WEBVTT NOTE 11. Our Last Years Together 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.800 Chapter 11. Our Last Years Together 2 00:00:02.800 --> 00:00:10.600 On May 29, 1969, Lew held his last seminar at New York University, but that did not mean he was ready to retire. 3 00:00:10.600 --> 00:00:19.400 Until 1972, he kept up his seminars at the Foundation for Economic Education, where the intellectual atmosphere was so much to his liking. 4 00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:22.480 At home, he was constantly reading. Once he was asked, 5 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:52.480 Don't you have a hobby? Oh yes, he replied, reading. His studio was his sanctuary, his books his treasures. The last thing he did at night before retiring was to go to the bookshelves and, like a gourmet studying the menu in a good restaurant, carefully select a book to enrich his evening. One of the last books he read with great interest was Louis Rougier's The Genius of the West. He had already read it in the original French edition, and he considered it to be a great and valuable book. 6 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:57.480 In the latter and hernia operations of many years before, Lew had an excellent constitution. 7 00:00:57.480 --> 00:01:01.480 He was a healthy mind and a healthy body to the last year of his life. 8 00:01:01.480 --> 00:01:04.480 His eyesight was perfect and remained so to his last days. 9 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:08.480 The only thing that depressed him was the deterioration of his hearing. 10 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:15.480 He could not participate in a general conversation, being unable to hear clearly when more than one person talked at the same time. 11 00:01:15.480 --> 00:01:20.480 As a consequence of his poor hearing, he could no longer enjoy the theater. 12 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:25.480 Nevertheless, we kept up the subscription to the Metropolitan Opera that I had given him years before. 13 00:01:25.480 --> 00:01:30.480 Thanks to our good seats, he could follow the performance as attentively as before. 14 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:33.480 The opera was the highlight of his later years. 15 00:01:33.480 --> 00:01:37.480 Once in a while, he also listened to a chamber music concert on radio. 16 00:01:37.480 --> 00:01:40.480 When I tried to get him interested in a good television show, he said, 17 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:43.480 It would take too much of my time. 18 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:46.480 And he specially objected to listening to commentators. 19 00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:49.480 I can do my thinking alone, was his reaction. 20 00:01:49.480 --> 00:02:19.480 An exception was Bill Buckley's firing line. Buckley's intelligence, his sharp and biting wit, his zeal and imminent productivity impressed Lew greatly. Lew was a steady reader of National Review, but often regretted that the magazine lacked sound economic articles, which he regarded as a mistake of Buckley's publishing policy. Lew's failing hearing was especially depressing to him in the discussion periods following his lectures, when he missed the questions that were put to him. In the last years of his seminars, 21 00:02:19.480 --> 00:02:25.480 He changed that all questions be put to him in writing, and, for the benefit of the students, be read aloud to him. 22 00:02:25.480 --> 00:02:28.480 Percy Greaves transmitted the questions to him. 23 00:02:28.480 --> 00:02:32.480 Percy had such a clear and penetrating voice that even Lew could hear him. 24 00:02:32.480 --> 00:02:38.480 This procedure proved satisfactory, and Lew's quick and brilliant answers always earned the admiration of the students. 25 00:02:38.480 --> 00:02:45.480 The only disadvantage of the written questions was the interruption in the direct flow of thoughts between student and professor. 26 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:51.340 The deterioration of Lew's hearing, so natural at his age, made him feel lonely and isolated. 27 00:02:51.340 --> 00:02:55.660 To avoid this, I invited even more people to the house than before, but he needed my 28 00:02:55.660 --> 00:03:00.820 help more and more. I became sort of a public relations officer, the middle man between 29 00:03:00.820 --> 00:03:05.580 him and his students. When meeting people for the first time, Lew usually asked for 30 00:03:05.580 --> 00:03:10.320 their names in writing. He often told me the listeners at my lectures have a full hour 31 00:03:10.320 --> 00:03:15.240 or more to look at me, to hear me talk, while I see them for only a short moment after the 32 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:45.240 In April, 1969, we flew to California for a series of lectures in Los Angeles. It was a quick trip, and we were back to New York after a few days. After 1971, he began to cut down on his traveling. The happiest summer of Lew's later years was that of 1967, spent in Middersill, a little village in New Hampshire. Middersill is like a tiny little village in New Hampshire, but it was a beautiful little town. 33 00:03:45.240 --> 00:04:04.720 The house was roomy and charmingly furnished and had a well-equipped kitchen, so we could 34 00:04:04.720 --> 00:04:08.880 either eat at home or walk the few steps to the Austrian restaurant. 