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you're going to get out, this stock is now worth considerably more than what your father put in, and we'll have to figure out...” He said, “Oh, I wouldn't hear of it. I'm going back on my father's pledge and I want to get out, and I wouldn't take a cent more than he put in.” I said, “You tell this to John O'Connor and he won't let you out of the office until you get the certified check because you can get at least four times what you put in.” “No, no.” He wouldn't do that. He got back his investment--a little less than $400,000--while his share of that business today would be worth over three million dollars.

What came next?

The next thing that came along was that Curtis got into serious trouble--and still are. They needed money very badly. It was their proposal that they sell us their part of Bantam.

It was crazy in a way.

They needed cash. That was another steal. The deal was made about three or four years ago, and we bought back their interest. Now Grosset and Dunlap owns Bantam Books fully--one hundred per cent. I think that we gave them for their share something like four million dollars, which was another steal. It was not as bad as with Charles, but with