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appreciate his political ideas. I had to apologize and put the poems into the next edition.

That was something that I admired when I read it because you explained your position publicly and admitted you probably had been wrong.

I decided that when people I respected, like Lewis Gannett, told me that I was wrong, well then, I must have been wrong. I still in my heart don't think that I was, but I had to admit that I was overwhelmed by people feeling the other way. I must say that I have never been ashamed to say that I was wrong. Even my wife admits it. About once a year, when I am wrong, I admit it.

At this time--this is in the late Forties--can you think of any book that Random House turned down that later became a great success?

Oh, lots of them.

Is there any one that sticks in your mind?

There was one time when Random House had turned down the number one and number two best-sellers on The New York Times best-seller list.