Monday, January 14, 2008

The Great Indoors Man

THE GREAT INDOORS MAN

Table of Contents

The Dedication
The Introduction
The Beginning
African Carvings
My Life as a Businessman
My Purchase of Louangel Corporation from Louis Philippe
My Dealings with the ex-secretary of the Treasury
My Life as a Painter
My Life as a Writer
My Life as a Builder
My Next Ventures
President Bush’s grandfather
My Life as a University Lecturer
My Life as a World Traveler
Doctors are the third largest killer of Americans
My Life as a Health Care Victim
My Friend the General the war hero



The DEDICTION

As of this point I do can not dedicate this book to any particular person. I had no idols, or anyone to look up to. I am hoping that someone will come along such as an Editor or Publisher that I can name and thank for the help in publishing my autobiography. (picture enclosed).



The Introduction

This book is about a man who had no formal education with no one in his family with any type of business experience. That type of man is today called a “self made man” (This man is me, thus this autobiography). (picture enclosed) I started penniless, with nothing at all, and built a multinational corporation that was very well known, through out the world, and how I got started. It mentions my connections to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, my involvement with the ex-secretary of the Treasury of the United States “Robert B. Anderson”. It tells about my dealing’s with the mafia, and also the King of Saudi Arabia. And other well known people that I came in contact with and, became part of my life story. I include a section of a friend of mine “Adele Lewis” who worked on the atom bomb in the Manhattan Project; it also speaks of a very close friend of mine who was a well known war hero “Lieutenant General Lewis F. Parker” (the third general in command under General Macarthur). Some of them are or have been world famous, and I how I got involved in some parts of world events. Other parts of this story just happened to me along the long road of my life, I had a chance to meet and learn about the Hassidic community and their culture. And mention, a friend “Steve Rubell” at Studio 54. I talk about the opening of the very first massage parlor in New York. Since I was never interested in sports as I was terrible at it, I spent a great deal of time in libraries; ergo I named this book “The Great Indoors Man”. I talk about my lecturing at universities. I mention my stint as an architect developing a new suburb on New York City and the problems I faced in building homes. I also mention the Supermarket Guru, “Phil Lempert” who is on television speaking about food, and I tell in detail my other business’ ventures, my problems with all branches of government and, the medical profession and, speak, about my problems with our health care system in the United States, as well as in other countries. I speak about my world travels, being among the very first visitor to mainland China and the cultural differences between China and the rest of the world. It shows that in America the country which is the greatest land of opportunity that anyone could succeed during a lifetime of hard work and dedication. “Aside from business I had a lot of fun, and still do”.



CHAPTER ONE
The Beginning


I am now at the age staring at 80 and all I have left is memories. As I tell people about my life everyone tells me to write a book I asked if anyone would be interested in my story and still do not know. “I have always been told that I was intoxicated by the exuberance of my verbosity” If this ever gets published we will find the answer to this question.

If I count back 9 months from my birth to the date of my conception, it would happen to be on black Friday, October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and we went into the great depression.

I was born and grew up during the depression. Since my beloved father was one of the few people in the neighborhood who had a job. He worked as a manager in millinery factory. My father made $ 40.00 per week which is the same amount that we paid in monthly rent which was the normal range at the time. (picture enclosed).

My mother snared him when he was very young, with the condition that they did not have a child for a long while. 10 months later I was born. We did not have much to eat as well as my mother was about the world’s worst cook. She made potatoes in most every form and gave the meals fancy names. During my childhood my mother told me to never eat in restaurants as they give you poison, so I never did until the night I had graduated from high school, where the entire graduating class including me when to Times Square to celebrate. They decided to eat in a Chinese restaurant. I was scared to death; also I did not have any money with me. I went along and ate one Chinese noodle. I did not die and decided that my mother was giving me false information. She just must have been embarrassed as she knew she was not a good cook. We were quit poor and I had to get dressed under the blanket as there was little if any heat.

One problem I have always had was to sleep until after 10:00 am, which made school very difficult for me to go to. My father had five brothers and sisters who he had put through college. He never went to college himself, even though he was the smartest one of all his siblings. Since my grandfather never really worked, my father had to start working at about 10 doing anything to support the family. He drove a horse carriage delivering laundry, worked in a bowling alley, ran a motion picture machine in a movie house, and delivered piece goods in the garment center. My grandmother was literally a genius who spoke almost a dozen languages; therefore all her children inherited her intelligence. (picture enclosed) (In this picture she was only in her forties however she looks decades older. I am the baby in the picture and my great Grandfather looks like he was in his nineties however he was only in his sixties}. When her children were grown there were no jobs to be gotten due to the depression, so his sisters became school teachers. One of my father’s younger brothers was drafted in the army and when tested they found out that he had the third highest IQ in the army during World War II. They wanted to send him to officer’s candidate school, but he refused to go. Not knowing what to do with him they made him a master sergeant and sent him to California where he ended up practically running the entire air force from that base. When the war ended and he was about to be discharged, they said we can not lose you, and gave him a civil service job with a high civilian civil service rank and a good salary. Five years later the war in Korea broke out and they offered him a job as a brigadier general. He refused and stayed on in his present position for the rest of his life but now running the U.S Airforce world wide.

At that time I was 20 years old and about to be drafted into the army. I did not want to go into the army and possibly be buried in Korea as many of my friends ended up doing. A friend of mine who was a few months older than me did not want to go into the army either. He spent time in the library and found the solution for both of us. He researched it and told me that we could get out of it by claiming that we had asthma. He said he would try it and if it succeeded for him, which I should try to claim that I had asthma as well. I did and was examined by the army doctors who said “I do not have asthma” I replied that I was not having an asthma attack at this time. I was told to get a letter from my personal doctor. I went to him and he told me that I do not have asthma. After a long time arguing he wrote a note stating that when I was younger I had a bronchial condition and he heard wheezing at that time. I was finally given a 4F status and never had to go into the army. I guess I was a draft dodger before it became fashionable during the war in Vietnam when boys of my age ran to Canada. When I was fourteen I found that the girls would only go with the fellows who were in uniform, so I joined the New York State Guard which allowed me to wear the uniform. I had to go to meetings weekly and go to a training camp for two weeks each summer. I had failed my favorite subject in high school which was History. At the beginning of the term the teacher said she would grade us on two things. One was my tests and the other was by turning in our homework,” I never turned in my homework therefore I failed the subject which I was very good at”, therefore I had to go to summer school and take a test at the end of the summer. Since I had to go to summer school, I told my captain in the guard I had to resign and told him about the summer school. He asked me how old I was, and when I told him my age was fourteen and I was given an honorable discharge. To earn money after school I worked as a movie usher. I had many other jobs after my regular school hours. I worked for the department of sanitation shoveling snow in the winters; I also worked several times for the post office delivering mail during the Christmas season. I had worked in a hardware store as a clerk among other jobs as well as delivering groceries by bicycle. Actually, history was my second favorite subject in high school; my first one was typing class. The entire class was made up with girls. I was the only boy in the class, which is the reason I took the class, where I was able to meet and become friendly with the girls.

Since I was the first grandchild in the family my aunts taught me to read and write before I went to school. (This happened to ruin my education). When I was put into the first grade and tested the school decided to promote me to the third grade. I kept getting promoted up to a grade until I had no idea of what was going on. I did poorly in high school and was happy to graduate. I later decide to teach myself by reading anything I could get my hands on and this became my education. During the Eisenhower administration, one of his cabinet officers made the following statement. “The business of America is business”.

I had always been fond of African sculptures and found a man selling these items. He had in his line a hand carved three piece set that looked like a knife fork and spoon. I purchased this and other items, and I secured a position with him that was on a strict commission basis working for this man. I suggested that he put this into a gift set altering this arrangement to use the spoon and fork and make it a salad serving set, and later use the knife as a letter opener. I went about selling these salad servers for five dollars each, in which I received one dollar per set. No matter how hard I worked I never made more than seventy five dollars a week. One day I happened to be standing in front of a store that was selling these very same African carvings. After a brief discussion I found out that his price for the three piece set was only one dollar each and that the man I was working for was his customer. I decided to stop selling for the man I had been working for and purchase these from the man in the store. I had designed my own boxes and in put these into it, but I enclosed a small photograph of some African men carving these with some copy under the picture (picture enclosed) stating that these were the carvers in Kenya and Tanzania and the wood they used. I went around selling these as premiums to various companies to be used as give a ways to their customers. Since these were very unusual items, and not sold in stores they looked like they were fairly expensive products and no one actually knew how cheap they really were. I sold each set for five dollars each. Now I was earning several hundred dollars a week for my efforts. I kept knocking on doors and sold them in both small and large companies. One company I approached was U.S. Rubber company that liked what they saw and said they would ask all of there officers it they would use it as a “mud and snow tire promotion”. The company said they would purchase hundreds of thousands of these. Four officials of the company had to give their approval. I was taken into three offices and each officer gave their approval, however the fourth man was out of town on business. I found out later that he rejected this idea. If I had more experience I would have paid him off to approve it. The only thing I was worried about this time was how in hell I could import this quantity directly from Africa knowing that these were individually carved and could never produce this quantity. I also considered a phony way of producing these by having them molded. This would have made me dishonest which was against all of my principals. Here I could have obtained great success, but was not astute enough to pull it off. I went about selling these and ended up in the offices of an advertising agency who also wanted to purchase fairly large quantities of these. I received an order that was later cancelled by the buyer’s father. I ran small ads in the local newspaper as I had already purchased a quantity from my supplier in the store. The ad did not produce anyone, but finally the father approved the purchase and I got out of this mess. During my knocking on doors I met many well known people. Someone told me that the famous author Fannie Hurst liked African carvings and gave me her address. I went to her apartment and she invited me in for a cup of tea and bought some carvings. I also met “Everett Crosby” (the business manager of his brother “Bing Crosby” who also bought some items). I met “Henney Youngman” and we became friends. I was in his apartment and he came to visit me later at many trade shows joking around with me. I met “Red Buttons”, “Phil Fosters” and other comedians during this time. I met with the brothers of other well known people such as “Moss Hart” and “Al Capp”, who each purchased some of these items. The advertising agency mentioned above represented the famous “Liberace”. They told me that he was also fond of African carvings and bought a large ebony piece from me. I was watching him being interviewed on television and as he showed his apartment, the African carving was next to his candelabra on his piano.

Without college and getting up late, I could not find a decent job. A friend of mine’s uncle had owned a large ladies coat manufacturing firm and got me a job as a driver for one of their salesmen. This started me off in a new life, traveling the country. I stayed in hotels and ate real food along with the salesman, which was wonderful compared to what I ate at home.

My drawing account was $30.00 per week (less tax) which I sent home to help support my family. One day when I was quite hungry, as the salesman had to out to entertain his customers. I was alone that night. I looked into the window of a restaurant and noticed a very attractive girl behind the counter. I went in and ordered a cup of coffee. She asked if I wanted to order anything else and I said no. She knew it was because I did not have any money and shoved a sandwich at me at no charge. As we chatted she asked me where I would sleep. I answered that I would sleep in my car. She invited me to her home and sleep with her. I used that incident to keep doing this night after night. Life was starting to become wonderful. While the salesman was out I copied his customer list and decided to go out on my own. I used my best friend as my driver, and paid all of his expenses as we traveled from state to state. I did the same each time the selling season was over but this time on my own working on a commission bases with a drawing account of $75.00 per week less taxes which left me with $66.00 to live on. Gasoline at that time cost me $4.00 per day to fill up a tank. I stayed at Inns as there were no motels at the time. That cost me $2.00 per night in small towns and $5.00 in the big cities. I knew I had to eat so I bought cookies from local bakeries which were my meals for the day. I sent what was left home. (I lost eleven pounds during this short period of time). During one of my trips I found myself in a bad snowstorm but decided to keep going from town to town. I then came across a mound of snow that I could not get through and was stuck dead center in the middle of a mound of snow. I felt that a snowplow would come along shortly so I had just kept smoking my cigarettes and chew gum as I listed to the news and music on the radio, not thinking about the battery as I kept the car running to heat myself waiting. A few hours later I felt a bump in the rear of my car that was also stuck right behind me. The people saved my life, by clearing my exhaust pipe so I would not die from the carbon monoxide there were four people in the car, two adults and two teenagers. One of the men in the car made his way to my car and told me that if I continued with keeping the motor running I would die of carbon monoxide poisoning. He advised me to join them in their car and when the gas in their car would run out, we will all go into mine. They then told me their story. It seemed that they were both preachers and went to retrieve their runaway sons. I entered their car and their gas indeed ran out. While we were in their car, they turned to the religious station and they prayed. With out heat we would all freeze to death. I told them that I had in my car garment bags that I could bring back and we could each cover our selves and possibly save our lives. It took several hours for me to dig myself out of their car and get to mine. I accomplished this and we were still freezing but stayed alive. One of the teenagers noticed that I was chewing gum and asked of a piece and I gave it to them. They then changed the radio station to their station which was a religious station and they all prayed for Gods help. Their prayers must have helped as we survived this situation. In the morning when the storm ended, one of the preachers and I, dug our way out of the car. We noticed a farm house that was not too far away. We made out way through chest high snow to the farmhouse and were greeted warmly by the farmers. They offered us coffee and something to eat. I, a New Yorker had never been in a farmhouse previously, so I was very impressed by the modern house they lived in. We asked the other preacher and the kids to join us and were treated like honored guests. We stayed with them for many hours. They telephoned the local snow plow people and eventually they pulled our cars out and brought them to a service station that steamed out our engines which at time were caked in ice, and continued our separate ways, each of us thanking each other as well as our hosts the farmers. I drove to Sioux City and the first thing I did was enter the bar for a drink of liquor. I then went up to my room for a needed shower, but returned do the bar where I met many salesmen who were also stuck in the snow storm. I met a very pretty girl who invited me to her room for sex. After the session, I returned to the bar and I joined the group who were some of the nicest people I had ever met. Among this group were two famous bands. The Woody Herman and the Harry James band. We became very close and decided to meet the next weekend in Sioux Falls, and the following week in Minneapolis, however during our time in Sioux City we decided to have some fun. We all went to the local department store and each of picked up a girl to take back to join us at the hotel to party.

I started to think about this time. Since my customers received a 7% discount for paying his bills before the 10th of the month and I was only receiving 6% in commissions. I had also found out the company was also cheating me on my commissions. When my customer repeated their orders directly to the firm they never paid me the commissions that were due me. I found this out from people in the office and also from the customers when I visited them the next time. I got the bright idea that if I started my own company, I would give my salesmen a commission of 10%. However to start my own business I would need money but had none.

When I came home to New York City I walked around in the rain with the only pair of shoes that had. The soles were thread bare so I stuffed newspaper into them and continued walking. I happened to enter a Woolworth store and saw a new product. It was a plastic bottle, which sold for 10 cents. Since I still had a nickel to get home on the subway, I bought the bottle.

Although not formally educated I was always very creative. I went to the 42nd street library and looked through a book on formulas and found that if one was to mix soap with water it would anti-fog glass. I added some isopropyl alcohol and I called chemical companies and found a blue dye. With a marker created a logo and put copy on my sample bottle. I took the sample to car and truck dealers and it was rejected on sight. At that time I sent in an ad into an Optical magazine showing my product. I received a letter from a firm in Sweden who asked for the exclusive rights to the product in Sweden. I naturally agreed and received a large order, with repeat orders over the next 20 years. Here I was selling one store at a time and I happened to receive large orders from a customer in a foreign country. I put Swedish copy on the package which made it sell better in Sweden. I found out later that this company exported this to all of the Scandinavian countries as well as selling every store in Sweden including the Soviet Union as well as the rest of the eastern block countries. I then translated this product into most every language which allowed me to export it all over the world where the consumer in each country could read the text easier.

I then realized that the same formula could be used on eye glasses. I borrowed a few dollars from my father and bought some very small bottles. I then designed a display card with elastic strings and hung the bottles on it and started to go out and sell this product. I walked into every drug & optical store and sold every one of them. I started in Brooklyn, and worked my way to Manhattan and the Bronx and once again I sold every store I entered as the sale was for only $3.60 each. Every customer kept reordering the product.

I filled the bottles on my kitchen table and strung the bottles on the display card, while watching television, and went out selling in the daytime. I moved my “factory” from my kitchen table to my mother’s basement and then rented a small store for $40.00 per month. Every month or so I had to move to larger quarters and ended up twenty seven years later with a factory taking up almost an entire city block. Each night the local kids broke in and stole my typewriter and whatever else could carry out. No matter where I moved in this neighborhood, of Brooklyn, the burglaries kept happening including the huge building I had eventually moved into. In this case there were hundreds of windows. I had my many employees whose only job was to cement block up windows. Years later when I sold the buildings I received calls from the new owners telling me that their buildings were broken into. I just kept telling them to find the holes and plug them up.

I knew absolutely nothing about business. I did not even know about shipping the merchandise I would possibly produce. Later, once I was in my business (I carried my merchandise on the subway with a rope around it with one end around my neck and delivered it by hand). One day I noticed a parked truck on the street and spoke to the driver and asked him if they picked up goods and delivered it. He told me that was their business and I started to use trucks for both incoming and outgoing shipments. I kept records of my sales and payments in a small notebook. As I grew I used an inexpensive accountant to do my taxes. He suggested I use columns and that became my bookkeeping system. As my business grew, he sold my account to a larger accounting firm. I kept going from store to store selling my product.

One day one of my customers asked why I do not use a jobber (I had no idea what that was) He gave me the name of one of the largest drug wholesaler. I visited the buyer and showed him my product. He said it was very nice however he has never gotten any calls for it, however if it go about what I was doing and give his these (turn over orders) he might stock it and even have his salesmen try to sell it. I did what he suggested and returned in a few days with hundreds of these turn over orders. I did the same with all of the other drug and optical jobbers. They called this POR (pay on reorder) which meant that they would not pay for the first order until they ordered more of the product. I did this POR business with all of the jobbers, but found myself out of money. I called back the product and received a bunch of checks in the mail with new orders. One of these jobbers, after hearing my story asked why I do not hire a manufacturer’s representative to call on the wholesalers. He suggested one that was just starting and was looking for products to represent. They picked up the ball and I was now really in business. I had so much business that I had to hire a private filling firm to do the manufacturing for me. I was now really in business but needed another product.

Since “Never-Mist” my first product which was an eye glass cleaner and anti fogger was doing very well, it was time for me to expand into other areas by manufacturing products that I could market. I stared to manufacture many products and sell them through the small mail order catalog houses that were prominent at that time. One easy one was a dental mouth mirror as a cleaner and anti fogger that I knew could sell through dental distributors. I utilized the same ¼ ounce bottle I had been using for “Never-Mist” and changed the color to yellow. It had a small distribution but it did sell. I private labeled this same formula for the dental distributors using their name as the manufacturer.

I had also used the same bottle and called it “Defend” (to fight off muggers and rapists) Here once more I changed he copy on the bottle and changed the color to red. It sold very well in the mail order catalogs and became well known. One cartoonist in a national newspaper used the product in one of his cartoons showing the user spraying it into his own face. A police woman had used it to defend herself against a traffic violator (which received a great deal of media attention). It was also used for criminal purposes by bandits that tried to rob a bank. The criminal was promptly arrested and using his free telephone call from the prison he was allowed to make the phone call, called me asking for my help in his defense. I declined this request. I was also rebuked as when a few people read the copy on the bottle they did not read it correctly and though it had said (to fight off “niggers” and rapists). I also manufactured a product called “rub on gold” and “rub on silver” for consumer to buy items such as plain wooden picture frames and color it by rubbing on the gold or silver. One day I happened to put a bit of the silver wax on the front of my jet black hair and felt this could be another good product to manufacture. The user could use the product to go out at night with that streak in their hair and wash it off when they returned home. It looked great. I had merely replaced the turpentine with propylene glycol and used a cosmetic grade of gold and silver powder, designed a label and display card and introduced a line that I called “Frost Tip”. It had a mild success however my product was knocked off by a huge cosmetic company that called their product “Streaks & Tips” I tried to sue them, however before I proceeded the large firm purchased a company with a similar name that predated my name so I had to give up my suit against them.

I went to the library and found numerous formulas that were usually a one chemical product. One was called a tree stump remover which the mail order company ran ads in their catalogs as well as in newspapers. Their ad showed the consumer their choices. They could hire a professional service with excavation equipment which would cost them a lot of money. They could have the stump dynamited out which could possibly blow up their house in the process, or buy this product for $1.50 and it would get rid of the eyesore. The problem was it was just about impossible for them to follow the directions and use it. They first had to drill two holes at 45 degree angles and then pour in gasoline, then pour in the powdered substance in the can and wait for it all to get together. The major problem was that nearly no one had a drill bit larger than a ¼ inch and most stumps were about at least 10 to 20 inches in diameter. They ended up trashing the product. The following year they forgot about their problem and bought the product once again with the same problem. I was able to sell large quantities of this product in fifty five gallon drums to the loggers in Oregon who had the tools to use it successfully.

Another product was called “Septi-Care”, which actually worked. They just took the container and poured in down the toilet and somehow it cleaned out blockages. Another product was called Root Rout which was supposed to burn away wandering roots of dead trees. It worked and sold quite well. The next product I had called”Plasti-Kleen” that was to clean and polish plastics. Then I had added to this line was a product I had called “Converta-Clear” which was to take the grime off the rear windows of convertible automobiles that kept getting messed up by the opening and closing of these windows as they went up and down. About this time a bottle of some chemical spilled on my desk and stripped off all the paint. I immediately marketed this product for automobiles so a person could remove their old paint before painting it a new color. I called it “Zip-Strip”. I then added a “Rust Remover”, which was just pumice in the form of a stick. I also tried marketing a red wax in stick form to be used as a seal for letters when heated and dropped on the back of an envelope. This product did not sell at all even though it was big centuries ago in the middle ages by kings and important potentates. I had also manufactured a chemical to keep garden tools such as rakes and shovels from rusting. It was basically petroleum jelly dyed a bright blue. One of my mail order customers asked me to make a product that would increase the size of a women’s bust. I said I did not have a clue of how to do this. This man happened to be both a doctor as well as a lawyer and told me to just put petroleum jelly in a can and dye it red. He said he would pay me 8 cents per can. He in turn marketed it for about $10.00 each making all false claims. He ended up in jail on some other matter which had nothing to do with this. I had purchased a used electric IBM typewriter and noticed that the ribbons had a shiny piece about ¼ inches thick as a lead for the ribbon. I held it up to the light and inspected it. It seemed that if you looked at it closely, you could see through it. It acted like a one way mirror. I tracked down the manufacturer of this product and ordered dozens of large rolls of this. I had them cut into various sizes such as 8” by 10” and numerous other sizes and offered this to the mail order houses as an easy way for the consumer to paste these on their windows and have their own one way mirrors. I also manufactured this in very large rolls which I drop shipped directly to the mail order’s customer. I found out to my surprise that most all of these large sizes were being ordered by Motels and Doctors offices. Somehow I knew why these perverts ordered this product.

Another fun product I manufactured was a “flavored douche” which I named “French Treat” I brought this product to a trade show that was held in a New York hotel. As my prospective customers picked up a sample they all laughed. I told that (jokingly) that they could sample this product and I also told them that I had hired prostitutes assigned upstairs in this hotel, so they could taste these for themselves. For example, miss raspberry was in room 604; miss lime was in room 390, etc. I had great fun with this product and even named one “Tarter Sauce”. Some of these customers actually took the elevator and went to the rooms I had suggested. Amazingly enough it sold very well.

I really now realized that I needed a new real line of product that would sell as well as my “Never-Mist” which I could distribute widely.

I decided that shining ones shoes was a mess, scooping out the polish out of the can and then brushing it on the shoes, and then buffing them. I decided that if I could design a product in stick form similar to a deodorant stick or lipstick, it might sell. I started searching for mold manufacturers. One mold maker I found told me that I was not the first one to think of this. The original one was the man who actually invented the lipstick. (Before this, women bought a container and used their little finger to color their lips) His name was Louis Philippe and the last time they heard about him he lived somewhere in New Jersey. I tracked him down. He was 78 years old (I was 22). We immediately became best friends. It seems that when he was young he was in the French Foreign Legion. He came to the United States with only one talent. He was able to play the concertina. He worked the Staten Island Ferry with a cup begging for donations. A passenger told him that he was very good at this and should go into burlesque. He did exactly that, and worked between the strippers, with customers screaming at him “bring on the girls” and threw rotten tomatoes at him while he tried to dodge them as he danced around playing his concertina.

He noticed that the only women who wore make-up at the time were the strippers. Both he and his mother went to the library and found French formulas for face make-ups and started to manufacture it in his rented apartment on 23rd street in Manhattan. He had the side of the building removed and installed boilers to manufacture his products. In a few years he bought up all of the property in what is now called the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Today if you walk down 23rd street you will find a Louis Philippe liquor store as well as an apartment building bearing his name. (picture enclosed) There was also a Louis Philippe movie theatre since torn down.

In a few short years he became the first and largest cosmetic manufacturer in the United States. He called the company (Louis Philippe, Inc). In October 1929 he sold the company to American Home Product for several million dollars (in 1929 dollars), (with a restriction that he never manufacture cosmetics again. He told his friends about this forthcoming deal and all Louis Philippe’s friends told him to invest this money in the stock market as it was soaring at that time. With his bad luck the market crashed in only a few days after he received the check, leaving him with only one million dollars left to live out the rest of his life with. They all told him to invest this money into the stock market that was soaring at that time. When I purchased the now called “The Louangel Corporation,” he used a dozen lawyers at the closing that he had met during the last huge sale using American Home Products lawyers); I had used only one, (a cousin of my father against his dozen lawyers, therefore they got everything they wanted. My “lawyer” stayed silent. The deal was that Louis Philippe would work for me in making the formulas work and I would do the marketing, etc. Louis was so excited with this latest coup he stated dropping nitro glycerin tablets in his mouth during the closing. The angina persisted so he was taken to the hospital where he died the very next day of heart failure. I was told about this by my “lawyer”. Before his death, he had confided in me that he was not even the most famous Frenchman in the United States, and that he was not even French but was born Italian.

If you happen to see any of the old black & white movies (before talkies took over) you will find his name as the cosmetician to the stars in every one of the motion pictures. He married several of the then famous Hollywood stars who all showed up at his funeral in mink coats. I drove his then present wife, named Charlotte Adams to the funeral. She was in her forties at the time but still asked me if she was the prettiest of all his ex wives (ex superstars of the time now in their 80’s) who were there looking for some money he might have left them in his estate. Charlotte wrote an article about Louis Philippe’s life (for the Readers Digest) and it was published under the name “The Wonderful Wizard of Wax”. I was listed in the newspaper version of his obituary.(picture enclosed) “Since the name of my company was called The Louangel Corporation, Every one thought that my first name was Lou with my last name as Angelo. I was now Lou Angel to everyone I knew. That name stuck to this day and everyone calls me Lou. In fact both my license plate on my car “MR ANGEL”, and as my website use the name of, www.mrangel.com.

When World War II broke out, President Franklin Roosevelt gave Louis Philippe a “dollar a year job” working for the war effort. After the war Louis became restless and conceived a shoe polish in stick form. His venture in this business was not a great success and it languished for years. I bought this company now named ‘The Lou Angel Corporation”, as he was restricted from using his old name of Louis Philippe Inc. At the signing of the closing, the agreement was I was to pay him $12,000.00 and he was to work for me with the formulas. If it was not for bad luck, neither would have any luck at all.

Each year I attended many trade shows, the largest were in Chicago, one in the winter the other in the summer. The busiest days were Saturday and Sundays. During the rest of the week we had the chance to speak to our neighbors. There was a young Japanese man in the booth next to mine and we discussed many things of interest. He was selling wonderful knives that could cut through stone and still stay sharp enough to slice a tomato. I purchased a set for myself. He then said not only his knives were wonderful, but we in Japan would beat the United States with things like this, but every product on the market today. I laughed and said “you mean you are going to take on Detroit in the manufacture of automobiles?” He replied by saying yes. I once again laughed. He told me of the new Japanese philosophy where you make a product and put it on television and forget it. We do the same however we never leave the drawing board. Each year we improve the product and make it cheaper and you do not. I never forgot his philosophy and based my business on this theory. Years later he turned out to be correct and found out that they were using the Demming philosophy.

You can find out more about Deming by going to the URL listed below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming (picture enclosed)

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900–December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets) through various methods, including the application of statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypothesis testing. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan becoming renowned for producing innovative high-quality products and becoming an economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death. It seems that Edward Demming knew business as no one ever before him did.

He took his theory to the Ford Motor Company and presented it to them. They asked him many questions. Where and how large is your company? How many people are in your employ? Then they asked him for a business card. To each question there was no answer that would satisfy them. Their last question was. Where do you get these ideas from, he promptly pointed to his head. They through him out, and he left. He did not give up and traveled to war ravished Japan that had almost no industry left. They listened to his ideas with great interest. “Lifetime employment for their workers, pride in their company and their work, as well as making every product as fine as they could and keep improving them constantly. They went along with his ideas it caused the great Japanese economic boom that stunned the world’s economic leading countries. They made and exported the best automobiles, and sold their electronics to every country in the world year after year. Today every year Japan gives out the “Demming Trophy” to the firm who had lived up to his standards best for that year.

My shoe polish venture had little success but with the purchase of this new corporation, however I had obtained all of the assets of the firm including his formulas which gave me the right to go into the perfume business.

At this time I put together a shoe polish kit. (I used a plastic case containing one of my shoe polish sticks and a shining cloth). I took it to one of the largest sales representatives to try to get him to sell it for me. He was not interested but asked me if I wanted to make a perfume. He had asked me if I was ever in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, as he wanted me to put a “high line” price of $16.50 on the sale brochure (which was designed by his advertising agency),(picture enclosed) which we sold for only 40 cents each. (Which I did and that was the reason he had asked me if I was ever in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission). I told him I was not. He then showed me a perfume package that he was selling; however the manufacturer stopped making this; and told me that if I was to make it he could sell 100,000 of these. He helped me to produce a beautiful selling sheet showing this perfume package. I hedged my bet and only made 50,000 of these as I could order more of these if he did indeed sell the 100,000 packages. He sold only 40,000 packages, and I had sold the rest myself. (He seemed to always get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission). I did not, however later when I was interviewed by the Federal Trade Commission they told me about him. That he said to them “You are making a federal case out of this”. (Which it was in fact that is was a federal offence). He had developed a huge manufacturer’s representative business by representing firms that manufactured items very similar to the famous originals. They included luggage, ready to wear, bedding, and many other items in his large catalogue. One day some years later he called in his entire sales forced and told them he was giving up this business as he had a dream. In the dream since his last name was Goldstein, he would only represent items made of gold. He told each salesman that they were free to represent the present lines that he was giving up. The first item he devised was gold flatware. He went to “International Silver” and ordered a huge amount of their products made in the silver color, but to make it exclusively for him in gold. He then took samples to TV guide magazine and they ran a huge promotion showing this, now a gold flatware set at a very low price. He sold a great amount of them. He also asked International Silver for a $1.00 each royalty on each set they sold to other people. He made a fortune on this as well.

Since I was doing well with this item, I then decided to go into the perfume business in a larger way. I created beautiful packages (using cheap perfume) and sold them all over the world, not to stores at that time, but to wholesalers who in turn sold to street peddlers. I sold them for use as premiums to stores and commercial users. Most all of my perfume and colognes, when I did starting to sell them through stores sold at the retail price of two for one dollar. A price every consumer could afford which brought large sales. I later designed gift sets which included one bottle of cologne and a bottle of after shave. It was very successful so the next year I made three and then four piece gift sets. (pictures enclosed). I at that time thought I was in the fragrance business, I later realized that I was really in the Christmas Gift business. Retail customers purchased each set by the dozen to give them away as presents as they were beautifully packaged and sold for one dollar each. These were given away to children’s teachers, the mail men, the garbage collector, etc. I went to buy a new house, while my wife was looking at the room sizes; I looked in each medicine cabinet. Every single one had at least one of my products in them. (These homes sold for 6 figures, which at that time the average home sold for about $25,000). I knew that these rich people did not purchase my products but got them as gifts.

I at that time had a large competitor who practically owned the low priced perfume market. We fought over each and every customer. I eventually won the battle by being honest, which he was not. The owner of that company eventually asked me if I would buy his company. I replied that “you have nothing to sell” and he closed up his shop. At that point I became the largest manufacturer of inexpensive fragrances both men’s as well as women’s in the industry.

Then disaster struck. There was a far larger company that was in the low priced toiletries business. They happened to be using the same manufacturer’s representatives as I had been using, and each of my salesmen bragged to the owners of this larger company, how much money they were making in commissions, selling the Louangel Line. That firm a, company was over 100 years old. They decided to copy my entire line of fragrances as well as my gift sets using the same names as well as almost exactly duplicating my packaging, and induced all of my sales representatives to quit selling the Lou Angel line and sell their product to the national chain stores we both sold. Now I was left with no sales force and I lost most all of my business. Since we both were in the “knock off business” I had no rights to sue them, so I decided to call and visit the owner of their firm. We were not getting anywhere in our discussions, so I told them that if they continued to copy my line of products that war would break out between us. At that timer I hired the nephew of the original owners of the company to be my sales representative and call on the chain stores. I said that since they were copying my line, I would go into their domain, and manufacture shampoos and their entire line of products. Laughter broke out, and I was told the following by their president. “Our company is one hundred years old, and we have five factories throughout the country which makes shipping very easy for us.” They also said that I would need tanks on the roof the size of the Hudson River which would make it impossible for me to compete with them in this area. We were now at war. I decided to first redesign all of my fragrance and gift set packages that were more attractive than the ones I was using before and the ones that they copied. These new designs knocked them off the fragrance shelves in the chain stores. I then conceived a way to beat them in the shampoo area as well by designing a label that said (“If you LIKE the “famous brand” by name, you will LOVE Louangel) I then hired the nephew of the original owner of their company as my sales manager who ended up selling every chain store that we both had originally sold. My idea was a complete success. I met the man who I had threatened at our meeting and he said “you will be sued by all of the famous brand manufactures and I he urged me to stop. (Later in this story I will discuss what happened when I indeed was sued by the each of the large and famous companies), however in the interim I had removed this company from the market and replaced their products on all of the shelves with mine. Now there was in-fighting between the owners of their company in which they decided to split. “One of their owners took over their Canadian operation leaving the other two partners with the balance of their factories in the United States. They actually started their own civil war, which in effect almost destroyed them”. It ended up with them closing four of their five factories and I became the king of the hill). When this happened, most of my sales representatives returned to work for only me quitting the larger firm. After I had retired many years later that company sold their firm sold out to another one in another field.

“I still maintained sales representatives calling on my Peddler Jobber Trade and other fields that I was selling to; however these were a very small part of my business”. I also sold to a firm that specialized in selling to sailors who bought my products and sold it to companies all over the world. One day I happened to be in Tel Aviv (and remembered that I had no customers in Israel) I noticed my fragrances being sold on the street. Since I did not speak Hebrew or Yiddish, I had my wife ask him in Yiddish, where he bought this from. He said the word “shiff”. I realized then that he meant ships, and had bought it from a local wholesaler who in turn purchased these from the sailors who arrived in their ports.

During this time I had noticed that I was doing little if any business in the state of Texas however my sales were huge in the five boarder towns of Mexico. I went down to find out why. My sales rep in that area explained that there was no one to sell in Texas and the business was only on the boarder with Mexico. He had explained to me that the way business was done there was selling to large wholesalers in these five towns who in turn sold my and other peoples merchandise to Mexicans, who in turn loaded their trucks and went into Mexico. It seemed that they had to pass at least five boarder crossings in Mexico and pay a bribe to continue. (The boarder guards had wonderful jobs and made a lot of money doing this) as the money went directly to the Mexican Presidents desk, who doled out money back to the boarder guards. One of my several vacations to Mexico I went to Acapulco and stayed at Las Brises a wonderful “honeymoon place” which offered a pink and white jeep to travel around in. Each time my girlfriend and I drove up to a great little mountain, we were turned away by men armed with automatic weapons saying you cannot continue. When I asked why, I was told that this villa was owned by an ex-president of Mexico. It seems that the job of being president of Mexico happens to be a very lucrative job. I did some research and found out that Latin America still has military governments, however they now wear suits. Several years later I met a wonderful Mexican lady who came from the wealthiest families in Mexico. She had married the most prominent business man in the country. They were probably the most powerful family in the country. When she traveled to the United States she brought along an entourage of people that actually included an arts and craft director. She rented an entire floor in a very prestigious hotel in Florida. She heard that, using my computer I could take a picture and print it on various products. She invited me to dinner at very expensive restaurants and paid the bill which made me very uncomfortable. I told her that I was embarrassed to have a woman to pay for a meal for me. She replied, “Oh you seem to be very poor, however I can fix this for you”. She then told me about her husbands business and said she would have her New York stock broker, and he would tell me when to buy stock in her husband’s firm as he was expecting a large government contract shortly and his stock would rise at that time. The most interesting thing here was that at this time her husband was trying to divorce her and had her committed to a mental institution. He told the court that she was spending about two million dollars a day, (which she was). The judge decided that she was indeed nuts and had her committed to a mental institution. Before she was committed, I had told her that one of my daughters was one of the best hair dressers in New York. She asked me for her telephone number which I gave to her. Later after she was committed, I received a telephone call from my daughter saying that someone wants to speak to me. It was that lady who bribed a guard at the mental institution to let her out to have her hair done, and promised to return the next day, in which she did. During her time out she took my daughter out to the St. Pierre Hotel where they would give LaBamba lessons to her friends. She then announced to the audience that “I am about to introduce the daughter of a real angel who watches over me and takes care of me by making tote bags for me” The pictures on the tote bags were all of her “now world famous lover”. My daughter said that she was mortified as that was all her father was well known for. This lady from Mexico also told me that when she was very young she fell in love with a young tenor, who left her pregnant with a child. She had an abortion and never got over it as she was a strict Catholic. She was sent away and had the baby which was given away. She cries about it still. She also told me that she recently met that now famous tenor on an airplane and they continued their romantic exploits even though she was presently married. To now understand the situation better, “It seems that I was awaiting a call from a woman was in a mental institution, who told that her stock broker would give me advice on getting rich. I never heard from her or anything about her since”. I did see on PBS television, a story of the thirty five families that really run Mexico and their name was mentioned on that list.

Another memorable experience is, I happened to be watching the Jack Parr show on television, (he was the one who was the host of the Tonight show before Johnny Carson. Parr was interviewing Oleg Cassini, who was the designer of Jacqueline Kennedy’ clothes. Cassini made a profound statement. “New York should be the Fashion Capitol of the World” It really got to me so I telephoned his office the very next morning for a meeting with him. I spoke to his chief of staff, a man named Alfonso Martin. I told him I would like to meet with Mr. Cassini about an idea of have to make his statement on the Parr show happen.

We made and appointment for the three of us to meet at their offices on Park & 57th Street where I told them my idea of how this could possibly happen. I said that all the famous French designers had fragrance lines, Chanel, Lanvin, etc and he should establish one as well. I then met alone with Oleg at his apartment at 575 Park Avenue to explain my idea further. He seemed to like the idea; however he must ask his major advisor first. He immediately picked up the telephone and made a call. It was strange to hear him say to the person on the other end of the phone, “Yes sir I will await your call”. I doubt that this guy ever said “sir” to anyone else. We continued chatting when the telephone rang, and he motioned me to pick up the extension phone. What I had heard from this conversation was (in a most familiar voice was) “Hey Oleg, how the fuck are you, who are you fucking?” The voice continued with “Dad tells me that you are speaking to a young man who wants you to go into the perfume business.” Oleg said yes he is here now. The voice continued with “Yeah I think it would be a good idea but I have a problem with the names chosen, First Lady for the women’s perfume is ok, Jackie would get a kick out of it, but no way could you use New Frontier for the men’s line. Go with Frontier, western theme. Bye”. I was ecstatic. This is the best news I have ever gotten and it came from the TOP. I then realized who “sir and dad were. “Sir” was Joseph Kennedy the president’s father”, who was Oleg’s financial advisor.

I started designing like mad. I found out the famous designer loved to write the letter “A” in as many ways he could, but left the designing to me. We had many meetings all through the summer of 1963. We discussed the “kick-off” of this line of Cassini’s perfume line would be a Le Club A private club that he owned with his brother Igor (Gigi) the society writer under the pseudonym, “Charlie Knickerbocker”, for the Journal American, one of the Hearst newspapers. Le Club was on 66th street between 1st and 2nd avenues in Manhattan. Oleg said he could get Jackie to attend the kick off, which would bring along the media to make a really big splash. When the subject of money came up we started to have a major problem. We each confessed to each other that neither of us the money to invest in this venture.

If this was going to happen, it was up to me to find and secure the funding, which I was told would be one million dollars. I racked my brain and asked everyone I knew if they could recommend someone with that amount of money. Finally someone came up with the name Jim Ewell. I contacted him and set up a meeting in his apartment in a modest section of the city. It seems that Jim was the heir to the Coca Cola fortune on his mother’s side and Mack Truck on his father side. He was brought up to believe that everyone would be looking to take money from him. He drove a Cadillac convertible but never even had even change in his pocket, not even for the parking meter.

I brought them all together but when we left Jim said “No way, these are fucking democrats and I will not give them a dime” As we moved along he did agree to participate. Now another road block came along. It seems that Oleg and his advisors said that this must not fail as this would be his only chance to do this. One million might not be enough. Two million dollars might make it. Back with Jim, and another meeting with the group. This time the Cassini people thought that they could make it happen with a free lifetime membership to Le Club. Jim rifled through his wallet and pulled out a card that was send to previously, obviously because he was very wealthy. Jim said “I hate that place, loud music, fucking Jackie Kennedy is always there and they serve terrible sandwiches etc”. After a long dispute he agreed to go along with the project.

Now another thing came into play. I went about my business. At a trade show in Chicago at the Navy Pier, I found a man in my booth sniffing one of my perfumes. I made a joke that “these perfumes are for selling not smelling” He laughed and said that he was not in this business but just keeping a friend of his company who happened to be in the next booth. I asked what business he was in and was told sporting goods. Fishing rods; Tents; Hunting Equipment, Ski’s; etc. I jumped in by asking him what his average dollar sale was. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, eh about $10.00. I replied that I can get you to buy one of my perfumes if you listen to my plan. It works…. This perfume called “Mona de Lise” that was in a square bottle and has a square golden cap, encased in a black satin bag with a golden draw string in a gold box would cost you forty cents. If you would advertise it and offer if with any sale of $15.00 or more, you would surely be ahead. He seemed to like the idea and told me to send his advertising agency Schram Advertising in Chicago (who designed the brochure) a sample and more information, which I did as soon as I arrived home. Within one week I received a phone call, followed up with a purchase order for a good quantity of this perfume. I was told that they were running the ad in local newspapers to test it out. The test brought in a great crowd, so they kept running it in the newspapers and now in all of the sporting magazines as well. This was all during 1963. (picture enclosed)

On November 22nd of that year a tragedy struck down President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The killer named was Lee Harvey Oswald of Irving, Texas who bought the Italian Beretta Rifle from a mail order ad that was run by Klein’s Sporting Goods during the perfume promotion.

Attached is a copy of the advertisement showing the rifle and the perfume offering as well as the envelope used by A.J. Hidell the alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald. (Envelope attached).

Both Milt Klein and I felt somewhat responsible for this tragedy. (Letter attached)

Most of my promotions, other than the Mona de Lise perfume used in the ad bore the copy “Free Perfumes From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski ( a name that I bought the rights to use) with an increased purchase of X number of dollars” I added many other perfumes to this collection with great success. For My Prince Obolenski perfume I decided to make it look more expensive by designing a special over cap that would be a T shape similar the packaging used by the famous Chanel number five. I made a prototype by hand and took it around to many engineers. The idea would be to have this special T look force fit over the existing cheap looking cap. When opened and closed it would return back to the original position. I was told be each and every engineer that this was impossible. I stuck to my convictions and went to an injection molding company and had them build me a mold made of a shiny plastic that would accomplish this. I also put a pressure sensitive gold band with simulated grooves to make it look like it had golden thread around the base of the cap to enhance it further. It turned out to be a sensational success in selling this very expensive looking package for only twenty five cents. I designed the gold foil label to match it bearing the signature that read “from the royal house of Prince Obolenski”. I sold this perfume as a free give away to large chain stores. When credit cards first came on the market, I sold hundred of thousands of these perfumes to one chain who used it as a premium to their customer who opened up their chains credit cards. I was forced to create the entire mailing piece for the chain listing all of their products and using flowering copy to induce people to use their card which included the “free perfume”.

At one trade show in Chicago, some people from a very large life insurance company who asked me about my Prince Obolenski perfume and decided to use it as a premium to induce customers to let their salesmen into their homes and try to sell them their insurance. They used enormous quantities of this. One day their CEO walked into their room and asked why their sales force was not producing enough business. He then asked if they should change the perfume premium. They were told that this perfume premium had been one hundred times more successful than anything they have ever used previously. He then said “obviously they have a better product than we have”

Another group of men came into my booth and asked for samples of my men’s colognes, to be used as a give a way with a fill up of gasoline and a cost of ten cents. (This was a long time ago). This firm was Exxon before they changed their name from Esso. They chose my colognes rather than use the steak knives and ordered a test in two counties. One in New York, the other one in New Jersey. They ordered hundreds of thousands of these colognes and put up large posters on the gas tanks at each station. (picture enclosed) In this case I was happy that they did not go national with it as I could not possibly supply the quantity they were speaking about. I had to ask them one question which was, I am selling this to you for twenty-five cents, and you are selling it for ten cents. “Do you make that much money on the gasoline or is the secret of big business?

Since I did not have a sales force in a given area I went to major men’s and ladies jewelry companies and told them I would design and manufacture both men’s and ladies colognes for them with their name as “manufactured by” them.

Several took my ideas and the names I had chosen for them and designed, however since I could not keep up the production their advertising produced they gave the manufacturing out to other large private label companies and seemed to forget who gave the names and designs to them. In retaliation, I found myself in the “knock off business” copying these package but changing the names only slightly, with similar appearerence to the famous advertised products. It was very successful so I then decided to knock of all of the leading brands. This brought a great many lawsuits. Since I did not want to spend my money for lawyers, I decided to negotiate settlements with each of them, changing very little, but keeping the right to continue selling my products. During one lawsuit the term “knock off” was in constant use. The plaintiffs claimed that these were counterfeits. The judge became confused and asked me to explain the difference between a counterfeit and a knock off. I told him, as well as the court that if the product had used the name of the famous brand as the manufacturer this was a counterfeit. My products although similar in looks, and had the same odor, were clearly identified with my name as he manufacturer. I was later told that his definition was listed in the encyclopedia. In one case, I was sued three times by the same company. Each time I made revisions, they sued me again. I asked the judge how I can get this to stop. He replied that they can not sue me again unless I copied another of their products. They decided to change the look of their product leaving me with the entire market that their advertising brought in.

Another interesting case was with a major company who accused me of being a thief. In the court room, I asked the plaintiff various questions such as, how much do you pay for your bottle, then the cap, then the carton, then the packing materials? When I asked how much the actual (juice) perfume costs them they refused to answer. The judge intervened and made them answer the question. Their answer was only a few cents. Their retail price was $50.00 each, and mine was only 25 cents. I then asked the judge “who then is the crook here?” The case was dismissed.

There were dozens of law suits in this area, but it was not as much fun until the mid 1970’s when most of my customers who were “dollar stores & discount stores” went out of business due to the stagflation of the Jimmy Carter years, but to keep my employees and keep my factory active I was forced to manufacture other products to fill the void. I also visited many smaller companies with large sales forces, and made my colognes for them under their own names as the manufacturer, which kept my factories very busy.

I inquired from my health & beauty aids chain store buyers what else they bought. They gave me a long list of things like band-aids, etc, until they came up with the word shampoo. I decided that this would be my next venture. I called in all of my salesmen and told them we were going into the shampoo business and they laughed stating “do you know how many shampoos were on the market in both the high as well as the low price areas?” I replied yes but do not worry, I have already come up with a concept that will make our mark in the arena and we will have a very successful line of shampoos.

My idea was to put a bull’s-eye on each label that will insure the success of our shampoos and make it stand out from the rest of them. The bull’s-eye on each said (If you “LIKE” the name of the named famous brand, you will “LOVE” Louangel.) I came out with eleven shampoos at the same time, and naturally was sued by all eleven of the originals. I took on each, one at a time. The major companies thought that they could grind me out with my legal expenses. From my past “legal experience” in the fragrance arenas, I knew it would be best to negotiate rather than leave it to the courts.

I chose the largest one first. Their attorney would not speak to me as I was a “lay person” so we met in my friend’s office (who happens to be a lawyer) which satisfied him. I started asking him questions. “What is it that you object to?” the cap is the same color, the bottle is similar but not the same, the liquid is the same color and baby fragrance is not exactly the same however similar, the cardboard boxes are the same, the label is completely different. With this said even my friend screamed at me and said “what are you doing” The plaintiff’s agreed with me and left. When he returned to his office the chewed him out and said “he made a fool of you” and they came back to me once again. This time I took another tactic. I agreed that the word “love” is quite strong and I will agree to change it to “try”. Case settled. I called my office and instructed them to ship the oil which was already produced and ready to ship.(Which was a knock off of Johnson’s Baby Oil). In each case I changed the tactic, but basically the same. I was never stopped and had my own way with each product. I did this for 27 years and got bored as no on would embarrass themselves in trying to sue me again.

I did get a telephone call from the president of Spidell Watchbands, who said he had heard I was going to knock them off. I told him that we are not in the watchband business, and what was he talking about? He then said what is your British Crown supposed to be if not British Sterling? I answered with the truth which was English Leather.

In the English Leather case they objected to the wooden cap I was using. (As their bottle had a wooden cap as well) They demanded that I put in two grooves to differentiate between theirs and ours. I agreed and put in three grooves. The case was settled.

I was sued by the German company that made cologne using the name of Tabac. They wanted me to change the name to Tobruk, I told them that the battle in Tobruk was too long ago to remember, so I settled with them by making my Tabac’s label in lower case letters not to conflict with theirs which was in upper case letters and they agreed and dropped the suit.

I was almost sued by the Wella Corporation and spoke to their president named Mr. Megale. He screamed at me and said it took him a lifetime to build up this name. I responded by saying. It took you, a lifetime? The company was founded by your wife’s father. He said “you know that?” I told him that I did, and he backed off and dropped the proposed law suit he was planning.

About this time there was a trademark lawyer’s convention. Since I was being sued by eleven companies. Each firm brought along many lawyers from the firm, and my name kept coming up in all of their conversations. Someone used the PA system and said that if you want to learn more about this guy, there will be a meeting in the conference room at a certain time. It now appears that there were over 100 lawyers in the room. The man at the lectern started out by saying “Number (1).this guy will beat every one of you, Number (2).he will teach you what you are you are charging your clients for, and Number (3). You will end up liking him.” Some of the attorneys shouted, who amongst us represents him, it must be you.” The man said he did not represent him. They then said (being smug) then who does”? And he replied in deference to him I will not say. He did not reveal that I was actually representing myself where it was not costing me anything; while they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees it did not cost me a dime.

I won each and every case (mostly by negotiation.) and continued doing what I had been doing until I retired. After all of these cases were over I kept getting telephone calls from some of the most well known trademark attorneys (who were previously suing me) telling me about suits they were involved in. and asking me questions on how they should handle various situations. In each case I gave them my personal opinion. In one case the opponent of the last one called me with the same question, and once again I gave him my personal opinion. The call ended when he said “I guess we will see each other at the Concord Hotel in a few weeks. I replied, why, is it “singles weekend”. He said no, there is a trademark convention that weekend and I guess you will be speaking. I then dropped the bomb by telling him I not only would not be speaking, and that I was not even a lawyer, just a high school graduate. He was stunned and said, then “why do I and the others keep calling you for advice?” I replied by saying I have no idea whatsoever. He replied that “but you were always correct in your advice to me”.

I was visited by a gentleman from the Internal Revenue Service, who spent a week working with my accountant going over out books. He found nothing wrong. When he was finished he came up to my office to tell me this, and to say good by to me. At that point my office manager screamed for me to come down. It seems that the IRS officer parked his car in front of our building. Some local thieves broke into his car and stole his wallet that contained his keys and other identification. He was going crazy as he was recently married and worried that the thieves would go to his home and rape his wife and do other malicious things. We called the police, and when they arrived they ignored his request for help as this was a terrible neighborhood and they had to worry about mass murders, arson; etc, and started to walk away. I told him to show the police his IRS card and the situation changed immediately, and he was treated his with their utmost respect.

I doubt that there was even one governmental bureau I did not run into difficulties with. I was contacted by the Federal Trade Commission by mail that I was in violation of their rules. They objected to the $16.50 price listed on the brochure. I quickly reprinted the brochure without the “high line price”. I knew I never did anything else wrong in their rules; however they kept looking at me for something I might have also done wrong. They decided to come after me and chose my Prince Obolenski Perfume to go after. They accused me of misrepresenting the country of origin. I telephoned them and found the attorney on “my case” that was female. She told me that I was misrepresenting the country of origin on one of my perfumes. She said that I was claiming that it was made in France. I responded by telling her that the label stated right on the front of the bottle that the manufacturer was The Lou Angel Corporation with the address in New York. She proceeded by contacting all of my customers with letters asking if I had every said that this product was made in France. I was very close to all of my customers therefore they sent me copies of her letters to them. She kept at if for two years but writing me letters accusing me of the same violation even after I tried in vein to explain to her that this was made in New York and clearly said so on the label and all of the literature that I had sent out. I said it you want to say that I was representing this made in Russia there might be something to discuss as the name of the product was Prince Obolenski Perfume. This was spelled with an i at the end of the name Obolenski. If it was Russian it would end with a y at the end of the name as Obolensky. The original artist took the liberty of using the letter i that would indicate a Polish origin; however there was never any indication that France was involved in any way. I decided that I was spending far too much time in answering her letters so I telephoned her superior and told him the story. After a long period of time she was taken off this case and went on bothering other firms that might be in come violation or another.

This experience gave me a bright idea. I flew to Paris and started shopping for bottles, caps, labels, boxes as well as tri color stickers, imprinted with Made in France, for the boxes and other packaging materials to make perfumes in France and bring them back to the United States. I had even opened up an office at 18 Rue du Royal, across from the famous Maxim’s restaurant, there and secured a private label filler to manufacture the merchandise for me.

My first night in Paris was an experience I will never forget. Since I was staying at the Grand Hotel, with the Cafe de Paris on the premises, I showered and went down to the cafe, ordered and espresso and did some people watching. I noticed an absolutely beautiful girl sitting alone at the table next to mine. I had felt that she was some sort of well known beauty waiting for her prince or someone famous to join her and felt I would be rejected if I had gone over to her. I left the cafe and stopped in a doorway to light my cigar. I heard a female voice speaking in French. I said I do not speak French and she said no problem as she said she spoke English very well. She then asked me it I wanted to party. I asked how much? She replied saying I can see you are a gentleman and we will discuss this matter later. I asked her to join me to my room. She said just give me your room number and I will join you in a few minutes. She said that she was very well known in the hotel, and she would have to pay the doorman, the concierge and the elevator operator a fee if she walked in with a man. She arrived at my room and we disrobed and got into bed. Now it became time to speak about her fee. She asked for $20.00. I told her that I had just cashed in a travelers check and received $19.40 and I would give her the cash I received from this. She refused it and said that if I gave her a traveler’s check she would get even more that the $20.00 that she originally asked for. I gave her a traveler’s check and we started to have sex. She was so beautiful and moaning constantly, I was afraid I would premature ejaculate immediately and realized that I must stop this action. I said “actress”. She stopped and we argued that she was not faking this. Each time I was ready to get off, I repeated the word actress, and it worked each time. I did this over and over again. And she had stayed with me all evening. The next night I ran into her once again and asked her if she wanted to join me again and she said in very clear English “No Way”. She said because of you I lost a dozen customers by spending so much time with you last evening.

The next morning I visited each of the large fragrance houses to purchase large quantities of bottles, caps, fancy gift wrap paper, essential oils to make the perfume. I chose the firm that sold the essential oils that I wanted to work with, and had a meeting with their chief executive. I told him that I wanted to buy one of his fragrance oils where I would not have to use alcohol. I wanted to mix it with water. He told me that I was crazy and that no one would ever do this as oil and water do not mix, and dismissed me from his office. I showed up each day with the same request and each time he said give this idea up. My reason for not using alcohol was there was an import tax in the United States of $21.00 per gallon which I would have to pay and I would be using thousands of gallons if I used alcohol, thus my request of using water. I kept going back to see him and one day while riding with him in his limousine with a mink wrap over my knees to keep me warm as this was in December of 1966 which was very cold in Paris at that time, we were having the same discussion and he shouted out “hydrobase” which exactly what I was looking for. I placed very large orders for each of the ingredients and was on my way as a French Perfume Manufacturer. Since each bottle was extremely small I had the finished product flown in by air. When the products arrived at the airport the customs people gave me a huge bill for the alcohol tax. I kept insisting that there was no alcohol in these products and it was water. They laughed and said there is no perfume that does not have alcohol and insisted I pay this tax.

They decided to keep the shipment at the airport and send samples of the perfumes to Washington, DC to be tested for alcohol. Naturally the tests same back as I told them it would and I did not have to pay the alcohol taxes they first required. In my factory in Brooklyn, NY I had them packaged in both five and ten piece gift sets. Each package was encased in the fancy French paper I had bought in France and affixed the tricolor sticker on each that properly said “made in France”. I also took a portion of these perfumes and made them as decorations for key chains. (port du cley) “This produced one problem, during the winter the perfume bottles froze and broke” and mounted these on display cards. At the next trade show I took a sample of this card and placed it in the booth of my largest customer. (I had already put there name on the display card as “distributed by their companies name” I received a call from one of the owners of the company and he screamed at me for doing this. I felt bad and told him that I would remove it from his booth. At that point he said “are you nuts?” it is selling like a house on fire. His son was the actual boss of this company and came down to my booth to discuss this and asked what else do I have that was made in France? I first showed him the five piece gift set. He asked for the exclusive rights to this product and we decided on the quantity he would have to purchase to secure these rights. He then found out that I was still selling the ten piece gift set and we had a similar arrangement for the exclusive rights to this gift set as well. They sold out my entire production, so I kept repeating my orders from France and this was very beneficial to all involved in this venture.

With this same customer we made other joint ventures. I had a men’s cologne in my line called Russian Leather. He asked for the exclusive rights to distribute this product as well. He had a very large sales force and at that time mine was quite small. We agreed that we would make him the exclusive distributor for Russian Leather and I would stop selling it on my own. I redesigned the product’s label with his name as the distributor using the name “Russian Leather from the Royal House of Prince Obolenski.” He sold hundreds of thousands of this product which also included many gift sets using talc, soap, and of other men’s toiletry products.

After several years his father called me and insisted I come up to their offices in Providence, Rhode Island which I did. I was shocked to hear that they were dumping me as the filler of this product as they found another private label firm (that was in the process of bankruptcy, so they needed more business, even if they were to lose money on this order) that was five cents cheaper than the price I was charging them. I was devastated by losing my largest customer, however on the airplane home a bright idea came to me. I immediately telephone the son (the real boss) and insisted he come down to speak to me in my offices. He said he was happy to hear that I would consent to lower my price to meet the competition as I was the founder of the product and that we were very close friends. I said that I had no intention in lowering my price, however if you continue to use them instead of me, I would not only strip you of using the name from the from The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski but would put this product back in my line and we would be competing with each other with my using the name “Russian Leather From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski.”

He was about the brightest business man I ever came across and we made a deal whereby they would continue with this other supplier and save the five cents, but would turn over two cents of this to me. This made both of us happy. This allowed me to use my factory to add and manufacture other items in my line and still receive the royalties from him. I was now really becoming very successful.

I must mention here that by this time I had automatic filling, capping and labeling machines that were spitting out over 60 bottles per minute. I did have a large facility with hundreds of people assembling these bottles into various boxes and gift sets but there were so many bottles that they could not handle this quantity. I spent a great deal of time searching and finding various charities that did assembly work at prices even less than what I was paying my own labor force. I used dozens of them with trucks going back and forth between the charities and my factory. I also had to find extra storage space to contain the finished merchandise.

Before this, one of my other customers asked me if I would let him also distribute Russian Leather. I explained that I had given these rights to the other firm, however their would be a way around this. I could let him use the Russian Leather name but without the Prince Obolenski suffix. I told him to pick another name. He could not think of any so I asked him where his family origin was and he replied Odessa. I gave him the rights to use the name “Russian Leather from House of Odessa.” He was also very successful with this line of products.

One day, I happened to pass a drug store window, and saw the first “penis shaped women’s vibrator” in the window. I went in to take a closer look at it and found out that it was manufactured in the orient, but bore the name of the distributor as “From House of Odessa” and I immediately knew who this was doing the distribution of the product.

I had other problems with governmental agencies. I had gone to Hong Kong to have several products manufactured for me. One was a plastic zippered case to hold a men’s cologne and after shave and make it a travel kit. I designed the case using the term Moroccan Grain on the front. When the products arrived I was told that there was a problem at customs as to the country of origin. I telephoned the customs inspector and he said he knows that “Moroccas” is a country. I kept insisting that according to the law the country of origin was mandatory and there were in fact two places that “made in Hong Kong” was on the product. One was etched on the bottom and the other was a paper label on the top of the product. He just kept saying that he was not a fool and that he knew that “Moroccas” is a country. I had to go to his superiors to straighten this mess out.

During the period when there was a downturn in the economy and glass bottles became very high, I decided to put my fragrances in plastic bottles. Everyone said “that no one would buy fragrances in plastic bottles” I tried to explain that plastic was lighter in weight and the cost of shipping would be far less, also they would not break as glass bottles did at times. I redesigned each of the bottles I was using into plastic containers. I had designed and had molds built for each and had these bottles produced. Since plastic was thinner than glass I had to make the bottles larger in size and use more “juice” to keep the appearance of size the same as the glass. As the actual “juice” did not cost that much this did not become a problem. It turned out that it did not make any difference in the sale of the product at all. I also offered these plastic bottles to other manufactures in which there were few if any takers.

To save money I also redesigned the gift set packaging from the ones I had been using which had three components. A bottom, a top as well as an injection molded tray inside to keep the “glass bottles” from breaking. I changed these to regular “folding boxes” with great pictures of the inside look. This saved me a great deal of money in the packaging. The look was so outstanding it increased the sales of each by many times.(picture enclosed).

When my father died (in my arms) at the age of 49 of a sudden coronary occlusion and I could not bring him back, I made a promise to him, (even though he was dead and could not hear me) that I would take care of his other son (my younger brother, which I did for twenty years), when I purchased The Lou Angel Corporation, I stupidly made my inept brother my legal partner without having him contributing any money to the firm. His job was to run the factory. Each year no matter hoe much business I brought in, he had managed to ship less and less. The people in the factory kept coming into my office holding a bottle cap or other items, and said “we do not have any more of these” They were supposed to go to my brothers office to report this, however when they went to his office they found him asleep, so they came to see me. I told my brother that we must keep track of our inventory and to keep a list or better yet, to go out and buy a computer. He did buy one that did many things however the one he chose did not keep track of inventory which was the only reason we needed a computer. The factory was a complete mess. I then had a visit from the FDA (who had not ever come down for an inspection in all the years I was in business). They said that there was not enough paper to write down all of the violations that they had found. I had enough after twenty years, and told my brother to stay home and I would give him his full salary and all benefits just to get rid of him. He replied “then buy me out” I said you never bought in, what is to buy out however I gave him a fortune to just go away. I paid him in eleven installments as I knew he would piss it all away if I gave him a lump sum.

As he left he said “no one can run this factory. I said “don’t be stupid even companies a thousand times larger get run efficiently”. When he left I hired a professional factory manager, who had been the factory manager for Barton’s Candy. He had everything in tip top shape in a week. When the FDA returned they found a spotless factory with no violations. When the FDA people returned they saw that every violation had been cleared up. Since they had spent so much time in reviewing my case, they decided to take an action on another manner. They put a hold on all of my shampoos as they had recently passed a new rule that made manufacturers of all cosmetic manufacturers whereby the list of ingredients must be listed on the labels. I had read that they were going to do this in the trade papers, so I had listed all of my ingredients on each and every label. (At that time I was the only manufacturer of cosmetics to do this). They pulled out a Lucite ruler with red lines across it. They told me that the lower case “o” did not reach the top and bottom of the red lines and that was the reason for the hold. I contacted my then Jacob K. Javits office (letter enclosed) and they patched me through to him in Washington. I told him the story and he said to sand him the letter they FDA had send me along with my story and deliver them to his office, and they would wire the information directly to him. (This was the first time I had the word Fax in my life). He wrote to me (letter enclosed) and made an appointment for me to visit with the commissioner of the FDA. I flew down to Washington. I found a dozen lawyers on one side of the table with me on the other side screaming at me. They pulled out the Federal Register with all of their rules and literally “through the book at me” I had then showed them the new labels and they (released the hold and allowed me to use up the existing shampoos. I must state that at this time there was not one cosmetic manufacturing with ingredient labeling on their products, only me.

As it happened after the eleven years, my brother lost it all; we have not spoken since the last payment. All my friends blame me for giving him too much, too fast. I love my business and could not wait until the next day however my brother kept saying that he hated his work and was only doing it for the money. I was told later by his friends that he used the monies I had given to him to purchase various businesses which all failed in a very short time. When he visited the one that was still there he found a lock on the door. He managed to get in and found it idle. Not knowing how to run a business he contacted my old mechanic and hired him. The mechanic later told me not only did he run the factory but did the sales as well. This business did not last very long either.

Previously my brother when he was the factory manager hired a friend to be in charge of the shipping department. As soon as my brother left we found out that he had been stealing from the company by loading merchandise on trucks, and pocketing the cash. He claimed that prior to these incidents when I caught him; he had turned in the money to my brother. I have no idea what to believe here. After my brother left he decided to “knock off a men’s closing line” using a cologne with their name. I got a call from a lawyer friend of mine saying “we picked up your brother last night” Then he told my why. I called my brother and told him how to handle this situation. I can not possibly believe that by sitting my side for twenty years and watching me, he never learned a thing about how to “knock off a product correctly and got himself in trouble.

I married a girl when I was quite young. She had a sister who found herself pregnant. The father of the baby married her; however he was trying to become a “soldier” in the mafia (picture enclosed) and to “get his bones” (the term used for this) he was a hit man for one of the five New York mafia families. He had been arrested many times, one for kidnapping. My wife asked me to post his bail money which I did. Not long after all of the media showed a picture him lying dead in the street with his feet still in the car he was driving. He was shot in the head in retaliation for killing a member in another family. {picture enclosed) I went to the funeral and was amazed that the undertaker was so skillful in covering up the bullet holes with make up that the holes could not be noticed. At the funeral many men showed up with envelopes stuffed with money for the widow. The mafia seems to be very kind to its members. They obtained a job for my sister in-law in one of their bars. It seems that a member of the mafia from out of town came into the bar and grabbed her butt. The owner of the bar that she worked for took this guy outside in an alley and shot him dead. My sister-in-law was repeatedly questioned by the police to find out who the shooter was. She was told not to say anything, so the police wanted to charge her as an accessory to murder. It took along time to straighten this out and get her released. She then married another member of the same mafia family. The police kept breaking into their apartment arresting him for various crimes. After he died some years later, she once again dated, but this time a “crooked cop”. It is amazing that one of her children from her first marriage turned out to be extremely intelligent and received a scholarship to an Ivy league school, and went on to become a doctor.

My father’s demise was only the first of three tragedies that week. After the funeral my new bride told me had an itch. I responded by saying “scratch it”. She replied that it “was down there”. I sent her to a doctor but when she returned she said that the doctors wanted me to telephone them. I was asked if I new she was pregnant. I told them that I did not know that. They said “do not worry about this as she will not survive nor would the baby ever be born” as they found a huge lump up there that could either be an entopic pregnancy or it could be a large tumor. I took her to many doctors for a second and third opinion and one came up with an idea. He told us to wait until the pregnancy was five months along, and he would go in and hold the fetus with one hand and cut out the lump with his other hand. It turned out to be a benign cyst. She survived and the baby was born. The third thing that happened was my very best friend came over to console me, but started to act very funny. It seemed he was having a nervous breakdown, “I asked God, ‘what are your plans for me next week” He spent the rest of his life in and out of mental hospitals and died at the age of 92. Never having a life between the ages of 25 & 92. I then asked God, “What are your plans for me for next week?”

We had a bookkeeper who was with us for many years. She decided to quit and move to Florida and asked me to loan her $2,500.00 for a down payment. There really was no need as a customer of ours had mailed us an envelope with $2,500.00 cash in it. When I kept pressing the customer for the money, he said he had mailed it and sent me the signed receipt for the envelope that revealed her signature on it. She claimed that she never receive it and left the very next day. Since she was with us for over twenty years I attributed this to a “bonus” and did not press charges. She did say that she was not respected as the office manager and suggested we hire a man to run the office. I had my chief of staff and accountant interview him and they approved. This new office manager immediately replaced the entire office with people from the Philippines where he was from. Since I was very busy all of the time, he kept bring up checks for me to sign. Not paying the attention I should have paid, I signed each one (as I was always on the telephone) The next month when the mail arrived my new secretary took all of the cancelled checks out of the envelope and put a paper clip on the batch. I liked to open this type of mail myself however tried to put the checks back into the envelope. One check flew into the air, and when I retrieved it one flew into the air and I caught it. I looked at it and it was made out to “MNLA, Inc” Never hearing of this company I assumed it was for a trucking company however it was for $37,000.00. I immediately knew this was not possible so I asked the new Philippine bookkeeper to come upstairs to my office which was one floor above the general offices. I was told that he had left for the day. I ordered my accountant to come down and audit my books. He found over $60,000.00 in kited checks done in the very first month he was there. I immediately called the police and even without a warrant, I went to his home with the policeman and found a complete forgery kit on his dining room table with whiteout and other things. I took all this material which belonged to me and brought it back to my office. The next day I received a call from an attorney who claimed to be representing this bookkeeper and he said that he was ready to turn himself in to the police.

It took over one year to get this money back. I had to post a bond with an insurance company (as I might be accusing an innocent man), I had to hire a criminal lawyer, and by myself froze all of the accounts he deposited the money into. I also alerted all of the employment agencies not to hire this man, and even called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked if they have any records on this person. They would not tell me, however I asked if you won’t tell me just let me know if he was on a forgery list. The answer was yes. It seemed that his record showed that he was in prison in the Philippine Islands, for forgery at the time his references were checked. I called every attorney I knew and said that I wanted to go after the employment agency that sent him to us. None would take the case as it was our responsibility as well to check him out as well as theirs.

I now put on my lawyer’s hat and sued them myself. I naturally won the case and received a “bonus” of $10,000.00 from them. It took several years to regain my money from this thief since I put a lien on his house (owned jointly be both he and his wife). Since he could not find a job, he had to put his home on the market for sale and I received that amount of money at his closing sale of the home. I also had a meeting with the judge at his criminal trial. I told the judge that every one seems to be happy but me. The insurance company received the premium from the bond. All of the lawyers are happy with the fees they received from both sides, the prosecutor was happy with his conviction, however I have not received the stolen money from the frozen bank accounts. The judge realized what I was saying and issued a “confession of judgment” from the thief right in the court room and the frozen money in his bank accounts, was released to me.

My brother also had a friend who was in the insurance business and to give him out companies business. He certainly gave us the business. After I retired I was sued by an insurance company for not paying a bill. I went to the New York State’s Commissioner of Insurance, who at one time worked for me. He found out that I had paid the bill on time, but my brother’s friend, the insurance man never turned the money over to them.

Remembering that my father passed away at the age of 49, and I had a similar build as him, I was reaching that age but could not pass the business to my three young daughters who were very young at that time, so I decided to sell the company. I had meetings with a great many CEO’s of cosmetic companies, but all said the same thing. If you come along, we will pay you whatever you ask, but there is no one we know of to replace you. “Lou Angel is not Louangel without Lou Angel”. There is no one else that knows what the consumers want next year or the next.

Since this was mainly a Christmas Gift business and we start production in January for the end of the year, I have always had some strange ability to know what the consumer would want in the coming years. I therefore decided to sell everything. I turned every bottle, cap and carton into product and sold it all. I ran an auction and sold all of the machinery. The only left to sell was the name and good will. Coincidently at the auction a young man showed up and offered to buy this from me. It was good for me in many reasons. I would get rid of all the rubbish that only he could use to start up. I would stay in his office for a few months to make sure I would collect all of my bills still on the street. What I did not know was that he was a professional thief. As I opened the mail I found bills that I turned over to him. He did not pay a single one and naturally I never received the remaining monies stated on the contract. After several months he disappeared and we found him doing the same thing in Canada. Now I had judgments against him in both the United States and Canada that were uncollectible as he once again ran away. He only purchased the company to use its good name and credit rating. He cheated all of my suppliers who know the true story and do not blame me for anything.

The factory building was almost one square block in size and in the worst neighborhood in New York City. There was no business of a size that could use this space that would move into this area. I decided to divide the buildings into five parcels, and run ads in the local newspapers offering “The finest factory in Williamsburg” (we were only a few blocks from Williamsburg) which had a huge Hassidic population. I found one Hassid who purchased 30,000 square feet. We got along very well and became good friends. We each asked the other to explain their cultures to each other. (He said he would change me into a Hassid, and I said I would make him a cheater like I was. We had a bet on this. Some years later he called me and said that I won the bet. He was in the hosiery business and was visiting a mill down south. He told me he was sitting in the lobby of a hotel and was having a conversation with a woman who invited him up to her room and they did the dirty deed.) He said he was going back next week to see her once again) One day he came to visit me in my country home in Pennsylvania. I had my girlfriend visiting me also my daughters. When they left he said I know you have a television, which he did not. He asked me to turn it on, and for the first time he watched television. He was transfixed and watched the Kojack TV show. When the girls left he said “I heard about adult movies and you must have some, and said he would like to see one. He also said that by watching television just before he had committed one sin and might try another one by watching the adult movie. Up to this point he had never seen a nude woman in a magazine or any other of the media, including his wife. He said they did indeed have sex, but in total darkness He was aghast and said what is she putting in her mouth? And said I do not believe what I am looking at. I showed him one, and then for fun, I put in a tape that showed me having sex with a visiting girl. He realized that this was taken here right on the couch I was sitting on and said this is here). I appointed him as my real estate broker. I told him to contact all his relatives and friends and sell the remaining buildings to them which he did. This brought the entire Hassidic community to the area bring along a synagogue and food stores etc. Some years ago I read in the New York Times a story about Williamsburg and it showed a map which pointed out my property was the dead center of the area. The Hassid’s are very smart and each subdivided their buildings renting out space to people from all over the world. Today I was told there were signs in most every language on the building where when I owned it there was but just one.