35 00:04:08.880 --> 00:04:13.440 The high point of our stay in Middersill was the visit of our little granddaughter Mandy, 36 00:04:13.440 --> 00:04:17.760 June Gittem, my daughter, had brought to stay with us. When Lew saw the child, his eyes 37 00:04:17.760 --> 00:04:22.920 lit up. She was a beautiful little girl, seven years old, slim, with blonde hair and huge 38 00:04:22.920 --> 00:04:28.760 blue eyes. As I mentioned before, Lew hardly ever worked during his vacation. But when 39 00:04:28.760 --> 00:04:34.560 he did, I would never disturb him. Mandy, however, did not recognize any rules. When 40 00:04:34.560 --> 00:04:38.980 she wanted to have a word with her grandpa, she went straight into his room and he never 41 00:04:38.980 --> 00:04:44.980 When she thought he looked too serious for her taste, she only needed to say, 42 00:04:44.980 --> 00:04:51.980 Grandpa, smile! And immediately his expression changed, and a kind, warm smile brightened his face. 43 00:04:51.980 --> 00:05:00.980 One day we visited Franconia College. The students recognized Lew and gathered around our car to pepper him with questions, mostly about Ludwig Wittgenstein, 44 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:04.980 the Austrian philosopher, who was in fashion with them at the time. 45 00:05:04.980 --> 00:05:23.980 Lew, as always, answered every question patiently, while Mandy looked at the boys and girls around us. It was a strange crowd, their heads full of ideas and how to improve the world, their bodies scantily dressed. All were in bare feet, the girls with long flowing hair, and the boys had masses of beard framing their faces. 46 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:32.980 After watching these youngsters, little Mandy said, If all the boys and girls in American colleges look like this, I'd rather go to school in England. 47 00:05:32.980 --> 00:05:39.280 Mandy, at that time, was a rather untidy little girl, and I tried my best to change her. 48 00:05:39.280 --> 00:05:44.220 One day I told her, Mandy darling, each evening when I come into your room and find your toys 49 00:05:44.220 --> 00:05:50.100 put away, and the room tidied and nice looking, I'll give you five cents. After a while you 50 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:54.980 will have saved enough to buy your mummy a nice present when she returns. When Lew heard 51 00:05:54.980 --> 00:06:00.100 this, he explained to me that it was a bad educational practice to bribe a child, but 52 00:06:00.100 --> 00:06:04.860 But that very evening he went into Mandy's room to kiss her good night, and told her, 53 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:10.180 Mandy, how would you like it if I gave you ten cents every night when your room was tidy? 54 00:06:10.180 --> 00:06:14.720 Could anyone imagine that Mandy would not have liked it? 55 00:06:14.720 --> 00:06:20.780 As usual, we had guests that summer, Elo and George Kutner, and Bettina and Percy Greaves. 56 00:06:20.780 --> 00:06:25.380 We also became very good friends with the Austrian ambassador to the United Nations, 57 00:06:25.380 --> 00:06:30.380 Baron von Heimerl and his wife, who had a little chalet very near to ours. 58 00:06:30.380 --> 00:06:34.380 A year later, Dr. Heimerl became the Austrian ambassador to Russia. 59 00:06:34.380 --> 00:06:41.380 They wrote us from Moscow, but the cards were so carefully worded that the unwritten words were more eloquent than the written ones. 60 00:06:41.380 --> 00:06:45.380 In May 1970, Lew made his last extensive lecture trip. 61 00:06:45.380 --> 00:06:52.380 It had been arranged by Charles Heatherly, at the time director of the Southern Intercollegiate Studies Institute 62 00:06:52.380 --> 00:06:57.380 and later Educational Director of the National Federation of Independent Business in California. 63 00:06:57.380 --> 00:07:07.380 This trip took us from Seattle, where Lew gave an excellent lecture before a full house of some 600 people via Los Angeles to Tucson, Arizona. 64 00:07:07.380 --> 00:07:13.380 It was an exciting trip for us because it took place during the days of unrest on American campuses. 65 00:07:13.380 --> 00:07:21.380 Many students wearing red armbands to show they were against participation in the Vietnam War were boycotting classes and lectures. 66 00:07:21.380 --> 00:07:25.220 Others, frightened of being caught up in riots, simply stayed home. 67 00:07:25.220 --> 00:07:28.500 Charles Heatherly accompanied us on the flight to Tucson. 68 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:34.300 At the airport, we were received by Dr. Luis Gaspar, a six-foot, 26-year-old bachelor who 69 00:07:34.300 --> 00:07:39.100 was an assistant professor in the economics department at the University of Arizona. 70 00:07:39.100 --> 00:07:42.900 Several of his students had come along to meet Lew, and all of them accompanied us to 71 00:07:42.900 --> 00:07:47.280 the Pioneer Hotel, where they had taken quarters for us. 72 00:07:47.280 --> 00:07:51.260 That afternoon, a friend of Leonard Reed invited Dr. Gaspar, four of his students, and our 73 00:07:51.260 --> 00:08:12.260 This gentleman had an impressive library, and he immediately asked my husband to write a few words in his copy of Human Action, which was open on the table. He insisted that Dr. Mises was the only author besides Winston Churchill, whom he had ever asked to autograph a book. 74 00:08:12.260 --> 00:08:18.260 Being familiar with Lew's views about Churchill, I am afraid I did not accept this news with the expected enthusiasm. 75 00:08:18.260 --> 00:08:28.260 I would have liked to know, however, whether this so hospitable gentleman had really read all the books in his library and knew, as he stated, all their authors. 