Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 974975976977978979980981982983984985986937988989990991992993994995996997998999100010011002100310041005100610071008100910101011101210131014101510161017101810191020102110221023102410251026102710281029 of 1029

that we have had any success in these endeavors, but I keep hoping that we'll get somewhere before the country goes to hell completely.

1970

One of the highlights of 1970 to me was when I acted as Chairman for the Moss Hart Memorial Dinner held in California for the Friends of the University of Southern California Library. Participants in this spectacular show included Danny Kaye, Truman Capote, Lerner and Loewe, Gregory Peck, Kitty Carlisle, Julie Andrews, Jack Lemmon, and many other of the most prominent stars of Broadway and Hollywood. It was a wonderful night. A few days later, however, while I was still in California, I learned of the sudden death of one of our most important authors, John O'Hara. He was a persnickety character, but I loved and admired him very much.

In October, 1970, Doubleday published my latest book, The Sound of Laughter, which is selling very well at this time.

In late summer, an article by Jessyca Mitford in the Atlantic Monthly, belittling the activities of the Famous Writers School, disturbed me very much, since I was one of the founding members of the School's Guiding Faculty. I had given Miss Mitford a long interview while she was preparing this article because she is under contract with our Knopf division for a future book. She distorted my comments, however, and ignored all the good features of the School. We are still hearing repercussions about this article, but I hope they will soon die down.