Before this time my accountant at this time got divorced and had no where to live. While I was out of town he convinced my stupid brother to rent an apartment and call it our New York City Showroom. He would live there and we would use it for our extra marital affairs. It became a very busy place, with my brother and I taking turns in using it each evening, with the accountant sleeping there when we were not using it. I have dozens of amusing stories to tell here however I do not think the reader of this book would be interested in hearing them, with the exception of mentioning that I had brought in some of the most beautiful girls in the city, until I met one young girl who happened to be a school teacher at that time. I had asked her if she was happy with that occupation and said that she enjoyed the teaching part however the other teaching were so boring that she was going nuts in trying to speak to them. I then asked her why she did not enter the “real world of business”. She replied that her mother had spent a fortune sending her to college to become a teacher and would be furious if she left that position. She was not only beautiful but extremely intelligent. She looked around and found out there was one area that would allow women to grow with the company and some even became vice presidents which was in advertising.

She found an office job in a media buying firm in the advertising area. Within a few weeks her boss said she was wasting her time in that position and asked her if she would be interested in learning this business as a media buyer. A short time later she was in charge of the buying department. She then asked the boss if there was anything else she could do at this firm, and he said let me put you in another department which she also ended up being in charge of. Her next question was, Is there anything else she could do, and he replied by saying no as you have reached the top of this small firm and that she should go out an get a job with a major advertising agency. She went to an employment agency and with her looks and brains along with the excellent reference. She was hired as the New York negotiator for this the second largest agency in the country. She did indeed become an assistant vice president, then a full vice president, then a senior vice president, and ended up as the third person in command of this agency. Each weekend she came out to visit me at our country home, and since she was not a big executive in the firm she was allowed to purchase stock in the company. During this time there were many mergers in the advertising industry and I kept urging her to buy more and more stock as when this company sells it would be worth a fortune. She kept insisting that the CEO kept saying that he would never sell the company and showed me headlines in Advertising Age to that effect. Within a short period of time he did sell the company to the largest advertising agency in the world and she was now rich from the stock buyout. The new firm offered her a position but she declined the offer as she would have to work under people she had fired at her old company. So she retired completely.(picture enclosed). She decided to live in the woods with me in our county home.

She then decided to become a real estate sales person. She went to real estate school and studied hard. She asked the teacher if they would allow me into the building as it was winter time and I was freezing while sitting in the car waiting for her to finish the class. I sat in the classroom but did not pay any attention to what was going on. She then had to go to Philadelphia to take the test. I drove her to the test. She asked me if I wanted to take the test also as it was allowed. I felt that I would be embarrassed as I did not know anything about real estate. This test was done using a computer using true and false questions. I sat next to her and punched in my answers. When the test was over they happened to call my name first. They gave me a slip of paper that said I passed. She grabbed the paper out of my hand and was amazed that I had passed. They then called out her name and she found out that she had failed this test. I would like to mention at this point that I had only a high school education and she had a master’s degree from a university. She burst into tears. She then hired a tutor as well as purchasing a bunch of audio tapes and kept studying for days. She went back and passed the test this time. It is truly amazing that the State of Pennsylvania has a book that is a dozen times as large as all the other states with information to learn from.

Although I was married to someone else, I saw this young lady for 18 years with my wife not having a clue that this was going on in fact they were cousins. There were only the two of us living in the wilderness with only animals roaming around. After the 18 years we decided to split. She moved back to her apartment that she had always kept, and I stayed on living in the woods by myself (with many female visitors that constantly came to visit and comfort me).

My Blind Date (A real one) I received a telephone call from a girl that sounded very interesting. She came to visit me in the woods buy bus. She was very good looking, but was carrying a white cane and wearing a beret which looked very fashionable. I took her to a local restaurant. She asked me to read the menu to her. She then told me that she was legally blind and proceeded to tell me her story. It seems she was born blind in one eye. When she asked her mother why “one eye can see out and the other one can see out” Her mother replied that she was born blind in one eye. As she grew up she decided to become a photographer. She said that one takes a picture with a camera you always close one eye. That is when she decided that the best profession for her to be was to become a photographer as one eye was already closed. She married a man who owned all of the photography magazines. Within a year or so she developed Multiple Sclerosis, which left her with less and left sight. Her husband left her and she got divorced leaving her with a baby son. To support herself and her son she became a semi-prostitute giving hand jobs in Times Square. She still went ahead with her photographic career but it was difficult. When she showed up to visit me, we went out of the house and I pointed to a deer (who always came to my house as I put out corn food for the animals to eat) I could always get very close to the deer but the deer would never take any food from my hand. When she put out her hand to feed the deer, it went right over and ate the food from her hand. It seemed that the deer seemed to know she would not harm him. She told me that she was the mistress for a large and wealthy stock broker who developed cancer. Before he died he put aside a large amount of bearer bonds for her. This was delivered to her by his brother in a box. Not knowing what was in the box, she put it in her basement where she lived in Greenwich Village. Over some time the rats in her basement at the box and its contents. I spent a lot of time trying to get these bonds back for her. Since they were not registered in her name, and she did not know the serial numbers, I could never get them back for her. She had written a dozen books using a special large type, typewriter, and spent a very long time with each of her photographs, in burning in the negatives the way they would come out best. She became world famous for her photographs, with some of her work being hung in museums all over the world.

Within two weeks I received a telephone call from a young lady who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. She had graduated at the top of her class from a top university and was a partner in a stock brokerage company. She came to visit me the next weekend, and kept coming to see me every two weeks. I went to visit her from time to time as well. She happened to be someone in the city that hung with the top people. Each time she had an occasion (like a wedding) or a partners meeting, etc. to go to she told me to bring my tuxedo. There was one occasion where she was invited to (with her escort who always turned out to be me) a party to meet with a presidential candidate whose name was Lamar Alexander. It seems he had made some Anti-Semitic remarks at one of the places he was speaking at. Now since most of his backers were Jewish and living in Nashville, he tried to make amends by attending a house party that was given by the owner of Service Merchandise Company whose headquarters were in Nashville and all of these donators to his campaign were invited. Lamar was once governor of the state, a senator as well as the present president’s father. There were about a dozen people at this affair. When I was introduced to him, he had grabbed my hand to shake, but strangely enough he never let go. He led me to a couch still holding my hand. I though he must be gay (which he was not). We spoke for a very long time. Knowing was probably Anti-Semitic at heart I decided to have some fun with him. I first asked him it he really thought he would be nominated and elected president. He replied saying “of course”. I then asked him some other questions, such as the front runner at this time was Colin Powell. Do you really think you could beat him out? He replied yes. I then asked him if he was both nominated and elected would you be his Vice President, and he said absolutely not. My next question was, if you were elected as the president would you choose him as your Vice President. He replied with “in a heartbeat”. I went on by saying that I can suggest a candidate for you that has the same constituency as he has and is even more popular at this time as he is. He knew what was coming and said fuck off. I never had the chance to say the words (O.J.Simpson).

We got along very well and traveled all over the world together but I had to end this relationship after seven years as she had given me a mild STD, which shocked me as she was so very prim and proper in most every way except that when she went home she started “seeing” other men and kept up her search for her elusive next husband, as I refused to marry her. This relationship lasted for seven years. When I gave up the business, I also gave up the “showroom” and the accountant went back to live in his mothers house. There are many other stories that I could tell during the “apartment” section however those were all listed in my unpublished book, named “The Cheetahs Handbook.”(picture enclosed).

In the 1970’s “Studio 54” was all the rage in New York City. I knew the three owners as one of them was a customer of mine His nickname was Pinky. I went there often. (It as hard to get into this place and it needed permission from one of the owners to obtain entry). All of the rich and famous people gathered there to see and be seen. The Hollywood stars, the famous designers, the well known authors, etc. (Every one of my friends coming to New York called me to help get them in, which I did). The main owner was Steve Robell. Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager could not have been more different, but together they built the hottest disco ever-- Studio 54. Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager, two born-and-bred New Yorkers, met in college in the late 1960’s. They could not have been more different: Rubell was hyper, loud, and always up for a party; Shrager was cool, retiring, and business minded. Despite, or because of, their differences, they would, for 33 months, own and operate the most famous nightspot on the face of the earth. Rubell and Shrager started small in the early 70’s, opening a chain of steakhouses in the less fashionable parts of the city. Soon they were both itching for the respectability that a Manhattan address would confer, and Rubell realized that their profits would be bigger if they cut out the food and concentrated on alcohol sales. They bought a building at 254 W. 54th St. that had once been used as a television studio by CBS. An expensive renovation pushed by Rubell and fretted over by Shrager, included hanging a huge man-in-the-moon over the dance floor. When a large hanging spoon came to rest under its nose, the man-in-the-moon lit up. They christened the club Studio 54, and the doors opened on April 16, 1977. From the beginning, Shrager stayed in the background, in his office with the books, while Rubell pampered and partied with superstar guests like Andy Warhol and Liza Minelli. Almost overnight, Studio 54 became the hottest disco in New York, and to people in every corner of the globe it symbolized the decadence and hedonism of the “Me Decade”. Rubell guarded Studio’s door like a hawk, only letting in those he deemed glamorous enough. He also strove to find the perfect combination of black and white, straight and gay—what he called “mixing the salad.” He was often rude to people he felt weren’t trying hard enough, saying things like, “Go home and change,” or simply, “You’re ugly.” But few wanted to argue with success; in its first year, Studio 54 made an estimated $7 million. Both Rubell and Shrager believed that one had had to spend money to make money. They lavished their celebrity friends with gifts and parties, thus ensuring that the “little people” would keep coming to see them, and keep spending their money. For Bianca Jagger’s 30th birthday, a costumed production number was put on by the staff and professional dancers, and for the finale, Bianca came riding out on the stage atop a white horse. When Rubell was stumped as to what to give Warhol for his birthday, he stuffed a garbage can full of dollar bills and presented it to the artist. Far from being insulted, Warhol said it was the best present he’d ever gotten. The high times didn’t last long. Shrager’s mismanagement and Rubell’s drug problem caught up to them in December 1979, when fifty agents from the Internal Revenue Service Burst into Studio 54 with a warrant. Garbage bags full of cash were found stuffed into the insulation, or just lying around. The meticulous Shrager had made a note of every gift given to every celebrity—even if that gift was cocaine or amyl nitrate “poppers.” The pair was sentenced to three-and-a-half years each, but wound up serving only thirteen months due to a deal with prosecutors. On their release, they went back into the nightclub business, opening the highly successful Palladium, and began buying and renovating hotels. It was especially hard for Rubell, though, to forgive those friends who had turned their backs to him when he was down. Steve Rubell died of hepatitis and septic shock in July 1989. Ian Shrager has made a fortune in the hotel business and continues to lead a quiet, private life. He was the flamboyant co-founder of Studio 54, a nightclub that gave birth and nurtured the disco era. His resilience to failure allowed him to make a come back after a tax evasion conviction. Unfortunately his very successful life was cut short by complications related to A.I.D.S. It was however, originally reported in his obituary that he died from complications resulting from hepatitis and septic shock, a condition they said was caused by a bacterial infection. During his lifetime he was considered a master of promoters. Studio 54 was an extremely successful club that was popular with celebrities, politicians and society figures. The nightclub which was located on West 54th Street, hence the name, opened its doors in April, 1977. The music stopped when Rubell and partner Ian Schrager were both indicted on Federal income tax charges involving more than $2.5 million that was skimmed from club receipts over a period of three years. Both pled guilty and served 13 months in prison. They sold “54" shortly after their release in January 1981. The club still stands and all rumors of its destruction were, just that, rumors. After the WKTU-FM’s Last Dance Party in 1996, it was scheduled for demolition. A Cyberdome was going to be built as an entertainment/dance club. The deal fell through, leaving the Studio still standing. It now hosts private parties and special events. In 1985, Steve found out that he was H.I.V. positive. His friend and business partner, Ian was also tested at the same time and had a better result... negative. He unlike Steve was heterosexual and despite his many conquests was extremely lucky. Steve’s relationships apparently, were not monogamous, as he dated many men before meeting the man of his dreams. He finally met Bill Hamilton while in Southampton, Long Island. Bill would remain with Steve for the rest of his life. According to author Anthony Haden-Guest, Steve suffered from chronic bronchitis, but in June, 1989 he fell sick. He began taking AZT in hopes of abating the disease. Unfortunately, he continued to take drugs and drink, compromising what little immune system he had left. In the last weeks of his life his condition deteriorated very quickly. He grew thin and so did his hair. His excuse for his appearance was always the same, the side effect from liver disease. Hamilton became his round the clock nursemaid because he wouldn’t allow anyone else around him. He also refused to go to the hospital until the very end. Seldom would he go out, the only time he would show up at an event would be when a close friend was at a social affair. He would take care to cover his thin hair with toupees and always sported an artificial tan to mask his pallor. By July he was really sick. He had just come back from a weekend in Southampton and was now moving much slower. Suffering from flu like symptoms, he progressively grew worse. He was now vomiting constantly and not being able to keep fluids down. On Sunday, July 23, 1989, Steve checked into the Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, under a different name. The nurses were on strike and there was no one to care for him but Hamilton. Rubell’s body had now ceased to function. That Monday a nurse finally came in, but Steve did not want her to touch him. His lungs were filling up with fluids and his breathing was labored. They had to sedate him and give him oxygen so that was the last day Hamilton was ever able to speak to Rubell again. By nightfall, he was out of it. Although he was stable, he was not improving. Friends Ian, Don Rubell and Deborah Hughes joined Hamilton at Rubell’s bedside. Tuesday night at 7:10, Rubell finally passed away. Hamilton left the hospital and ended up moving in with Ian. Steve was buried in Beth Moses Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. Rubell Who was represented by his attorney Roy Cohen (famous from the McCarthy hearings were always on sight as was Truman Capote). Hollywood even made a motion picture about this place and showed it as drugs and other stuff were served in the basement.

I had a customer that distributed cufflinks. I had been selling them my colognes (under their name). They kept coming up with ideas that would make them rich and always asked me to advise them. Each and every item they came up with was a loser, and I told them that. One of their ideas was to put a very small flyer into every one of their cufflink boxes that advertised a camera for only $ 1.00. They went on to say that they sell millions of cufflinks and they were certain that this would bring many sales of this camera. I made a statement that they would only get three sales. They just laughed that they would sell enormous quantities of these as they sold so very many cufflinks. They just came up with more and more stupid ideas. One of them had just returned from San Francisco where he went to a massage parlor and wanted to open one of these in New York. I said that this is the first idea you have come up with that might succeed. We went about putting up one in New York. They hired one experienced masseur and a bunch of girls that would be trained. They rented a nice apartment that was once the actor Gregory Peck’s town house, and furnished it and called it “Relaxation Plus”. They picked me up in a Bentley automobile. They invited the media to this opening. I asked what they were going to serve these people. I found out that they had one pint of Kinsey whiskey and a bag of pretzels. I said you must be kidding. We got back into the automobile and bought the proper food and drinks to serve. It turned out to be a big success, and they opened up six more places offering the same services. One of them telephoned me and told me that they were having a problem. It seems that the girls were turning this into whorehouses, and they asked me what they should do. I said that the girls would do it no matter what you say, so you might as well take a part of this. They now owned seven whorehouses. Shortly after, they received a visit from the mob. They were told that this was not a business for these Jewish boys, but it was their type of business and asked them to sell it to them. They sold the business and also the buildings that they eventually bought, and were offered a good price. After going into many other failed businesses they decided to open up another massage parlor and called it “Spartacus Two”. The mob came to them once again and said that they agreed that they would never go into that type of business again. They asked if the mob wanted to buy them out. They were told they would get nothing from this, but just sign the entire package over to them. Many years later they asked my advice on another stupid idea for a business. At that point I asked them how many cameras they sold from their idea of putting the advertising flyer into their cufflink boxes. They went hysterical laughing that one of them broke the chair he was sitting on and fell on the floor still laughing. He said, “I knew that you would ask that question some day. They sold only the three that I had predicted.

On one of my trips to the Orient, I visited with a firm in Taipei, which I wanted to buy something from. They asked me to show them my products which I pulled out a bottle of my shampoo. They placed an order for over one hundred thousand of my shampoos. A few weeks later they decided to have me only ship the raw materials, as they had their own water and could have the plastic bottles made locally. They did insist that ship my labels to them so they could claim that these were made in America.
On another trip to the Orient, I telephoned a customer/friend who lived there. He came to visit me at the Grand Hotel, which I was staying at. He insisted that I come to his home for the “Chinese New Years dinner” He said that his mother has been cooking for weeks to prepare for this event. His brothers and sisters were all out of the country and I must come. I asked my girlfriend if she would go as he was going to pick us up in his new Pontiac automobile. She said no. After a long discussion she agreed to go. He drove us to this high rise apartment and I heard waterfalls. It seems that one of his brothers was an architect and had taken four apartments and made them into one. It was the most fantastic apartments I had ever been in. They had many rooms. One was a temple room for their ancestors where they put out food (chicken and oranges). Since these relatives were dead, they replaced the food daily. They had a liquor cabinet as large as a liquor store. There were gold beams on the ceiling to simulate the rays of the sun. It was absolutely fabulous. While we were eating there was another gentleman at the table. We were watching television of the New Years celebration, and I noticed that the gentlemen sitting next to us was the man speaking on television. He was the President of Taiwan, (the son of Chiang Kai-shek). The table was in the setting of a lazy susan circulating with dozens of things to eat. Between each course they served various liquors. We were told that we must sample every dish on the table, as one was for health, another for virility, etc. I had never seen such wealth. I had asked him what his father did for a living (as the business we did together was not that large) He replied that “Father makes all of the transistors for television sets in Japan”.(picture enclosed) What was strange to me was that the family traveled the world and collected cheap 10 cent ashtrays. His mother asked me a question (that he translated). She asked me to find the boy a wife. She must be from Taiwan, come from a good family and be well educated. He then said she must also be pretty. He said the family had four apartments, one in Los Angeles, one in Hawaii and one in Tokyo. Our next stop was planned to go to Hawaii and he offered us the key to the apartment, which I declined. When I returned to the states I was at a trade show and a lovely oriental girl came over to my booth and we talked for quite a while. I asked her where she was from, and she replied Taiwan. I then asked her where she went to school, and she said she had graduate degrees from universities in both Taiwan and also from Japan. I asked her if she would make a telephone call to a boy. She said she would not, however later she wrote down his telephone number. I do not know if she did call or what happened after that, but hoped that they did get together.

I also heard of a firm in Italy that made the most beautiful metal bottle caps. I flew to Milan, and hired a driver and a translator and visited with the president of this company (who looked like a count). I told him that I would place orders for enormous quantities of his bottle caps. He then asked me to take drive with him in his Rolls Royce, and put a mink wrap over my legs to keep me warm. We ended up at his home at the top of a mountain, for dinner. After dinner he asked me to go for a walk with him. He took me around his enormous property and said to me. “Take a look around” He said the every person that lived in all of the towns in the area worked for him in his factory. He added that he became very wealthy from this business as his father and grand father before him. He said that if he were to manufacture the quantities I had mentioned, he would have to build another mountain with towns around it and hire all the people in these towns to do this. He then said please go home and leave me alone, I am happy with what I have at this time and do not need any more orders.


So basically I have now become retired, and considered myself rich. (Interest rates were running between 15% and 17% at that time) I saw no need to open up another business or to look for a job. I had no idea that they would drop to 2% which would make me somewhat poor once again.

CHAPTER two
“My Life in the Wilderness”
My Life as a Builder

“My Life in the Wilderness” Both Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon used this term however mine was literally.

Being retired I became bored. I purchased a small country home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The girl I lived with at that time decided that we needed a swimming pool. I saw no reason for this was in a very cold area, neither of us were swimmers, and I did not feel like fishing out tree branches and animals, however I let her put in the pool.

I decided to put a house over the pool. I hired a group of men who amazingly put this up in a week or so. I designed it using inexpensive sliding glass doors using the solar effect to help heat the pool as well as installing a propane gas heater. I also designed a small sauna and steam room between our bedroom and the pool. In an indoor pool there was a great deal of humidity, so I researched and found a giant dehumidifier that would suck out lots of water from the pool and put it back into the pool. It also took out the chlorine odor from the house. Now it was perfect as we could swim in the pool watching the snowfall outside and be comfortable.

After watching how fast this group of men put this pool house up, I asked one of the men if they could put up dozens of homes at the same time. His answer was of course. I went to a local tax sale and purchased a great many one quarter acre lots at only $240.00 each. I found an excavator as well as a septic specialist and began my quest, to create an outer suburb of New York City.

Being creative, I designed the houses with incredible beauty and decided the correct selling price should be about $75,000.00, a price that would attract almost anyone who wanted a country home (since this area was only one and one half hour from New York City)

When the foundation and septic system was in, I called the man who I originally spoke to and asked him when they could start construction. I was told that the group that put up the pool house was done by the owners of individual companies and the only reason that they were able to do the pool house was it was winter and they had no other work. Now it was spring and they were all busy with their regular jobs.

I found myself as a general contractor who knew nothing about building houses. I searched around and made many calls. Only one man showed up carrying a hammer. He started putting up stick by stick and it was taking forever to erect a house. I did the same with hiring many electrician, plumbers, painters etc. These workers spent more time visiting there parole officers than showing up for work.

What I found out during this process was that the State Of Pennsylvania did not require building people to have a license. All they had to do was print a business card and represent themselves as such. This included me as an architect.

I also did not know most of these workers were convicts, who stole everything they could find in my houses. I was told that a refrigerator was missing from one house. When I went there to check it out, I found they also stole the carpeting, then the appliances, etc. This went on during my entire building experience.

When the first home was finally finished, as the other “builders” ran ads in the local newspapers offering homes from models. When a prospective buyer showed up and asked what type of oven came with the house, the “builder” responded by saying “Oh you want a kitchen, that would add additional numbers to the price of their houses” I was offering a “speck house” take it or leave it”.

Instead of running ads in the newspapers, I requested and received full page publicity on my homes at “Pocono Dream Estates” There was no area with that name, just houses on scattered lots. When I went to the post office or gas station I was told that I caused the town to become gridlocked with all visitors to the town asking where “Pocono Dream Estates” was. In any case I sold every house the very first weekend after the publicity was published in the newspaper.

Now I was in real trouble. It took over one year to produce each house. Since every house I erected most things were being stolen, I had to raise the prices from $75,000.00 to $150,000.00 as no one could afford to wait that long as most had sold their old homes, and were ready to move in to one of mine. I had sold every house many times over and over until I decided this was fruitless, and decided to try a different approach. I put up the first “StickULar” house with the original foundation and place a modular home on top of it. This worked for a while until I completely gave up and just dropped modular homes on the foundations.

With the building process in the area, even the lumber yards cheated by sending less lumber that was on my order. I could not believe this as I was not about to count each and every two by four piece of lumber, so I searched and found that there was a large chain of lumber yards called 84 Lumber Company. I telephoned the owner and told him of my dilemma and also said this area was written up as the fastest growing housing market in the country. He agreed to meet with me and said “I like you young man, you make things happen”. He came to visit me and did open up a facility in the area. Now using this chain I knew that it was not in the interest of the manager to cheat me. The bottom line of this part of my life as a builder was I did not make a dime putting up homes.

We did have a social life in the woods. We met a few couples who had country homes in the area and met with them every Saturday evening. One couple was of Italian extraction and invited her mother and sister to help her with the stirring of the sauce. It was divine cuisine. The other couple was much more interesting as the wife was at the top of her class studying physics. She was approached by gentlemen who worked for the government and called her aside and asked her several questions. They asked her if she had any family that she would miss if she disappeared for several years. They explained to her that our country would be at war shortly and they needed her help. They said they need every physicist they could find to join a group of other scientists to form a group that was eventually called the Manhattan Project. She shipped her off to Alamogordo where she worked with Oppenheimer, Szilard; Teller, Fermi, and the other major players who developed the Atom Bomb. We often see movies on this subject showing four men and one woman. I believe that she was that woman. After they successfully tested the bomb and dropped them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the war was over. She was thanked. Now she needed a job. She looked for a job in the news papers and it seemed that no one was interested in people who knew how to build an atom bomb. She went to several employment agencies to no avail. She told me that the people she spoke to there were very stupid and decided to open up her own employments agency. She decided that the first job that came along that she liked, she would take, as well as find jobs for her sisters who also were doing war work. She rented space above a tailor shop. She then looked out the window and every time a truck went by she copied the name of the trucking company and their telephone number and asked them if they needed drivers. She kept calling other industries and asking if they needed to hire people. She put together a long list. Now she needed people to send to these companies to be interviewed. She had known that actors seemed to always be out of work looking for their part on Broadway. She put together a large group of actors (who usually were gay). The business did not go as planned. She ended up with the largest employment agency in the country, and called it “Career Blazers”, which is still in business today. When she died of lung cancer. At her funeral (there were hundreds of gay people that showed up as she had helped getting jobs for each of them and they loved her). She turned over this business to her son. She was married at this time, however she hated him. On her deathbed she wrote a fourteen page letter addressed to her son advising him not to give her husband anything. She listed how badly he treated her. It seems that he was impotent, and could only get himself off by forcing her into orgies and reading perverted magazines. Then going alone into his bathroom and wanking himself off. It was the first time I had ever heard that a man could cum being flaccid. She gave this deathbed fourteen page letter to her housekeeper, who in turn gave it to my girlfriend. I was shown this letter and read it. I made a decision not to give it to her son as I never liked him and he had enough money. Since she was dead, and he was just about the only friend I had in the Pocono’s I tossed the letter into the fireplace. It was about this time I had decided to move from the wilderness to Boca Raton, Florida. He asked me if he could join me there and continue out friendship. I of course said yes and he followed me down. When he arrived in Boca he told me that his girl friend had left him and asked me to find him a girl. I had known of a beautiful girl who was over six feet tall. I felt that she would be perfect for him as he was six feet six inches tall. I took him to the New York Hospital, where we went to the erectile dysfunction department, (this was before the days of Viagra). They suggested the “needle into the penis” method. We had lots of fun at this point as on the drive home to Pennsylvania he developed a “boner”. He asked me how he could handle this when he was with a woman as it would look odd for him to bring a syringe into the bedroom. I suggested that he carry a cigar case and keep it in the pocket of his bathrobe, then excuse himself and go to the bathroom and use it. It seemed to work explaining that he just took up cigar smoking as the excuse for him having this on his person. I introduced them on a Wednesday, she moved into “his apartment” (actually owned by his son in-law) and they were married within weeks. He eventually had to tell her his financial condition and that is the reason they came to me looking for a business (mentioned above). His son in-law gave them a free franchise called “Career Blazes Resume Service”, where she would go out and get the customers and he would copy blank template resumes and fill in their names, etc. He is still publishing books under her name (Adele Lewis). “She had written dozens of books on this subject”. And he is collecting the royalties on all of her past and “the present” books. (pictures enclosed).

CHAPTER three
My Next Ventures


About this time I discovered the computer and completely fell in love with it and what could be done with it. I have always been fascinated with superimposing pictures, where I could take someone’s face and make him an athletic star, putting him or her with famous People like the president, etc. I found a young computer programmer and had him create am whereby I could achieve this instantly, and then transfer this image onto a T-Shirt etc. I later developed a way to place the image onto coffee cups after wasting hundreds of mugs, I finally succeeded with it. Today you can find mugs being sold with people’s pictures in every mall.
I incorporated a business named Visual Technologies “Vistech” and went about selling computer systems to people who wanted to go into this type of business. I sold many, however I found that unless they went to high traffic areas like Disney Land, or places like six Flags they would not do well. Most of them went into flea markets and shopping malls and did not do very well. I did not feel good about selling this system to people who would fail, so I gave this idea up.
I then left the woods in Pennsylvania and moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1991 where they had things like restaurants, movie theatres and even places to buy a bagel.
This was in the year of 1993 with the introduction of Tim Burners Lee invention of the World Wide Web. I checked it out and found only a very few sites that were on it. I quickly learned how to use the hyperlink language and posted all of my previous images of myself in various superimposed positions and made up a stupid story about it so they would all appear as me as a super hero. The site is still on the web; however you might be more interested in looking at the following URL called my picture Album at.
http://picasaweb.google.com/louangel168/LouSPhotos2
The few people on the web at the time became my email friends with each asking the others to “check out my site” All came back and said your site is “cool” and asked what grade I was in. I told them I was in my sixties and each replied “No Way” as you are the “coolest cat on the web” I then decided to become a webmaster and write sites for other people, and became very good at this.
Each time I encountered something that interested me I checked out the source code and studied it and made it better, and eventually became about the best webmaster on the web. I now decided to become one and thought that I could build a nice business doing just that. I knew a few girls that were very attractive and quite articulate and told them to visit restaurants, and other types of business that should have their presence on the web to advertise their business. One of them asked “why should I believe you that this is a viable business and walked away. I murmured to myself “stupid cunt” and let her leave. The other one went about the business, however no one at that time even knew about the World Wide Web or even the internet. She left. Today I believe there are at least a trillion sites, with more added each day.
My original site has changed many times over the years but it is still up there on the web under the URL
http://www.mrangel.com/.

You can see the site which is till up there by clicking on the URL or go directly to the table of contacts at
http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/
Where you can scroll down to anything you are especially interested in
If you go to this site you should find them under the name of “webpages”. Since that time I have added many subject on anything I was interested in and added information on things I knew a great deal about such as Sushi Online, Coffee Online, Cigars Online, Brazilian Lifestyle, as well as much information on Medical and Dentistry, etc.


CHAPTER four
My Life as a University Lecturer

While I was in business a young man named Phil Lempert came in as a salesman to sell me various things. He also sold some of my shampoos to a supermarket chain. He also worked as a professor at a university and asked me if I would consent to lecture his class of students. I asked if I would be paid a fee for this and was told I would not receive any money for this. I then said I want a certificate in a frame with a wire on the back so I could hang it on my wall. (Since, I did not have any academic certificates of any kind at all on my wall). He agreed and got me one, which today proudly hangs on my home office wall). He once said something that boosted my ego a great deal. “I would like to represent what is in your head” Coming from a man this bright, it really made me feel great.
.
I spoke for three hours trying to get them to understand how the real world of business works. Many of the students asked why they did not learn this either in college or in grad school. I said that the MBA program prepares you how to leverage funds and prepare for bankruptcy. You are being taught by teachers who in turn were taught by teachers who read books written by teachers. None of your teachers have ever experiences life in the real world of business. There is an old adage “If you can not do, then teach, If you can not teach become an administrator”

I told them how to watch out for crooked bookkeepers, crooked shipping clerks, lazy & stupid siblings, and many things that I had learned from my experiences in the real world.

On the way to work one day I had heard of a blind boy who stabbed to death a man who was raping his mother. I bought a newspaper and read the whole story. When I arrived at my office I was told that at least six women appeared and had demanded their “husbands” last pay check. I asked who this “husband” was and found out that the rapist was our “chief chemical mixer”. One of my employees said “I do not understand why this man raped anyone, as we employed dozens of girls who would be more than happy to have sex with him”.

Some years ago I was speaking to an older man who asked me about the problems I had in business. I told him that my building was broken into almost every evening with stuff stolen, each time I reported this to the local police. I received a call from the police that they had caught the thief while stopping a car and they found my things in his trunk. I laughingly replied that if you stop most any car in the area you will find my things in all of them. I received a call from the Welfare department who informed me that they entered and apartment that was full of my merchandise. I was not surprised by this. I had a major flood that almost destroyed me, there was once a murder on my premises, and I was even broken in the police that tried to crack the safe that was in the building. Since the police knew many safe crackers, they came in the next evening with one, but failed. One time on Christmas Eve the police broke in and stole a lot of things among which was cases of Scotch. I telephoned the captain of police and told him what had happened and about the Scotch. He replied “Dewers?” It seemed that he was given a gift from the burglary as well. I was also broken in by the fire department that must have been doing a nighttime sprinkler inspection. I also told them many other things that I experienced during my years in business. He asked me if I ever had a fire. It was not long after this conversation that this had happened as well. It turned out that this was a case of arson caused by a neighbor who happened to be given a grant by our local congressman to help with the unemployment in the area. This firm had rented space and invited me in. What I saw was a lot of sawdust on the floor and many electric machines (but without electric cords attached.) It was only a scam to get the grant. (newspaper article enclosed).

I had a visit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It seems that they were looking for information on a lawyer I had recently used for some reason I forget. An airplane exploded during a flight and when going through the rubble they found a paper with my letterhead, with the name of Julian Frank on it. He was a passenger on the airplane and had taken out a million dollar life insurance policy before he boarded the flight, and they thought he might be the person that exploded a bomb aboard. They asked me some questions such as how well I knew him, and if he ever mentioned suicide to me. I told them whatever I knew about him, which was very little and that he had never mentioned suicide to me. I was told that he was about to be indicted for some crime and that he was their prime suspect. I had heard later that after years of fighting, his family was paid for the insurance on the policy. (newspaper article enclosed).

I got into trouble with the FDA due to the many violations mentioned above. I went to see this very congressman (picture enclosed) who would not speak to me and pushed me aside as he entered his limousine. I ran out and entered his limo. He said what the hell are you doing here? I said that I will talk to you as we ride and take a taxi back. I asked him where he was going and he told me that he was going to give a speech to the boy scouts. Knowing he was gay, I asked him if he was looking for new talent. He replied by saying “watch your lip” in which I replied that it is your lip that I am sure will be the problem. He agreed to see me the next day in his office. When I arrived I found a man from the FDA there with him. I found them to be quite friendly and later found out they were lovers. The congressman (Fred Richmond) was later arrested as he was found in a subway men’s room having sex with a little boy. He was arrested once again for a major crime and spent many years in prison for this. (picture enclosed).

Another thing I told the students about was when General Dwight Eisenhower was asked by both parties to run for president, he said, I know how to be a general; however I do not know how to be a president. He later said that he knew a man who could be his vice president named Robert B. Anderson and with his help he could do the job. He was told that he could appoint Anderson to any position he wanted, however the already picked a young senator named Richard M. Nixon to be his vice president. Eisenhower was elected and appointed Robert B. Anderson first as secretary of the Navy, then secretary of Defense. When his four years were up he then asked once again to have Robert B. Anderson as his vice president, which was declined as they went once again with Richard M. Nixon. Eisenhower then appointed Robert B. Anderson as his secretary of the Treasury. He remained in the position for the rest of Eisenhower’s term in office.

Robert B. Anderson Biography

Robert B. Anderson, the Texas-born lawyer who was Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 to 1961, died Monday at New York Hospital, a hospital spokesman said yesterday. Robert B. Anderson, the Texas-born lawyer who was Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 to 1961, died Monday at New York Hospital, a hospital spokesman said yesterday. Mr. Anderson was 79 years old and lived in Manhattan in recent years. Since the 1950's he maintained homes in the New York area. A son, Gerald L. Anderson, said yesterday that his father, who entered the hospital July 25, was suffering from cancer of the esophagus and died from complications after surgery. Conviction for Tax Evasion Mr. Anderson rose to influential positions in government, business and finance, serving as Navy Secretary, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and holding posts with major corporations. But his career became clouded in later years by a brief prison term for income tax evasion and operating an illegal offshore bank. In 1987 he was sentenced to one month in prison and five months' house arrest after pleading guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to the tax evasion in 1983 and 1984 and to the offshore bank charge. Last January, Mr. Anderson was disbarred by the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court, which said the illegal banking had been unconscionable. Robert Anderson was a Democrat when he supported Dwight D. Eisenhower for President in 1952, but he switched parties in time for the 1956 elections and remained a Republican. He developed a reputation as a quiet and efficient administrator as Secretary of the Navy in 1953 and 1954 and as Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1954 and 1955, Mr. Anderson became known as a conservative Treasury Secretary, putting a high priority on preserving the value of the dollar rather than cutting taxes or paying for additional outlays. As Treasury Secretary, he became highly influential within the Eisenhower Administration. It was on his recommendation that the President made an important decision concerning the budget for the fiscal year 1961, deciding that the projected surplus was to be used, not to cut taxes, but to pay off some of the national debt. Posts in Industry Before serving in the Eisenhower Administration, Mr. Anderson held various posts in Texas government. He resigned as Deputy Defense Secretary in 1955 to become president of Ventures Ltd., a Canadian holding company with far flung international interests, mainly in mining, until he was named Treasury Secretary. From 1961 to 1973 he was a limited partner in the New York-based investment banking firm of Loeb, Rhoades & Co. He also held other posts and directorships in business and finance and was an adviser to Phillips Petroleum, Texaco and other oil companies. He served as an economic adviser to the Sultan of Oman and worked as a Manhattan-based lobbyist and consultant for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. As Navy Secretary Mr. Anderson, at Eisenhower's behest, moved to end racial segregation at Navy posts in Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va. Eisenhower wrote later that he felt gratitude and ''intense admiration'' for Mr. Anderson. The historian Stephen E. Ambrose, in a 1984 book on the Eisenhower Presidency, wrote that Mr. Anderson was Eisenhower's personal choice for his running mate as Vice-Presidential candidate in the 1956 election, but that Mr. Anderson rejected the idea. Mr. Ambrose, in the second volume of his biography ''Eisenhower,'' also wrote that Eisenhower urged Mr. Anderson to seek the Presidential nomination in 1960, but that Mr. Anderson said no. In the 1960's, Mr. Anderson carried out diplomatic tasks for President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was also a friend, including leading a commission that negotiated new treaties involving the Panama Canal. Two decades later, when Mr. Anderson was sentenced to the prison term by Judge Edmund L. Palmieri, he was also sentenced to five years' probation. Judge Palmieri directed him to make restitution to victims of the bank operation who had lost money on his advice. The judge said he was aware that Mr. Anderson had been hospitalized for alcoholism 10 times since 1981, and he ordered Mr. Anderson to enter an alcoholism treatment program. Mr. Anderson had pleaded guilty to evading taxes on more than $127,000 in income in 1983 and 1984 and operating an offshore bank in the British West Indies in which investors lost more than $4 million. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Gregory Bogdan, said yesterday in Washington said that Mr. Anderson had served his sentence in Federal Prison Camp at Allenwood, Pa., in August 1987. An official of the Federal Probation Office in Manhattan, Joseph Veltre, said yesterday that his house arrest was completed in January 1988. When he was disbarred by the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court last January, the court order said: ''This is a sad but, we think, necessary end to the legal career of one who has in times less beclouded by poor and corrupt judgment served his country in high office.'' A lawyer for Mr. Anderson suggested in court in 1987 that his client's mind might have been affected by the strain of caring for his wife, the former Ollie Mae Rawlings, who long suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in 1987. They were married in 1935. In the years after Mr. Anderson left the Cabinet, his activities included serving as a partner in Robert B. Anderson & Company, an investment house, and as chairman of the American Gas & Chemical Company. Among the companies of which he was a director were Pan American World Airways and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Robert Bernerd Anderson was born June 4, 1910, in Burleson, Tex., the son of a farmer. He graduated from Weatherford College in Weatherford, Tex., in 1927 and earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Texas in 1932. That same year he was elected to the Texas Legislature. In the 1930's he served variously as a Texas legislator, an assistant Texas attorney general, chairman of the Texas Unemployment commission, and state tax and racing commissioner. In World War II he was a civilian aide to the Army Secretary. In addition to his son Gerald, of Greenwich, Conn., Mr. Anderson is survived by two sisters, Ruth Smith of Godley, Tex., and Velma Pickens of Dallas; another son, James, of Austin, Tex., and three grandchildren.

Later Anderson with all of his contacts became a lobbyist representing many companies including mine. He was a great help to me by introducing me to many large customers. He then asked me how much business I did in Saudi Arabia. I told him that I did not need any help in Saudi Arabia as I was shipping more shampoo there than they have water, as they in turn were exporting my shampoos all over the Middle East. He asked me if I wanted to be the exclusive shampoo in the country. I asked him how that could be. He said he could pull this off. He added that he knew he could. I redesigned he bulls-eye on my label by replacing the Royal Olean groups logo on it and it was a great success.

He brought to my office a beautiful woman and he told me that she was the secretary of state in her country which was now called Nigeria. It seems that her father was the king, but when it became a “republic” she was appointed to this position. He asked me to show all of my products to her which she liked as she was also an importer as a sideline in her country. She asked me to send a sample of each product and send it by air, which I did. She then called me again for another set of samples. Since my products were not expensive I sent the second set. I found out that the airfreight was costing me $300.00. A week later she called me once again for another set as they seemed to be “getting lost” in transit. I then realized something was funny and later I found out that all these samples did indeed arrive and she was selling them in the market place. Over the years I received hundreds of “scam letters” from people in Nigeria. Each one said to the effect that they were the widows or relatives of very important government officials and they would receive hundreds of millions of dollars if I would send them the name of my bank and my account number as we would split this money. Using some common sense I threw these letters away. Many used the scam as they had won the lotto and asked me for the same information mentioned above. Today with the modern technology, I receive e-mails to replace the letters, which I deleted. In doing research I decided that was there were no honest people in Nigeria. If you want to read more about Nigerian scams to the following take a look at this URL which is at.
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm


You will find the following as one sample scam.
Request for Urgent Business Relationship
“We have the pleasure to make this surprising but mutually benefiting business proposal. I am a member of the newly inaugurated committee for the privatization of the refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Nigeria. The members of the committee are interested in the importation of goods into the country with funds presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria / Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) foreign payments account. I got your address through the office of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The federal military government of Nigeria intends to lease the three existing petroleum refineries to private individuals and companies. This is to make the refineries more viable, resourceful and to eliminate undue wastage and fraud. This privatization is in-line with the recommendations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a prerequisite for future financial assistance. The refineries are heavily indebted to many companies and my committee has the mandate (task) of compiling the names of these companies and debt owed them and also recommend for payment, all contracts that have been fully executed. With our position in the committee, which comprises of my ministry, federal ministry of petroleum resources, Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), the federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we have successfully secured for ourselves, the sum of US $73,000,000 (seventy-three million United States Dollars). This sum was acquired by carefully inflating the amount of indebtedness by this amount (US $73,000,000). We need a reliable company to be included in the list of companies to be paid. This company will be paid for a contract executed in Kaduna Refinery in 1993. I was therefore mandated in trust by members of the committee, to seek a foreign partner into whose account we could transfer the sum of US $73,000,000, hence I am writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the funds thus: (1) 70% for us (the committee members) (2) 20% for you (the account owner) (3) 10% will be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses that will be incurred in the course of this transaction it is from our 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. We also need assurance from you that you will let us have our share once the inflated amount (US $73,000,000.00) is transferred into your account. The payment will be done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its correspondent bank. What we need from you is that you provide a vital account into which the funds will be transferred/lodged. Note that this transaction is 100% safe and guaranteed since the law under which our committee was set up, has empowered us to disburse all the funds. We shall commence the transfer of the funds immediately we receive the following information by Tel/Fax :(4) your company name and full address (5) your bank’s name, telephone and fax number (6) your account number and name of would be beneficiary
The above information will enable us put up letters of claim and job description to the respective ministries for the issuance of the mandatory fund release approval/recommendations. This way, your company will be recognized and accepted as the beneficiary of the contract entitlements before the final remittance to your nominated account, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, being paying bank. Note that we will be responsible for the payment of the federal Inland Revenue tax on behalf of your company and a contract agreement between your company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shall be drawn up and antedated showing that your company has a legitimate contract with the NNPC and must be paid. We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit absolute confidentiality from you in this transaction. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, using the above Telefax number for more details regarding this transaction. Also endeavor to send the requested information”. Bob Anderson and I became close friends and we visited each other many times. He told me that his major source of income was in off shore banking. I said that this was illegal and he could go to jail for doing this. He laughed and said “I guess you do not know who I am, with all the positions that I have had”. Several years later the headlines of every newspaper and the big news on television was “Ex Secretary of the treasury arrested and was now in jail” Some years later all of the media headlines said he died in jail.
If I was lecturing today I would speak about our current President George W. Bush. If his name was not Bush he would be hanging around country clubs and having a grand old time. The following is the history of the Bush family and how he had accumulated all of his wealth and power. I would include how Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power Rumors of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine has circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington Saturday September 25, 2004 Guardian. George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The debate over Prescott Bush's behavior has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty. Remarkably, little of Bush's dealings with Germany have received public scrutiny, partly because of the secret status of the documentation involving him. But now the multibillion dollar legal action for damages by two Holocaust survivors against the Bush family, and the imminent publication of three books on the subject are threatening to make Prescott Bush's business history an uncomfortable issue for his grandson, George W, as he seeks re-election. While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war. Tantalizing Bush was also on the board of at least one of the companies that formed part of a multinational network of front companies to allow Thyssen to move assets around the world. Thyssen owned the largest steel and Coal Company in Germany and grew rich from Hitler's efforts to re-arm between the two world wars. One of the pillars in Thyssen's international corporate web, UBC, worked exclusively for, and was owned by, a Thyssen-controlled bank in the Netherlands. More tantalizing are Bush's links to the Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC), based in mineral rich Silesia on the German-Polish border. During the war, the company made use of Nazi slave labor from the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The ownership of CSSC changed hands several times in the 1930s, but documents from the US National Archive declassified last year link Bush to CSSC, although it is not clear if he and UBC were still involved in the company when Thyssen's American assets were seized in 1942. Three sets of archives spell out Prescott Bush's involvement. All three are readily available; thanks to the efficient US archive system and a helpful and dedicated staff at both the Library of Congress in Washington and the National Archives at the University of Maryland. The first set of files, the Harriman papers in the Library of Congress, show that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen. The second set of papers, which are in the National Archives, are contained in vesting order number 248 which records the seizure of the company assets. What these files show is that on October 20 1942 the alien property custodian seized the assets of the UBC, of which Prescott Bush was a director. Having gone through the books of the bank, further seizures were made against two affiliates, the Holland-American Trading Corporation and the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation. By November, the Silesian-American Company, another of Prescott Bush's ventures, had also been seized. The third set of documents, also at the National Archives, is contained in the files on IG Farben, who was prosecuted for war crimes. A report issued by the Office of Alien Property Custodian in 1942 stated of the companies that "since 1939, these (steel and mining) properties have been in possession of and have been operated by the German government and have undoubtedly been of considerable assistance to that country's war effort". Prescott Bush, a 6ft 4in charmer with a rich singing voice, was the founder of the Bush political dynasty and was once considered a potential presidential candidate himself. Like his son, George, and grandson, George W, he went to Yale where he was, again like his descendants, a member of the secretive and influential Skull and Bones student society. He was an artillery captain in the First World War and married Dorothy Walker, the daughter of George Herbert Walker, in 1921. In 1924, his father-in-law, a well-known St Louis investment banker, helped set him up in business in New York with Averill Harriman, the wealthy son of railroad magnate E H Harriman in New York, who had gone into banking. One of the first jobs Walker gave Bush was to manage UBC. Bush was a founding member of the bank and the incorporation documents, which list him as one of seven directors, show he owned one share in UBC worth $125. The bank was set up by Harriman and Bush's father-in-law to provide a US bank for the Thyssens, Germany's most powerful industrial family. August Thyssen, the founder of the dynasty had been a major contributor to Germany's First World War effort and in the 1920s, he and his sons Fritz and Heinrich established a network of overseas banks and companies so their assets and money could be whisked offshore if threatened again. By the time Fritz Thyssen inherited the business empire in 1926, Germany's economic recovery was faltering. After hearing Adolph Hitler speak, Thyssen became mesmerized by the young firebrand. He joined the Nazi party in December 1931 and admits backing Hitler in his autobiography, I Paid Hitler, when the National Socialists were still a radical fringe party. He stepped in several times to bail out the struggling party: in 1928 Thyssen had bought the Barlow Palace on Briennerstrasse, in Munich, which Hitler converted into the Brown House, the headquarters of the Nazi party. The money came from another Thyssen overseas institution, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvarrt in Rotterdam. By the late 1930s, Brown Brothers Harriman, which claimed to be the world's largest private investment bank, and UBC had bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, fuel, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany, both feeding and financing Hitler's build-up to war. Between 1931 and 1933 UBC bought more than $8m worth of gold, of which $3m was shipped abroad. According to documents seen by the Guardian, after UBC was set up it transferred $2m to BBH accounts and between 1924 and 1940 the assets of UBC hovered around $3m, dropping to $1m only on a few occasions. In 1941, Thyssen fled Germany after falling out with Hitler but he was captured in France and detained for the remainder of the war. There was nothing illegal in doing business with the Thyssens throughout the 1930s and many of America's best-known business names invested heavily in the German economic recovery. However, everything changed after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Even then it could be argued that BBH was within its rights continuing business relations with the Thyssens until the end of 1941 as the US was still technically neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor. The trouble started on July 30 1942 when the New York Herald-Tribune ran an article entitled "Hitler's Angel Has $3m in US Bank". UBC's huge gold purchases had raised suspicions that the bank was in fact a "secret nest egg" hidden in New York for Thyssen and other Nazi bigwigs. The Alien Property Commission (APC) launched an investigation. There is no dispute over the fact that the US government seized a string of assets controlled by BBH - including UBC and SAC - in the autumn of 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy act. What is in dispute is if Harriman, Walker and Bush did more than own these companies on paper. Erwin May, a treasury attachĂ© and officer for the department of investigation in the APC, was assigned to look into UBC's business. The first fact to emerge was that Roland Harriman, Prescott Bush and the other directors didn't actually own their shares in UBC but merely held them on behalf of Bank voor Handel. Strangely, no one seemed to know who owned the Rotterdam-based bank, including UBC's president. May wrote in his report of August 16 1941: "Union Banking Corporation’, incorporated August 4 1924, is wholly owned by the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart N.V of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My investigation has produced no evidence as to the ownership of the Dutch bank. Mr. Cornelis [sic] Lievense, president of UBC, claims no knowledge as to the ownership of the Bank voor Handel but believes it possible that Baron Heinrich Thyssen, brother of Fritz Thyssen, may own a substantial interest." May cleared the bank of holding a golden nest egg for the Nazi leaders but went on to describe a network of companies spreading out from UBC across Europe, America and Canada, and how money from voor Handel traveled to these companies through UBC. By September May had traced the origins of the non-American board members and found that Dutchman HJ Kouwenhoven - who met with Harriman in 1924 to set up UBC - had several other jobs: in addition to being the managing director of voor Handel he was also the director of the August Thyssen bank in Berlin and a director of Fritz Thyssen's Union Steel Works, the holding company that controlled Thyssen's steel and coal mine empire in Germany. Within a few weeks, Homer Jones, the chief of the APC investigation and research division sent a memo to the executive committee of APC recommending the US government vest UBC and its assets. Jones named the directors of the bank in the memo, including Prescott Bush's name, and wrote: "Said stock is held by the above named individuals, however, solely as nominees for the Bank voor Handel, Rotterdam, Holland, which is owned by one or more of the Thyssen family, nationals of Germany and Hungary. The 4,000 shares hereinbefore set out are therefore beneficially owned and help for the interests of enemy nationals, and are vestible by the APC," according to the memo from the National Archives seen by the Guardian. Red-handed Jones recommended that the assets be liquidated for the benefit of the government, but instead UBC was maintained intact and eventually returned to the American shareholders after the war. Some claim that Bush sold his share in UBC after the war for $1.5m - a huge amount of money at the time - but there is no documentary evidence to support this claim. No further action was ever taken nor was the investigation continued, despite the fact UBC was caught red-handed operating an American shell company for the Thyssen family eight months after America had entered the war and that this was the bank that had partly financed Hitler's rise to power. The most tantalizing part of the story remains shrouded in mystery: the connection, if any, between Prescott Bush, Thyssen, Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC) and Auschwitz. Thyssen's partner in United Steel Works, which had coal mines and steel plants across the region, was Friedrich Flick, another steel magnate who also owned part of IG Farben, the powerful German chemical company. Flick's plants in Poland made heavy use of slave labor from the concentration camps in Poland. According to a New York Times article published in March 18 1934 Flick owned two-thirds of CSSC while "American interests" held the rest. The US National Archive documents show that BBH's involvement with CSSC was more than simply holding the shares in the mid-1930s. Bush's friend and fellow "bonesman" Knight Woolley, another partner at BBH, wrote to Averill Harriman in January 1933 warning of problems with CSSC after the Poles started their drive to nationalize the plant. "The Consolidated Silesian Steel Company situation has become increasingly complicated, and I have accordingly brought in Sullivan and Cromwell, in order to be sure that our interests are protected," wrote Knight. "After studying the situation Foster Dulles is insisting that their man in Berlin get into the picture and obtain the information which the directors here should have. You will recall that Foster is a director and he is particularly anxious to be certain that there is no liability attaching to the American directors." But the ownership of the CSSC between 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland and 1942 when the US government vested UBC and SAC is not clear. "SAC held coal mines and definitely owned CSSC between 1934 and 1935, but when SAC was vested there was no trace of CSSC. All concrete evidence of its ownership disappears after 1935 and there are only a few traces in 1938 and 1939," says Eva Schweitzer, the journalist and author whose book, America and the Holocaust, is published next month. Silesia was quickly made part of the German Reich after the invasion, but while Polish factories were seized by the Nazis, those belonging to the still neutral Americans (and some other nationals) were treated more carefully as Hitler was still hoping to persuade the US to at least sit out the war as a neutral country. Schweitzer says American interests were dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The Nazis bought some out, but not others. The two Holocaust survivors suing the US government and the Bush family for a total of $40bn in compensation claim both materially benefited from Auschwitz slave labor during the Second World War. Kurt Julius Goldstein, 87, and Peter Gingold, 85, began a class action in America in 2001, but the case was thrown out by Judge Rosemary Collier on the grounds that the government cannot be held liable under the principle of "state sovereignty". Jan Lissmann, one of the lawyers for the survivors, said: "President Bush withdrew President Bill Clinton's signature from the treaty [that founded the court] not only to protect Americans, but also to protect himself and his family." Lissmann argues that genocide-related cases are covered by international law, which does hold governments accountable for their actions. He claims the ruling was invalid as no hearing took place. In their claims, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Gingold, honorary chairman of the League of Anti-fascists, suggest the Americans were aware of what was happening at Auschwitz and should have bombed the camp. The lawyers also filed a motion in The Hague asking for an opinion on whether state sovereignty is a valid reason for refusing to hear their case. A ruling is expected within a month. The petition to The Hague states: "From April 1944 on, the American Air Force could have destroyed the camp with air raids, as well as the railway bridges and railway lines from Hungary to Auschwitz. The murder of about 400,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims could have been prevented." The case is built around a January 22 1944 executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt calling on the government to take all measures to rescue the European Jews. The lawyers claim the order was ignored because of pressure brought by a group of big American companies, including BBH, where Prescott Bush was a director. Lissmann said: "If we have a positive ruling from the court it will cause [president] Bush huge problems and make him personally liable to pay compensation." The US government and the Bush family deny all the claims against them. In addition to Eva Schweitzer's book, two other books are about to be published that raise the subject of Prescott Bush's business history. The author of the second book, to be published next year, John Loftus, is a former US attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the 70s. Now living in St Petersburg, Florida and earning his living as a security commentator for Fox News and ABC radio, Loftus is working on a novel which uses some of the material he has uncovered on Bush. Loftus stressed that what Prescott Bush was involved in was just what many other American and British businessmen were doing at the time. "You can't blame Bush for what his grandfather did any more than you can blame Jack Kennedy for what his father did - bought Nazi stocks - but what is important is the cover-up, how it could have gone on so successfully for half a century, and does that have implications for us today?" he said. "This was the mechanism by which Hitler was funded to come to power, this was the mechanism by which the Third Reich's defense industry was re-armed, this was the mechanism by which Nazi profits were repatriated back to the American owners, this was the mechanism by which investigations into the financial laundering of the Third Reich were blunted," said Loftus, who is vice-chairman of the Holocaust Museum in St Petersburg. "The Union Banking Corporation was a holding company for the Nazis, for Fritz Thyssen," said Loftus. "At various times, the Bush family has tried to spin it, saying they were owned by a Dutch bank and it wasn't until the Nazis took over Holland that they realized that now the Nazis controlled the apparent company and that is why the Bush supporters claim when the war was over they got their money back. Both the American treasury investigations and the intelligence investigations in Europe completely belie that, its absolute horseshit. They always knew who the ultimate beneficiaries were." "There is no one left alive who could be prosecuted but they did get away with it," said Loftus. "As a former federal prosecutor, I would make a case for Prescott Bush, his father-in-law (George Walker) and Averill Harriman [to be prosecuted] for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. They remained on the boards of these companies knowing that they were of financial benefit to the nation of Germany." Loftus said Prescott Bush must have been aware of what was happening in Germany at the time. "My take on him was that he was a not terribly successful in-law who did what Herbert Walker told him to. Walker and Harriman were the two evil geniuses; they didn't care about the Nazis any more than they cared about their investments with the Bolsheviks." What is also at issue is how much money Bush made from his involvement. His supporters suggest that he had one token share. Loftus disputes this, citing sources in "the banking and intelligence communities" and suggesting that the Bush family, through George Herbert Walker and Prescott, got $1.5m out of the involvement. There is, however, no paper trail to this sum. The third person going into print on the subject is John Buchanan, 54, a Miami-based magazine journalist who started examining the files while working on a screenplay. Last year, Buchanan published his findings in the venerable but small-circulation New Hampshire Gazette under the headline "Documents in National Archives Prove George Bush's Grandfather Traded with the Nazis - Even after Pearl Harbor". He expands on this in his book to be published next month - Fixing America: Breaking the Stranglehold of Corporate Rule, Big Media and the Religious Right. In the article, Buchanan, who has worked mainly in the trade and music press with a spell as a muckraking reporter in Miami, claimed that "the essential facts have appeared on the internet and in relatively obscure books but were dismissed by the media and Bush family as undocumented diatribes”. Buchanan suffers from hyper mania, a form of manic depression, and when he found himself rebuffed in his initial efforts to interest the media, he responded with a series of threats against the journalists and media outlets that had spurned him. The threats, contained in e-mails, suggested that he would expose the journalists as "traitors to the truth". Unsurprisingly, he soon had difficulty getting his calls returned. Most seriously, he faced aggravated stalking charges in Miami, in connection with a man with whom he had fallen out over the best way to publicize his findings. The charges were dropped last month.
The Prescott Bush Biography (picture enclosed)

Buchanan said he regretted his behavior had damaged his credibility but his main aim was to secure publicity for the story. Both Loftus and Schweitzer say Buchanan has come up with previously undisclosed documentation. The Bush family has largely responded with no comment to any reference to Prescott Bush. Brown Brothers Harriman also declined to comment. The Bush family recently approved a flattering biography of Prescott Bush entitled Duty, Honor, and Country by Mickey Herskowitz. The publishers, Rutledge Hill Press, promised the book would "deal honestly with Prescott Bush's alleged business relationships with Nazi industrialists and other accusations". In fact, the allegations are dealt with in less than two pages. The book refers to the Herald-Tribune story by saying that "a person of less established ethics would have panicked ... Bush and his partners at Brown Brothers Harriman informed the government regulators that the account, opened in the late 1930s, was 'an unpaid courtesy for a client' ... Prescott Bush acted quickly and openly on behalf of the firm, served well by a reputation that had never been compromised. He made available all records and all documents. Viewed six decades later in the era of serial corporate scandals and shattered careers, he received what can be viewed as the ultimate clean bill." The Prescott Bush story has been condemned by both conservatives and some liberals as having nothing to do with the current president. It has also been suggested that Prescott Bush had little to do with Averill Harriman and that the two men opposed each other politically. However, documents from the Harriman papers include a flattering wartime profile of Harriman in the New York Journal American and next to it in the files is a letter to the financial editor of that paper from Prescott Bush congratulating the paper for running the profile. He added that Harriman's "performance and his whole attitude has been a source of inspiration and pride to his partners and his friends". The Anti-Defamation League in the US is supportive of Prescott Bush and the Bush family. In a statement last year they said that "rumors about the alleged Nazi 'ties' of the late Prescott Bush ... have circulated widely through the internet in recent years. These charges are untenable and politically motivated ... Prescott Bush was neither a Nazi nor a Nazi sympathizer." However, one of the country's oldest Jewish publications, the Jewish Advocate, has aired the controversy in detail. More than 60 years after Prescott Bush came briefly under scrutiny at the time of a faraway war; his grandson is facing a different kind of scrutiny but one underpinned by the same perception that, for some people, war can be a profitable business. In George W. Bush’s case it certainly was for both he and his friends. (taken from the internet)


The college professor Phil Lempert who invited me to speak is today known as the Supermarket Guru® and now is on Television & Radio News Reporter/ Newspaper Columnist/ Author/ Consumerologist/ Food Marketing Expert. He has gained wide acclaim for his marketing savvy and broad experience in the food industry. A distinguished speaker, exclusively represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau, he has addressed over 600,000 people over the past ten years, and is the expert on the retail environment and new marketing trends/products in the food industry. He is a respected analyst with an uncanny ability to identify and explain trends to both industry and consumers in a thought provoking and entertaining manner. He started out his life born into the food world by checking the supermarket shelves with his Dad, working at McDonald's and Howard Johnson's in High School, and after graduating Drexel University with a degree in Marketing and Retail Management worked in his family's food brokerage firm. (He also did some selling for me and sold my shampoos to a Supermarket) Not content to rely on 'passive merchandising', Lempert began publishing the bi-weekly "The Lempert Report®" and became the 'spokesman' for food consumerism. Lempert is the food trends editor and correspondent for NBC News' TODAY Show where he reports on consumer trends, food safety, money saving tips and showcasing new products. He has appeared numerous times on The View, Oprah, 20/20, CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC as well as on local television morning and news programs throughout the country. You can learn more about him by visiting his website at,

http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=bodybuilding&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.supermarketguru.com

CHAPTER five
My Life as a World Traveler

With the exception of making love day & night, my favorite passion happens to be traveling. It has been said about me that I had been in places that most people have only thought about and have done things that most people only dream about doing. I would love to go back to every city and country I have been to and go to all the rest of the world that I have not been to or seen.

Due to my business trips I found out that I had only seen and got to know the capitols of each country, such as Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, etc. When I retired I had the chance to really travel. I would take the lady who I was seeing at the time and spent a week or so in the capitol of one country. Then we rented a car and drove to every single city in that country. Each year I did this in a different country and really got to know the world and all of its cultures, and taste their foods. I found that I could spend days in the Louvre, The Prado and each museum that was well known and study the art that was world famous from a distance of inches. I did this for many years. The only country I could not drive around to see its wonders was Greece, so we went ahead and bought cruise tickets and went to dozens of spectacular islands. I had been to Europe, Asia as well as Africa but never visited South America.

I then met a Brazilian girl who introduced me to South America. (We later married). (picture enclosed) She took me to Rio de Janeiro, the most festive city in the world where she was born and grew up. She kept an apartment there so we stayed there while we were In Rio. She was very well known there and we were invited to parties every night. I went to the worlds best show, which is the carnaval in Rio, then the Maracana (the world’s largest soccer stadium), and when I had tasted Brazilian food I became enthralled with it. In The United States, we all know Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, German, Hungarian, and many other foods, but I was not prepared for Brazilian food. It seems to be the greatest kept secret to Americans. The best food was prepared by the owner’s housekeeper. They have barbeque restaurants that serve a special meat called Picania which is at the back of the cow which is fantastic. One of the best means is a steak made of Picania which is a part of the cow that is in the very back of the animal, just above the tail. Preparing Picania is very easy. It is not marinated at all, just salted and put on the fire. What American butchers do with this part is still a mystery to me. At these barbeque restaurants called chirrucuria’s they serve appetizers that make our restaurants look like we are very poor as their selections are huge and delicious as well. They have their waiters walk around the restaurant serving eleven different kinds of meat as well as salmon. There are small coasters on every table. If you want more meat you keep it upright. If you are not ready for the next serving, the coaster is turned over stating wait. The only place I found that has better beef is in Argentina were the cows are better fed and do not have to walk up and down mountains as they do in Brazil. The national drink is the Caipirinha made with cachaça. It is fabulous and I make one for my self every day. I purchased a barrel that I filled with cachaça. To make a Caipirinha. Use a regular lime which can be purchased in any supermarket and cut it into small pieces. Then crush the lime and add the cachaça. Then add a few ice cubes and some sugar and stir it. I use a sugar substitute as I had one experience where a waitress put in sugar and I actually became drunk from the sugar added to this “formula” I also order it with the lime pieces taken out which is called quado in Portuguese.

Brazil has many restaurants called kilo restaurants in which you pay for the meal by the weight of your order. They are wonderful. They do have many French and Italian restaurants, but I would advise you to avoid them. (I had also read this advice in an article in the New York Times) The Brazilian’s think they are good, however I think they suck. They have pizzerias that serve very good pizza’s however I always say that they are not the same as the pizza’s that you are used to as they do not use marinara sauce. They do not even use it in their Italian restaurants with signs above stating “authentic Italian food”. My question has always been “how do you make Italian food without it?” It seems they do and the locals are thrilled with it.

Their seafood restaurants are fabulous as they use freshly caught fish that only swim in their warm waters. My favorites are “Cherne” and “Trouta”. I do not care if these fish are grilled or made into a stew which they call “micquca”. Their desserts are fabulous as well with far superior ice cream than we have here in the US.




Monday, January 14, 2008


The Introduction
The Beginning
My Life as a Businessman
My Life as a Builder
My Next Venture
My Life as a College Professor
My Life as a Traveler


CHAPTER ONE
The Beginning


I am now at the age staring at 80 and all I have left is memories. As I tell people about my life everyone tells me to write a book I asked if anyone would be interested in my story and still do not know. If this ever gets published we will find the answer to this question.

If I count back 9 months from my birth to the date of my conception, it would happen to be on black Friday, October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and we went into the great depression.

I was born and grew up during the depression. Since my beloved father was one of the few people in the neighborhood with a job. He worked as a manager in millinery factory. He made $ 40.00 per week which is the same amount that we paid in monthly rent.

My mother snared him when he was very young, with the condition that they did not have a child for a long while. 10 months later I was born. We did not have much to eat as well as my mother was about the world’s worst cook. She made potatoes in most every form and gave the meals fancy names. I had to get dressed under the blanket as there was little if any heat.

One problem I have always had was to sleep until after 10:00 am, which made school very difficult for me to go to. My father had five brothers and sisters who he had put through college. He never went to college himself, even though he was the smartest one of all his siblings. Since my grandfather never really worked, my father had to start working at about 10 doing anything to support the family. My grandmother was literally a genius who spoke almost a dozen languages; therefore all her children inherited her intelligence. When her children were grown there were no jobs to be gotten, so his sisters became school teachers. One of my father’s younger brothers was drafted in the army and when tested they found out that he had the third highest IQ in the army during World War II.. They wanted to send him to officer’s candidate school, but he refused to go. Not knowing what to do with him they made him a master sergeant and sent him to California where he ended up practically running the entire air force from that base. When the war ended and he was about to be discharged, they said we can not lose you, and gave him a civil service job with a high rank and salary. Five years later the war in Korea broke out and they offered him a job as a brigadier general. He refused and stayed on in his present position for the rest of his life but now running the U.S Airforce world wide.

At that time I was 20 years old and about to be drafted into the army. I did not want to go into the army and possibly be buried in Korea as many of my friends ended up doing. A friend of mine who was a few months older than me did not want to go into the army either. He spent time in the library and found the solution for both of us. He told me that we could get out of it by claiming that we had asthma. He said he would try it and if it succeeded for him, which I should try to claim that I had asthma as well. I did and was examined by the army doctors who said “I do not have asthma” I replied that I was not having an asthma attack at this time. I was told to get a letter from my personal doctor. I went to him and he told me that I do not have asthma. After a long time arguing he wrote a note stating that when I was younger I had a bronchial condition and he heard wheezing at that time. I was finally given a 4F status and never went into the army. I guess I was a draft dodger before it became fashionable during the war in Vietnam. When I was fourteen I found that the girls would only go with the fellows who were in uniform, so I joined the State Guard which allowed me to wear the uniform. I had to go to meetings weekly and go to a training camp for two weeks each summer. I had failed my favorite subject in high school which was History. At the beginning of the term the teacher said she would grade us on two things. One was my tests and the other was by turning in our homework, I never turned in my homework therefore I failed the subject which I was very good at, therefore I had to go to summer school and take a test at the end of the summer. Since I had to go to summer school, I told my captain in the guard I had to resign and told him about the summer school. He asked me how old I was, and when I told him my age I was given an honorable discharge. To earn money after school I worked as a movie usher. I had many other jobs after my regular school hours. I worked for the department of sanitation shoveling snow; I also worked several times for the post office delivering mail during the Christmas season. I had worked in a hardware store as a clerk among other jobs as well as delivering groceries by bicycle.

Since I was the first grandchild in the family my aunts taught me to read and write before I went to school. (This happened to ruin my education). When I was put into the first grade and tested the school decided to promote me to the third grade. I kept getting promoted up to a grade until I had no idea of what was going on.

I did poorly in high school and was happy to graduate. I later decide to teach myself and read anything I could lay my hands on. Without college and getting up late, I could not find a decent job. A friend of mine’s uncle had a large coat manufacturing firm and got me a job as a driver for one of their salesmen. This started me off in a new life, traveling the country. I stayed in hotels and ate food with the salesman, which was wonderful compared to what I ate at home.

During my childhood my mother told me to never eat in restaurants as they give you poison, so I never did until the night I had graduated from high school, where the entire graduating class including me when to Times Square to celebrate. They decided to eat in a Chinese restaurant. I was scared to death; also I did not have any money with me. I went along and ate one noodle. I did not die and decided that my mother was just giving me false information.

My salary was $30.00 per week which I sent home to help support my mother and father family. One day when I was quite hungry, as the salesman had to out to entertain his customers. I was alone that night. I looked into the window of a restaurant and noticed a very attractive girl behind the counter. I went in and ordered a cup of coffee. She asked if I wanted to order anything else and I said no. She knew it was because I did not have any money and shoved a sandwich at me at no charge. As we chatted she asked me where I would sleep. I answered that I would sleep in my car. She invited me to her home and sleep with her. I used that incident to keep doing this night after night. Life was starting to become wonderful. While the salesman was out I copied his customer list and decided to go out on my own. I used my best friend as my driver, and paid all of his expenses as we traveled from state to state. I did the same each time the selling season was over but this time on my own working on a commission bases with a drawing account of $75.00 per week less taxes which left me with $66.00 to live on. Gasoline at that time cost me $4.00 per day. I stayed at Inns as there were no motels at the time. That cost me $2.00 per night in small towns and $5.00 in the big cities. I knew I had to eat so I bought cookies from local bakeries which were my meals for the day. I sent what was left home. (I lost eleven pounds during this short period of time)

Each trip I used other friends as “my driver” and in one case I asked one of my friends it he would accompany me on a trip to Texas. We decided to get him a line of merchandise whereby he could sell and get his own commissions as well. We chose a line of cocktail dresses not knowing that Texas was a dry state. He hardly sold anything. He had a friend who was in the army and stationed in Fort Hood who told him that there were many houses of prostitution in the area called “boys town), but we did not know where they were. We asked around and no one seemed to know where it was. We were in Nuevo Laredo at the time and while we were driving through an unpaved road we notices a nice looking girl sweeping some white stuff in the front of her abode. We backed up the car and he said he would ask her in his high school learned Spanish if she knew where “boys town was. As we lowered the window, she immediately said “fucky” he responded by asking her “how much?” She said one dollar. We asked her if that was for one or two. She said she would take the one dollar for two. We gave her a one dollar bill; however it was torn so she would not accept it. We placed it with one that was not torn. We both had sex with her for a one dollar bill that was intact. I noticed a picture frame on her night table with a picture of Jimmy Stewart (bought in a local store) in it. I asked her who he was and she replied “my boy friend”. She then asked us to let her into the trunk of out car and take her across the boarder to the United States. We naturally refused. After we left we realized the “white stuff” she was sweeping was dried cum. as she douched into a pail and poured it out of her front door. Her name was Olivia Gonzales. We both remember her name to this very day. (She was the first of two prostitutes I have had in my life. (I will speak about the other one later in this book). This friend always wanted to go into his own business. Many years later he bought a franchise in the employment agency business and named it Executive Personnel Consultants. He was given an instruction manual and read it very carefully. It said to rent space in the finest building in his city, and take an entire floor, purchase many computers and train girls to use them. He followed all the instructions but while reading the book he received a telegram stating that the franchisor had gone bankrupt. He was very educated an well educated, he decided the best thing to do was read the book and continue his business as he had used all of his funds in the purchase of this franchise and outfitting the business with the machinery, etc. He was extremely successful in this business until the “oil crunch”, as his main business was hiring oil engineers; He had opened up many offices but now had to downsize it after the “oil crunch”.

I started to think. Since my customers received a 7% discount for paying his bills before the 10th of the month and I was only receiving 6% in commissions. I had also found out the company was cheating me on my commissions. When my customer repeated their orders directly to the firm they never paid me the commissions that were due me. I found this out from people in the office and also from the customers when I visited them the next time. I got the bright idea that if I started my own company, I would give my salesmen a commission of 10%. However to start my own business I would need money but had none.

When I came home to New York City I walked around in the rain with the only pair of shoes that had. The soles were thread bare so I stuffed newspaper into them and continued walking.
.
I happened to enter a Woolworth store and saw a new product. A plastic bottle, which sold for 10 cents. Since I still had a nickel to get home on the subway, I bought the bottle.

Although not formally educated I was always creative. I went to the 42nd street library and looked through a book on formulas and found that if one was to mix soap with water it would anti-fog glass. I added some isopropyl alcohol and I called chemical companies and found a blue dye. With a marker created a logo and put copy on my sample bottle. I took the sample to car and truck dealers and it was rejected on sight. At that time I sent in an ad into an Optical magazine showing my product. I received a letter from a firm in Sweden who asked for the exclusive rights to the product in Sweden. I naturally agreed and received a large order, with repeat orders over the next 20 years. Here I was selling one store at a time and I happened to receive large orders from a customer in a foreign country. I put Swedish copy on the package which made it sell better in Sweden. I found out later that this company exported this to all of the Scandinavian countries as well as selling every store in Sweden including the Soviet Union as well as the rest of the eastern block countries. I then translated this product into most every language which allowed me to export it all over the world where the consumer in each country could read the text easier.

