Sinclair Lewis 123
Wie man einen Sekretärsjob beim Nobelpreisliteraten bekam, schildert Barnaby Conrad:
“I met Sinclair Lewis in Santa Barbara, where I was teaching school. He said, ‘Do you play chess?’ and I said no. ‘I’ll give you a month to learn,’ he said, ‘then come East as my secretary.’”
“This is what I did. Mr. Lewis was not a good chess player (nor am I), but he put great store by it and looked forward to his two games a day with great anticipation. I soon found that if he lost, he went into a foul mood…. Other friends and visitors, such as Bennet Cerf and Carl Van Doren and John Gunther came [to play chess with Lewis].”
Etwas ausführlicher werden die unangenehmen Folgen eines Sekretärsgewinns in C.N. 4312 beschrieben, wo die Lehrzeit gar auf nur 2 Wochen angesetzt wird. Offenbar war die Liebe von S.L. zu Caissa recht einseitig.