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Frank StantonFrank Stanton
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understood all the legal niceties that were required in connection with the job that I had. I could talk to Joe, and I didn't have to worry about Joe saying to somebody else, “The president of the company doesn't even know what this is all about.” When I told Joe something, whether I asked him to keep it confidential or not, it was just like putting it in a safe and locking the door.

Q:

That's unusual.

Stanton:

Very unusual. In fact, there's only one other person in my life who was as tight lipped -- no, two people -- as Joe. One was my wife. I dumped an awful lot of my problems in her lap when I got home at the end of the day, because I'd unwind that way. It was a tense period, or was for me. The other one was later, when he came into my life and my career. I've never had a leak from my office in anytime there. You have no idea how comforting that is --

Q:

That's incredible.

Stanton:

-- in the kind of the job that almost any executive is in. But I was in the gossip business. In working with talent and personalities and everybody trying to touch them and get a little bit of rub off for this item or that, it was too easy for people to leak little things and cause problems for you. I had no trouble. Joe was just terrific. I think the only time I ever cried in a male relationship was the day Joe came and told me he had to leave. After he left the office, I sobbed. I still feel that way.

But with Bill, even when Bill died, I recognized death and all the problems associated with





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