I then realized that the same formula could be used on eye glasses. I borrowed a few dollars from my father and bought some very small bottles. I then designed a display card with elastic strings and hung the bottles on it and started to go out and sell this product. I walked into every drug & optical store and sold every one of them. I started in Brooklyn, and worked my way to Manhattan and the Bronx and once again I sold every store I entered as the sale was for only $3.60 each. Every customer kept reordering the product

I filled the bottles on my kitchen table and strung the bottles while watching television, and went out selling in the daytime. I moved my “factory” from my kitchen table to my mother’s basement and then rented a small store for $40.00 per month. Every month or so I had to move to larger quarters and ended up twenty seven years later with a factory taking up almost an entire city block. Each night the local kids broke in and stole my typewriter and whatever else could carry out. No matter where I moved in this neighborhood, of Brooklyn, the burglaries kept happening including the huge building I had eventually moved into. In this case there were hundreds of windows. I had many employees whose only job was to cement block up windows. Years later when I sold the buildings I received calls from the new owners telling me that they were broken into. I just kept telling them to find the hole and plug it.

I knew absolutely nothing about going into business. I did not even know about shipping the merchandise I would produce. Later once I was in my business (I carried my merchandise on the subway with a rope around it with one end around my neck and delivered it by hand). One day I noticed a parked truck on the street and spoke to the driver and asked him if they picked up goods and delivered it. He told me that was their business and I started to use trucks for both incoming and outgoing shipments.

One day one of my customers asked why I do no use a jobber (I had no idea what that was) He gave me the name of one of the largest one. I visited the buyer and showed him my product. He said it was very nice however he has never gotten any calls for it, however if it go about what I was doing and give his these (turn over orders) he might stock it and even have his salesmen try to sell it. I did what he suggested and returned in a few days with hundreds of these turn over orders. I did the same with all of the other drug and optical jobbers. They called this POR (pay on reorder) which meant that they would not pay for the first order until they ordered more of the product. I did this POR business with all of the jobbers, but found myself out of money. I called back the product and received a bunch of checks in the mail with new orders. One of these jobbers, after hearing my story asked why I do not hire a manufacturer’s representative. He suggested one that was just starting and was looking for products to represent. They picked up the ball and I was now really in business. I had so much business that I had to hire a private filling firm to do the manufacturing for me. I was now really in business but needed another product.

Since Never-Mist my eye glass cleaner and anti fogger was doing very well, it was time for me to expand into other areas by manufacturing products that I could market. I stared to manufacture many products and sell them through the small mail order catalog houses that were prominent at that time. One easy one was a dental mouth mirror as a cleaner and anti fogger that I knew could sell through dental distributors. I utilized the same ¼ ounce bottle I had been using for “Never-Mist” and changed the color to yellow. It had a small distribution but it did sell. I private labeled this same formula for the dental distributors using their name as the manufacturer.

I had also used the same bottle and called it “Defend” (to fight off muggers and rapists) Here once more I changed he copy on the bottle and used the color red. It sold very well in the mail order catalogs and became well known. One national newspaper used the product in one of his cartoons showing the user spraying it into his own face. A police woman had used it to defend herself against a traffic violator (which received a great deal of media attention). It was also used for criminal purposes by bandits that tried to rob a bank. The criminal was promptly arrested and with his free telephone from the prison call he was allowed to make he called me asking for my help in his defense. I declined this request. I was also rebuked as when a few people read the copy on the bottle they did not read it correctly and though it had said (to fight off “niggers” and rapists). I also manufactured a product called “rub on gold” and “rub on silver” for consumer to buy items such as plain wooden picture frames and color it by rubbing on the gold or silver. One day I happened to put a bit of the silver wax on the front of my jet black hair and felt this could be another good product to manufacture. The user could use the product to go out at night with that streak in their hair and wash it off when they returned home. It looked great.

I had merely replaced the turpentine with propylene glycol and used a cosmetic grade of gold and silver powder, designed a label and display card and introduced a line that I called “Frost Tip”. It had a mild success however my product was knocked off by a huge cosmetic company that called their product “Streaks & Tips” I tried to sue them, however before I proceeded the large firm purchased a company with a similar name that predated my name so I had to give up my suit against them.

I went to the library and found numerous formulas that were usually a one chemical product. One was called a tree stump remover which the mail order company ran ads in their catalogs as well as in newspapers. Their ad showed the consumer their choices. They could hire a professional service with excavation equipment which would cost them a lot of money. They could have the stump dynamited out which could possibly blow up their house in the process, or buy this product for $1.50 and it would get rid of the eyesore. The problem was it was just about impossible for them to follow the directions and use it. They first had to drill two holes at 45 degree angles and then pour in gasoline, then pour in the powdered substance in the can and wait for it all to get together. The major problem was that nearly no one had a drill bit larger than a ¼ inch and most stumps were about at least 10 to 20 inches in diameter. They ended up trashing the product. The following year they forgot about their problem and bought the product once again with the same problem.

Another product was called “Septi-Care”, which actually worked. They just took the container and poured in down the toilet and somehow it cleaned out blockages. Another product was called Root Rout which was supposed to burn away wandering roots of dead trees. It worked and sold quite well. The next product I had called” Plasti-Kleen” that was to polish plastics. Then I had added to this line was a product I had called “Converta-Clear” which was to take the grime off the rear windows of convertible automobiles that kept getting messed up by the opening and closing of these windows as they went up and down. About this time a bottle of some chemical spilled on my desk and stripped off all the paint. I immediately marketed this product for automobiles so a person could remove their old paint before painting it a new color. I called it “Zip-Strip”..

I then added a Rust Remover, which was just pumice in the form of a stick. I also tried marketing a red wax in stick form to be used as a seal for letters when heated and dropped on the back of an envelope. This product did not sell at all even though it was big centuries ago in the middle ages by kings and important potentates. I had also manufactured a chemical to keep garden tools such as rakes and shovels from rusting. It was basically petroleum jelly dyed a bright blue. One of my mail order customers asked me to make a product that would increase the size of a women’s bust. I said I did not have a clue of how to do this. This man happened to be both a doctor as well as a lawyer and told me to just put petroleum jelly in a can and dye it red. He said he would pay me 8 cents per can. He in turn marketed it for about $10.00 each making all false claims. He ended up in jail on some other matter which had nothing to do with this.

I had purchased an electric IBM typewriter and noticed that the ribbons had a lead of a shiny piece about ¼ inches thick. I held it up to the light and inspected it. It seemed that if you looked at it closely, you could see through it. It acted like a one way mirror. I tracked down the manufacturer of this product and ordered dozens of large rolls of this. I had them cut into various sizes such as 8” by 10” and numerous other sizes and offered this to the mail order houses as an easy way for the consumer to paste these on their windows and have their own one way mirrors. I also manufactured this in very large rolls which I drop shipped directly to the mail order’s customer. I found out to my surprise that most all of these large sizes were being ordered by Motels and Doctors offices. Somehow I knew why they ordered this.

I decided that shining ones shoes was a mess, scooping out the polish out of the can and then brushing it on the shoes, and then buffing them. I decided that if I could design a product in stick form similar to a deodorant stick or lipstick, it might sell. I started searching for mold manufacturers. One mold maker I found told me that I was not the first one to think of this. The original one was the man who actually invented the lipstick. His name was Louis Philippe and the last time they heard about him he lived somewhere in New Jersey. I tracked him down. He was 78 years old (I was 22). We immediately became best friends. It seems that when he was young he was in the French Foreign Legion. He came to the United States with only one talent. He was able to play the concertina. He worked the Staten Island Ferry with a cup begging for donations. A passenger told him that he was very good at this and should go into burlesque. He did exactly that, and worked between the strippers, with customers screaming at him “bring on the girls” and threw rotten tomatoes at him while he tried to dodge them as he danced around playing his concertina.

He noticed that the only women who wore make-up at the time were the strippers. Both he and his mother went to the library and found French formulas for face make-ups and started to manufacture it in his rented apartment on 23rd street in Manhattan. He had the side of the building removed and installed boilers to manufacture his products. In a few years he bought up all of the property in what is now called the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Today if you walk down 23rd street you will find a Louis Philippe liquor store as well as an apartment building bearing his name. There was also a Louis Philippe movie theatre since torn down.

In a few short years he became the first and largest cosmetic manufacturer in the United States. He called the company Louis Philippe, Inc. In October 1929 he sold the company to American Home Product for several million dollars (in 1929 dollars), (with a restriction that he never manufactures cosmetics again. He used a dozen lawyers at the closing)

Louis Philippe Biography (picture enclosed)

Louis Philippe, Inc. From 1927 to 1930 Louis Philippe Inc. maintained a factory in this building for the manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics (rouge, lipstick, facial creams, etc.). The company was founded in 1911 by Louis Onesime Philippe (born 1 March 1884, immigrated to the US 1910, naturalized 11 May 1920, died New Jersey 5 July 1959). They are listed in the New York Times 18 June 1915 as a new incorporation, located at 361 Lexington Ave., dealing in perfumes, cosmetics, drugs, chemicals and beauty parlors. In 1928 Louis Philippe made an offering of class A common stock advertised in a detailed display in the NY Times with a history of the company and the following description: "Manufactures and sells the nationally known line of Angelus and Incarnat cosmetics and toiletries, which comprises lipsticks, paste rouges, skin creams, skin lotions, cleansing creams, etc., including the widely known and popular Rouge Incarnat, Angelus Lemon Cream, Angelus Vanishing Cream, (picture enclosed) Sunrise and Sundown Lipsticks, the trade-marks of which are important assets of the company." In 1933 Philippe sold the company to American Home Products Inc. He continued to serve as a consultant to American Home Products, but also founded a chemical products company called Louangel Corp., a real estate corporation and a wine and liquor business, all located at 312-320 W. 23rd St. Philippe also lived at this address during the 1920s. A photo in the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery dated 5 Aug. 1936 shows a sign in the second story window at 316 W. 23rd St. reading Louis Philippe / President / Louangel / Corporation. As of Sept. 2005 the building at this location has a prominent Louis Philippe sign over the entrance (picture enclosed). At the time of his death Louis Philippe was cited in his obituary (New York Times, 9 July 1959, p. 27) as "a pioneer in the development of indelible lipstick." In 1959 he sold the Louangel Corporation to Arnold E. Schnapp of Brooklyn, New York, who made this corporation famous all over the world, by manufacturing perfumes, colognes and other toiletry items.

I had used only one, (a cousin of my father against his dozen lawyers therefore they got everything they wanted. My “lawyer” stayed silent. The deal was that he would work for me in making the formulas work and I would do the marketing, etc. Louis was so excited with this latest coup he stated dropping nitro glycerin tablets in his mouth during the closing. The angina persisted so he was taken to the hospital where he died the very next day of heart failure. I was told about this by my “lawyer”.

All Louis Philippe’s friends told him to invest this money in the stock market as it was soaring at that time. With his bad luck the market crashed in only a few days after he received the check, leaving him with only one million dollars left to live out the rest of his life with. If you happen to see any of the old movies (before talkies took over) you will find his name as the cosmetician to the stars in each of the motion pictures. He married several of the then famous Hollywood stars who all showed up at his funeral in mink coats. I drove his then present wife named Charlotte Adams to the funeral. She was in her forties at the time but still asked me if she was the prettiest of all his ex wives (ex superstars of the time now in their 80’s) who were there looking for some money he might have left them in his estate. His wife wrote an article about Louis Philippe’s life and it was published with the name of “The Wonderful Wizard of Wax”. I was listed in the newspaper version of his obituary.

When World War II broke out, President Franklin Roosevelt gave him a “dollar a year job” working for the war effort. After the ware he was becoming restless and conceived a shoe polish in stick form. It was not a great success and it languished for years. I bought this company now named The Lou Angel Corporation as he was restricted from using his old name of Louis Philippe Inc. At the signing of the closing, the agreement was I was to pay him $12,000.00 and he was to work for me with the formulas. If it was not for bad luck, neither would have any luck at all.

At the age of twenty three I decided to get married. We had three daughters and were renting an apartment. After our four year lease was up I thought about purchasing a house. I picked out a home on Long Island and asked my wife if she wanted us to buy it. She said it would be very nice but it is so very far. I asked her “what is it far from?” and we decided to wait another few years. By the time we bought this house that was being constructed (it happened to be much further out on Long Island) than the one I wanted to buy the last time. It was in a small development of twenty two homes, all exactly the same in every way. We found out that the reason every one on this block was buying this house was that our first child was 5 years old and would be starting school in this new neighborhood. As we met each of our new neighbors I found out every one of the other
husband’s either worked for their father or for their father in-law and not one of them were in any business of their own. I was the poorest one on the block. I just could not keep up with the Jones’s as each ones family was supporting these young but very nice couples. While I was putting the lawn using seeds, using lime and fertilizer they had already hired some company to come in and sod their lawn. I decided to buy squares of sod and lay each one at a time so my lawn would not look shabby, they had patios put in.
After some time when I had earned some more money I put in a patio in the back of my house. The house had a creek right behind it with a deep slope and I worried that my children might fall into this creek. At that time a neighbor was having a swimming pool put in. They hired and excavator to dig out the soil. I walked up to the excavator and asked him what he did with that soil, and was told he had to dump it far away in a place where he could legally dump it. I asked him if this was costly to him and said Oh Yeah.
I told him that I could save him that money if he would just dump all of the soil in the back of my house in which he gladly did. I then gave him seventy five dollars to flatten it out so I would no longer have the slope. I then ordered an inexpensive barked wood fence and had it installed. By that time each of my neighbors joined country clubs. Hey this is getting very hard to keep up with them. I then decided to get even. I conceived a way to dress up this house that would outshine theirs. One day while my wife was out food shopping she was stunned to find me with a large axe in my hand smashing the sheetrock on our main living room wall and wanted me committed to a mental institution.
I had not told her my idea previously. I was building a false fireplace. I bought some lumber and constructed a frame for it as well as a bench that went in front of the fireplace that went the length of the room, and used wood panels (which at that time was in vogue) and paneled the surrounding area around the fireplace. I bought some more lumber and constructed a beamed ceiling and had it faced with the same paneling. I had also pasted a product called Z Brick to cover the entire fireplace which mad it look outstanding. I then bought a fireplace screen and the utensils that included a spinning light to give the effect of a lit fireplace. I placed a long strip of white carpeting from the front of the fireplace to the entrance of the room. I also worked on the adjoining dining room and created a grilled look to cover the windows by cutting an oval shape in the wood paneling around it. When my rich neighbors came in they were dumbfounded by the look of the room. One brought in her decorator to take a look at it. The decorator decided to use it on this customers kitchen floor, which was stupid as if you walked on this Z Brick it would and did crumble. I was now the star of the neighborhood.

My business kept growing and I started to earn more and more money. I had traded my car in for a Cadillac which stirred the neighbors all up. They kept calling “the rich one”. I had won this contest and sold the house and bought a new house for five times the price I had paid for the first one.

Each year I attended many trade shows, the largest were in Chicago, one in the winter the other in the summer. The busiest days were Saturday and Sundays. During the rest of the week we had the chance to speak to our neighbors. There was a young Japanese man in the booth next to mine and we discussed many things of interest. He was selling wonderful knives that could cut through stone and still stay sharp enough to slice a tomato. I purchased a set for myself. He then said not only his knives were wonderful, but we in Japan would beat the United States with things like this, but every product on the market today. I laughed and said “you mean you are going to take on Detroit in the manufacture of automobiles?” He replied by saying yes. I once again laughed. He told me of the new Japanese philosophy where you make a product and put it on television and forget it. We do the same however we never leave the drawing board. Each year we improve the product and make it cheaper and you do not. I never forgot his philosophy and based my business on this theory. Years later he turned out to be correct and found out that they were using the Demming philosophy.

You can find out more about Deming by going to the URL listed below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900–December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets) through various methods, including the application of statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypothesis testing. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan becoming renowned for producing innovative high-quality products and becoming an economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death. It seems that Edward Demming knew business as no one ever before him did.

He took his theory to the Ford Motor Company and presented it to them. They asked him many questions. Where and how large is your company? How many people are in your employ? Then they asked him for a business card. To each question there was no answer that would satisfy them. Their last question was. Where do you get these ideas from and he promptly pointed to his head. They through him out and he left. He did not give up and traveled to war ravished Japan that had almost no industry left. They listened to his ideas with great interest. “Lifetime employment for their workers, pride in their company and their work, as well as making every product as fine as they could and keep improving them constantly. They went along with his ideas it caused the great Japanese economic boom that stunned the world’s economic leading countries. They made and exported the best automobiles, and sold their electronics to every country in the world year after year. Each year Japan gives out the Demming trophy to the firm who had lived up to his standards best for that year.

The shoe polish venture had little success but with the purchase of this new corporation
however I had obtained all of the assets of the firm including his formulas.

I decided to go into the perfume business. I created beautiful packages (using cheap perfume) and sold them all over the world, not to stores, but to wholesalers who in turn sold peddlers. I also sold them for use as premiums to stores and commercial users. Most all of my perfume and colognes, when I did starting to sell them through stores sold at the retail price of two for one dollar. A price every consumer could afford which brought large sales. I later designed gift sets which included one bottle of cologne and a bottle of after shave. It was very successful so the next year I made three and then four piece gift sets. I at that time thought I was in the fragrance business, I later realized that I was really in the Christmas Gift business. Retail customers purchased them to give them away as presents as they were beautifully packaged and sold for one dollar each. These were given away to their children’s teachers, the mail men, the garbage collector, etc.

One memorable experience is, I happened to be watching the Jack Parr show (he was the one who was the host of the Tonight show before Johnny Carson. Parr was interviewing Oleg Cassini, who was the designer of Jacqueline Kennedy’ clothes. Cassini made a profound statement. “New York should be the Fashion Capitol of the World” It really got to me so I telephoned his office the very next morning for a meeting with him. I spoke to his chief of staff, a man named Alfonso Martin. I told him I would like to meet with Mr. Cassini about an idea of have to make his statement on the Parr show happen.

Oleg Cassini Biography (picture enclosed)
Born April 11, 1913 Paris, France Died March 17, 2006
Oleg Cassini (April 11, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American fashion designer noted for being chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her state wardrobe in the 1960s. His clothing designs also appeared in numerous Hollywood films starring his second wife, the actress Gene Tierney.
Born in Paris as Oleg Cassini Loiewski, the elder son of Countess Marguerite Cassini and her husband, Alexander Loiewski, he was raised in Italy and moved to the United States in 1936. His father was a Russian diplomat, and his maternal grandfather, Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini, Marquis de Capuzzuchi di Bologna, Count Cassini, was the Russian ambassador to the United States during the administrations of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. His father later adopted his wife's surname, which they deemed more distinguished, and when the family lost its status and fortune in the wake of the Russian Revolution, the Cassini’s moved to Italy, where Marguerite Cassini went to work as a fashion designer.
Cassini took American citizenship and became a second lieutenant in the Army during World War II, at Fort Riley, Kansas. Initially, he joined the United States Coast Guard but according to his The New York Times obituary, he later served in the U.S. Army as a cavalry officer because he found the idea of cavalry service a bit more glamorous. His brother, Igor Cassini, became a famous gossip columnist known as "Cholly Knickerbocker" .Cassini studied art under Giorgio de Chirico and eventually gravitated to his mother's career, fashion, when he took a job sketching for the French couturier Jean Patou. In the late 1930s, he worked as an assistant to the costume designer Edith Head and in the early 1940s was hired by Paramount Pictures.Among the films Cassini costumed was The Shanghai Gesture, a 1941 film by Josef Von Sternberg, which starred Cassini's second wife, Gene Tierney, who eventually would only wear Cassini designs onscreen. As a result, Cassini costumes appeared in The Razor's Edge (1946); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947); That Wonderful Urge (1948); Whrilpool (1949); Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), in which Cassini appeared as a fashion designer; and The Mating Season and On the Riviera (both 1951). After the war, Cassini designed ready-to-wear dresses while continuing to design for television, motion pictures, and Broadway. Cassini shot to international stardom, however, in the early 1960s, thanks to his association with Jacqueline Kennedy. "We are on the threshold of a new American elegance thanks to Mrs. Kennedy's beauty, naturalness, understatement, exposure and symbolism," Cassini said when his selection as the couturier to shape the entire look of the First Lady was announced. The fashion industry, however, was shocked at Cassini's selection by the White House. As Women's Wear Daily journalist John Fairchild wrote in his 1965 book The Fashionable Savages, "Everyone was surprised. Oleg Cassini had been around for years. He was debonair, amusing, social, but none of the fashion intellectuals had considered him an important designer." The publicity that Cassini's work for Jacqueline Kennedy received led women from 18 to 80 to copy the look of simple, geometric dresses in sumptuous fabrics and pillbox hats with an elegant coiffure. Meticulously tailored and featuring oversized buttons and boxy jackets, as well as occasionally dramatic dĂ©colletage, it was a style that was inspired by the work of Hubert de Givenchy. Cassini designed a reported 300 outfits for the First Lady, including a much-copied coat made of leopard pelts and a heavy satin gown for the inaugural ball in 1961; the Cassini outfits were paid for by her father-in-law, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Cassini in the 1974 AMC Matador showing some of the interior trim he designed. The name recognition that he gained during these years led him to be the first designer to have licensing agreements, with his name adorning everything from luggage to nail polish, as well as a special luxurious trim package available on coupĂ© versions of the 1974 and 1975 AMC Matador automobile. "All I remember about those days are nerves, and Jackie on the phone 'Hurry, hurry, Oleg, I've got nothing to wear'," he wrote in his 1995 book, A Thousand Days of Magic: (picture enclosed) Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House. His designs were shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2001 in its exhibit Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, which was curated by Vogue's European editor at large, Hamish Bowles. Cassini's autobiography, In My Own Fashion, was published in 1987. His partnership with David's Bridal was formed in the 1990s, and they had a line of his wedding dresses at the time of his death. On September 2, 1938, in Elkton, Maryland -- a Russian Orthodox ceremony took place in New York City on September 16 -- Cassini became the fourth husband of Mary "Merry" Fahrney, a daughter of Chicago industrialist Emory Homer Fahrney and his wife, the former Marion L. Hills. She was an heiress to the Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons patent medicine fortune. In addition to having a small role in the 1934 motion picture Cleopatra, which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Claudette Colbert, Merry Fahrney was an aviator and parachutist frequently known in gossip columns as Madcap Merry. She had previously been married to and divorced from Hugh Parker Pickering, by whom she had a son, Peter, who was adopted at 15 months of age by his maternal grandparents and given the surname Fahrney; Frank Van Sands Eizsner; and Baron Arturo Berlingieri, to whom she was married from July 31, 1937 until February 3, 1938. According to Cassini's memoirs, it was on his honeymoon when he realized that he had been married, apparently, for reasons other than heartfelt affection. He recalled that his new bride "smoked cigarettes one after another with the casual arrogance of the carnally satisfied. I was just another scalp." However, considering Fahrney's wealth and Cassini's lack of it, the decision to wed likely was deemed mutually beneficial, whatever the groom's belated regrets. Nearly two months after Fahrney and Cassini married, on October 26, her divorce from Berlingieri was reversed on appeal. The Illinois Appellate Court declared the divorce invalid on the grounds that the former Baroness Berlingieri's claim of being beaten up four times on her honeymoon was unproven, that she had not established beyond doubt that the baron tried to extort US$200,000 from her, and that as she was an Italian citizen by marriage, the Chicago court had no jurisdiction. The divorce, however, was soon resolved in her favor. Fahrney's divorce from Cassini, which was granted on February 5, 1940, was equally dramatic. She won her case by proving "marital misconduct" on her husband's part, stemming from evidence presented that Cassini had been in the company of "a scantily clad young woman" in his apartment in the Hotel Lowell in New York City. Curiously, however, Fahrney and her first husband, Hugh Pickering, were reported to have been in an adjoining room with an automobile salesman, spying on the couple. Cassini, for his part, denied he had been unfaithful and attempted to prove that his wife had had extramarital affairs, presenting testimony from his cook and the couple's former butler, who claimed that Merry Cassini had been caught in compromising circumstances on three occasions. Cassini also declared that his wife had bought clothes for another man, socialite La Grand Griswold. (Griswold, for his part, testified that he had asked Merry Cassini to be his wife, but that she had refused, saying that she already had a husband.) In handing down the divorce decree in Merry Cassini's favor, the judge declared the defendant's claims of wifely adultery were "unworthy of belief." In 1941, Merry Fahrney married her fifth husband, a Swede, whom she divorced the same year. In 1944, she married her sixth husband, Carlos Ojeda, Jr., a son of the Mexican ambassador to Argentina. Second marriage Cassini's second wife was the American movie star Gene Tierney (1920 - 1991), whom he married on July 11, 1941. The Cassini’s had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (born October 15, 1943), who was born mentally retarded, due to her mother's bout during pregnancy with German measles, and Christina "Tina" Cassini (born November 19, 1948). New York: Wyden,1979, but well publicized for years previously) in June 1943, while pregnant with her first child, Tierney came down with the German measles, contracted during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. The baby, Daria, was born prematurely, weighing only 3 pounds and 2 ounces, and requiring a total blood transfusion. The infant was also deaf, partially blind with cataracts, was severely retarded and ultimately had to be institutionalized. Some time after, Tierney learned from a fan who approached at her a garden party for an autograph that the women, who had been a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps, had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with the German measles to meet her at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. This incident, as well as the circumstances under which the information is imparted to the actress, is repeated almost verbatim in the story. Fraught with problems that included Tierney's serious depression after the birth of the couple's daughter with disabilities, Cassini's marriage was short but volatile. Both husband and wife had extramarital relationships, with Tierney's (while separated from Cassini) including romances with John F. Kennedy and Tyrone Power. Tierney won an uncontested divorce in California that year; the action was withdrawn since the couple reconciled before the divorce was made final. However, another divorce action was filed in Los Angeles, California on February 28, 1952, with Tierney declaring that her husband cared more about his tennis game than his wife; the final decree was granted on April 8, 1953. She was romanced and engaged to the Prince Aly Khan after her divorce. Their engagement was strongly opposed by the Prince's father the Aga Khan. Soon after Tierney broke off their engagement. After a series of emotional set backs, she married oil baron W. Howard Lee in 1960 and was happily married until his death in 1981. After his divorce from Tierney, Cassini was, for a brief period of time, unofficially engaged to the actress Grace Kelly. Cassini and Tierney remain life long friends; Cassini has been quoted "Gene is the luckiest, unlucky girl in the world, all of her dreams came true, at a cost." He died from complications of a stroke in Manhasset, New York at 92 years of age. He was survived by his third wife, Marianne, his two children, and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother Igor Cassini. At the time of his death, Cassini lived in a Manhattan townhouse and a house in the Town of Oyster Bay, New York, whose property once had been part of the estate of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

We made and appointment for the three of us to meet at their offices on Park & 57th Street where I told them my idea of how this could possibly happen. I said that all the famous French designers had fragrance lines, Chanel, Lanvin, etc and he should establish one as well. I then met alone with Oleg at his apartment at 575 Park Avenue.

To explain my idea further, he seemed to like the idea; however he must ask his major advisor first. He immediately picked up the telephone and made a call. It was strange to hear him say to the person on the other end of the phone, “Yes sir I will await your call”
I doubt that this guy ever said “sir” to anyone else. We continued chatting when the telephone rang, and he motioned me to pick up the extension phone. What I had heard from this conversation was (in a most familiar voice was) “Hey Oleg, how the fuck are you, who are you fucking?” The voice continued with “Dad tells me that you are speaking to a young man who wants you to go into the perfume business.” Oleg said yes he is here now. The voice continued with “Yeah I think it would be a good idea but I have a problem with the names chosen, First Lady for the women’s perfume is ok, Jacky would get a kick out of it, but no way could you use New Frontier for the men’s line. Go with Frontier, western theme. Bye”. I was ecstatic. This is the best news I have ever gotten and it came from the TOP.

I started designing like mad. I found out the famous designer loved to write the letter A in as many ways he could, but left the designing to me. We had many meeting during this summer of 1963. We discussed the “kick-off” would be a Le Club that he owned with his brother Igor (Gigi) the society writer Cholly Knickerbocker, for the Journal American, one of the Hearst newspaper. Le Club was on 66th street between 1st and 2nd avenues in Manhattan. Oleg said he could get Jackie to attend the kick off, which would bring along the media to make a really big splash. When the subject of money came up we started to have a major problem. We each confessed to each other that we had no money to invest in this venture.

If this was going to happen, it was up to me to find and secure the funding, which I was
told would be one million dollars. I racked my brain and asked everyone I knew if they could recommend someone with that amount of money. Finally someone came up with the name Jim Ewell. I contacted him and set up a meeting in his apartment in a modest section of the city. It seems that he was an heir to the Coco Cola fortune on his mother’s side and Mack Truck on his father side. He was brought up to believe that everyone would be looking to take money from him. He drove a Cadillac convertible but never even had even change in his pocket, not even for the parking meter.

I brought them all together but when we left he said “No way, these are fucking democrats and I will not give them a dime” As we moved along he did agree to participate. Now another road block came along. It seems that Oleg and his advisors said that this must not fail. One million might not be enough. Two million dollars might make it. Back with Jim, and another meeting with the group. This time the Cassini people thought that they could make it happen with a free lifetime membership to LE Club.
Jim rifles through his wallet and pulls out one that was send to previously, obviously because he was very wealthy. Jim said I hate that place, loud music, terrible sandwiches etc. After a long dispute he agrees to go along.

Now another thing came into play. I went about my business. At a trade show in Chicago at the Navy Pier, I found a man in my booth sniffing one of my perfumes. I made a joke that “these perfumes are for selling not smelling” He laughed and said that he was not in this business but just keeping a friend of his company who happened to be in the next booth. I asked what business he was in and was told sporting goods. Fishing rods, ski’s etc. I jumped in by asking him what his average dollar sale was. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, eh about $10.00. I replied that I can get you to buy one of my perfumes if you listen to my plan. It works…. This perfume called “Mona de Lise” that was in a square bottle and has a square golden cap, encased in a black satin bag with
a golden draw string in a gold box would cost you forty cents. If you would advertise it and offer if with any sale of $15.00 or more, you would surely be ahead. He seemed to like the idea and told me to send his advertising agency Schram Advertising in Chicago a sample and more information, which I did as soon as I arrived home.

Within one week I received a phone call, followed up with a purchase order for a good quantity of this perfume. I was told that they were running the ad in local newspapers to test it out. The test brought in a great crowd, so they kept running it in the newspapers and now in all of the sporting magazines as well. This was all during 1963.

On November 22nd of that year a tragedy struck down President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The killer named was Lee Harvey Oswald of Irvine, Texas who bought the Italian Beretta Rifle from a mail order ad by Klein’s Sporting Goods during the perfume promotion.

Attached is a copy of the advertisement showing the rifle and the perfume offering as well as the envelope used by A.J. Hidell the alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald. (Envelope attached).

Both Milt Klein and I felt somewhat responsible for this tragedy. (Letter attached)

Most of my promotions, other than the Mona de Lise perfume used in the ad bore the copy “Free Perfumes From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski ( a name that I bought the rights to use) with a purchase of X number of dollars” I added many other perfumes to this collection with great success. For My Prince Obolenski perfume I decided to make it look more expensive by designing a special over cap that would be a T shape similar the packaging used by the famous Chanel number five. I made a prototype by hand and took it around to many engineers. The idea would be to have this special T look force fit over the existing cheap looking cap. When opened and closed it would return back to the original position. I was told be each and every engineer that this was impossible. I went to an injection mold company and had them build me a mold made of a shiny plastic that would accomplish this. I also put a pressure sensitive gold band with simulated grooves to make it look like it had golden thread around the base of it to enhance it further. It turned out to be a sensational success in selling this very expensive looking package for only twenty five cents. I designed the gold foil label to match it bearing the signature that read “from the royal house of Prince Obolenski”. I sold this perfume as a free give away to large chain stores. When credit cards first came on the market, I sold hundred of thousands of these to one chain who used it as a premium to their customer who opened up the chains credit card. I was forced to create the entire mailing piece for the chain listing all of their products and using flowering copy to induce people to use their card which included the “free perfume.

Since I did not have a sales force in a given area I went to major men’s and ladies jewelry companies and told them I would design and manufacture both men’s and ladies colognes for them with their name as “manufactured by” them.

Several took my ideas and the names I had chosen for them and designed, however since I could not keep up the production their advertising produced they gave the Manufacturing out to other large private label companies and seemed to forget who gave the names and designs to them. In retaliation, I found myself in the “knock off business” copying these package but changing the names only slightly, with similar appearerence to the famous advertised products. It was very successful so I then decided to knock of all of the leading brands. This brought a great many lawsuits. Since I did not want to spend my money for lawyers, I decided to negotiate settlements with each of them, changing very little, but keeping the right to continue selling my products. During one lawsuit the term “knock off” was in constant use. The plaintiffs claimed that these were counterfeits. The judge became confused and asked me to explain the difference between a counterfeit and a knock off. I told him, as well as the court that if the product had used the name of the famous brand as the manufacturer this was a counterfeit. My products although similar in looks, and had the same odor, were clearly identified with my name as he manufacturer. I was later told that his definition was listed in the encyclopedia.

In one case, I was sued three times by the same company. Each time I made revisions, they sued me again. I asked the judge how I can get this to stop. He replied that they can not sue me again unless I copied another of their products. They decided to change the look of their product leaving me with the entire market that thief advertising brought in.

Another interesting case was with a major company who accused me of being a thief. I asked the plaintiff various questions such as, how much do you pay for your bottle, then the cap, then the carton, then the packing materials. When I asked how much the actual (juice) perfume costs them they refused to answer. The judge intervened and made them answer the question. Their answer was only a few cents. Their retail price was $50.00 each, and mine was only 25 cents. I then asked the judge “who then is the crook here?”

There were dozens of law suits in this area, but it was not as much fun until the mid 1970’s when most of my customers “dollar & discount stores” went out of business due to the oil crunch but to keep my employees I was forced to manufacture other products to fill the void.

I also visited many smaller companies with large sales forces, and made my colognes for them under their own names as the manufacturer, which kept my factories very busy.
I inquired from my buyers what else they bought. They gave me a long list until they came up with shampoo. I decided that this would be my next venture. I called in all of my salesmen and told them we were going into the shampoo business and they laughed stating “do you know how many shampoos were on the market in both the high as well as the low price areas?” I replied yes but do not worry, I have already come up with a concept that will make our mark in the arena and we will have a very successful line of shampoos.

My idea was to put a bull’s-eye on each label that will insure the success of our shampoos and make it stand out from the rest of them. The bull’s-eye on each said (If you “like” the name of the famous brand, you will “love” Louangel.)
I came out with eleven shampoos at the same time, and naturally was sued by all eleven of the originals.

I took on each, one at a time. The major companies thought that they could grind me out with legal expenses. From my past “legal experience” in the fragrance arenas, I knew it would be best to negotiate rather than leave it to the courts.

I chose the largest one first. Their attorney would not speak to me as I was a “lay person”
so we met in my friend’s office (who happens to be a lawyer) which satisfied him. I started asking him questions. “What is it that you object to?” the cap is the same color, the bottle is similar but not the same, the liquid is the same color and baby fragrance is not exactly the same however similar, the cardboard boxes are the same, the label is completely different. With this said even my friend screamed at me and said “what are you doing” The plaintiff’s agreed with me and left. When he returned to his office the chewed him out and said “he made a fool of you” and they came back to me once again.
This time I took another tactic. I agreed that the word “love” is quite strong and I will agree to change it to “try”. Case settled. I called my office and instructed them to ship the oil which was already produced and ready to ship.

In each case I changed the tactic, but basically the same. I was never stopped and had my own way with each product. I did this for 27 years and got bored as no on would embarrass themselves in trying to sue me again.

I did get a telephone call from the president of Spidell Watchbands, who said he had heard I was going to knock them off. I told him that we are not in the watchband business, and what was he talking about? He then said what is your British Crown supposed to be if not British Sterling? I answered with the truth which was English Leather.

In the English Leather case they objected to the wooden cap I was using. They demanded that I put in two grooves to difference ate between theirs and ours. I agreed and put in three grooves

I was sued by the German company that made cologne using the name of Tabac. They wanted me to change the name to Tobruk, I told them that the battle in Tobruk was too long ago to remember, so I settled with them by making my Tabac’s label in lower case letters not to conflict with theirs which was in upper case letters and they agreed and dropped the suit.

I was sued by the Wella Corporation and spoke to their president named Mr. Megale. He screamed at me and said it took him a lifetime to build up this name. I responded by saying. It took you, a lifetime? The company was founded by your wife’s father.
He said “you know that?” I told him that I did, and he backed off.

About this time there was a trademark lawyer’s convention. Since I was being sued by eleven companies. Each firm brought along many lawyers from the firm, and my name kept coming up in all of their conversations. Someone used the PA system and said that if you want to learn more about this guy, there will be a meeting in the conference room at a certain time. It now appears that there were over 100 lawyers in the room. The man at the lectern started out by saying “Number 1.this guy will beat every one of you, Number 2.he will teach you what you are you are charging your clients for, and Number 3. You will end up liking him.” Some of the attorneys shouted, who amongst us represents him, it must be you.” The man said he did not represent him. They then said (being smug) then who does? And he replied in deference to him I can not say. He did not reveal that I was actually representing myself where it was not costing me anything, while they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

After all of this I kept getting telephone calls from some of the most well known trademark attorneys telling me about suits they were involved in. and asking me questions on how to handle various situations. In each case I gave them my personal opinion. In one case the opponent of the last one called me with the same question, and once again I gave him my personal opinion.
The call ended when he said “I guess we will see each other at the Concord Hotel in a few weeks. I replied, why, is it singles weekend. He said no, there is a trademark convention that weekend and I guess you will be speaking. I then dropped the bomb by telling him I not only would not be speaking, and that I was not even a lawyer, just a high school graduate. He was stunned and said, then “why do I and the others keep calling you for advice?” I replied by saying I have no idea whatsoever. He replied that “but you were always correct”.

I doubt that there was even one governmental bureau I did not run into difficulties with. I was contacted by the Federal Trade Commission by mail that I was in violation of their rules. I knew I never did anything wrong in the area. I telephoned them and found the attorney on “my case” that was female. She told me that I was misrepresenting the country of origin on one of my perfumes. She said that I was claiming that it was made in France. I responded by telling her that the label stated right on the front of the bottle that the manufacturer was The Lou Angel Corporation with the address in New York. She proceeded by contacting all of my customers with letters asking if I had every said that this product was made in France. I was very close to all of my customers therefore they sent me copies of her letters to them. She kept at if for two years but writing me letters accusing me of the same violation even after I tried in vein to explain to her that this was made in New York and clearly said so on the label and all of the literature that I had sent out. I said it you want to say that I was representing this made in Russia there might be something to discuss as the name of the product was Prince Obolenski Perfume. This was spelled with an i at the end of the name Obolenski. If it was Russian it would end with a y at the end of the name as Obolensky. The original artist took the liberty of using the letter I that would indicate a Polish origin; however there was never any indication that France was involved in any way. I decided that I was spending far too much time in answering her letters so I telephoned her superior and told him the story. After a long period of time she was taken off this case and went on bothering other firms that might be in come violation or another.

This experience gave me a bright idea. I flew to Paris and started shopping for bottles, caps, labels, boxes as well as tri color stickers for the boxes and other packaging materials to make perfumes in France and bring them back to the United States. I had even opened up an office there and secured a private label filler to manufacture the merchandise for me. At the same time I had visited each of the large fragrance houses to purchase large quantities of essential oils to make the perfume. I chose the firm that I wanted to work with and had a meeting with their chief executive. I told him that I wanted to buy one of his fragrance oils whereby I would not have to use alcohol. I wanted to mix it with water. He told me that I was crazy and that no one would ever do this as oil and water do not mix and dismissed me from his office. I showed up each day with the same request and each time he said give this idea up. My reason for not using alcohol was there was an import tax in the United States of $21.00 per gallon which I would have to pay and I would be using thousands of gallons if I used alcohol, thus my request of using water. One day while riding with him in his limousine with a mink wrap over my knees to keep me warm as this was in December of 1966 which was very cold in Paris at that time, we were having the same discussion and he shouted out “hydrobase” which exactly what I was looking for. I placed orders for all of the ingredients and was on my way as a French Perfume Manufacturer. Since each bottle was extremely small I had the finished product flown in by air. When the products arrived at the airport the customs people gave me a huge bill for the alcohol tax. I kept insisting that there was no alcohol in these products and it was water. They laughed and said there is no perfume that does not have alcohol and insisted I pay this tax.

We decided to keep the shipment at the airport but send samples to Washington, DC to be tested for alcohol. Naturally the tests same back as I told them it would and I did not have to pay the alcohol taxes they first required. In my factory in Brooklyn, NY I had them packaged in both five and ten piece gift sets. Each package was encased in the fancy French paper I had bought in France and affixed the tricolor sticker on each that properly said “made in France”. I also took a portion of these perfumes and made them as decorations for key chains. (port du cley) “This produced one problem, during the winter the perfume bottles froze and broke” and mounted these on display cards. At the next trade show I took a sample of this card and placed it in the booth of my largest customer. (I had already put there name on the display card as “distributed by their companies name” I received a call from one of the owners of the company and he screamed at me for doing this. I felt bad and told him that I would remove it from his booth. At that point he said “are you nuts?” it is selling like a house on fire. His son was the actual boss of this company and came down to my booth to discuss this and asked what else do I have that was made in France? I first showed him the five piece gift set. He asked for the exclusive rights to this product and we decided on the quantity he would have to purchase to secure these rights. He then found out that I was still selling the ten piece gift set and we had a similar arrangement for the exclusive rights to this gift set as well. They sold out my entire production, so I kept repeating my orders from France and this was very beneficial to all involved in this venture.

With this same customer we made other joint ventures. I had a men’s cologne in my line called Russian Leather. He asked for the exclusive rights to distribute this product as well. He had a very large sales force and at that time mine was quite small. We agreed that we would make him the exclusive distributor for Russian Leather and I would stop selling it on my own. I redesigned the product’s label with his name as the distributor using the name “Russian Leather from the Royal House of Prince Obolenski.” He sold hundreds of thousands of this product which also included many gift sets using talc, soap, and of other men’s toiletry products.

After several years his father called me and insisted I come up to their offices in Providence, Rhode Island which I did. I was shocked to hear that they were dumping me as the filler of this product as they found another private label firm (that was in the process of bankruptcy, so they needed more business, even if they were to lose money on this order) that was five cents cheaper than the price I was charging them. I was devastated by losing my largest customer, however on the airplane home a bright idea came to me. I immediately telephone the son (the real boss) and insisted he come down to speak to me in my offices. He said he was happy to hear that I would consent to lower my price to meet the competition as I was the founder of the product and that we were very close friends. I said that I had no intention in lowering my price, however if you continue to use them instead of me, I would not only strip you of using the name from the From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski but would put this product back in my line and we would be competing with each other with my using the name “Russian Leather From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski.”

He was about the brightest business man I ever came across and we made a deal whereby they would continue with this other supplier and save the five cents, but would turn over two cents of this to me. This made both of us happy. This allowed me to use my factory to add and manufacture other items in my line and still receive the royalties from him. I was now really becoming very successful.

I must mention here that by this time I had automatic filling, capping and labeling machines that were spitting out over 60 bottles per minute. I did have a large facility with hundreds of people assembling these bottles into various boxes and gift sets but there were so many bottles that they could not handle this quantity. I spent a great deal of time searching and finding various charities that did assembly work at prices even less than what I was paying my own labor force. I used dozens of them with trucks going back and forth between the charities and my factory. I also had to find extra storage space to contain the finished merchandise.

Before this, one of my other customers asked me if I would let him also distribute Russian Leather. I explained that I had given these rights to the other firm, however their would be a way around this. I could let him use the Russian Leather name but without the Prince Obolenski suffix. I told him to pick another name. He could not think of any so I asked him where his family origin was and he replied Odessa. I gave him the rights to use the name “Russian Leather from House of Odessa.” He was also very successful with this line of products.

One day, I happened to pass a drug store window, and saw the first “women’s vibrator” in the window. I went in to take a closer look at it and found out that it was manufactured in the orient, but bore the name of the distributor as “From House of Odessa” and I immediately knew who this was doing the distribution of the product.

I had other problems with governmental agencies. I had gone to Hong Kong to have several products manufactured for me. One was a plastic zippered case to hold a men’s cologne and after shave and make it a travel kit. I designed the case using the term Moroccan Grain on the front. When the products arrived I was told that there was a problem at customs as to the country of origin. I telephoned the customs inspector and he said he knows that “Moroccas” is a country. I kept insisting that according to the law the country of origin was mandatory and there were in fact two places that “made in Hong Kong” was on the product. One was etched on the bottom and the other was a paper label on the top of the product. He just kept saying that he was not a fool and that he knew that “Moroccas” is a country. I had to go to his superiors to straighten this mess out.

During the period when there was a downturn in the economy and glass bottles became very high, I decided to put my fragrances in plastic bottles. Everyone said “ that no one would buy fragrances in plastic bottles” I tried to explain that plastic was lighter in weight and the cost of shipping would be far less, also they would not break as glass bottles did at times. I redesigned each of the bottles I was using into plastic containers.
I had molds built for each and had these bottles produced. Since plastic was thinner than glass I had to use more “juice” to keep the appearance of size the same as the glass. As the actual “juice” did not cost that much this did not become a problem. It turned out that it did not make any difference in the sale of the product at all. I also offered these plastic bottles to other manufactures in which there were few if any takers.

To save money I also redesigned the gift set packaging from the ones I had been using which had three components. A bottom, a top as well as an injection molded tray inside to keep the “glass bottles” from breaking. I changed these to regular “folding boxes” with great pictures of the inside look. This saved me a great deal of money in the packaging. The look was so outstanding it increased the sales of each by many times. (pictures enclosed)


When my father died (in my arms) at the age of 49 of a sudden coronary occlusion and I could not bring him back, I promised him that I would take care of his other son (my younger brother), when I purchased The Lou Angel Corporation, I stupidly made my brother my legal partner without having him contributing any money to the firm. His job was to run the factory. Each year no matter what amount of business I brought in, he had managed to ship less and less. The factory was a mess. I had a visit from the FDA who said that there was not enough paper to write down the violations. I had enough after twenty years, and told him to stay home with full salary and benefits. He replied “then buy me out” I said you never bought in, what is to buy out however I gave him a fortune to just go away. I paid him in eleven installments as I knew he would throw it all away if I gave him a lump sum.

As he left he said “no one can run this factory. I said don’t be stupid even companies a thousand times larger get run efficiently. When he left I hired a professional factory manager who had everything in tip top shape in a week. When the FDA returned they found a spotless factory with no violations.

As it happened after the eleven years, my brother lost it all; we have not spoken since the last payment. All my friends blame me for giving him too much, too fast. I love my business and could not wait until the next day however my brother kept saying that he hated his work and was only doing it for the money. I was told later by his friends that he used the monies I had given to him to purchase various businesses which all failed in a very short time. When he visited the one that was still there he found a lock on the door. He managed to get in and found it idle. Not knowing how to run a business he contacted my old mechanic and hired him. The mechanic later told me not only did he run the factory but did the sales as well. This business did not last very long either.

Previously my brother when he was the factory manager hired a friend to be in charge of the shipping department. As soon as my brother left we find he had been stealing from the company by giving loads of merchandise and pocketing the cash. He claimed that prior to these incidents when I caught him; he had turned in the money to my brother. I have no idea what to believe here.

I married a girl when I was quite young. She had a sister who found herself pregnant. The father of the baby married her; however he was trying to become a “soldier” in the mafia
and to “get his bones” (the term used for this) he was a hit man for one of the five New York mafia families. He had been arrested many times, one for kidnapping. My wife asked me to post his bail money which I did. Not long after all of the media showed a picture him lying dead in the street with his feet still in the car he was driving. He was shot in the head in retaliation for killing a member in another family. I went to the funeral
and was amazed that the undertaker was so skillful in covering up the bullet holes with make up that the holes could not be noticed. At the funeral many men showed up with envelopes stuffed with money for the widow. The mafia seems to be very kind to its members. They obtained a job for my sister in-law in one of their bars. It seems that a member of the mafia from out of town came into the bar and grabbed her butt. The owner of the bar that she worked for took this guy outside in an alley and shot him dead. My sister-in-law was repeatedly questioned by the police to find out who the shooter was. She was told not to say anything, so the police wanted to charge her as an accessory to murder. It took along time to straighten this out and get her released. She then married another member of the same mafia family. The police kept breaking into their apartment arresting him for various crimes. After he died some years later, she once again she dated a “crooked cop”. It is amazing that one of her children from her first marriage turned out to be extremely intelligent and received a scholarship to an Ivy league school, and went on to become a doctor.

My father’s demise was only the first of three tragedies that week. After the funeral my new bride told me had an itch. I responded by saying “scratch it”. She replied that it “was down there”. I sent her to a doctor but when she returned she said that the doctors wanted me to telephone them. I was asked if I new she was pregnant. I told them that I did not know that. They said do not worry about this as she will not survive nor would the baby ever be born as they found a huge lump up there that could either be an entopic pregnancy or it could be a large tumor. I took her to many doctors for a second and third opinion and one came up with an idea. He told us to wait until the pregnancy was five months along, and he would go in and hold the fetus with one hand and cut out the lump with his other hand. It turned out to be a benign cyst. She survived and the baby was born. The third thing that happened was my very best friend came over to console me, but started to act very funny. It seemed he was having a nervous breakdown, “I asked God, ‘what are your plans for me next week” He spent the rest of his life in and out of mental hospitals and died at the age of 92. Never having a life between the ages of 25 & 92.

We had a bookkeeper who was with us for many years. She decided to quit and move to Florida and asked me to loan her $25, 00.00 for a down payment. There really was no need as a customer of ours had mailed us an envelope with $25, 00.00 cash in it. When I kept pressing the customer he said he had mailed it and sent me the signed receipt for the envelope that revealed her signature on it. She claimed that she never receive it and left the very next day. Since she was with us for over twenty years I attributed this to a “bonus” and did not press charges. She did say that she was not respected as the office manager and suggested we hire a man to run the office. I had my chief of staff and accountant interview him and they approved. This new office manager immediately replaced the entire office with people from the Philippines where he was from. Since I was very busy all of the time, he kept bring up checks for me to sign. Not paying the attention I should have paid, I signed each one (as I was always on the telephone) The next month when the mail arrived my new secretary took all of the cancelled checks out of the envelope and put a paper clip on the batch. I liked to open this type of mail myself however tried to put the checks back into the envelope. One check flew into the air, and when I retrieved it one flew into the air and I caught it. I looked at it and it was made out to “MNLA, Inc” Never hearing of this company I assumed it was for a trucking company however it was for $37,000.00. I immediately knew this was not possible so I asked the new Philippine bookkeeper to come upstairs to my office which was one floor above the general offices. I was told that he had left for the day. I ordered my accountant to come down and audit my books. He found over $60,000.00 in kited checks done in the very first month he was there. I immediately called the police and even without a warrant, went to his home with the policeman and found a complete forgery kit on his dining room table with whiteout and other things. I took all this material which belonged to me and brought it back to my office. The next day I received a call from an attorney who claimed to be representing this bookkeeper and he said that he was ready to turn himself in to the police.

It took over one year to get this money back. I had to post a bond with an insurance company (as I might be accusing an innocent man), I had to hire a criminal lawyer, and by myself froze all of the accounts he deposited the money into. I also alerted all of the employment agencies not to hire this man, and even called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked if they have any records on this person. They would not tell me, however I asked if you won’t tell me just let me know if he was on a forgery list. The answer was yes. It seemed that his record showed that he was in prison in the Philippine Islands at the time his references were checked.
I called every attorney I knew and said that I wanted to go after the employment agency that sent him to us. None would take the case as it was our responsibility as well to check him out as well as theirs.

I now put on my lawyer’s hat and sued them myself. I naturally won the case and received a “bonus” of $10,000.000 from them.
It took several years to regain my money from this thief since I put a lien on his house (owned jointly be both he and his wife). Since he could not find a job, he had to put his home on the market for sale and I received that amount of money at his closing sale of the home. I also had a meeting with the judge at his criminal trial. I told the judge that every one seems to be happy but me. The insurance company received the premium from the bond. All of the lawyers are happy with the fees they received from both sides, the prosecutor was happy with his conviction, however I have not received the stolen money from the frozen bank accounts. The judge realized what I was saying and issued a “confession of judgment” from the thief right in the court room.

My brother also had a friend who was in the insurance business and to give him out companies business. He certainly gave us the business. After I retired I was sued by an insurance company for not paying a bill. I went to the New York State’s Commissioner of Insurance, who at one time worked for me. We found out that I had paid the bill on time, but the friendly insurance man never turned the money over to them.

Remembering that my father passed away at the age of 49, and I had a similar build as him, I was reaching that age but could not pass the business to my three young daughters who were very young at that time, so I decided to sell the company. I had meetings with a great many CEO’s of cosmetic companies, but all said the same thing. If you come along, we will pay you whatever you ask, but there is no one we know of to replace you. “Lou Angel is nothing without Lou Angel”. There is no one else that knows what the consumers want next year or the next.

Since this was mainly a Christmas Gift business and we start production in January for the end of the year, I have always had some strange ability to know what the consumer would want in the coming years. I therefore decided to sell everything. I turned every bottle, cap and carton into product and sold it all. I ran an auction and sold all of the machinery. The only left to sell was the name and good will. Coincidently at the auction a young man showed up and offered to buy this from me. It was good for me in many reasons. I would get rid of all the rubbish that only he could use to start up. I would stay in his office for a few months to make sure I would collect all of my bills still on the street. What I did not know was that he was a professional thief. As I opened the mail I found bills that I turned over to him. He did not pay a single one and naturally I never received the remaining monies stated on the contract. After several months he disappeared and we found him doing the same thing in Canada. Now I had judgments against him in both the United States and Canada that were uncollectible as he once again ran away. He only purchased the company to use its good name and credit rating. He cheated all of my suppliers who know the true story and do not blame me for anything.

The factory building was almost one square block in size and in the worst neighborhood in New York City. There was no business of a size that could use this space that would move into this area. I decided to divide the buildings into five pieces, and run ads in the local newspapers offering “The finest factory in Williamsburg” (we were only a few blocks from Williamsburg) which had a huge Hassidic population. I found one Hassid who purchased 30,000 square feet. We got along very well and I appointed him as my real estate broker. I told him to contact all his relatives and friends and sell the remaining buildings to them which he did. This brought the entire Hassidic community to the area bring along a synagogue and food stores etc.

Some years ago I read in the New York Times a story about Williamsburg and it showed a map which pointed out my property was the dead center of the area. The Hassid’s are very smart and each subdivided their buildings renting out space to people from all over the world. Today I was told there were signs in most every language on the building where when I owned it there was but just one.

At this time my accountant at this time got divorced and had no where to live. While I was out of town he convinced my stupid brother to rent an apartment and call it our New York City Showroom. He would live there and we would use it for our extra marital affairs. It became a very busy place, with my brother and I taking turns in using it each evening, with the accountant sleeping there when we were not using it. I have dozens of amusing stories to tell here however I do not think the reader of this book would be interested in hearing them, with the exception of mentioning that I had brought in some of the most beautiful girls in the city, until I met one young girl who happened to be a school teacher at that time. I had asked her if she was happy with that occupation and said that she enjoyed the teaching part however the other teaching were so boring that she was going nuts in trying to speak to them. I then asked her why she did not enter the “real world of business”. She replied that her mother had spent a fortune sending her to college to become a teacher and would be furious if she left that position. She was not only beautiful but extremely intelligent. She looked around and found out there was one area that would allow women to grow with the company and some even became vice presidents which was in advertising.

She found an office job in a media buying firm in the advertising area. Within a few weeks her boss said she was wasting her time in that position and asked her if she would be interested in learning this business as a media buyer. A short time later she was in charge of the buying department. She then asked the boss if there was anything else she could do at this firm, and he said let me put you in another department which she also ended up being in charge of. Her next question was, Is there anything else she could do, and he replied by saying no as you have reached the top of this small firm and that she should go out an get a job with a major advertising agency. She went to an employment agency and with her looks and brains along with the excellent reference. She was hired as the New York negotiator for this the second largest agency in the country. She did indeed become an assistant vice president, then a full vice president, then a senior vice president, and ended up as the third person in command of this agency. Each weekend she came out to visit me at our country home, and since she was not a big executive in the firm she was allowed to purchase stock in the company. During this time there were many mergers in the advertising industry and I kept urging her to buy more and more stock as when this company sells it would be worth a fortune. She kept insisting that the CEO kept saying that he would never sell the company and showed me headlines in Advertising Age to that effect. Within a short period of time he did sell the company to the largest advertising agency in the world and she was now rich from the stock buyout. The new firm offered her a position but she declined the offer as she would have to work under people she had fired at her old company. So she retired completely

She decided to become a real estate sales person. She went to real estate school and studied hard. She asked the teacher if they would allow me into the building as it was winter time and I was freezing while sitting in the car waiting for her to finish the class. I sat in the classroom but did not pay any attention to what was going on. She then had to go to Philadelphia to take the test. I drove her to the test. She asked me if I wanted to take the test also as it was allowed. I felt that I would be embarrassed as I did not know anything about real estate. This test was done using a computer using true and false questions. I sat next to her and punched in my answers. When the test was over they happened to call my name first. They gave me a slip of paper that said I passed. She grabbed the paper out of my hand and was amazed that I had passed. They then called out her name and she found out that she had failed this test. I would like to mention at this point that I had only a high school education and she had a master’s degree from a university. She burst into tears. She then hired a tutor as well as purchasing a bunch of audio tapes and kept studying for days. She went back and passed the test this time. It is truly amazing that the State of Pennsylvania has a book that is a dozen times as large as all the other states with information to learn from.

Although I was married to someone else, I saw this young lady for 18 years with my wife not having a clue that this was going on in fact they were cousins. There were only the two of us living in the wilderness with only animals roaming around. After the 18 years we decided to split. She moved back to her apartment that she had always kept, and I stayed on living in the woods by myself (with many female visitors that constantly came to visit and comfort me).

Within two weeks I received telephone call from a young lady who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. She had graduated at the top of her class from a top university and was a partner in a stock brokerage company. She came to visit me the next weekend. and kept coming to see me every two weeks. I went to visit her from time to time as well. We got along very well and traveled all over the world together but I had to end this relationship after seven years as she had given me a STD, which shocked me as she was so very prim and proper in most every way except that when she went home she started “seeing” other men and kept up her search for her elusive next husband. This relationship lasted for seven years.

When I gave up the business, I also gave up the “showroom” and the accountant went back to live in his mothers house.

So basically I have now become retired, and considered myself rich. (Interest rates were running between 15% and 17% at that time)I saw no need to open up another business or to look for a job.I had no idea that they would drop to 2% which would make me somewhat poor once again.

.I at that time met an attorney who knew I had accumulated a lot of money from selling all of my business assets and asked me it I would invest some of it in a business owned by a friend of his. I said it does not hurt to talk to him. The three of us met in this lawyer’s office. The man explained his problem. He had invented a device that could cut the cost of an aircondioners electricity bill by using his produce called a Hydrocouple; however he did not have any money to pursue this venture. With nothing else to do, I decided to become his partner and we formed a firm and called it Certified Energy Corporation. I did not have invest any money in the firm however to get him to go out and sell these, I had agreed to, and in fact did pay him $1,000.per week for his living expenses. I then went about getting a patent for this product and eventually secured it. Another friend of his joined in this venture and helped us write a business plan. Now there were four people involved. I had each of my former sales representatives go to their largest customers to get the inventor appointment’s to present the product. Several large supermarkets tried this out and they reported savings on their electric bills, however none had placed any orders at this time, but said they would check it again as the electric bills came in for the next few months. Another friend of mine at this time that Merrill Lynch was starting up a venture capitol group; and gave me the name of the newly appointed president. .I made an appointment whereby we all met in the Merrill Lynch office. The president was impressed with what he had heard, and had his engineering department check out this product and agreed that it had merit. We had several meetings and started talking about their backing us with funds that might lead to an initial public offering. We celebrated this news and awaited the next and final meeting to proceed with the financing. At that final meeting we sat waiting for another gentleman to join us. This man arrived and immediately started to argue with the president. (We found out that this new gentleman was the CEO of this venture capital group). We listened to them fight. The CEO screamed that they had agreed that the first deal that they would do would be one that he personally would bring in. (He had none at this time as yet), and abruptly left the meeting. The president ushered us into another room. He did partially agree with the CEO that none of us had any experience in this field, but also said that he still agrees with us and that he would “bring him along”. He also said that we might go to another large venture capital company to see if they had any interest in this. We met with the president of that firm who liked what we had but said that energy was not in favor at this time as biotech was the thing they were most interested in.

I then went ahead and changed the name of the company to Cryogentic,as the product could also be used in the Cryogenic area. I had contacted many Cryogenic scientists and told them about this and asked them if they would be interested in joining this venture. All of them agreed to go along with us. I hastily researched Cryogenic’s and re wrote the business plan, and brought it back to the last firm. For one reason or other they decided not to pursue this. By now the year of my agreement between myself and the inventor was about to end and since nothing was happening. I stopped my thousand dollar payments to him. He then found another business to go into and signed the corporation over to me, where it lies dormant.

One day the lady who was the advertising executive, I was now living with, was brushing her teeth. I noticed that she had some powder in her hand and was using this to brush her teeth. I had asked her what that was and she replied that she did not want to lose her teeth as her mother did. She went to her files and pulled out an article from the New York Times that spoke about a man that was touting his theory on gingivitis. It seemed that if you mix boric acid with a little bit of hydrogen peroxide it would prevent gum disease. I got excited and tracked this man down. His name was Dr, Paul Keyes and lived and worked in Reston, Virginia. He retired as the chairman of the National Dental Health Foundation for the United States He then formed the International Dental Health Foundation. He was being written up in most all of the media magazines and constantly being interviewed on television with his theory. I called him up and after a brief conversation decided to fly down to visit him. I brought my accountant with me. He sat me in a dental chair and scraped some gunk out from between my teeth and put it onto a slide. Then using a microscope attached to a television monitor I watched what looked like a science fiction movie of huge animals fighting and eating each other. He dropped some bicarbonate of soda on the slide and I watch all the animals die instantly. He then introduced his assistant a dentist and I introduced my accountant and we all decided to form a company to market this amazing product. I named the product and the company “Periodent and starting designing a full line of periodontal products, which included mouth wash, dental floss as well as toothpaste. I started to put together a team using the best creative advertising firm in the field at that time and other experts in the field to help me kick this product off. I decided to use a device that was presently being used as an epoxy applier to put the powder in one chamber and the peroxide in the other so they would not combine until they were applied to the gums. At this time someone asked me if we had done any clinical trials that were required by the food and drug administration. It seems that if you take two safe chemicals and combine them into a product you must have clinical trials to get their approval. I told that person that Dr. Keyes must have done this. I called Dr. Keyes up and asked if he had ever done this. He screamed at me and said. Why does everyone bring that subject up and his answer was that he never did. To do clinical trials takes a long time and costs a great deal of money that neither he, nor I had. Ahh, another defeat for me.



CHAPTER two
My Life as a Builder

Being retired I became bored. I purchased a small country home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The girl I lived with at that time decided that we needed a swimming pool. I saw no reason for this was in a very cold area, neither of us were swimmers, and I did not feel like fishing out tree branches and animals, however I let her put in the pool.

I decided to put a house over the pool. I hired a group of men who amazingly put this up in a week or so. I designed it using inexpensive sliding glass doors using the solar effect to help heat the pool as well as installing a propane gas heater. I also designed a small sauna and steam room between our bedroom and the pool. In an indoor pool there was a great deal of humidity, so I researched and found a giant dehumidifier that would suck out lots of water from the pool and put it back into the pool. It also took out the chlorine odor from the house. Now it was perfect as we could swim in the pool watching the snowfall outside and be comfortable. After watching how fast this group of men put this pool house up, I asked one of the men if they could put up dozens of homes at the same time. His answer was of course. I went to a local tax sale and purchased a great many one quarter acre lots at only $240.00 each. I found an excavator as well as a septic specialist and began my quest.

Being creative, I designed the houses with incredible beauty and decided the correct selling price should be about $75,000.00, a price that would attract almost anyone who wanted a country home (since this area was only one and one half hour from New York City). When the foundation and septic system was in, I called the man who I originally spoke to and asked him when they could start construction. I was told that the group that put up the pool house was done by the owners of individual companies and the only reason that they were able to do the pool house was it was winter and they had no other work. Now it was spring and they were all busy with their regular jobs.

I found myself as a general contractor who knew nothing about building houses. I searched around and made many calls. Only one man showed up carrying a hammer.
He started putting up stick by stick and it was taking forever to erect a house. I did the same with hiring many electrician, plumbers, painters etc. These workers spent more time visiting there parole officers than showing up for work. What I found out during this process was that the State Of Pennsylvania did not require building people to have a license. All they had to do was print a business card and represent themselves as such. This included me as an architect.

I also did not know most of these workers were convicts, who stole everything they could find in the houses. I was told that a refrigerator was missing from one house. When I went there to check it out, I found they also stole the carpeting. This went on during my entire building experience. When my the first home was finally finished. The other “builders” ran ads in the local newspapers offering homes from models. When a prospective buyer showed up and asked what type of oven came with the house, the “builder” responded by saying “Oh you want a kitchen, that would add X numbers to the house” I was offering a “speck house” take it or leave it”. Instead of running ads in the newspapers, I requested and received full page publicity on my homes at “Pocono Dream Estates” There was no area with that name, just houses on scattered lots. When I went to the post office or gas station I was told that I caused the town to become gridlocked with all visitors to the town asking where “Pocono Dream Estates” was. In any case I sold every house the very first weekend after the publicity was published in the newspaper.

Now I was in real trouble. It took over one year to produce each house. Since every house I erected most things were being stolen, I had to raise the prices from $75,000.00 to $150,000.00 as no one could afford to wait that long as most had sold their old homes, and were ready to move in to one of mine. I had sold every house many times over and over until I decided this was fruitless, and decided to try a different approach. I put up the first “StickULar” house with the original foundation and place a modular home on top of it. This worked for a while until I completely gave up and just dropped modular homes on the foundation. With the building process in the area, even the lumber yards cheated by sending less lumber that was on my order. I could not believe this as I was not about to count each and every two by four piece of lumber, so I searched and found that there was a large chain of lumber yards called 84 Lumber Company. I telephoned the owner and told him of my dilemma and also said this area was written up as the fastest growing housing market in the country. He agreed to meet with me and said “I like you young man, you make things happen”. He came to visit me and did open up a facility in the area. Now using this chain I knew that it was not in the interest of the manager to cheat me. The bottom line of this part of my life as a builder was I did not make a dime putting up homes.

Shortly after I retired I received a telephone call from someone I did not know, however he heard about me and he told me and interesting story. He was marketing an item and selling it though the newspaper by mail order. It was a medal that people purchased for 10 UK pounds that was supposed to bring them luck. He offered me the sole distributorship in both North and South America. He sent me a sample and the copy he was using in the British newspapers. This would cost me just a few cents. I took the item to the National Enquirer and showed it to them. They just laughed and told me a story about the item. The medal was supposed to carry “Holy Water from Lourdes. They also told me that others had come to this and they ran their ad. The ad also said that this was blessed by the Pope in Rome. It seemed the marketers of this were arrested, and at the trial, the plaintiff told them that the Pope does not seem to remember blessing this item. The defendants were hard pressed to answer this. They said they took the water from Lourdes in 55 gallon drums and traveled to Rome. The Pope was on his balcony blessing the people down below and (also the truck containing the water). At this moment they were convicted, and went to jail for mail fraud. I did not want to get in any trouble, and decided to go to a friend of mine who happened to be selling the bible in the shape of a cross. I had it gold stamped and wrapped it into a vinyl folder and gold stamped a cross on it with the copy below stating “The King James Holy Bible. (picture enclosed). I wrote copy that said if they really believed all of their prayers would be answered if they kept this in their pocket next to their heart. I ran the ad in the National Enquirer and try to sell this for ten dollars. There were some takers. I also sent out a mailing piece to various Christian organizations to be used as a fund raising item. And even received letters from well known people thanking me for doing God’s work. (picture enclosed).I did not make any money from this, so in turn I sold my remaining stock to the man who originally approached me in England.

CHAPTER three
My Next Ventures


About this time I discovered the computer and completely fell in love with it and what could be done with it. I have always been fascinated with superimposing pictures, where I could take someone’s face and make him an athletic star, putting him or her with famous People like the president, etc. I found a young computer programmer and had him create am whereby I could achieve this instantly, and then transfer this image onto a T-Shirt etc. I later developed a way to place the image onto coffee cups after wasting hundreds of mugs, I finally succeeded with it.
I incorporated a business named Visual Technologies “Vistech” and went about selling computer systems to people who wanted to go into this type of business. I sold many, however I found that unless they went to high traffic areas like Disney Land, or places like six Flags they would not do well. Most of them went into flea markets and shopping malls and did not do very well. I did not feel good about selling this system to people who would fail, so I gave this idea up. I then left the woods in Pennsylvania and moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1991 where they had things like restaurants, movie theatres and even places to buy a bagel.
This was in the year of 1994 with the introduction of Tim Burners Lee invention of the World Wide Web. I checked it out and found only a very few sites that were on it. I quickly learned how to use the hyperlink language and posted all of my previous images of myself in various superimposed positions and made up a stupid story about it so they would all appear as me as a super hero. The few people on the web at the time became my email friends with each asking the others to “check out my site” All came back and said your site is “cool” and asked what grade I was in. I told them I was in my sixties and each replied “No Way” as you are the “coolest cat on the web” I then decided to become a webmaster and write sites for other people, and became very good at this. Each time I encountered something that interested me I checked out the source code and studied it and made it better. and eventually became about the best webmaster on the web. I now decided to become one and thought that I could build a nice business doing just that. I knew a few girls that were very attractive and quite articulate and told them to visit restaurants, and other types of business that should have their presence on the web to advertise their business. One of them asked “why should I believe you that this is a viable business and walked away. I murmured to myself “stupid cunt” and let her leave. The other one went about the business, however no one at that time even knew about the World Wide Web or even the internet. She left.
Today I believe there are at least a trillion sites, with more added each day.
My original site has changed many times over the years but it is still up there on the web under the URL http://www.mrangel.com/. You can see the site which is till up there by clicking on the URL or go directly to the table of contacts at http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/ where you can scroll down to anything you are especially interested in

If you go to this site you should find them under the name of “webpages”. Since that time I have added many subject on anything I was interested in and added information on things I knew a great deal about such as Sushi Online, Coffee Online, Cigars Online, Brazilian Lifestyle, as well as much information on Medical and Dentistry, etc.


CHAPTER four
My Life as a Lecturer at Universities



I had a friend who was a college professor at a university who asked me if I would consent to lecture his class of MBA students. I asked if I would be paid a fee for this and was told I would not. I then said I want a certificate in a frame with a wire on the back so I could hang it on my wall. (since I did not have any academic certificates at all on my wall) and he agreed to get me one which proudly now hangs on my home office wall).
I spoke for three hours trying to get them to understand how the real world of business works. Many of the students asked why they did not learn this either in college or in grad school. I said that the MBA program prepares you how to leverage funds and prepare for bankruptcy. You are being taught by teachers who in turn were taught by teachers who read books written by teachers. None of your teachers have ever experiences life in the real world of business. There is an old adage “If you can not do, then teach, If you can not teach become an administrator”. I told them how to watch out for crooked bookkeepers, crooked shipping clerks, lazy & stupid siblings, and many things that I had learned from my experiences in the real world.

On the way to work one day I had heard of a blind boy who stabbed to death a man who was raping his mother. I bought a newspaper and read the whole story. When I arrived at my office I was told that at least six women appeared and had demanded their “husbands” last pay check. I asked who this “husband” was and found out that the rapist was our “chief chemical mixer”. One of my employees said “I do not understand why this man raped anyone, as we employed dozens of girls who would be more than happy to have sex with him”.

Some years ago I was speaking to an older man who asked me about the problems I had in business. I told him that my building was broken into almost every evening with stuff stolen, each time I reported this to the local police. I received a call from the police that they had caught the thief while stopping a car and they found my things in his trunk. I laughingly replied that if you stop most any car in the area you will find my things in all of them. I received a call from the Welfare department who informed me that they entered and apartment that was full of my merchandise. I was not surprised by this. I had a major flood that almost destroyed me, there was once a murder on my premises, and I was even broken in the police that tried to crack the safe that was in the building. Since the police knew many safe crackers, they came in the next evening with one, but failed. One time on Christmas Eve the police broke in and stole a lot of things among which was cases of Scotch. I telephoned the captain of police and told him what had happened and about the Scotch. He replied “Dewers?” It seemed that he was given a gift from the burglary as well. I was also broken in by the fire department that must have been doing a nighttime inspection. I also told them many other things that I experienced during my years in business. He asked me if I ever had a fire. It was not long after this conversation that this had happened as well. It turned out that this was a case of arson caused by a neighbor who happened to be given a grant by our local congressman to help with the unemployment in the area. This firm had rented space and invited me in. What I saw was a lot of sawdust on the floor and many electric machines (but without electric cords attached.) It was only a scam to get the grant.

