Ah, the holidays. Those joyous times when family members gather around the dinner table in Rockwellian tableau and share glad tidings.
But for members of family businesses, the holidays present a special set of perplexities. With relationships strained from longsimmering personal feuds and business rivalries, the forced frivolity can quickly go up in smoke. Many a hostess will shudder at the story of Willie Farah, embattled head of the Farah clothing firm: When his estranged son showed up at Christmas dinner last year, Willie abruptly rose from the table, stalked out of the house, and sat in a parked car for three hours.