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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

Cerf:

No.

Q:

I know Liveright did publish...

Cerf:

Yes, he published The Enormous Room. I never met Cummings in my whole life. I'm trying to remember... Of course, Hendrik Van Loon was a fascinating fellow, too--very gregarious. All these people were very much alive and very friendly. The racket that went on there was colossal.

Q:

How about Thornton Wilder?

Cerf:

No, he was not a part of that picture. He came really a little later. He was starting about the same time I was. But the person who fascinated me was Beatrice Kaufman.

Q:

Was she sort of a secretary?

Cerf:

No, she was a reader. She had a friend named Peggy Leach. And Peggy Leach used to be around there all the time, too. Peggy Leach very soon after I got there married young Mr. Pulitzer and became Peggy Pulitzer. These people all were just starting to be famous in those days. Sherwood was a young playwright. Benchley was just beginning. Parker was not yet established. Vanity Fair and The American Mercury were just really starting.





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