I got into trouble with the FDA due to the many violations mentioned above. I went to see this very congressman who would not speak to me and pushed me aside as he entered his limousine. I ran out and entered the limo. He said what the hell are you doing here? I said that I will talk to you as we ride and take a taxi back. I asked him where he was going and he told me that he was going to give a speech to the boy scouts. Knowing he was gay, I asked him if he was looking for new talent. He replied by saying “watch your lip” in which I replied that it is your lip that I am sure will be the problem. He agreed to see me the next day in his office. When I arrived I found a man from the FDA there with him. I found them to be quite friendly and later found out they were lovers. The congressman was later arrested as he was found in a subway men’s room having sex with a little boy. He was arrested once again for a major crime and spent many years in prison for this. (picture enclosed). Another thing I told the students about was when General Dwight Eisenhower was asked by both parties to run for president, he said, I know how to be a general; however I do not know how to be a president. He later said that he knew a man who could be his vice president named Robert B. Anderson and with his help he could do the job. Robert Bernard Anderson (June 4, 1910 – August 14, 1989) was an American administrator and businessman. He served as the Secretary of the Navy between 1953 and 1954. He also served as the Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 until 1961. Anderson was born in Burleson, Texas. He was a high school teacher prior to entering the University of Texas Law School, from which he graduated in 1932. He thereafter engaged in political, governmental, law and business activities in the state of Texas. During World War II, he was an adviser to the Secretary of War. In February 1953, Anderson became the new Eisenhower administration's first Secretary of the Navy. During his time as Navy Secretary, he ended the last formal vestiges of racial segregation in the Navy and advocated the force levels and technological advances necessary to maintain a flexible defense strategy. In May 1954, Anderson left his Navy post to become Deputy Secretary of Defense. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1955. From 1957 to 1961, he served as President Eisenhower's Secretary of the Treasury. Eisenhower was particularly impressed by Anderson's abilities, believing him to be more than capable of being president himself, and he named him as one of his leading choices to be his running mate in 1956, should Richard Nixon have accepted Eisenhower's recommendation that he leave the vice-presidency in order to serve as Secretary of Defense. However, Nixon opted to remain on the ticket with Ike. As 1960 approached, Eisenhower acknowledged that Nixon no doubt had the Republican presidential nomination sewn up, but he privately pressed Anderson to enter the primaries and challenge Nixon, but Anderson declined. Once Nixon was nominated, Eisenhower suggested that he select Anderson as his running mate, but Nixon chose Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. instead. After leaving office, he was active in business, investment and banking affairs, and, during the 1960s, carried out diplomatic missions on behalf of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Anderson's career ended in personal suffering and disgrace. He was hospitalized several times for alcoholism. He illegally operated the Commercial Exchange Bank of Anguilla, British West Indies, which had an unlicensed New York branch office. Several investors lost their life savings in the mid 1980s. In 1987, Anderson pled guilty to criminal violations of the banking laws and to tax evasion, and was sentenced to prison. The Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, in disbarring Anderson from the practice of law, called his disbarment "a sad but we think necessary end to the legal career of one who has in times less beclouded by poor and corrupt judgment served his country in high office as Secretary of Treasury, Deputy Secretary of the Navy and as Special Ambassador to Panama during the Panama Canal negotiations." Matter of Anderson, 142 A.D.2d 498, 536 N.Y.S.2d 765 (12 January 1989).Anderson died in New York City from throat cancer on August 14, 1989, at 79.
Before he died Anderson with all of his contacts became a lobbyist representing many companies including mine. He was a great help to me by introducing me to many large customers. He then asked me how much business I did in Saudi Arabia. I told him that I did not need any help in Saudi Arabia as I was shipping more shampoo there than they have water, as they in turn were exporting my shampoos all over the Middle East. He asked me if I wanted to be the exclusive shampoo in the country. I asked him how that could be. He said he could pull this off. He added that he knew he could. I redesigned he bulls-eye on my label by replacing the Royal Olean groups logo on it and it was a great success.(picture enclosed).He brought to my office a beautiful woman and he told me that she was the secretary of state in her country which was now called Nigeria. It seems that her father was the king, but when it became a “republic” she was appointed to this position. (She would have become the Queen). He asked me to show all of my products to her which she liked as she was also an importer as a sideline in her country. She asked me to send a sample of each product and send it by air, which I did. She then called me again for another set of samples. Since my products were not expensive I sent the second set. I found out that the airfreight was costing me $300.00. A week later she called me once again for another set as they seemed to be “getting lost” in transit. I then realized something was funny and later I found out that all these samples did indeed arrive and she was selling them in the market place. Over the years I received hundreds of “scam letters” from people in Nigeria. Each one said to the effect that they were the widows or relatives of very important government officials and they would receive hundreds of millions of dollars if I would send them the name of my bank and my account number as we would split this money. Using some common sense I threw these letters away. Many used the scam as they had won the lotto and asked me for the same information mentioned above. Today with the modern technology, I receive e-mails to replace the letters, which I deleted. In doing research I decided that was there were no honest people in Nigeria. If you want to read more about Nigerian scams to the following URL this is at.

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm

You will find the following as one sample scam.
Request for Urgent Business Relationship
“We have the pleasure to make this surprising but mutually benefiting business proposal. I am a member of the newly inaugurated committee for the privatization of the refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Nigeria. The members of the committee are interested in the importation of goods into the country with funds presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria / Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) foreign payments account. I got your address through the office of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The federal military government of Nigeria intends to lease the three existing petroleum refineries to private individuals and companies. This is to make the refineries more viable, resourceful and to eliminate undue wastage and fraud. This privatization is in-line with the recommendations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a prerequisite for future financial assistance. The refineries are heavily indebted to many companies and my committee has the mandate (task) of compiling the names of these companies and debt owed them and also recommend for payment, all contracts that have been fully executed. With our position in the committee, which comprises of my ministry, federal ministry of petroleum resources, Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), the federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we have successfully secured for ourselves, the sum of US $73,000,000 (seventy-three million United States Dollars). This sum was acquired by carefully inflating the amount of indebtedness by this amount (US $73,000,000). We need a reliable company to be included in the list of companies to be paid. This company will be paid for a contract executed in Kaduna Refinery in 1993. I was therefore mandated in trust by members of the committee, to seek a foreign partner into whose account we could transfer the sum of US $73,000,000, hence I am writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the funds thus: (1) 70% for us (the committee members) (2) 20% for you (the account owner) (3) 10% will be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses that will be incurred in the course of this transaction it is from our 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. We also need assurance from you that you will let us have our share once the inflated amount (US $73,000,000.00) is transferred into your account. The payment will be done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its correspondent bank. What we need from you is that you provide a vital account into which the funds will be transferred/lodged. Note that this transaction is 100% safe and guaranteed since the law under which our committee was set up, has empowered us to disburse all the funds. We shall commence the transfer of the funds immediately we receive the following information by Tel/Fax: (4) Your company name and full address (5) Your bank’s name, telephone and fax number (6) Your account number and name of would be beneficiary The above information will enable us put up letters of claim and job description to the respective ministries for the issuance of the mandatory fund release approval/recommendations. This way, your company will be recognized and accepted as the beneficiary of the contract entitlements before the final remittance to your nominated account, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, being paying bank. Note that we will be responsible for the payment of the federal Inland Revenue tax on behalf of your company and a contract agreement between your company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shall be drawn up and antedated showing that your company has a legitimate contract with the NNPC and must be paid. We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit absolute confidentiality from you in this transaction. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, using the above Telefax number for more details regarding this transaction. Also endeavor to send the requested information”.
Bob Anderson and I became close friends and we visited each other many times. He told me that his major source of income was in off shore banking. I said that this was illegal and he could go to jail for doing this. He laughed and said “I guess you do not know who I am, with all the positions that I have had”. Several years later the headlines of every newspaper and the big news on television was “Ex Secretary of the treasury arrested and was now in jail” Some years later all of the media headlines said he died in jail.
If I was lecturing today I would speak about our current President George W. Bush. If his name was not Bush he would be hanging around country clubs and having a grand old time. The following is the history of the Bush family and how he had accumulated all of his wealth and power. I would include how Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power Rumors of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machines have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington Saturday September 25, 2004 Guardian.
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The debate over Prescott Bush's behavior has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty. Remarkably, little of Bush's dealings with Germany have received public scrutiny, partly because of the secret status of the documentation involving him. But now the multibillion dollar legal action for damages by two Holocaust survivors against the Bush family, and the imminent publication of three books on the subject are threatening to make Prescott Bush's business history an uncomfortable issue for his grandson, George W, as he seeks re-election. While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war. Tantalizing Bush was also on the board of at least one of the companies that formed part of a multinational network of front companies to allow Thyssen to move assets around the world. Thyssen owned the largest steel and Coal Company in Germany and grew rich from Hitler's efforts to re-arm between the two world wars. One of the pillars in Thyssen's international corporate web, UBC, worked exclusively for, and was owned by, a Thyssen-controlled bank in the Netherlands. More tantalizing are Bush's links to the Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC), based in mineral rich Silesia on the German-Polish border. During the war, the company made use of Nazi slave labor from the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The ownership of CSSC changed hands several times in the 1930s, but documents from the US National Archive declassified last year link Bush to CSSC, although it is not clear if he and UBC were still involved in the company when Thyssen's American assets were seized in 1942. Three sets of archives spell out Prescott Bush's involvement. All three are readily available; thanks to the efficient US archive system and a helpful and dedicated staff at both the Library of Congress in Washington and the National Archives at the University of Maryland. The first set of files, the Harriman papers in the Library of Congress, show that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen. The second set of papers, which are in the National Archives, are contained in vesting order number 248 which records the seizure of the company assets. What these files show is that on October 20 1942 the alien property custodian seized the assets of the UBC, of which Prescott Bush was a director. Having gone through the books of the bank, further seizures were made against two affiliates, the Holland-American Trading Corporation and the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation. By November, the Silesian-American Company, another of Prescott Bush's ventures, had also been seized. The third set of documents, also at the National Archives, is contained in the files on IG Farben, who was prosecuted for war crimes. A report issued by the Office of Alien Property Custodian in 1942 stated of the companies that "since 1939, these (steel and mining) properties have been in possession of and have been operated by the German government and have undoubtedly been of considerable assistance to that country's war effort". Prescott Bush, a 6ft 4in charmer with a rich singing voice, was the founder of the Bush political dynasty and was once considered a potential presidential candidate himself. Like his son, George, and grandson, George W, he went to Yale where he was, again like his descendants, a member of the secretive and influential Skull and Bones student society. He was an artillery captain in the First World War and married Dorothy Walker, the daughter of George Herbert Walker, in 1921. In 1924, his father-in-law, a well-known St Louis investment banker, helped set him up in business in New York with Averill Harriman, the wealthy son of railroad magnate E H Harriman in New York, who had gone into banking. One of the first jobs Walker gave Bush was to manage UBC. Bush was a founding member of the bank and the incorporation documents, which list him as one of seven directors, show he owned one share in UBC worth $125. The bank was set up by Harriman and Bush's father-in-law to provide a US bank for the Thyssens, Germany's most powerful industrial family. August Thyssen, the founder of the dynasty had been a major contributor to Germany's First World War effort and in the 1920s, he and his sons Fritz and Heinrich established a network of overseas banks and companies so their assets and money could be whisked offshore if threatened again. By the time Fritz Thyssen inherited the business empire in 1926, Germany's economic recovery was faltering. After hearing Adolph Hitler speak, Thyssen became mesmerized by the young firebrand. He joined the Nazi party in December 1931 and admits backing Hitler in his autobiography, I Paid Hitler, when the National Socialists were still a radical fringe party. He stepped in several times to bail out the struggling party: in 1928 Thyssen had bought the Barlow Palace on Briennerstrasse, in Munich, which Hitler converted into the Brown House, the headquarters of the Nazi party. The money came from another Thyssen overseas institution, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvarrt in Rotterdam. By the late 1930s, Brown Brothers Harriman, which claimed to be the world's largest private investment bank, and UBC had bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, fuel, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany, both feeding and financing Hitler's build-up to war. Between 1931 and 1933 UBC bought more than $8m worth of gold, of which $3m was shipped abroad. According to documents seen by the Guardian, after UBC was set up it transferred $2m to BBH accounts and between 1924 and 1940 the assets of UBC hovered around $3m, dropping to $1m only on a few occasions. In 1941, Thyssen fled Germany after falling out with Hitler but he was captured in France and detained for the remainder of the war. There was nothing illegal in doing business with the Thyssens throughout the 1930s and many of America's best-known business names invested heavily in the German economic recovery. However, everything changed after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Even then it could be argued that BBH was within its rights continuing business relations with the Thyssens until the end of 1941 as the US was still technically neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The trouble started on July 30 1942 when the New York Herald-Tribune ran an article entitled "Hitler's Angel Has $3m in US Bank". UBC's huge gold purchases had raised suspicions that the bank was in fact a "secret nest egg" hidden in New York for Thyssen and other Nazi bigwigs. The Alien Property Commission (APC) launched an investigation. There is no dispute over the fact that the US government seized a string of assets controlled by BBH - including UBC and SAC - in the autumn of 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy act. What is in dispute is if Harriman, Walker and Bush did more than own these companies on paper. Erwin May, a treasury attachĂ© and officer for the department of investigation in the APC, was assigned to look into UBC's business. The first fact to emerge was that Roland Harriman, Prescott Bush and the other directors didn't actually own their shares in UBC but merely held them on behalf of Bank voor Handel. Strangely, no one seemed to know who owned the Rotterdam-based bank, including UBC's president. May wrote in his report of August 16 1941: "Union Banking Corporation’, incorporated August 4 1924, is wholly owned by the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart N.V of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My investigation has produced no evidence as to the ownership of the Dutch bank. Mr. Cornelis [sic] Lievense, president of UBC, claims no knowledge as to the ownership of the Bank voor Handel but believes it possible that Baron Heinrich Thyssen, brother of Fritz Thyssen, may own a substantial interest." May cleared the bank of holding a golden nest egg for the Nazi leaders but went on to describe a network of companies spreading out from UBC across Europe, America and Canada, and how money from voor Handel traveled to these companies through UBC. By September May had traced the origins of the non-American board members and found that Dutchman HJ Kouwenhoven - who met with Harriman in 1924 to set up UBC - had several other jobs: in addition to being the managing director of voor Handel he was also the director of the August Thyssen bank in Berlin and a director of Fritz Thyssen's Union Steel Works, the holding company that controlled Thyssen's steel and coal mine empire in Germany. Within a few weeks, Homer Jones, the chief of the APC investigation and research division sent a memo to the executive committee of APC recommending the US government vest UBC and its assets. Jones named the directors of the bank in the memo, including Prescott Bush's name, and wrote: "Said stock is held by the above named individuals, however, solely as nominees for the Bank voor Handel, Rotterdam, Holland, which is owned by one or more of the Thyssen family, nationals of Germany and Hungary. The 4,000 shares hereinbefore set out are therefore beneficially owned and help for the interests of enemy nationals, and are vestible by the APC," according to the memo from the National Archives seen by the Guardian. Red-handed Jones recommended that the assets be liquidated for the benefit of the government, but instead UBC was maintained intact and eventually returned to the American shareholders after the war. Some claim that Bush sold his share in UBC after the war for $1.5m - a huge amount of money at the time - but there is no documentary evidence to support this claim. No further action was ever taken nor was the investigation continued, despite the fact UBC was caught red-handed operating an American shell company for the Thyssen family eight months after America had entered the war and that this was the bank that had partly financed Hitler's rise to power. The most tantalizing part of the story remains shrouded in mystery: the connection, if any, between Prescott Bush, Thyssen, Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC) and Auschwitz. Thyssen's partner in United Steel Works, which had coal mines and steel plants across the region, was Friedrich Flick, another steel magnate who also owned part of IG Farben, the powerful German chemical company. Flick's plants in Poland made heavy use of slave labor from the concentration camps in Poland. According to a New York Times article published in March 18 1934 Flick owned two-thirds of CSSC while "American interests" held the rest. The US National Archive documents show that BBH's involvement with CSSC was more than simply holding the shares in the mid-1930s. Bush's friend and fellow "bonesman" Knight Woolley, another partner at BBH, wrote to Averill Harriman in January 1933 warning of problems with CSSC after the Poles started their drive to nationalize the plant. "The Consolidated Silesian Steel Company situation has become increasingly complicated, and I have accordingly brought in Sullivan and Cromwell, in order to be sure that our interests are protected," wrote Knight. "After studying the situation Foster Dulles is insisting that their man in Berlin get into the picture and obtain the information which the directors here should have. You will recall that Foster is a director and he is particularly anxious to be certain that there is no liability attaching to the American directors." But the ownership of the CSSC between 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland and 1942 when the US government vested UBC and SAC is not clear. "SAC held coal mines and definitely owned CSSC between 1934 and 1935, but when SAC was vested there was no trace of CSSC. All concrete evidence of its ownership disappears after 1935 and there are only a few traces in 1938 and 1939," says Eva Schweitzer, the journalist and author whose book, America and the Holocaust, is published next month. Silesia was quickly made part of the German Reich after the invasion, but while Polish factories were seized by the Nazis, those belonging to the still neutral Americans (and some other nationals) were treated more carefully as Hitler was still hoping to persuade the US to at least sit out the war as a neutral country. Schweitzer says American interests were dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The Nazis bought some out, but not others. The two Holocaust survivors suing the US government and the Bush family for a total of $40bn in compensation claim both materially benefited from Auschwitz slave labor during the Second World War. Kurt Julius Goldstein, 87, and Peter Gingold, 85, began a class action in America in 2001, but the case was thrown out by Judge Rosemary Collier on the grounds that the government cannot be held liable under the principle of "state sovereignty". Jan Lissmann, one of the lawyers for the survivors, said: "President Bush withdrew President Bill Clinton's signature from the treaty [that founded the court] not only to protect Americans, but also to protect himself and his family." Lissmann argues that genocide-related cases are covered by international law, which does hold governments accountable for their actions. He claims the ruling was invalid as no hearing took place. In their claims, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Gingold, honorary chairman of the League of Anti-fascists, suggest the Americans were aware of what was happening at Auschwitz and should have bombed the camp. The lawyers also filed a motion in The Hague asking for an opinion on whether state sovereignty is a valid reason for refusing to hear their case. A ruling is expected within a month. The petition to The Hague states: "From April 1944 on, the American Air Force could have destroyed the camp with air raids, as well as the railway bridges and railway lines from Hungary to Auschwitz. The murder of about 400,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims could have been prevented." The case is built around a January 22 1944 executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt calling on the government to take all measures to rescue the European Jews. The lawyers claim the order was ignored because of pressure brought by a group of big American companies, including BBH, where Prescott Bush was a director. Lissmann said: "If we have a positive ruling from the court it will cause [president] Bush huge problems and make him personally liable to pay compensation." The US government and the Bush family deny all the claims against them. In addition to Eva Schweitzer's book, two other books are about to be published that raise the subject of Prescott Bush's business history. The author of the second book, to be published next year, John Loftus, is a former US attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the 70s. Now living in St Petersburg, Florida and earning his living as a security commentator for Fox News and ABC radio, Loftus is working on a novel which uses some of the material he has uncovered on Bush. Loftus stressed that what Prescott Bush was involved in was just what many other American and British businessmen were doing at the time. "You can't blame Bush for what his grandfather did any more than you can blame Jack Kennedy for what his father did - bought Nazi stocks - but what is important is the cover-up, how it could have gone on so successfully for half a century, and does that have implications for us today?" he said. "This was the mechanism by which Hitler was funded to come to power, this was the mechanism by which the Third Reich's defense industry was re-armed, this was the mechanism by which Nazi profits were repatriated back to the American owners, this was the mechanism by which investigations into the financial laundering of the Third Reich were blunted," said Loftus, who is vice-chairman of the Holocaust Museum in St Petersburg. "The Union Banking Corporation was a holding company for the Nazis, for Fritz Thyssen," said Loftus. "At various times, the Bush family has tried to spin it, saying they were owned by a Dutch bank and it wasn't until the Nazis took over Holland that they realized that now the Nazis controlled the apparent company and that is why the Bush supporters claim when the war was over they got their money back. Both the American treasury investigations and the intelligence investigations in Europe completely belie that, its absolute horseshit. They always knew who the ultimate beneficiaries were." "There is no one left alive who could be prosecuted but they did get away with it," said Loftus. "As a former federal prosecutor, I would make a case for Prescott Bush, his father-in-law (George Walker) and Averill Harriman [to be prosecuted] for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. They remained on the boards of these companies knowing that they were of financial benefit to the nation of Germany." Loftus said Prescott Bush must have been aware of what was happening in Germany at the time. "My take on him was that he was a not terribly successful in-law who did what Herbert Walker told him to. Walker and Harriman were the two evil geniuses; they didn't care about the Nazis any more than they cared about their investments with the Bolsheviks." What is also at issue is how much money Bush made from his involvement. His supporters suggest that he had one token share. Loftus disputes this, citing sources in "the banking and intelligence communities" and suggesting that the Bush family, through George Herbert Walker and Prescott, got $1.5m out of the involvement. There is, however, no paper trail to this sum. The third person going into print on the subject is John Buchanan, 54, a Miami-based magazine journalist who started examining the files while working on a screenplay. Last year, Buchanan published his findings in the venerable but small-circulation New Hampshire Gazette under the headline "Documents in National Archives Prove George Bush's Grandfather Traded with the Nazis - Even after Pearl Harbor". He expands on this in his book to be published next month - Fixing America: Breaking the Stranglehold of Corporate Rule, Big Media and the Religious Right. In the article, Buchanan, who has worked mainly in the trade and music press with a spell as a muckraking reporter in Miami, claimed that "the essential facts have appeared on the internet and in relatively obscure books but were dismissed by the media and Bush family as undocumented diatribes”. Buchanan suffers from hyper mania, a form of manic depression, and when he found himself rebuffed in his initial efforts to interest the media, he responded with a series of threats against the journalists and media outlets that had spurned him. The threats, contained in e-mails, suggested that he would expose the journalists as "traitors to the truth". Unsurprisingly, he soon had difficulty getting his calls returned. Most seriously, he faced aggravated stalking charges in Miami, in connection with a man with whom he had fallen out over the best way to publicize his findings. The charges were dropped last month.
The Prescott Bush Biography (picture enclosed)

Buchanan said he regretted his behavior had damaged his credibility but his main aim was to secure publicity for the story. Both Loftus and Schweitzer say Buchanan has come up with previously undisclosed documentation. The Bush family has largely responded with no comment to any reference to Prescott Bush. Brown Brothers Harriman also declined to comment. The Bush family recently approved a flattering biography of Prescott Bush entitled Duty, Honor, and Country by Mickey Herskowitz. The publishers, Rutledge Hill Press, promised the book would "deal honestly with Prescott Bush's alleged business relationships with Nazi industrialists and other accusations". In fact, the allegations are dealt with in less than two pages. The book refers to the Herald-Tribune story by saying that "a person of less established ethics would have panicked ... Bush and his partners at Brown Brothers Harriman informed the government regulators that the account, opened in the late 1930s, was 'an unpaid courtesy for a client' ... Prescott Bush acted quickly and openly on behalf of the firm, served well by a reputation that had never been compromised. He made available all records and all documents. Viewed six decades later in the era of serial corporate scandals and shattered careers, he received what can be viewed as the ultimate clean bill." The Prescott Bush story has been condemned by both conservatives and some liberals as having nothing to do with the current president. It has also been suggested that Prescott Bush had little to do with Averill Harriman and that the two men opposed each other politically. However, documents from the Harriman papers include a flattering wartime profile of Harriman in the New York Journal American and next to it in the files is a letter to the financial editor of that paper from Prescott Bush congratulating the paper for running the profile. He added that Harriman's "performance and his whole attitude has been a source of inspiration and pride to his partners and his friends". The Anti-Defamation League in the US is supportive of Prescott Bush and the Bush family. In a statement last year they said that "rumors about the alleged Nazi 'ties' of the late Prescott Bush ... have circulated widely through the internet in recent years. These charges are untenable and politically motivated ... Prescott Bush was neither a Nazi nor a Nazi sympathizer." However, one of the country's oldest Jewish publications, the Jewish Advocate, has aired the controversy in detail. More than 60 years after Prescott Bush came briefly under scrutiny at the time of a faraway war; his grandson is facing a different kind of scrutiny but one underpinned by the same perception that, for some people, war can be a profitable business. In George W. Bush’s case it certainly was for both he and his friends.

CHAPTER five
My Life as a World Traveler

With the exception of making love day & night, my favorite passion happens to be traveling. It has been said about me that I had been in places that most people have only thought about and have done things that most people only dream about doing. I would love to go back to every city and country I have been to and also go to all the rest of the world that I have not been to or seen.

While I was in Morocco I was taken to one of the beautiful mosques I had ever seen. It was recently built and was very modern. I had to visit the restroom and found dozens of stalls with toilets in each. I was surprised as I did not see any toilet paper or water in the area for the user to wipe them selves. I asked my local taxi driver how the person wipes their parts. I was told that if there was no water they keep their wiping hand under their armpit and then later, wipe their hand on a stone when they find one.

On my first visit to mainland China, upon arrival I found that their luggage conveyer belt was not working, so I pushed my luggage along until I retrieved it at the baggage center. An airport worker put out his hand and asked me for six fen. I did not have any Chinese currency as you can not purchase this out of China, and there were no banks at the airport. I offered him an American dollar bill and he screamed at me that I was trying to bribe him and called me a capitalist pig. Finally my “guide” arrived and gave him the six fen and we were on our way. We went into an automobile (in which there were almost non existent at the time) and I told my guide that I had purchased special accommodations to stay at a place called “The Anglers Rest House” and showed him my receipt. He tossed it out of the car windows and told me that we would be staying at the best hotel in Peking (now called Beijing). It was called at that time the Peking Hotel. When we arrived I once again said their must be some mistake and told him to use the telephone to straighten this out. He sat us down in their coffee shop. I was startled to see the various groups that were seated at the adjoining tables. Each was from a different county wearing their native clothes and had various weapons on the floor next to their seats. I got the impression that this was the training ground for all of the terrorists in the world. In looking around the lobby I noticed that this hotel did not have a check in or check out desk, only souvenir shops. I was escorted to my room by my guide and picked up at my room every morning by my guide. My guide returned and said there was no mistake and you are staying at this hotel. I wanted to see the person in charge of my Chase Manhattan Bank and was told his office was in room 306. I also noticed there was an employee folding towels outside of my room that I believed he was their only to report anyone who left the room. When I arrived they confiscated my passport. I was told that it would be returned to me when I left the city, which it was. In each city I went through the same process. Each time I took a picture in color, when it was developed in black and white as there was so much smog in the city that caused this. We flew from Beijing to Shanghai our next stop on China Airlines, Instead of serving a meal or at least a snack; we were given a comb instead. They did not use vacuum cleaners on the flooring at the hotel or on the airline so they used a wet mop to clean up. And once again a guide picked us up and brought us to their designated hotel, which in this case was the Peace Hotel. It was an old hotel but very adequate. I was woken up by the sound of music. I looked out of the window and noticed hundreds of people doing Ti Chi (the first time I had witnessed this). We then were taken to a department store called “The best department store in China” This was in February and very cold. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the store, so it would take hours to get from one end of the floor to the end. A few moments later I notices that my right thigh felt warm and wet. I looked down and found a man holding a baby girl who was pissing on my leg. I looked at my guide and saw him laughing with out of politeness had his hand over his face. I then asked him a question. I said if I had to “go” where would I “go”. He told me to “go” anywhere I want. He said you could do it on the floor next to the jewelry, the cosmetic department or anywhere else. I then realized why the floor was warped and the entire country smelled of urine. I forgot about this for a while; however during this very long walk I really had to “go” and asked him for a more civilized place to “go” It took at least an hour to leave the store. He took me to a long ditch in the back of the store and I noticed hundreds of people either standing or in a sitting position. I then realized that the people standing were men and the sitting people were women. Since the dressing code at the time was wearing only blue or green and all of the people looked clean shaven that was the reason for it. I found a spot to “go” and took my leak in this frozen brown ditch with steam coming out of it.

The purpose of my trip was to buy and sell perfume products, however at that time, they were not interested at all, however told me to meet with their Ministers in the “sofa room” I asked where this room was and told it was in the Beijing Friendship store. When I arrived at the friendship store I asked where the “sofa room” was and brought to a sofa that was on display to be sold. They removed the red ribbon and told that the Minister would be arriving shortly. When he arrived he did not want to discuss perfumes, but offered me the “exclusive distribution” of their silk carpeting that they manufactured in China. They tried to get me to purchase a supply of these. I did buy a very small piece of their silk carpeting. On my plane ride to Hawaii I had found a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and noticed “my silk carpeting being advertised by Macy’s department store. It seems that they did not know what exclusive meant, and gave it to everyone. I was taken by train to visit the Great Wall of China. (At one time this wall stretched for hundreds of miles, however today it is quite short as the people needed the bricks to build their homes and stole them from the Great Wall) During the ride my guide asked me to tell him the words to a certain song. He hummed the tune by saying Da Da Da, Da Da La,. Da Da La La La. I recognized it as “Jingle Bells” and told him the words to the song. He had taught all of the other guides on the train the words to “Jingle Bells” and they were singing it for the entire trip. I read later in the New York Times, that the most popular song at this time in China was “Jingle Bells” (for some reason). I will say that I never had a bad meal the entire time I was in Mainland China, or in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore. There are some trips that did not have very happy endings. I am an avid cigar smoker and only enjoy Cuban cigars which are forbidden to bring into the United States. During the Cuban Missile crisis. Our president at the time was John F. Kennedy who was also an avid Cuban cigar smoker and was addicted to them as I am. He decided to put an embargo on all goods coming from Cuba however this would stop the arrival of the cigars he loved so much. He instructed his press secretary to bring in a huge amount of Cuban cigars before he announced this embargo. Each day he asked Pierre Salinger if they had arrived as yet and was told they have not as yet. One day Salinger told him that they had now arrived. The president now went on national television and announced the embargo. From that time it became illegal to bring in any goods from Cuba including cigars. (Picture enclosed).This now became a problem to me, so I was forced to become a “smuggler of cigars”. Whenever I took a trip overseas I brought back several boxes and carefully removed the bands and boxes that said “made in Cuba”. I did this on every trip I did. A customer “friend” knew about this and asked me if I would like to go through customs with no search of my luggage. I asked him if he could do that and he replied that he could. I did not trust him so I used my mother as a test. She was going on a cruise and when she returned told me how wonderful her trip was. I then asked her how she was treated when the ship arrived in port and her experience with the custom department. She said she was greeted by two very nice gentlemen who carried her luggage directly to her car with no problems at all. I decided to go ahead with my plan. I was planning a trip to many countries in the Orient and decided to buy a very large amount of Cuban cigars. My friend instructed me not to change any of my plans. He said not to change anything. Do not change the flight dates or the airline and make certain to come back with the same person I told him I would be traveling with. If had changed any of these plans he could not help me accomplish this. I told my idea to my girlfriend who was traveling with me and she said not to do this as we will get into trouble. I decided to go ahead with this plan. Our first stop was Hong Kong where the Davidoff store was in the Peninsular Hotel and made my purchase. I bought so many that we had to buy extra suitcases to hold and carry them back. After Hong Kong, we went to Japan, Taiwan, Mainland China and other countries in Asia. This lady never used foul language but kept saying “we are fucked”, and I said everything was arranged according to plan and there would be no problems. When we returned to the United States we had to go through customs in Honolulu. We waited for our names to be called out (as we were told by my friend that this would happen) but no one called out our names. Everyone else on the plane left the airport, but we were still waiting to hear the announcement of our names. She kept saying the same words “we are fucked”. I replied that there was some mix up and probably just forgot. Naturally we could not stay at the airport forever, so I put my first piece of luggage on the customs table and was told by the customs agent, that they had been waiting for us. At that point two very nicely dressed men arrived and asked me to follow them. At that point a female agent approached us and asked my girlfriend to follow her. I got the feeling that my girlfriend was correct and we were indeed fucked. I had been put into a jail cell and told to strip naked. It did not bother me, however I kept imagining what was happening to her as I had heard of anal and vaginal inspections and starting to feel very bad about all this. We were released from our cells and brought back to the customs desk, where several agents ripped out luggage apart searching for something. Every time they found a box of cigars the stacked them in piles and tapped each one with their fingers. They kept finding pieces of papers such as hotel receipts, currency exchange receipts etc, and added the numbers up using a calculator (which made no sense to me at all). When this procedure was finished they told me that I owed them $375.00, however it I was on their computer as a “bad boy” the price would be doubled. I was not on the computer so I was told to give them the $375.00 in cash. No checks or credit cards were allowed. I was given a receipt that just said “thank you” and told to get your shit out of here and leave. No one had mentioned the cigars at all. We put the luggage together as best we could and left on our flight to the island of Mali. When I arrived at the hotel I telephoned my friend and told him the story. He said do not leave the room and he would find out what was going on. I then received a telephone call from his contact at customs (who I was told was the head man) and retold the story to him. I said I was not asking for an apology but I did mention the term “bad boy” on the customs computer. He said not to worry as he would make sure that my name would not be listed on the computer as a “bad boy”. After several more phone conversations with this man, he asked me when I was returning to New York. He said he would meet with me and let me know what really happened. A week or so later when I had arrived in New York we met for a drink and he told me that the only way they knew about me at all was that it seemed that his telephone was being tapped. He then said that I had been victimized by the Hawaiian customs man and that the money I had paid went directly into his pocket and not turned in to customs. He also said that my name would not be on the computer as a “bad boy”. On my future travels I kept up with my practice of purchasing Cuban cigars with no searches. It was about ten years later when I returned from a trip to Germany I was told to go to another area away from the rest of the passengers and an agent asked to see my passport. He then asked me if I enjoy Hawaii. And asked if I had any cigars with me. At that point I realized that I was indeed on their computer as a “bad boy”. I indeed did have some with me in my luggage but told him that I had stopped smoking cigars. I said that I found out that they were not healthy and that they became very expensive as well. He seemed to believe my story and did not open or look into my luggage and let me leave. I kept traveling and continued to purchase and bring back Cuban cigars with no more incidents. For twenty seven years I ordered these Cuban cigars from the Davidoff store in Geneva. After that time I received a letter stating they will not ship these to the United States any longer, as the US customs told them that they will not let them open any Davidoff stores in the United States malls where they sell men’s accessories etc. I started searching for a source of supply and first found a place in Bermuda, then Barbados and finally Gibraltar, who was willing to send them to me by mail. On one shipment I received a letter from customs that these were Cuban and confiscated. I had the option of flying to New York to argue about this however I declined. I had thought that they were watching this supplier and that was the reason it was confiscated. Several years later when I had visited Gibraltar again I told the owner of the store I was sorry as he did not get paid for the shipment. He told me that this was the only occasion that one of his shipments was stopped, so I continued buying from him once more.

Due to my business trips I found out that I had only seen and got to know the capitols of each country, such as Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, etc. When I retired I had the chance to really travel. I would take the lady I was seeing at the time and spent a week or so in the capitol of one country. We then rented a car and drove to every single city in that country. Each year I did this in a different country and really got to know the world and all of its cultures, and taste their foods. I found that I could spend days in the Louvre, The Prado and each museum that was well known and study the art that was world famous from a distance of inches. I did this for many years. The only country I could not drive around to see its wonders was Greece, so we went ahead and bought cruise tickets and went to dozens of spectacular islands. I had been to Europe, Asia as well as Africa but never visited South America.

Due to one of my websites called “Sushi Online” I received an e-mail from a girl and met
her. Since she was now living in Florida I invited her to my home and made sushi for her, which we both were fond of. She reciprocated by cooking a Brazilian meal in her home. I have not cooked anything since as she was a wonderful cook. This Brazilian girl introduced me to South America. (picture enclosed) She took me to Rio de Janeiro. I ended up marrying her. (Most people are not aware that Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world), and that Rio de Janeiro is the most festive city in the world where she was born and grew up. She kept an apartment there so we stayed there while we were In Rio. I went to the worlds best show, which is the carnaval in Rio, then the Maracana (the world’s largest soccer stadium), and when I had tasted Brazilian food I became enthralled with it. In The United States, we all know Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, German, Hungarian, and many other foods, but I was not prepared for Brazilian food. It seems to be the greatest kept secret to Americans. The best food was prepared by the owner’s housekeeper. They have barbeque restaurants that serve a special meat called Picania which is at the back of the cow which is fantastic. One of the best meats is a steak made of Picania which is a part of the cow that is in the very back of the animal, just above the tail. Preparing Picania is very easy. It is not marinated at all, just salted and put on the fire. What American butchers do with this part is still a mystery to me. At these barbeque restaurants called chirrucuria’s they serve appetizers that make our restaurants look like we are very poor as their selections are huge and delicious as well. They have their waiters walk around the restaurant serving eleven different kinds of meat as well as salmon. There are small coasters on every table. If you want more meat you keep it upright. If you are not ready for the next serving, the coaster is turned over stating wait. The only place I found that has better beef is in Argentina were the cows are better fed and do not have to walk up and down mountains as they do in Brazil. The national drink is the caiperinha made with cachaca. It is fabulous and I make one for my self every day. I purchased a barrel that I filled with cachaça and keep it in my office, to make my Caipirinha’s, daily. If you want to learn how to make it you just a regular lime, which can be purchased in any supermarket and cut it into small pieces. Then crush the lime and add the cachaça. Then add a few ice cubes and some sugar and stirr it. I use a sugar substitute as I had one experience where a waitress put in sugar and I actually became drunk from the sugar added to this “formula” I also order it with the lime pieces taken out which is called quado in Portuguese. Brazil has many restaurants called kilo restaurants in which you pay for the meal by the weight of your order. They are wonderful. They do have many French and Italian restaurants, but I would advise you to avoid them. (I had also read this advice in an article in the New York Times) The Brazilian’s think they are good, however I think they suck. They have pizzerias that serve very good pizza’s however I always say that they are not the same as the pizza’s that you are used to as they do not use marinara sauce. They do not even use it in their Italian restaurants with signs above stating “authentic Italian food”. My questions has always been “how do you make Italian food without it?” It seems they do and everyone else is thrilled with it. Their seafood restaurants are fabulous as they use freshly caught fish that only swim in their warm waters. My favorites are “Cherne” and “Trouta”. I do not care if these fish are grilled or made into a stew which they call “micquca”. Their desserts are fabulous as well with far superior ice cream than we have here in the US, as they make their ice cream using dozens of fruit flavors with fruits we here in the states never even heard of.

We took many side trips to places such as Cabo Frio, Buzios, Recife, Natal, and other cities in the north of Brazil. We also flew down to Igwasa Falls which was the point where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. We saw the largest water falls, (as well as the largest hydroelectric plant) in the world which makes Niagara Falls look like a small dripping place. In this area there is the largest hydroelectric plant in the world which serves all of Paraguay and parts of Brazil and, Argentina. We then went west to Minas Gerais and to the huge city of Sao Paulo which is the 5th largest city in the world. Their Avenida do Paulista is the widest street you can imagine. It makes our fifth avenue look like a side Street. Few Americans know much about Brazil. It has a population of 180 million people, and is the fifth largest in most everything imaginable, the fifth largest in population, and in trading, etc it has the largest black population outside of Africa. (chart attached). We also flew down to Buenos Aires to tour the city and taste their beef which is the best in the world. If it was not for their politics I would call it paradise. Visiting Angra is a paradise by itself. There are mountains on the beach, which are breathtaking to look at. Most Brazilians spend most of their daytimes on the beach, playing soccer and watching the most beautiful bikini girls in the world. You can also have a massage right on the beach by one of these beautiful bikini girls. I have now been to Brazil nine times and look forward to returning again, even though it is a twelve hour flight from where I live in Tampa, Florida. My only problem in Brazil is the language. Even though I had been there nine times, I do not speak or understand the language no matter how slowly they speak. I know hundreds of words, but can not put together a sentence, nor understand it when they speak. It seems that when you are a child you can learn many languages at the same time, however as you age the language skills shut down after the age of twenty five. However since Brazil trades with Cuba therefore I was able to purchase my cigars in this country.

CHAPTER six
My Life as a Painter

I had always enjoyed the arts and enjoyed painting using oils. When I was in my twenties, I had painted a picture of our dog which was a Beagle. It turned out that it was a very good likeness and hung it proudly on my wall for many years. I was living in a huge house with twenty two rooms with seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. When I decided to sell the house, which became much too large for just my current wife and myself; as our children were grown and away at college. I figured the best thing to do was to hold an auction. I witnessed the sale and noticed that a woman had purchased the painting of the dog. I stopped her and asked why she was buying this painting. She replied by saying “I have another one by the same artist”. I had heard earlier in my life that if you had sold a work that you had produced you became what they called a published artist. So now I can claim that I was an officially published artist.

Later in my life I decided to write a book that I thought could get published. I knew quite about the subject and called it the “Cheetah’s Handbook” (picture enclosed) It was a play off between the Cheetah and the human “philanderer cheater” as both were in a way as the human had to be very fast on his feet. The book contained information on how to “step out” and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and if one was to follow the instructions the spouse would never find out and no harm would be done. The book was over 600 pages with most antidotes of my own and friends experiences in this field of endeavor. It had many graphics showing the Cheetah in various situations, and the book cover was reversible, which had a wonderful picture of the Cheetah looking down at Times Square. With the reverse side looking like the Financial Times. (Graphics attached) I did that so when a customer left the store he or she could switch the outside cover of the book so no one would be able to see the subject of the book. I sent it to many publishers who. Each asked what degree I had, “was it an MD or a PhD?” I replied that “I had a CAD. Chancellor of Adult Development”. All rejected it stating basically the same thing that this was a great book however “We are not brave enough to pursue this”. One of these publishers happened to have mob connections and gave the book to some people who decided to run full page advertisements on this book that they now called it “The Cheaters Handbook,” They offered it for sale at ten dollars each. I went to the office of the people who ran the ad and when they asked who I was (through a locked door) I gave the name of the publisher as the one “that sent me” as this was not true, as he did not send me, but if these crooks did this to me I felt that a small lie would be appropriate. I told them that I had the book copywrited which was true. They just said “fuck off” and threw me out of their office. I then mailed in the ten dollars (using an assumed name) and after waiting for a month or so I received a copy of their publication. It was a ten page flyer with a blank white page front cover. They took highlights from my copy and that was the content of “their product” that their advertising used the copy “How to Cheat on Your Wife and Get Away with it”. Knowing of their mob connections I never even considered taking this to court as I valued my kneecaps. Since it was never published, I can not claim to be a published writer.

CHAPTER seven
My Life as a Victim by the Health Care Providers

The Hippocratic Oath

Hipocrates wrote the ethical guidelines that for centuries have governed how doctors relate to us patients, beginning with that reassuring dictum:
"First, do no harm"

At this point I would like to mention the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart and cancer it “doctors errors” This was written in the New England Journal of Medicine. I have the entire article on my website. This can be found there by clicking www.mrangel.com
And scrolling down to doctors.

The Medical Profession in the United States
Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the USCausing 250,000 Deaths Every Year



This information is a follow up of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papersin December of last year but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal.
Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.
The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and shedescribes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.
ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:
12,000 -- Unnecessary surgery 7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals 20,000 -- other errors in hospitals 80,000 -- Infections in hospitals 106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs These total 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! What does the world iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment. Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers: "First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients.” “Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.” Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease)." These estimates of death due to error are lower than those in recent Institutes of Medicine report, and if the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of death in the US, following heart disease and cancer. Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the US's low ranking. Among 29 countries, the United States is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population 17 million, however ranks highest on health population whereas the US ranks among the lowest. It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the US, high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment. Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked, whereas they are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provides the amenities of hospital care.
Journal American Medical Association July 26, 2000; 284(4):483-5

DR.MERCOLA'S COMMENT:
Folks, this is what they call a "Landmark Article". Only several ones like this are published every year. One of the major reasons it is as huge as that it is published in JAMA which is the largest and one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world. I did find it most curious that the best wire service in the world, Reuter's, did not pick up this article. I have no idea why they let it slip by. I would encourage you to bookmark this article and review it several times so you can use the statistics to counter the arguments of your friends and relatives who are so enthralled with the traditional medical paradigm. These statistics prove very clearly that the system is just not working. It is broken and is in desperate need of repair. I was previously fond of saying that drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in this country. However, this article makes it quite clear that the more powerful number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter million people a year. The only more common causes are cancer and heart disease. This statistic is likely to be seriously underestimated as much of the coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not address iatrogenic causes at all. Japan seems to have benefited from recognizing that technology is wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home. Care, not treatment, is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals are rarely the answer to chronic health problems. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity that all of us have is the key. Improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle are basic. Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic illness are also important clues to maximizing health and reducing disease.
Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans A Year
The promise every doctor makes is First, Do No Harm.
But doctors and hospitals do make mistakes. And the November 30 shocking report from the Institute of Medicine showed medical mistakes are a common and potentially life-threatening risk. If medical mistakes counted among the leading causes of death in America, they would be eighth. Surgical gaffes like amputating the wrong foot or a deadly chemotherapy overdose make headlines. But patients may never hear of the more subtle errors, like a delay in diagnosis or testing that costs precious time to fight off disease. Medical mistakes costing lives. Medical mistakes are a stunningly huge problem, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine. It quoted studies estimating that at least 44,000 and perhaps as many as 98,000 hospitalized Americans die every year from errors. To put that into sharper and more alarming perspective, even the lower figure of 44,000 deaths exceeds the number of people who die each year either on the highways, of breast cancer or of AIDS. It is an intolerable situation, especially when it's taking place in the United States, which leads the world in medical advances. The cause, according to the Institute of Medicine, is not as much recklessness on the part of doctors, nurses and other health providers as it is basic flaws in the way hospitals, clinics and pharmacies operate. That kind of problem is fixable. As a matter of fact, safeguards have already been implemented to reduce the likelihood of such lethal medical errors. Some hospitals are now using computerized prescriptions to ensure that pharmacists don't misread doctors' scrawled prescriptions. At the urging of anesthesiologists, anesthesia equipment is being standardized. And the Food and Drug Administration is trying to reduce confusion by ensuring that the names of new drugs don't sound too similar to drugs already on the market. Doctors' notoriously poor handwriting too often leaves pharmacists squinting to decipher a dose C was it 10 milligrams or 10 micrograms? C or even the name of the prescribed drug. Too many drug names sound confusingly alike. Consider the painkiller Celebrex and the anti-seizure drug Cerebyx; or Narcan, which treats morphine overdoses, and Norcuron, which can paralyze breathing muscles. But far more is needed: a concerted and comprehensive effort to raise the bar on consumer safety in the health care industry, not unlike what has already taken place in other industries. Since many doctors already feel beleaguered by financial constraints imposed on their care, insurers and health maintenance organizations must also bear the burden of improving safety. At a minimum, the Institute of Medicine wants to reduce medical errors by half within five years. Considering the number of people who die each year in hospitals - where they presumably go to get better - even that goal may be too conservative. The top five causes of death in the United States are in order, are tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms.
According to JAMA, doctors kill more people than auto accidents and guns.
With that in mind, one has to wonder why gun control is such a hot legislative issue when, perhaps, we should be more concerned about doctor control. The number of people that doctors kill per day from medical malpractice is roughly equal to the amount of people that would die if every day, three jumbo jets crashed and killed everybody on board, commented Dr. Welch who added, in defense of his own profession, just imagine what headlines would result if a chiropractor or a naturopath accidentally killed just one patient? Another JAMA statistic stated that 1/5 (20 percent) of all people who see an allopath will suffer a doctor-induced injury. Again, according to JAMA, 16 percent of all people who die in the hospital are determined by autopsy to have died of something other than their admission diagnosis. In other words, the doctor had no idea what was really wrong with the patient and, therefore, the patient may have died for want of appropriate care that would have been subsequent to an accurate diagnosis. Keeping Up with Changes. Health care is a decade behind other high-risk industries in improving safety, the report said. It pointed to the transportation industry as a model: Just as engineers design cars so they cannot start in reverse, and airlines limit pilots flying time to keep them rested, so can health care be improved. Some fixes already are under way: Some hospitals have computerized prescriptions. The Food and Drug Administration is hunting ways to catch sound-a-like drugs. Anesthesiologists persuaded many manufacturers to standardize equipment and thus decreased technology-caused errors. Many doctors now literally mark the spot of surgical incisions before patients are put to sleep, so everyone agrees on what will be cut. Changes Coming from Congress. The Institute of Medicine is part of the National Academy of Sciences, a private organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on scientific matters. Congress just passed legislation ordering the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to hunt strategies to reduce medical mistakes. The bill will even change the name to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to reflect the emphasis. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill soon. But the Institute of Medicine said reducing medical mistakes requires a bigger commitment. It recommended that Congress should establish a federal Center for Patient Safety. It would require $35 million to start and should eventually spend $100 million a year in safety research. The report said the total cost of medical mistakes, lost income and production, cost of disability and health care, totals $17 to 29 billion a year. And that is not mentioning the human toll. The government should require that hospitals, and eventually other health organizations, report all serious mistakes to state agencies so experts can detect patterns of problems and take action. About 20 states now require error reporting. But how much and what penalties they impose varies widely. State licensing boards and medical accreditors should periodically re-examine health practitioners for competence, stressing safety practices. Standardized medical equipment and treatment guidelines can help doctors keep up. Change the of secrecy that surrounds medical mistakes, encouraging doctors to discuss errors as well as near misses so problems are fixed. But is there something you can do, even from your sickbed, To protect yourself? Patients should feel entitled to inquire about their care no matter how sick they are. Second, know about your drugs. The study shows more than 7,000 die each year because of medication errors. Kohn L, ed, Corrigan J, ed, Donaldson M, ed. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999> US Health System Most Expensive in World The most expensive in the world, the American healthcare system is also riddled with problems and contradictions. In short, the top American system is a work in progress, driven by a disparate array of interests with two goals that are often in conflict: providing healthcare to the sick, and generating income for the persons and organizations that assume the financial risk. The government's annual bill for healthcare spending -- $3,925 per person -- significantly exceeds that of other nations, because physicians' salaries and hospital costs are higher, and medical technology is more widely used. The transfer of funds among federal and state Medicare and Medicaid programs is another important component of national healthcare spending. The American healthcare system is at once the most expensive and the most inadequate system in the developed world. The New England Journal of Medicine January 7, 1999;340:48, 70-76. Dr Mercola’s Comment What do we get for the most expensive health care in the world? The absolute best system in the entire world for treating acute surgical emergencies. Beyond that, the system is an unmitigated failure at treating chronic illness. Traditional medicine clearly kills more people than it saves. Prescribed drugs are the fourth leading cause of death and the first three, heart attacks, cancer and strokes and facilitated by physician ignorance of foundational concepts of nutritional physiology. Author/Article Information. Author Affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Corresponding Author and Reprints: Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Room 452, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996 (e-mail: bstarfie@jhsph.edu). References
1. Schuster M, McGlynn E, Brook R. How good is the quality of health care in the United States? Milbank Q. 1998;76:517-563.
2. Kohn L, ed, Corrigan J, ed, Donaldson M, ed. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.
3. Starfield B. Primary Care: Balancing Health Needs, Services, and Technology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1998.
4. World Health Report 2000. Accessed June 28, 2000.
5. Kunst A. Cross-national Comparisons of Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Erasmus University; 1997
. 6. Law M, Wald N. Why heart disease mortality is low in France: the time lag explanation. BMJ. 1999;313:1471-1480.
7. Starfield B. Evaluating the State Children's Health Insurance Program: critical considerations. Annu Rev Public Health. 2000;21:569-585.
8. Leape L.Unecessarsary surgery. Annu Rev Public Health. 1992;13:363-383.
9. Phillips D, Christenfeld N, Glynn L. Increase in US medication-error deaths between 1983 and 1993. Lancet. 1998;351:643-644.
10. Lazarou J, Pomeranz B, Corey P. Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients. JAMA. 1998;279:1200-1205.
11. Weingart SN, Wilson RM, Gibberd RW, Harrison B. Epidemiology and medical error. BMJ. 2000;320:774- 12. Wilkinson R. Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London, England: Routledge; 1996.
13. Evans R, Roos N. What is right about the Canadian health system? Milbank Q. 1999;77:393-399.
14. Guyer B, Hoyert D, Martin J, Ventura S, MacDorman M, Strobino D. Annual summary of vital statistics1998. Pediatrics. 1999;104:1229-1246
. 15. Harrold LR, Field TS, Gurwitz JH. Knowledge, patterns of care, and outcomes of care for generalists and specialists. J Gen Intern Med. 1999;14:499-511.
16. Donahoe MT. Comparing generalist and specialty care: discrepancies, deficiencies, and excesses. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:1596-1607.
17. Anderson G, Poullier J-P. Health Spending, Access, and Outcomes: Trends in Industrialized Countries. New York, NY: The Commonwealth Fund; 1999.
18. Mold J, Stein H. The cascade effect in the clinical care of patients. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:512-514.
19. Shi L, Starfield B. Income inequality, primary care, and health indicators. J Fam Pract.1999;48:275-284
©Copyright Dr. Joseph Mercola, 2006. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, as long as copyright, contact, and creation information is given, only if used only in a not-for-profit format. Technology Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the low ranking of the United States. Among 29 countries, the U.S. is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population..17 Japan, however ranks highest on health, whereas the U.S. ranks among the lowest. It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology that is not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the U.S., the high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment. Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked. They are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provides the amenities of hospital care. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 284, July 26, 2000. It has been known that drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. This makes it clear that the more frightening number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter million people a year. These statistics are further confused because most medical coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not identify iatrogenic causes at all. Japan seems to have recognized that technology is wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy, as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home. Care -- not treatment -- is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals become increasingly dangerous for chronic disease cases. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity by improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle is the key. Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic disease are critical for the reinvention of our medical paradigm. These numbers suggest that reinvention of our medical paradigm is called for.
===============================================================
Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the US,
Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year
Journal American Medical Association Vol 284 July 26, 2000
This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the best article I have ever seen written in the published literature documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm. This information is a follow-up of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papers in December of last year, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world. The total is 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! What does the word iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment. Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers: a. First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients. b. Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort. c. Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. 1. If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitute the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease). Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with: (a) 116 million extra physician visits, (b) 77 million extra prescriptions, (d) 8 million hospitalizations, (e) 3 million long term admissions. (g) $77 billion in extra costs. The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a deficit, but seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better health results from more expensive care. However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them die each year as a result of medical errors.2 This might be tolerated if it resulted in better health, but does it? For 16 available health indicators. Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, 3, 4, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom). They are too common. Although exact estimates are difficult to find, it is not surprising that an industry as stretched, complex, and burdened as the medical industry is fraught with errors. Many errors go unreported and tracking their exact prevalence is difficult. Nevertheless, bearing in mind that about 2.5 million deaths occur annually in the USA, here are some of the statistics and death rate estimates from various reports: 42% of people believed they had personally experienced a medical mistake (NPSF survey’s) 44,000 to 98000 deaths annually from medical errors (Institute of Medicine). 225,000 deaths annually from medical errors including 106,000 deaths due to "non error adverse events of medications 80,000 deaths annually from medication errors and adverse reactions (Holland) 20000 annually to 88,000 deaths annually from nosocomial infections 2.9 to 3.7 percent of hospitalizations leading to adverse medication reactions 7,391 deaths resulted from medication errors ((Institute of Medicine). 2.4 to 3.6 percent of hospital admissions were due to (prescription) medication events (Australian study) Various studies have been performed about medical errors. A phone survey by the National Patient Safety Foundation found that 42% of people believed they had experienced a medical error personally or to a relative or friend The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports on two studies estimating the hospital, deaths due to medical errors at 44,000 to 98,000 annually, which would place medical errors in the top ten causes of death in the USA. Barbara Starfield’s Article in JAMA places the estimates even higher, citing a total of 225,000 deaths due to iatrogenic causes, which would place health-caused deaths as the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. Holland et al (1997) estimates as many as 1 million patients are injured while in the hospital and approximately 180,000 die as a result, with the majority due to medication adverse reactions, Worst of all is that the American Medical System KNOWS it's broken, and is taking steps, not to fix its problems, but to destroy those trying to make changes for the better, Those trying to make, and keep, people healthy, those focusing on finding cures for Cancer, AIDS, heart disease, etc. It is trying to maintain the status quo.
All of the information above was found on the internet


http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/doctorsusa.htm

I would guess my first realization was after my father’s death. He had never been sick for a day in his life. He noticed that he had a swollen ankle so he visited a local doctor, who said no problem here. He injected something directly into my father’s ankle. (I had never heard the word “phlebitis” at that time. It seemed the blood clot took three days to travel up to his heart and kill him instantly. My next experience was my ex-mother in law was having pains in her chest. She went to her local doctor who said “lady go home it is just indigestion. She went home and died of a heart attack. Since my father and I were of the same build I was expected to go the same way, however I gave up cigarettes and tried to adjust me lifestyle. This idea stayed with me for over 25 years and I was constantly reading about the heart and knew all of the symptoms. I retired from my business and waited. I had now reached fifty and then sixty and at the age of sixty five I felt something strange in my chest. At first I thought that I might be having a tachycardia attack (which I will mention my battle with that illness later on in this chapter. I immediately drove to the nearest hospital who advertised themselves as the “heart hospital”. I walked in and was told to fill out some paperwork. I threw my wallet at the receptionist and said whatever information you might need you will find in there. I kept saying the word coronary over and over again and kept walking into the emergency room. I laid myself down on a gurney and the doctor working the room (who I term salesman for the firm they work for) as they are usually the newest members of the firm and are sent to work emergency rooms to find customers for the firm. The “doctor” asked me what my problem was and I told him that I was about to have a heart attack, in which he replied by saying it was probably just indigestion. Remembering the experience of my ex mother in-law I insisted that he inject me with a “clot buster”, which would break up the clot and I could return home. We had a long argument in which he said he would not do it unless I wanted to have a stroke. Later when I researched this on my computer I found that they used this drug to people to help stroke victims. He had me checked into a room as a patient and I lied there for seven hours in a gloomy room, where the center of the room was where there was a boiler to heat the building. I remained there and suddenly fell asleep. After seven hours the doctor got his wish. I had my heart attack. I awoke with a man standing over my bed telling me that I had a heart attack and that he was now my doctor. I was in a rage that they did not give me the clot buster that I had asked for however I now had coronary artery disease. I was then told I was now scheduled for an angioplasty in the next day or so. The doctor in the emergency room must have received a big bonus for accomplishing this deed they had hoped for as now they could charge a hundred thousand dollars for this procedure. I Thank God for Medicare, as I had just turned 65 and did not have the money to pay for this procedure; without it. They must have had a huge celebration at their offices. The angioplasty happened to be successful. I was told I had seven percent damage to my heart. I was told at the hospital to report my defecations to the doctors as it seemed to be important to be examined. A day or so later I did have to defecate and looked at it. It was black in color with white spots that seemed to be important to the doctors. As the nurse was flushing it down, I kept yelling Save the Shit, which he ignored and flushed it away. After once again cursing the doctor for not giving me the clot buster injection, he said if I notice anything different to call him. Well the very next day I felt very dizzy. I called him and told him this and he asked me what I was doing at the time. I told him that I was bending down at the time. His answer was “Don’t bend down any more” I fired him on the spot. During my time at that hospital I found out the name of another hospital which was known as the Real Heart Hospital. I telephoned them and asked for the name of the chief cardiac surgeon at that hospital. I called his office and asked if he took private patients. Their answer was yes and I spoke to him directly. He mentioned that his hospital was quite a difference from where I lived, but presented no problem. I was told that if I call 911, they are required to take me to the nearest hospital and to give them his card and he would take over from then on. I liked him and I stayed alive for the next eleven years. When I knew I was moving to Tampa, I asked him if he could recommend a good cardiologist in Tampa, he basically said there were none. I replied that this is a large city and there must be at least one good one. He replied then go out and find one. When I arrived in Tampa I started my search. I had interviewed seven of them and found none that knew anything that I already did not know and kept up my search. I found one who I went to among them who had the same name as a famous comedian. I made six appointments but never saw his face as he had an assistant see me each time. It was a female who mixed up all of my medicines.

I needed a dentist and only would see a Brazilian dentist. I found one who after taking several X-Rays and charged me $140.00 for them; presented me with a quotation of $ 2,780.00 for the work she said that I needed. I then realized that I must see my regular dentist who was in Brazil to work on my problem. The flight to Rio is about $600.00. I flew there to see my regular dentist who is a perfectionist. She did a far superior job than the one who was practicing dentistry in Florida and charged only $500.00. She also invites us to lunch at her house in Rio every Sunday, where her husband (who is an engineer) is a fantastic chef who cooks in the Amazonian style. Every bite of every meal he cooks is memorable. I have planned a trip to the Amazon many times however I have never been there.

I have found out the health care people in Brazil are superior to the care in the United States. In Brazil most of the doctors actually care about their patients. The people choose their doctor from recommendations their friends. There cosmetic surgeons and their dentists are the absolutely the best in the world. With my aging, one time while I was in Brazil I decided to have the bags under my eyes removed I have been plagued with asthma for over 50 years. Every doctor has told me (and my daughter, who also has asthma) to use Albuterol. We just kept puffing all day year after year. I was in Brazil to have some plastic surgery, but the surgeon said I must see a cardiologist before he started cutting. I would guess he did not want me to die on his watch. The cardiologist said my heart was fine, but said I hear lots of noise in your lungs. He asked what I have been using. I said Albuterol, which even on their label mentions arrhythmia. “Since I discontinued the Albuterol, I have not had a single tachycardia attack”. I had been plagued with this as well as asthma for all those years. He gave me a better puffer prescription; however I never had to use it. He asked why I do not prevent it in the first place. He gave me a prescription that prevented the wheezing this is “FLUIR (fumarato de formoterol)” (picture enclosed) which is a small capsule of powder that is inhaled twice a day. This was ten years ago, and I nor my daughter has not had even a hint of a wheeze since, my cost per day is $ 2.00 for this. medication which is cheap in Brazil. Schering-Plough makes the FLUIR; they do not make this here for the American Market, as the also manufacture Albuterol “which states right on their label that this could cause arrhythmia” and makes much more money for them. I telephoned my local pulmonary man and told him this and he feverishly wrote down this information as he is constantly prescribing Albuterol as the only method he knows. The Brazilian Cardiologist who gave me this information said "What kind of doctors do you have in the US"? I told him my opinion which is that they are only interested in making money and have no interest in helping their patients. He has heard that before from Many Americans. I have sent the above information to the American Lung Association before, but they would rather just raise money and give it to their officers...I am now on their mailing list asking me to donate money.


While in Brazil at one time, I decided to have Lasick surgery so I would not have to fool with bifocals or contact lenses. I chose the most prominent doctor in Rio de Janeiro. He had me do many tests to see if I was either a good or bad candidate. No one in the office ever look at the test results (I found out later that I should not have had it done as I was a bad candidate) At the time of the procedure I looked back and did not see the thin doctor with white hair, but saw a young man with black hair. The surgery took only a few seconds. The next day I went to the doctor’s office for a check up. He told me to read the eye chart. I replied “where is the chart” and he said it was on the wall. I replied “where is the wall” I found out that my left eye was almost totally blind. At that point he looked at my cornea and said “normal, but it needs a little more” He himself did the procedure and it became worse. He then did the right eye. At that time he did more surgery on the left eye at the same time he worked on the right eye. My left eye remained just about totally blind. I told this doctor what the bible says “an eye for an eye” and told him I wanted to take out his eye and use it as my own. When I returned home I went online and typed in Lasick, and found a site called “surgical eyes”. I then read that thousands of people had problems with their Lasick surgery. I added my story to this site. I received a replay from the head of Ophthalmology in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He wrote (“are you saying that the doctor did a Lasick procedure on the same eye during the same month?”) He asked for the doctor’s name and address. I found out later that the doctor had closed his office. When I returned to the United States I visited several Ophthalmologists, who each told me that I was butchered by this incompetent doctor in Brazil, and it was irreversible and no lenses could help me see through my left eye again. I was told of a certain place in London that could correct this with a computerized machine that looks at the damage and can correct it. This place is The Reinstein Institute, run by Dan Reinstein, MD who invented this machine. I spoke to him and he said “if you happen find yourself in London, I can help you. His specialty is Post-Refractive Rehab/ and his Areas of Specialization is exactly this. He is at the Eye Academy House at 114a Harley Street London UK, W1G 2EL tel +44 (0) 20 7681 1233 (omit 0 if calling from US)

Not long after my story was published on this blog. I had gotten an email from the people who run “Surgical Eyes” and was told to watch a certain television show about Lasick horrors. It showed a reporter going into a Lasick doctor’s office and got into position to have the procedure done. She got off the table and said she changed her mind. The doctor just shouted next. During this time there were reporters with video cameras showing this. The approached the doctor and showed him her “chart”, and on camera asked him “would you to a Lasick surgery on a person with this chart?” He said “absolutely not”. They now said “you were about to do it to the lady who was on your table moments ago” He ran off camera. The reporters then said that this particular doctor did about 400 people each and every day at $600 per eye. My question is why Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. If you do the math this doctor might make more money each year than Gates.

When my oldest daughter was thirteen years old she developed a sore throat. I and my wife were out of the country at this time. She walked to her pediatrician and had him check her out. He told her to take an aspirin and go home. When I arrived from out trip overseas, she complained that all of her joints were hurting. I took out my handy Dr.Spock’s book and looked at the symptoms. I found out that these symptoms seemed to indicate that she had Rheumatic Fever. I called her pediatrician and apprised him of what I had read. He said that he knows all about Rheumatic Fever as his own sister had it, and that she did not have Rheumatic Fever. I brought her to the hospital that confirmed the fact that she did indeed have Rheumatic Fever and checked her in to a room. I received a telephone call from the hospital stating that she might not make it through the night and might die, as it was heart involved. They treated her with cortisone and she survived. A friend of mine had a cousin who was a very well known cardiologist. I flew him in from California, and he had told the hospital what to do from then on. She stayed in the hospital for the entire summer and when it was time for her to go home I almost could not recognize her as she had gained about 100 pounds. I mentioned to my wife to put her on a diet as she was enormous. She had overheard this conversation and refused to eat and developed anorexia. She regained her weight to her normal range, but to this day remains very thin. During this process I received a bill from her pediatrician for his “services”. But I did not pay for the portion that had to do with her initial tests.

For some unknown reason I developed terrible pain in my right shoulder. I went to a physical therapist that made it worse. I was referred to a well known orthopedist in the area that I had lived in and he sent me to his physical therapist that made if even worse than before. He decided to do surgery. After the surgery he sent me to his physical therapist once again and I suffered more pain than before. I asked a friend who was a retired orthopedist and asked his opinion. He suggested that I go to a “teaching doctor” I went to the University of Miami and saw the teaching doctor who examined me and had a dozen students with him. When he looked at the X-Rays he remarked that “whoever did this surgery put a whole hardware store in there, so he could build up the Medicare bill and knew how to work the papers to get paid more.” He also said that this was “needless surgery”. He then said “You need a good physical therapist” I told him that I had gone that route many times with each making the pain worse. He replied in saying “You were not listening, I said a “good physical therapist” I asked him if he knew of any. He gave me the name of one that cured the pain in a few visits.

My Ex-wife (a heavy smoker) went for an annual check up and was told she definitely had lung cancer. She then went to several other doctors to confirm this and each said she definitely had lung cancer. They checked her into the hospital and cut her open. They removed ½ of one of her lungs, but later the biopsy showed it to be benign. The pain and suffering not including the emotional factor is scary enough. The doctors padded their bank accounts not caring a bit about the suffering patient. Since she was underage and not having Medicare, she paid the bills herself. Take a look at the following URL to read all about this, and then continue down to page 2, which tells my personal experiences.

http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/doctorsusa.htm



CHAPTER eight
My friend the General the war hero

Several months before I had moved to Tampa, an elderly couple moved next door to my when I had lived in the Polo Club. I became very good friends with possibly the most interesting man I had ever had the pleasure of knowing. He came to visit me every day and told me wonderful stories about his life. When World War II broke out, he did not want to be drafted into service, so he got a job with the firm that was making the Norden Bomb Sight Machines. The URL is below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norden_bombsight. His job was to train both the American as well as the British bombardiers on how to use it. It was a very secret weapon that all the soldiers were told that if their planes ever about to crash to destroy this machine. He still felt insecure about being drafted so he joined the United States Coast Guard reserve. Within a short time he was in fact drafted into the army as a private. One day he was told to report to an office on his base. He entered the room and was greeting by a man wearing a general’s uniform wearing a shiny helmet with three stars on it. It turned out to be General George Patton. The general asked him” where the hell did you get such a high IQ? He answered that he did not now but it must have come from his parents. He was told to enter the War College in which he received top grades. He graduated as a brigadier general. He then was asked which general he wished to serve under. He replied with the name of General Patton. His commanding officer said we have enough generals in Europe and they needed him in the pacific theatre of operations. He was assigned to work under General Macarthur. He was put in charge of tank warfare, and participated in just about every landing, from island to island. During this time he kept a small tape recorder with him and spoke into it constantly. He played some of them for me with the audio saying that this is General Lewis F, Parker, and we are about land on Tarawa, etc. I was able to clearly hear the naval gunfire in the background on each tape. He was wounded many times, and had received every medal that the army could give out. He still has many pieces of shrapnel still in his body that keep working their way out. He did say that after being wounded he was treated very well in each hospital he had been sent to. He was a young, handsome high ranking officer that all the nurses loved. The each sat on his lap and sexually pleasured him. One day General Macarthur called him in and was told he must go on what could be a suicide mission. He was told there was a prison camp behind the enemy lines that contained 3000 civilians. During World War II, the Japanese converted the campus into a concentration camp for civilians, foreigners and POWs.. (Some of the most brutal war crimes against American soldiers and civilians living abroad occurred in Santo Tomas). He was apprised of the fact that he must take his tanks and only travel at night and it would take him 27 days to get there. He did in effect get there and freed the 3000 civilian prisoners, one of which was the famous life magazine named Carl Mydans. When Mydans was first arrested by the Japanese he told them who he was and offered not to put him into prison if he would photograph their soldiers in a glorified manner. Mydans chose prison instead. When Parker told General Macarthur this story, Macarthur decided to choose Mydans to take the now famous “I shall return” picture showing him walking through the water ashore. Parker told me that during this walk, Macarthur fell down into the water twice and had to go back and change into a fresh new uniform. He had also told me that the president of the Philippines who was also walking ashore fell into the water and had to put on a new suit of clothing for this now famous picture. If you look at this picture you will see the gentlemen wading through the water. Macarthur in the center, and the now Lieutenant General Parker on Macarthur’s left carrying some maps that were rolled up. He was third in command after Macarthur and General Eichelberger. Two years ago Carl Mydans passed away at the age of 92. Life Magazine put out a special edition in tribute to him. (Picture attached). A brass plate by the entrance of the building memorializes the building’s significance to thousands of Americans and other nationals who suffered at the hands of the Japanese Army that invaded the Philippines in World War II. (Below:) A giant plaque on the building’s wall wither the names those who were detained in the camp. (pictures enclosed).

Carl Mydans began his photographic career with the Farm Security Administration in 1935, and was quickly hired away by Life magazine in 1936. Mydans photographed national stories until 1939, when Life sent Carl and his wife Shelley Smith Mydans to cover the war in Europe as the first husband and wife photo-journalist team. Carl Mydans, from Europe, the couple was re-assigned to the Pacific theater. In 1941 they were captured by Japanese forces in the Philippines and held as prisoners of war until freed by General Parker and his tanks in 1943.
When we moved to Tampa from Boca Raton, we had invited him and his wife to stay with us in out home. We speak on the telephone from time to time, however I miss him very much.

Today I spend most of my day at my computer creating movies. I take a snapshot with my digital camera, and then animate it and add it to the movies that. (I download small segments of movies on the internet, and create my movies around them, I then add audio to it) I send these to my friends to entertain them and I even post some on U-Tube and Metacafe and some other websites. I love what I do and have always enjoyed what ever I had done. I know that some day I will indeed pass away and have told my wife I want to be cremated. (My dream is to have my ashes sent to the KY jelly factory), and be able to “visit all of the girls who I had never known”.

http://www.metacafe.com/channels/angelou/

http://www.mrangel.com/




















































THE GREAT INDOORS MAN


Table of Contents

The Dedication
The Introduction
The Beginning
African Carvings
My Life as a Businessman
My Purchase of Louangel Corporation from Louis Philippe
My Dealings with the ex-secretary of the Treasury
My Life as a Painter
My Life as a Writer
My Life as a Builder
My Next Ventures
President Bush’s grandfather
My Life as a University Lecturer
My Life as a World Traveler
Doctors are the third largest killer of Americans
My Life as a Health Care Victim
My Friend the General the war hero



The DEDICTION

As of this point I do can not dedicate this book to any particular person. I had no idols, or anyone to look up to. I am hoping that someone will come along such as an Editor or Publisher that I can name and thank for the help in publishing my autobiography. (picture enclosed).



The Introduction

This book is about a man who had no formal education with no one in his family with any type of business experience. That type of man is today called a “self made man” (This man is me, thus this autobiography). (picture enclosed) I started penniless, with nothing at all, and built a multinational corporation that was very well known, through out the world, and how I got started. It mentions my connections to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, my involvement with the ex-secretary of the Treasury of the United States “Robert B. Anderson”. It tells about my dealing’s with the mafia, and also the King of Saudi Arabia. And other well known people that I came in contact with and, became part of my life story. I include a section of a friend of mine “Adele Lewis” who worked on the atom bomb in the Manhattan Project; it also speaks of a very close friend of mine who was a well known war hero “Lieutenant General Lewis F. Parker” (the third general in command under General Macarthur). Some of them are or have been world famous, and I how I got involved in some parts of world events. Other parts of this story just happened to me along the long road of my life, I had a chance to meet and learn about the Hassidic community and their culture. And mention, a friend “Steve Rubell” at Studio 54. I talk about the opening of the very first massage parlor in New York. Since I was never interested in sports as I was terrible at it, I spent a great deal of time in libraries; ergo I named this book “The Great Indoors Man”. I talk about my lecturing at universities. I mention my stint as an architect developing a new suburb on New York City and the problems I faced in building homes. I also mention the Supermarket Guru, “Phil Lempert” who is on television speaking about food, and I tell in detail my other business’ ventures, my problems with all branches of government and, the medical profession and, speak, about my problems with our health care system in the United States, as well as in other countries. I speak about my world travels, being among the very first visitor to mainland China and the cultural differences between China and the rest of the world. It shows that in America the country which is the greatest land of opportunity that anyone could succeed during a lifetime of hard work and dedication. “Aside from business I had a lot of fun, and still do”.



CHAPTER ONE
The Beginning


I am now at the age staring at 80 and all I have left is memories. As I tell people about my life everyone tells me to write a book I asked if anyone would be interested in my story and still do not know. “I have always been told that I was intoxicated by the exuberance of my verbosity” If this ever gets published we will find the answer to this question.

If I count back 9 months from my birth to the date of my conception, it would happen to be on black Friday, October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and we went into the great depression.

I was born and grew up during the depression. Since my beloved father was one of the few people in the neighborhood who had a job. He worked as a manager in millinery factory. My father made $ 40.00 per week which is the same amount that we paid in monthly rent which was the normal range at the time. (picture enclosed).

My mother snared him when he was very young, with the condition that they did not have a child for a long while. 10 months later I was born. We did not have much to eat as well as my mother was about the world’s worst cook. She made potatoes in most every form and gave the meals fancy names. During my childhood my mother told me to never eat in restaurants as they give you poison, so I never did until the night I had graduated from high school, where the entire graduating class including me when to Times Square to celebrate. They decided to eat in a Chinese restaurant. I was scared to death; also I did not have any money with me. I went along and ate one Chinese noodle. I did not die and decided that my mother was giving me false information. She just must have been embarrassed as she knew she was not a good cook. We were quit poor and I had to get dressed under the blanket as there was little if any heat.

