Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559 of 1029

petering out.” He knew that he was getting sicker all of the time.

What was wrong with him?

I don't Know if it was TB. But he wasted away. He had trouble during the War. He was up in the Aleutians in the Army, and you know how cold it is up there. It did him in. During the last years of his life, he was virtually supported by Lillian Hellman, an act of true devotion.

I think it would be interesting from a publishing point of view to see how much money, in the past twenty or thirty years, publishers have given in advances that they've never gotten back.

It goes into many millions.

I know that it does, but I'd love to find out.

Random House alone, I would say, in its whole history, has probably lost a million dollars in advances for books that either we wouldn't take when they came in because they were terrible or never came in at all--where the author just walked off with the money. Dorothy Parker, just before she died, announced that she had advances from five different publishers for books that she had no intention-of ever writing.