76 00:08:28.260 --> 00:08:38.260 After a glass of champagne, he took us in his Rolls-Royce, driven by an elegant chauffeur, to the country club, where we had the best food we had eaten in a long, long time. 77 00:08:38.260 --> 00:09:08.260 Next morning my husband preferred to stay in the hotel. The elegant chauffeur came with the Rolls, and Mr. Heathley went with me to the desert museum. This museum was a strange sight. Everything was in the open. We saw tigers, lizards, huge cockroaches, mountain bears next to caves, exotic plants, and strange looking flowers. I could not see enough of everything, but I must confess I was not very happy in that Rolls-Royce, and was glad when we were back in the hotel. There were only two Rolls-Royce 78 00:09:08.260 --> 00:09:13.260 I was afraid the young people and their excitement might eventually become destructive. 79 00:09:13.260 --> 00:09:19.260 Whenever there was time, I watched the riots on television and saw the mounting unrest among the students. 80 00:09:19.260 --> 00:09:24.260 Lew's lecture was in the evening. We had to cross the campus again to get to the auditorium, 81 00:09:24.260 --> 00:09:28.260 but this time we went in Dr. Gasper's car, so I felt no danger. 82 00:09:28.260 --> 00:09:35.260 Gasper introduced Lew, reading the citation the American Economic Association had given him in 1969. 83 00:09:35.260 --> 00:09:39.260 by the Association had given him in 1969. 84 00:09:39.260 --> 00:09:41.260 Lew spoke about inflation. 85 00:09:41.260 --> 00:09:44.260 As always, his presentation was clear and convincing. 86 00:09:44.260 --> 00:09:47.260 Before and after his lecture, he got a standing ovation. 87 00:09:47.260 --> 00:09:50.260 It lasted so long, it must have embarrassed him. 88 00:09:50.260 --> 00:09:53.260 Mr. Headley had placed me in the first row. 89 00:09:53.260 --> 00:09:57.260 During the question period after the lecture, I sent a question up to Lew, 90 00:09:57.260 --> 00:10:00.260 printed to hide my handwriting and not giving my name. 91 00:10:00.260 --> 00:10:03.260 What should undergraduates do if they are forced by their professor 92 00:10:03.260 --> 00:10:10.260 by chance, Dr. Gasper took my piece of paper last, and it gave Lew an opportunity for a most impressive ending to the evening. 93 00:10:10.260 --> 00:10:17.260 My actions startled me. Never before had I raised my voice or asked a question during one of the various lectures. 94 00:10:17.260 --> 00:10:23.260 I failed to note down Lew's answer to my question, maybe because I knew in advance what he would say. 95 00:10:23.260 --> 00:10:28.260 It was easy for Lew to answer my query. That must have been one of the reasons I sent it up. 96 00:10:28.260 --> 00:10:32.540 That must have been one of the reasons I sent it up. I knew that the lecture in the following 97 00:10:32.540 --> 00:10:38.580 half hour of questioning put a terrible strain on him, and I wanted to give him some relief. 98 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:43.140 As Lew's answer is more important than my question, I wrote to Dr. Gasper in February 99 00:10:43.140 --> 00:10:49.660 of 1975, Do you by any chance have the lecture given in Tucson on tape, or could you give 100 00:10:49.660 --> 00:10:56.060 me, out of your memory, a short outline of my husband's answer? Dr. Gasper answered, 101 00:10:56.060 --> 00:11:00.880 I wish that I could satisfy your request at once from my own memory. Regrettably, my position 102 00:11:00.880 --> 00:11:05.660 on the platform, the highest honor I have had, made me much the most nervous person 103 00:11:05.660 --> 00:11:10.700 there, and therefore did not permit me to take notes as ordinarily I would. 104 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:16.060 With refreshing honesty, Dr. Gasper verified once more the bewilderment, adoration and 105 00:11:16.060 --> 00:11:20.760 awe young people often felt when they first met my husband, only later would they realize 106 00:11:20.760 --> 00:11:25.660 how humble and modest he really was. If I think about the answer my husband would have 107 00:11:25.660 --> 00:11:29.740 given to his question, I am sure you would have advised the students to read what their 108 00:11:29.740 --> 00:11:35.780 professor asked them to read. But read not only that, he must have said, read more. Read 109 00:11:35.780 --> 00:11:41.500 everything about the subject from every point of view, be it socialist, Marxist, liberal, 110 00:11:41.500 --> 00:11:46.620 libertarian. Read with an open mind. Learn to think. Only when you know your subject 111 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:51.360 from all sides can you decide what is right and what is wrong. Only then are you ready 112 00:11:51.360 --> 00:12:17.360 The next morning, Lew and I visited the campus museum. When he became fatigued, we returned to the hotel. After lunch, the big rolls with the elegant chauffeur appeared again to take us through the campus to the auditorium, where my husband was to meet the faculty and then speak to the general public. 113 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:32.360 The faculty meeting was rather disappointing. Only about 25 members came to meet Lew. Dr. Gaspar explained they are like jackals, but don't forget the atmosphere of this campus is leftist, and the excitement about Nixon in Cambodia is increasing. 114 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:39.360 This was not very comforting, but in contrast to the faculty reception, the lecture for the general public was very crowded. 