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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

hear that it's not very good. Well, I guess we've devoted enough time to Mr. Capote:

Q:

To change the subject completely, is it true that you're something of a painter also?

Cerf:

That's absolutely ridiculous.

One day Phyllis and the former Mrs. Gardner Cowles, Fleur Cowles, the lady who did Flair magazine and lost a couple of millions on it, conceived the idea of raising some money for the Urban League by having an auction of paintings by people who weren't recognized painters but were famous in other fields. It was a wonderful idea. Since Fleur Cowles is just as driving a woman as my wife Phyllis, when those two put their shoulders to the wheel, fur began to fly. I'm mixing metaphors, but they got everyone from Winston Churchill and President Eisenhower to do paintings. Both of them like to paint. Their two contributions of course were the hits of the show. Phyllis and Fleur lined up movie stars and actors and authors and lord knows who else. By the time they were finished it was an incredible list--not to mention an incredible collection of awful paintings. At the exhibition, people began putting in fantastic bids. You could tell that this was going to be a huge success.

One of the nicest things that happened was that, before the show opened, President Eisenhower came round and said, “There's not going to be much of a demand for my





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