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Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
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Session:         Page of 1029

Q:

You hadn't had a juvenile section before?

Cerf:

No, and now at one fell swoop we had one of the great juvenile editors of the country. This was in 1936. She's still with us on a part time basis. Everybody adores her. Louise was a great asset to us. And William Faulkner. Imagine getting Faulkner for Random House! Edgar Snow also came with us.

Q:

Oh, I knew you published him, but I didn't know how-- So you got all of these.

Cerf:

Suddenly besides having just a few authors we had a real distinguished list overnight. With the Smith and Haas merger we became really important publishers.

Q:

Were there a lot more administrative responsibilities on your part?

Cerf:

No. It meant no more playing bridge and backgammon in the afternoon or going off to play tennis or long vacations. No more four-month trips. Now we had an expanding business to take care of.

Q:

But there must have been someone that was in charge of the personnel.

Cerf:

The way it was supposedly divided was that I was going





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