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

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public responded enthusiastically, and again Lu got a long standing<br />

ovation. On Saturday, May 9, we returned to New York.<br />

That summer I rented a little house in Dorset, Vermont. It belonged<br />

to David Gilbert, former owner of the hardware store in<br />

Dorset. He was a self-made man, who, when he retired, could not<br />

be <strong>with</strong>out work and had taken up picture framing, which he did<br />

extremely well and <strong>with</strong> great taste. We occupied his original<br />

house, a lovely old building <strong>with</strong> a beautiful, shady old garden.<br />

Next to it David had built for himself a small modern cottage,<br />

where he lived <strong>with</strong> his wife, Nora, a very efficient and kind<br />

woman. We soon became good friends. By then, we had been in<br />

Dorset so often that Lu was known everywhere as "the Professor."<br />

Dorset is easily reached from New York, so we had frequent<br />

visitors. One day Percy Greaves appeared <strong>with</strong> four young students<br />

who had attended a seminar at FEE. We already had met two<br />

of these young boys in Seattle. <strong>The</strong>y were most eager to see Lu<br />

again and to discuss various questions <strong>with</strong> him. Lu held a seminar<br />

that day in the garden, beneath a huge, shady old chestnut tree.<br />

Afterward, there was a lively discussion, <strong>with</strong> Percy transmitting<br />

the questions to Lu. In the neighboring garden sat our landlord,<br />

David Gilbert, listening intently, making notes once in a while,<br />

determined to ask Lu later on for explanations.<br />

That summer we also had a most cherished visit from Gustavo<br />

and Lupe Velasco and Elenita, their young daughter. Though Gustavo<br />

is an excellent driver, he had lost his way on the hilly, backcountry<br />

roads. When they had not arrived by 11 P.M., everyone was<br />

worried, even the owner of the Dorset Inn, where I had rooms<br />

reserved for the Velascos.<br />

Gustavo could not understand all the excitement. He was delighted<br />

to find a cold meal, cool drinks, and fruit in his room, for<br />

the Velascos had not eaten anything since lunch. <strong>The</strong>y had hoped<br />

to arrive much earlier, but after eight 0'clock it was very difficult to<br />

find a place where they could get a regular meal. Only three days<br />

later, when I asked Gustavo for my dishes, did he realize that it<br />

was not the hotel owner who had supplied the supper, but that it<br />

was our foresight that had enabled them to go to bed <strong>with</strong>out being<br />

hungry.<br />

On October 21 we flew to San Francisco for another week of<br />

lectures. Lu gave his first lecture the next day-a short talk about<br />

money. For the first time I noticed that he was not as alert as usual.<br />

<strong>The</strong> trip, the change of climate, and the change of time must have<br />

affected him. To my great relief he was much better during the<br />

question period. On Saturday Percy Greaves, who was <strong>with</strong> us all<br />

the time, had a lecture of his own in Burlingame, where he spoke<br />

to a large audience for about three hours. Lu came in at the end and<br />

174

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