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

he was in 1971. He looked more alive at that time. The eyes in the
painting have the far distant look, the tired expression he showed
only in his last year. But there is the tiny smile on his lips he
always had for me and which I loved so much.
Augusta had also made a little color sketch of me and offered it to
me as a present. Knowing the value of his paintings, I felt I could
not accept it. But when he showed it to Lu and Lu was so honestly
enthusiastic about it, he asked Lu whether he would accept it as a
present. Lu, really happy, accepted it. Augusta said he would keep
the sketch for a few days in order to finish it, show it to a few
friends, and then send it to Lu. But he must have forgotten about
it, for Lu never got it and was really quite disappointed.
Though I never could forget Lu's age, I set great hopes on the
summer and the rest he would get in the fresh unspoiled air of
Vermont. The Gilberts had rented their house the year round,
therefore, for three months in the summer of 1971 I had taken a
little house in Manchester, Vermont-and I was lu~ky to have
found that place. It belonged to a Long Island lawyer, who used it
only in winter for skiing. We lived in this house for the next two
summers, and we loved this place more than we ever had loved a
place before. It was located on a hill, overlooking the beautiful
green meadows. It was a quiet little house, with an open porch on
three sides, which we could use at all times of the day, for on one
side at least there was, even in the greatest heat, a slight breeze
moving. From the porch you could follow the road with your eyes
far down into the village.
We still walked frequently during the day, but Lu could not
cover great distances. We had friends living nearby: Professor Erich
Hula and his wife, Anne-Marie. They had a house in Weston,
and it was a most beautiful drive to their place. (They were the
only people I ever knew who, having spent their summers in the
country for almost thirty years, could manage without a car. And
they could not bear television, even though they were ardent music
lovers.) 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.
Lu still loved to have guests, even if he did not participate in the
conversation as much as before. Percy and Bettina and Frank Dierson
spent a weekend with us, and George and 110 Koether spent
one night with uS,.enthusiastic about the beauty of the place.
One day Lu did not feel very well, so we went to see the local
physician, Dr. Clifton .Harwood, whose wife was a Vermont state
'senator. When the doctor heard Lu's name, he greeted him as an
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