Home
Search transcripts:    Advanced Search
Notable New     Yorkers
Select     Notable New Yorker

Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
Photo Gallery
Transcript

Session:         Page of 1029

Club where we were both members; and he'd always greet me very cordially although we knew that we were on opposite sides of the fence. One day he waved at me as I came into the Treat and exclaimed, “Here comes Bennett, the pinko publisher.” I didn't like being called a pinko publisher. I was very sensitive on this point. I went over to him and protested, “I don't think that's very funny, George.” He said, “Well, what's wrong with it? You are a pinko publisher. You publish nothing but pinko books.” I said, “We publish good books. Every kind, too! We publish a lot of books for which some people call me a fascist.” Sokolsky said, “Oh, sure. Give me a list of them.” So I went back to the office after lunch and made quite a list of books for which I might have been accused of leaning over to the arch-conservative. I sent this to George with a note, saying simply, “You may not have known it but...” At the top of the list, of course, was Witness, but there were plenty of other books, including The Papers of George Washington!

Sokolsky called me up and he said, “I apologize. This is a very impressive list. I had forgotten that you did Witness. What did your liberal friends say about that?" I said, “Plenty.” George said, “Let's have lunch and talk about old times.” So we made a date to have lunch at the Stork Club. The Stork Club had a room for men only. It was called the Cub Room. I reserved a table way in the back of the room. Sokolsky got there for lunch before I did; and when I came, he was waiting with a sardonic smile on his face. He said, “I see that you reserved a table at the back of the room. You're afraid that your





© 2006 Columbia University Libraries | Oral History Research Office | Rights and Permissions | Help