McClueless

What do Americans think of when they think of Canada? If the subject happens to come up in Canadian conversation — as it does these days every twenty or thirty seconds — I am reminded of a story that George Cohon, the founder of McDonald’s Canada and McDonald’s Russia, enjoyed telling about Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald’s Everything. It was a story that made George laugh when he told it, although this was true of many of his tales.

George had a serious, even solemn side. I have no doubt that he was a tough negotiator. But most of the stories he told for public consumption were stories that made him laugh while he was telling them. And even George, born in the United States, raised in north Chicago, thought it was funny that Ray knew so little about Canada.

The story’s central image — the moment of revelation around which George’s chuckling, incredulous delivery revolved — was Ray Kroc in the fall of 1968, staring from the windows of George’s Lincoln...