[lbo-talk] Can I attach PDFs to LBO list?

Andy andy274 at gmail.com
Tue Jan 25 04:21:54 PST 2011


On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 10:23 PM, Chuck Grimes <c123grimes at att.net> wrote:
> Boy, that was some fun reading today, especially the piece on Yale and the
> CIA.

It reminded me of Lewis Lapham's account of his 1957 job interview with them:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/20/AR2006032001945.html

"The first question was: If you were standing at the 13th tee at the National Golf Links in Southampton, which club would you use?"

He exhales a stream of smoke. "Now, it so happened that I'd played that golf course and knew the hole. It's a short hole, so if you said 'driver,' you'd be wrong. . . . I said 7-iron, and I got it right."

He's sitting behind a desk that's buried under towers of books. He is, as always, dressed elegantly: a starched white shirt with gold cuff links beneath an impeccably tailored blue suit with a natty paisley handkerchief peeking out of the breast pocket.

"The second question was: You're coming in on the final tack at the Hay Harbor on Fishers Island in the late afternoon -- what tack do you take? I don't remember what the answer was, but I got it right because I had sailed at Fishers Island."

He pauses theatrically, telling his story with the unhurried confidence of a man who is rarely interrupted.

"The third question was: They mentioned the name of a girl who was known on the Ivy League circuit for being a ravenous nymphomaniac. And the question was: Does she wear a slip?"

He takes another drag, emits another cloud. "I didn't know, because I'd never had carnal knowledge of the young lady. I explained that I'd heard rumors of French silk and Belgian lace but I couldn't vouch for my sources."

-- Andy



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