it’s out, it’s like, was I too honest? Did I tell too much? Did I, you know, what will people think? So that’s really the hard part.”
“Courage To Be You” is real and full of her own life lessons, laid out for all to read, and hopefully learn from. She pulls no punches, it’s all there in detail. She includes memories of her childhood, struggles within her marriage to Larry and her happy relationship with her current husband, longtime family friend, attorney Kim Wilson. At first, she says, she told him she did not want to remarry, but Wilson persisted.
“He said I know Larry and I love Larry, but I’m not intimidated by Larry, and he’s not, he’s very strong, very self-secure and it was very comfortable.
As a humanitarian, Gail Miller has helped countless individuals and charitable organizations. Giving and nurturing seem to come naturally for her.
“I really feel like I’m grounded in who I am and I don’t feel any different now than I did when I was living in poverty. I’m still the same person.”
Gail says she looks forward to her future and wants to continue giving back and helping others realize their own hopes and dreams.
“It’s almost like you spend a certain amount of your life building the base and then you get that stability and then you realize there’s more…more that you can do and it isn’t about what you have, it’s what you can do.”
You can find Gail’s frank, heart-warming and inspirational book at Deseret Books.