115 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:50.360 Louis spoke about the trade cycle and about gold, and when Gaspar asked some questions about the current economic situation, he gave his frank opinion in his forthright and honest way. 116 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:59.360 The public responded enthusiastically, and again my husband got a long-standing ovation. On Saturday, May 9th, we returned to New York. 117 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:06.360 That summer I rented a little house in Dorset, Vermont. It belonged to David Gilbert, former owner of the hardware store in the village. 118 00:13:06.360 --> 00:13:11.480 Village. He was a self-made man who, when he retired, could not be without work and 119 00:13:11.480 --> 00:13:16.960 had taken up picture framing, which he did extremely well and with great taste. We occupied 120 00:13:16.960 --> 00:13:22.440 his original house, a lovely old building with a beautiful shady garden. Next to it 121 00:13:22.440 --> 00:13:26.960 David had built for himself a small modern cottage where he lived with his wife Nora, 122 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:32.660 a very efficient and kind woman. We soon became good friends. By then we had been in Dorset 123 00:13:32.660 --> 00:13:37.500 so often that Lew was known everywhere as the professor. Dorsa is easily reached from 124 00:13:37.500 --> 00:13:42.180 New York, so we had frequent visitors. One day Percy Greaves appeared with four students 125 00:13:42.180 --> 00:13:47.060 who had just attended a seminar at FEE. We already had met two of these young boys in 126 00:13:47.060 --> 00:13:51.940 Seattle. They were most eager to see my husband again and to discuss various questions with 127 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:58.620 him. Lew held a seminar that day in the garden, beneath a huge, shady old chestnut tree. Afterward 128 00:13:58.620 --> 00:14:11.620 In the neighboring garden sat our landlord David Gilbert, listening intently, making notes once in a while, determined to ask Lou later for explanation. 129 00:14:11.620 --> 00:14:18.620 That summer we also had a most cherished visit from Gustavo and Lupe Velasco and Elenita, their young daughter. 130 00:14:18.620 --> 00:14:23.620 Though Gustavo was an excellent driver, he had lost his way on the hilly back country roads. 131 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:53.620 When they had not arrived by eleven at night, everyone was worried. Even the owner of the Dorset Inn, where I had rooms reserved for the Velazcos. We went to bed without having seen them. Gustavo could not understand all the excitement. He was delighted to find a cold meal, cool drinks and fruit in his room, for the Velazcos had not eaten anything since lunch. They had hoped to arrive much earlier, but after eight o'clock it is very difficult to find a place in this part of Vermont where one can get a regular meal. Only three days later, when I asked Gustavo for 132 00:14:53.620 --> 00:15:23.620 It was the middle of September when we returned from Dorset to New York. On October 21st we flew to San Francisco for another week of lectures. Lew gave his first lecture the next day, a short talk about money. For the first time I noticed that he was not as alert as usual. The trip and the change of climate and time must have affected him. To my great relief, I was able to get to know him. 133 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:30.820 On Saturday, Percy Greaves, who was with us all the time, had a lecture of his own in 134 00:15:30.820 --> 00:15:35.140 Burlingame, where he spoke to a large audience for about three hours. 135 00:15:35.140 --> 00:15:39.980 Lew came in at the end and finished the session with a short talk, lasting only ten minutes. 136 00:15:39.980 --> 00:15:42.420 Then the questions poured in for Lew. 137 00:15:42.420 --> 00:15:47.380 Percy, helpful as always, read them aloud and my husband answered, but I noticed a change 138 00:15:47.380 --> 00:15:49.380 in his handling of the questions. 139 00:15:49.380 --> 00:15:51.340 He used too much time in answering. 140 00:15:51.340 --> 00:15:57.000 I sent him a note written in German, advising him to be very brief. Percy was rather humorous. 141 00:15:57.000 --> 00:16:01.120 When he gave Lew the note, he did not know what it contained. He said, Professor, here 142 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.740 is a note in code, and everyone laughed. I was relieved that Lew understood. The audience 143 00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:11.300 responded well, giving him huge applause, but I could not lose my concern about the 144 00:16:11.300 --> 00:16:16.320 many lectures he had promised to deliver later that same year. I knew he needed rest and 145 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:22.800 Nevertheless, in November 1970, we went to Grove City College. 146 00:16:22.800 --> 00:16:27.000 Hans Senholtz took good care that Lew was comfortable and had enough rest. 147 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:32.320 The audience, students taught under the guidance of Dr. Senholtz, were eager to hear the professor 148 00:16:32.320 --> 00:16:33.320 talk. 149 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.220 The atmosphere was warm and friendly and the audience enthusiastic. 150 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:41.880 On December 10th, Lew gave a lecture at Plano University, and the following day he delivered 151 00:16:41.880 --> 00:16:46.160 and a final short address to the faculty and student body at the university, where some 152 00:16:46.160 --> 00:16:48.680 of Percy's students were graduating. 