Pete Hamill, July 6, 1964: Difference between revisions

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Dear Pete,<ref>Journalist and novelist [[w:Pete Hamill|Pete Hamill]] has been a friend of {{NM}} since they met in Chicago in 1962.</ref>
Dear Pete,<ref>Journalist and novelist [[w:Pete Hamill|Pete Hamill]] has been a friend of {{NM}} since they met in Chicago in 1962.</ref>


I did something very funny with your suggestion about sending a copy of ''[[The Presidential Papers]]'' to [[w:Floyd Patterson|Floyd]]. Usually certain in the old days, I would have moved fast on such a thought. But this time it just didn’t feel right. I felt spooked by the whole thing, as if I wouldn’t forgive myself if Floyd happened to read the piece and then lost to Machen<ref>[[w:Eddie Machen|Eddie Machen]], the heavyweight boxer, lost to Floyd Patterson in Stockholm on 5 July 1964</ref>. Floyd’s probably forgotten this, but I sent him some tearsheets of the piece when we were out in Las Vegas, and Sammy Taub<ref>Sammy Taub was a prizefight announcer.</ref> said that he delivered them to Floyd personally (which may not have been true) but I can tell you that I was glad to hear Floyd never read it, because I felt spooked by the Las Vegas fight, as if Floyd had read it, and it had gotten him thinking of other things and all of a sudden his mind was somewhere else and he walked in on Sonny at the end of the first minute in that first round. Anyway, Machen is his kind of fighter. If he’s going to be able to beat him, I’m sure he’ll be able to beat him without any assistance from me, and then maybe would be the time to send it to him.  
I did something very funny with your suggestion about sending a copy of ''[[The Presidential Papers]]'' to [[w:Floyd Patterson|Floyd]]. Usually certain in the old days, I would have moved fast on such a thought. But this time it just didn’t feel right. I felt spooked by the whole thing, as if I wouldn’t forgive myself if Floyd happened to read the piece and then lost to Machen.<ref>[[w:Eddie Machen|Eddie Machen]], the heavyweight boxer, lost to Floyd Patterson in Stockholm on 5 July 1964</ref> Floyd’s probably forgotten this, but I sent him some tearsheets of the piece when we were out in Las Vegas, and Sammy Taub<ref>Sammy Taub was a prizefight announcer.</ref> said that he delivered them to Floyd personally (which may not have been true) but I can tell you that I was glad to hear Floyd never read it, because I felt spooked by the Las Vegas fight, as if Floyd had read it, and it had gotten him thinking of other things and all of a sudden his mind was somewhere else and he walked in on Sonny at the end of the first minute in that first round. Anyway, Machen is his kind of fighter. If he’s going to be able to beat him, I’m sure he’ll be able to beat him without any assistance from me, and then maybe would be the time to send it to him.  


The gossip about the book and the money it’s making is way off. At present there’s no movie sale, just an option. And there’s a good chance the option won’t be picked up because Warner’s wants me to change the title and I’ve told them I don’t want to. (It seems audiences will not go to see a movie which as the word American in it. At least, that’s what all the money in Hollywood has decided.) No, the book has done well, but the figure is one third as large as you’ve been reading, and so I’m hardly yet in the ranks of the wealthy. But still, after alimony and taxes, I ought to have at least two years free to myself in which I don’t have to sweat the production of each week’s bread. I think you’re right about the reviews. I think they’re going to be murderous, and indeed I’m already half resigned to that. If they’re too bad, maybe I’ll leave the country in protest, a la [[w:Henry James|Henry James]].
The gossip about the book and the money it’s making is way off. At present there’s no movie sale, just an option. And there’s a good chance the option won’t be picked up because Warner’s wants me to change the title and I’ve told them I don’t want to. (It seems audiences will not go to see a movie which as the word American in it. At least, that’s what all the money in Hollywood has decided.) No, the book has done well, but the figure is one third as large as you’ve been reading, and so I’m hardly yet in the ranks of the wealthy. But still, after alimony and taxes, I ought to have at least two years free to myself in which I don’t have to sweat the production of each week’s bread. I think you’re right about the reviews. I think they’re going to be murderous, and indeed I’m already half resigned to that. If they’re too bad, maybe I’ll leave the country in protest, a la [[w:Henry James|Henry James]].