It is an immense honor and enormous responsibility to help someone create a memoir for family and friends. Chronicling the “Jerry Built” life that iconic Carlsbad resident Jerry Rombotis constructed from scratch out of hardscrabble beginnings was an exhilarating, albeit daunting, task.

Now in his eighties, Jerry is a man who, by dint of ingenuity, hard work, long hours and good old-fashioned grit, surmounted challenges to build a thriving residential construction company and give back tenfold to the community that supported his business efforts.

This self-effacing man achieved the American Dream. By opening the door to their nicely crafted, affordable new home, he enabled thousands of other people to achieve theirs.

How to capture all of this – plus Jerry’s quixotic charm, love of adventure, wild sense of humor and penchant for pranks? With well-chosen words that paint a portrait of a life well-lived.