Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 511512513514515516517518519520521522523524525526527528529530531532533534535536537538539540541542543544545546547548549550551552553554555556557558559 of 1029

then ran the business were Frank Taylor and Albert Erskine. Taylor is a very theatrical fellow. Did you ever meet Frank Taylor?

No. Maybe, but I don't think so.

A long, skinny drink of water and a very amusing man. A graduate of Hamilton College, which was Samuel Hopkins Adams‘college. That is another story that I've got to tell you--Sam Adams. You can remember that for the future.

When the War was over and Reynal and Hitchcock came back on the job, there followed disenchantment on all sides and Taylor and Erskine didn't want to stay. I wanted Taylor and asked him if he would come to Random House. He said that he wouldn't come without Albert Erskine. I had never met Albert Erskine. So Taylor brought Erskine up here one night and by the end of the evening, it was Erskine I wanted more than Taylor. The two of them came to us.

Taylor, in about a month, went out to Hollywood. He was offered a great job at MGM. We weren't too unhappy when he left because, as it turned out, Frank was a very flamboyant fellow, but didn't quite fit in with Random House.

Erskine, on the other hand, was made to order for Random House and has been very happy ever since and become one of my very best friends. I love Albert Erskine.