153 00:16:48.680 --> 00:16:52.160 These were the last lectures he gave outside New York City. 154 00:16:52.160 --> 00:16:55.400 His seminar in Irvington still went on, however. 155 00:16:55.400 --> 00:17:00.480 The last time he spoke from the platform was on March 26, 1971. 156 00:17:00.480 --> 00:17:05.320 He had always loved lecturing in Irvington, and he continued doing it as long as he felt 157 00:17:05.320 --> 00:17:06.320 able. 158 00:17:06.320 --> 00:17:11.440 It is fitting that the painting of Lew by George Augusta, the well-known portrait painter, 159 00:17:11.440 --> 00:17:16.440 as a place of honor on the landing of the beautiful staircase of the Foundation for Economic Education. 160 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:23.440 This painting, initiated by Lawrence Furtig, was presented by the trustees of FEE to Leonard Reed 161 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:26.440 in honor of the Foundation's 25th anniversary. 162 00:17:26.440 --> 00:17:31.440 I believe it may be of interest for the reader to know how this portrait came to life. 163 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:37.440 George Augusta practically lived with us from morning to night from March 8th to March 10th, 1971, 164 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:40.440 using these days for the basis of his work. 165 00:17:40.440 --> 00:18:10.440 Our living room became his atelier. He shared his meals. He talked with us. He watched Lew's every moment. He tried to keep Lew interested, all the time observing him and watching his reactions. A psychoanalyst listens, a painter or a sculptor watches. The result should be the same, insight into a man's soul. For me it was fascinating to watch so closely an artist at work. All the time I had to sit next to Lew in a special location so that his eyes would rest on me constantly. 166 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:14.800 I could not have done this painting without you, Augusta often said, and I agreed that 167 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:19.680 my husband would not have wasted his time sitting quietly for three days without a book, 168 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:21.560 looking at nothing. 169 00:18:21.560 --> 00:18:26.980 I love this painting, though in my opinion it does not show Lew as he was in 1971. 170 00:18:26.980 --> 00:18:29.000 He looked more alive at that time. 171 00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:32.960 The eyes in the painting have the distant look, the tired expression he showed only 172 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:34.820 in his last year. 173 00:18:34.820 --> 00:18:40.300 But there is the tiny smile on his lips he always had for me and which I love so much. 174 00:18:40.300 --> 00:18:44.580 For this smile I would have done more than sit still for three days. 175 00:18:44.580 --> 00:18:49.220 Augusta also made a little color sketch of me and offered it to me as a present. 176 00:18:49.220 --> 00:18:53.500 Knowing the value of his paintings, Larry Fertig had told me how much the trustees had 177 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:55.260 to pay for Lew's portrait. 178 00:18:55.260 --> 00:18:57.860 I felt I could not accept the sketch. 179 00:18:57.860 --> 00:19:02.420 But when he showed it to my husband, who did not know about the price, and Lew was so honestly 180 00:19:02.420 --> 00:19:07.140 enthusiastic about it, he asked Lew whether he would accept it as a present. 181 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:09.420 Lew, really happy, accepted it. 182 00:19:09.420 --> 00:19:13.540 Augusta said he would keep the sketch for a few days in order to finish it, show it 183 00:19:13.540 --> 00:19:18.660 to a few friends, and then send it to my husband. But he must have forgotten about it, for Lew 184 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:22.300 never got it and was really quite disappointed. 185 00:19:22.300 --> 00:19:26.700 A few months after my book was first published, I received a very kind letter from George 186 00:19:26.700 --> 00:19:32.600 Augusta. He excused himself for not having sent the sketch. He somehow had mislaid it. 187 00:19:32.600 --> 00:19:38.060 He asked me to accept, as a small compensation, one of the sketches he had made of my husband. 188 00:19:38.060 --> 00:19:41.980 I was touched by this gesture and gladly accepted his gift. 189 00:19:41.980 --> 00:19:45.900 Though I could never forget Lew's age, I set great hopes on the summer and the rest he 190 00:19:45.900 --> 00:19:48.820 would get in the fresh unspoiled air of Vermont. 191 00:19:48.820 --> 00:19:52.820 The Gilberts had rented their house year round, therefore for three months in the summer of 192 00:19:52.820 --> 00:19:58.820 1971 I had taken a little house in Manchester, Vermont, and I was lucky to have found that 193 00:19:58.820 --> 00:19:59.980 place. 194 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:04.200 It belonged to a Long Island lawyer who used it only in winter for skiing. 195 00:20:04.200 --> 00:20:08.480 We lived in this house for the next two summers, and we loved this place more than we ever 196 00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:10.520 had loved a place before. 197 00:20:10.520 --> 00:20:14.780 It was located on a hill overlooking a beautiful green meadows. 198 00:20:14.780 --> 00:20:19.240 It was a quiet little house with an open porch on three sides, which we could use at all 199 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:24.040 times of the day, for on one side at least there was, even in the greatest heat, a slight 200 00:20:24.040 --> 00:20:25.860 breeze moving. 