MESHULAN RIKLIS
By Al Olson, From the Re-Echo, November 2010

On Vallacher Avenue, the Riklis family had a neat little rambler. Meshulan Riklis taught Hebrew at Talmad Torah Academy in Minneapolis and here in St. Louis Park. Riklis eventually left SLP and in time, became prominent in the management of numerous large publicly held corporations. Particularly noteworthy was his rise to CEO of the Rapid-American Corporation, a holding company comprising many firms with household names. In the mid-1980s, Riklis was recognized as the highest paid executive in the US at about $970,000. Ultimately Riklis and his wife, Pia Zadora, the operatic soprano, moved to Beverly Hills and bought the mansion formerly owned by Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford - the home known by all the tour guides as Pickfair. Pickfair is, without a doubt, one of the most well known homes in the US. We wonder if Riklis, while living in Pickfair, recalled his earlier days in the modest little rambler on Vallacher Avenue, just off Excelsior Boulevard.









 

Home    St. Louis Park History    History Index    About the Society    Research Resources
Brookside Timeline    Something In The Water    The Re-Echo    Contact Us

This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.