When I was young my first job out of law school was as an investigator for the National Labor Relations Board and one of my first cases involved the Long Island Press against which an Unfair Labor Practice Charge had been filed. My job was to interview the Long Island Press Editor David Starr, present him with the allegations, record his responses in and have him execute an affidavit. When I was finished and presented my hand written affidavit to him Editor Starr refused to sign it saying that it was replete with spelling errors. I was so taken aback and embarrassed!
After all these years I still remember my embarrassment as if it was yesterday.
Last week I was having a conversation with Construction Group member David Grant and, as is my practice, I asked him to tell me his life story. In the telling he mentioned that early on he worked for the Long Island Press as a reporter and I interrupted him to tell him the above story.
Here's where it gets amazing. Grant told me that David Starr is his uncle and that he was still alive and that he was going to relay my story to him.
As it ends up David Starr is still on his game and when David Grant emailed my story to him his response was as follows: I do recollect, some four decades later, something like that meeting with Fred Klein. I do hope---and I would ask that you tell him---that I sounded more amused than angry. After all, it wasn't my typo. And please send Fred Klein my regards. Thanks. Dave.
My reaction is that Mr. Starr was far more gracious today than he was to me when he read me the riot act back in the late 60s. Be that as it may, in all the years my name only appeared once in the Long Island Press and it was misspelled! See picture above. I wasn't quick enough then, but now I have a second chance to perfect an old story!