NORMAN BRINKER spent his adult life building a restaurant empire, and is credited with popularizing the salad bar and making it an American institution. He started out as a busboy with Jack In The Box and went on to become the chief instigator of the growth of Steak and Ale in the 1960s.

    Brinker sold Steak and Ale to the Pillsbury Company in the 1970s and stayed with them to run Pillsbury’s restaurant division. But it wasn’t long before he was doing his own thing again. He bought a local Chili’s and built it into a billion-dollar chain. Then, what seemed like a charmed life almost came to an end with a serious polo accident in 1993.

    After the accident, Brinker lay in a coma. He had been thrown from his horse in a polo match in January and his doctors feared that he would not awake from the coma. For 14 days a respirator kept him alive. But then he awoke, only to find himself paralyzed. The doctors predicted that it would take at least a year for a meaningful recovery. Brinker would have none of that. He told them they were wrong and went on to prove it. By March he was able to stand.

    He said: ”OK. I’m standing up. It’s a wonderful day!”