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Moe FonerMoe Foner
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Session:         Page of 592

Foner:

Kay Anderson called and said, “Get this guy out of our hair. We can't breathe.”

Q:

How long did that go on?

Foner:

It went on for about three, four months. Then, when it was scheduled to come out --

Q:

You mean, he was following Dennis around?

Foner:

Following. He went to Puerto Rico. He interviewed his father, his mother, people who worked with him. He had everything. It's the most detailed and graphic description of Dennis that's appeared anywhere. Finally it came out. There's a long story on that, because Abe suffered a stroke just as they were proofreading, and he was having difficulty correcting the proof, and his wife called me and said, on a Thanksgiving day, she said, “Moe, Abe, you know, he can't read, he can't speak. He can read a little bit, but he had a very serious stroke, and he keeps pointing to something on the copy, and I don't know what he's talking about.” She said, “Will you come over?”

So I went over. I knew Abe well. He kept pointing, and I know what newspapermen think. I know they're not going to let you read what they wrote. I said to him, “Look, I know you won't, and you shouldn't, but in this particular case, if you show me the text, let me look it over, and I'll tell you what's right or wrong.”

He'd said, “Okay. Let him look at it.”

I found an error that I corrected. I said, “Is it okay if I write what it should say?”

He said, “Write yes.” And then they sent it --

Q:

He nodded.

Foner:

He nodded, and when they sent in the proof, they had that correction there. Then when the article came out, it was the first time that the Times had done a profile of a labor leader --

Q:

The New Yorker?

Foner:

The New Yorker did a profile on a labor leader since the last one was done on A. Philip Randolph. Now, one of the results of all of this was a negative. Generally it was a great positive. People elsewhere in the labor movement were jealous. They're interested in PR for themselves, and they suddenly see this newcomer is all over





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