My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

work on the whole subject of direction of economic activity in a
socialist society. By hurling that challenge in the faces of the socialist
theorists, Mises performed a useful service to the cause of
socialism."
When, in 1956, Lu got the William Volker Distinguished Service
Award, he got many congratulations. I have two files full of letters
from all parts of the country. Chancellor H. T. Heald, New York
University, wrote to him on June 21, 1956, as follows: "I was
delighted to read that you have won the $15,000 William Volker
Award for your distinguished service as a scholar and teacher. The
award is recognition of your demonstrated capacity for leadership
in your field and of course also redounds to the credit of New York
University. Please accept our sincere congratulation."
When I once told Lu: "Lu darling, even you have to agree, you
are famous." He smiled and answered: "You can recognize the
importance of an author only by the frequency of references to his
work by other scholars written at the end of a page-under the
line." "Isn't it remarkable," he told me on another occasion, "if a
writer copies something from one book, they call it plagiarism-if
he takes material out of several books, he is doing research."
It was in 1955 that George Koether had the idea that a bust
should be made of Lu for posterity. He spoke to his good friend
Nelly Erickson, a sculptress, who works mostly with wood and
marble. George had seen her portrait busts and he felt she would
be enthusiastic about doing the work. Nelly was enthusiastic about
the idea, but George told her: "There is one problem. Dr. von
Mises is a very busy man; I must first get his permission and see
whether he is willing to have it done."
So George invited Nelly and my husband for lunch, and Nelly
told Lu that she could do the work in six one-hour sessions. Lu was
horrified, and he told her he could not spare that much time. But
Nelly was persistent: "I will work while you work at your desk; I
won't disturb you at all." Finally he agreed, and one or two days
later they started. She put her armature on rollers and pushed it
around the desk, never talking to him, never disturbing him; he
never really posed. But one day she had to come near to him, to
take measurements with her calipers. And suddenly his face, with
the beautiful complexion he always had, got dark red. It embarrassed
him terribly that a strange woman should come so near to
his face and touch him.
When he came home that night and told me about his "adventure,"
I felt I had to see the woman who stayed for hours
around my husband and had to touch his face to be able to work.
So the next day I went to his office in Gallatin House to meet Nelly,
and immediately we became the best of friends. I liked her; I liked
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