Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 337338339340341342343344345346347348349350351352353354355356357 [missing]358359360361362363364365366367368369370371372373374375376377378379380381382383384385386387388389390391392393394 of 1029

wanted it, and we were pretty damn excited when we got it.

How did you persuade him to choose you? Did you offer the largest advance? I don't think money would be the object.

One of the things that swayed him! Roosevelt was always a book collector, and this was one time when the looks of our books stood us in good stead. He liked the way Random House books were presented, and then I met him and he seemed to take a liking to me.

What was the meeting like?

I'll never forget the meeting because Roosevelt was one of my great heroes. Sam Rosenman drove me up to Hyde Park. It was an exciting trip up. We were going to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt! When we got there he was entertaining the mayor of Poughkeepsie. When I say entertaining, I'm not using the word the right way. He was bawling the hell out of the mayor of Poughkeepsie, and his voice carried. We could hear him orating inside. Mrs. Delano Roosevelt, Franklin's mother, greeted us...a very lovely lady. She kept saying “tsk-tsk” when she heard Franklin bawling the mayor of Poughkeepsie out. He obviously had done something Roosevelt didn't like. I don't know what it was, but the mayor left, very red-faced, a few minutes later.