One problem I have always had was to sleep until after 10:00 am, which made school very difficult for me to go to. My father had five brothers and sisters who he had put through college. He never went to college himself, even though he was the smartest one of all his siblings. Since my grandfather never really worked, my father had to start working at about 10 doing anything to support the family. He drove a horse carriage delivering laundry, worked in a bowling alley, ran a motion picture machine in a movie house, and delivered piece goods in the garment center. My grandmother was literally a genius who spoke almost a dozen languages; therefore all her children inherited her intelligence. (picture enclosed) (In this picture she was only in her forties however she looks decades older. I am the baby in the picture and my great Grandfather looks like he was in his nineties however he was only in his sixties}. When her children were grown there were no jobs to be gotten due to the depression, so his sisters became school teachers. One of my father’s younger brothers was drafted in the army and when tested they found out that he had the third highest IQ in the army during World War II. They wanted to send him to officer’s candidate school, but he refused to go. Not knowing what to do with him they made him a master sergeant and sent him to California where he ended up practically running the entire air force from that base. When the war ended and he was about to be discharged, they said we can not lose you, and gave him a civil service job with a high civilian civil service rank and a good salary. Five years later the war in Korea broke out and they offered him a job as a brigadier general. He refused and stayed on in his present position for the rest of his life but now running the U.S Airforce world wide.

At that time I was 20 years old and about to be drafted into the army. I did not want to go into the army and possibly be buried in Korea as many of my friends ended up doing. A friend of mine who was a few months older than me did not want to go into the army either. He spent time in the library and found the solution for both of us. He researched it and told me that we could get out of it by claiming that we had asthma. He said he would try it and if it succeeded for him, which I should try to claim that I had asthma as well. I did and was examined by the army doctors who said “I do not have asthma” I replied that I was not having an asthma attack at this time. I was told to get a letter from my personal doctor. I went to him and he told me that I do not have asthma. After a long time arguing he wrote a note stating that when I was younger I had a bronchial condition and he heard wheezing at that time. I was finally given a 4F status and never had to go into the army. I guess I was a draft dodger before it became fashionable during the war in Vietnam when boys of my age ran to Canada. When I was fourteen I found that the girls would only go with the fellows who were in uniform, so I joined the New York State Guard which allowed me to wear the uniform. I had to go to meetings weekly and go to a training camp for two weeks each summer. I had failed my favorite subject in high school which was History. At the beginning of the term the teacher said she would grade us on two things. One was my tests and the other was by turning in our homework,” I never turned in my homework therefore I failed the subject which I was very good at”, therefore I had to go to summer school and take a test at the end of the summer. Since I had to go to summer school, I told my captain in the guard I had to resign and told him about the summer school. He asked me how old I was, and when I told him my age was fourteen and I was given an honorable discharge. To earn money after school I worked as a movie usher. I had many other jobs after my regular school hours. I worked for the department of sanitation shoveling snow in the winters; I also worked several times for the post office delivering mail during the Christmas season. I had worked in a hardware store as a clerk among other jobs as well as delivering groceries by bicycle. Actually, history was my second favorite subject in high school; my first one was typing class. The entire class was made up with girls. I was the only boy in the class, which is the reason I took the class, where I was able to meet and become friendly with the girls.

Since I was the first grandchild in the family my aunts taught me to read and write before I went to school. (This happened to ruin my education). When I was put into the first grade and tested the school decided to promote me to the third grade. I kept getting promoted up to a grade until I had no idea of what was going on. I did poorly in high school and was happy to graduate. I later decide to teach myself by reading anything I could get my hands on and this became my education. During the Eisenhower administration, one of his cabinet officers made the following statement. “The business of America is business”.

I had always been fond of African sculptures and found a man selling these items. He had in his line a hand carved three piece set that looked like a knife fork and spoon. I purchased this and other items, and I secured a position with him that was on a strict commission basis working for this man. I suggested that he put this into a gift set altering this arrangement to use the spoon and fork and make it a salad serving set, and later use the knife as a letter opener. I went about selling these salad servers for five dollars each, in which I received one dollar per set. No matter how hard I worked I never made more than seventy five dollars a week. One day I happened to be standing in front of a store that was selling these very same African carvings. After a brief discussion I found out that his price for the three piece set was only one dollar each and that the man I was working for was his customer. I decided to stop selling for the man I had been working for and purchase these from the man in the store. I had designed my own boxes and in put these into it, but I enclosed a small photograph of some African men carving these with some copy under the picture (picture enclosed) stating that these were the carvers in Kenya and Tanzania and the wood they used. I went around selling these as premiums to various companies to be used as give a ways to their customers. Since these were very unusual items, and not sold in stores they looked like they were fairly expensive products and no one actually knew how cheap they really were. I sold each set for five dollars each. Now I was earning several hundred dollars a week for my efforts. I kept knocking on doors and sold them in both small and large companies. One company I approached was U.S. Rubber company that liked what they saw and said they would ask all of there officers it they would use it as a “mud and snow tire promotion”. The company said they would purchase hundreds of thousands of these. Four officials of the company had to give their approval. I was taken into three offices and each officer gave their approval, however the fourth man was out of town on business. I found out later that he rejected this idea. If I had more experience I would have paid him off to approve it. The only thing I was worried about this time was how in hell I could import this quantity directly from Africa knowing that these were individually carved and could never produce this quantity. I also considered a phony way of producing these by having them molded. This would have made me dishonest which was against all of my principals. Here I could have obtained great success, but was not astute enough to pull it off. I went about selling these and ended up in the offices of an advertising agency who also wanted to purchase fairly large quantities of these. I received an order that was later cancelled by the buyer’s father. I ran small ads in the local newspaper as I had already purchased a quantity from my supplier in the store. The ad did not produce anyone, but finally the father approved the purchase and I got out of this mess. During my knocking on doors I met many well known people. Someone told me that the famous author Fannie Hurst liked African carvings and gave me her address. I went to her apartment and she invited me in for a cup of tea and bought some carvings. I also met “Everett Crosby” (the business manager of his brother “Bing Crosby” who also bought some items). I met “Henney Youngman” and we became friends. I was in his apartment and he came to visit me later at many trade shows joking around with me. I met “Red Buttons”, “Phil Fosters” and other comedians during this time. I met with the brothers of other well known people such as “Moss Hart” and “Al Capp”, who each purchased some of these items. The advertising agency mentioned above represented the famous “Liberace”. They told me that he was also fond of African carvings and bought a large ebony piece from me. I was watching him being interviewed on television and as he showed his apartment, the African carving was next to his candelabra on his piano.

Without college and getting up late, I could not find a decent job. A friend of mine’s uncle had owned a large ladies coat manufacturing firm and got me a job as a driver for one of their salesmen. This started me off in a new life, traveling the country. I stayed in hotels and ate real food along with the salesman, which was wonderful compared to what I ate at home.

My drawing account was $30.00 per week (less tax) which I sent home to help support my family. One day when I was quite hungry, as the salesman had to out to entertain his customers. I was alone that night. I looked into the window of a restaurant and noticed a very attractive girl behind the counter. I went in and ordered a cup of coffee. She asked if I wanted to order anything else and I said no. She knew it was because I did not have any money and shoved a sandwich at me at no charge. As we chatted she asked me where I would sleep. I answered that I would sleep in my car. She invited me to her home and sleep with her. I used that incident to keep doing this night after night. Life was starting to become wonderful. While the salesman was out I copied his customer list and decided to go out on my own. I used my best friend as my driver, and paid all of his expenses as we traveled from state to state. I did the same each time the selling season was over but this time on my own working on a commission bases with a drawing account of $75.00 per week less taxes which left me with $66.00 to live on. Gasoline at that time cost me $4.00 per day to fill up a tank. I stayed at Inns as there were no motels at the time. That cost me $2.00 per night in small towns and $5.00 in the big cities. I knew I had to eat so I bought cookies from local bakeries which were my meals for the day. I sent what was left home. (I lost eleven pounds during this short period of time). During one of my trips I found myself in a bad snowstorm but decided to keep going from town to town. I then came across a mound of snow that I could not get through and was stuck dead center in the middle of a mound of snow. I felt that a snowplow would come along shortly so I had just kept smoking my cigarettes and chew gum as I listed to the news and music on the radio, not thinking about the battery as I kept the car running to heat myself waiting. A few hours later I felt a bump in the rear of my car that was also stuck right behind me. The people saved my life, by clearing my exhaust pipe so I would not die from the carbon monoxide there were four people in the car, two adults and two teenagers. One of the men in the car made his way to my car and told me that if I continued with keeping the motor running I would die of carbon monoxide poisoning. He advised me to join them in their car and when the gas in their car would run out, we will all go into mine. They then told me their story. It seemed that they were both preachers and went to retrieve their runaway sons. I entered their car and their gas indeed ran out. While we were in their car, they turned to the religious station and they prayed. With out heat we would all freeze to death. I told them that I had in my car garment bags that I could bring back and we could each cover our selves and possibly save our lives. It took several hours for me to dig myself out of their car and get to mine. I accomplished this and we were still freezing but stayed alive. One of the teenagers noticed that I was chewing gum and asked of a piece and I gave it to them. They then changed the radio station to their station which was a religious station and they all prayed for Gods help. Their prayers must have helped as we survived this situation. In the morning when the storm ended, one of the preachers and I, dug our way out of the car. We noticed a farm house that was not too far away. We made out way through chest high snow to the farmhouse and were greeted warmly by the farmers. They offered us coffee and something to eat. I, a New Yorker had never been in a farmhouse previously, so I was very impressed by the modern house they lived in. We asked the other preacher and the kids to join us and were treated like honored guests. We stayed with them for many hours. They telephoned the local snow plow people and eventually they pulled our cars out and brought them to a service station that steamed out our engines which at time were caked in ice, and continued our separate ways, each of us thanking each other as well as our hosts the farmers. I drove to Sioux City and the first thing I did was enter the bar for a drink of liquor. I then went up to my room for a needed shower, but returned do the bar where I met many salesmen who were also stuck in the snow storm. I met a very pretty girl who invited me to her room for sex. After the session, I returned to the bar and I joined the group who were some of the nicest people I had ever met. Among this group were two famous bands. The Woody Herman and the Harry James band. We became very close and decided to meet the next weekend in Sioux Falls, and the following week in Minneapolis, however during our time in Sioux City we decided to have some fun. We all went to the local department store and each of picked up a girl to take back to join us at the hotel to party.

I started to think about this time. Since my customers received a 7% discount for paying his bills before the 10th of the month and I was only receiving 6% in commissions. I had also found out the company was also cheating me on my commissions. When my customer repeated their orders directly to the firm they never paid me the commissions that were due me. I found this out from people in the office and also from the customers when I visited them the next time. I got the bright idea that if I started my own company, I would give my salesmen a commission of 10%. However to start my own business I would need money but had none.

When I came home to New York City I walked around in the rain with the only pair of shoes that had. The soles were thread bare so I stuffed newspaper into them and continued walking. I happened to enter a Woolworth store and saw a new product. It was a plastic bottle, which sold for 10 cents. Since I still had a nickel to get home on the subway, I bought the bottle.

Although not formally educated I was always very creative. I went to the 42nd street library and looked through a book on formulas and found that if one was to mix soap with water it would anti-fog glass. I added some isopropyl alcohol and I called chemical companies and found a blue dye. With a marker created a logo and put copy on my sample bottle. I took the sample to car and truck dealers and it was rejected on sight. At that time I sent in an ad into an Optical magazine showing my product. I received a letter from a firm in Sweden who asked for the exclusive rights to the product in Sweden. I naturally agreed and received a large order, with repeat orders over the next 20 years. Here I was selling one store at a time and I happened to receive large orders from a customer in a foreign country. I put Swedish copy on the package which made it sell better in Sweden. I found out later that this company exported this to all of the Scandinavian countries as well as selling every store in Sweden including the Soviet Union as well as the rest of the eastern block countries. I then translated this product into most every language which allowed me to export it all over the world where the consumer in each country could read the text easier.

I then realized that the same formula could be used on eye glasses. I borrowed a few dollars from my father and bought some very small bottles. I then designed a display card with elastic strings and hung the bottles on it and started to go out and sell this product. I walked into every drug & optical store and sold every one of them. I started in Brooklyn, and worked my way to Manhattan and the Bronx and once again I sold every store I entered as the sale was for only $3.60 each. Every customer kept reordering the product.

I filled the bottles on my kitchen table and strung the bottles on the display card, while watching television, and went out selling in the daytime. I moved my “factory” from my kitchen table to my mother’s basement and then rented a small store for $40.00 per month. Every month or so I had to move to larger quarters and ended up twenty seven years later with a factory taking up almost an entire city block. Each night the local kids broke in and stole my typewriter and whatever else could carry out. No matter where I moved in this neighborhood, of Brooklyn, the burglaries kept happening including the huge building I had eventually moved into. In this case there were hundreds of windows. I had my many employees whose only job was to cement block up windows. Years later when I sold the buildings I received calls from the new owners telling me that their buildings were broken into. I just kept telling them to find the holes and plug them up.

I knew absolutely nothing about business. I did not even know about shipping the merchandise I would possibly produce. Later, once I was in my business (I carried my merchandise on the subway with a rope around it with one end around my neck and delivered it by hand). One day I noticed a parked truck on the street and spoke to the driver and asked him if they picked up goods and delivered it. He told me that was their business and I started to use trucks for both incoming and outgoing shipments. I kept records of my sales and payments in a small notebook. As I grew I used an inexpensive accountant to do my taxes. He suggested I use columns and that became my bookkeeping system. As my business grew, he sold my account to a larger accounting firm. I kept going from store to store selling my product.

One day one of my customers asked why I do not use a jobber (I had no idea what that was) He gave me the name of one of the largest drug wholesaler. I visited the buyer and showed him my product. He said it was very nice however he has never gotten any calls for it, however if it go about what I was doing and give his these (turn over orders) he might stock it and even have his salesmen try to sell it. I did what he suggested and returned in a few days with hundreds of these turn over orders. I did the same with all of the other drug and optical jobbers. They called this POR (pay on reorder) which meant that they would not pay for the first order until they ordered more of the product. I did this POR business with all of the jobbers, but found myself out of money. I called back the product and received a bunch of checks in the mail with new orders. One of these jobbers, after hearing my story asked why I do not hire a manufacturer’s representative to call on the wholesalers. He suggested one that was just starting and was looking for products to represent. They picked up the ball and I was now really in business. I had so much business that I had to hire a private filling firm to do the manufacturing for me. I was now really in business but needed another product.

Since “Never-Mist” my first product which was an eye glass cleaner and anti fogger was doing very well, it was time for me to expand into other areas by manufacturing products that I could market. I stared to manufacture many products and sell them through the small mail order catalog houses that were prominent at that time. One easy one was a dental mouth mirror as a cleaner and anti fogger that I knew could sell through dental distributors. I utilized the same ¼ ounce bottle I had been using for “Never-Mist” and changed the color to yellow. It had a small distribution but it did sell. I private labeled this same formula for the dental distributors using their name as the manufacturer.

I had also used the same bottle and called it “Defend” (to fight off muggers and rapists) Here once more I changed he copy on the bottle and changed the color to red. It sold very well in the mail order catalogs and became well known. One cartoonist in a national newspaper used the product in one of his cartoons showing the user spraying it into his own face. A police woman had used it to defend herself against a traffic violator (which received a great deal of media attention). It was also used for criminal purposes by bandits that tried to rob a bank. The criminal was promptly arrested and using his free telephone call from the prison he was allowed to make the phone call, called me asking for my help in his defense. I declined this request. I was also rebuked as when a few people read the copy on the bottle they did not read it correctly and though it had said (to fight off “niggers” and rapists). I also manufactured a product called “rub on gold” and “rub on silver” for consumer to buy items such as plain wooden picture frames and color it by rubbing on the gold or silver. One day I happened to put a bit of the silver wax on the front of my jet black hair and felt this could be another good product to manufacture. The user could use the product to go out at night with that streak in their hair and wash it off when they returned home. It looked great. I had merely replaced the turpentine with propylene glycol and used a cosmetic grade of gold and silver powder, designed a label and display card and introduced a line that I called “Frost Tip”. It had a mild success however my product was knocked off by a huge cosmetic company that called their product “Streaks & Tips” I tried to sue them, however before I proceeded the large firm purchased a company with a similar name that predated my name so I had to give up my suit against them.

I went to the library and found numerous formulas that were usually a one chemical product. One was called a tree stump remover which the mail order company ran ads in their catalogs as well as in newspapers. Their ad showed the consumer their choices. They could hire a professional service with excavation equipment which would cost them a lot of money. They could have the stump dynamited out which could possibly blow up their house in the process, or buy this product for $1.50 and it would get rid of the eyesore. The problem was it was just about impossible for them to follow the directions and use it. They first had to drill two holes at 45 degree angles and then pour in gasoline, then pour in the powdered substance in the can and wait for it all to get together. The major problem was that nearly no one had a drill bit larger than a ¼ inch and most stumps were about at least 10 to 20 inches in diameter. They ended up trashing the product. The following year they forgot about their problem and bought the product once again with the same problem. I was able to sell large quantities of this product in fifty five gallon drums to the loggers in Oregon who had the tools to use it successfully.

Another product was called “Septi-Care”, which actually worked. They just took the container and poured in down the toilet and somehow it cleaned out blockages. Another product was called Root Rout which was supposed to burn away wandering roots of dead trees. It worked and sold quite well. The next product I had called”Plasti-Kleen” that was to clean and polish plastics. Then I had added to this line was a product I had called “Converta-Clear” which was to take the grime off the rear windows of convertible automobiles that kept getting messed up by the opening and closing of these windows as they went up and down. About this time a bottle of some chemical spilled on my desk and stripped off all the paint. I immediately marketed this product for automobiles so a person could remove their old paint before painting it a new color. I called it “Zip-Strip”. I then added a “Rust Remover”, which was just pumice in the form of a stick. I also tried marketing a red wax in stick form to be used as a seal for letters when heated and dropped on the back of an envelope. This product did not sell at all even though it was big centuries ago in the middle ages by kings and important potentates. I had also manufactured a chemical to keep garden tools such as rakes and shovels from rusting. It was basically petroleum jelly dyed a bright blue. One of my mail order customers asked me to make a product that would increase the size of a women’s bust. I said I did not have a clue of how to do this. This man happened to be both a doctor as well as a lawyer and told me to just put petroleum jelly in a can and dye it red. He said he would pay me 8 cents per can. He in turn marketed it for about $10.00 each making all false claims. He ended up in jail on some other matter which had nothing to do with this. I had purchased a used electric IBM typewriter and noticed that the ribbons had a shiny piece about ¼ inches thick as a lead for the ribbon. I held it up to the light and inspected it. It seemed that if you looked at it closely, you could see through it. It acted like a one way mirror. I tracked down the manufacturer of this product and ordered dozens of large rolls of this. I had them cut into various sizes such as 8” by 10” and numerous other sizes and offered this to the mail order houses as an easy way for the consumer to paste these on their windows and have their own one way mirrors. I also manufactured this in very large rolls which I drop shipped directly to the mail order’s customer. I found out to my surprise that most all of these large sizes were being ordered by Motels and Doctors offices. Somehow I knew why these perverts ordered this product.

Another fun product I manufactured was a “flavored douche” which I named “French Treat” I brought this product to a trade show that was held in a New York hotel. As my prospective customers picked up a sample they all laughed. I told that (jokingly) that they could sample this product and I also told them that I had hired prostitutes assigned upstairs in this hotel, so they could taste these for themselves. For example, miss raspberry was in room 604; miss lime was in room 390, etc. I had great fun with this product and even named one “Tarter Sauce”. Some of these customers actually took the elevator and went to the rooms I had suggested. Amazingly enough it sold very well.

I really now realized that I needed a new real line of product that would sell as well as my “Never-Mist” which I could distribute widely.

I decided that shining ones shoes was a mess, scooping out the polish out of the can and then brushing it on the shoes, and then buffing them. I decided that if I could design a product in stick form similar to a deodorant stick or lipstick, it might sell. I started searching for mold manufacturers. One mold maker I found told me that I was not the first one to think of this. The original one was the man who actually invented the lipstick. (Before this, women bought a container and used their little finger to color their lips) His name was Louis Philippe and the last time they heard about him he lived somewhere in New Jersey. I tracked him down. He was 78 years old (I was 22). We immediately became best friends. It seems that when he was young he was in the French Foreign Legion. He came to the United States with only one talent. He was able to play the concertina. He worked the Staten Island Ferry with a cup begging for donations. A passenger told him that he was very good at this and should go into burlesque. He did exactly that, and worked between the strippers, with customers screaming at him “bring on the girls” and threw rotten tomatoes at him while he tried to dodge them as he danced around playing his concertina.

He noticed that the only women who wore make-up at the time were the strippers. Both he and his mother went to the library and found French formulas for face make-ups and started to manufacture it in his rented apartment on 23rd street in Manhattan. He had the side of the building removed and installed boilers to manufacture his products. In a few years he bought up all of the property in what is now called the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Today if you walk down 23rd street you will find a Louis Philippe liquor store as well as an apartment building bearing his name. (picture enclosed) There was also a Louis Philippe movie theatre since torn down.

In a few short years he became the first and largest cosmetic manufacturer in the United States. He called the company (Louis Philippe, Inc). In October 1929 he sold the company to American Home Product for several million dollars (in 1929 dollars), (with a restriction that he never manufacture cosmetics again. He told his friends about this forthcoming deal and all Louis Philippe’s friends told him to invest this money in the stock market as it was soaring at that time. With his bad luck the market crashed in only a few days after he received the check, leaving him with only one million dollars left to live out the rest of his life with. They all told him to invest this money into the stock market that was soaring at that time. When I purchased the now called “The Louangel Corporation,” he used a dozen lawyers at the closing that he had met during the last huge sale using American Home Products lawyers); I had used only one, (a cousin of my father against his dozen lawyers, therefore they got everything they wanted. My “lawyer” stayed silent. The deal was that Louis Philippe would work for me in making the formulas work and I would do the marketing, etc. Louis was so excited with this latest coup he stated dropping nitro glycerin tablets in his mouth during the closing. The angina persisted so he was taken to the hospital where he died the very next day of heart failure. I was told about this by my “lawyer”. Before his death, he had confided in me that he was not even the most famous Frenchman in the United States, and that he was not even French but was born Italian.

If you happen to see any of the old black & white movies (before talkies took over) you will find his name as the cosmetician to the stars in every one of the motion pictures. He married several of the then famous Hollywood stars who all showed up at his funeral in mink coats. I drove his then present wife, named Charlotte Adams to the funeral. She was in her forties at the time but still asked me if she was the prettiest of all his ex wives (ex superstars of the time now in their 80’s) who were there looking for some money he might have left them in his estate. Charlotte wrote an article about Louis Philippe’s life (for the Readers Digest) and it was published under the name “The Wonderful Wizard of Wax”. I was listed in the newspaper version of his obituary.(picture enclosed) “Since the name of my company was called The Louangel Corporation, Every one thought that my first name was Lou with my last name as Angelo. I was now Lou Angel to everyone I knew. That name stuck to this day and everyone calls me Lou. In fact both my license plate on my car “MR ANGEL”, and as my website use the name of, www.mrangel.com.

When World War II broke out, President Franklin Roosevelt gave Louis Philippe a “dollar a year job” working for the war effort. After the war Louis became restless and conceived a shoe polish in stick form. His venture in this business was not a great success and it languished for years. I bought this company now named ‘The Lou Angel Corporation”, as he was restricted from using his old name of Louis Philippe Inc. At the signing of the closing, the agreement was I was to pay him $12,000.00 and he was to work for me with the formulas. If it was not for bad luck, neither would have any luck at all.

Each year I attended many trade shows, the largest were in Chicago, one in the winter the other in the summer. The busiest days were Saturday and Sundays. During the rest of the week we had the chance to speak to our neighbors. There was a young Japanese man in the booth next to mine and we discussed many things of interest. He was selling wonderful knives that could cut through stone and still stay sharp enough to slice a tomato. I purchased a set for myself. He then said not only his knives were wonderful, but we in Japan would beat the United States with things like this, but every product on the market today. I laughed and said “you mean you are going to take on Detroit in the manufacture of automobiles?” He replied by saying yes. I once again laughed. He told me of the new Japanese philosophy where you make a product and put it on television and forget it. We do the same however we never leave the drawing board. Each year we improve the product and make it cheaper and you do not. I never forgot his philosophy and based my business on this theory. Years later he turned out to be correct and found out that they were using the Demming philosophy.

You can find out more about Deming by going to the URL listed below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming (picture enclosed)

William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900–December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets) through various methods, including the application of statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypothesis testing. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan becoming renowned for producing innovative high-quality products and becoming an economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death. It seems that Edward Demming knew business as no one ever before him did.

He took his theory to the Ford Motor Company and presented it to them. They asked him many questions. Where and how large is your company? How many people are in your employ? Then they asked him for a business card. To each question there was no answer that would satisfy them. Their last question was. Where do you get these ideas from, he promptly pointed to his head. They through him out, and he left. He did not give up and traveled to war ravished Japan that had almost no industry left. They listened to his ideas with great interest. “Lifetime employment for their workers, pride in their company and their work, as well as making every product as fine as they could and keep improving them constantly. They went along with his ideas it caused the great Japanese economic boom that stunned the world’s economic leading countries. They made and exported the best automobiles, and sold their electronics to every country in the world year after year. Today every year Japan gives out the “Demming Trophy” to the firm who had lived up to his standards best for that year.

My shoe polish venture had little success but with the purchase of this new corporation, however I had obtained all of the assets of the firm including his formulas which gave me the right to go into the perfume business.

At this time I put together a shoe polish kit. (I used a plastic case containing one of my shoe polish sticks and a shining cloth). I took it to one of the largest sales representatives to try to get him to sell it for me. He was not interested but asked me if I wanted to make a perfume. He had asked me if I was ever in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission, as he wanted me to put a “high line” price of $16.50 on the sale brochure (which was designed by his advertising agency),(picture enclosed) which we sold for only 40 cents each. (Which I did and that was the reason he had asked me if I was ever in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission). I told him I was not. He then showed me a perfume package that he was selling; however the manufacturer stopped making this; and told me that if I was to make it he could sell 100,000 of these. He helped me to produce a beautiful selling sheet showing this perfume package. I hedged my bet and only made 50,000 of these as I could order more of these if he did indeed sell the 100,000 packages. He sold only 40,000 packages, and I had sold the rest myself. (He seemed to always get in trouble with the Federal Trade Commission). I did not, however later when I was interviewed by the Federal Trade Commission they told me about him. That he said to them “You are making a federal case out of this”. (Which it was in fact that is was a federal offence). He had developed a huge manufacturer’s representative business by representing firms that manufactured items very similar to the famous originals. They included luggage, ready to wear, bedding, and many other items in his large catalogue. One day some years later he called in his entire sales forced and told them he was giving up this business as he had a dream. In the dream since his last name was Goldstein, he would only represent items made of gold. He told each salesman that they were free to represent the present lines that he was giving up. The first item he devised was gold flatware. He went to “International Silver” and ordered a huge amount of their products made in the silver color, but to make it exclusively for him in gold. He then took samples to TV guide magazine and they ran a huge promotion showing this, now a gold flatware set at a very low price. He sold a great amount of them. He also asked International Silver for a $1.00 each royalty on each set they sold to other people. He made a fortune on this as well.

Since I was doing well with this item, I then decided to go into the perfume business in a larger way. I created beautiful packages (using cheap perfume) and sold them all over the world, not to stores at that time, but to wholesalers who in turn sold to street peddlers. I sold them for use as premiums to stores and commercial users. Most all of my perfume and colognes, when I did starting to sell them through stores sold at the retail price of two for one dollar. A price every consumer could afford which brought large sales. I later designed gift sets which included one bottle of cologne and a bottle of after shave. It was very successful so the next year I made three and then four piece gift sets. (pictures enclosed). I at that time thought I was in the fragrance business, I later realized that I was really in the Christmas Gift business. Retail customers purchased each set by the dozen to give them away as presents as they were beautifully packaged and sold for one dollar each. These were given away to children’s teachers, the mail men, the garbage collector, etc. I went to buy a new house, while my wife was looking at the room sizes; I looked in each medicine cabinet. Every single one had at least one of my products in them. (These homes sold for 6 figures, which at that time the average home sold for about $25,000). I knew that these rich people did not purchase my products but got them as gifts.

I at that time had a large competitor who practically owned the low priced perfume market. We fought over each and every customer. I eventually won the battle by being honest, which he was not. The owner of that company eventually asked me if I would buy his company. I replied that “you have nothing to sell” and he closed up his shop. At that point I became the largest manufacturer of inexpensive fragrances both men’s as well as women’s in the industry.

Then disaster struck. There was a far larger company that was in the low priced toiletries business. They happened to be using the same manufacturer’s representatives as I had been using, and each of my salesmen bragged to the owners of this larger company, how much money they were making in commissions, selling the Louangel Line. That firm a, company was over 100 years old. They decided to copy my entire line of fragrances as well as my gift sets using the same names as well as almost exactly duplicating my packaging, and induced all of my sales representatives to quit selling the Lou Angel line and sell their product to the national chain stores we both sold. Now I was left with no sales force and I lost most all of my business. Since we both were in the “knock off business” I had no rights to sue them, so I decided to call and visit the owner of their firm. We were not getting anywhere in our discussions, so I told them that if they continued to copy my line of products that war would break out between us. At that timer I hired the nephew of the original owners of the company to be my sales representative and call on the chain stores. I said that since they were copying my line, I would go into their domain, and manufacture shampoos and their entire line of products. Laughter broke out, and I was told the following by their president. “Our company is one hundred years old, and we have five factories throughout the country which makes shipping very easy for us.” They also said that I would need tanks on the roof the size of the Hudson River which would make it impossible for me to compete with them in this area. We were now at war. I decided to first redesign all of my fragrance and gift set packages that were more attractive than the ones I was using before and the ones that they copied. These new designs knocked them off the fragrance shelves in the chain stores. I then conceived a way to beat them in the shampoo area as well by designing a label that said (“If you LIKE the “famous brand” by name, you will LOVE Louangel) I then hired the nephew of the original owner of their company as my sales manager who ended up selling every chain store that we both had originally sold. My idea was a complete success. I met the man who I had threatened at our meeting and he said “you will be sued by all of the famous brand manufactures and I he urged me to stop. (Later in this story I will discuss what happened when I indeed was sued by the each of the large and famous companies), however in the interim I had removed this company from the market and replaced their products on all of the shelves with mine. Now there was in-fighting between the owners of their company in which they decided to split. “One of their owners took over their Canadian operation leaving the other two partners with the balance of their factories in the United States. They actually started their own civil war, which in effect almost destroyed them”. It ended up with them closing four of their five factories and I became the king of the hill). When this happened, most of my sales representatives returned to work for only me quitting the larger firm. After I had retired many years later that company sold their firm sold out to another one in another field.

“I still maintained sales representatives calling on my Peddler Jobber Trade and other fields that I was selling to; however these were a very small part of my business”. I also sold to a firm that specialized in selling to sailors who bought my products and sold it to companies all over the world. One day I happened to be in Tel Aviv (and remembered that I had no customers in Israel) I noticed my fragrances being sold on the street. Since I did not speak Hebrew or Yiddish, I had my wife ask him in Yiddish, where he bought this from. He said the word “shiff”. I realized then that he meant ships, and had bought it from a local wholesaler who in turn purchased these from the sailors who arrived in their ports.

During this time I had noticed that I was doing little if any business in the state of Texas however my sales were huge in the five boarder towns of Mexico. I went down to find out why. My sales rep in that area explained that there was no one to sell in Texas and the business was only on the boarder with Mexico. He had explained to me that the way business was done there was selling to large wholesalers in these five towns who in turn sold my and other peoples merchandise to Mexicans, who in turn loaded their trucks and went into Mexico. It seemed that they had to pass at least five boarder crossings in Mexico and pay a bribe to continue. (The boarder guards had wonderful jobs and made a lot of money doing this) as the money went directly to the Mexican Presidents desk, who doled out money back to the boarder guards. One of my several vacations to Mexico I went to Acapulco and stayed at Las Brises a wonderful “honeymoon place” which offered a pink and white jeep to travel around in. Each time my girlfriend and I drove up to a great little mountain, we were turned away by men armed with automatic weapons saying you cannot continue. When I asked why, I was told that this villa was owned by an ex-president of Mexico. It seems that the job of being president of Mexico happens to be a very lucrative job. I did some research and found out that Latin America still has military governments, however they now wear suits. Several years later I met a wonderful Mexican lady who came from the wealthiest families in Mexico. She had married the most prominent business man in the country. They were probably the most powerful family in the country. When she traveled to the United States she brought along an entourage of people that actually included an arts and craft director. She rented an entire floor in a very prestigious hotel in Florida. She heard that, using my computer I could take a picture and print it on various products. She invited me to dinner at very expensive restaurants and paid the bill which made me very uncomfortable. I told her that I was embarrassed to have a woman to pay for a meal for me. She replied, “Oh you seem to be very poor, however I can fix this for you”. She then told me about her husbands business and said she would have her New York stock broker, and he would tell me when to buy stock in her husband’s firm as he was expecting a large government contract shortly and his stock would rise at that time. The most interesting thing here was that at this time her husband was trying to divorce her and had her committed to a mental institution. He told the court that she was spending about two million dollars a day, (which she was). The judge decided that she was indeed nuts and had her committed to a mental institution. Before she was committed, I had told her that one of my daughters was one of the best hair dressers in New York. She asked me for her telephone number which I gave to her. Later after she was committed, I received a telephone call from my daughter saying that someone wants to speak to me. It was that lady who bribed a guard at the mental institution to let her out to have her hair done, and promised to return the next day, in which she did. During her time out she took my daughter out to the St. Pierre Hotel where they would give LaBamba lessons to her friends. She then announced to the audience that “I am about to introduce the daughter of a real angel who watches over me and takes care of me by making tote bags for me” The pictures on the tote bags were all of her “now world famous lover”. My daughter said that she was mortified as that was all her father was well known for. This lady from Mexico also told me that when she was very young she fell in love with a young tenor, who left her pregnant with a child. She had an abortion and never got over it as she was a strict Catholic. She was sent away and had the baby which was given away. She cries about it still. She also told me that she recently met that now famous tenor on an airplane and they continued their romantic exploits even though she was presently married. To now understand the situation better, “It seems that I was awaiting a call from a woman was in a mental institution, who told that her stock broker would give me advice on getting rich. I never heard from her or anything about her since”. I did see on PBS television, a story of the thirty five families that really run Mexico and their name was mentioned on that list.

Another memorable experience is, I happened to be watching the Jack Parr show on television, (he was the one who was the host of the Tonight show before Johnny Carson. Parr was interviewing Oleg Cassini, who was the designer of Jacqueline Kennedy’ clothes. Cassini made a profound statement. “New York should be the Fashion Capitol of the World” It really got to me so I telephoned his office the very next morning for a meeting with him. I spoke to his chief of staff, a man named Alfonso Martin. I told him I would like to meet with Mr. Cassini about an idea of have to make his statement on the Parr show happen.

We made and appointment for the three of us to meet at their offices on Park & 57th Street where I told them my idea of how this could possibly happen. I said that all the famous French designers had fragrance lines, Chanel, Lanvin, etc and he should establish one as well. I then met alone with Oleg at his apartment at 575 Park Avenue to explain my idea further. He seemed to like the idea; however he must ask his major advisor first. He immediately picked up the telephone and made a call. It was strange to hear him say to the person on the other end of the phone, “Yes sir I will await your call”. I doubt that this guy ever said “sir” to anyone else. We continued chatting when the telephone rang, and he motioned me to pick up the extension phone. What I had heard from this conversation was (in a most familiar voice was) “Hey Oleg, how the fuck are you, who are you fucking?” The voice continued with “Dad tells me that you are speaking to a young man who wants you to go into the perfume business.” Oleg said yes he is here now. The voice continued with “Yeah I think it would be a good idea but I have a problem with the names chosen, First Lady for the women’s perfume is ok, Jackie would get a kick out of it, but no way could you use New Frontier for the men’s line. Go with Frontier, western theme. Bye”. I was ecstatic. This is the best news I have ever gotten and it came from the TOP. I then realized who “sir and dad were. “Sir” was Joseph Kennedy the president’s father”, who was Oleg’s financial advisor.

I started designing like mad. I found out the famous designer loved to write the letter “A” in as many ways he could, but left the designing to me. We had many meetings all through the summer of 1963. We discussed the “kick-off” of this line of Cassini’s perfume line would be a Le Club A private club that he owned with his brother Igor (Gigi) the society writer under the pseudonym, “Charlie Knickerbocker”, for the Journal American, one of the Hearst newspapers. Le Club was on 66th street between 1st and 2nd avenues in Manhattan. Oleg said he could get Jackie to attend the kick off, which would bring along the media to make a really big splash. When the subject of money came up we started to have a major problem. We each confessed to each other that neither of us the money to invest in this venture.

If this was going to happen, it was up to me to find and secure the funding, which I was told would be one million dollars. I racked my brain and asked everyone I knew if they could recommend someone with that amount of money. Finally someone came up with the name Jim Ewell. I contacted him and set up a meeting in his apartment in a modest section of the city. It seems that Jim was the heir to the Coca Cola fortune on his mother’s side and Mack Truck on his father side. He was brought up to believe that everyone would be looking to take money from him. He drove a Cadillac convertible but never even had even change in his pocket, not even for the parking meter.

I brought them all together but when we left Jim said “No way, these are fucking democrats and I will not give them a dime” As we moved along he did agree to participate. Now another road block came along. It seems that Oleg and his advisors said that this must not fail as this would be his only chance to do this. One million might not be enough. Two million dollars might make it. Back with Jim, and another meeting with the group. This time the Cassini people thought that they could make it happen with a free lifetime membership to Le Club. Jim rifled through his wallet and pulled out a card that was send to previously, obviously because he was very wealthy. Jim said “I hate that place, loud music, fucking Jackie Kennedy is always there and they serve terrible sandwiches etc”. After a long dispute he agreed to go along with the project.

Now another thing came into play. I went about my business. At a trade show in Chicago at the Navy Pier, I found a man in my booth sniffing one of my perfumes. I made a joke that “these perfumes are for selling not smelling” He laughed and said that he was not in this business but just keeping a friend of his company who happened to be in the next booth. I asked what business he was in and was told sporting goods. Fishing rods; Tents; Hunting Equipment, Ski’s; etc. I jumped in by asking him what his average dollar sale was. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, eh about $10.00. I replied that I can get you to buy one of my perfumes if you listen to my plan. It works…. This perfume called “Mona de Lise” that was in a square bottle and has a square golden cap, encased in a black satin bag with a golden draw string in a gold box would cost you forty cents. If you would advertise it and offer if with any sale of $15.00 or more, you would surely be ahead. He seemed to like the idea and told me to send his advertising agency Schram Advertising in Chicago (who designed the brochure) a sample and more information, which I did as soon as I arrived home. Within one week I received a phone call, followed up with a purchase order for a good quantity of this perfume. I was told that they were running the ad in local newspapers to test it out. The test brought in a great crowd, so they kept running it in the newspapers and now in all of the sporting magazines as well. This was all during 1963. (picture enclosed)

On November 22nd of that year a tragedy struck down President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The killer named was Lee Harvey Oswald of Irving, Texas who bought the Italian Beretta Rifle from a mail order ad that was run by Klein’s Sporting Goods during the perfume promotion.

Attached is a copy of the advertisement showing the rifle and the perfume offering as well as the envelope used by A.J. Hidell the alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald. (Envelope attached).

Both Milt Klein and I felt somewhat responsible for this tragedy. (Letter attached)

Most of my promotions, other than the Mona de Lise perfume used in the ad bore the copy “Free Perfumes From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski ( a name that I bought the rights to use) with an increased purchase of X number of dollars” I added many other perfumes to this collection with great success. For My Prince Obolenski perfume I decided to make it look more expensive by designing a special over cap that would be a T shape similar the packaging used by the famous Chanel number five. I made a prototype by hand and took it around to many engineers. The idea would be to have this special T look force fit over the existing cheap looking cap. When opened and closed it would return back to the original position. I was told be each and every engineer that this was impossible. I stuck to my convictions and went to an injection molding company and had them build me a mold made of a shiny plastic that would accomplish this. I also put a pressure sensitive gold band with simulated grooves to make it look like it had golden thread around the base of the cap to enhance it further. It turned out to be a sensational success in selling this very expensive looking package for only twenty five cents. I designed the gold foil label to match it bearing the signature that read “from the royal house of Prince Obolenski”. I sold this perfume as a free give away to large chain stores. When credit cards first came on the market, I sold hundred of thousands of these perfumes to one chain who used it as a premium to their customer who opened up their chains credit cards. I was forced to create the entire mailing piece for the chain listing all of their products and using flowering copy to induce people to use their card which included the “free perfume”.

At one trade show in Chicago, some people from a very large life insurance company who asked me about my Prince Obolenski perfume and decided to use it as a premium to induce customers to let their salesmen into their homes and try to sell them their insurance. They used enormous quantities of this. One day their CEO walked into their room and asked why their sales force was not producing enough business. He then asked if they should change the perfume premium. They were told that this perfume premium had been one hundred times more successful than anything they have ever used previously. He then said “obviously they have a better product than we have”

Another group of men came into my booth and asked for samples of my men’s colognes, to be used as a give a way with a fill up of gasoline and a cost of ten cents. (This was a long time ago). This firm was Exxon before they changed their name from Esso. They chose my colognes rather than use the steak knives and ordered a test in two counties. One in New York, the other one in New Jersey. They ordered hundreds of thousands of these colognes and put up large posters on the gas tanks at each station. (picture enclosed) In this case I was happy that they did not go national with it as I could not possibly supply the quantity they were speaking about. I had to ask them one question which was, I am selling this to you for twenty-five cents, and you are selling it for ten cents. “Do you make that much money on the gasoline or is the secret of big business?

Since I did not have a sales force in a given area I went to major men’s and ladies jewelry companies and told them I would design and manufacture both men’s and ladies colognes for them with their name as “manufactured by” them.

Several took my ideas and the names I had chosen for them and designed, however since I could not keep up the production their advertising produced they gave the manufacturing out to other large private label companies and seemed to forget who gave the names and designs to them. In retaliation, I found myself in the “knock off business” copying these package but changing the names only slightly, with similar appearerence to the famous advertised products. It was very successful so I then decided to knock of all of the leading brands. This brought a great many lawsuits. Since I did not want to spend my money for lawyers, I decided to negotiate settlements with each of them, changing very little, but keeping the right to continue selling my products. During one lawsuit the term “knock off” was in constant use. The plaintiffs claimed that these were counterfeits. The judge became confused and asked me to explain the difference between a counterfeit and a knock off. I told him, as well as the court that if the product had used the name of the famous brand as the manufacturer this was a counterfeit. My products although similar in looks, and had the same odor, were clearly identified with my name as he manufacturer. I was later told that his definition was listed in the encyclopedia. In one case, I was sued three times by the same company. Each time I made revisions, they sued me again. I asked the judge how I can get this to stop. He replied that they can not sue me again unless I copied another of their products. They decided to change the look of their product leaving me with the entire market that their advertising brought in.

Another interesting case was with a major company who accused me of being a thief. In the court room, I asked the plaintiff various questions such as, how much do you pay for your bottle, then the cap, then the carton, then the packing materials? When I asked how much the actual (juice) perfume costs them they refused to answer. The judge intervened and made them answer the question. Their answer was only a few cents. Their retail price was $50.00 each, and mine was only 25 cents. I then asked the judge “who then is the crook here?” The case was dismissed.

There were dozens of law suits in this area, but it was not as much fun until the mid 1970’s when most of my customers who were “dollar stores & discount stores” went out of business due to the stagflation of the Jimmy Carter years, but to keep my employees and keep my factory active I was forced to manufacture other products to fill the void. I also visited many smaller companies with large sales forces, and made my colognes for them under their own names as the manufacturer, which kept my factories very busy.

I inquired from my health & beauty aids chain store buyers what else they bought. They gave me a long list of things like band-aids, etc, until they came up with the word shampoo. I decided that this would be my next venture. I called in all of my salesmen and told them we were going into the shampoo business and they laughed stating “do you know how many shampoos were on the market in both the high as well as the low price areas?” I replied yes but do not worry, I have already come up with a concept that will make our mark in the arena and we will have a very successful line of shampoos.

My idea was to put a bull’s-eye on each label that will insure the success of our shampoos and make it stand out from the rest of them. The bull’s-eye on each said (If you “LIKE” the name of the named famous brand, you will “LOVE” Louangel.) I came out with eleven shampoos at the same time, and naturally was sued by all eleven of the originals. I took on each, one at a time. The major companies thought that they could grind me out with my legal expenses. From my past “legal experience” in the fragrance arenas, I knew it would be best to negotiate rather than leave it to the courts.

I chose the largest one first. Their attorney would not speak to me as I was a “lay person” so we met in my friend’s office (who happens to be a lawyer) which satisfied him. I started asking him questions. “What is it that you object to?” the cap is the same color, the bottle is similar but not the same, the liquid is the same color and baby fragrance is not exactly the same however similar, the cardboard boxes are the same, the label is completely different. With this said even my friend screamed at me and said “what are you doing” The plaintiff’s agreed with me and left. When he returned to his office the chewed him out and said “he made a fool of you” and they came back to me once again. This time I took another tactic. I agreed that the word “love” is quite strong and I will agree to change it to “try”. Case settled. I called my office and instructed them to ship the oil which was already produced and ready to ship.(Which was a knock off of Johnson’s Baby Oil). In each case I changed the tactic, but basically the same. I was never stopped and had my own way with each product. I did this for 27 years and got bored as no on would embarrass themselves in trying to sue me again.

I did get a telephone call from the president of Spidell Watchbands, who said he had heard I was going to knock them off. I told him that we are not in the watchband business, and what was he talking about? He then said what is your British Crown supposed to be if not British Sterling? I answered with the truth which was English Leather.

In the English Leather case they objected to the wooden cap I was using. (As their bottle had a wooden cap as well) They demanded that I put in two grooves to differentiate between theirs and ours. I agreed and put in three grooves. The case was settled.

I was sued by the German company that made cologne using the name of Tabac. They wanted me to change the name to Tobruk, I told them that the battle in Tobruk was too long ago to remember, so I settled with them by making my Tabac’s label in lower case letters not to conflict with theirs which was in upper case letters and they agreed and dropped the suit.

I was almost sued by the Wella Corporation and spoke to their president named Mr. Megale. He screamed at me and said it took him a lifetime to build up this name. I responded by saying. It took you, a lifetime? The company was founded by your wife’s father. He said “you know that?” I told him that I did, and he backed off and dropped the proposed law suit he was planning.

About this time there was a trademark lawyer’s convention. Since I was being sued by eleven companies. Each firm brought along many lawyers from the firm, and my name kept coming up in all of their conversations. Someone used the PA system and said that if you want to learn more about this guy, there will be a meeting in the conference room at a certain time. It now appears that there were over 100 lawyers in the room. The man at the lectern started out by saying “Number (1).this guy will beat every one of you, Number (2).he will teach you what you are you are charging your clients for, and Number (3). You will end up liking him.” Some of the attorneys shouted, who amongst us represents him, it must be you.” The man said he did not represent him. They then said (being smug) then who does”? And he replied in deference to him I will not say. He did not reveal that I was actually representing myself where it was not costing me anything; while they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees it did not cost me a dime.

I won each and every case (mostly by negotiation.) and continued doing what I had been doing until I retired. After all of these cases were over I kept getting telephone calls from some of the most well known trademark attorneys (who were previously suing me) telling me about suits they were involved in. and asking me questions on how they should handle various situations. In each case I gave them my personal opinion. In one case the opponent of the last one called me with the same question, and once again I gave him my personal opinion. The call ended when he said “I guess we will see each other at the Concord Hotel in a few weeks. I replied, why, is it “singles weekend”. He said no, there is a trademark convention that weekend and I guess you will be speaking. I then dropped the bomb by telling him I not only would not be speaking, and that I was not even a lawyer, just a high school graduate. He was stunned and said, then “why do I and the others keep calling you for advice?” I replied by saying I have no idea whatsoever. He replied that “but you were always correct in your advice to me”.

I was visited by a gentleman from the Internal Revenue Service, who spent a week working with my accountant going over out books. He found nothing wrong. When he was finished he came up to my office to tell me this, and to say good by to me. At that point my office manager screamed for me to come down. It seems that the IRS officer parked his car in front of our building. Some local thieves broke into his car and stole his wallet that contained his keys and other identification. He was going crazy as he was recently married and worried that the thieves would go to his home and rape his wife and do other malicious things. We called the police, and when they arrived they ignored his request for help as this was a terrible neighborhood and they had to worry about mass murders, arson; etc, and started to walk away. I told him to show the police his IRS card and the situation changed immediately, and he was treated his with their utmost respect.

I doubt that there was even one governmental bureau I did not run into difficulties with. I was contacted by the Federal Trade Commission by mail that I was in violation of their rules. They objected to the $16.50 price listed on the brochure. I quickly reprinted the brochure without the “high line price”. I knew I never did anything else wrong in their rules; however they kept looking at me for something I might have also done wrong. They decided to come after me and chose my Prince Obolenski Perfume to go after. They accused me of misrepresenting the country of origin. I telephoned them and found the attorney on “my case” that was female. She told me that I was misrepresenting the country of origin on one of my perfumes. She said that I was claiming that it was made in France. I responded by telling her that the label stated right on the front of the bottle that the manufacturer was The Lou Angel Corporation with the address in New York. She proceeded by contacting all of my customers with letters asking if I had every said that this product was made in France. I was very close to all of my customers therefore they sent me copies of her letters to them. She kept at if for two years but writing me letters accusing me of the same violation even after I tried in vein to explain to her that this was made in New York and clearly said so on the label and all of the literature that I had sent out. I said it you want to say that I was representing this made in Russia there might be something to discuss as the name of the product was Prince Obolenski Perfume. This was spelled with an i at the end of the name Obolenski. If it was Russian it would end with a y at the end of the name as Obolensky. The original artist took the liberty of using the letter i that would indicate a Polish origin; however there was never any indication that France was involved in any way. I decided that I was spending far too much time in answering her letters so I telephoned her superior and told him the story. After a long period of time she was taken off this case and went on bothering other firms that might be in come violation or another.

This experience gave me a bright idea. I flew to Paris and started shopping for bottles, caps, labels, boxes as well as tri color stickers, imprinted with Made in France, for the boxes and other packaging materials to make perfumes in France and bring them back to the United States. I had even opened up an office at 18 Rue du Royal, across from the famous Maxim’s restaurant, there and secured a private label filler to manufacture the merchandise for me.

My first night in Paris was an experience I will never forget. Since I was staying at the Grand Hotel, with the Cafe de Paris on the premises, I showered and went down to the cafe, ordered and espresso and did some people watching. I noticed an absolutely beautiful girl sitting alone at the table next to mine. I had felt that she was some sort of well known beauty waiting for her prince or someone famous to join her and felt I would be rejected if I had gone over to her. I left the cafe and stopped in a doorway to light my cigar. I heard a female voice speaking in French. I said I do not speak French and she said no problem as she said she spoke English very well. She then asked me it I wanted to party. I asked how much? She replied saying I can see you are a gentleman and we will discuss this matter later. I asked her to join me to my room. She said just give me your room number and I will join you in a few minutes. She said that she was very well known in the hotel, and she would have to pay the doorman, the concierge and the elevator operator a fee if she walked in with a man. She arrived at my room and we disrobed and got into bed. Now it became time to speak about her fee. She asked for $20.00. I told her that I had just cashed in a travelers check and received $19.40 and I would give her the cash I received from this. She refused it and said that if I gave her a traveler’s check she would get even more that the $20.00 that she originally asked for. I gave her a traveler’s check and we started to have sex. She was so beautiful and moaning constantly, I was afraid I would premature ejaculate immediately and realized that I must stop this action. I said “actress”. She stopped and we argued that she was not faking this. Each time I was ready to get off, I repeated the word actress, and it worked each time. I did this over and over again. And she had stayed with me all evening. The next night I ran into her once again and asked her if she wanted to join me again and she said in very clear English “No Way”. She said because of you I lost a dozen customers by spending so much time with you last evening.

The next morning I visited each of the large fragrance houses to purchase large quantities of bottles, caps, fancy gift wrap paper, essential oils to make the perfume. I chose the firm that sold the essential oils that I wanted to work with, and had a meeting with their chief executive. I told him that I wanted to buy one of his fragrance oils where I would not have to use alcohol. I wanted to mix it with water. He told me that I was crazy and that no one would ever do this as oil and water do not mix, and dismissed me from his office. I showed up each day with the same request and each time he said give this idea up. My reason for not using alcohol was there was an import tax in the United States of $21.00 per gallon which I would have to pay and I would be using thousands of gallons if I used alcohol, thus my request of using water. I kept going back to see him and one day while riding with him in his limousine with a mink wrap over my knees to keep me warm as this was in December of 1966 which was very cold in Paris at that time, we were having the same discussion and he shouted out “hydrobase” which exactly what I was looking for. I placed very large orders for each of the ingredients and was on my way as a French Perfume Manufacturer. Since each bottle was extremely small I had the finished product flown in by air. When the products arrived at the airport the customs people gave me a huge bill for the alcohol tax. I kept insisting that there was no alcohol in these products and it was water. They laughed and said there is no perfume that does not have alcohol and insisted I pay this tax.

They decided to keep the shipment at the airport and send samples of the perfumes to Washington, DC to be tested for alcohol. Naturally the tests same back as I told them it would and I did not have to pay the alcohol taxes they first required. In my factory in Brooklyn, NY I had them packaged in both five and ten piece gift sets. Each package was encased in the fancy French paper I had bought in France and affixed the tricolor sticker on each that properly said “made in France”. I also took a portion of these perfumes and made them as decorations for key chains. (port du cley) “This produced one problem, during the winter the perfume bottles froze and broke” and mounted these on display cards. At the next trade show I took a sample of this card and placed it in the booth of my largest customer. (I had already put there name on the display card as “distributed by their companies name” I received a call from one of the owners of the company and he screamed at me for doing this. I felt bad and told him that I would remove it from his booth. At that point he said “are you nuts?” it is selling like a house on fire. His son was the actual boss of this company and came down to my booth to discuss this and asked what else do I have that was made in France? I first showed him the five piece gift set. He asked for the exclusive rights to this product and we decided on the quantity he would have to purchase to secure these rights. He then found out that I was still selling the ten piece gift set and we had a similar arrangement for the exclusive rights to this gift set as well. They sold out my entire production, so I kept repeating my orders from France and this was very beneficial to all involved in this venture.

With this same customer we made other joint ventures. I had a men’s cologne in my line called Russian Leather. He asked for the exclusive rights to distribute this product as well. He had a very large sales force and at that time mine was quite small. We agreed that we would make him the exclusive distributor for Russian Leather and I would stop selling it on my own. I redesigned the product’s label with his name as the distributor using the name “Russian Leather from the Royal House of Prince Obolenski.” He sold hundreds of thousands of this product which also included many gift sets using talc, soap, and of other men’s toiletry products.

After several years his father called me and insisted I come up to their offices in Providence, Rhode Island which I did. I was shocked to hear that they were dumping me as the filler of this product as they found another private label firm (that was in the process of bankruptcy, so they needed more business, even if they were to lose money on this order) that was five cents cheaper than the price I was charging them. I was devastated by losing my largest customer, however on the airplane home a bright idea came to me. I immediately telephone the son (the real boss) and insisted he come down to speak to me in my offices. He said he was happy to hear that I would consent to lower my price to meet the competition as I was the founder of the product and that we were very close friends. I said that I had no intention in lowering my price, however if you continue to use them instead of me, I would not only strip you of using the name from the from The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski but would put this product back in my line and we would be competing with each other with my using the name “Russian Leather From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski.”

He was about the brightest business man I ever came across and we made a deal whereby they would continue with this other supplier and save the five cents, but would turn over two cents of this to me. This made both of us happy. This allowed me to use my factory to add and manufacture other items in my line and still receive the royalties from him. I was now really becoming very successful.

I must mention here that by this time I had automatic filling, capping and labeling machines that were spitting out over 60 bottles per minute. I did have a large facility with hundreds of people assembling these bottles into various boxes and gift sets but there were so many bottles that they could not handle this quantity. I spent a great deal of time searching and finding various charities that did assembly work at prices even less than what I was paying my own labor force. I used dozens of them with trucks going back and forth between the charities and my factory. I also had to find extra storage space to contain the finished merchandise.

Before this, one of my other customers asked me if I would let him also distribute Russian Leather. I explained that I had given these rights to the other firm, however their would be a way around this. I could let him use the Russian Leather name but without the Prince Obolenski suffix. I told him to pick another name. He could not think of any so I asked him where his family origin was and he replied Odessa. I gave him the rights to use the name “Russian Leather from House of Odessa.” He was also very successful with this line of products.

One day, I happened to pass a drug store window, and saw the first “penis shaped women’s vibrator” in the window. I went in to take a closer look at it and found out that it was manufactured in the orient, but bore the name of the distributor as “From House of Odessa” and I immediately knew who this was doing the distribution of the product.

I had other problems with governmental agencies. I had gone to Hong Kong to have several products manufactured for me. One was a plastic zippered case to hold a men’s cologne and after shave and make it a travel kit. I designed the case using the term Moroccan Grain on the front. When the products arrived I was told that there was a problem at customs as to the country of origin. I telephoned the customs inspector and he said he knows that “Moroccas” is a country. I kept insisting that according to the law the country of origin was mandatory and there were in fact two places that “made in Hong Kong” was on the product. One was etched on the bottom and the other was a paper label on the top of the product. He just kept saying that he was not a fool and that he knew that “Moroccas” is a country. I had to go to his superiors to straighten this mess out.

During the period when there was a downturn in the economy and glass bottles became very high, I decided to put my fragrances in plastic bottles. Everyone said “that no one would buy fragrances in plastic bottles” I tried to explain that plastic was lighter in weight and the cost of shipping would be far less, also they would not break as glass bottles did at times. I redesigned each of the bottles I was using into plastic containers. I had designed and had molds built for each and had these bottles produced. Since plastic was thinner than glass I had to make the bottles larger in size and use more “juice” to keep the appearance of size the same as the glass. As the actual “juice” did not cost that much this did not become a problem. It turned out that it did not make any difference in the sale of the product at all. I also offered these plastic bottles to other manufactures in which there were few if any takers.

To save money I also redesigned the gift set packaging from the ones I had been using which had three components. A bottom, a top as well as an injection molded tray inside to keep the “glass bottles” from breaking. I changed these to regular “folding boxes” with great pictures of the inside look. This saved me a great deal of money in the packaging. The look was so outstanding it increased the sales of each by many times.(picture enclosed).

When my father died (in my arms) at the age of 49 of a sudden coronary occlusion and I could not bring him back, I made a promise to him, (even though he was dead and could not hear me) that I would take care of his other son (my younger brother, which I did for twenty years), when I purchased The Lou Angel Corporation, I stupidly made my inept brother my legal partner without having him contributing any money to the firm. His job was to run the factory. Each year no matter hoe much business I brought in, he had managed to ship less and less. The people in the factory kept coming into my office holding a bottle cap or other items, and said “we do not have any more of these” They were supposed to go to my brothers office to report this, however when they went to his office they found him asleep, so they came to see me. I told my brother that we must keep track of our inventory and to keep a list or better yet, to go out and buy a computer. He did buy one that did many things however the one he chose did not keep track of inventory which was the only reason we needed a computer. The factory was a complete mess. I then had a visit from the FDA (who had not ever come down for an inspection in all the years I was in business). They said that there was not enough paper to write down all of the violations that they had found. I had enough after twenty years, and told my brother to stay home and I would give him his full salary and all benefits just to get rid of him. He replied “then buy me out” I said you never bought in, what is to buy out however I gave him a fortune to just go away. I paid him in eleven installments as I knew he would piss it all away if I gave him a lump sum.

As he left he said “no one can run this factory. I said “don’t be stupid even companies a thousand times larger get run efficiently”. When he left I hired a professional factory manager, who had been the factory manager for Barton’s Candy. He had everything in tip top shape in a week. When the FDA returned they found a spotless factory with no violations. When the FDA people returned they saw that every violation had been cleared up. Since they had spent so much time in reviewing my case, they decided to take an action on another manner. They put a hold on all of my shampoos as they had recently passed a new rule that made manufacturers of all cosmetic manufacturers whereby the list of ingredients must be listed on the labels. I had read that they were going to do this in the trade papers, so I had listed all of my ingredients on each and every label. (At that time I was the only manufacturer of cosmetics to do this). They pulled out a Lucite ruler with red lines across it. They told me that the lower case “o” did not reach the top and bottom of the red lines and that was the reason for the hold. I contacted my then Jacob K. Javits office (letter enclosed) and they patched me through to him in Washington. I told him the story and he said to sand him the letter they FDA had send me along with my story and deliver them to his office, and they would wire the information directly to him. (This was the first time I had the word Fax in my life). He wrote to me (letter enclosed) and made an appointment for me to visit with the commissioner of the FDA. I flew down to Washington. I found a dozen lawyers on one side of the table with me on the other side screaming at me. They pulled out the Federal Register with all of their rules and literally “through the book at me” I had then showed them the new labels and they (released the hold and allowed me to use up the existing shampoos. I must state that at this time there was not one cosmetic manufacturing with ingredient labeling on their products, only me.

As it happened after the eleven years, my brother lost it all; we have not spoken since the last payment. All my friends blame me for giving him too much, too fast. I love my business and could not wait until the next day however my brother kept saying that he hated his work and was only doing it for the money. I was told later by his friends that he used the monies I had given to him to purchase various businesses which all failed in a very short time. When he visited the one that was still there he found a lock on the door. He managed to get in and found it idle. Not knowing how to run a business he contacted my old mechanic and hired him. The mechanic later told me not only did he run the factory but did the sales as well. This business did not last very long either.

Previously my brother when he was the factory manager hired a friend to be in charge of the shipping department. As soon as my brother left we found out that he had been stealing from the company by loading merchandise on trucks, and pocketing the cash. He claimed that prior to these incidents when I caught him; he had turned in the money to my brother. I have no idea what to believe here. After my brother left he decided to “knock off a men’s closing line” using a cologne with their name. I got a call from a lawyer friend of mine saying “we picked up your brother last night” Then he told my why. I called my brother and told him how to handle this situation. I can not possibly believe that by sitting my side for twenty years and watching me, he never learned a thing about how to “knock off a product correctly and got himself in trouble.

I married a girl when I was quite young. She had a sister who found herself pregnant. The father of the baby married her; however he was trying to become a “soldier” in the mafia (picture enclosed) and to “get his bones” (the term used for this) he was a hit man for one of the five New York mafia families. He had been arrested many times, one for kidnapping. My wife asked me to post his bail money which I did. Not long after all of the media showed a picture him lying dead in the street with his feet still in the car he was driving. He was shot in the head in retaliation for killing a member in another family. {picture enclosed) I went to the funeral and was amazed that the undertaker was so skillful in covering up the bullet holes with make up that the holes could not be noticed. At the funeral many men showed up with envelopes stuffed with money for the widow. The mafia seems to be very kind to its members. They obtained a job for my sister in-law in one of their bars. It seems that a member of the mafia from out of town came into the bar and grabbed her butt. The owner of the bar that she worked for took this guy outside in an alley and shot him dead. My sister-in-law was repeatedly questioned by the police to find out who the shooter was. She was told not to say anything, so the police wanted to charge her as an accessory to murder. It took along time to straighten this out and get her released. She then married another member of the same mafia family. The police kept breaking into their apartment arresting him for various crimes. After he died some years later, she once again dated, but this time a “crooked cop”. It is amazing that one of her children from her first marriage turned out to be extremely intelligent and received a scholarship to an Ivy league school, and went on to become a doctor.

My father’s demise was only the first of three tragedies that week. After the funeral my new bride told me had an itch. I responded by saying “scratch it”. She replied that it “was down there”. I sent her to a doctor but when she returned she said that the doctors wanted me to telephone them. I was asked if I new she was pregnant. I told them that I did not know that. They said “do not worry about this as she will not survive nor would the baby ever be born” as they found a huge lump up there that could either be an entopic pregnancy or it could be a large tumor. I took her to many doctors for a second and third opinion and one came up with an idea. He told us to wait until the pregnancy was five months along, and he would go in and hold the fetus with one hand and cut out the lump with his other hand. It turned out to be a benign cyst. She survived and the baby was born. The third thing that happened was my very best friend came over to console me, but started to act very funny. It seemed he was having a nervous breakdown, “I asked God, ‘what are your plans for me next week” He spent the rest of his life in and out of mental hospitals and died at the age of 92. Never having a life between the ages of 25 & 92. I then asked God, “What are your plans for me for next week?”

We had a bookkeeper who was with us for many years. She decided to quit and move to Florida and asked me to loan her $2,500.00 for a down payment. There really was no need as a customer of ours had mailed us an envelope with $2,500.00 cash in it. When I kept pressing the customer for the money, he said he had mailed it and sent me the signed receipt for the envelope that revealed her signature on it. She claimed that she never receive it and left the very next day. Since she was with us for over twenty years I attributed this to a “bonus” and did not press charges. She did say that she was not respected as the office manager and suggested we hire a man to run the office. I had my chief of staff and accountant interview him and they approved. This new office manager immediately replaced the entire office with people from the Philippines where he was from. Since I was very busy all of the time, he kept bring up checks for me to sign. Not paying the attention I should have paid, I signed each one (as I was always on the telephone) The next month when the mail arrived my new secretary took all of the cancelled checks out of the envelope and put a paper clip on the batch. I liked to open this type of mail myself however tried to put the checks back into the envelope. One check flew into the air, and when I retrieved it one flew into the air and I caught it. I looked at it and it was made out to “MNLA, Inc” Never hearing of this company I assumed it was for a trucking company however it was for $37,000.00. I immediately knew this was not possible so I asked the new Philippine bookkeeper to come upstairs to my office which was one floor above the general offices. I was told that he had left for the day. I ordered my accountant to come down and audit my books. He found over $60,000.00 in kited checks done in the very first month he was there. I immediately called the police and even without a warrant, I went to his home with the policeman and found a complete forgery kit on his dining room table with whiteout and other things. I took all this material which belonged to me and brought it back to my office. The next day I received a call from an attorney who claimed to be representing this bookkeeper and he said that he was ready to turn himself in to the police.

It took over one year to get this money back. I had to post a bond with an insurance company (as I might be accusing an innocent man), I had to hire a criminal lawyer, and by myself froze all of the accounts he deposited the money into. I also alerted all of the employment agencies not to hire this man, and even called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked if they have any records on this person. They would not tell me, however I asked if you won’t tell me just let me know if he was on a forgery list. The answer was yes. It seemed that his record showed that he was in prison in the Philippine Islands, for forgery at the time his references were checked. I called every attorney I knew and said that I wanted to go after the employment agency that sent him to us. None would take the case as it was our responsibility as well to check him out as well as theirs.

I now put on my lawyer’s hat and sued them myself. I naturally won the case and received a “bonus” of $10,000.00 from them. It took several years to regain my money from this thief since I put a lien on his house (owned jointly be both he and his wife). Since he could not find a job, he had to put his home on the market for sale and I received that amount of money at his closing sale of the home. I also had a meeting with the judge at his criminal trial. I told the judge that every one seems to be happy but me. The insurance company received the premium from the bond. All of the lawyers are happy with the fees they received from both sides, the prosecutor was happy with his conviction, however I have not received the stolen money from the frozen bank accounts. The judge realized what I was saying and issued a “confession of judgment” from the thief right in the court room and the frozen money in his bank accounts, was released to me.

My brother also had a friend who was in the insurance business and to give him out companies business. He certainly gave us the business. After I retired I was sued by an insurance company for not paying a bill. I went to the New York State’s Commissioner of Insurance, who at one time worked for me. He found out that I had paid the bill on time, but my brother’s friend, the insurance man never turned the money over to them.

Remembering that my father passed away at the age of 49, and I had a similar build as him, I was reaching that age but could not pass the business to my three young daughters who were very young at that time, so I decided to sell the company. I had meetings with a great many CEO’s of cosmetic companies, but all said the same thing. If you come along, we will pay you whatever you ask, but there is no one we know of to replace you. “Lou Angel is not Louangel without Lou Angel”. There is no one else that knows what the consumers want next year or the next.

Since this was mainly a Christmas Gift business and we start production in January for the end of the year, I have always had some strange ability to know what the consumer would want in the coming years. I therefore decided to sell everything. I turned every bottle, cap and carton into product and sold it all. I ran an auction and sold all of the machinery. The only left to sell was the name and good will. Coincidently at the auction a young man showed up and offered to buy this from me. It was good for me in many reasons. I would get rid of all the rubbish that only he could use to start up. I would stay in his office for a few months to make sure I would collect all of my bills still on the street. What I did not know was that he was a professional thief. As I opened the mail I found bills that I turned over to him. He did not pay a single one and naturally I never received the remaining monies stated on the contract. After several months he disappeared and we found him doing the same thing in Canada. Now I had judgments against him in both the United States and Canada that were uncollectible as he once again ran away. He only purchased the company to use its good name and credit rating. He cheated all of my suppliers who know the true story and do not blame me for anything.

The factory building was almost one square block in size and in the worst neighborhood in New York City. There was no business of a size that could use this space that would move into this area. I decided to divide the buildings into five parcels, and run ads in the local newspapers offering “The finest factory in Williamsburg” (we were only a few blocks from Williamsburg) which had a huge Hassidic population. I found one Hassid who purchased 30,000 square feet. We got along very well and became good friends. We each asked the other to explain their cultures to each other. (He said he would change me into a Hassid, and I said I would make him a cheater like I was. We had a bet on this. Some years later he called me and said that I won the bet. He was in the hosiery business and was visiting a mill down south. He told me he was sitting in the lobby of a hotel and was having a conversation with a woman who invited him up to her room and they did the dirty deed.) He said he was going back next week to see her once again) One day he came to visit me in my country home in Pennsylvania. I had my girlfriend visiting me also my daughters. When they left he said I know you have a television, which he did not. He asked me to turn it on, and for the first time he watched television. He was transfixed and watched the Kojack TV show. When the girls left he said “I heard about adult movies and you must have some, and said he would like to see one. He also said that by watching television just before he had committed one sin and might try another one by watching the adult movie. Up to this point he had never seen a nude woman in a magazine or any other of the media, including his wife. He said they did indeed have sex, but in total darkness He was aghast and said what is she putting in her mouth? And said I do not believe what I am looking at. I showed him one, and then for fun, I put in a tape that showed me having sex with a visiting girl. He realized that this was taken here right on the couch I was sitting on and said this is here). I appointed him as my real estate broker. I told him to contact all his relatives and friends and sell the remaining buildings to them which he did. This brought the entire Hassidic community to the area bring along a synagogue and food stores etc. Some years ago I read in the New York Times a story about Williamsburg and it showed a map which pointed out my property was the dead center of the area. The Hassid’s are very smart and each subdivided their buildings renting out space to people from all over the world. Today I was told there were signs in most every language on the building where when I owned it there was but just one.

Before this time my accountant at this time got divorced and had no where to live. While I was out of town he convinced my stupid brother to rent an apartment and call it our New York City Showroom. He would live there and we would use it for our extra marital affairs. It became a very busy place, with my brother and I taking turns in using it each evening, with the accountant sleeping there when we were not using it. I have dozens of amusing stories to tell here however I do not think the reader of this book would be interested in hearing them, with the exception of mentioning that I had brought in some of the most beautiful girls in the city, until I met one young girl who happened to be a school teacher at that time. I had asked her if she was happy with that occupation and said that she enjoyed the teaching part however the other teaching were so boring that she was going nuts in trying to speak to them. I then asked her why she did not enter the “real world of business”. She replied that her mother had spent a fortune sending her to college to become a teacher and would be furious if she left that position. She was not only beautiful but extremely intelligent. She looked around and found out there was one area that would allow women to grow with the company and some even became vice presidents which was in advertising.

She found an office job in a media buying firm in the advertising area. Within a few weeks her boss said she was wasting her time in that position and asked her if she would be interested in learning this business as a media buyer. A short time later she was in charge of the buying department. She then asked the boss if there was anything else she could do at this firm, and he said let me put you in another department which she also ended up being in charge of. Her next question was, Is there anything else she could do, and he replied by saying no as you have reached the top of this small firm and that she should go out an get a job with a major advertising agency. She went to an employment agency and with her looks and brains along with the excellent reference. She was hired as the New York negotiator for this the second largest agency in the country. She did indeed become an assistant vice president, then a full vice president, then a senior vice president, and ended up as the third person in command of this agency. Each weekend she came out to visit me at our country home, and since she was not a big executive in the firm she was allowed to purchase stock in the company. During this time there were many mergers in the advertising industry and I kept urging her to buy more and more stock as when this company sells it would be worth a fortune. She kept insisting that the CEO kept saying that he would never sell the company and showed me headlines in Advertising Age to that effect. Within a short period of time he did sell the company to the largest advertising agency in the world and she was now rich from the stock buyout. The new firm offered her a position but she declined the offer as she would have to work under people she had fired at her old company. So she retired completely.(picture enclosed). She decided to live in the woods with me in our county home.

She then decided to become a real estate sales person. She went to real estate school and studied hard. She asked the teacher if they would allow me into the building as it was winter time and I was freezing while sitting in the car waiting for her to finish the class. I sat in the classroom but did not pay any attention to what was going on. She then had to go to Philadelphia to take the test. I drove her to the test. She asked me if I wanted to take the test also as it was allowed. I felt that I would be embarrassed as I did not know anything about real estate. This test was done using a computer using true and false questions. I sat next to her and punched in my answers. When the test was over they happened to call my name first. They gave me a slip of paper that said I passed. She grabbed the paper out of my hand and was amazed that I had passed. They then called out her name and she found out that she had failed this test. I would like to mention at this point that I had only a high school education and she had a master’s degree from a university. She burst into tears. She then hired a tutor as well as purchasing a bunch of audio tapes and kept studying for days. She went back and passed the test this time. It is truly amazing that the State of Pennsylvania has a book that is a dozen times as large as all the other states with information to learn from.

