Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 395396397398399400401402403404405406407408409410411412413414415416417418419420421422423 of 1029

to have a young book publisher in their camp. That infuriated me and my arguments with Helen became very bitter.

One night, Helen said, “We're spoiling everything and this is terrible. We're fighting all the time now,” which indeed we were. Then she said, “I think we should stop seeing each other.” I said, “I agree with you.” She walked out of the house, and I never laid eyes on her again for five years. She just disappeared from my life. That was the kind of girl she was. There was no compromise about Helen. She was a wonderful girl. She married a very rich lawyer in San Francisco, who seems just as devoted to leftist causes as she is. He has millions, and they are out on the coast, helping all the leftist causes. Any time a leftist gets into trouble, they're there to help with money and legal advice. They're quite admirable people but I'm simply not their kind.

Once I was out in San Francisco, about five years after all of this happened and I was already married to Phyllis. Somebody said, “Helen's in town. Don't you want to see her? I think she'd like to see you.” So I called up Helen, and we met at the Top of the Mark in Frisco. We have a deep fondness for each other. In about ten minutes we were fighting about Communism, just as if we had never left each other. There she was, a very rich young lady, but just as passionate about leftist causes, just as angry at me as always, because she always said that I had the makings of a good person but I had let soft living foul me up.