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He wanted to talk to me about Friendly's resignation. I said to Fred--I told him what had happened, that I had information that he had released the letter already to The New York Times, and the purpose of the meeting was to try to find a common ground and he had broken his word and had already said he was out, so that I really didn't think there was any point in pursuing the conversation.

I've forgotten what he said. The sense of it was that, yes, he admitted that he had done it, but that he didn't think the Times was going to use it till he said it was okay. Likely-- because this was an inflammatory letter.

And he trusted the Times not to use it until he said it was okay. [laughter] Excuse me for asking an obvious question.

So Fred left my office, and I think I stepped out to talk to Jack and expressed my embarrassment that before we had concluded our discussion that Fred had jumped the gun. That must have been around 11:30, or at least it was just before lunchtime, and I scrubbed my luncheon appointment, because I figured I was going to have a lot of problems. I think in the meantime Jack Schneider had gone on a business trip and wasn't even there, and it was a mess. Or at least I saw it as a potential mess.

Just before I went in to have my sandwich, I got a call from Fred's lawyer, who wanted to come right over and see me. I've forgotten his name, but he was representing Fred. He wanted to negotiate a new position, and that was Fred would come back under certain conditions. I said: “I don't see how he can, in view of the fact that he threw down the gauntlet.”