Augie Alumni Spotlight

Daryl Ferguson ('60) graduated from Augustana in Business Administration before obtaining a doctorate in Business from Kogod School of Business.  Ferguson had been Chief Executive Officer of Electric Lightwave in Portland, Oregon, Co-Chairman of Europe's Hungarian Telephone Company, and the Chief Operating Officer of Citizens Utilities until he retired in 2000.  He then went on to found the Santa Elena Foundation in South Carolina, which correlates with his research into his debut book American Conquistador about the Spanish settlement, Santa Elena, on what is now Parris Island.  He was inspired to write about Santa Elena when he discovered that the Spanish and the French vied for control of the North American coast before the English came to Plymouth Rock. 

American Conquistador tells the story of Gaspard Coligny and Pedro Menendez - one a French noble, the other a Spanish mariner - in their bid to help their countries dominate the resources and trade routes of the Americas.  Their quest brings them to the Carolina coast in the 1560s, almost fifty years before the English made colonies in Virginia and New England.  Ferguson brings to life all the political intrigue, jealousy, and religious tensions that fueled the conflict between France and Spain which set the stage for a battle between the brilliant tacticians Gaspard Coligny and Pedro Menendez for Santa Elena.