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The reason I tell all this is that Donald is such an important part of my life. To go back to Modern Library doings, I was leaving for Europe that night, and I was to raise the necessary money when I came back.

You didn't have to do it beforehand?

No, Horace and I just shook hands and exchanged our memo. We had no time to draw up a formal contract. Mr. Pell, the treasurer of Liveright, was outraged when he heard of the deal, because this Modern Library was Liveright's bread and butter.

Donald was going to see me off. He had just gotten out of Williams, and his stepfather owned a diamond-cutting business, a very big diamond-cutting business. Donald loathed it, but there he was. I called him up. It was in Newark, the factory. I said, “You know, Donald, you and I have always dreamed that some day we would go into business together.” I said, “On a gold platter, here is the opportunity. I've just bought the Modern Library from Liveright for $200,000.” I said, “I'm going to be in Europe for about three weeks. If you want to come in with me, it'll cost you $100,000. We're in fifty-fifty, absolutely alike.”

Donald, of course, was excited. He loved books, and we had dreamed of doing things together. I said, “You've got three weeks to decide.”

He said, “Where the hell am I going to raise $100,000?”