Although I was married to someone else, I saw this young lady for 18 years with my wife not having a clue that this was going on in fact they were cousins. There were only the two of us living in the wilderness with only animals roaming around. After the 18 years we decided to split. She moved back to her apartment that she had always kept, and I stayed on living in the woods by myself (with many female visitors that constantly came to visit and comfort me).

My Blind Date (A real one) I received a telephone call from a girl that sounded very interesting. She came to visit me in the woods buy bus. She was very good looking, but was carrying a white cane and wearing a beret which looked very fashionable. I took her to a local restaurant. She asked me to read the menu to her. She then told me that she was legally blind and proceeded to tell me her story. It seems she was born blind in one eye. When she asked her mother why “one eye can see out and the other one can see out” Her mother replied that she was born blind in one eye. As she grew up she decided to become a photographer. She said that one takes a picture with a camera you always close one eye. That is when she decided that the best profession for her to be was to become a photographer as one eye was already closed. She married a man who owned all of the photography magazines. Within a year or so she developed Multiple Sclerosis, which left her with less and left sight. Her husband left her and she got divorced leaving her with a baby son. To support herself and her son she became a semi-prostitute giving hand jobs in Times Square. She still went ahead with her photographic career but it was difficult. When she showed up to visit me, we went out of the house and I pointed to a deer (who always came to my house as I put out corn food for the animals to eat) I could always get very close to the deer but the deer would never take any food from my hand. When she put out her hand to feed the deer, it went right over and ate the food from her hand. It seemed that the deer seemed to know she would not harm him. She told me that she was the mistress for a large and wealthy stock broker who developed cancer. Before he died he put aside a large amount of bearer bonds for her. This was delivered to her by his brother in a box. Not knowing what was in the box, she put it in her basement where she lived in Greenwich Village. Over some time the rats in her basement at the box and its contents. I spent a lot of time trying to get these bonds back for her. Since they were not registered in her name, and she did not know the serial numbers, I could never get them back for her. She had written a dozen books using a special large type, typewriter, and spent a very long time with each of her photographs, in burning in the negatives the way they would come out best. She became world famous for her photographs, with some of her work being hung in museums all over the world.

Within two weeks I received a telephone call from a young lady who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. She had graduated at the top of her class from a top university and was a partner in a stock brokerage company. She came to visit me the next weekend, and kept coming to see me every two weeks. I went to visit her from time to time as well. She happened to be someone in the city that hung with the top people. Each time she had an occasion (like a wedding) or a partners meeting, etc. to go to she told me to bring my tuxedo. There was one occasion where she was invited to (with her escort who always turned out to be me) a party to meet with a presidential candidate whose name was Lamar Alexander. It seems he had made some Anti-Semitic remarks at one of the places he was speaking at. Now since most of his backers were Jewish and living in Nashville, he tried to make amends by attending a house party that was given by the owner of Service Merchandise Company whose headquarters were in Nashville and all of these donators to his campaign were invited. Lamar was once governor of the state, a senator as well as the present president’s father. There were about a dozen people at this affair. When I was introduced to him, he had grabbed my hand to shake, but strangely enough he never let go. He led me to a couch still holding my hand. I though he must be gay (which he was not). We spoke for a very long time. Knowing was probably Anti-Semitic at heart I decided to have some fun with him. I first asked him it he really thought he would be nominated and elected president. He replied saying “of course”. I then asked him some other questions, such as the front runner at this time was Colin Powell. Do you really think you could beat him out? He replied yes. I then asked him if he was both nominated and elected would you be his Vice President, and he said absolutely not. My next question was, if you were elected as the president would you choose him as your Vice President. He replied with “in a heartbeat”. I went on by saying that I can suggest a candidate for you that has the same constituency as he has and is even more popular at this time as he is. He knew what was coming and said fuck off. I never had the chance to say the words (O.J.Simpson).

We got along very well and traveled all over the world together but I had to end this relationship after seven years as she had given me a mild STD, which shocked me as she was so very prim and proper in most every way except that when she went home she started “seeing” other men and kept up her search for her elusive next husband, as I refused to marry her. This relationship lasted for seven years. When I gave up the business, I also gave up the “showroom” and the accountant went back to live in his mothers house. There are many other stories that I could tell during the “apartment” section however those were all listed in my unpublished book, named “The Cheetahs Handbook.”(picture enclosed).

In the 1970’s “Studio 54” was all the rage in New York City. I knew the three owners as one of them was a customer of mine His nickname was Pinky. I went there often. (It as hard to get into this place and it needed permission from one of the owners to obtain entry). All of the rich and famous people gathered there to see and be seen. The Hollywood stars, the famous designers, the well known authors, etc. (Every one of my friends coming to New York called me to help get them in, which I did). The main owner was Steve Robell. Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager could not have been more different, but together they built the hottest disco ever-- Studio 54. Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager, two born-and-bred New Yorkers, met in college in the late 1960’s. They could not have been more different: Rubell was hyper, loud, and always up for a party; Shrager was cool, retiring, and business minded. Despite, or because of, their differences, they would, for 33 months, own and operate the most famous nightspot on the face of the earth. Rubell and Shrager started small in the early 70’s, opening a chain of steakhouses in the less fashionable parts of the city. Soon they were both itching for the respectability that a Manhattan address would confer, and Rubell realized that their profits would be bigger if they cut out the food and concentrated on alcohol sales. They bought a building at 254 W. 54th St. that had once been used as a television studio by CBS. An expensive renovation pushed by Rubell and fretted over by Shrager, included hanging a huge man-in-the-moon over the dance floor. When a large hanging spoon came to rest under its nose, the man-in-the-moon lit up. They christened the club Studio 54, and the doors opened on April 16, 1977. From the beginning, Shrager stayed in the background, in his office with the books, while Rubell pampered and partied with superstar guests like Andy Warhol and Liza Minelli. Almost overnight, Studio 54 became the hottest disco in New York, and to people in every corner of the globe it symbolized the decadence and hedonism of the “Me Decade”. Rubell guarded Studio’s door like a hawk, only letting in those he deemed glamorous enough. He also strove to find the perfect combination of black and white, straight and gay—what he called “mixing the salad.” He was often rude to people he felt weren’t trying hard enough, saying things like, “Go home and change,” or simply, “You’re ugly.” But few wanted to argue with success; in its first year, Studio 54 made an estimated $7 million. Both Rubell and Shrager believed that one had had to spend money to make money. They lavished their celebrity friends with gifts and parties, thus ensuring that the “little people” would keep coming to see them, and keep spending their money. For Bianca Jagger’s 30th birthday, a costumed production number was put on by the staff and professional dancers, and for the finale, Bianca came riding out on the stage atop a white horse. When Rubell was stumped as to what to give Warhol for his birthday, he stuffed a garbage can full of dollar bills and presented it to the artist. Far from being insulted, Warhol said it was the best present he’d ever gotten. The high times didn’t last long. Shrager’s mismanagement and Rubell’s drug problem caught up to them in December 1979, when fifty agents from the Internal Revenue Service Burst into Studio 54 with a warrant. Garbage bags full of cash were found stuffed into the insulation, or just lying around. The meticulous Shrager had made a note of every gift given to every celebrity—even if that gift was cocaine or amyl nitrate “poppers.” The pair was sentenced to three-and-a-half years each, but wound up serving only thirteen months due to a deal with prosecutors. On their release, they went back into the nightclub business, opening the highly successful Palladium, and began buying and renovating hotels. It was especially hard for Rubell, though, to forgive those friends who had turned their backs to him when he was down. Steve Rubell died of hepatitis and septic shock in July 1989. Ian Shrager has made a fortune in the hotel business and continues to lead a quiet, private life. He was the flamboyant co-founder of Studio 54, a nightclub that gave birth and nurtured the disco era. His resilience to failure allowed him to make a come back after a tax evasion conviction. Unfortunately his very successful life was cut short by complications related to A.I.D.S. It was however, originally reported in his obituary that he died from complications resulting from hepatitis and septic shock, a condition they said was caused by a bacterial infection. During his lifetime he was considered a master of promoters. Studio 54 was an extremely successful club that was popular with celebrities, politicians and society figures. The nightclub which was located on West 54th Street, hence the name, opened its doors in April, 1977. The music stopped when Rubell and partner Ian Schrager were both indicted on Federal income tax charges involving more than $2.5 million that was skimmed from club receipts over a period of three years. Both pled guilty and served 13 months in prison. They sold “54" shortly after their release in January 1981. The club still stands and all rumors of its destruction were, just that, rumors. After the WKTU-FM’s Last Dance Party in 1996, it was scheduled for demolition. A Cyberdome was going to be built as an entertainment/dance club. The deal fell through, leaving the Studio still standing. It now hosts private parties and special events. In 1985, Steve found out that he was H.I.V. positive. His friend and business partner, Ian was also tested at the same time and had a better result... negative. He unlike Steve was heterosexual and despite his many conquests was extremely lucky. Steve’s relationships apparently, were not monogamous, as he dated many men before meeting the man of his dreams. He finally met Bill Hamilton while in Southampton, Long Island. Bill would remain with Steve for the rest of his life. According to author Anthony Haden-Guest, Steve suffered from chronic bronchitis, but in June, 1989 he fell sick. He began taking AZT in hopes of abating the disease. Unfortunately, he continued to take drugs and drink, compromising what little immune system he had left. In the last weeks of his life his condition deteriorated very quickly. He grew thin and so did his hair. His excuse for his appearance was always the same, the side effect from liver disease. Hamilton became his round the clock nursemaid because he wouldn’t allow anyone else around him. He also refused to go to the hospital until the very end. Seldom would he go out, the only time he would show up at an event would be when a close friend was at a social affair. He would take care to cover his thin hair with toupees and always sported an artificial tan to mask his pallor. By July he was really sick. He had just come back from a weekend in Southampton and was now moving much slower. Suffering from flu like symptoms, he progressively grew worse. He was now vomiting constantly and not being able to keep fluids down. On Sunday, July 23, 1989, Steve checked into the Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan, under a different name. The nurses were on strike and there was no one to care for him but Hamilton. Rubell’s body had now ceased to function. That Monday a nurse finally came in, but Steve did not want her to touch him. His lungs were filling up with fluids and his breathing was labored. They had to sedate him and give him oxygen so that was the last day Hamilton was ever able to speak to Rubell again. By nightfall, he was out of it. Although he was stable, he was not improving. Friends Ian, Don Rubell and Deborah Hughes joined Hamilton at Rubell’s bedside. Tuesday night at 7:10, Rubell finally passed away. Hamilton left the hospital and ended up moving in with Ian. Steve was buried in Beth Moses Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York. Rubell Who was represented by his attorney Roy Cohen (famous from the McCarthy hearings were always on sight as was Truman Capote). Hollywood even made a motion picture about this place and showed it as drugs and other stuff were served in the basement.

I had a customer that distributed cufflinks. I had been selling them my colognes (under their name). They kept coming up with ideas that would make them rich and always asked me to advise them. Each and every item they came up with was a loser, and I told them that. One of their ideas was to put a very small flyer into every one of their cufflink boxes that advertised a camera for only $ 1.00. They went on to say that they sell millions of cufflinks and they were certain that this would bring many sales of this camera. I made a statement that they would only get three sales. They just laughed that they would sell enormous quantities of these as they sold so very many cufflinks. They just came up with more and more stupid ideas. One of them had just returned from San Francisco where he went to a massage parlor and wanted to open one of these in New York. I said that this is the first idea you have come up with that might succeed. We went about putting up one in New York. They hired one experienced masseur and a bunch of girls that would be trained. They rented a nice apartment that was once the actor Gregory Peck’s town house, and furnished it and called it “Relaxation Plus”. They picked me up in a Bentley automobile. They invited the media to this opening. I asked what they were going to serve these people. I found out that they had one pint of Kinsey whiskey and a bag of pretzels. I said you must be kidding. We got back into the automobile and bought the proper food and drinks to serve. It turned out to be a big success, and they opened up six more places offering the same services. One of them telephoned me and told me that they were having a problem. It seems that the girls were turning this into whorehouses, and they asked me what they should do. I said that the girls would do it no matter what you say, so you might as well take a part of this. They now owned seven whorehouses. Shortly after, they received a visit from the mob. They were told that this was not a business for these Jewish boys, but it was their type of business and asked them to sell it to them. They sold the business and also the buildings that they eventually bought, and were offered a good price. After going into many other failed businesses they decided to open up another massage parlor and called it “Spartacus Two”. The mob came to them once again and said that they agreed that they would never go into that type of business again. They asked if the mob wanted to buy them out. They were told they would get nothing from this, but just sign the entire package over to them. Many years later they asked my advice on another stupid idea for a business. At that point I asked them how many cameras they sold from their idea of putting the advertising flyer into their cufflink boxes. They went hysterical laughing that one of them broke the chair he was sitting on and fell on the floor still laughing. He said, “I knew that you would ask that question some day. They sold only the three that I had predicted.

On one of my trips to the Orient, I visited with a firm in Taipei, which I wanted to buy something from. They asked me to show them my products which I pulled out a bottle of my shampoo. They placed an order for over one hundred thousand of my shampoos. A few weeks later they decided to have me only ship the raw materials, as they had their own water and could have the plastic bottles made locally. They did insist that ship my labels to them so they could claim that these were made in America.
On another trip to the Orient, I telephoned a customer/friend who lived there. He came to visit me at the Grand Hotel, which I was staying at. He insisted that I come to his home for the “Chinese New Years dinner” He said that his mother has been cooking for weeks to prepare for this event. His brothers and sisters were all out of the country and I must come. I asked my girlfriend if she would go as he was going to pick us up in his new Pontiac automobile. She said no. After a long discussion she agreed to go. He drove us to this high rise apartment and I heard waterfalls. It seems that one of his brothers was an architect and had taken four apartments and made them into one. It was the most fantastic apartments I had ever been in. They had many rooms. One was a temple room for their ancestors where they put out food (chicken and oranges). Since these relatives were dead, they replaced the food daily. They had a liquor cabinet as large as a liquor store. There were gold beams on the ceiling to simulate the rays of the sun. It was absolutely fabulous. While we were eating there was another gentleman at the table. We were watching television of the New Years celebration, and I noticed that the gentlemen sitting next to us was the man speaking on television. He was the President of Taiwan, (the son of Chiang Kai-shek). The table was in the setting of a lazy susan circulating with dozens of things to eat. Between each course they served various liquors. We were told that we must sample every dish on the table, as one was for health, another for virility, etc. I had never seen such wealth. I had asked him what his father did for a living (as the business we did together was not that large) He replied that “Father makes all of the transistors for television sets in Japan”.(picture enclosed) What was strange to me was that the family traveled the world and collected cheap 10 cent ashtrays. His mother asked me a question (that he translated). She asked me to find the boy a wife. She must be from Taiwan, come from a good family and be well educated. He then said she must also be pretty. He said the family had four apartments, one in Los Angeles, one in Hawaii and one in Tokyo. Our next stop was planned to go to Hawaii and he offered us the key to the apartment, which I declined. When I returned to the states I was at a trade show and a lovely oriental girl came over to my booth and we talked for quite a while. I asked her where she was from, and she replied Taiwan. I then asked her where she went to school, and she said she had graduate degrees from universities in both Taiwan and also from Japan. I asked her if she would make a telephone call to a boy. She said she would not, however later she wrote down his telephone number. I do not know if she did call or what happened after that, but hoped that they did get together.

I also heard of a firm in Italy that made the most beautiful metal bottle caps. I flew to Milan, and hired a driver and a translator and visited with the president of this company (who looked like a count). I told him that I would place orders for enormous quantities of his bottle caps. He then asked me to take drive with him in his Rolls Royce, and put a mink wrap over my legs to keep me warm. We ended up at his home at the top of a mountain, for dinner. After dinner he asked me to go for a walk with him. He took me around his enormous property and said to me. “Take a look around” He said the every person that lived in all of the towns in the area worked for him in his factory. He added that he became very wealthy from this business as his father and grand father before him. He said that if he were to manufacture the quantities I had mentioned, he would have to build another mountain with towns around it and hire all the people in these towns to do this. He then said please go home and leave me alone, I am happy with what I have at this time and do not need any more orders.


So basically I have now become retired, and considered myself rich. (Interest rates were running between 15% and 17% at that time) I saw no need to open up another business or to look for a job. I had no idea that they would drop to 2% which would make me somewhat poor once again.

CHAPTER two
“My Life in the Wilderness”
My Life as a Builder

“My Life in the Wilderness” Both Winston Churchill and Richard Nixon used this term however mine was literally.

Being retired I became bored. I purchased a small country home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The girl I lived with at that time decided that we needed a swimming pool. I saw no reason for this was in a very cold area, neither of us were swimmers, and I did not feel like fishing out tree branches and animals, however I let her put in the pool.

I decided to put a house over the pool. I hired a group of men who amazingly put this up in a week or so. I designed it using inexpensive sliding glass doors using the solar effect to help heat the pool as well as installing a propane gas heater. I also designed a small sauna and steam room between our bedroom and the pool. In an indoor pool there was a great deal of humidity, so I researched and found a giant dehumidifier that would suck out lots of water from the pool and put it back into the pool. It also took out the chlorine odor from the house. Now it was perfect as we could swim in the pool watching the snowfall outside and be comfortable.

After watching how fast this group of men put this pool house up, I asked one of the men if they could put up dozens of homes at the same time. His answer was of course. I went to a local tax sale and purchased a great many one quarter acre lots at only $240.00 each. I found an excavator as well as a septic specialist and began my quest, to create an outer suburb of New York City.

Being creative, I designed the houses with incredible beauty and decided the correct selling price should be about $75,000.00, a price that would attract almost anyone who wanted a country home (since this area was only one and one half hour from New York City)

When the foundation and septic system was in, I called the man who I originally spoke to and asked him when they could start construction. I was told that the group that put up the pool house was done by the owners of individual companies and the only reason that they were able to do the pool house was it was winter and they had no other work. Now it was spring and they were all busy with their regular jobs.

I found myself as a general contractor who knew nothing about building houses. I searched around and made many calls. Only one man showed up carrying a hammer. He started putting up stick by stick and it was taking forever to erect a house. I did the same with hiring many electrician, plumbers, painters etc. These workers spent more time visiting there parole officers than showing up for work.

What I found out during this process was that the State Of Pennsylvania did not require building people to have a license. All they had to do was print a business card and represent themselves as such. This included me as an architect.

I also did not know most of these workers were convicts, who stole everything they could find in my houses. I was told that a refrigerator was missing from one house. When I went there to check it out, I found they also stole the carpeting, then the appliances, etc. This went on during my entire building experience.

When the first home was finally finished, as the other “builders” ran ads in the local newspapers offering homes from models. When a prospective buyer showed up and asked what type of oven came with the house, the “builder” responded by saying “Oh you want a kitchen, that would add additional numbers to the price of their houses” I was offering a “speck house” take it or leave it”.

Instead of running ads in the newspapers, I requested and received full page publicity on my homes at “Pocono Dream Estates” There was no area with that name, just houses on scattered lots. When I went to the post office or gas station I was told that I caused the town to become gridlocked with all visitors to the town asking where “Pocono Dream Estates” was. In any case I sold every house the very first weekend after the publicity was published in the newspaper.

Now I was in real trouble. It took over one year to produce each house. Since every house I erected most things were being stolen, I had to raise the prices from $75,000.00 to $150,000.00 as no one could afford to wait that long as most had sold their old homes, and were ready to move in to one of mine. I had sold every house many times over and over until I decided this was fruitless, and decided to try a different approach. I put up the first “StickULar” house with the original foundation and place a modular home on top of it. This worked for a while until I completely gave up and just dropped modular homes on the foundations.

With the building process in the area, even the lumber yards cheated by sending less lumber that was on my order. I could not believe this as I was not about to count each and every two by four piece of lumber, so I searched and found that there was a large chain of lumber yards called 84 Lumber Company. I telephoned the owner and told him of my dilemma and also said this area was written up as the fastest growing housing market in the country. He agreed to meet with me and said “I like you young man, you make things happen”. He came to visit me and did open up a facility in the area. Now using this chain I knew that it was not in the interest of the manager to cheat me. The bottom line of this part of my life as a builder was I did not make a dime putting up homes.

We did have a social life in the woods. We met a few couples who had country homes in the area and met with them every Saturday evening. One couple was of Italian extraction and invited her mother and sister to help her with the stirring of the sauce. It was divine cuisine. The other couple was much more interesting as the wife was at the top of her class studying physics. She was approached by gentlemen who worked for the government and called her aside and asked her several questions. They asked her if she had any family that she would miss if she disappeared for several years. They explained to her that our country would be at war shortly and they needed her help. They said they need every physicist they could find to join a group of other scientists to form a group that was eventually called the Manhattan Project. She shipped her off to Alamogordo where she worked with Oppenheimer, Szilard; Teller, Fermi, and the other major players who developed the Atom Bomb. We often see movies on this subject showing four men and one woman. I believe that she was that woman. After they successfully tested the bomb and dropped them on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And the war was over. She was thanked. Now she needed a job. She looked for a job in the news papers and it seemed that no one was interested in people who knew how to build an atom bomb. She went to several employment agencies to no avail. She told me that the people she spoke to there were very stupid and decided to open up her own employments agency. She decided that the first job that came along that she liked, she would take, as well as find jobs for her sisters who also were doing war work. She rented space above a tailor shop. She then looked out the window and every time a truck went by she copied the name of the trucking company and their telephone number and asked them if they needed drivers. She kept calling other industries and asking if they needed to hire people. She put together a long list. Now she needed people to send to these companies to be interviewed. She had known that actors seemed to always be out of work looking for their part on Broadway. She put together a large group of actors (who usually were gay). The business did not go as planned. She ended up with the largest employment agency in the country, and called it “Career Blazers”, which is still in business today. When she died of lung cancer. At her funeral (there were hundreds of gay people that showed up as she had helped getting jobs for each of them and they loved her). She turned over this business to her son. She was married at this time, however she hated him. On her deathbed she wrote a fourteen page letter addressed to her son advising him not to give her husband anything. She listed how badly he treated her. It seems that he was impotent, and could only get himself off by forcing her into orgies and reading perverted magazines. Then going alone into his bathroom and wanking himself off. It was the first time I had ever heard that a man could cum being flaccid. She gave this deathbed fourteen page letter to her housekeeper, who in turn gave it to my girlfriend. I was shown this letter and read it. I made a decision not to give it to her son as I never liked him and he had enough money. Since she was dead, and he was just about the only friend I had in the Pocono’s I tossed the letter into the fireplace. It was about this time I had decided to move from the wilderness to Boca Raton, Florida. He asked me if he could join me there and continue out friendship. I of course said yes and he followed me down. When he arrived in Boca he told me that his girl friend had left him and asked me to find him a girl. I had known of a beautiful girl who was over six feet tall. I felt that she would be perfect for him as he was six feet six inches tall. I took him to the New York Hospital, where we went to the erectile dysfunction department, (this was before the days of Viagra). They suggested the “needle into the penis” method. We had lots of fun at this point as on the drive home to Pennsylvania he developed a “boner”. He asked me how he could handle this when he was with a woman as it would look odd for him to bring a syringe into the bedroom. I suggested that he carry a cigar case and keep it in the pocket of his bathrobe, then excuse himself and go to the bathroom and use it. It seemed to work explaining that he just took up cigar smoking as the excuse for him having this on his person. I introduced them on a Wednesday, she moved into “his apartment” (actually owned by his son in-law) and they were married within weeks. He eventually had to tell her his financial condition and that is the reason they came to me looking for a business (mentioned above). His son in-law gave them a free franchise called “Career Blazes Resume Service”, where she would go out and get the customers and he would copy blank template resumes and fill in their names, etc. He is still publishing books under her name (Adele Lewis). “She had written dozens of books on this subject”. And he is collecting the royalties on all of her past and “the present” books. (pictures enclosed).

CHAPTER three
My Next Ventures


About this time I discovered the computer and completely fell in love with it and what could be done with it. I have always been fascinated with superimposing pictures, where I could take someone’s face and make him an athletic star, putting him or her with famous People like the president, etc. I found a young computer programmer and had him create am whereby I could achieve this instantly, and then transfer this image onto a T-Shirt etc. I later developed a way to place the image onto coffee cups after wasting hundreds of mugs, I finally succeeded with it. Today you can find mugs being sold with people’s pictures in every mall.
I incorporated a business named Visual Technologies “Vistech” and went about selling computer systems to people who wanted to go into this type of business. I sold many, however I found that unless they went to high traffic areas like Disney Land, or places like six Flags they would not do well. Most of them went into flea markets and shopping malls and did not do very well. I did not feel good about selling this system to people who would fail, so I gave this idea up.
I then left the woods in Pennsylvania and moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1991 where they had things like restaurants, movie theatres and even places to buy a bagel.
This was in the year of 1993 with the introduction of Tim Burners Lee invention of the World Wide Web. I checked it out and found only a very few sites that were on it. I quickly learned how to use the hyperlink language and posted all of my previous images of myself in various superimposed positions and made up a stupid story about it so they would all appear as me as a super hero. The site is still on the web; however you might be more interested in looking at the following URL called my picture Album at.
http://picasaweb.google.com/louangel168/LouSPhotos2
The few people on the web at the time became my email friends with each asking the others to “check out my site” All came back and said your site is “cool” and asked what grade I was in. I told them I was in my sixties and each replied “No Way” as you are the “coolest cat on the web” I then decided to become a webmaster and write sites for other people, and became very good at this.
Each time I encountered something that interested me I checked out the source code and studied it and made it better, and eventually became about the best webmaster on the web. I now decided to become one and thought that I could build a nice business doing just that. I knew a few girls that were very attractive and quite articulate and told them to visit restaurants, and other types of business that should have their presence on the web to advertise their business. One of them asked “why should I believe you that this is a viable business and walked away. I murmured to myself “stupid cunt” and let her leave. The other one went about the business, however no one at that time even knew about the World Wide Web or even the internet. She left. Today I believe there are at least a trillion sites, with more added each day.
My original site has changed many times over the years but it is still up there on the web under the URL
http://www.mrangel.com/.

You can see the site which is till up there by clicking on the URL or go directly to the table of contacts at
http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/
Where you can scroll down to anything you are especially interested in
If you go to this site you should find them under the name of “webpages”. Since that time I have added many subject on anything I was interested in and added information on things I knew a great deal about such as Sushi Online, Coffee Online, Cigars Online, Brazilian Lifestyle, as well as much information on Medical and Dentistry, etc.


CHAPTER four
My Life as a University Lecturer

While I was in business a young man named Phil Lempert came in as a salesman to sell me various things. He also sold some of my shampoos to a supermarket chain. He also worked as a professor at a university and asked me if I would consent to lecture his class of students. I asked if I would be paid a fee for this and was told I would not receive any money for this. I then said I want a certificate in a frame with a wire on the back so I could hang it on my wall. (Since, I did not have any academic certificates of any kind at all on my wall). He agreed and got me one, which today proudly hangs on my home office wall). He once said something that boosted my ego a great deal. “I would like to represent what is in your head” Coming from a man this bright, it really made me feel great.
.
I spoke for three hours trying to get them to understand how the real world of business works. Many of the students asked why they did not learn this either in college or in grad school. I said that the MBA program prepares you how to leverage funds and prepare for bankruptcy. You are being taught by teachers who in turn were taught by teachers who read books written by teachers. None of your teachers have ever experiences life in the real world of business. There is an old adage “If you can not do, then teach, If you can not teach become an administrator”

I told them how to watch out for crooked bookkeepers, crooked shipping clerks, lazy & stupid siblings, and many things that I had learned from my experiences in the real world.

On the way to work one day I had heard of a blind boy who stabbed to death a man who was raping his mother. I bought a newspaper and read the whole story. When I arrived at my office I was told that at least six women appeared and had demanded their “husbands” last pay check. I asked who this “husband” was and found out that the rapist was our “chief chemical mixer”. One of my employees said “I do not understand why this man raped anyone, as we employed dozens of girls who would be more than happy to have sex with him”.

Some years ago I was speaking to an older man who asked me about the problems I had in business. I told him that my building was broken into almost every evening with stuff stolen, each time I reported this to the local police. I received a call from the police that they had caught the thief while stopping a car and they found my things in his trunk. I laughingly replied that if you stop most any car in the area you will find my things in all of them. I received a call from the Welfare department who informed me that they entered and apartment that was full of my merchandise. I was not surprised by this. I had a major flood that almost destroyed me, there was once a murder on my premises, and I was even broken in the police that tried to crack the safe that was in the building. Since the police knew many safe crackers, they came in the next evening with one, but failed. One time on Christmas Eve the police broke in and stole a lot of things among which was cases of Scotch. I telephoned the captain of police and told him what had happened and about the Scotch. He replied “Dewers?” It seemed that he was given a gift from the burglary as well. I was also broken in by the fire department that must have been doing a nighttime sprinkler inspection. I also told them many other things that I experienced during my years in business. He asked me if I ever had a fire. It was not long after this conversation that this had happened as well. It turned out that this was a case of arson caused by a neighbor who happened to be given a grant by our local congressman to help with the unemployment in the area. This firm had rented space and invited me in. What I saw was a lot of sawdust on the floor and many electric machines (but without electric cords attached.) It was only a scam to get the grant. (newspaper article enclosed).

I had a visit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It seems that they were looking for information on a lawyer I had recently used for some reason I forget. An airplane exploded during a flight and when going through the rubble they found a paper with my letterhead, with the name of Julian Frank on it. He was a passenger on the airplane and had taken out a million dollar life insurance policy before he boarded the flight, and they thought he might be the person that exploded a bomb aboard. They asked me some questions such as how well I knew him, and if he ever mentioned suicide to me. I told them whatever I knew about him, which was very little and that he had never mentioned suicide to me. I was told that he was about to be indicted for some crime and that he was their prime suspect. I had heard later that after years of fighting, his family was paid for the insurance on the policy. (newspaper article enclosed).

I got into trouble with the FDA due to the many violations mentioned above. I went to see this very congressman (picture enclosed) who would not speak to me and pushed me aside as he entered his limousine. I ran out and entered his limo. He said what the hell are you doing here? I said that I will talk to you as we ride and take a taxi back. I asked him where he was going and he told me that he was going to give a speech to the boy scouts. Knowing he was gay, I asked him if he was looking for new talent. He replied by saying “watch your lip” in which I replied that it is your lip that I am sure will be the problem. He agreed to see me the next day in his office. When I arrived I found a man from the FDA there with him. I found them to be quite friendly and later found out they were lovers. The congressman (Fred Richmond) was later arrested as he was found in a subway men’s room having sex with a little boy. He was arrested once again for a major crime and spent many years in prison for this. (picture enclosed).

Another thing I told the students about was when General Dwight Eisenhower was asked by both parties to run for president, he said, I know how to be a general; however I do not know how to be a president. He later said that he knew a man who could be his vice president named Robert B. Anderson and with his help he could do the job. He was told that he could appoint Anderson to any position he wanted, however the already picked a young senator named Richard M. Nixon to be his vice president. Eisenhower was elected and appointed Robert B. Anderson first as secretary of the Navy, then secretary of Defense. When his four years were up he then asked once again to have Robert B. Anderson as his vice president, which was declined as they went once again with Richard M. Nixon. Eisenhower then appointed Robert B. Anderson as his secretary of the Treasury. He remained in the position for the rest of Eisenhower’s term in office.

Robert B. Anderson Biography

Robert B. Anderson, the Texas-born lawyer who was Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 to 1961, died Monday at New York Hospital, a hospital spokesman said yesterday. Robert B. Anderson, the Texas-born lawyer who was Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 to 1961, died Monday at New York Hospital, a hospital spokesman said yesterday. Mr. Anderson was 79 years old and lived in Manhattan in recent years. Since the 1950's he maintained homes in the New York area. A son, Gerald L. Anderson, said yesterday that his father, who entered the hospital July 25, was suffering from cancer of the esophagus and died from complications after surgery. Conviction for Tax Evasion Mr. Anderson rose to influential positions in government, business and finance, serving as Navy Secretary, Deputy Secretary of Defense, and holding posts with major corporations. But his career became clouded in later years by a brief prison term for income tax evasion and operating an illegal offshore bank. In 1987 he was sentenced to one month in prison and five months' house arrest after pleading guilty in Federal District Court in Manhattan to the tax evasion in 1983 and 1984 and to the offshore bank charge. Last January, Mr. Anderson was disbarred by the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court, which said the illegal banking had been unconscionable. Robert Anderson was a Democrat when he supported Dwight D. Eisenhower for President in 1952, but he switched parties in time for the 1956 elections and remained a Republican. He developed a reputation as a quiet and efficient administrator as Secretary of the Navy in 1953 and 1954 and as Deputy Secretary of Defense in 1954 and 1955, Mr. Anderson became known as a conservative Treasury Secretary, putting a high priority on preserving the value of the dollar rather than cutting taxes or paying for additional outlays. As Treasury Secretary, he became highly influential within the Eisenhower Administration. It was on his recommendation that the President made an important decision concerning the budget for the fiscal year 1961, deciding that the projected surplus was to be used, not to cut taxes, but to pay off some of the national debt. Posts in Industry Before serving in the Eisenhower Administration, Mr. Anderson held various posts in Texas government. He resigned as Deputy Defense Secretary in 1955 to become president of Ventures Ltd., a Canadian holding company with far flung international interests, mainly in mining, until he was named Treasury Secretary. From 1961 to 1973 he was a limited partner in the New York-based investment banking firm of Loeb, Rhoades & Co. He also held other posts and directorships in business and finance and was an adviser to Phillips Petroleum, Texaco and other oil companies. He served as an economic adviser to the Sultan of Oman and worked as a Manhattan-based lobbyist and consultant for the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. As Navy Secretary Mr. Anderson, at Eisenhower's behest, moved to end racial segregation at Navy posts in Charleston, S.C., and Norfolk, Va. Eisenhower wrote later that he felt gratitude and ''intense admiration'' for Mr. Anderson. The historian Stephen E. Ambrose, in a 1984 book on the Eisenhower Presidency, wrote that Mr. Anderson was Eisenhower's personal choice for his running mate as Vice-Presidential candidate in the 1956 election, but that Mr. Anderson rejected the idea. Mr. Ambrose, in the second volume of his biography ''Eisenhower,'' also wrote that Eisenhower urged Mr. Anderson to seek the Presidential nomination in 1960, but that Mr. Anderson said no. In the 1960's, Mr. Anderson carried out diplomatic tasks for President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was also a friend, including leading a commission that negotiated new treaties involving the Panama Canal. Two decades later, when Mr. Anderson was sentenced to the prison term by Judge Edmund L. Palmieri, he was also sentenced to five years' probation. Judge Palmieri directed him to make restitution to victims of the bank operation who had lost money on his advice. The judge said he was aware that Mr. Anderson had been hospitalized for alcoholism 10 times since 1981, and he ordered Mr. Anderson to enter an alcoholism treatment program. Mr. Anderson had pleaded guilty to evading taxes on more than $127,000 in income in 1983 and 1984 and operating an offshore bank in the British West Indies in which investors lost more than $4 million. A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Gregory Bogdan, said yesterday in Washington said that Mr. Anderson had served his sentence in Federal Prison Camp at Allenwood, Pa., in August 1987. An official of the Federal Probation Office in Manhattan, Joseph Veltre, said yesterday that his house arrest was completed in January 1988. When he was disbarred by the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court last January, the court order said: ''This is a sad but, we think, necessary end to the legal career of one who has in times less beclouded by poor and corrupt judgment served his country in high office.'' A lawyer for Mr. Anderson suggested in court in 1987 that his client's mind might have been affected by the strain of caring for his wife, the former Ollie Mae Rawlings, who long suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in 1987. They were married in 1935. In the years after Mr. Anderson left the Cabinet, his activities included serving as a partner in Robert B. Anderson & Company, an investment house, and as chairman of the American Gas & Chemical Company. Among the companies of which he was a director were Pan American World Airways and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. Robert Bernerd Anderson was born June 4, 1910, in Burleson, Tex., the son of a farmer. He graduated from Weatherford College in Weatherford, Tex., in 1927 and earned a bachelor of laws degree from the University of Texas in 1932. That same year he was elected to the Texas Legislature. In the 1930's he served variously as a Texas legislator, an assistant Texas attorney general, chairman of the Texas Unemployment commission, and state tax and racing commissioner. In World War II he was a civilian aide to the Army Secretary. In addition to his son Gerald, of Greenwich, Conn., Mr. Anderson is survived by two sisters, Ruth Smith of Godley, Tex., and Velma Pickens of Dallas; another son, James, of Austin, Tex., and three grandchildren.

Later Anderson with all of his contacts became a lobbyist representing many companies including mine. He was a great help to me by introducing me to many large customers. He then asked me how much business I did in Saudi Arabia. I told him that I did not need any help in Saudi Arabia as I was shipping more shampoo there than they have water, as they in turn were exporting my shampoos all over the Middle East. He asked me if I wanted to be the exclusive shampoo in the country. I asked him how that could be. He said he could pull this off. He added that he knew he could. I redesigned he bulls-eye on my label by replacing the Royal Olean groups logo on it and it was a great success.

He brought to my office a beautiful woman and he told me that she was the secretary of state in her country which was now called Nigeria. It seems that her father was the king, but when it became a “republic” she was appointed to this position. He asked me to show all of my products to her which she liked as she was also an importer as a sideline in her country. She asked me to send a sample of each product and send it by air, which I did. She then called me again for another set of samples. Since my products were not expensive I sent the second set. I found out that the airfreight was costing me $300.00. A week later she called me once again for another set as they seemed to be “getting lost” in transit. I then realized something was funny and later I found out that all these samples did indeed arrive and she was selling them in the market place. Over the years I received hundreds of “scam letters” from people in Nigeria. Each one said to the effect that they were the widows or relatives of very important government officials and they would receive hundreds of millions of dollars if I would send them the name of my bank and my account number as we would split this money. Using some common sense I threw these letters away. Many used the scam as they had won the lotto and asked me for the same information mentioned above. Today with the modern technology, I receive e-mails to replace the letters, which I deleted. In doing research I decided that was there were no honest people in Nigeria. If you want to read more about Nigerian scams to the following take a look at this URL which is at.
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm


You will find the following as one sample scam.
Request for Urgent Business Relationship
“We have the pleasure to make this surprising but mutually benefiting business proposal. I am a member of the newly inaugurated committee for the privatization of the refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Nigeria. The members of the committee are interested in the importation of goods into the country with funds presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria / Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) foreign payments account. I got your address through the office of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The federal military government of Nigeria intends to lease the three existing petroleum refineries to private individuals and companies. This is to make the refineries more viable, resourceful and to eliminate undue wastage and fraud. This privatization is in-line with the recommendations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a prerequisite for future financial assistance. The refineries are heavily indebted to many companies and my committee has the mandate (task) of compiling the names of these companies and debt owed them and also recommend for payment, all contracts that have been fully executed. With our position in the committee, which comprises of my ministry, federal ministry of petroleum resources, Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), the federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we have successfully secured for ourselves, the sum of US $73,000,000 (seventy-three million United States Dollars). This sum was acquired by carefully inflating the amount of indebtedness by this amount (US $73,000,000). We need a reliable company to be included in the list of companies to be paid. This company will be paid for a contract executed in Kaduna Refinery in 1993. I was therefore mandated in trust by members of the committee, to seek a foreign partner into whose account we could transfer the sum of US $73,000,000, hence I am writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the funds thus: (1) 70% for us (the committee members) (2) 20% for you (the account owner) (3) 10% will be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses that will be incurred in the course of this transaction it is from our 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. We also need assurance from you that you will let us have our share once the inflated amount (US $73,000,000.00) is transferred into your account. The payment will be done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its correspondent bank. What we need from you is that you provide a vital account into which the funds will be transferred/lodged. Note that this transaction is 100% safe and guaranteed since the law under which our committee was set up, has empowered us to disburse all the funds. We shall commence the transfer of the funds immediately we receive the following information by Tel/Fax :(4) your company name and full address (5) your bank’s name, telephone and fax number (6) your account number and name of would be beneficiary
The above information will enable us put up letters of claim and job description to the respective ministries for the issuance of the mandatory fund release approval/recommendations. This way, your company will be recognized and accepted as the beneficiary of the contract entitlements before the final remittance to your nominated account, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, being paying bank. Note that we will be responsible for the payment of the federal Inland Revenue tax on behalf of your company and a contract agreement between your company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shall be drawn up and antedated showing that your company has a legitimate contract with the NNPC and must be paid. We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit absolute confidentiality from you in this transaction. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, using the above Telefax number for more details regarding this transaction. Also endeavor to send the requested information”. Bob Anderson and I became close friends and we visited each other many times. He told me that his major source of income was in off shore banking. I said that this was illegal and he could go to jail for doing this. He laughed and said “I guess you do not know who I am, with all the positions that I have had”. Several years later the headlines of every newspaper and the big news on television was “Ex Secretary of the treasury arrested and was now in jail” Some years later all of the media headlines said he died in jail.
If I was lecturing today I would speak about our current President George W. Bush. If his name was not Bush he would be hanging around country clubs and having a grand old time. The following is the history of the Bush family and how he had accumulated all of his wealth and power. I would include how Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power Rumors of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machine has circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington Saturday September 25, 2004 Guardian. George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The debate over Prescott Bush's behavior has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty. Remarkably, little of Bush's dealings with Germany have received public scrutiny, partly because of the secret status of the documentation involving him. But now the multibillion dollar legal action for damages by two Holocaust survivors against the Bush family, and the imminent publication of three books on the subject are threatening to make Prescott Bush's business history an uncomfortable issue for his grandson, George W, as he seeks re-election. While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war. Tantalizing Bush was also on the board of at least one of the companies that formed part of a multinational network of front companies to allow Thyssen to move assets around the world. Thyssen owned the largest steel and Coal Company in Germany and grew rich from Hitler's efforts to re-arm between the two world wars. One of the pillars in Thyssen's international corporate web, UBC, worked exclusively for, and was owned by, a Thyssen-controlled bank in the Netherlands. More tantalizing are Bush's links to the Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC), based in mineral rich Silesia on the German-Polish border. During the war, the company made use of Nazi slave labor from the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The ownership of CSSC changed hands several times in the 1930s, but documents from the US National Archive declassified last year link Bush to CSSC, although it is not clear if he and UBC were still involved in the company when Thyssen's American assets were seized in 1942. Three sets of archives spell out Prescott Bush's involvement. All three are readily available; thanks to the efficient US archive system and a helpful and dedicated staff at both the Library of Congress in Washington and the National Archives at the University of Maryland. The first set of files, the Harriman papers in the Library of Congress, show that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen. The second set of papers, which are in the National Archives, are contained in vesting order number 248 which records the seizure of the company assets. What these files show is that on October 20 1942 the alien property custodian seized the assets of the UBC, of which Prescott Bush was a director. Having gone through the books of the bank, further seizures were made against two affiliates, the Holland-American Trading Corporation and the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation. By November, the Silesian-American Company, another of Prescott Bush's ventures, had also been seized. The third set of documents, also at the National Archives, is contained in the files on IG Farben, who was prosecuted for war crimes. A report issued by the Office of Alien Property Custodian in 1942 stated of the companies that "since 1939, these (steel and mining) properties have been in possession of and have been operated by the German government and have undoubtedly been of considerable assistance to that country's war effort". Prescott Bush, a 6ft 4in charmer with a rich singing voice, was the founder of the Bush political dynasty and was once considered a potential presidential candidate himself. Like his son, George, and grandson, George W, he went to Yale where he was, again like his descendants, a member of the secretive and influential Skull and Bones student society. He was an artillery captain in the First World War and married Dorothy Walker, the daughter of George Herbert Walker, in 1921. In 1924, his father-in-law, a well-known St Louis investment banker, helped set him up in business in New York with Averill Harriman, the wealthy son of railroad magnate E H Harriman in New York, who had gone into banking. One of the first jobs Walker gave Bush was to manage UBC. Bush was a founding member of the bank and the incorporation documents, which list him as one of seven directors, show he owned one share in UBC worth $125. The bank was set up by Harriman and Bush's father-in-law to provide a US bank for the Thyssens, Germany's most powerful industrial family. August Thyssen, the founder of the dynasty had been a major contributor to Germany's First World War effort and in the 1920s, he and his sons Fritz and Heinrich established a network of overseas banks and companies so their assets and money could be whisked offshore if threatened again. By the time Fritz Thyssen inherited the business empire in 1926, Germany's economic recovery was faltering. After hearing Adolph Hitler speak, Thyssen became mesmerized by the young firebrand. He joined the Nazi party in December 1931 and admits backing Hitler in his autobiography, I Paid Hitler, when the National Socialists were still a radical fringe party. He stepped in several times to bail out the struggling party: in 1928 Thyssen had bought the Barlow Palace on Briennerstrasse, in Munich, which Hitler converted into the Brown House, the headquarters of the Nazi party. The money came from another Thyssen overseas institution, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvarrt in Rotterdam. By the late 1930s, Brown Brothers Harriman, which claimed to be the world's largest private investment bank, and UBC had bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, fuel, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany, both feeding and financing Hitler's build-up to war. Between 1931 and 1933 UBC bought more than $8m worth of gold, of which $3m was shipped abroad. According to documents seen by the Guardian, after UBC was set up it transferred $2m to BBH accounts and between 1924 and 1940 the assets of UBC hovered around $3m, dropping to $1m only on a few occasions. In 1941, Thyssen fled Germany after falling out with Hitler but he was captured in France and detained for the remainder of the war. There was nothing illegal in doing business with the Thyssens throughout the 1930s and many of America's best-known business names invested heavily in the German economic recovery. However, everything changed after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Even then it could be argued that BBH was within its rights continuing business relations with the Thyssens until the end of 1941 as the US was still technically neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor. The trouble started on July 30 1942 when the New York Herald-Tribune ran an article entitled "Hitler's Angel Has $3m in US Bank". UBC's huge gold purchases had raised suspicions that the bank was in fact a "secret nest egg" hidden in New York for Thyssen and other Nazi bigwigs. The Alien Property Commission (APC) launched an investigation. There is no dispute over the fact that the US government seized a string of assets controlled by BBH - including UBC and SAC - in the autumn of 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy act. What is in dispute is if Harriman, Walker and Bush did more than own these companies on paper. Erwin May, a treasury attachĂ© and officer for the department of investigation in the APC, was assigned to look into UBC's business. The first fact to emerge was that Roland Harriman, Prescott Bush and the other directors didn't actually own their shares in UBC but merely held them on behalf of Bank voor Handel. Strangely, no one seemed to know who owned the Rotterdam-based bank, including UBC's president. May wrote in his report of August 16 1941: "Union Banking Corporation’, incorporated August 4 1924, is wholly owned by the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart N.V of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My investigation has produced no evidence as to the ownership of the Dutch bank. Mr. Cornelis [sic] Lievense, president of UBC, claims no knowledge as to the ownership of the Bank voor Handel but believes it possible that Baron Heinrich Thyssen, brother of Fritz Thyssen, may own a substantial interest." May cleared the bank of holding a golden nest egg for the Nazi leaders but went on to describe a network of companies spreading out from UBC across Europe, America and Canada, and how money from voor Handel traveled to these companies through UBC. By September May had traced the origins of the non-American board members and found that Dutchman HJ Kouwenhoven - who met with Harriman in 1924 to set up UBC - had several other jobs: in addition to being the managing director of voor Handel he was also the director of the August Thyssen bank in Berlin and a director of Fritz Thyssen's Union Steel Works, the holding company that controlled Thyssen's steel and coal mine empire in Germany. Within a few weeks, Homer Jones, the chief of the APC investigation and research division sent a memo to the executive committee of APC recommending the US government vest UBC and its assets. Jones named the directors of the bank in the memo, including Prescott Bush's name, and wrote: "Said stock is held by the above named individuals, however, solely as nominees for the Bank voor Handel, Rotterdam, Holland, which is owned by one or more of the Thyssen family, nationals of Germany and Hungary. The 4,000 shares hereinbefore set out are therefore beneficially owned and help for the interests of enemy nationals, and are vestible by the APC," according to the memo from the National Archives seen by the Guardian. Red-handed Jones recommended that the assets be liquidated for the benefit of the government, but instead UBC was maintained intact and eventually returned to the American shareholders after the war. Some claim that Bush sold his share in UBC after the war for $1.5m - a huge amount of money at the time - but there is no documentary evidence to support this claim. No further action was ever taken nor was the investigation continued, despite the fact UBC was caught red-handed operating an American shell company for the Thyssen family eight months after America had entered the war and that this was the bank that had partly financed Hitler's rise to power. The most tantalizing part of the story remains shrouded in mystery: the connection, if any, between Prescott Bush, Thyssen, Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC) and Auschwitz. Thyssen's partner in United Steel Works, which had coal mines and steel plants across the region, was Friedrich Flick, another steel magnate who also owned part of IG Farben, the powerful German chemical company. Flick's plants in Poland made heavy use of slave labor from the concentration camps in Poland. According to a New York Times article published in March 18 1934 Flick owned two-thirds of CSSC while "American interests" held the rest. The US National Archive documents show that BBH's involvement with CSSC was more than simply holding the shares in the mid-1930s. Bush's friend and fellow "bonesman" Knight Woolley, another partner at BBH, wrote to Averill Harriman in January 1933 warning of problems with CSSC after the Poles started their drive to nationalize the plant. "The Consolidated Silesian Steel Company situation has become increasingly complicated, and I have accordingly brought in Sullivan and Cromwell, in order to be sure that our interests are protected," wrote Knight. "After studying the situation Foster Dulles is insisting that their man in Berlin get into the picture and obtain the information which the directors here should have. You will recall that Foster is a director and he is particularly anxious to be certain that there is no liability attaching to the American directors." But the ownership of the CSSC between 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland and 1942 when the US government vested UBC and SAC is not clear. "SAC held coal mines and definitely owned CSSC between 1934 and 1935, but when SAC was vested there was no trace of CSSC. All concrete evidence of its ownership disappears after 1935 and there are only a few traces in 1938 and 1939," says Eva Schweitzer, the journalist and author whose book, America and the Holocaust, is published next month. Silesia was quickly made part of the German Reich after the invasion, but while Polish factories were seized by the Nazis, those belonging to the still neutral Americans (and some other nationals) were treated more carefully as Hitler was still hoping to persuade the US to at least sit out the war as a neutral country. Schweitzer says American interests were dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The Nazis bought some out, but not others. The two Holocaust survivors suing the US government and the Bush family for a total of $40bn in compensation claim both materially benefited from Auschwitz slave labor during the Second World War. Kurt Julius Goldstein, 87, and Peter Gingold, 85, began a class action in America in 2001, but the case was thrown out by Judge Rosemary Collier on the grounds that the government cannot be held liable under the principle of "state sovereignty". Jan Lissmann, one of the lawyers for the survivors, said: "President Bush withdrew President Bill Clinton's signature from the treaty [that founded the court] not only to protect Americans, but also to protect himself and his family." Lissmann argues that genocide-related cases are covered by international law, which does hold governments accountable for their actions. He claims the ruling was invalid as no hearing took place. In their claims, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Gingold, honorary chairman of the League of Anti-fascists, suggest the Americans were aware of what was happening at Auschwitz and should have bombed the camp. The lawyers also filed a motion in The Hague asking for an opinion on whether state sovereignty is a valid reason for refusing to hear their case. A ruling is expected within a month. The petition to The Hague states: "From April 1944 on, the American Air Force could have destroyed the camp with air raids, as well as the railway bridges and railway lines from Hungary to Auschwitz. The murder of about 400,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims could have been prevented." The case is built around a January 22 1944 executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt calling on the government to take all measures to rescue the European Jews. The lawyers claim the order was ignored because of pressure brought by a group of big American companies, including BBH, where Prescott Bush was a director. Lissmann said: "If we have a positive ruling from the court it will cause [president] Bush huge problems and make him personally liable to pay compensation." The US government and the Bush family deny all the claims against them. In addition to Eva Schweitzer's book, two other books are about to be published that raise the subject of Prescott Bush's business history. The author of the second book, to be published next year, John Loftus, is a former US attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the 70s. Now living in St Petersburg, Florida and earning his living as a security commentator for Fox News and ABC radio, Loftus is working on a novel which uses some of the material he has uncovered on Bush. Loftus stressed that what Prescott Bush was involved in was just what many other American and British businessmen were doing at the time. "You can't blame Bush for what his grandfather did any more than you can blame Jack Kennedy for what his father did - bought Nazi stocks - but what is important is the cover-up, how it could have gone on so successfully for half a century, and does that have implications for us today?" he said. "This was the mechanism by which Hitler was funded to come to power, this was the mechanism by which the Third Reich's defense industry was re-armed, this was the mechanism by which Nazi profits were repatriated back to the American owners, this was the mechanism by which investigations into the financial laundering of the Third Reich were blunted," said Loftus, who is vice-chairman of the Holocaust Museum in St Petersburg. "The Union Banking Corporation was a holding company for the Nazis, for Fritz Thyssen," said Loftus. "At various times, the Bush family has tried to spin it, saying they were owned by a Dutch bank and it wasn't until the Nazis took over Holland that they realized that now the Nazis controlled the apparent company and that is why the Bush supporters claim when the war was over they got their money back. Both the American treasury investigations and the intelligence investigations in Europe completely belie that, its absolute horseshit. They always knew who the ultimate beneficiaries were." "There is no one left alive who could be prosecuted but they did get away with it," said Loftus. "As a former federal prosecutor, I would make a case for Prescott Bush, his father-in-law (George Walker) and Averill Harriman [to be prosecuted] for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. They remained on the boards of these companies knowing that they were of financial benefit to the nation of Germany." Loftus said Prescott Bush must have been aware of what was happening in Germany at the time. "My take on him was that he was a not terribly successful in-law who did what Herbert Walker told him to. Walker and Harriman were the two evil geniuses; they didn't care about the Nazis any more than they cared about their investments with the Bolsheviks." What is also at issue is how much money Bush made from his involvement. His supporters suggest that he had one token share. Loftus disputes this, citing sources in "the banking and intelligence communities" and suggesting that the Bush family, through George Herbert Walker and Prescott, got $1.5m out of the involvement. There is, however, no paper trail to this sum. The third person going into print on the subject is John Buchanan, 54, a Miami-based magazine journalist who started examining the files while working on a screenplay. Last year, Buchanan published his findings in the venerable but small-circulation New Hampshire Gazette under the headline "Documents in National Archives Prove George Bush's Grandfather Traded with the Nazis - Even after Pearl Harbor". He expands on this in his book to be published next month - Fixing America: Breaking the Stranglehold of Corporate Rule, Big Media and the Religious Right. In the article, Buchanan, who has worked mainly in the trade and music press with a spell as a muckraking reporter in Miami, claimed that "the essential facts have appeared on the internet and in relatively obscure books but were dismissed by the media and Bush family as undocumented diatribes”. Buchanan suffers from hyper mania, a form of manic depression, and when he found himself rebuffed in his initial efforts to interest the media, he responded with a series of threats against the journalists and media outlets that had spurned him. The threats, contained in e-mails, suggested that he would expose the journalists as "traitors to the truth". Unsurprisingly, he soon had difficulty getting his calls returned. Most seriously, he faced aggravated stalking charges in Miami, in connection with a man with whom he had fallen out over the best way to publicize his findings. The charges were dropped last month.
The Prescott Bush Biography (picture enclosed)

Buchanan said he regretted his behavior had damaged his credibility but his main aim was to secure publicity for the story. Both Loftus and Schweitzer say Buchanan has come up with previously undisclosed documentation. The Bush family has largely responded with no comment to any reference to Prescott Bush. Brown Brothers Harriman also declined to comment. The Bush family recently approved a flattering biography of Prescott Bush entitled Duty, Honor, and Country by Mickey Herskowitz. The publishers, Rutledge Hill Press, promised the book would "deal honestly with Prescott Bush's alleged business relationships with Nazi industrialists and other accusations". In fact, the allegations are dealt with in less than two pages. The book refers to the Herald-Tribune story by saying that "a person of less established ethics would have panicked ... Bush and his partners at Brown Brothers Harriman informed the government regulators that the account, opened in the late 1930s, was 'an unpaid courtesy for a client' ... Prescott Bush acted quickly and openly on behalf of the firm, served well by a reputation that had never been compromised. He made available all records and all documents. Viewed six decades later in the era of serial corporate scandals and shattered careers, he received what can be viewed as the ultimate clean bill." The Prescott Bush story has been condemned by both conservatives and some liberals as having nothing to do with the current president. It has also been suggested that Prescott Bush had little to do with Averill Harriman and that the two men opposed each other politically. However, documents from the Harriman papers include a flattering wartime profile of Harriman in the New York Journal American and next to it in the files is a letter to the financial editor of that paper from Prescott Bush congratulating the paper for running the profile. He added that Harriman's "performance and his whole attitude has been a source of inspiration and pride to his partners and his friends". The Anti-Defamation League in the US is supportive of Prescott Bush and the Bush family. In a statement last year they said that "rumors about the alleged Nazi 'ties' of the late Prescott Bush ... have circulated widely through the internet in recent years. These charges are untenable and politically motivated ... Prescott Bush was neither a Nazi nor a Nazi sympathizer." However, one of the country's oldest Jewish publications, the Jewish Advocate, has aired the controversy in detail. More than 60 years after Prescott Bush came briefly under scrutiny at the time of a faraway war; his grandson is facing a different kind of scrutiny but one underpinned by the same perception that, for some people, war can be a profitable business. In George W. Bush’s case it certainly was for both he and his friends. (taken from the internet)


The college professor Phil Lempert who invited me to speak is today known as the Supermarket Guru® and now is on Television & Radio News Reporter/ Newspaper Columnist/ Author/ Consumerologist/ Food Marketing Expert. He has gained wide acclaim for his marketing savvy and broad experience in the food industry. A distinguished speaker, exclusively represented by the Washington Speakers Bureau, he has addressed over 600,000 people over the past ten years, and is the expert on the retail environment and new marketing trends/products in the food industry. He is a respected analyst with an uncanny ability to identify and explain trends to both industry and consumers in a thought provoking and entertaining manner. He started out his life born into the food world by checking the supermarket shelves with his Dad, working at McDonald's and Howard Johnson's in High School, and after graduating Drexel University with a degree in Marketing and Retail Management worked in his family's food brokerage firm. (He also did some selling for me and sold my shampoos to a Supermarket) Not content to rely on 'passive merchandising', Lempert began publishing the bi-weekly "The Lempert Report®" and became the 'spokesman' for food consumerism. Lempert is the food trends editor and correspondent for NBC News' TODAY Show where he reports on consumer trends, food safety, money saving tips and showcasing new products. He has appeared numerous times on The View, Oprah, 20/20, CNN, CNBC, and MSNBC as well as on local television morning and news programs throughout the country. You can learn more about him by visiting his website at,

http://bodybuilding.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=bodybuilding&zu=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.supermarketguru.com

CHAPTER five
My Life as a World Traveler

With the exception of making love day & night, my favorite passion happens to be traveling. It has been said about me that I had been in places that most people have only thought about and have done things that most people only dream about doing. I would love to go back to every city and country I have been to and go to all the rest of the world that I have not been to or seen.

Due to my business trips I found out that I had only seen and got to know the capitols of each country, such as Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, etc. When I retired I had the chance to really travel. I would take the lady who I was seeing at the time and spent a week or so in the capitol of one country. Then we rented a car and drove to every single city in that country. Each year I did this in a different country and really got to know the world and all of its cultures, and taste their foods. I found that I could spend days in the Louvre, The Prado and each museum that was well known and study the art that was world famous from a distance of inches. I did this for many years. The only country I could not drive around to see its wonders was Greece, so we went ahead and bought cruise tickets and went to dozens of spectacular islands. I had been to Europe, Asia as well as Africa but never visited South America.

I then met a Brazilian girl who introduced me to South America. (We later married). (picture enclosed) She took me to Rio de Janeiro, the most festive city in the world where she was born and grew up. She kept an apartment there so we stayed there while we were In Rio. She was very well known there and we were invited to parties every night. I went to the worlds best show, which is the carnaval in Rio, then the Maracana (the world’s largest soccer stadium), and when I had tasted Brazilian food I became enthralled with it. In The United States, we all know Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, German, Hungarian, and many other foods, but I was not prepared for Brazilian food. It seems to be the greatest kept secret to Americans. The best food was prepared by the owner’s housekeeper. They have barbeque restaurants that serve a special meat called Picania which is at the back of the cow which is fantastic. One of the best means is a steak made of Picania which is a part of the cow that is in the very back of the animal, just above the tail. Preparing Picania is very easy. It is not marinated at all, just salted and put on the fire. What American butchers do with this part is still a mystery to me. At these barbeque restaurants called chirrucuria’s they serve appetizers that make our restaurants look like we are very poor as their selections are huge and delicious as well. They have their waiters walk around the restaurant serving eleven different kinds of meat as well as salmon. There are small coasters on every table. If you want more meat you keep it upright. If you are not ready for the next serving, the coaster is turned over stating wait. The only place I found that has better beef is in Argentina were the cows are better fed and do not have to walk up and down mountains as they do in Brazil. The national drink is the Caipirinha made with cachaça. It is fabulous and I make one for my self every day. I purchased a barrel that I filled with cachaça. To make a Caipirinha. Use a regular lime which can be purchased in any supermarket and cut it into small pieces. Then crush the lime and add the cachaça. Then add a few ice cubes and some sugar and stir it. I use a sugar substitute as I had one experience where a waitress put in sugar and I actually became drunk from the sugar added to this “formula” I also order it with the lime pieces taken out which is called quado in Portuguese.

Brazil has many restaurants called kilo restaurants in which you pay for the meal by the weight of your order. They are wonderful. They do have many French and Italian restaurants, but I would advise you to avoid them. (I had also read this advice in an article in the New York Times) The Brazilian’s think they are good, however I think they suck. They have pizzerias that serve very good pizza’s however I always say that they are not the same as the pizza’s that you are used to as they do not use marinara sauce. They do not even use it in their Italian restaurants with signs above stating “authentic Italian food”. My question has always been “how do you make Italian food without it?” It seems they do and the locals are thrilled with it.

Their seafood restaurants are fabulous as they use freshly caught fish that only swim in their warm waters. My favorites are “Cherne” and “Trouta”. I do not care if these fish are grilled or made into a stew which they call “micquca”. Their desserts are fabulous as well with far superior ice cream than we have here in the US.




Monday, January 14, 2008


The Introduction
The Beginning
My Life as a Businessman
My Life as a Builder
My Next Venture
My Life as a College Professor
My Life as a Traveler


CHAPTER ONE
The Beginning


I am now at the age staring at 80 and all I have left is memories. As I tell people about my life everyone tells me to write a book I asked if anyone would be interested in my story and still do not know. If this ever gets published we will find the answer to this question.

If I count back 9 months from my birth to the date of my conception, it would happen to be on black Friday, October 29, 1929. The day the stock market crashed and we went into the great depression.

I was born and grew up during the depression. Since my beloved father was one of the few people in the neighborhood with a job. He worked as a manager in millinery factory. He made $ 40.00 per week which is the same amount that we paid in monthly rent.

My mother snared him when he was very young, with the condition that they did not have a child for a long while. 10 months later I was born. We did not have much to eat as well as my mother was about the world’s worst cook. She made potatoes in most every form and gave the meals fancy names. I had to get dressed under the blanket as there was little if any heat.

One problem I have always had was to sleep until after 10:00 am, which made school very difficult for me to go to. My father had five brothers and sisters who he had put through college. He never went to college himself, even though he was the smartest one of all his siblings. Since my grandfather never really worked, my father had to start working at about 10 doing anything to support the family. My grandmother was literally a genius who spoke almost a dozen languages; therefore all her children inherited her intelligence. When her children were grown there were no jobs to be gotten, so his sisters became school teachers. One of my father’s younger brothers was drafted in the army and when tested they found out that he had the third highest IQ in the army during World War II.. They wanted to send him to officer’s candidate school, but he refused to go. Not knowing what to do with him they made him a master sergeant and sent him to California where he ended up practically running the entire air force from that base. When the war ended and he was about to be discharged, they said we can not lose you, and gave him a civil service job with a high rank and salary. Five years later the war in Korea broke out and they offered him a job as a brigadier general. He refused and stayed on in his present position for the rest of his life but now running the U.S Airforce world wide.

At that time I was 20 years old and about to be drafted into the army. I did not want to go into the army and possibly be buried in Korea as many of my friends ended up doing. A friend of mine who was a few months older than me did not want to go into the army either. He spent time in the library and found the solution for both of us. He told me that we could get out of it by claiming that we had asthma. He said he would try it and if it succeeded for him, which I should try to claim that I had asthma as well. I did and was examined by the army doctors who said “I do not have asthma” I replied that I was not having an asthma attack at this time. I was told to get a letter from my personal doctor. I went to him and he told me that I do not have asthma. After a long time arguing he wrote a note stating that when I was younger I had a bronchial condition and he heard wheezing at that time. I was finally given a 4F status and never went into the army. I guess I was a draft dodger before it became fashionable during the war in Vietnam. When I was fourteen I found that the girls would only go with the fellows who were in uniform, so I joined the State Guard which allowed me to wear the uniform. I had to go to meetings weekly and go to a training camp for two weeks each summer. I had failed my favorite subject in high school which was History. At the beginning of the term the teacher said she would grade us on two things. One was my tests and the other was by turning in our homework, I never turned in my homework therefore I failed the subject which I was very good at, therefore I had to go to summer school and take a test at the end of the summer. Since I had to go to summer school, I told my captain in the guard I had to resign and told him about the summer school. He asked me how old I was, and when I told him my age I was given an honorable discharge. To earn money after school I worked as a movie usher. I had many other jobs after my regular school hours. I worked for the department of sanitation shoveling snow; I also worked several times for the post office delivering mail during the Christmas season. I had worked in a hardware store as a clerk among other jobs as well as delivering groceries by bicycle.

Since I was the first grandchild in the family my aunts taught me to read and write before I went to school. (This happened to ruin my education). When I was put into the first grade and tested the school decided to promote me to the third grade. I kept getting promoted up to a grade until I had no idea of what was going on.

I did poorly in high school and was happy to graduate. I later decide to teach myself and read anything I could lay my hands on. Without college and getting up late, I could not find a decent job. A friend of mine’s uncle had a large coat manufacturing firm and got me a job as a driver for one of their salesmen. This started me off in a new life, traveling the country. I stayed in hotels and ate food with the salesman, which was wonderful compared to what I ate at home.

During my childhood my mother told me to never eat in restaurants as they give you poison, so I never did until the night I had graduated from high school, where the entire graduating class including me when to Times Square to celebrate. They decided to eat in a Chinese restaurant. I was scared to death; also I did not have any money with me. I went along and ate one noodle. I did not die and decided that my mother was just giving me false information.

My salary was $30.00 per week which I sent home to help support my mother and father family. One day when I was quite hungry, as the salesman had to out to entertain his customers. I was alone that night. I looked into the window of a restaurant and noticed a very attractive girl behind the counter. I went in and ordered a cup of coffee. She asked if I wanted to order anything else and I said no. She knew it was because I did not have any money and shoved a sandwich at me at no charge. As we chatted she asked me where I would sleep. I answered that I would sleep in my car. She invited me to her home and sleep with her. I used that incident to keep doing this night after night. Life was starting to become wonderful. While the salesman was out I copied his customer list and decided to go out on my own. I used my best friend as my driver, and paid all of his expenses as we traveled from state to state. I did the same each time the selling season was over but this time on my own working on a commission bases with a drawing account of $75.00 per week less taxes which left me with $66.00 to live on. Gasoline at that time cost me $4.00 per day. I stayed at Inns as there were no motels at the time. That cost me $2.00 per night in small towns and $5.00 in the big cities. I knew I had to eat so I bought cookies from local bakeries which were my meals for the day. I sent what was left home. (I lost eleven pounds during this short period of time)

Each trip I used other friends as “my driver” and in one case I asked one of my friends it he would accompany me on a trip to Texas. We decided to get him a line of merchandise whereby he could sell and get his own commissions as well. We chose a line of cocktail dresses not knowing that Texas was a dry state. He hardly sold anything. He had a friend who was in the army and stationed in Fort Hood who told him that there were many houses of prostitution in the area called “boys town), but we did not know where they were. We asked around and no one seemed to know where it was. We were in Nuevo Laredo at the time and while we were driving through an unpaved road we notices a nice looking girl sweeping some white stuff in the front of her abode. We backed up the car and he said he would ask her in his high school learned Spanish if she knew where “boys town was. As we lowered the window, she immediately said “fucky” he responded by asking her “how much?” She said one dollar. We asked her if that was for one or two. She said she would take the one dollar for two. We gave her a one dollar bill; however it was torn so she would not accept it. We placed it with one that was not torn. We both had sex with her for a one dollar bill that was intact. I noticed a picture frame on her night table with a picture of Jimmy Stewart (bought in a local store) in it. I asked her who he was and she replied “my boy friend”. She then asked us to let her into the trunk of out car and take her across the boarder to the United States. We naturally refused. After we left we realized the “white stuff” she was sweeping was dried cum. as she douched into a pail and poured it out of her front door. Her name was Olivia Gonzales. We both remember her name to this very day. (She was the first of two prostitutes I have had in my life. (I will speak about the other one later in this book). This friend always wanted to go into his own business. Many years later he bought a franchise in the employment agency business and named it Executive Personnel Consultants. He was given an instruction manual and read it very carefully. It said to rent space in the finest building in his city, and take an entire floor, purchase many computers and train girls to use them. He followed all the instructions but while reading the book he received a telegram stating that the franchisor had gone bankrupt. He was very educated an well educated, he decided the best thing to do was read the book and continue his business as he had used all of his funds in the purchase of this franchise and outfitting the business with the machinery, etc. He was extremely successful in this business until the “oil crunch”, as his main business was hiring oil engineers; He had opened up many offices but now had to downsize it after the “oil crunch”.

I started to think. Since my customers received a 7% discount for paying his bills before the 10th of the month and I was only receiving 6% in commissions. I had also found out the company was cheating me on my commissions. When my customer repeated their orders directly to the firm they never paid me the commissions that were due me. I found this out from people in the office and also from the customers when I visited them the next time. I got the bright idea that if I started my own company, I would give my salesmen a commission of 10%. However to start my own business I would need money but had none.

When I came home to New York City I walked around in the rain with the only pair of shoes that had. The soles were thread bare so I stuffed newspaper into them and continued walking.
.
I happened to enter a Woolworth store and saw a new product. A plastic bottle, which sold for 10 cents. Since I still had a nickel to get home on the subway, I bought the bottle.

Although not formally educated I was always creative. I went to the 42nd street library and looked through a book on formulas and found that if one was to mix soap with water it would anti-fog glass. I added some isopropyl alcohol and I called chemical companies and found a blue dye. With a marker created a logo and put copy on my sample bottle. I took the sample to car and truck dealers and it was rejected on sight. At that time I sent in an ad into an Optical magazine showing my product. I received a letter from a firm in Sweden who asked for the exclusive rights to the product in Sweden. I naturally agreed and received a large order, with repeat orders over the next 20 years. Here I was selling one store at a time and I happened to receive large orders from a customer in a foreign country. I put Swedish copy on the package which made it sell better in Sweden. I found out later that this company exported this to all of the Scandinavian countries as well as selling every store in Sweden including the Soviet Union as well as the rest of the eastern block countries. I then translated this product into most every language which allowed me to export it all over the world where the consumer in each country could read the text easier.

I then realized that the same formula could be used on eye glasses. I borrowed a few dollars from my father and bought some very small bottles. I then designed a display card with elastic strings and hung the bottles on it and started to go out and sell this product. I walked into every drug & optical store and sold every one of them. I started in Brooklyn, and worked my way to Manhattan and the Bronx and once again I sold every store I entered as the sale was for only $3.60 each. Every customer kept reordering the product

I filled the bottles on my kitchen table and strung the bottles while watching television, and went out selling in the daytime. I moved my “factory” from my kitchen table to my mother’s basement and then rented a small store for $40.00 per month. Every month or so I had to move to larger quarters and ended up twenty seven years later with a factory taking up almost an entire city block. Each night the local kids broke in and stole my typewriter and whatever else could carry out. No matter where I moved in this neighborhood, of Brooklyn, the burglaries kept happening including the huge building I had eventually moved into. In this case there were hundreds of windows. I had many employees whose only job was to cement block up windows. Years later when I sold the buildings I received calls from the new owners telling me that they were broken into. I just kept telling them to find the hole and plug it.

I knew absolutely nothing about going into business. I did not even know about shipping the merchandise I would produce. Later once I was in my business (I carried my merchandise on the subway with a rope around it with one end around my neck and delivered it by hand). One day I noticed a parked truck on the street and spoke to the driver and asked him if they picked up goods and delivered it. He told me that was their business and I started to use trucks for both incoming and outgoing shipments.

One day one of my customers asked why I do no use a jobber (I had no idea what that was) He gave me the name of one of the largest one. I visited the buyer and showed him my product. He said it was very nice however he has never gotten any calls for it, however if it go about what I was doing and give his these (turn over orders) he might stock it and even have his salesmen try to sell it. I did what he suggested and returned in a few days with hundreds of these turn over orders. I did the same with all of the other drug and optical jobbers. They called this POR (pay on reorder) which meant that they would not pay for the first order until they ordered more of the product. I did this POR business with all of the jobbers, but found myself out of money. I called back the product and received a bunch of checks in the mail with new orders. One of these jobbers, after hearing my story asked why I do not hire a manufacturer’s representative. He suggested one that was just starting and was looking for products to represent. They picked up the ball and I was now really in business. I had so much business that I had to hire a private filling firm to do the manufacturing for me. I was now really in business but needed another product.

Since Never-Mist my eye glass cleaner and anti fogger was doing very well, it was time for me to expand into other areas by manufacturing products that I could market. I stared to manufacture many products and sell them through the small mail order catalog houses that were prominent at that time. One easy one was a dental mouth mirror as a cleaner and anti fogger that I knew could sell through dental distributors. I utilized the same ¼ ounce bottle I had been using for “Never-Mist” and changed the color to yellow. It had a small distribution but it did sell. I private labeled this same formula for the dental distributors using their name as the manufacturer.

