Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 809810811812813814815816817818819820821822823824825826827828829830831832833834835836837838839840841842843844845846847848849850851852853854855856857858859860861862863864865 of 1029

told you that Alicia had screened all of my girls and turned thumbs down on some of the ones I took to her house, but Phyllis made the grade immediately. We used to go down to “Falaise,” their Sands Point estate, for weekends. Alicia and Harry Guggenheim of the famous copper Guggenheims, fabulously wealthy people, had this beautiful home in Long Island. We know that place well because we spent one entire wartime summer down there with them. Harry Guggenheim at that time was a very high officer in Naval Aviation. The Guggenheims have always been interested in aviation. Our son Chris was just a little boy at the time. I was working on Try and Stop Me at the desk where another book had been finished because in that room Charles Lindbergh had finished We. Do you remember that book by Charles Lindbergh--the story of his flight? He had been a guest at the Guggenheims because of Harry Guggenheim's interest in aviation, and he had finished We in that room. So I felt that I was honored. This was before Lindbergh ceased being a national hero because of his espousal of Hitlerism before World War Two.

Did you ever meet Lindbergh down there?

Yes, I met him. He was nice enough to meet, though very reserved, very stiff.

Was this after his son had been kidnapped or before?