Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 661662663664665666667668669670671672673674675676677678679680681682683684685686687688689690691692693694695696697698699700701702703704705706707708709 of 1029

for quite a long time. One blessed day he read or somebody told him about a story that had appeared in Mademoiselle Magazine, called “Miriam” by an unknown called Truman Capote.

That was the first story that Capote ever did?

Yes. And what a fine story it is! It has such depth and haunting quality! We asked Truman Capote to come and see us.

Well, that was a day when Truman arrived at Random House! He had bangs in those days. He's, to put it mildly, not the usual type. Nobody could believe it when this young prodigy waltzed in. He was a child. He was about eighteen.

He looks so young.

Well, can you imagine what he looked like when he was eighteen? That was over twenty years ago. He was gay and happy and absolutely assured. We said that we wanted to publish anything that he wrote. He was writing a novel, and we made a contract for it immediately. It was called Other Voices, Other Rooms.

It was an immediate success. Everybody knew that somebody important had arrived upon the scene--particularly Truman! My wife Phyllis adopted Truman immediately. He then already was exhibiting that charm which has proved so irresistible. Today he's a society favorite. Truman decides