I had also used the same bottle and called it “Defend” (to fight off muggers and rapists) Here once more I changed he copy on the bottle and used the color red. It sold very well in the mail order catalogs and became well known. One national newspaper used the product in one of his cartoons showing the user spraying it into his own face. A police woman had used it to defend herself against a traffic violator (which received a great deal of media attention). It was also used for criminal purposes by bandits that tried to rob a bank. The criminal was promptly arrested and with his free telephone from the prison call he was allowed to make he called me asking for my help in his defense. I declined this request. I was also rebuked as when a few people read the copy on the bottle they did not read it correctly and though it had said (to fight off “niggers” and rapists). I also manufactured a product called “rub on gold” and “rub on silver” for consumer to buy items such as plain wooden picture frames and color it by rubbing on the gold or silver. One day I happened to put a bit of the silver wax on the front of my jet black hair and felt this could be another good product to manufacture. The user could use the product to go out at night with that streak in their hair and wash it off when they returned home. It looked great.

I had merely replaced the turpentine with propylene glycol and used a cosmetic grade of gold and silver powder, designed a label and display card and introduced a line that I called “Frost Tip”. It had a mild success however my product was knocked off by a huge cosmetic company that called their product “Streaks & Tips” I tried to sue them, however before I proceeded the large firm purchased a company with a similar name that predated my name so I had to give up my suit against them.

I went to the library and found numerous formulas that were usually a one chemical product. One was called a tree stump remover which the mail order company ran ads in their catalogs as well as in newspapers. Their ad showed the consumer their choices. They could hire a professional service with excavation equipment which would cost them a lot of money. They could have the stump dynamited out which could possibly blow up their house in the process, or buy this product for $1.50 and it would get rid of the eyesore. The problem was it was just about impossible for them to follow the directions and use it. They first had to drill two holes at 45 degree angles and then pour in gasoline, then pour in the powdered substance in the can and wait for it all to get together. The major problem was that nearly no one had a drill bit larger than a ¼ inch and most stumps were about at least 10 to 20 inches in diameter. They ended up trashing the product. The following year they forgot about their problem and bought the product once again with the same problem.

Another product was called “Septi-Care”, which actually worked. They just took the container and poured in down the toilet and somehow it cleaned out blockages. Another product was called Root Rout which was supposed to burn away wandering roots of dead trees. It worked and sold quite well. The next product I had called” Plasti-Kleen” that was to polish plastics. Then I had added to this line was a product I had called “Converta-Clear” which was to take the grime off the rear windows of convertible automobiles that kept getting messed up by the opening and closing of these windows as they went up and down. About this time a bottle of some chemical spilled on my desk and stripped off all the paint. I immediately marketed this product for automobiles so a person could remove their old paint before painting it a new color. I called it “Zip-Strip”..

I then added a Rust Remover, which was just pumice in the form of a stick. I also tried marketing a red wax in stick form to be used as a seal for letters when heated and dropped on the back of an envelope. This product did not sell at all even though it was big centuries ago in the middle ages by kings and important potentates. I had also manufactured a chemical to keep garden tools such as rakes and shovels from rusting. It was basically petroleum jelly dyed a bright blue. One of my mail order customers asked me to make a product that would increase the size of a women’s bust. I said I did not have a clue of how to do this. This man happened to be both a doctor as well as a lawyer and told me to just put petroleum jelly in a can and dye it red. He said he would pay me 8 cents per can. He in turn marketed it for about $10.00 each making all false claims. He ended up in jail on some other matter which had nothing to do with this.

I had purchased an electric IBM typewriter and noticed that the ribbons had a lead of a shiny piece about ¼ inches thick. I held it up to the light and inspected it. It seemed that if you looked at it closely, you could see through it. It acted like a one way mirror. I tracked down the manufacturer of this product and ordered dozens of large rolls of this. I had them cut into various sizes such as 8” by 10” and numerous other sizes and offered this to the mail order houses as an easy way for the consumer to paste these on their windows and have their own one way mirrors. I also manufactured this in very large rolls which I drop shipped directly to the mail order’s customer. I found out to my surprise that most all of these large sizes were being ordered by Motels and Doctors offices. Somehow I knew why they ordered this.

I decided that shining ones shoes was a mess, scooping out the polish out of the can and then brushing it on the shoes, and then buffing them. I decided that if I could design a product in stick form similar to a deodorant stick or lipstick, it might sell. I started searching for mold manufacturers. One mold maker I found told me that I was not the first one to think of this. The original one was the man who actually invented the lipstick. His name was Louis Philippe and the last time they heard about him he lived somewhere in New Jersey. I tracked him down. He was 78 years old (I was 22). We immediately became best friends. It seems that when he was young he was in the French Foreign Legion. He came to the United States with only one talent. He was able to play the concertina. He worked the Staten Island Ferry with a cup begging for donations. A passenger told him that he was very good at this and should go into burlesque. He did exactly that, and worked between the strippers, with customers screaming at him “bring on the girls” and threw rotten tomatoes at him while he tried to dodge them as he danced around playing his concertina.

He noticed that the only women who wore make-up at the time were the strippers. Both he and his mother went to the library and found French formulas for face make-ups and started to manufacture it in his rented apartment on 23rd street in Manhattan. He had the side of the building removed and installed boilers to manufacture his products. In a few years he bought up all of the property in what is now called the Chelsea area of Manhattan. Today if you walk down 23rd street you will find a Louis Philippe liquor store as well as an apartment building bearing his name. There was also a Louis Philippe movie theatre since torn down.

In a few short years he became the first and largest cosmetic manufacturer in the United States. He called the company Louis Philippe, Inc. In October 1929 he sold the company to American Home Product for several million dollars (in 1929 dollars), (with a restriction that he never manufactures cosmetics again. He used a dozen lawyers at the closing)

Louis Philippe Biography (picture enclosed)

Louis Philippe, Inc. From 1927 to 1930 Louis Philippe Inc. maintained a factory in this building for the manufacture of perfumes and cosmetics (rouge, lipstick, facial creams, etc.). The company was founded in 1911 by Louis Onesime Philippe (born 1 March 1884, immigrated to the US 1910, naturalized 11 May 1920, died New Jersey 5 July 1959). They are listed in the New York Times 18 June 1915 as a new incorporation, located at 361 Lexington Ave., dealing in perfumes, cosmetics, drugs, chemicals and beauty parlors. In 1928 Louis Philippe made an offering of class A common stock advertised in a detailed display in the NY Times with a history of the company and the following description: "Manufactures and sells the nationally known line of Angelus and Incarnat cosmetics and toiletries, which comprises lipsticks, paste rouges, skin creams, skin lotions, cleansing creams, etc., including the widely known and popular Rouge Incarnat, Angelus Lemon Cream, Angelus Vanishing Cream, (picture enclosed) Sunrise and Sundown Lipsticks, the trade-marks of which are important assets of the company." In 1933 Philippe sold the company to American Home Products Inc. He continued to serve as a consultant to American Home Products, but also founded a chemical products company called Louangel Corp., a real estate corporation and a wine and liquor business, all located at 312-320 W. 23rd St. Philippe also lived at this address during the 1920s. A photo in the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery dated 5 Aug. 1936 shows a sign in the second story window at 316 W. 23rd St. reading Louis Philippe / President / Louangel / Corporation. As of Sept. 2005 the building at this location has a prominent Louis Philippe sign over the entrance (picture enclosed). At the time of his death Louis Philippe was cited in his obituary (New York Times, 9 July 1959, p. 27) as "a pioneer in the development of indelible lipstick." In 1959 he sold the Louangel Corporation to Arnold E. Schnapp of Brooklyn, New York, who made this corporation famous all over the world, by manufacturing perfumes, colognes and other toiletry items.

I had used only one, (a cousin of my father against his dozen lawyers therefore they got everything they wanted. My “lawyer” stayed silent. The deal was that he would work for me in making the formulas work and I would do the marketing, etc. Louis was so excited with this latest coup he stated dropping nitro glycerin tablets in his mouth during the closing. The angina persisted so he was taken to the hospital where he died the very next day of heart failure. I was told about this by my “lawyer”.

All Louis Philippe’s friends told him to invest this money in the stock market as it was soaring at that time. With his bad luck the market crashed in only a few days after he received the check, leaving him with only one million dollars left to live out the rest of his life with. If you happen to see any of the old movies (before talkies took over) you will find his name as the cosmetician to the stars in each of the motion pictures. He married several of the then famous Hollywood stars who all showed up at his funeral in mink coats. I drove his then present wife named Charlotte Adams to the funeral. She was in her forties at the time but still asked me if she was the prettiest of all his ex wives (ex superstars of the time now in their 80’s) who were there looking for some money he might have left them in his estate. His wife wrote an article about Louis Philippe’s life and it was published with the name of “The Wonderful Wizard of Wax”. I was listed in the newspaper version of his obituary.

When World War II broke out, President Franklin Roosevelt gave him a “dollar a year job” working for the war effort. After the ware he was becoming restless and conceived a shoe polish in stick form. It was not a great success and it languished for years. I bought this company now named The Lou Angel Corporation as he was restricted from using his old name of Louis Philippe Inc. At the signing of the closing, the agreement was I was to pay him $12,000.00 and he was to work for me with the formulas. If it was not for bad luck, neither would have any luck at all.

At the age of twenty three I decided to get married. We had three daughters and were renting an apartment. After our four year lease was up I thought about purchasing a house. I picked out a home on Long Island and asked my wife if she wanted us to buy it. She said it would be very nice but it is so very far. I asked her “what is it far from?” and we decided to wait another few years. By the time we bought this house that was being constructed (it happened to be much further out on Long Island) than the one I wanted to buy the last time. It was in a small development of twenty two homes, all exactly the same in every way. We found out that the reason every one on this block was buying this house was that our first child was 5 years old and would be starting school in this new neighborhood. As we met each of our new neighbors I found out every one of the other
husband’s either worked for their father or for their father in-law and not one of them were in any business of their own. I was the poorest one on the block. I just could not keep up with the Jones’s as each ones family was supporting these young but very nice couples. While I was putting the lawn using seeds, using lime and fertilizer they had already hired some company to come in and sod their lawn. I decided to buy squares of sod and lay each one at a time so my lawn would not look shabby, they had patios put in.
After some time when I had earned some more money I put in a patio in the back of my house. The house had a creek right behind it with a deep slope and I worried that my children might fall into this creek. At that time a neighbor was having a swimming pool put in. They hired and excavator to dig out the soil. I walked up to the excavator and asked him what he did with that soil, and was told he had to dump it far away in a place where he could legally dump it. I asked him if this was costly to him and said Oh Yeah.
I told him that I could save him that money if he would just dump all of the soil in the back of my house in which he gladly did. I then gave him seventy five dollars to flatten it out so I would no longer have the slope. I then ordered an inexpensive barked wood fence and had it installed. By that time each of my neighbors joined country clubs. Hey this is getting very hard to keep up with them. I then decided to get even. I conceived a way to dress up this house that would outshine theirs. One day while my wife was out food shopping she was stunned to find me with a large axe in my hand smashing the sheetrock on our main living room wall and wanted me committed to a mental institution.
I had not told her my idea previously. I was building a false fireplace. I bought some lumber and constructed a frame for it as well as a bench that went in front of the fireplace that went the length of the room, and used wood panels (which at that time was in vogue) and paneled the surrounding area around the fireplace. I bought some more lumber and constructed a beamed ceiling and had it faced with the same paneling. I had also pasted a product called Z Brick to cover the entire fireplace which mad it look outstanding. I then bought a fireplace screen and the utensils that included a spinning light to give the effect of a lit fireplace. I placed a long strip of white carpeting from the front of the fireplace to the entrance of the room. I also worked on the adjoining dining room and created a grilled look to cover the windows by cutting an oval shape in the wood paneling around it. When my rich neighbors came in they were dumbfounded by the look of the room. One brought in her decorator to take a look at it. The decorator decided to use it on this customers kitchen floor, which was stupid as if you walked on this Z Brick it would and did crumble. I was now the star of the neighborhood.

My business kept growing and I started to earn more and more money. I had traded my car in for a Cadillac which stirred the neighbors all up. They kept calling “the rich one”. I had won this contest and sold the house and bought a new house for five times the price I had paid for the first one.

Each year I attended many trade shows, the largest were in Chicago, one in the winter the other in the summer. The busiest days were Saturday and Sundays. During the rest of the week we had the chance to speak to our neighbors. There was a young Japanese man in the booth next to mine and we discussed many things of interest. He was selling wonderful knives that could cut through stone and still stay sharp enough to slice a tomato. I purchased a set for myself. He then said not only his knives were wonderful, but we in Japan would beat the United States with things like this, but every product on the market today. I laughed and said “you mean you are going to take on Detroit in the manufacture of automobiles?” He replied by saying yes. I once again laughed. He told me of the new Japanese philosophy where you make a product and put it on television and forget it. We do the same however we never leave the drawing board. Each year we improve the product and make it cheaper and you do not. I never forgot his philosophy and based my business on this theory. Years later he turned out to be correct and found out that they were using the Demming philosophy.

You can find out more about Deming by going to the URL listed below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Edwards_Deming
William Edwards Deming (October 14, 1900–December 20, 1993) was an American statistician, college professor, author, lecturer, and consultant. Deming is widely credited with improving production in the United States during World War II, although he is perhaps best known for his work in Japan. There, from 1950 onward he taught top management how to improve design (and thus service), product quality, testing and sales (the last through global markets) through various methods, including the application of statistical methods such as analysis of variance (ANOVA) and hypothesis testing. Deming made a significant contribution to Japan becoming renowned for producing innovative high-quality products and becoming an economic power. He is regarded as having had more impact upon Japanese manufacturing and business than any other individual not of Japanese heritage. Despite being considered something of a hero in Japan, he was only beginning to win widespread recognition in the U.S. at the time of his death. It seems that Edward Demming knew business as no one ever before him did.

He took his theory to the Ford Motor Company and presented it to them. They asked him many questions. Where and how large is your company? How many people are in your employ? Then they asked him for a business card. To each question there was no answer that would satisfy them. Their last question was. Where do you get these ideas from and he promptly pointed to his head. They through him out and he left. He did not give up and traveled to war ravished Japan that had almost no industry left. They listened to his ideas with great interest. “Lifetime employment for their workers, pride in their company and their work, as well as making every product as fine as they could and keep improving them constantly. They went along with his ideas it caused the great Japanese economic boom that stunned the world’s economic leading countries. They made and exported the best automobiles, and sold their electronics to every country in the world year after year. Each year Japan gives out the Demming trophy to the firm who had lived up to his standards best for that year.

The shoe polish venture had little success but with the purchase of this new corporation
however I had obtained all of the assets of the firm including his formulas.

I decided to go into the perfume business. I created beautiful packages (using cheap perfume) and sold them all over the world, not to stores, but to wholesalers who in turn sold peddlers. I also sold them for use as premiums to stores and commercial users. Most all of my perfume and colognes, when I did starting to sell them through stores sold at the retail price of two for one dollar. A price every consumer could afford which brought large sales. I later designed gift sets which included one bottle of cologne and a bottle of after shave. It was very successful so the next year I made three and then four piece gift sets. I at that time thought I was in the fragrance business, I later realized that I was really in the Christmas Gift business. Retail customers purchased them to give them away as presents as they were beautifully packaged and sold for one dollar each. These were given away to their children’s teachers, the mail men, the garbage collector, etc.

One memorable experience is, I happened to be watching the Jack Parr show (he was the one who was the host of the Tonight show before Johnny Carson. Parr was interviewing Oleg Cassini, who was the designer of Jacqueline Kennedy’ clothes. Cassini made a profound statement. “New York should be the Fashion Capitol of the World” It really got to me so I telephoned his office the very next morning for a meeting with him. I spoke to his chief of staff, a man named Alfonso Martin. I told him I would like to meet with Mr. Cassini about an idea of have to make his statement on the Parr show happen.

Oleg Cassini Biography (picture enclosed)
Born April 11, 1913 Paris, France Died March 17, 2006
Oleg Cassini (April 11, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American fashion designer noted for being chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her state wardrobe in the 1960s. His clothing designs also appeared in numerous Hollywood films starring his second wife, the actress Gene Tierney.
Born in Paris as Oleg Cassini Loiewski, the elder son of Countess Marguerite Cassini and her husband, Alexander Loiewski, he was raised in Italy and moved to the United States in 1936. His father was a Russian diplomat, and his maternal grandfather, Arthur Paul Nicholas Cassini, Marquis de Capuzzuchi di Bologna, Count Cassini, was the Russian ambassador to the United States during the administrations of William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. His father later adopted his wife's surname, which they deemed more distinguished, and when the family lost its status and fortune in the wake of the Russian Revolution, the Cassini’s moved to Italy, where Marguerite Cassini went to work as a fashion designer.
Cassini took American citizenship and became a second lieutenant in the Army during World War II, at Fort Riley, Kansas. Initially, he joined the United States Coast Guard but according to his The New York Times obituary, he later served in the U.S. Army as a cavalry officer because he found the idea of cavalry service a bit more glamorous. His brother, Igor Cassini, became a famous gossip columnist known as "Cholly Knickerbocker" .Cassini studied art under Giorgio de Chirico and eventually gravitated to his mother's career, fashion, when he took a job sketching for the French couturier Jean Patou. In the late 1930s, he worked as an assistant to the costume designer Edith Head and in the early 1940s was hired by Paramount Pictures.Among the films Cassini costumed was The Shanghai Gesture, a 1941 film by Josef Von Sternberg, which starred Cassini's second wife, Gene Tierney, who eventually would only wear Cassini designs onscreen. As a result, Cassini costumes appeared in The Razor's Edge (1946); The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947); That Wonderful Urge (1948); Whrilpool (1949); Where the Sidewalk Ends (1950), in which Cassini appeared as a fashion designer; and The Mating Season and On the Riviera (both 1951). After the war, Cassini designed ready-to-wear dresses while continuing to design for television, motion pictures, and Broadway. Cassini shot to international stardom, however, in the early 1960s, thanks to his association with Jacqueline Kennedy. "We are on the threshold of a new American elegance thanks to Mrs. Kennedy's beauty, naturalness, understatement, exposure and symbolism," Cassini said when his selection as the couturier to shape the entire look of the First Lady was announced. The fashion industry, however, was shocked at Cassini's selection by the White House. As Women's Wear Daily journalist John Fairchild wrote in his 1965 book The Fashionable Savages, "Everyone was surprised. Oleg Cassini had been around for years. He was debonair, amusing, social, but none of the fashion intellectuals had considered him an important designer." The publicity that Cassini's work for Jacqueline Kennedy received led women from 18 to 80 to copy the look of simple, geometric dresses in sumptuous fabrics and pillbox hats with an elegant coiffure. Meticulously tailored and featuring oversized buttons and boxy jackets, as well as occasionally dramatic dĂ©colletage, it was a style that was inspired by the work of Hubert de Givenchy. Cassini designed a reported 300 outfits for the First Lady, including a much-copied coat made of leopard pelts and a heavy satin gown for the inaugural ball in 1961; the Cassini outfits were paid for by her father-in-law, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. Cassini in the 1974 AMC Matador showing some of the interior trim he designed. The name recognition that he gained during these years led him to be the first designer to have licensing agreements, with his name adorning everything from luggage to nail polish, as well as a special luxurious trim package available on coupĂ© versions of the 1974 and 1975 AMC Matador automobile. "All I remember about those days are nerves, and Jackie on the phone 'Hurry, hurry, Oleg, I've got nothing to wear'," he wrote in his 1995 book, A Thousand Days of Magic: (picture enclosed) Dressing Jacqueline Kennedy for the White House. His designs were shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2001 in its exhibit Jacqueline Kennedy: The White House Years, which was curated by Vogue's European editor at large, Hamish Bowles. Cassini's autobiography, In My Own Fashion, was published in 1987. His partnership with David's Bridal was formed in the 1990s, and they had a line of his wedding dresses at the time of his death. On September 2, 1938, in Elkton, Maryland -- a Russian Orthodox ceremony took place in New York City on September 16 -- Cassini became the fourth husband of Mary "Merry" Fahrney, a daughter of Chicago industrialist Emory Homer Fahrney and his wife, the former Marion L. Hills. She was an heiress to the Dr. Peter Fahrney & Sons patent medicine fortune. In addition to having a small role in the 1934 motion picture Cleopatra, which was directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starred Claudette Colbert, Merry Fahrney was an aviator and parachutist frequently known in gossip columns as Madcap Merry. She had previously been married to and divorced from Hugh Parker Pickering, by whom she had a son, Peter, who was adopted at 15 months of age by his maternal grandparents and given the surname Fahrney; Frank Van Sands Eizsner; and Baron Arturo Berlingieri, to whom she was married from July 31, 1937 until February 3, 1938. According to Cassini's memoirs, it was on his honeymoon when he realized that he had been married, apparently, for reasons other than heartfelt affection. He recalled that his new bride "smoked cigarettes one after another with the casual arrogance of the carnally satisfied. I was just another scalp." However, considering Fahrney's wealth and Cassini's lack of it, the decision to wed likely was deemed mutually beneficial, whatever the groom's belated regrets. Nearly two months after Fahrney and Cassini married, on October 26, her divorce from Berlingieri was reversed on appeal. The Illinois Appellate Court declared the divorce invalid on the grounds that the former Baroness Berlingieri's claim of being beaten up four times on her honeymoon was unproven, that she had not established beyond doubt that the baron tried to extort US$200,000 from her, and that as she was an Italian citizen by marriage, the Chicago court had no jurisdiction. The divorce, however, was soon resolved in her favor. Fahrney's divorce from Cassini, which was granted on February 5, 1940, was equally dramatic. She won her case by proving "marital misconduct" on her husband's part, stemming from evidence presented that Cassini had been in the company of "a scantily clad young woman" in his apartment in the Hotel Lowell in New York City. Curiously, however, Fahrney and her first husband, Hugh Pickering, were reported to have been in an adjoining room with an automobile salesman, spying on the couple. Cassini, for his part, denied he had been unfaithful and attempted to prove that his wife had had extramarital affairs, presenting testimony from his cook and the couple's former butler, who claimed that Merry Cassini had been caught in compromising circumstances on three occasions. Cassini also declared that his wife had bought clothes for another man, socialite La Grand Griswold. (Griswold, for his part, testified that he had asked Merry Cassini to be his wife, but that she had refused, saying that she already had a husband.) In handing down the divorce decree in Merry Cassini's favor, the judge declared the defendant's claims of wifely adultery were "unworthy of belief." In 1941, Merry Fahrney married her fifth husband, a Swede, whom she divorced the same year. In 1944, she married her sixth husband, Carlos Ojeda, Jr., a son of the Mexican ambassador to Argentina. Second marriage Cassini's second wife was the American movie star Gene Tierney (1920 - 1991), whom he married on July 11, 1941. The Cassini’s had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (born October 15, 1943), who was born mentally retarded, due to her mother's bout during pregnancy with German measles, and Christina "Tina" Cassini (born November 19, 1948). New York: Wyden,1979, but well publicized for years previously) in June 1943, while pregnant with her first child, Tierney came down with the German measles, contracted during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. The baby, Daria, was born prematurely, weighing only 3 pounds and 2 ounces, and requiring a total blood transfusion. The infant was also deaf, partially blind with cataracts, was severely retarded and ultimately had to be institutionalized. Some time after, Tierney learned from a fan who approached at her a garden party for an autograph that the women, who had been a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps, had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with the German measles to meet her at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. This incident, as well as the circumstances under which the information is imparted to the actress, is repeated almost verbatim in the story. Fraught with problems that included Tierney's serious depression after the birth of the couple's daughter with disabilities, Cassini's marriage was short but volatile. Both husband and wife had extramarital relationships, with Tierney's (while separated from Cassini) including romances with John F. Kennedy and Tyrone Power. Tierney won an uncontested divorce in California that year; the action was withdrawn since the couple reconciled before the divorce was made final. However, another divorce action was filed in Los Angeles, California on February 28, 1952, with Tierney declaring that her husband cared more about his tennis game than his wife; the final decree was granted on April 8, 1953. She was romanced and engaged to the Prince Aly Khan after her divorce. Their engagement was strongly opposed by the Prince's father the Aga Khan. Soon after Tierney broke off their engagement. After a series of emotional set backs, she married oil baron W. Howard Lee in 1960 and was happily married until his death in 1981. After his divorce from Tierney, Cassini was, for a brief period of time, unofficially engaged to the actress Grace Kelly. Cassini and Tierney remain life long friends; Cassini has been quoted "Gene is the luckiest, unlucky girl in the world, all of her dreams came true, at a cost." He died from complications of a stroke in Manhasset, New York at 92 years of age. He was survived by his third wife, Marianne, his two children, and four grandchildren. He was predeceased by his brother Igor Cassini. At the time of his death, Cassini lived in a Manhattan townhouse and a house in the Town of Oyster Bay, New York, whose property once had been part of the estate of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

We made and appointment for the three of us to meet at their offices on Park & 57th Street where I told them my idea of how this could possibly happen. I said that all the famous French designers had fragrance lines, Chanel, Lanvin, etc and he should establish one as well. I then met alone with Oleg at his apartment at 575 Park Avenue.

To explain my idea further, he seemed to like the idea; however he must ask his major advisor first. He immediately picked up the telephone and made a call. It was strange to hear him say to the person on the other end of the phone, “Yes sir I will await your call”
I doubt that this guy ever said “sir” to anyone else. We continued chatting when the telephone rang, and he motioned me to pick up the extension phone. What I had heard from this conversation was (in a most familiar voice was) “Hey Oleg, how the fuck are you, who are you fucking?” The voice continued with “Dad tells me that you are speaking to a young man who wants you to go into the perfume business.” Oleg said yes he is here now. The voice continued with “Yeah I think it would be a good idea but I have a problem with the names chosen, First Lady for the women’s perfume is ok, Jacky would get a kick out of it, but no way could you use New Frontier for the men’s line. Go with Frontier, western theme. Bye”. I was ecstatic. This is the best news I have ever gotten and it came from the TOP.

I started designing like mad. I found out the famous designer loved to write the letter A in as many ways he could, but left the designing to me. We had many meeting during this summer of 1963. We discussed the “kick-off” would be a Le Club that he owned with his brother Igor (Gigi) the society writer Cholly Knickerbocker, for the Journal American, one of the Hearst newspaper. Le Club was on 66th street between 1st and 2nd avenues in Manhattan. Oleg said he could get Jackie to attend the kick off, which would bring along the media to make a really big splash. When the subject of money came up we started to have a major problem. We each confessed to each other that we had no money to invest in this venture.

If this was going to happen, it was up to me to find and secure the funding, which I was
told would be one million dollars. I racked my brain and asked everyone I knew if they could recommend someone with that amount of money. Finally someone came up with the name Jim Ewell. I contacted him and set up a meeting in his apartment in a modest section of the city. It seems that he was an heir to the Coco Cola fortune on his mother’s side and Mack Truck on his father side. He was brought up to believe that everyone would be looking to take money from him. He drove a Cadillac convertible but never even had even change in his pocket, not even for the parking meter.

I brought them all together but when we left he said “No way, these are fucking democrats and I will not give them a dime” As we moved along he did agree to participate. Now another road block came along. It seems that Oleg and his advisors said that this must not fail. One million might not be enough. Two million dollars might make it. Back with Jim, and another meeting with the group. This time the Cassini people thought that they could make it happen with a free lifetime membership to LE Club.
Jim rifles through his wallet and pulls out one that was send to previously, obviously because he was very wealthy. Jim said I hate that place, loud music, terrible sandwiches etc. After a long dispute he agrees to go along.

Now another thing came into play. I went about my business. At a trade show in Chicago at the Navy Pier, I found a man in my booth sniffing one of my perfumes. I made a joke that “these perfumes are for selling not smelling” He laughed and said that he was not in this business but just keeping a friend of his company who happened to be in the next booth. I asked what business he was in and was told sporting goods. Fishing rods, ski’s etc. I jumped in by asking him what his average dollar sale was. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, eh about $10.00. I replied that I can get you to buy one of my perfumes if you listen to my plan. It works…. This perfume called “Mona de Lise” that was in a square bottle and has a square golden cap, encased in a black satin bag with
a golden draw string in a gold box would cost you forty cents. If you would advertise it and offer if with any sale of $15.00 or more, you would surely be ahead. He seemed to like the idea and told me to send his advertising agency Schram Advertising in Chicago a sample and more information, which I did as soon as I arrived home.

Within one week I received a phone call, followed up with a purchase order for a good quantity of this perfume. I was told that they were running the ad in local newspapers to test it out. The test brought in a great crowd, so they kept running it in the newspapers and now in all of the sporting magazines as well. This was all during 1963.

On November 22nd of that year a tragedy struck down President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. The killer named was Lee Harvey Oswald of Irvine, Texas who bought the Italian Beretta Rifle from a mail order ad by Klein’s Sporting Goods during the perfume promotion.

Attached is a copy of the advertisement showing the rifle and the perfume offering as well as the envelope used by A.J. Hidell the alias used by Lee Harvey Oswald. (Envelope attached).

Both Milt Klein and I felt somewhat responsible for this tragedy. (Letter attached)

Most of my promotions, other than the Mona de Lise perfume used in the ad bore the copy “Free Perfumes From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski ( a name that I bought the rights to use) with a purchase of X number of dollars” I added many other perfumes to this collection with great success. For My Prince Obolenski perfume I decided to make it look more expensive by designing a special over cap that would be a T shape similar the packaging used by the famous Chanel number five. I made a prototype by hand and took it around to many engineers. The idea would be to have this special T look force fit over the existing cheap looking cap. When opened and closed it would return back to the original position. I was told be each and every engineer that this was impossible. I went to an injection mold company and had them build me a mold made of a shiny plastic that would accomplish this. I also put a pressure sensitive gold band with simulated grooves to make it look like it had golden thread around the base of it to enhance it further. It turned out to be a sensational success in selling this very expensive looking package for only twenty five cents. I designed the gold foil label to match it bearing the signature that read “from the royal house of Prince Obolenski”. I sold this perfume as a free give away to large chain stores. When credit cards first came on the market, I sold hundred of thousands of these to one chain who used it as a premium to their customer who opened up the chains credit card. I was forced to create the entire mailing piece for the chain listing all of their products and using flowering copy to induce people to use their card which included the “free perfume.

Since I did not have a sales force in a given area I went to major men’s and ladies jewelry companies and told them I would design and manufacture both men’s and ladies colognes for them with their name as “manufactured by” them.

Several took my ideas and the names I had chosen for them and designed, however since I could not keep up the production their advertising produced they gave the Manufacturing out to other large private label companies and seemed to forget who gave the names and designs to them. In retaliation, I found myself in the “knock off business” copying these package but changing the names only slightly, with similar appearerence to the famous advertised products. It was very successful so I then decided to knock of all of the leading brands. This brought a great many lawsuits. Since I did not want to spend my money for lawyers, I decided to negotiate settlements with each of them, changing very little, but keeping the right to continue selling my products. During one lawsuit the term “knock off” was in constant use. The plaintiffs claimed that these were counterfeits. The judge became confused and asked me to explain the difference between a counterfeit and a knock off. I told him, as well as the court that if the product had used the name of the famous brand as the manufacturer this was a counterfeit. My products although similar in looks, and had the same odor, were clearly identified with my name as he manufacturer. I was later told that his definition was listed in the encyclopedia.

In one case, I was sued three times by the same company. Each time I made revisions, they sued me again. I asked the judge how I can get this to stop. He replied that they can not sue me again unless I copied another of their products. They decided to change the look of their product leaving me with the entire market that thief advertising brought in.

Another interesting case was with a major company who accused me of being a thief. I asked the plaintiff various questions such as, how much do you pay for your bottle, then the cap, then the carton, then the packing materials. When I asked how much the actual (juice) perfume costs them they refused to answer. The judge intervened and made them answer the question. Their answer was only a few cents. Their retail price was $50.00 each, and mine was only 25 cents. I then asked the judge “who then is the crook here?”

There were dozens of law suits in this area, but it was not as much fun until the mid 1970’s when most of my customers “dollar & discount stores” went out of business due to the oil crunch but to keep my employees I was forced to manufacture other products to fill the void.

I also visited many smaller companies with large sales forces, and made my colognes for them under their own names as the manufacturer, which kept my factories very busy.
I inquired from my buyers what else they bought. They gave me a long list until they came up with shampoo. I decided that this would be my next venture. I called in all of my salesmen and told them we were going into the shampoo business and they laughed stating “do you know how many shampoos were on the market in both the high as well as the low price areas?” I replied yes but do not worry, I have already come up with a concept that will make our mark in the arena and we will have a very successful line of shampoos.

My idea was to put a bull’s-eye on each label that will insure the success of our shampoos and make it stand out from the rest of them. The bull’s-eye on each said (If you “like” the name of the famous brand, you will “love” Louangel.)
I came out with eleven shampoos at the same time, and naturally was sued by all eleven of the originals.

I took on each, one at a time. The major companies thought that they could grind me out with legal expenses. From my past “legal experience” in the fragrance arenas, I knew it would be best to negotiate rather than leave it to the courts.

I chose the largest one first. Their attorney would not speak to me as I was a “lay person”
so we met in my friend’s office (who happens to be a lawyer) which satisfied him. I started asking him questions. “What is it that you object to?” the cap is the same color, the bottle is similar but not the same, the liquid is the same color and baby fragrance is not exactly the same however similar, the cardboard boxes are the same, the label is completely different. With this said even my friend screamed at me and said “what are you doing” The plaintiff’s agreed with me and left. When he returned to his office the chewed him out and said “he made a fool of you” and they came back to me once again.
This time I took another tactic. I agreed that the word “love” is quite strong and I will agree to change it to “try”. Case settled. I called my office and instructed them to ship the oil which was already produced and ready to ship.

In each case I changed the tactic, but basically the same. I was never stopped and had my own way with each product. I did this for 27 years and got bored as no on would embarrass themselves in trying to sue me again.

I did get a telephone call from the president of Spidell Watchbands, who said he had heard I was going to knock them off. I told him that we are not in the watchband business, and what was he talking about? He then said what is your British Crown supposed to be if not British Sterling? I answered with the truth which was English Leather.

In the English Leather case they objected to the wooden cap I was using. They demanded that I put in two grooves to difference ate between theirs and ours. I agreed and put in three grooves

I was sued by the German company that made cologne using the name of Tabac. They wanted me to change the name to Tobruk, I told them that the battle in Tobruk was too long ago to remember, so I settled with them by making my Tabac’s label in lower case letters not to conflict with theirs which was in upper case letters and they agreed and dropped the suit.

I was sued by the Wella Corporation and spoke to their president named Mr. Megale. He screamed at me and said it took him a lifetime to build up this name. I responded by saying. It took you, a lifetime? The company was founded by your wife’s father.
He said “you know that?” I told him that I did, and he backed off.

About this time there was a trademark lawyer’s convention. Since I was being sued by eleven companies. Each firm brought along many lawyers from the firm, and my name kept coming up in all of their conversations. Someone used the PA system and said that if you want to learn more about this guy, there will be a meeting in the conference room at a certain time. It now appears that there were over 100 lawyers in the room. The man at the lectern started out by saying “Number 1.this guy will beat every one of you, Number 2.he will teach you what you are you are charging your clients for, and Number 3. You will end up liking him.” Some of the attorneys shouted, who amongst us represents him, it must be you.” The man said he did not represent him. They then said (being smug) then who does? And he replied in deference to him I can not say. He did not reveal that I was actually representing myself where it was not costing me anything, while they were spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees.

After all of this I kept getting telephone calls from some of the most well known trademark attorneys telling me about suits they were involved in. and asking me questions on how to handle various situations. In each case I gave them my personal opinion. In one case the opponent of the last one called me with the same question, and once again I gave him my personal opinion.
The call ended when he said “I guess we will see each other at the Concord Hotel in a few weeks. I replied, why, is it singles weekend. He said no, there is a trademark convention that weekend and I guess you will be speaking. I then dropped the bomb by telling him I not only would not be speaking, and that I was not even a lawyer, just a high school graduate. He was stunned and said, then “why do I and the others keep calling you for advice?” I replied by saying I have no idea whatsoever. He replied that “but you were always correct”.

I doubt that there was even one governmental bureau I did not run into difficulties with. I was contacted by the Federal Trade Commission by mail that I was in violation of their rules. I knew I never did anything wrong in the area. I telephoned them and found the attorney on “my case” that was female. She told me that I was misrepresenting the country of origin on one of my perfumes. She said that I was claiming that it was made in France. I responded by telling her that the label stated right on the front of the bottle that the manufacturer was The Lou Angel Corporation with the address in New York. She proceeded by contacting all of my customers with letters asking if I had every said that this product was made in France. I was very close to all of my customers therefore they sent me copies of her letters to them. She kept at if for two years but writing me letters accusing me of the same violation even after I tried in vein to explain to her that this was made in New York and clearly said so on the label and all of the literature that I had sent out. I said it you want to say that I was representing this made in Russia there might be something to discuss as the name of the product was Prince Obolenski Perfume. This was spelled with an i at the end of the name Obolenski. If it was Russian it would end with a y at the end of the name as Obolensky. The original artist took the liberty of using the letter I that would indicate a Polish origin; however there was never any indication that France was involved in any way. I decided that I was spending far too much time in answering her letters so I telephoned her superior and told him the story. After a long period of time she was taken off this case and went on bothering other firms that might be in come violation or another.

This experience gave me a bright idea. I flew to Paris and started shopping for bottles, caps, labels, boxes as well as tri color stickers for the boxes and other packaging materials to make perfumes in France and bring them back to the United States. I had even opened up an office there and secured a private label filler to manufacture the merchandise for me. At the same time I had visited each of the large fragrance houses to purchase large quantities of essential oils to make the perfume. I chose the firm that I wanted to work with and had a meeting with their chief executive. I told him that I wanted to buy one of his fragrance oils whereby I would not have to use alcohol. I wanted to mix it with water. He told me that I was crazy and that no one would ever do this as oil and water do not mix and dismissed me from his office. I showed up each day with the same request and each time he said give this idea up. My reason for not using alcohol was there was an import tax in the United States of $21.00 per gallon which I would have to pay and I would be using thousands of gallons if I used alcohol, thus my request of using water. One day while riding with him in his limousine with a mink wrap over my knees to keep me warm as this was in December of 1966 which was very cold in Paris at that time, we were having the same discussion and he shouted out “hydrobase” which exactly what I was looking for. I placed orders for all of the ingredients and was on my way as a French Perfume Manufacturer. Since each bottle was extremely small I had the finished product flown in by air. When the products arrived at the airport the customs people gave me a huge bill for the alcohol tax. I kept insisting that there was no alcohol in these products and it was water. They laughed and said there is no perfume that does not have alcohol and insisted I pay this tax.

We decided to keep the shipment at the airport but send samples to Washington, DC to be tested for alcohol. Naturally the tests same back as I told them it would and I did not have to pay the alcohol taxes they first required. In my factory in Brooklyn, NY I had them packaged in both five and ten piece gift sets. Each package was encased in the fancy French paper I had bought in France and affixed the tricolor sticker on each that properly said “made in France”. I also took a portion of these perfumes and made them as decorations for key chains. (port du cley) “This produced one problem, during the winter the perfume bottles froze and broke” and mounted these on display cards. At the next trade show I took a sample of this card and placed it in the booth of my largest customer. (I had already put there name on the display card as “distributed by their companies name” I received a call from one of the owners of the company and he screamed at me for doing this. I felt bad and told him that I would remove it from his booth. At that point he said “are you nuts?” it is selling like a house on fire. His son was the actual boss of this company and came down to my booth to discuss this and asked what else do I have that was made in France? I first showed him the five piece gift set. He asked for the exclusive rights to this product and we decided on the quantity he would have to purchase to secure these rights. He then found out that I was still selling the ten piece gift set and we had a similar arrangement for the exclusive rights to this gift set as well. They sold out my entire production, so I kept repeating my orders from France and this was very beneficial to all involved in this venture.

With this same customer we made other joint ventures. I had a men’s cologne in my line called Russian Leather. He asked for the exclusive rights to distribute this product as well. He had a very large sales force and at that time mine was quite small. We agreed that we would make him the exclusive distributor for Russian Leather and I would stop selling it on my own. I redesigned the product’s label with his name as the distributor using the name “Russian Leather from the Royal House of Prince Obolenski.” He sold hundreds of thousands of this product which also included many gift sets using talc, soap, and of other men’s toiletry products.

After several years his father called me and insisted I come up to their offices in Providence, Rhode Island which I did. I was shocked to hear that they were dumping me as the filler of this product as they found another private label firm (that was in the process of bankruptcy, so they needed more business, even if they were to lose money on this order) that was five cents cheaper than the price I was charging them. I was devastated by losing my largest customer, however on the airplane home a bright idea came to me. I immediately telephone the son (the real boss) and insisted he come down to speak to me in my offices. He said he was happy to hear that I would consent to lower my price to meet the competition as I was the founder of the product and that we were very close friends. I said that I had no intention in lowering my price, however if you continue to use them instead of me, I would not only strip you of using the name from the From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski but would put this product back in my line and we would be competing with each other with my using the name “Russian Leather From The Royal House Of Prince Obolenski.”

He was about the brightest business man I ever came across and we made a deal whereby they would continue with this other supplier and save the five cents, but would turn over two cents of this to me. This made both of us happy. This allowed me to use my factory to add and manufacture other items in my line and still receive the royalties from him. I was now really becoming very successful.

I must mention here that by this time I had automatic filling, capping and labeling machines that were spitting out over 60 bottles per minute. I did have a large facility with hundreds of people assembling these bottles into various boxes and gift sets but there were so many bottles that they could not handle this quantity. I spent a great deal of time searching and finding various charities that did assembly work at prices even less than what I was paying my own labor force. I used dozens of them with trucks going back and forth between the charities and my factory. I also had to find extra storage space to contain the finished merchandise.

Before this, one of my other customers asked me if I would let him also distribute Russian Leather. I explained that I had given these rights to the other firm, however their would be a way around this. I could let him use the Russian Leather name but without the Prince Obolenski suffix. I told him to pick another name. He could not think of any so I asked him where his family origin was and he replied Odessa. I gave him the rights to use the name “Russian Leather from House of Odessa.” He was also very successful with this line of products.

One day, I happened to pass a drug store window, and saw the first “women’s vibrator” in the window. I went in to take a closer look at it and found out that it was manufactured in the orient, but bore the name of the distributor as “From House of Odessa” and I immediately knew who this was doing the distribution of the product.

I had other problems with governmental agencies. I had gone to Hong Kong to have several products manufactured for me. One was a plastic zippered case to hold a men’s cologne and after shave and make it a travel kit. I designed the case using the term Moroccan Grain on the front. When the products arrived I was told that there was a problem at customs as to the country of origin. I telephoned the customs inspector and he said he knows that “Moroccas” is a country. I kept insisting that according to the law the country of origin was mandatory and there were in fact two places that “made in Hong Kong” was on the product. One was etched on the bottom and the other was a paper label on the top of the product. He just kept saying that he was not a fool and that he knew that “Moroccas” is a country. I had to go to his superiors to straighten this mess out.

During the period when there was a downturn in the economy and glass bottles became very high, I decided to put my fragrances in plastic bottles. Everyone said “ that no one would buy fragrances in plastic bottles” I tried to explain that plastic was lighter in weight and the cost of shipping would be far less, also they would not break as glass bottles did at times. I redesigned each of the bottles I was using into plastic containers.
I had molds built for each and had these bottles produced. Since plastic was thinner than glass I had to use more “juice” to keep the appearance of size the same as the glass. As the actual “juice” did not cost that much this did not become a problem. It turned out that it did not make any difference in the sale of the product at all. I also offered these plastic bottles to other manufactures in which there were few if any takers.

To save money I also redesigned the gift set packaging from the ones I had been using which had three components. A bottom, a top as well as an injection molded tray inside to keep the “glass bottles” from breaking. I changed these to regular “folding boxes” with great pictures of the inside look. This saved me a great deal of money in the packaging. The look was so outstanding it increased the sales of each by many times. (pictures enclosed)


When my father died (in my arms) at the age of 49 of a sudden coronary occlusion and I could not bring him back, I promised him that I would take care of his other son (my younger brother), when I purchased The Lou Angel Corporation, I stupidly made my brother my legal partner without having him contributing any money to the firm. His job was to run the factory. Each year no matter what amount of business I brought in, he had managed to ship less and less. The factory was a mess. I had a visit from the FDA who said that there was not enough paper to write down the violations. I had enough after twenty years, and told him to stay home with full salary and benefits. He replied “then buy me out” I said you never bought in, what is to buy out however I gave him a fortune to just go away. I paid him in eleven installments as I knew he would throw it all away if I gave him a lump sum.

As he left he said “no one can run this factory. I said don’t be stupid even companies a thousand times larger get run efficiently. When he left I hired a professional factory manager who had everything in tip top shape in a week. When the FDA returned they found a spotless factory with no violations.

As it happened after the eleven years, my brother lost it all; we have not spoken since the last payment. All my friends blame me for giving him too much, too fast. I love my business and could not wait until the next day however my brother kept saying that he hated his work and was only doing it for the money. I was told later by his friends that he used the monies I had given to him to purchase various businesses which all failed in a very short time. When he visited the one that was still there he found a lock on the door. He managed to get in and found it idle. Not knowing how to run a business he contacted my old mechanic and hired him. The mechanic later told me not only did he run the factory but did the sales as well. This business did not last very long either.

Previously my brother when he was the factory manager hired a friend to be in charge of the shipping department. As soon as my brother left we find he had been stealing from the company by giving loads of merchandise and pocketing the cash. He claimed that prior to these incidents when I caught him; he had turned in the money to my brother. I have no idea what to believe here.

I married a girl when I was quite young. She had a sister who found herself pregnant. The father of the baby married her; however he was trying to become a “soldier” in the mafia
and to “get his bones” (the term used for this) he was a hit man for one of the five New York mafia families. He had been arrested many times, one for kidnapping. My wife asked me to post his bail money which I did. Not long after all of the media showed a picture him lying dead in the street with his feet still in the car he was driving. He was shot in the head in retaliation for killing a member in another family. I went to the funeral
and was amazed that the undertaker was so skillful in covering up the bullet holes with make up that the holes could not be noticed. At the funeral many men showed up with envelopes stuffed with money for the widow. The mafia seems to be very kind to its members. They obtained a job for my sister in-law in one of their bars. It seems that a member of the mafia from out of town came into the bar and grabbed her butt. The owner of the bar that she worked for took this guy outside in an alley and shot him dead. My sister-in-law was repeatedly questioned by the police to find out who the shooter was. She was told not to say anything, so the police wanted to charge her as an accessory to murder. It took along time to straighten this out and get her released. She then married another member of the same mafia family. The police kept breaking into their apartment arresting him for various crimes. After he died some years later, she once again she dated a “crooked cop”. It is amazing that one of her children from her first marriage turned out to be extremely intelligent and received a scholarship to an Ivy league school, and went on to become a doctor.

My father’s demise was only the first of three tragedies that week. After the funeral my new bride told me had an itch. I responded by saying “scratch it”. She replied that it “was down there”. I sent her to a doctor but when she returned she said that the doctors wanted me to telephone them. I was asked if I new she was pregnant. I told them that I did not know that. They said do not worry about this as she will not survive nor would the baby ever be born as they found a huge lump up there that could either be an entopic pregnancy or it could be a large tumor. I took her to many doctors for a second and third opinion and one came up with an idea. He told us to wait until the pregnancy was five months along, and he would go in and hold the fetus with one hand and cut out the lump with his other hand. It turned out to be a benign cyst. She survived and the baby was born. The third thing that happened was my very best friend came over to console me, but started to act very funny. It seemed he was having a nervous breakdown, “I asked God, ‘what are your plans for me next week” He spent the rest of his life in and out of mental hospitals and died at the age of 92. Never having a life between the ages of 25 & 92.

We had a bookkeeper who was with us for many years. She decided to quit and move to Florida and asked me to loan her $25, 00.00 for a down payment. There really was no need as a customer of ours had mailed us an envelope with $25, 00.00 cash in it. When I kept pressing the customer he said he had mailed it and sent me the signed receipt for the envelope that revealed her signature on it. She claimed that she never receive it and left the very next day. Since she was with us for over twenty years I attributed this to a “bonus” and did not press charges. She did say that she was not respected as the office manager and suggested we hire a man to run the office. I had my chief of staff and accountant interview him and they approved. This new office manager immediately replaced the entire office with people from the Philippines where he was from. Since I was very busy all of the time, he kept bring up checks for me to sign. Not paying the attention I should have paid, I signed each one (as I was always on the telephone) The next month when the mail arrived my new secretary took all of the cancelled checks out of the envelope and put a paper clip on the batch. I liked to open this type of mail myself however tried to put the checks back into the envelope. One check flew into the air, and when I retrieved it one flew into the air and I caught it. I looked at it and it was made out to “MNLA, Inc” Never hearing of this company I assumed it was for a trucking company however it was for $37,000.00. I immediately knew this was not possible so I asked the new Philippine bookkeeper to come upstairs to my office which was one floor above the general offices. I was told that he had left for the day. I ordered my accountant to come down and audit my books. He found over $60,000.00 in kited checks done in the very first month he was there. I immediately called the police and even without a warrant, went to his home with the policeman and found a complete forgery kit on his dining room table with whiteout and other things. I took all this material which belonged to me and brought it back to my office. The next day I received a call from an attorney who claimed to be representing this bookkeeper and he said that he was ready to turn himself in to the police.

It took over one year to get this money back. I had to post a bond with an insurance company (as I might be accusing an innocent man), I had to hire a criminal lawyer, and by myself froze all of the accounts he deposited the money into. I also alerted all of the employment agencies not to hire this man, and even called the Federal Bureau of Investigation and asked if they have any records on this person. They would not tell me, however I asked if you won’t tell me just let me know if he was on a forgery list. The answer was yes. It seemed that his record showed that he was in prison in the Philippine Islands at the time his references were checked.
I called every attorney I knew and said that I wanted to go after the employment agency that sent him to us. None would take the case as it was our responsibility as well to check him out as well as theirs.

I now put on my lawyer’s hat and sued them myself. I naturally won the case and received a “bonus” of $10,000.000 from them.
It took several years to regain my money from this thief since I put a lien on his house (owned jointly be both he and his wife). Since he could not find a job, he had to put his home on the market for sale and I received that amount of money at his closing sale of the home. I also had a meeting with the judge at his criminal trial. I told the judge that every one seems to be happy but me. The insurance company received the premium from the bond. All of the lawyers are happy with the fees they received from both sides, the prosecutor was happy with his conviction, however I have not received the stolen money from the frozen bank accounts. The judge realized what I was saying and issued a “confession of judgment” from the thief right in the court room.

My brother also had a friend who was in the insurance business and to give him out companies business. He certainly gave us the business. After I retired I was sued by an insurance company for not paying a bill. I went to the New York State’s Commissioner of Insurance, who at one time worked for me. We found out that I had paid the bill on time, but the friendly insurance man never turned the money over to them.

Remembering that my father passed away at the age of 49, and I had a similar build as him, I was reaching that age but could not pass the business to my three young daughters who were very young at that time, so I decided to sell the company. I had meetings with a great many CEO’s of cosmetic companies, but all said the same thing. If you come along, we will pay you whatever you ask, but there is no one we know of to replace you. “Lou Angel is nothing without Lou Angel”. There is no one else that knows what the consumers want next year or the next.

Since this was mainly a Christmas Gift business and we start production in January for the end of the year, I have always had some strange ability to know what the consumer would want in the coming years. I therefore decided to sell everything. I turned every bottle, cap and carton into product and sold it all. I ran an auction and sold all of the machinery. The only left to sell was the name and good will. Coincidently at the auction a young man showed up and offered to buy this from me. It was good for me in many reasons. I would get rid of all the rubbish that only he could use to start up. I would stay in his office for a few months to make sure I would collect all of my bills still on the street. What I did not know was that he was a professional thief. As I opened the mail I found bills that I turned over to him. He did not pay a single one and naturally I never received the remaining monies stated on the contract. After several months he disappeared and we found him doing the same thing in Canada. Now I had judgments against him in both the United States and Canada that were uncollectible as he once again ran away. He only purchased the company to use its good name and credit rating. He cheated all of my suppliers who know the true story and do not blame me for anything.

The factory building was almost one square block in size and in the worst neighborhood in New York City. There was no business of a size that could use this space that would move into this area. I decided to divide the buildings into five pieces, and run ads in the local newspapers offering “The finest factory in Williamsburg” (we were only a few blocks from Williamsburg) which had a huge Hassidic population. I found one Hassid who purchased 30,000 square feet. We got along very well and I appointed him as my real estate broker. I told him to contact all his relatives and friends and sell the remaining buildings to them which he did. This brought the entire Hassidic community to the area bring along a synagogue and food stores etc.

Some years ago I read in the New York Times a story about Williamsburg and it showed a map which pointed out my property was the dead center of the area. The Hassid’s are very smart and each subdivided their buildings renting out space to people from all over the world. Today I was told there were signs in most every language on the building where when I owned it there was but just one.

At this time my accountant at this time got divorced and had no where to live. While I was out of town he convinced my stupid brother to rent an apartment and call it our New York City Showroom. He would live there and we would use it for our extra marital affairs. It became a very busy place, with my brother and I taking turns in using it each evening, with the accountant sleeping there when we were not using it. I have dozens of amusing stories to tell here however I do not think the reader of this book would be interested in hearing them, with the exception of mentioning that I had brought in some of the most beautiful girls in the city, until I met one young girl who happened to be a school teacher at that time. I had asked her if she was happy with that occupation and said that she enjoyed the teaching part however the other teaching were so boring that she was going nuts in trying to speak to them. I then asked her why she did not enter the “real world of business”. She replied that her mother had spent a fortune sending her to college to become a teacher and would be furious if she left that position. She was not only beautiful but extremely intelligent. She looked around and found out there was one area that would allow women to grow with the company and some even became vice presidents which was in advertising.

She found an office job in a media buying firm in the advertising area. Within a few weeks her boss said she was wasting her time in that position and asked her if she would be interested in learning this business as a media buyer. A short time later she was in charge of the buying department. She then asked the boss if there was anything else she could do at this firm, and he said let me put you in another department which she also ended up being in charge of. Her next question was, Is there anything else she could do, and he replied by saying no as you have reached the top of this small firm and that she should go out an get a job with a major advertising agency. She went to an employment agency and with her looks and brains along with the excellent reference. She was hired as the New York negotiator for this the second largest agency in the country. She did indeed become an assistant vice president, then a full vice president, then a senior vice president, and ended up as the third person in command of this agency. Each weekend she came out to visit me at our country home, and since she was not a big executive in the firm she was allowed to purchase stock in the company. During this time there were many mergers in the advertising industry and I kept urging her to buy more and more stock as when this company sells it would be worth a fortune. She kept insisting that the CEO kept saying that he would never sell the company and showed me headlines in Advertising Age to that effect. Within a short period of time he did sell the company to the largest advertising agency in the world and she was now rich from the stock buyout. The new firm offered her a position but she declined the offer as she would have to work under people she had fired at her old company. So she retired completely

She decided to become a real estate sales person. She went to real estate school and studied hard. She asked the teacher if they would allow me into the building as it was winter time and I was freezing while sitting in the car waiting for her to finish the class. I sat in the classroom but did not pay any attention to what was going on. She then had to go to Philadelphia to take the test. I drove her to the test. She asked me if I wanted to take the test also as it was allowed. I felt that I would be embarrassed as I did not know anything about real estate. This test was done using a computer using true and false questions. I sat next to her and punched in my answers. When the test was over they happened to call my name first. They gave me a slip of paper that said I passed. She grabbed the paper out of my hand and was amazed that I had passed. They then called out her name and she found out that she had failed this test. I would like to mention at this point that I had only a high school education and she had a master’s degree from a university. She burst into tears. She then hired a tutor as well as purchasing a bunch of audio tapes and kept studying for days. She went back and passed the test this time. It is truly amazing that the State of Pennsylvania has a book that is a dozen times as large as all the other states with information to learn from.

Although I was married to someone else, I saw this young lady for 18 years with my wife not having a clue that this was going on in fact they were cousins. There were only the two of us living in the wilderness with only animals roaming around. After the 18 years we decided to split. She moved back to her apartment that she had always kept, and I stayed on living in the woods by myself (with many female visitors that constantly came to visit and comfort me).

Within two weeks I received telephone call from a young lady who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. She had graduated at the top of her class from a top university and was a partner in a stock brokerage company. She came to visit me the next weekend. and kept coming to see me every two weeks. I went to visit her from time to time as well. We got along very well and traveled all over the world together but I had to end this relationship after seven years as she had given me a STD, which shocked me as she was so very prim and proper in most every way except that when she went home she started “seeing” other men and kept up her search for her elusive next husband. This relationship lasted for seven years.

When I gave up the business, I also gave up the “showroom” and the accountant went back to live in his mothers house.

So basically I have now become retired, and considered myself rich. (Interest rates were running between 15% and 17% at that time)I saw no need to open up another business or to look for a job.I had no idea that they would drop to 2% which would make me somewhat poor once again.

.I at that time met an attorney who knew I had accumulated a lot of money from selling all of my business assets and asked me it I would invest some of it in a business owned by a friend of his. I said it does not hurt to talk to him. The three of us met in this lawyer’s office. The man explained his problem. He had invented a device that could cut the cost of an aircondioners electricity bill by using his produce called a Hydrocouple; however he did not have any money to pursue this venture. With nothing else to do, I decided to become his partner and we formed a firm and called it Certified Energy Corporation. I did not have invest any money in the firm however to get him to go out and sell these, I had agreed to, and in fact did pay him $1,000.per week for his living expenses. I then went about getting a patent for this product and eventually secured it. Another friend of his joined in this venture and helped us write a business plan. Now there were four people involved. I had each of my former sales representatives go to their largest customers to get the inventor appointment’s to present the product. Several large supermarkets tried this out and they reported savings on their electric bills, however none had placed any orders at this time, but said they would check it again as the electric bills came in for the next few months. Another friend of mine at this time that Merrill Lynch was starting up a venture capitol group; and gave me the name of the newly appointed president. .I made an appointment whereby we all met in the Merrill Lynch office. The president was impressed with what he had heard, and had his engineering department check out this product and agreed that it had merit. We had several meetings and started talking about their backing us with funds that might lead to an initial public offering. We celebrated this news and awaited the next and final meeting to proceed with the financing. At that final meeting we sat waiting for another gentleman to join us. This man arrived and immediately started to argue with the president. (We found out that this new gentleman was the CEO of this venture capital group). We listened to them fight. The CEO screamed that they had agreed that the first deal that they would do would be one that he personally would bring in. (He had none at this time as yet), and abruptly left the meeting. The president ushered us into another room. He did partially agree with the CEO that none of us had any experience in this field, but also said that he still agrees with us and that he would “bring him along”. He also said that we might go to another large venture capital company to see if they had any interest in this. We met with the president of that firm who liked what we had but said that energy was not in favor at this time as biotech was the thing they were most interested in.

I then went ahead and changed the name of the company to Cryogentic,as the product could also be used in the Cryogenic area. I had contacted many Cryogenic scientists and told them about this and asked them if they would be interested in joining this venture. All of them agreed to go along with us. I hastily researched Cryogenic’s and re wrote the business plan, and brought it back to the last firm. For one reason or other they decided not to pursue this. By now the year of my agreement between myself and the inventor was about to end and since nothing was happening. I stopped my thousand dollar payments to him. He then found another business to go into and signed the corporation over to me, where it lies dormant.

One day the lady who was the advertising executive, I was now living with, was brushing her teeth. I noticed that she had some powder in her hand and was using this to brush her teeth. I had asked her what that was and she replied that she did not want to lose her teeth as her mother did. She went to her files and pulled out an article from the New York Times that spoke about a man that was touting his theory on gingivitis. It seemed that if you mix boric acid with a little bit of hydrogen peroxide it would prevent gum disease. I got excited and tracked this man down. His name was Dr, Paul Keyes and lived and worked in Reston, Virginia. He retired as the chairman of the National Dental Health Foundation for the United States He then formed the International Dental Health Foundation. He was being written up in most all of the media magazines and constantly being interviewed on television with his theory. I called him up and after a brief conversation decided to fly down to visit him. I brought my accountant with me. He sat me in a dental chair and scraped some gunk out from between my teeth and put it onto a slide. Then using a microscope attached to a television monitor I watched what looked like a science fiction movie of huge animals fighting and eating each other. He dropped some bicarbonate of soda on the slide and I watch all the animals die instantly. He then introduced his assistant a dentist and I introduced my accountant and we all decided to form a company to market this amazing product. I named the product and the company “Periodent and starting designing a full line of periodontal products, which included mouth wash, dental floss as well as toothpaste. I started to put together a team using the best creative advertising firm in the field at that time and other experts in the field to help me kick this product off. I decided to use a device that was presently being used as an epoxy applier to put the powder in one chamber and the peroxide in the other so they would not combine until they were applied to the gums. At this time someone asked me if we had done any clinical trials that were required by the food and drug administration. It seems that if you take two safe chemicals and combine them into a product you must have clinical trials to get their approval. I told that person that Dr. Keyes must have done this. I called Dr. Keyes up and asked if he had ever done this. He screamed at me and said. Why does everyone bring that subject up and his answer was that he never did. To do clinical trials takes a long time and costs a great deal of money that neither he, nor I had. Ahh, another defeat for me.



CHAPTER two
My Life as a Builder

Being retired I became bored. I purchased a small country home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The girl I lived with at that time decided that we needed a swimming pool. I saw no reason for this was in a very cold area, neither of us were swimmers, and I did not feel like fishing out tree branches and animals, however I let her put in the pool.

I decided to put a house over the pool. I hired a group of men who amazingly put this up in a week or so. I designed it using inexpensive sliding glass doors using the solar effect to help heat the pool as well as installing a propane gas heater. I also designed a small sauna and steam room between our bedroom and the pool. In an indoor pool there was a great deal of humidity, so I researched and found a giant dehumidifier that would suck out lots of water from the pool and put it back into the pool. It also took out the chlorine odor from the house. Now it was perfect as we could swim in the pool watching the snowfall outside and be comfortable. After watching how fast this group of men put this pool house up, I asked one of the men if they could put up dozens of homes at the same time. His answer was of course. I went to a local tax sale and purchased a great many one quarter acre lots at only $240.00 each. I found an excavator as well as a septic specialist and began my quest.

Being creative, I designed the houses with incredible beauty and decided the correct selling price should be about $75,000.00, a price that would attract almost anyone who wanted a country home (since this area was only one and one half hour from New York City). When the foundation and septic system was in, I called the man who I originally spoke to and asked him when they could start construction. I was told that the group that put up the pool house was done by the owners of individual companies and the only reason that they were able to do the pool house was it was winter and they had no other work. Now it was spring and they were all busy with their regular jobs.

I found myself as a general contractor who knew nothing about building houses. I searched around and made many calls. Only one man showed up carrying a hammer.
He started putting up stick by stick and it was taking forever to erect a house. I did the same with hiring many electrician, plumbers, painters etc. These workers spent more time visiting there parole officers than showing up for work. What I found out during this process was that the State Of Pennsylvania did not require building people to have a license. All they had to do was print a business card and represent themselves as such. This included me as an architect.

I also did not know most of these workers were convicts, who stole everything they could find in the houses. I was told that a refrigerator was missing from one house. When I went there to check it out, I found they also stole the carpeting. This went on during my entire building experience. When my the first home was finally finished. The other “builders” ran ads in the local newspapers offering homes from models. When a prospective buyer showed up and asked what type of oven came with the house, the “builder” responded by saying “Oh you want a kitchen, that would add X numbers to the house” I was offering a “speck house” take it or leave it”. Instead of running ads in the newspapers, I requested and received full page publicity on my homes at “Pocono Dream Estates” There was no area with that name, just houses on scattered lots. When I went to the post office or gas station I was told that I caused the town to become gridlocked with all visitors to the town asking where “Pocono Dream Estates” was. In any case I sold every house the very first weekend after the publicity was published in the newspaper.

Now I was in real trouble. It took over one year to produce each house. Since every house I erected most things were being stolen, I had to raise the prices from $75,000.00 to $150,000.00 as no one could afford to wait that long as most had sold their old homes, and were ready to move in to one of mine. I had sold every house many times over and over until I decided this was fruitless, and decided to try a different approach. I put up the first “StickULar” house with the original foundation and place a modular home on top of it. This worked for a while until I completely gave up and just dropped modular homes on the foundation. With the building process in the area, even the lumber yards cheated by sending less lumber that was on my order. I could not believe this as I was not about to count each and every two by four piece of lumber, so I searched and found that there was a large chain of lumber yards called 84 Lumber Company. I telephoned the owner and told him of my dilemma and also said this area was written up as the fastest growing housing market in the country. He agreed to meet with me and said “I like you young man, you make things happen”. He came to visit me and did open up a facility in the area. Now using this chain I knew that it was not in the interest of the manager to cheat me. The bottom line of this part of my life as a builder was I did not make a dime putting up homes.

Shortly after I retired I received a telephone call from someone I did not know, however he heard about me and he told me and interesting story. He was marketing an item and selling it though the newspaper by mail order. It was a medal that people purchased for 10 UK pounds that was supposed to bring them luck. He offered me the sole distributorship in both North and South America. He sent me a sample and the copy he was using in the British newspapers. This would cost me just a few cents. I took the item to the National Enquirer and showed it to them. They just laughed and told me a story about the item. The medal was supposed to carry “Holy Water from Lourdes. They also told me that others had come to this and they ran their ad. The ad also said that this was blessed by the Pope in Rome. It seemed the marketers of this were arrested, and at the trial, the plaintiff told them that the Pope does not seem to remember blessing this item. The defendants were hard pressed to answer this. They said they took the water from Lourdes in 55 gallon drums and traveled to Rome. The Pope was on his balcony blessing the people down below and (also the truck containing the water). At this moment they were convicted, and went to jail for mail fraud. I did not want to get in any trouble, and decided to go to a friend of mine who happened to be selling the bible in the shape of a cross. I had it gold stamped and wrapped it into a vinyl folder and gold stamped a cross on it with the copy below stating “The King James Holy Bible. (picture enclosed). I wrote copy that said if they really believed all of their prayers would be answered if they kept this in their pocket next to their heart. I ran the ad in the National Enquirer and try to sell this for ten dollars. There were some takers. I also sent out a mailing piece to various Christian organizations to be used as a fund raising item. And even received letters from well known people thanking me for doing God’s work. (picture enclosed).I did not make any money from this, so in turn I sold my remaining stock to the man who originally approached me in England.

CHAPTER three
My Next Ventures


About this time I discovered the computer and completely fell in love with it and what could be done with it. I have always been fascinated with superimposing pictures, where I could take someone’s face and make him an athletic star, putting him or her with famous People like the president, etc. I found a young computer programmer and had him create am whereby I could achieve this instantly, and then transfer this image onto a T-Shirt etc. I later developed a way to place the image onto coffee cups after wasting hundreds of mugs, I finally succeeded with it.
I incorporated a business named Visual Technologies “Vistech” and went about selling computer systems to people who wanted to go into this type of business. I sold many, however I found that unless they went to high traffic areas like Disney Land, or places like six Flags they would not do well. Most of them went into flea markets and shopping malls and did not do very well. I did not feel good about selling this system to people who would fail, so I gave this idea up. I then left the woods in Pennsylvania and moved to Boca Raton, Florida in 1991 where they had things like restaurants, movie theatres and even places to buy a bagel.
This was in the year of 1994 with the introduction of Tim Burners Lee invention of the World Wide Web. I checked it out and found only a very few sites that were on it. I quickly learned how to use the hyperlink language and posted all of my previous images of myself in various superimposed positions and made up a stupid story about it so they would all appear as me as a super hero. The few people on the web at the time became my email friends with each asking the others to “check out my site” All came back and said your site is “cool” and asked what grade I was in. I told them I was in my sixties and each replied “No Way” as you are the “coolest cat on the web” I then decided to become a webmaster and write sites for other people, and became very good at this. Each time I encountered something that interested me I checked out the source code and studied it and made it better. and eventually became about the best webmaster on the web. I now decided to become one and thought that I could build a nice business doing just that. I knew a few girls that were very attractive and quite articulate and told them to visit restaurants, and other types of business that should have their presence on the web to advertise their business. One of them asked “why should I believe you that this is a viable business and walked away. I murmured to myself “stupid cunt” and let her leave. The other one went about the business, however no one at that time even knew about the World Wide Web or even the internet. She left.
Today I believe there are at least a trillion sites, with more added each day.
My original site has changed many times over the years but it is still up there on the web under the URL http://www.mrangel.com/. You can see the site which is till up there by clicking on the URL or go directly to the table of contacts at http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/ where you can scroll down to anything you are especially interested in

If you go to this site you should find them under the name of “webpages”. Since that time I have added many subject on anything I was interested in and added information on things I knew a great deal about such as Sushi Online, Coffee Online, Cigars Online, Brazilian Lifestyle, as well as much information on Medical and Dentistry, etc.


CHAPTER four
My Life as a Lecturer at Universities



I had a friend who was a college professor at a university who asked me if I would consent to lecture his class of MBA students. I asked if I would be paid a fee for this and was told I would not. I then said I want a certificate in a frame with a wire on the back so I could hang it on my wall. (since I did not have any academic certificates at all on my wall) and he agreed to get me one which proudly now hangs on my home office wall).
I spoke for three hours trying to get them to understand how the real world of business works. Many of the students asked why they did not learn this either in college or in grad school. I said that the MBA program prepares you how to leverage funds and prepare for bankruptcy. You are being taught by teachers who in turn were taught by teachers who read books written by teachers. None of your teachers have ever experiences life in the real world of business. There is an old adage “If you can not do, then teach, If you can not teach become an administrator”. I told them how to watch out for crooked bookkeepers, crooked shipping clerks, lazy & stupid siblings, and many things that I had learned from my experiences in the real world.

On the way to work one day I had heard of a blind boy who stabbed to death a man who was raping his mother. I bought a newspaper and read the whole story. When I arrived at my office I was told that at least six women appeared and had demanded their “husbands” last pay check. I asked who this “husband” was and found out that the rapist was our “chief chemical mixer”. One of my employees said “I do not understand why this man raped anyone, as we employed dozens of girls who would be more than happy to have sex with him”.

Some years ago I was speaking to an older man who asked me about the problems I had in business. I told him that my building was broken into almost every evening with stuff stolen, each time I reported this to the local police. I received a call from the police that they had caught the thief while stopping a car and they found my things in his trunk. I laughingly replied that if you stop most any car in the area you will find my things in all of them. I received a call from the Welfare department who informed me that they entered and apartment that was full of my merchandise. I was not surprised by this. I had a major flood that almost destroyed me, there was once a murder on my premises, and I was even broken in the police that tried to crack the safe that was in the building. Since the police knew many safe crackers, they came in the next evening with one, but failed. One time on Christmas Eve the police broke in and stole a lot of things among which was cases of Scotch. I telephoned the captain of police and told him what had happened and about the Scotch. He replied “Dewers?” It seemed that he was given a gift from the burglary as well. I was also broken in by the fire department that must have been doing a nighttime inspection. I also told them many other things that I experienced during my years in business. He asked me if I ever had a fire. It was not long after this conversation that this had happened as well. It turned out that this was a case of arson caused by a neighbor who happened to be given a grant by our local congressman to help with the unemployment in the area. This firm had rented space and invited me in. What I saw was a lot of sawdust on the floor and many electric machines (but without electric cords attached.) It was only a scam to get the grant.

