Upon retiring to the Berkshires Velmans wrote Long Way Back to the River Kwai, a war memoir detailing his adventurous escape from the Nazis and his imprisonment by the Japanese.
Tag: J.Walter Thompson
Thomas Haas, 86, former Egremont Selectman, television news director
Tom had a strong sense of justice, fairness, character and truth. He loved the excitement of live television and worked on various shows as Director or Production Chief.
Loet Velmans, POW, author and CEO, at Tuesday Club of Stockbridge
When asked how he achieved professional success, he credits luck and being at the right place at the right time. Yet, as he tells his story, it becomes clear that Velmans had other traits – courage, resourcefulness, determination, a willingness to take risks, an instinct for what might work, and a capacity for friendship and collaboration.