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

Bennett CerfBennett Cerf
Photo Gallery
Transcript

Session:         Page of 1029

Q:

They didn't really care about his writing.

Cerf:

They didn't care at all. They didn't like Bill. They couldn't understand him. Bill loathed them, too, but at news of his death, they all popped up. They had come from all over the South. They had gotten there within twenty-four hours, and they had all brought--as is the Southern custom-- turkeys and hams and pies and puddings. There was a great big table full of goodies. Nobody was touching them, but there were all of these wonderful-looking Southern dishes spread out on the table.

The relatives were sitting on the porch, glaring at each other. None of them liked each other. But when we came, they had something new to glare at! They regarded us as interlopers. Indeed, I had to do quite a bit of explaining before they would let Bill Styron in the house. Donald and me John Faulkner knew, but Styron was something new to him. And when I mentioned Life Magazine, he bridled. I said, “He's a great personal friend of mine, John. You've got to let him come. I brough him with me, and he's a great admirer of Bill's.”

Faulkner was lying in a great coffin in the parlor. Nobody paid any attention to him.

Q:

Was it open?

Cerf:

Yes, but we suggested that it be closed.





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