201 00:20:25.860 --> 00:20:30.040 From the porch you could follow the road with your eyes far down into the village. 202 00:20:30.040 --> 00:20:34.400 Lew often said the view reminded him of Austria, and perhaps this was one of the reasons he 203 00:20:34.400 --> 00:20:36.400 loved the house so much. 204 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:40.560 We still walked frequently during the day, but Lew could not cover great distances. 205 00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:45.500 We had friends living nearby, Professor Eric Hula with his wife Anne-Marie. 206 00:20:45.500 --> 00:20:49.480 They had a house in Weston, and it was the most beautiful drive to their place. 207 00:20:49.480 --> 00:20:53.240 They were the only people I ever knew who, having spent their summers in the country 208 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:58.920 for almost 30 years, could manage without a car, and they could not bear television. 209 00:20:58.920 --> 00:21:16.920 We also visited with the former Indiana congressman, Samuel B. Pettengill, who lived the year round in Grafton, Vermont. He is the author of The Charming Yankee Pioneers, which gives such a clear description and picture of the country and people of New Hampshire and Vermont. 210 00:21:16.920 --> 00:21:22.320 Lew still loved to have guests, even if he did not participate in the conversation as much as before. 211 00:21:22.320 --> 00:21:32.320 Percy and Bettina and Frank Diersen spent a week with us, and George and Ilo Cutter spent a night with us, enthusiastic about the beauty of the place. 212 00:21:32.320 --> 00:21:40.120 One day, Lew did not feel very well, so we went to see the local physician, Dr. Clifton Harwood, whose wife was a Vermont State Senator. 213 00:21:40.120 --> 00:21:46.120 When the doctor heard Lew's name, he greeted him as an old acquaintance and as his most honored patient. 214 00:21:46.120 --> 00:21:53.120 He knew Lew's books, and he knew much about him from human events, which was the literature laid out on the table for his patients. 215 00:21:53.120 --> 00:22:01.120 Dr. Harwood was an unpretentious country doctor. His office was simple, with wooden chairs and a no-smoking sign on the wall. 216 00:22:01.120 --> 00:22:07.120 But when he had office hours, which he had daily with the exception of Thursday, every seat was taken. 217 00:22:07.120 --> 00:22:14.120 When a mother came in with a little baby and the child was crying, everyone had to wait. The child was treated first. 218 00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:24.120 Clad in a simple white shirt, his trousers held up by braces, he was a humanitarian in the real sense of the word. His profession was to help and to heal. 219 00:22:24.120 --> 00:22:30.120 Lew was very ill that summer with an infection, and I found Dr. Harwood to be a first-class diagnostician. 220 00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:36.120 He took excellent care of my husband, arranging for him to be brought immediately to the hospital in Bennington. 221 00:22:36.120 --> 00:22:42.120 When Lew was dismissed too early and had a relapse, Dr. Harwood came to the house whenever we needed him. 222 00:22:42.120 --> 00:22:46.960 When Lew had to re-enter a hospital and Bennington was overcrowded, Harwood arranged for me to 223 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:50.040 take him to Williamstown in Massachusetts. 224 00:22:50.040 --> 00:22:54.460 My husband wanted to have me with him all day long, so I had to drive 50 miles daily 225 00:22:54.460 --> 00:22:59.240 while he was in Bennington, and 100 miles while he was in Williamstown. 226 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:03.160 People suggested that I stay near the hospital, but I longed to go back to our little house 227 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:06.900 at night to be there when the telephone calls poured in. 228 00:23:06.900 --> 00:23:11.520 One day Percy Greaves came from Tarrytown to see Lew in the hospital in Williamstown, 229 00:23:11.520 --> 00:23:16.440 And I asked him to stay overnight at our house. I had just received permission to take Lew 230 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:20.920 home the following day. Percy agreed, and when we left the hospital at eight o'clock 231 00:23:20.920 --> 00:23:26.160 he followed me in his car. Suddenly a terrible thunderstorm developed. It was raining so 232 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:30.480 hard when we drove through the lonely mountainous parts of the country that we could not see 233 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:36.360 ten yards ahead. There were no roadside turnouts, nor any possibility for shelter. We simply 234 00:23:36.360 --> 00:23:41.200 had to drive on. Percy followed me, watching my car closely, ready to help if I should 235 00:23:41.200 --> 00:23:42.480 to Need Him. 236 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:45.520 We arrived at the house late and left early the next morning. 237 00:23:45.520 --> 00:23:47.900 We had the same drive part of the way. 238 00:23:47.900 --> 00:23:51.540 Percy was supposed to return to New York, so I described the place where our two cars 239 00:23:51.540 --> 00:23:53.220 would have to part. 240 00:23:53.220 --> 00:23:57.240 But when we came to that spot, I saw that Percy was still following me. 241 00:23:57.240 --> 00:23:58.960 I stopped and he told me, 242 00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:02.400 You don't think I would let you bring the professor home alone? 