I got into trouble with the FDA due to the many violations mentioned above. I went to see this very congressman who would not speak to me and pushed me aside as he entered his limousine. I ran out and entered the limo. He said what the hell are you doing here? I said that I will talk to you as we ride and take a taxi back. I asked him where he was going and he told me that he was going to give a speech to the boy scouts. Knowing he was gay, I asked him if he was looking for new talent. He replied by saying “watch your lip” in which I replied that it is your lip that I am sure will be the problem. He agreed to see me the next day in his office. When I arrived I found a man from the FDA there with him. I found them to be quite friendly and later found out they were lovers. The congressman was later arrested as he was found in a subway men’s room having sex with a little boy. He was arrested once again for a major crime and spent many years in prison for this. (picture enclosed). Another thing I told the students about was when General Dwight Eisenhower was asked by both parties to run for president, he said, I know how to be a general; however I do not know how to be a president. He later said that he knew a man who could be his vice president named Robert B. Anderson and with his help he could do the job. Robert Bernard Anderson (June 4, 1910 – August 14, 1989) was an American administrator and businessman. He served as the Secretary of the Navy between 1953 and 1954. He also served as the Secretary of the Treasury from 1957 until 1961. Anderson was born in Burleson, Texas. He was a high school teacher prior to entering the University of Texas Law School, from which he graduated in 1932. He thereafter engaged in political, governmental, law and business activities in the state of Texas. During World War II, he was an adviser to the Secretary of War. In February 1953, Anderson became the new Eisenhower administration's first Secretary of the Navy. During his time as Navy Secretary, he ended the last formal vestiges of racial segregation in the Navy and advocated the force levels and technological advances necessary to maintain a flexible defense strategy. In May 1954, Anderson left his Navy post to become Deputy Secretary of Defense. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1955. From 1957 to 1961, he served as President Eisenhower's Secretary of the Treasury. Eisenhower was particularly impressed by Anderson's abilities, believing him to be more than capable of being president himself, and he named him as one of his leading choices to be his running mate in 1956, should Richard Nixon have accepted Eisenhower's recommendation that he leave the vice-presidency in order to serve as Secretary of Defense. However, Nixon opted to remain on the ticket with Ike. As 1960 approached, Eisenhower acknowledged that Nixon no doubt had the Republican presidential nomination sewn up, but he privately pressed Anderson to enter the primaries and challenge Nixon, but Anderson declined. Once Nixon was nominated, Eisenhower suggested that he select Anderson as his running mate, but Nixon chose Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. instead. After leaving office, he was active in business, investment and banking affairs, and, during the 1960s, carried out diplomatic missions on behalf of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Anderson's career ended in personal suffering and disgrace. He was hospitalized several times for alcoholism. He illegally operated the Commercial Exchange Bank of Anguilla, British West Indies, which had an unlicensed New York branch office. Several investors lost their life savings in the mid 1980s. In 1987, Anderson pled guilty to criminal violations of the banking laws and to tax evasion, and was sentenced to prison. The Supreme Court of New York Appellate Division, in disbarring Anderson from the practice of law, called his disbarment "a sad but we think necessary end to the legal career of one who has in times less beclouded by poor and corrupt judgment served his country in high office as Secretary of Treasury, Deputy Secretary of the Navy and as Special Ambassador to Panama during the Panama Canal negotiations." Matter of Anderson, 142 A.D.2d 498, 536 N.Y.S.2d 765 (12 January 1989).Anderson died in New York City from throat cancer on August 14, 1989, at 79.
Before he died Anderson with all of his contacts became a lobbyist representing many companies including mine. He was a great help to me by introducing me to many large customers. He then asked me how much business I did in Saudi Arabia. I told him that I did not need any help in Saudi Arabia as I was shipping more shampoo there than they have water, as they in turn were exporting my shampoos all over the Middle East. He asked me if I wanted to be the exclusive shampoo in the country. I asked him how that could be. He said he could pull this off. He added that he knew he could. I redesigned he bulls-eye on my label by replacing the Royal Olean groups logo on it and it was a great success.(picture enclosed).He brought to my office a beautiful woman and he told me that she was the secretary of state in her country which was now called Nigeria. It seems that her father was the king, but when it became a “republic” she was appointed to this position. (She would have become the Queen). He asked me to show all of my products to her which she liked as she was also an importer as a sideline in her country. She asked me to send a sample of each product and send it by air, which I did. She then called me again for another set of samples. Since my products were not expensive I sent the second set. I found out that the airfreight was costing me $300.00. A week later she called me once again for another set as they seemed to be “getting lost” in transit. I then realized something was funny and later I found out that all these samples did indeed arrive and she was selling them in the market place. Over the years I received hundreds of “scam letters” from people in Nigeria. Each one said to the effect that they were the widows or relatives of very important government officials and they would receive hundreds of millions of dollars if I would send them the name of my bank and my account number as we would split this money. Using some common sense I threw these letters away. Many used the scam as they had won the lotto and asked me for the same information mentioned above. Today with the modern technology, I receive e-mails to replace the letters, which I deleted. In doing research I decided that was there were no honest people in Nigeria. If you want to read more about Nigerian scams to the following URL this is at.

http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm

You will find the following as one sample scam.
Request for Urgent Business Relationship
“We have the pleasure to make this surprising but mutually benefiting business proposal. I am a member of the newly inaugurated committee for the privatization of the refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, in Nigeria. The members of the committee are interested in the importation of goods into the country with funds presently floating in the Central Bank of Nigeria / Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) foreign payments account. I got your address through the office of the Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The federal military government of Nigeria intends to lease the three existing petroleum refineries to private individuals and companies. This is to make the refineries more viable, resourceful and to eliminate undue wastage and fraud. This privatization is in-line with the recommendations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a prerequisite for future financial assistance. The refineries are heavily indebted to many companies and my committee has the mandate (task) of compiling the names of these companies and debt owed them and also recommend for payment, all contracts that have been fully executed. With our position in the committee, which comprises of my ministry, federal ministry of petroleum resources, Nigerian National Petroleum corporation (NNPC), the federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), we have successfully secured for ourselves, the sum of US $73,000,000 (seventy-three million United States Dollars). This sum was acquired by carefully inflating the amount of indebtedness by this amount (US $73,000,000). We need a reliable company to be included in the list of companies to be paid. This company will be paid for a contract executed in Kaduna Refinery in 1993. I was therefore mandated in trust by members of the committee, to seek a foreign partner into whose account we could transfer the sum of US $73,000,000, hence I am writing you this letter. We have agreed to share the funds thus: (1) 70% for us (the committee members) (2) 20% for you (the account owner) (3) 10% will be used in settling taxation and all local and foreign expenses that will be incurred in the course of this transaction it is from our 70% that we wish to commence the importation business. We also need assurance from you that you will let us have our share once the inflated amount (US $73,000,000.00) is transferred into your account. The payment will be done by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its correspondent bank. What we need from you is that you provide a vital account into which the funds will be transferred/lodged. Note that this transaction is 100% safe and guaranteed since the law under which our committee was set up, has empowered us to disburse all the funds. We shall commence the transfer of the funds immediately we receive the following information by Tel/Fax: (4) Your company name and full address (5) Your bank’s name, telephone and fax number (6) Your account number and name of would be beneficiary The above information will enable us put up letters of claim and job description to the respective ministries for the issuance of the mandatory fund release approval/recommendations. This way, your company will be recognized and accepted as the beneficiary of the contract entitlements before the final remittance to your nominated account, by the Central Bank of Nigeria, being paying bank. Note that we will be responsible for the payment of the federal Inland Revenue tax on behalf of your company and a contract agreement between your company and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation shall be drawn up and antedated showing that your company has a legitimate contract with the NNPC and must be paid. We are looking forward to doing this business with you and solicit absolute confidentiality from you in this transaction. Please acknowledge receipt of this letter, using the above Telefax number for more details regarding this transaction. Also endeavor to send the requested information”.
Bob Anderson and I became close friends and we visited each other many times. He told me that his major source of income was in off shore banking. I said that this was illegal and he could go to jail for doing this. He laughed and said “I guess you do not know who I am, with all the positions that I have had”. Several years later the headlines of every newspaper and the big news on television was “Ex Secretary of the treasury arrested and was now in jail” Some years later all of the media headlines said he died in jail.
If I was lecturing today I would speak about our current President George W. Bush. If his name was not Bush he would be hanging around country clubs and having a grand old time. The following is the history of the Bush family and how he had accumulated all of his wealth and power. I would include how Bush's grandfather helped Hitler's rise to power Rumors of a link between the US first family and the Nazi war machines have circulated for decades. Now the Guardian can reveal how repercussions of events that culminated in action under the Trading with the Enemy Act are still being felt by today's president Ben Aris in Berlin and Duncan Campbell in Washington Saturday September 25, 2004 Guardian.
George Bush's grandfather, the late US senator Prescott Bush, was a director and shareholder of companies that profited from their involvement with the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The Guardian has obtained confirmation from newly discovered files in the US National Archives that a firm of which Prescott Bush was a director was involved with the financial architects of Nazism. His business dealings, which continued until his company's assets were seized in 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy Act, has led more than 60 years later to a civil action for damages being brought in Germany against the Bush family by two former slave laborers at Auschwitz and to a hum of pre-election controversy. The evidence has also prompted one former US Nazi war crimes prosecutor to argue that the late senator's action should have been grounds for prosecution for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. The debate over Prescott Bush's behavior has been bubbling under the surface for some time. There has been steady internet chatter about the "Bush/Nazi" connection, much of it inaccurate and unfair. But the new documents, many of which were only declassified last year, show that even after America had entered the war and when there was already significant information about the Nazis' plans and policies, he worked for and profited from companies closely involved with the very German businesses that financed Hitler's rise to power. It has also been suggested that the money he made from these dealings helped to establish the Bush family fortune and set up its political dynasty. Remarkably, little of Bush's dealings with Germany have received public scrutiny, partly because of the secret status of the documentation involving him. But now the multibillion dollar legal action for damages by two Holocaust survivors against the Bush family, and the imminent publication of three books on the subject are threatening to make Prescott Bush's business history an uncomfortable issue for his grandson, George W, as he seeks re-election. While there is no suggestion that Prescott Bush was sympathetic to the Nazi cause, the documents reveal that the firm he worked for, Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH), acted as a US base for the German industrialist, Fritz Thyssen, who helped finance Hitler in the 1930s before falling out with him at the end of the decade. The Guardian has seen evidence that shows Bush was the director of the New York-based Union Banking Corporation (UBC) that represented Thyssen's US interests and he continued to work for the bank after America entered the war. Tantalizing Bush was also on the board of at least one of the companies that formed part of a multinational network of front companies to allow Thyssen to move assets around the world. Thyssen owned the largest steel and Coal Company in Germany and grew rich from Hitler's efforts to re-arm between the two world wars. One of the pillars in Thyssen's international corporate web, UBC, worked exclusively for, and was owned by, a Thyssen-controlled bank in the Netherlands. More tantalizing are Bush's links to the Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC), based in mineral rich Silesia on the German-Polish border. During the war, the company made use of Nazi slave labor from the concentration camps, including Auschwitz. The ownership of CSSC changed hands several times in the 1930s, but documents from the US National Archive declassified last year link Bush to CSSC, although it is not clear if he and UBC were still involved in the company when Thyssen's American assets were seized in 1942. Three sets of archives spell out Prescott Bush's involvement. All three are readily available; thanks to the efficient US archive system and a helpful and dedicated staff at both the Library of Congress in Washington and the National Archives at the University of Maryland. The first set of files, the Harriman papers in the Library of Congress, show that Prescott Bush was a director and shareholder of a number of companies involved with Thyssen. The second set of papers, which are in the National Archives, are contained in vesting order number 248 which records the seizure of the company assets. What these files show is that on October 20 1942 the alien property custodian seized the assets of the UBC, of which Prescott Bush was a director. Having gone through the books of the bank, further seizures were made against two affiliates, the Holland-American Trading Corporation and the Seamless Steel Equipment Corporation. By November, the Silesian-American Company, another of Prescott Bush's ventures, had also been seized. The third set of documents, also at the National Archives, is contained in the files on IG Farben, who was prosecuted for war crimes. A report issued by the Office of Alien Property Custodian in 1942 stated of the companies that "since 1939, these (steel and mining) properties have been in possession of and have been operated by the German government and have undoubtedly been of considerable assistance to that country's war effort". Prescott Bush, a 6ft 4in charmer with a rich singing voice, was the founder of the Bush political dynasty and was once considered a potential presidential candidate himself. Like his son, George, and grandson, George W, he went to Yale where he was, again like his descendants, a member of the secretive and influential Skull and Bones student society. He was an artillery captain in the First World War and married Dorothy Walker, the daughter of George Herbert Walker, in 1921. In 1924, his father-in-law, a well-known St Louis investment banker, helped set him up in business in New York with Averill Harriman, the wealthy son of railroad magnate E H Harriman in New York, who had gone into banking. One of the first jobs Walker gave Bush was to manage UBC. Bush was a founding member of the bank and the incorporation documents, which list him as one of seven directors, show he owned one share in UBC worth $125. The bank was set up by Harriman and Bush's father-in-law to provide a US bank for the Thyssens, Germany's most powerful industrial family. August Thyssen, the founder of the dynasty had been a major contributor to Germany's First World War effort and in the 1920s, he and his sons Fritz and Heinrich established a network of overseas banks and companies so their assets and money could be whisked offshore if threatened again. By the time Fritz Thyssen inherited the business empire in 1926, Germany's economic recovery was faltering. After hearing Adolph Hitler speak, Thyssen became mesmerized by the young firebrand. He joined the Nazi party in December 1931 and admits backing Hitler in his autobiography, I Paid Hitler, when the National Socialists were still a radical fringe party. He stepped in several times to bail out the struggling party: in 1928 Thyssen had bought the Barlow Palace on Briennerstrasse, in Munich, which Hitler converted into the Brown House, the headquarters of the Nazi party. The money came from another Thyssen overseas institution, the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvarrt in Rotterdam. By the late 1930s, Brown Brothers Harriman, which claimed to be the world's largest private investment bank, and UBC had bought and shipped millions of dollars of gold, fuel, steel, coal and US treasury bonds to Germany, both feeding and financing Hitler's build-up to war. Between 1931 and 1933 UBC bought more than $8m worth of gold, of which $3m was shipped abroad. According to documents seen by the Guardian, after UBC was set up it transferred $2m to BBH accounts and between 1924 and 1940 the assets of UBC hovered around $3m, dropping to $1m only on a few occasions. In 1941, Thyssen fled Germany after falling out with Hitler but he was captured in France and detained for the remainder of the war. There was nothing illegal in doing business with the Thyssens throughout the 1930s and many of America's best-known business names invested heavily in the German economic recovery. However, everything changed after Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Even then it could be argued that BBH was within its rights continuing business relations with the Thyssens until the end of 1941 as the US was still technically neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The trouble started on July 30 1942 when the New York Herald-Tribune ran an article entitled "Hitler's Angel Has $3m in US Bank". UBC's huge gold purchases had raised suspicions that the bank was in fact a "secret nest egg" hidden in New York for Thyssen and other Nazi bigwigs. The Alien Property Commission (APC) launched an investigation. There is no dispute over the fact that the US government seized a string of assets controlled by BBH - including UBC and SAC - in the autumn of 1942 under the Trading with the Enemy act. What is in dispute is if Harriman, Walker and Bush did more than own these companies on paper. Erwin May, a treasury attachĂ© and officer for the department of investigation in the APC, was assigned to look into UBC's business. The first fact to emerge was that Roland Harriman, Prescott Bush and the other directors didn't actually own their shares in UBC but merely held them on behalf of Bank voor Handel. Strangely, no one seemed to know who owned the Rotterdam-based bank, including UBC's president. May wrote in his report of August 16 1941: "Union Banking Corporation’, incorporated August 4 1924, is wholly owned by the Bank voor Handel en Scheepvaart N.V of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. My investigation has produced no evidence as to the ownership of the Dutch bank. Mr. Cornelis [sic] Lievense, president of UBC, claims no knowledge as to the ownership of the Bank voor Handel but believes it possible that Baron Heinrich Thyssen, brother of Fritz Thyssen, may own a substantial interest." May cleared the bank of holding a golden nest egg for the Nazi leaders but went on to describe a network of companies spreading out from UBC across Europe, America and Canada, and how money from voor Handel traveled to these companies through UBC. By September May had traced the origins of the non-American board members and found that Dutchman HJ Kouwenhoven - who met with Harriman in 1924 to set up UBC - had several other jobs: in addition to being the managing director of voor Handel he was also the director of the August Thyssen bank in Berlin and a director of Fritz Thyssen's Union Steel Works, the holding company that controlled Thyssen's steel and coal mine empire in Germany. Within a few weeks, Homer Jones, the chief of the APC investigation and research division sent a memo to the executive committee of APC recommending the US government vest UBC and its assets. Jones named the directors of the bank in the memo, including Prescott Bush's name, and wrote: "Said stock is held by the above named individuals, however, solely as nominees for the Bank voor Handel, Rotterdam, Holland, which is owned by one or more of the Thyssen family, nationals of Germany and Hungary. The 4,000 shares hereinbefore set out are therefore beneficially owned and help for the interests of enemy nationals, and are vestible by the APC," according to the memo from the National Archives seen by the Guardian. Red-handed Jones recommended that the assets be liquidated for the benefit of the government, but instead UBC was maintained intact and eventually returned to the American shareholders after the war. Some claim that Bush sold his share in UBC after the war for $1.5m - a huge amount of money at the time - but there is no documentary evidence to support this claim. No further action was ever taken nor was the investigation continued, despite the fact UBC was caught red-handed operating an American shell company for the Thyssen family eight months after America had entered the war and that this was the bank that had partly financed Hitler's rise to power. The most tantalizing part of the story remains shrouded in mystery: the connection, if any, between Prescott Bush, Thyssen, Consolidated Silesian Steel Company (CSSC) and Auschwitz. Thyssen's partner in United Steel Works, which had coal mines and steel plants across the region, was Friedrich Flick, another steel magnate who also owned part of IG Farben, the powerful German chemical company. Flick's plants in Poland made heavy use of slave labor from the concentration camps in Poland. According to a New York Times article published in March 18 1934 Flick owned two-thirds of CSSC while "American interests" held the rest. The US National Archive documents show that BBH's involvement with CSSC was more than simply holding the shares in the mid-1930s. Bush's friend and fellow "bonesman" Knight Woolley, another partner at BBH, wrote to Averill Harriman in January 1933 warning of problems with CSSC after the Poles started their drive to nationalize the plant. "The Consolidated Silesian Steel Company situation has become increasingly complicated, and I have accordingly brought in Sullivan and Cromwell, in order to be sure that our interests are protected," wrote Knight. "After studying the situation Foster Dulles is insisting that their man in Berlin get into the picture and obtain the information which the directors here should have. You will recall that Foster is a director and he is particularly anxious to be certain that there is no liability attaching to the American directors." But the ownership of the CSSC between 1939 when the Germans invaded Poland and 1942 when the US government vested UBC and SAC is not clear. "SAC held coal mines and definitely owned CSSC between 1934 and 1935, but when SAC was vested there was no trace of CSSC. All concrete evidence of its ownership disappears after 1935 and there are only a few traces in 1938 and 1939," says Eva Schweitzer, the journalist and author whose book, America and the Holocaust, is published next month. Silesia was quickly made part of the German Reich after the invasion, but while Polish factories were seized by the Nazis, those belonging to the still neutral Americans (and some other nationals) were treated more carefully as Hitler was still hoping to persuade the US to at least sit out the war as a neutral country. Schweitzer says American interests were dealt with on a case-by-case basis. The Nazis bought some out, but not others. The two Holocaust survivors suing the US government and the Bush family for a total of $40bn in compensation claim both materially benefited from Auschwitz slave labor during the Second World War. Kurt Julius Goldstein, 87, and Peter Gingold, 85, began a class action in America in 2001, but the case was thrown out by Judge Rosemary Collier on the grounds that the government cannot be held liable under the principle of "state sovereignty". Jan Lissmann, one of the lawyers for the survivors, said: "President Bush withdrew President Bill Clinton's signature from the treaty [that founded the court] not only to protect Americans, but also to protect himself and his family." Lissmann argues that genocide-related cases are covered by international law, which does hold governments accountable for their actions. He claims the ruling was invalid as no hearing took place. In their claims, Mr. Goldstein and Mr. Gingold, honorary chairman of the League of Anti-fascists, suggest the Americans were aware of what was happening at Auschwitz and should have bombed the camp. The lawyers also filed a motion in The Hague asking for an opinion on whether state sovereignty is a valid reason for refusing to hear their case. A ruling is expected within a month. The petition to The Hague states: "From April 1944 on, the American Air Force could have destroyed the camp with air raids, as well as the railway bridges and railway lines from Hungary to Auschwitz. The murder of about 400,000 Hungarian Holocaust victims could have been prevented." The case is built around a January 22 1944 executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt calling on the government to take all measures to rescue the European Jews. The lawyers claim the order was ignored because of pressure brought by a group of big American companies, including BBH, where Prescott Bush was a director. Lissmann said: "If we have a positive ruling from the court it will cause [president] Bush huge problems and make him personally liable to pay compensation." The US government and the Bush family deny all the claims against them. In addition to Eva Schweitzer's book, two other books are about to be published that raise the subject of Prescott Bush's business history. The author of the second book, to be published next year, John Loftus, is a former US attorney who prosecuted Nazi war criminals in the 70s. Now living in St Petersburg, Florida and earning his living as a security commentator for Fox News and ABC radio, Loftus is working on a novel which uses some of the material he has uncovered on Bush. Loftus stressed that what Prescott Bush was involved in was just what many other American and British businessmen were doing at the time. "You can't blame Bush for what his grandfather did any more than you can blame Jack Kennedy for what his father did - bought Nazi stocks - but what is important is the cover-up, how it could have gone on so successfully for half a century, and does that have implications for us today?" he said. "This was the mechanism by which Hitler was funded to come to power, this was the mechanism by which the Third Reich's defense industry was re-armed, this was the mechanism by which Nazi profits were repatriated back to the American owners, this was the mechanism by which investigations into the financial laundering of the Third Reich were blunted," said Loftus, who is vice-chairman of the Holocaust Museum in St Petersburg. "The Union Banking Corporation was a holding company for the Nazis, for Fritz Thyssen," said Loftus. "At various times, the Bush family has tried to spin it, saying they were owned by a Dutch bank and it wasn't until the Nazis took over Holland that they realized that now the Nazis controlled the apparent company and that is why the Bush supporters claim when the war was over they got their money back. Both the American treasury investigations and the intelligence investigations in Europe completely belie that, its absolute horseshit. They always knew who the ultimate beneficiaries were." "There is no one left alive who could be prosecuted but they did get away with it," said Loftus. "As a former federal prosecutor, I would make a case for Prescott Bush, his father-in-law (George Walker) and Averill Harriman [to be prosecuted] for giving aid and comfort to the enemy. They remained on the boards of these companies knowing that they were of financial benefit to the nation of Germany." Loftus said Prescott Bush must have been aware of what was happening in Germany at the time. "My take on him was that he was a not terribly successful in-law who did what Herbert Walker told him to. Walker and Harriman were the two evil geniuses; they didn't care about the Nazis any more than they cared about their investments with the Bolsheviks." What is also at issue is how much money Bush made from his involvement. His supporters suggest that he had one token share. Loftus disputes this, citing sources in "the banking and intelligence communities" and suggesting that the Bush family, through George Herbert Walker and Prescott, got $1.5m out of the involvement. There is, however, no paper trail to this sum. The third person going into print on the subject is John Buchanan, 54, a Miami-based magazine journalist who started examining the files while working on a screenplay. Last year, Buchanan published his findings in the venerable but small-circulation New Hampshire Gazette under the headline "Documents in National Archives Prove George Bush's Grandfather Traded with the Nazis - Even after Pearl Harbor". He expands on this in his book to be published next month - Fixing America: Breaking the Stranglehold of Corporate Rule, Big Media and the Religious Right. In the article, Buchanan, who has worked mainly in the trade and music press with a spell as a muckraking reporter in Miami, claimed that "the essential facts have appeared on the internet and in relatively obscure books but were dismissed by the media and Bush family as undocumented diatribes”. Buchanan suffers from hyper mania, a form of manic depression, and when he found himself rebuffed in his initial efforts to interest the media, he responded with a series of threats against the journalists and media outlets that had spurned him. The threats, contained in e-mails, suggested that he would expose the journalists as "traitors to the truth". Unsurprisingly, he soon had difficulty getting his calls returned. Most seriously, he faced aggravated stalking charges in Miami, in connection with a man with whom he had fallen out over the best way to publicize his findings. The charges were dropped last month.
The Prescott Bush Biography (picture enclosed)

Buchanan said he regretted his behavior had damaged his credibility but his main aim was to secure publicity for the story. Both Loftus and Schweitzer say Buchanan has come up with previously undisclosed documentation. The Bush family has largely responded with no comment to any reference to Prescott Bush. Brown Brothers Harriman also declined to comment. The Bush family recently approved a flattering biography of Prescott Bush entitled Duty, Honor, and Country by Mickey Herskowitz. The publishers, Rutledge Hill Press, promised the book would "deal honestly with Prescott Bush's alleged business relationships with Nazi industrialists and other accusations". In fact, the allegations are dealt with in less than two pages. The book refers to the Herald-Tribune story by saying that "a person of less established ethics would have panicked ... Bush and his partners at Brown Brothers Harriman informed the government regulators that the account, opened in the late 1930s, was 'an unpaid courtesy for a client' ... Prescott Bush acted quickly and openly on behalf of the firm, served well by a reputation that had never been compromised. He made available all records and all documents. Viewed six decades later in the era of serial corporate scandals and shattered careers, he received what can be viewed as the ultimate clean bill." The Prescott Bush story has been condemned by both conservatives and some liberals as having nothing to do with the current president. It has also been suggested that Prescott Bush had little to do with Averill Harriman and that the two men opposed each other politically. However, documents from the Harriman papers include a flattering wartime profile of Harriman in the New York Journal American and next to it in the files is a letter to the financial editor of that paper from Prescott Bush congratulating the paper for running the profile. He added that Harriman's "performance and his whole attitude has been a source of inspiration and pride to his partners and his friends". The Anti-Defamation League in the US is supportive of Prescott Bush and the Bush family. In a statement last year they said that "rumors about the alleged Nazi 'ties' of the late Prescott Bush ... have circulated widely through the internet in recent years. These charges are untenable and politically motivated ... Prescott Bush was neither a Nazi nor a Nazi sympathizer." However, one of the country's oldest Jewish publications, the Jewish Advocate, has aired the controversy in detail. More than 60 years after Prescott Bush came briefly under scrutiny at the time of a faraway war; his grandson is facing a different kind of scrutiny but one underpinned by the same perception that, for some people, war can be a profitable business. In George W. Bush’s case it certainly was for both he and his friends.

CHAPTER five
My Life as a World Traveler

With the exception of making love day & night, my favorite passion happens to be traveling. It has been said about me that I had been in places that most people have only thought about and have done things that most people only dream about doing. I would love to go back to every city and country I have been to and also go to all the rest of the world that I have not been to or seen.

While I was in Morocco I was taken to one of the beautiful mosques I had ever seen. It was recently built and was very modern. I had to visit the restroom and found dozens of stalls with toilets in each. I was surprised as I did not see any toilet paper or water in the area for the user to wipe them selves. I asked my local taxi driver how the person wipes their parts. I was told that if there was no water they keep their wiping hand under their armpit and then later, wipe their hand on a stone when they find one.

On my first visit to mainland China, upon arrival I found that their luggage conveyer belt was not working, so I pushed my luggage along until I retrieved it at the baggage center. An airport worker put out his hand and asked me for six fen. I did not have any Chinese currency as you can not purchase this out of China, and there were no banks at the airport. I offered him an American dollar bill and he screamed at me that I was trying to bribe him and called me a capitalist pig. Finally my “guide” arrived and gave him the six fen and we were on our way. We went into an automobile (in which there were almost non existent at the time) and I told my guide that I had purchased special accommodations to stay at a place called “The Anglers Rest House” and showed him my receipt. He tossed it out of the car windows and told me that we would be staying at the best hotel in Peking (now called Beijing). It was called at that time the Peking Hotel. When we arrived I once again said their must be some mistake and told him to use the telephone to straighten this out. He sat us down in their coffee shop. I was startled to see the various groups that were seated at the adjoining tables. Each was from a different county wearing their native clothes and had various weapons on the floor next to their seats. I got the impression that this was the training ground for all of the terrorists in the world. In looking around the lobby I noticed that this hotel did not have a check in or check out desk, only souvenir shops. I was escorted to my room by my guide and picked up at my room every morning by my guide. My guide returned and said there was no mistake and you are staying at this hotel. I wanted to see the person in charge of my Chase Manhattan Bank and was told his office was in room 306. I also noticed there was an employee folding towels outside of my room that I believed he was their only to report anyone who left the room. When I arrived they confiscated my passport. I was told that it would be returned to me when I left the city, which it was. In each city I went through the same process. Each time I took a picture in color, when it was developed in black and white as there was so much smog in the city that caused this. We flew from Beijing to Shanghai our next stop on China Airlines, Instead of serving a meal or at least a snack; we were given a comb instead. They did not use vacuum cleaners on the flooring at the hotel or on the airline so they used a wet mop to clean up. And once again a guide picked us up and brought us to their designated hotel, which in this case was the Peace Hotel. It was an old hotel but very adequate. I was woken up by the sound of music. I looked out of the window and noticed hundreds of people doing Ti Chi (the first time I had witnessed this). We then were taken to a department store called “The best department store in China” This was in February and very cold. There were hundreds of thousands of people in the store, so it would take hours to get from one end of the floor to the end. A few moments later I notices that my right thigh felt warm and wet. I looked down and found a man holding a baby girl who was pissing on my leg. I looked at my guide and saw him laughing with out of politeness had his hand over his face. I then asked him a question. I said if I had to “go” where would I “go”. He told me to “go” anywhere I want. He said you could do it on the floor next to the jewelry, the cosmetic department or anywhere else. I then realized why the floor was warped and the entire country smelled of urine. I forgot about this for a while; however during this very long walk I really had to “go” and asked him for a more civilized place to “go” It took at least an hour to leave the store. He took me to a long ditch in the back of the store and I noticed hundreds of people either standing or in a sitting position. I then realized that the people standing were men and the sitting people were women. Since the dressing code at the time was wearing only blue or green and all of the people looked clean shaven that was the reason for it. I found a spot to “go” and took my leak in this frozen brown ditch with steam coming out of it.

The purpose of my trip was to buy and sell perfume products, however at that time, they were not interested at all, however told me to meet with their Ministers in the “sofa room” I asked where this room was and told it was in the Beijing Friendship store. When I arrived at the friendship store I asked where the “sofa room” was and brought to a sofa that was on display to be sold. They removed the red ribbon and told that the Minister would be arriving shortly. When he arrived he did not want to discuss perfumes, but offered me the “exclusive distribution” of their silk carpeting that they manufactured in China. They tried to get me to purchase a supply of these. I did buy a very small piece of their silk carpeting. On my plane ride to Hawaii I had found a copy of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper and noticed “my silk carpeting being advertised by Macy’s department store. It seems that they did not know what exclusive meant, and gave it to everyone. I was taken by train to visit the Great Wall of China. (At one time this wall stretched for hundreds of miles, however today it is quite short as the people needed the bricks to build their homes and stole them from the Great Wall) During the ride my guide asked me to tell him the words to a certain song. He hummed the tune by saying Da Da Da, Da Da La,. Da Da La La La. I recognized it as “Jingle Bells” and told him the words to the song. He had taught all of the other guides on the train the words to “Jingle Bells” and they were singing it for the entire trip. I read later in the New York Times, that the most popular song at this time in China was “Jingle Bells” (for some reason). I will say that I never had a bad meal the entire time I was in Mainland China, or in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Singapore. There are some trips that did not have very happy endings. I am an avid cigar smoker and only enjoy Cuban cigars which are forbidden to bring into the United States. During the Cuban Missile crisis. Our president at the time was John F. Kennedy who was also an avid Cuban cigar smoker and was addicted to them as I am. He decided to put an embargo on all goods coming from Cuba however this would stop the arrival of the cigars he loved so much. He instructed his press secretary to bring in a huge amount of Cuban cigars before he announced this embargo. Each day he asked Pierre Salinger if they had arrived as yet and was told they have not as yet. One day Salinger told him that they had now arrived. The president now went on national television and announced the embargo. From that time it became illegal to bring in any goods from Cuba including cigars. (Picture enclosed).This now became a problem to me, so I was forced to become a “smuggler of cigars”. Whenever I took a trip overseas I brought back several boxes and carefully removed the bands and boxes that said “made in Cuba”. I did this on every trip I did. A customer “friend” knew about this and asked me if I would like to go through customs with no search of my luggage. I asked him if he could do that and he replied that he could. I did not trust him so I used my mother as a test. She was going on a cruise and when she returned told me how wonderful her trip was. I then asked her how she was treated when the ship arrived in port and her experience with the custom department. She said she was greeted by two very nice gentlemen who carried her luggage directly to her car with no problems at all. I decided to go ahead with my plan. I was planning a trip to many countries in the Orient and decided to buy a very large amount of Cuban cigars. My friend instructed me not to change any of my plans. He said not to change anything. Do not change the flight dates or the airline and make certain to come back with the same person I told him I would be traveling with. If had changed any of these plans he could not help me accomplish this. I told my idea to my girlfriend who was traveling with me and she said not to do this as we will get into trouble. I decided to go ahead with this plan. Our first stop was Hong Kong where the Davidoff store was in the Peninsular Hotel and made my purchase. I bought so many that we had to buy extra suitcases to hold and carry them back. After Hong Kong, we went to Japan, Taiwan, Mainland China and other countries in Asia. This lady never used foul language but kept saying “we are fucked”, and I said everything was arranged according to plan and there would be no problems. When we returned to the United States we had to go through customs in Honolulu. We waited for our names to be called out (as we were told by my friend that this would happen) but no one called out our names. Everyone else on the plane left the airport, but we were still waiting to hear the announcement of our names. She kept saying the same words “we are fucked”. I replied that there was some mix up and probably just forgot. Naturally we could not stay at the airport forever, so I put my first piece of luggage on the customs table and was told by the customs agent, that they had been waiting for us. At that point two very nicely dressed men arrived and asked me to follow them. At that point a female agent approached us and asked my girlfriend to follow her. I got the feeling that my girlfriend was correct and we were indeed fucked. I had been put into a jail cell and told to strip naked. It did not bother me, however I kept imagining what was happening to her as I had heard of anal and vaginal inspections and starting to feel very bad about all this. We were released from our cells and brought back to the customs desk, where several agents ripped out luggage apart searching for something. Every time they found a box of cigars the stacked them in piles and tapped each one with their fingers. They kept finding pieces of papers such as hotel receipts, currency exchange receipts etc, and added the numbers up using a calculator (which made no sense to me at all). When this procedure was finished they told me that I owed them $375.00, however it I was on their computer as a “bad boy” the price would be doubled. I was not on the computer so I was told to give them the $375.00 in cash. No checks or credit cards were allowed. I was given a receipt that just said “thank you” and told to get your shit out of here and leave. No one had mentioned the cigars at all. We put the luggage together as best we could and left on our flight to the island of Mali. When I arrived at the hotel I telephoned my friend and told him the story. He said do not leave the room and he would find out what was going on. I then received a telephone call from his contact at customs (who I was told was the head man) and retold the story to him. I said I was not asking for an apology but I did mention the term “bad boy” on the customs computer. He said not to worry as he would make sure that my name would not be listed on the computer as a “bad boy”. After several more phone conversations with this man, he asked me when I was returning to New York. He said he would meet with me and let me know what really happened. A week or so later when I had arrived in New York we met for a drink and he told me that the only way they knew about me at all was that it seemed that his telephone was being tapped. He then said that I had been victimized by the Hawaiian customs man and that the money I had paid went directly into his pocket and not turned in to customs. He also said that my name would not be on the computer as a “bad boy”. On my future travels I kept up with my practice of purchasing Cuban cigars with no searches. It was about ten years later when I returned from a trip to Germany I was told to go to another area away from the rest of the passengers and an agent asked to see my passport. He then asked me if I enjoy Hawaii. And asked if I had any cigars with me. At that point I realized that I was indeed on their computer as a “bad boy”. I indeed did have some with me in my luggage but told him that I had stopped smoking cigars. I said that I found out that they were not healthy and that they became very expensive as well. He seemed to believe my story and did not open or look into my luggage and let me leave. I kept traveling and continued to purchase and bring back Cuban cigars with no more incidents. For twenty seven years I ordered these Cuban cigars from the Davidoff store in Geneva. After that time I received a letter stating they will not ship these to the United States any longer, as the US customs told them that they will not let them open any Davidoff stores in the United States malls where they sell men’s accessories etc. I started searching for a source of supply and first found a place in Bermuda, then Barbados and finally Gibraltar, who was willing to send them to me by mail. On one shipment I received a letter from customs that these were Cuban and confiscated. I had the option of flying to New York to argue about this however I declined. I had thought that they were watching this supplier and that was the reason it was confiscated. Several years later when I had visited Gibraltar again I told the owner of the store I was sorry as he did not get paid for the shipment. He told me that this was the only occasion that one of his shipments was stopped, so I continued buying from him once more.

Due to my business trips I found out that I had only seen and got to know the capitols of each country, such as Paris, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, London, etc. When I retired I had the chance to really travel. I would take the lady I was seeing at the time and spent a week or so in the capitol of one country. We then rented a car and drove to every single city in that country. Each year I did this in a different country and really got to know the world and all of its cultures, and taste their foods. I found that I could spend days in the Louvre, The Prado and each museum that was well known and study the art that was world famous from a distance of inches. I did this for many years. The only country I could not drive around to see its wonders was Greece, so we went ahead and bought cruise tickets and went to dozens of spectacular islands. I had been to Europe, Asia as well as Africa but never visited South America.

Due to one of my websites called “Sushi Online” I received an e-mail from a girl and met
her. Since she was now living in Florida I invited her to my home and made sushi for her, which we both were fond of. She reciprocated by cooking a Brazilian meal in her home. I have not cooked anything since as she was a wonderful cook. This Brazilian girl introduced me to South America. (picture enclosed) She took me to Rio de Janeiro. I ended up marrying her. (Most people are not aware that Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world), and that Rio de Janeiro is the most festive city in the world where she was born and grew up. She kept an apartment there so we stayed there while we were In Rio. I went to the worlds best show, which is the carnaval in Rio, then the Maracana (the world’s largest soccer stadium), and when I had tasted Brazilian food I became enthralled with it. In The United States, we all know Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Jewish, German, Hungarian, and many other foods, but I was not prepared for Brazilian food. It seems to be the greatest kept secret to Americans. The best food was prepared by the owner’s housekeeper. They have barbeque restaurants that serve a special meat called Picania which is at the back of the cow which is fantastic. One of the best meats is a steak made of Picania which is a part of the cow that is in the very back of the animal, just above the tail. Preparing Picania is very easy. It is not marinated at all, just salted and put on the fire. What American butchers do with this part is still a mystery to me. At these barbeque restaurants called chirrucuria’s they serve appetizers that make our restaurants look like we are very poor as their selections are huge and delicious as well. They have their waiters walk around the restaurant serving eleven different kinds of meat as well as salmon. There are small coasters on every table. If you want more meat you keep it upright. If you are not ready for the next serving, the coaster is turned over stating wait. The only place I found that has better beef is in Argentina were the cows are better fed and do not have to walk up and down mountains as they do in Brazil. The national drink is the caiperinha made with cachaca. It is fabulous and I make one for my self every day. I purchased a barrel that I filled with cachaça and keep it in my office, to make my Caipirinha’s, daily. If you want to learn how to make it you just a regular lime, which can be purchased in any supermarket and cut it into small pieces. Then crush the lime and add the cachaça. Then add a few ice cubes and some sugar and stirr it. I use a sugar substitute as I had one experience where a waitress put in sugar and I actually became drunk from the sugar added to this “formula” I also order it with the lime pieces taken out which is called quado in Portuguese. Brazil has many restaurants called kilo restaurants in which you pay for the meal by the weight of your order. They are wonderful. They do have many French and Italian restaurants, but I would advise you to avoid them. (I had also read this advice in an article in the New York Times) The Brazilian’s think they are good, however I think they suck. They have pizzerias that serve very good pizza’s however I always say that they are not the same as the pizza’s that you are used to as they do not use marinara sauce. They do not even use it in their Italian restaurants with signs above stating “authentic Italian food”. My questions has always been “how do you make Italian food without it?” It seems they do and everyone else is thrilled with it. Their seafood restaurants are fabulous as they use freshly caught fish that only swim in their warm waters. My favorites are “Cherne” and “Trouta”. I do not care if these fish are grilled or made into a stew which they call “micquca”. Their desserts are fabulous as well with far superior ice cream than we have here in the US, as they make their ice cream using dozens of fruit flavors with fruits we here in the states never even heard of.

We took many side trips to places such as Cabo Frio, Buzios, Recife, Natal, and other cities in the north of Brazil. We also flew down to Igwasa Falls which was the point where Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay meet. We saw the largest water falls, (as well as the largest hydroelectric plant) in the world which makes Niagara Falls look like a small dripping place. In this area there is the largest hydroelectric plant in the world which serves all of Paraguay and parts of Brazil and, Argentina. We then went west to Minas Gerais and to the huge city of Sao Paulo which is the 5th largest city in the world. Their Avenida do Paulista is the widest street you can imagine. It makes our fifth avenue look like a side Street. Few Americans know much about Brazil. It has a population of 180 million people, and is the fifth largest in most everything imaginable, the fifth largest in population, and in trading, etc it has the largest black population outside of Africa. (chart attached). We also flew down to Buenos Aires to tour the city and taste their beef which is the best in the world. If it was not for their politics I would call it paradise. Visiting Angra is a paradise by itself. There are mountains on the beach, which are breathtaking to look at. Most Brazilians spend most of their daytimes on the beach, playing soccer and watching the most beautiful bikini girls in the world. You can also have a massage right on the beach by one of these beautiful bikini girls. I have now been to Brazil nine times and look forward to returning again, even though it is a twelve hour flight from where I live in Tampa, Florida. My only problem in Brazil is the language. Even though I had been there nine times, I do not speak or understand the language no matter how slowly they speak. I know hundreds of words, but can not put together a sentence, nor understand it when they speak. It seems that when you are a child you can learn many languages at the same time, however as you age the language skills shut down after the age of twenty five. However since Brazil trades with Cuba therefore I was able to purchase my cigars in this country.

CHAPTER six
My Life as a Painter

I had always enjoyed the arts and enjoyed painting using oils. When I was in my twenties, I had painted a picture of our dog which was a Beagle. It turned out that it was a very good likeness and hung it proudly on my wall for many years. I was living in a huge house with twenty two rooms with seven bedrooms and six bathrooms. When I decided to sell the house, which became much too large for just my current wife and myself; as our children were grown and away at college. I figured the best thing to do was to hold an auction. I witnessed the sale and noticed that a woman had purchased the painting of the dog. I stopped her and asked why she was buying this painting. She replied by saying “I have another one by the same artist”. I had heard earlier in my life that if you had sold a work that you had produced you became what they called a published artist. So now I can claim that I was an officially published artist.

Later in my life I decided to write a book that I thought could get published. I knew quite about the subject and called it the “Cheetah’s Handbook” (picture enclosed) It was a play off between the Cheetah and the human “philanderer cheater” as both were in a way as the human had to be very fast on his feet. The book contained information on how to “step out” and enjoy the pleasures of the flesh and if one was to follow the instructions the spouse would never find out and no harm would be done. The book was over 600 pages with most antidotes of my own and friends experiences in this field of endeavor. It had many graphics showing the Cheetah in various situations, and the book cover was reversible, which had a wonderful picture of the Cheetah looking down at Times Square. With the reverse side looking like the Financial Times. (Graphics attached) I did that so when a customer left the store he or she could switch the outside cover of the book so no one would be able to see the subject of the book. I sent it to many publishers who. Each asked what degree I had, “was it an MD or a PhD?” I replied that “I had a CAD. Chancellor of Adult Development”. All rejected it stating basically the same thing that this was a great book however “We are not brave enough to pursue this”. One of these publishers happened to have mob connections and gave the book to some people who decided to run full page advertisements on this book that they now called it “The Cheaters Handbook,” They offered it for sale at ten dollars each. I went to the office of the people who ran the ad and when they asked who I was (through a locked door) I gave the name of the publisher as the one “that sent me” as this was not true, as he did not send me, but if these crooks did this to me I felt that a small lie would be appropriate. I told them that I had the book copywrited which was true. They just said “fuck off” and threw me out of their office. I then mailed in the ten dollars (using an assumed name) and after waiting for a month or so I received a copy of their publication. It was a ten page flyer with a blank white page front cover. They took highlights from my copy and that was the content of “their product” that their advertising used the copy “How to Cheat on Your Wife and Get Away with it”. Knowing of their mob connections I never even considered taking this to court as I valued my kneecaps. Since it was never published, I can not claim to be a published writer.

CHAPTER seven
My Life as a Victim by the Health Care Providers

The Hippocratic Oath

Hipocrates wrote the ethical guidelines that for centuries have governed how doctors relate to us patients, beginning with that reassuring dictum:
"First, do no harm"

At this point I would like to mention the third leading cause of death in the United States, behind heart and cancer it “doctors errors” This was written in the New England Journal of Medicine. I have the entire article on my website. This can be found there by clicking www.mrangel.com
And scrolling down to doctors.

The Medical Profession in the United States
Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the USCausing 250,000 Deaths Every Year



This information is a follow up of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papersin December of last year but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal.
Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world.
The author is Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health and shedescribes how the US health care system may contribute to poor health.
ALL THESE ARE DEATHS PER YEAR:
12,000 -- Unnecessary surgery 7,000 -- medication errors in hospitals 20,000 -- other errors in hospitals 80,000 -- Infections in hospitals 106,000 -- non-error, negative effects of drugs These total 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! What does the world iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician’s activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment. Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers: "First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients.” “Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort.” Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitutes the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease)." These estimates of death due to error are lower than those in recent Institutes of Medicine report, and if the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. Even at the lower estimate of 225,000 deaths per year, this constitutes the third leading cause of death in the US, following heart disease and cancer. Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the US's low ranking. Among 29 countries, the United States is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population 17 million, however ranks highest on health population whereas the US ranks among the lowest. It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the US, high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment. Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked, whereas they are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provides the amenities of hospital care.
Journal American Medical Association July 26, 2000; 284(4):483-5

DR.MERCOLA'S COMMENT:
Folks, this is what they call a "Landmark Article". Only several ones like this are published every year. One of the major reasons it is as huge as that it is published in JAMA which is the largest and one of the most respected medical journals in the entire world. I did find it most curious that the best wire service in the world, Reuter's, did not pick up this article. I have no idea why they let it slip by. I would encourage you to bookmark this article and review it several times so you can use the statistics to counter the arguments of your friends and relatives who are so enthralled with the traditional medical paradigm. These statistics prove very clearly that the system is just not working. It is broken and is in desperate need of repair. I was previously fond of saying that drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in this country. However, this article makes it quite clear that the more powerful number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter million people a year. The only more common causes are cancer and heart disease. This statistic is likely to be seriously underestimated as much of the coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not address iatrogenic causes at all. Japan seems to have benefited from recognizing that technology is wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home. Care, not treatment, is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals are rarely the answer to chronic health problems. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity that all of us have is the key. Improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle are basic. Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic illness are also important clues to maximizing health and reducing disease.
Medical Mistakes Kill 100,000 Americans A Year
The promise every doctor makes is First, Do No Harm.
But doctors and hospitals do make mistakes. And the November 30 shocking report from the Institute of Medicine showed medical mistakes are a common and potentially life-threatening risk. If medical mistakes counted among the leading causes of death in America, they would be eighth. Surgical gaffes like amputating the wrong foot or a deadly chemotherapy overdose make headlines. But patients may never hear of the more subtle errors, like a delay in diagnosis or testing that costs precious time to fight off disease. Medical mistakes costing lives. Medical mistakes are a stunningly huge problem, says a new report by the Institute of Medicine. It quoted studies estimating that at least 44,000 and perhaps as many as 98,000 hospitalized Americans die every year from errors. To put that into sharper and more alarming perspective, even the lower figure of 44,000 deaths exceeds the number of people who die each year either on the highways, of breast cancer or of AIDS. It is an intolerable situation, especially when it's taking place in the United States, which leads the world in medical advances. The cause, according to the Institute of Medicine, is not as much recklessness on the part of doctors, nurses and other health providers as it is basic flaws in the way hospitals, clinics and pharmacies operate. That kind of problem is fixable. As a matter of fact, safeguards have already been implemented to reduce the likelihood of such lethal medical errors. Some hospitals are now using computerized prescriptions to ensure that pharmacists don't misread doctors' scrawled prescriptions. At the urging of anesthesiologists, anesthesia equipment is being standardized. And the Food and Drug Administration is trying to reduce confusion by ensuring that the names of new drugs don't sound too similar to drugs already on the market. Doctors' notoriously poor handwriting too often leaves pharmacists squinting to decipher a dose C was it 10 milligrams or 10 micrograms? C or even the name of the prescribed drug. Too many drug names sound confusingly alike. Consider the painkiller Celebrex and the anti-seizure drug Cerebyx; or Narcan, which treats morphine overdoses, and Norcuron, which can paralyze breathing muscles. But far more is needed: a concerted and comprehensive effort to raise the bar on consumer safety in the health care industry, not unlike what has already taken place in other industries. Since many doctors already feel beleaguered by financial constraints imposed on their care, insurers and health maintenance organizations must also bear the burden of improving safety. At a minimum, the Institute of Medicine wants to reduce medical errors by half within five years. Considering the number of people who die each year in hospitals - where they presumably go to get better - even that goal may be too conservative. The top five causes of death in the United States are in order, are tobacco, alcohol, medical malpractice, traffic and firearms.
According to JAMA, doctors kill more people than auto accidents and guns.
With that in mind, one has to wonder why gun control is such a hot legislative issue when, perhaps, we should be more concerned about doctor control. The number of people that doctors kill per day from medical malpractice is roughly equal to the amount of people that would die if every day, three jumbo jets crashed and killed everybody on board, commented Dr. Welch who added, in defense of his own profession, just imagine what headlines would result if a chiropractor or a naturopath accidentally killed just one patient? Another JAMA statistic stated that 1/5 (20 percent) of all people who see an allopath will suffer a doctor-induced injury. Again, according to JAMA, 16 percent of all people who die in the hospital are determined by autopsy to have died of something other than their admission diagnosis. In other words, the doctor had no idea what was really wrong with the patient and, therefore, the patient may have died for want of appropriate care that would have been subsequent to an accurate diagnosis. Keeping Up with Changes. Health care is a decade behind other high-risk industries in improving safety, the report said. It pointed to the transportation industry as a model: Just as engineers design cars so they cannot start in reverse, and airlines limit pilots flying time to keep them rested, so can health care be improved. Some fixes already are under way: Some hospitals have computerized prescriptions. The Food and Drug Administration is hunting ways to catch sound-a-like drugs. Anesthesiologists persuaded many manufacturers to standardize equipment and thus decreased technology-caused errors. Many doctors now literally mark the spot of surgical incisions before patients are put to sleep, so everyone agrees on what will be cut. Changes Coming from Congress. The Institute of Medicine is part of the National Academy of Sciences, a private organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on scientific matters. Congress just passed legislation ordering the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research to hunt strategies to reduce medical mistakes. The bill will even change the name to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to reflect the emphasis. President Clinton is expected to sign the bill soon. But the Institute of Medicine said reducing medical mistakes requires a bigger commitment. It recommended that Congress should establish a federal Center for Patient Safety. It would require $35 million to start and should eventually spend $100 million a year in safety research. The report said the total cost of medical mistakes, lost income and production, cost of disability and health care, totals $17 to 29 billion a year. And that is not mentioning the human toll. The government should require that hospitals, and eventually other health organizations, report all serious mistakes to state agencies so experts can detect patterns of problems and take action. About 20 states now require error reporting. But how much and what penalties they impose varies widely. State licensing boards and medical accreditors should periodically re-examine health practitioners for competence, stressing safety practices. Standardized medical equipment and treatment guidelines can help doctors keep up. Change the of secrecy that surrounds medical mistakes, encouraging doctors to discuss errors as well as near misses so problems are fixed. But is there something you can do, even from your sickbed, To protect yourself? Patients should feel entitled to inquire about their care no matter how sick they are. Second, know about your drugs. The study shows more than 7,000 die each year because of medication errors. Kohn L, ed, Corrigan J, ed, Donaldson M, ed. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999> US Health System Most Expensive in World The most expensive in the world, the American healthcare system is also riddled with problems and contradictions. In short, the top American system is a work in progress, driven by a disparate array of interests with two goals that are often in conflict: providing healthcare to the sick, and generating income for the persons and organizations that assume the financial risk. The government's annual bill for healthcare spending -- $3,925 per person -- significantly exceeds that of other nations, because physicians' salaries and hospital costs are higher, and medical technology is more widely used. The transfer of funds among federal and state Medicare and Medicaid programs is another important component of national healthcare spending. The American healthcare system is at once the most expensive and the most inadequate system in the developed world. The New England Journal of Medicine January 7, 1999;340:48, 70-76. Dr Mercola’s Comment What do we get for the most expensive health care in the world? The absolute best system in the entire world for treating acute surgical emergencies. Beyond that, the system is an unmitigated failure at treating chronic illness. Traditional medicine clearly kills more people than it saves. Prescribed drugs are the fourth leading cause of death and the first three, heart attacks, cancer and strokes and facilitated by physician ignorance of foundational concepts of nutritional physiology. Author/Article Information. Author Affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Corresponding Author and Reprints: Barbara Starfield, MD, MPH, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, 624 N Broadway, Room 452, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996 (e-mail: bstarfie@jhsph.edu). References
1. Schuster M, McGlynn E, Brook R. How good is the quality of health care in the United States? Milbank Q. 1998;76:517-563.
2. Kohn L, ed, Corrigan J, ed, Donaldson M, ed. To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1999.
3. Starfield B. Primary Care: Balancing Health Needs, Services, and Technology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 1998.
4. World Health Report 2000. Accessed June 28, 2000.
5. Kunst A. Cross-national Comparisons of Socioeconomic Differences in Mortality. Rotterdam, the Netherlands: Erasmus University; 1997
. 6. Law M, Wald N. Why heart disease mortality is low in France: the time lag explanation. BMJ. 1999;313:1471-1480.
7. Starfield B. Evaluating the State Children's Health Insurance Program: critical considerations. Annu Rev Public Health. 2000;21:569-585.
8. Leape L.Unecessarsary surgery. Annu Rev Public Health. 1992;13:363-383.
9. Phillips D, Christenfeld N, Glynn L. Increase in US medication-error deaths between 1983 and 1993. Lancet. 1998;351:643-644.
10. Lazarou J, Pomeranz B, Corey P. Incidence of adverse drug reactions in hospitalized patients. JAMA. 1998;279:1200-1205.
11. Weingart SN, Wilson RM, Gibberd RW, Harrison B. Epidemiology and medical error. BMJ. 2000;320:774- 12. Wilkinson R. Unhealthy Societies: The Afflictions of Inequality. London, England: Routledge; 1996.
13. Evans R, Roos N. What is right about the Canadian health system? Milbank Q. 1999;77:393-399.
14. Guyer B, Hoyert D, Martin J, Ventura S, MacDorman M, Strobino D. Annual summary of vital statistics1998. Pediatrics. 1999;104:1229-1246
. 15. Harrold LR, Field TS, Gurwitz JH. Knowledge, patterns of care, and outcomes of care for generalists and specialists. J Gen Intern Med. 1999;14:499-511.
16. Donahoe MT. Comparing generalist and specialty care: discrepancies, deficiencies, and excesses. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:1596-1607.
17. Anderson G, Poullier J-P. Health Spending, Access, and Outcomes: Trends in Industrialized Countries. New York, NY: The Commonwealth Fund; 1999.
18. Mold J, Stein H. The cascade effect in the clinical care of patients. N Engl J Med. 1986;314:512-514.
19. Shi L, Starfield B. Income inequality, primary care, and health indicators. J Fam Pract.1999;48:275-284
©Copyright Dr. Joseph Mercola, 2006. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, as long as copyright, contact, and creation information is given, only if used only in a not-for-profit format. Technology Lack of technology is certainly not a contributing factor to the low ranking of the United States. Among 29 countries, the U.S. is second only to Japan in the availability of magnetic resonance imaging units and computed tomography scanners per million population..17 Japan, however ranks highest on health, whereas the U.S. ranks among the lowest. It is possible that the high use of technology in Japan is limited to diagnostic technology that is not matched by high rates of treatment, whereas in the U.S., the high use of diagnostic technology may be linked to more treatment. Supporting this possibility are data showing that the number of employees per bed (full-time equivalents) in the United States is highest among the countries ranked. They are very low in Japan, far lower than can be accounted for by the common practice of having family members rather than hospital staff provides the amenities of hospital care. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 284, July 26, 2000. It has been known that drugs are the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. This makes it clear that the more frightening number is that doctors are the third leading cause of death in this country killing nearly a quarter million people a year. These statistics are further confused because most medical coding only describes the cause of organ failure and does not identify iatrogenic causes at all. Japan seems to have recognized that technology is wonderful, but just because you diagnose something with it, one should not be committed to undergoing treatment in the traditional paradigm. Their health statistics reflect this aspect of their philosophy, as much of their treatment is not treatment at all, but loving care rendered in the home. Care -- not treatment -- is the answer. Drugs, surgery and hospitals become increasingly dangerous for chronic disease cases. Facilitating the God-given healing capacity by improving the diet, exercise, and lifestyle is the key. Effective interventions for the underlying emotional and spiritual wounding behind most chronic disease are critical for the reinvention of our medical paradigm. These numbers suggest that reinvention of our medical paradigm is called for.
===============================================================
Doctors Are the Third Leading Cause of Death in the US,
Causing 250,000 Deaths Every Year
Journal American Medical Association Vol 284 July 26, 2000
This article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) is the best article I have ever seen written in the published literature documenting the tragedy of the traditional medical paradigm. This information is a follow-up of the Institute of Medicine report which hit the papers in December of last year, but the data was hard to reference as it was not in peer-reviewed journal. Now it is published in JAMA which is the most widely circulated medical periodical in the world. The total is 250,000 deaths per year from iatrogenic causes!! What does the word iatrogenic mean? This term is defined as induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of a complication of treatment. Dr. Starfield offers several warnings in interpreting these numbers: a. First, most of the data are derived from studies in hospitalized patients. b. Second, these estimates are for deaths only and do not include negative effects that are associated with disability or discomfort. c. Third, the estimates of death due to error are lower than those in the IOM report. 1. If the higher estimates are used, the deaths due to iatrogenic causes would range from 230,000 to 284,000. In any case, 225,000 deaths per year constitute the third leading cause of death in the United States, after deaths from heart disease and cancer. Even if these figures are overestimated, there is a wide margin between these numbers of deaths and the next leading cause of death (cerebrovascular disease). Another analysis concluded that between 4% and 18% of consecutive patients experience negative effects in outpatient settings, with: (a) 116 million extra physician visits, (b) 77 million extra prescriptions, (d) 8 million hospitalizations, (e) 3 million long term admissions. (g) $77 billion in extra costs. The high cost of the health care system is considered to be a deficit, but seems to be tolerated under the assumption that better health results from more expensive care. However, evidence from a few studies indicates that as many as 20% to 30% of patients receive inappropriate care. An estimated 44,000 to 98,000 among them die each year as a result of medical errors.2 This might be tolerated if it resulted in better health, but does it? For 16 available health indicators. Of 13 countries in a recent comparison, 3, 4, the United States ranks an average of 12th (second from the bottom). They are too common. Although exact estimates are difficult to find, it is not surprising that an industry as stretched, complex, and burdened as the medical industry is fraught with errors. Many errors go unreported and tracking their exact prevalence is difficult. Nevertheless, bearing in mind that about 2.5 million deaths occur annually in the USA, here are some of the statistics and death rate estimates from various reports: 42% of people believed they had personally experienced a medical mistake (NPSF survey’s) 44,000 to 98000 deaths annually from medical errors (Institute of Medicine). 225,000 deaths annually from medical errors including 106,000 deaths due to "non error adverse events of medications 80,000 deaths annually from medication errors and adverse reactions (Holland) 20000 annually to 88,000 deaths annually from nosocomial infections 2.9 to 3.7 percent of hospitalizations leading to adverse medication reactions 7,391 deaths resulted from medication errors ((Institute of Medicine). 2.4 to 3.6 percent of hospital admissions were due to (prescription) medication events (Australian study) Various studies have been performed about medical errors. A phone survey by the National Patient Safety Foundation found that 42% of people believed they had experienced a medical error personally or to a relative or friend The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports on two studies estimating the hospital, deaths due to medical errors at 44,000 to 98,000 annually, which would place medical errors in the top ten causes of death in the USA. Barbara Starfield’s Article in JAMA places the estimates even higher, citing a total of 225,000 deaths due to iatrogenic causes, which would place health-caused deaths as the 3rd leading cause of death in the USA. Holland et al (1997) estimates as many as 1 million patients are injured while in the hospital and approximately 180,000 die as a result, with the majority due to medication adverse reactions, Worst of all is that the American Medical System KNOWS it's broken, and is taking steps, not to fix its problems, but to destroy those trying to make changes for the better, Those trying to make, and keep, people healthy, those focusing on finding cures for Cancer, AIDS, heart disease, etc. It is trying to maintain the status quo.
All of the information above was found on the internet


http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/doctorsusa.htm

I would guess my first realization was after my father’s death. He had never been sick for a day in his life. He noticed that he had a swollen ankle so he visited a local doctor, who said no problem here. He injected something directly into my father’s ankle. (I had never heard the word “phlebitis” at that time. It seemed the blood clot took three days to travel up to his heart and kill him instantly. My next experience was my ex-mother in law was having pains in her chest. She went to her local doctor who said “lady go home it is just indigestion. She went home and died of a heart attack. Since my father and I were of the same build I was expected to go the same way, however I gave up cigarettes and tried to adjust me lifestyle. This idea stayed with me for over 25 years and I was constantly reading about the heart and knew all of the symptoms. I retired from my business and waited. I had now reached fifty and then sixty and at the age of sixty five I felt something strange in my chest. At first I thought that I might be having a tachycardia attack (which I will mention my battle with that illness later on in this chapter. I immediately drove to the nearest hospital who advertised themselves as the “heart hospital”. I walked in and was told to fill out some paperwork. I threw my wallet at the receptionist and said whatever information you might need you will find in there. I kept saying the word coronary over and over again and kept walking into the emergency room. I laid myself down on a gurney and the doctor working the room (who I term salesman for the firm they work for) as they are usually the newest members of the firm and are sent to work emergency rooms to find customers for the firm. The “doctor” asked me what my problem was and I told him that I was about to have a heart attack, in which he replied by saying it was probably just indigestion. Remembering the experience of my ex mother in-law I insisted that he inject me with a “clot buster”, which would break up the clot and I could return home. We had a long argument in which he said he would not do it unless I wanted to have a stroke. Later when I researched this on my computer I found that they used this drug to people to help stroke victims. He had me checked into a room as a patient and I lied there for seven hours in a gloomy room, where the center of the room was where there was a boiler to heat the building. I remained there and suddenly fell asleep. After seven hours the doctor got his wish. I had my heart attack. I awoke with a man standing over my bed telling me that I had a heart attack and that he was now my doctor. I was in a rage that they did not give me the clot buster that I had asked for however I now had coronary artery disease. I was then told I was now scheduled for an angioplasty in the next day or so. The doctor in the emergency room must have received a big bonus for accomplishing this deed they had hoped for as now they could charge a hundred thousand dollars for this procedure. I Thank God for Medicare, as I had just turned 65 and did not have the money to pay for this procedure; without it. They must have had a huge celebration at their offices. The angioplasty happened to be successful. I was told I had seven percent damage to my heart. I was told at the hospital to report my defecations to the doctors as it seemed to be important to be examined. A day or so later I did have to defecate and looked at it. It was black in color with white spots that seemed to be important to the doctors. As the nurse was flushing it down, I kept yelling Save the Shit, which he ignored and flushed it away. After once again cursing the doctor for not giving me the clot buster injection, he said if I notice anything different to call him. Well the very next day I felt very dizzy. I called him and told him this and he asked me what I was doing at the time. I told him that I was bending down at the time. His answer was “Don’t bend down any more” I fired him on the spot. During my time at that hospital I found out the name of another hospital which was known as the Real Heart Hospital. I telephoned them and asked for the name of the chief cardiac surgeon at that hospital. I called his office and asked if he took private patients. Their answer was yes and I spoke to him directly. He mentioned that his hospital was quite a difference from where I lived, but presented no problem. I was told that if I call 911, they are required to take me to the nearest hospital and to give them his card and he would take over from then on. I liked him and I stayed alive for the next eleven years. When I knew I was moving to Tampa, I asked him if he could recommend a good cardiologist in Tampa, he basically said there were none. I replied that this is a large city and there must be at least one good one. He replied then go out and find one. When I arrived in Tampa I started my search. I had interviewed seven of them and found none that knew anything that I already did not know and kept up my search. I found one who I went to among them who had the same name as a famous comedian. I made six appointments but never saw his face as he had an assistant see me each time. It was a female who mixed up all of my medicines.

I needed a dentist and only would see a Brazilian dentist. I found one who after taking several X-Rays and charged me $140.00 for them; presented me with a quotation of $ 2,780.00 for the work she said that I needed. I then realized that I must see my regular dentist who was in Brazil to work on my problem. The flight to Rio is about $600.00. I flew there to see my regular dentist who is a perfectionist. She did a far superior job than the one who was practicing dentistry in Florida and charged only $500.00. She also invites us to lunch at her house in Rio every Sunday, where her husband (who is an engineer) is a fantastic chef who cooks in the Amazonian style. Every bite of every meal he cooks is memorable. I have planned a trip to the Amazon many times however I have never been there.

I have found out the health care people in Brazil are superior to the care in the United States. In Brazil most of the doctors actually care about their patients. The people choose their doctor from recommendations their friends. There cosmetic surgeons and their dentists are the absolutely the best in the world. With my aging, one time while I was in Brazil I decided to have the bags under my eyes removed I have been plagued with asthma for over 50 years. Every doctor has told me (and my daughter, who also has asthma) to use Albuterol. We just kept puffing all day year after year. I was in Brazil to have some plastic surgery, but the surgeon said I must see a cardiologist before he started cutting. I would guess he did not want me to die on his watch. The cardiologist said my heart was fine, but said I hear lots of noise in your lungs. He asked what I have been using. I said Albuterol, which even on their label mentions arrhythmia. “Since I discontinued the Albuterol, I have not had a single tachycardia attack”. I had been plagued with this as well as asthma for all those years. He gave me a better puffer prescription; however I never had to use it. He asked why I do not prevent it in the first place. He gave me a prescription that prevented the wheezing this is “FLUIR (fumarato de formoterol)” (picture enclosed) which is a small capsule of powder that is inhaled twice a day. This was ten years ago, and I nor my daughter has not had even a hint of a wheeze since, my cost per day is $ 2.00 for this. medication which is cheap in Brazil. Schering-Plough makes the FLUIR; they do not make this here for the American Market, as the also manufacture Albuterol “which states right on their label that this could cause arrhythmia” and makes much more money for them. I telephoned my local pulmonary man and told him this and he feverishly wrote down this information as he is constantly prescribing Albuterol as the only method he knows. The Brazilian Cardiologist who gave me this information said "What kind of doctors do you have in the US"? I told him my opinion which is that they are only interested in making money and have no interest in helping their patients. He has heard that before from Many Americans. I have sent the above information to the American Lung Association before, but they would rather just raise money and give it to their officers...I am now on their mailing list asking me to donate money.


While in Brazil at one time, I decided to have Lasick surgery so I would not have to fool with bifocals or contact lenses. I chose the most prominent doctor in Rio de Janeiro. He had me do many tests to see if I was either a good or bad candidate. No one in the office ever look at the test results (I found out later that I should not have had it done as I was a bad candidate) At the time of the procedure I looked back and did not see the thin doctor with white hair, but saw a young man with black hair. The surgery took only a few seconds. The next day I went to the doctor’s office for a check up. He told me to read the eye chart. I replied “where is the chart” and he said it was on the wall. I replied “where is the wall” I found out that my left eye was almost totally blind. At that point he looked at my cornea and said “normal, but it needs a little more” He himself did the procedure and it became worse. He then did the right eye. At that time he did more surgery on the left eye at the same time he worked on the right eye. My left eye remained just about totally blind. I told this doctor what the bible says “an eye for an eye” and told him I wanted to take out his eye and use it as my own. When I returned home I went online and typed in Lasick, and found a site called “surgical eyes”. I then read that thousands of people had problems with their Lasick surgery. I added my story to this site. I received a replay from the head of Ophthalmology in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He wrote (“are you saying that the doctor did a Lasick procedure on the same eye during the same month?”) He asked for the doctor’s name and address. I found out later that the doctor had closed his office. When I returned to the United States I visited several Ophthalmologists, who each told me that I was butchered by this incompetent doctor in Brazil, and it was irreversible and no lenses could help me see through my left eye again. I was told of a certain place in London that could correct this with a computerized machine that looks at the damage and can correct it. This place is The Reinstein Institute, run by Dan Reinstein, MD who invented this machine. I spoke to him and he said “if you happen find yourself in London, I can help you. His specialty is Post-Refractive Rehab/ and his Areas of Specialization is exactly this. He is at the Eye Academy House at 114a Harley Street London UK, W1G 2EL tel +44 (0) 20 7681 1233 (omit 0 if calling from US)

Not long after my story was published on this blog. I had gotten an email from the people who run “Surgical Eyes” and was told to watch a certain television show about Lasick horrors. It showed a reporter going into a Lasick doctor’s office and got into position to have the procedure done. She got off the table and said she changed her mind. The doctor just shouted next. During this time there were reporters with video cameras showing this. The approached the doctor and showed him her “chart”, and on camera asked him “would you to a Lasick surgery on a person with this chart?” He said “absolutely not”. They now said “you were about to do it to the lady who was on your table moments ago” He ran off camera. The reporters then said that this particular doctor did about 400 people each and every day at $600 per eye. My question is why Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. If you do the math this doctor might make more money each year than Gates.

When my oldest daughter was thirteen years old she developed a sore throat. I and my wife were out of the country at this time. She walked to her pediatrician and had him check her out. He told her to take an aspirin and go home. When I arrived from out trip overseas, she complained that all of her joints were hurting. I took out my handy Dr.Spock’s book and looked at the symptoms. I found out that these symptoms seemed to indicate that she had Rheumatic Fever. I called her pediatrician and apprised him of what I had read. He said that he knows all about Rheumatic Fever as his own sister had it, and that she did not have Rheumatic Fever. I brought her to the hospital that confirmed the fact that she did indeed have Rheumatic Fever and checked her in to a room. I received a telephone call from the hospital stating that she might not make it through the night and might die, as it was heart involved. They treated her with cortisone and she survived. A friend of mine had a cousin who was a very well known cardiologist. I flew him in from California, and he had told the hospital what to do from then on. She stayed in the hospital for the entire summer and when it was time for her to go home I almost could not recognize her as she had gained about 100 pounds. I mentioned to my wife to put her on a diet as she was enormous. She had overheard this conversation and refused to eat and developed anorexia. She regained her weight to her normal range, but to this day remains very thin. During this process I received a bill from her pediatrician for his “services”. But I did not pay for the portion that had to do with her initial tests.

For some unknown reason I developed terrible pain in my right shoulder. I went to a physical therapist that made it worse. I was referred to a well known orthopedist in the area that I had lived in and he sent me to his physical therapist that made if even worse than before. He decided to do surgery. After the surgery he sent me to his physical therapist once again and I suffered more pain than before. I asked a friend who was a retired orthopedist and asked his opinion. He suggested that I go to a “teaching doctor” I went to the University of Miami and saw the teaching doctor who examined me and had a dozen students with him. When he looked at the X-Rays he remarked that “whoever did this surgery put a whole hardware store in there, so he could build up the Medicare bill and knew how to work the papers to get paid more.” He also said that this was “needless surgery”. He then said “You need a good physical therapist” I told him that I had gone that route many times with each making the pain worse. He replied in saying “You were not listening, I said a “good physical therapist” I asked him if he knew of any. He gave me the name of one that cured the pain in a few visits.

My Ex-wife (a heavy smoker) went for an annual check up and was told she definitely had lung cancer. She then went to several other doctors to confirm this and each said she definitely had lung cancer. They checked her into the hospital and cut her open. They removed ½ of one of her lungs, but later the biopsy showed it to be benign. The pain and suffering not including the emotional factor is scary enough. The doctors padded their bank accounts not caring a bit about the suffering patient. Since she was underage and not having Medicare, she paid the bills herself. Take a look at the following URL to read all about this, and then continue down to page 2, which tells my personal experiences.

http://host86.ipowerweb.com/~mrangelc/doctorsusa.htm



CHAPTER eight
My friend the General the war hero

Several months before I had moved to Tampa, an elderly couple moved next door to my when I had lived in the Polo Club. I became very good friends with possibly the most interesting man I had ever had the pleasure of knowing. He came to visit me every day and told me wonderful stories about his life. When World War II broke out, he did not want to be drafted into service, so he got a job with the firm that was making the Norden Bomb Sight Machines. The URL is below.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norden_bombsight. His job was to train both the American as well as the British bombardiers on how to use it. It was a very secret weapon that all the soldiers were told that if their planes ever about to crash to destroy this machine. He still felt insecure about being drafted so he joined the United States Coast Guard reserve. Within a short time he was in fact drafted into the army as a private. One day he was told to report to an office on his base. He entered the room and was greeting by a man wearing a general’s uniform wearing a shiny helmet with three stars on it. It turned out to be General George Patton. The general asked him” where the hell did you get such a high IQ? He answered that he did not now but it must have come from his parents. He was told to enter the War College in which he received top grades. He graduated as a brigadier general. He then was asked which general he wished to serve under. He replied with the name of General Patton. His commanding officer said we have enough generals in Europe and they needed him in the pacific theatre of operations. He was assigned to work under General Macarthur. He was put in charge of tank warfare, and participated in just about every landing, from island to island. During this time he kept a small tape recorder with him and spoke into it constantly. He played some of them for me with the audio saying that this is General Lewis F, Parker, and we are about land on Tarawa, etc. I was able to clearly hear the naval gunfire in the background on each tape. He was wounded many times, and had received every medal that the army could give out. He still has many pieces of shrapnel still in his body that keep working their way out. He did say that after being wounded he was treated very well in each hospital he had been sent to. He was a young, handsome high ranking officer that all the nurses loved. The each sat on his lap and sexually pleasured him. One day General Macarthur called him in and was told he must go on what could be a suicide mission. He was told there was a prison camp behind the enemy lines that contained 3000 civilians. During World War II, the Japanese converted the campus into a concentration camp for civilians, foreigners and POWs.. (Some of the most brutal war crimes against American soldiers and civilians living abroad occurred in Santo Tomas). He was apprised of the fact that he must take his tanks and only travel at night and it would take him 27 days to get there. He did in effect get there and freed the 3000 civilian prisoners, one of which was the famous life magazine named Carl Mydans. When Mydans was first arrested by the Japanese he told them who he was and offered not to put him into prison if he would photograph their soldiers in a glorified manner. Mydans chose prison instead. When Parker told General Macarthur this story, Macarthur decided to choose Mydans to take the now famous “I shall return” picture showing him walking through the water ashore. Parker told me that during this walk, Macarthur fell down into the water twice and had to go back and change into a fresh new uniform. He had also told me that the president of the Philippines who was also walking ashore fell into the water and had to put on a new suit of clothing for this now famous picture. If you look at this picture you will see the gentlemen wading through the water. Macarthur in the center, and the now Lieutenant General Parker on Macarthur’s left carrying some maps that were rolled up. He was third in command after Macarthur and General Eichelberger. Two years ago Carl Mydans passed away at the age of 92. Life Magazine put out a special edition in tribute to him. (Picture attached). A brass plate by the entrance of the building memorializes the building’s significance to thousands of Americans and other nationals who suffered at the hands of the Japanese Army that invaded the Philippines in World War II. (Below:) A giant plaque on the building’s wall wither the names those who were detained in the camp. (pictures enclosed).

Carl Mydans began his photographic career with the Farm Security Administration in 1935, and was quickly hired away by Life magazine in 1936. Mydans photographed national stories until 1939, when Life sent Carl and his wife Shelley Smith Mydans to cover the war in Europe as the first husband and wife photo-journalist team. Carl Mydans, from Europe, the couple was re-assigned to the Pacific theater. In 1941 they were captured by Japanese forces in the Philippines and held as prisoners of war until freed by General Parker and his tanks in 1943.
When we moved to Tampa from Boca Raton, we had invited him and his wife to stay with us in out home. We speak on the telephone from time to time, however I miss him very much.

Today I spend most of my day at my computer creating movies. I take a snapshot with my digital camera, and then animate it and add it to the movies that. (I download small segments of movies on the internet, and create my movies around them, I then add audio to it) I send these to my friends to entertain them and I even post some on U-Tube and Metacafe and some other websites. I love what I do and have always enjoyed what ever I had done. I know that some day I will indeed pass away and have told my wife I want to be cremated. (My dream is to have my ashes sent to the KY jelly factory), and be able to “visit all of the girls who I had never known”.

http://www.metacafe.com/channels/angelou/

http://www.mrangel.com/

1 comment:

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