Just a few days after former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay’s strangely convenient death in Aspen, Colorado, a headline on the cover of the New York Post demands that somebody check the coffin for an actual corpse, while the Internet is rampant with rumours of the ol’ switcheroo or worse.

In Vancouver, Allan Holender paraphrases Charles Lewis, founder of the Centre for Public Integrity. “We have a situation where we don’t trust our government or our capitalist system, and the level of distrust right now is probably unparalleled since the 1930s,” he says, by way of explaining the public’s apparent refusal to accept the news of Lay’s death at face value.

Holender is the loquacious 64-year-old author of Zentrepreneurism: A 21st Century Guide To The New World Of Business, a timely compendium of ideas that seeks to crystallize the growing trend towards an enlightened brand of capitalism that blends service to others with entrepreneurial spirit. That idea alone is probably enough to make Ol’ Kenny Boy’s ticker explode.

Holender’s insights come from a quixotic life journey that included working as a probation officer, broadcaster, and businessman. And his personality is enormous. Significantly, he’s determined to let Zentrepreneurism speak for itself. “I had to park my ego,” he says. “Allan Holender is the messenger of Zentrepreneurism. He’s not the guru. I planted the seed and I just want to let it sprout.”