243 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:04.340 How could you manage? 244 00:24:04.340 --> 00:24:09.040 And he went all the way back with me to Williamstown, took care of the formalities and helped Lew, 245 00:24:09.040 --> 00:24:30.040 Louis recovered completely that summer, but he himself realized that he was no longer the same. He became very quiet, and I often wished he would tell me once again some of his war stories, which in former years he had told me so often. 246 00:24:30.040 --> 00:24:40.040 He once said, the worst is that I still have so much to give to the people, to the world, and I can't put it together anymore. It is tormenting. 247 00:24:40.040 --> 00:24:50.040 A few weeks after we returned to New York, Lew had his 90th birthday. Larry Furtick had arranged a small intimate party for about 20 good friends at the New York University Club. 248 00:24:50.040 --> 00:24:57.040 As a special present, Lew received a two-volume Fest Shift from the Institute for Humane Studies in California. 249 00:24:57.040 --> 00:25:03.800 The Fest Shift included 71 essays from scholars in 18 countries, former students and friends 250 00:25:03.800 --> 00:25:05.880 of Lew's from all over the world. 251 00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:11.200 The idea for the book, Towards Liberty, was conceived by Gustavo Velasco and enthusiastically 252 00:25:11.200 --> 00:25:17.720 embraced by the president of the institute, our good friend Dr. Floyd A. Harper, and beautifully 253 00:25:17.720 --> 00:25:20.040 produced by Kenneth Templeton. 254 00:25:20.040 --> 00:25:24.040 I knew about this plan from the very beginning and had promised Dr. Harper not to tell Lew 255 00:25:24.040 --> 00:25:43.040 What Lawrence Furtig wrote in Towards Liberty seems to me almost prophetic. 256 00:25:43.040 --> 00:25:51.040 Economic historians of the 21st century will undoubtedly be puzzled by the reception accorded to economic theorists of the 20th century. 257 00:25:51.040 --> 00:25:57.040 They will particularly be puzzled by what occurred in the span of years between World War I and 1970. 258 00:25:57.040 --> 00:26:03.040 Great honors were showered on economists whose major accomplishments had been to promote a major inflation, 259 00:26:03.040 --> 00:26:10.040 which, by the end of the 20th century, was acknowledged to be the source of tremendous social unrest and economic crises. 260 00:26:10.040 --> 00:26:17.440 These were the fashionable economists who were sponsored by wealthy foundations, and indeed by most of the intellectuals of academia. 261 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:25.540 But when economic historians of the future came to evaluate precisely who had made the most significant contributions to economic theory, 262 00:26:25.540 --> 00:26:31.540 to those broad and fundamental principles which explained human actions in the practical world people must live in, 263 00:26:31.540 --> 00:26:36.840 their puzzlement increased, for they could find only a meager record of economic honors, 264 00:26:36.840 --> 00:26:40.840 or Monetary Prizes by Leading Ivy League Universities, 265 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:47.840 according to one economist who had discovered and formulated some of the most brilliant economic theories of that century. 266 00:26:47.840 --> 00:26:50.840 His name was Ludwig von Mises. 267 00:26:50.840 --> 00:26:56.840 In the coming weeks, when Lew read all of the articles that were published about him in magazines and papers all over the world, 268 00:26:56.840 --> 00:27:03.840 he said to me, the only goods he loved to see most were Larry Furtig, Henry Hazlitt, and Percy and Bettina. 269 00:27:03.840 --> 00:27:08.000 You, he often said, I would not want to live any more. 270 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:12.080 I never believed the doctor when he told me in the last weeks of Lew's life that a patient 271 00:27:12.080 --> 00:27:14.520 does not know when his mind is slipping. 272 00:27:14.520 --> 00:27:19.920 My husband certainly knew it, and he saw no purpose for his living any longer. 273 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:25.680 The last summer, 1973, I was too tired to keep house again, and we flew to Switzerland, 274 00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:30.600 to a health resort high above Lucerne, with the most beautiful view on the Vierwald-Steter 275 00:27:30.600 --> 00:27:35.600 University, and the surrounding snow-covered mountains. The place had a beautiful park, 276 00:27:35.600 --> 00:27:40.400 the owners were friendly and attentive, and Lew loved to walk in the park, but the medical 277 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.680 attention was poor and insufficient. We left after a few weeks, and the very day after 278 00:27:45.680 --> 00:27:51.000 our return to New York, Lew had to enter the hospital, and never left it again. He was 279 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:56.360 not allowed any visitors, but when Percy and Bettina came to see him on his 92nd birthday, 280 00:27:56.360 --> 00:28:01.280 He asked me to let them enter. Bettina wished him a happy birthday, and he thanked her and 281 00:28:01.280 --> 00:28:06.760 kissed her hand. The Austrian gentleman had remembered the old Austrian custom. Bettina 282 00:28:06.760 --> 00:28:11.120 and Percy cried so hard that I led them out of the room. I did not want my husband to 283 00:28:11.120 --> 00:28:17.500 be disturbed. With the help of Valium, I managed to keep my smile for Lew all the time. 284 00:28:17.500 --> 