Coming July 21, 2026
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Coming July 21, 2026 -
Call me dave: Behind the counter with Dave Thomas, Founder of Wendy’s
AVAILABLE
July 21, 2026
A BOOK ABOUT THE FOUNDER OF WENDY’s
Google Dave Thomas and easily discover that the founder of Wendy’s restaurants was an American icon, star of more than 800 TV commercials, and champion of adoption.
Call Me Dave… takes you behind-the-scenes of an adopted boy who pulled himself up out of confining poverty to create North America’s favorite hamburger chain; then mustered the same fervor and passion to create the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption®. Two national legacies were created by a boy who quit school in tenth grade.
Dave lived his life with honesty, integrity, and a conviction to always do the right thing. He started working at age 12, with virtually no skills, but the courage and burning desire to create a better life.
Call Me Dave… will inspire those with entrepreneurial minds, who love inside stories about real people and book club members who enjoy zero-to-hero storylines, and the adage, “Nice guys CAN finish first.”
Call Me Dave… is endorsed by Dave’s living family, and his daughter, Wendy, has written the Foreward.
AUTHOR PROCEEDS GO TO THE
DAVE THOMAS FOUNDATION FOR ADOPTION
who is Dave Thomas?
RESTAURateur
People told Dave the world didn’t need another hamburger restaurant. But while the other restaurants were working on factory-line food, Dave believed everyone deserved fresh, made-to-order food and never cutting corners on quality. He innovated the restaurant industry by delivering food just as quickly as the other guys but without heat lamps and warmers. In addition, he modernized the pick-up window and created drive-thru as we know it today.
Entrepreneur
Dave used to say, “If you want a larger slice of pie, then let’s build a bigger pie.” As an entrepreneur, Dave Thomas built more than a company—he helped others succeed by sharing his experience, supporting franchisees, and encouraging hard work, integrity, and opportunity. Some of his biggest joys was sharing his success with others.
Philanthropist
Giving back was central to Dave’s life. Understanding the hardships he faced growing up, and appreciating the mentoring and help he received along the way from others, Dave believed in paying it forward. He supported several charities through the years, and his biggest contribution was starting the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, helping find permanent homes for children in foster care.
IT STARTED WITH A DREAM
Dave’s adopted mother died when he was only five years old but he never let that stop him. Call Me Dave is an inspirational and heartwarming chronicle of a 10-year-old boy who loved hamburgers and dreamed of owning his own restaurant. Overcoming challenges no boy should face, he made that dream come true and so much more. It’s an easy-to-read story with a never-before peak into life outside Dave’s public persona, including his family life. Foreward written by his daughter, and Wendy’s namesake, Wendy Thomas.
DENNY LYNCH, Author
Denny Lynch discovered his passion for writing as a college freshman at The Ohio State University, a path that led him into public relations when reporting jobs were scarce.
In 1980, he joined the corporate office of Wendy’s, where he helped build the company’s communications function. A chance assignment as speechwriter for founder Dave Thomas launched a 20-year professional partnership that took the two of them across the U.S. and Canada, working closely with franchisees, managers, and restaurant crews. And eating a lot of hamburgers.
Lynch had a front-row seat as Dave Thomas evolved from a reserved Midwestern entrepreneur into a national icon. He also played a key role in founding the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, serving on its Board for 25 years, including 20 as Chairman.
“There are a lot of good lessons in this book that will resonate with you ... and we hope they help you be successful as well.”
— FOREWARD WRITTEN BY Wendy Thomas, Dave's daughter and namesake of Wendy's
More on Call Me Dave
“The life of Dave Thomas was an old-fashioned success story. He was a modest man who built an empire on hamburgers and humility.”
-Tom Brokaw, former NBC News Anchor
Dave Thomas strongly believed that “Only in America can a kid like me achieve my dream of owning a hamburger restaurant.” His love of hamburgers and burning desire to succeed created one of North America’s largest hamburger chains, employing more than 100,000 people.
Call Me Dave… tells how he did it. The core values of honesty, integrity, hard work, and treating people with respect fueled his rise in the hamburger world. These values may seem old-fashioned, but Dave never wavered in believing, “You can be whatever you want within the laws of man and god.”
Go on a journey and peek inside Dave’s simplicity and humility as he rises to become one of the country’s best-known TV spokesmen and America’s favorite hamburger cook. His daughter Wendy shares what it’s like living with your name across thousands of restaurants worldwide, and her sisters share insights on growing up in the Thomas family.
Dave was also passionate about giving back to society, so he created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to find permanent homes and loving families for the thousands of children waiting to be adopted in North America. The Foundation developed a foster care adoption program, called Wendy's Wonderful Kids®, that uses a model proven to be up to three times more effective in serving children and youth who have lingered in foster care the longest. At the time of the book's publishing, more than 16,000 children and youth have been adopted through the program and counting.
Author proceeds from the sale of Call Me Dave… are donated to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption.
“No child is unadoptable.”
AUTHOR proceeds benefit
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is a national, nonprofit public charity dedicated to finding permanent homes for the more than 130,000 children waiting in North America’s foster care systems. Created by Wendy’s® founder Dave Thomas, who was adopted, the Foundation implements evidence-based, results-driven national service programs, foster care adoption awareness campaigns, and innovative grantmaking. To learn more, visit davethomasfoundation.org.