00:28:21.360 His last and greatest joy was when I read him part of the article that Henry Haslett 285 00:28:21.360 --> 00:28:27.400 had published in Barron's for Lew's 92nd birthday. I read him only a short passage in which Hazlitt 286 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:33.480 says, These 92 years of his life have been amazingly fruitful. In conferring their Distinguished 287 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:39.920 Fellow Award in 1969, the American Economic Association credited Mises as the author of 288 00:28:39.920 --> 00:28:47.400 19 volumes, if one only counts first editions, but of 46 if one counts all revised editions 289 00:28:47.400 --> 00:28:53.000 and Foreign Translations. In his last years other honors have come to Mises, but such 290 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:58.520 honors, even taken as a whole, seem scarcely proportionate to his achievements. If ever 291 00:28:58.520 --> 00:29:04.280 a man deserved the Nobel Prize in Economics, it is Mises. I read it twice to Lew to be 292 00:29:04.280 --> 00:29:11.280 sure he understood, and he smiled, a sad resigned little smile. This same sad little smile I 293 00:29:11.280 --> 00:29:17.600 I remember only too well when, on December 4th, 1969, Lew read an article by Winston 294 00:29:17.600 --> 00:29:23.260 Duke published in the Harvest News, the Harvard University Business School community paper. 295 00:29:23.260 --> 00:29:27.580 It was called, The Man Who Should Have Received the Nobel Prize in Economics. 296 00:29:27.580 --> 00:29:32.200 I would recommend Mises' book, The Anti-Capitalist Mentality, to each member of the HB School 297 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.120 faculty as an exercise in introspection. 298 00:29:36.120 --> 00:29:41.720 And to the serious student of economics, Mises' monumental work, Human Action, the greatest 299 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:45.480 piece of economic literature since the wealth of nations. 300 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:49.440 Human action alone is justification for a Nobel Prize in Economics. 301 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:55.300 It is a poor comment upon the economic departments of so-called liberal and open-minded universities 302 00:29:55.300 --> 00:30:01.020 throughout this nation that this man's works are so systematically excluded from economic 303 00:30:01.020 --> 00:30:02.720 texts in classrooms. 304 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:13.720 Likewise, it is a sickening comment upon the men who chose the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Economics that Professor Mises was not, even, nominated for that honor. 305 00:30:13.720 --> 00:30:22.720 Lew's mind was especially clear the day before his death. He held my hand all day long, but he was very weak, and his voice was barely audible when he told me in the evening, 306 00:30:22.720 --> 00:30:27.720 You look so tired. You must go home now and get some rest. 307 00:30:27.720 --> 00:30:30.720 At 9 p.m. the doctor insisted on my leaving. 308 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:34.720 Shortly afterward, Lew went into a coma and never woke up. 309 00:30:34.720 --> 00:30:39.720 He died at 8.30 in the morning of October 10th, 1973. 310 00:30:39.720 --> 00:30:43.720 His doctor and three of the kindest young floor nurses were with him. 311 00:30:43.720 --> 00:30:48.720 At 9 o'clock a.m. the doctor called me to the phone. Gitta was at my side. 312 00:30:48.720 --> 00:31:02.720 When people get older their needs change, their wishes decrease, material things lose their importance, but even older people can dream, and sometimes these dreams become wishes more difficult to fulfill than material luxuries. 313 00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:15.720 If I myself could realize one such special dream, it would be that every president of the United States should get for his inauguration a complete set of loose books, destined for the Oval Office in the White House. 314 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:22.720 These books should be marked for special recommended readings concerning government interference, socialism and inflation. 315 00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:25.720 Perhaps they would help to preserve freedom in the United States. 316 00:31:25.720 --> 00:31:31.720 My second wish would be that every university or college where economics and political science are taught would, 317 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:37.720 out of their own free will, add to their curriculum a course on freedom of the market. 318 00:31:37.720 --> 00:31:44.720 I can best sum up my husband's character in the very words that he himself used in writing about the distinguished economist Benjamin Anderson. 319 00:31:44.720 --> 00:31:51.720 His most eminent qualities were his inflexible honesty, his unhesitating sincerity and his 320 00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:58.080 unflinching patriotism. He never yielded. He always freely enunciated what he considered 321 00:31:58.080 --> 00:32:04.160 to be true. If he had been prepared to suppress or only to soften his criticism of popular 322 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.200 but obnoxious policies, the most influential positions and offices would have been offered 323 00:32:09.200 --> 00:32:15.700 to him, but he never compromised. This firmness marks him as one of the outstanding characters 324 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:16.860 in this age.