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

It was a touch of genius combined with a shrewd sense of business
that caused Leonard to associate Lu with FEE. It was the best
idea he ever had, for he knew pretty well that if he could anchor
the most eminent fighter for the free market to his foundation, not
only the existence of the foundation was assured, but it would
arouse the widest interest all over the country.
In October, 1946, Lu was made a regular member of the FEE
staff, and in later years he promised to give a series of lectures in
Irvington every year. The spiritual and intellectual atmosphere
there was completely to his taste. The FEE mansion is located in a
beautiful garden with tall, old trees, the lawn is kept immaculately,
and flowers bloom everywhere. The house itself, built in 1888, has
a dignity of its own. The rooms are large, the library well stocked,
and all over the place there is the harmony of quiet, concentrated
working.
The creator of all this is Leonard Read. The first one at his desk
-at 8 A.M. every morning-he was the last one to leave in the
evening~and still is. His studio is tremendously large, and his
oversized desk, in a far corner, reminded me of Mussolini, who
had intentionally placed his desk in the remotest corner of his
huge room to make his visitors feel small and lost whenever they
had to cross the room to speak to him.
Leonard Read is quite the opposite. As soon as someone appears
at the always open door, he gets up, greets his visitor, and makes
him feel at ease. Always working on an article, or writing a new
book, Read finds the time to talk to everyone. Aggie, Leonard's
wife, was one of the most charming women I ever met. She was so
delicate and lovely, so full of gaiety and laughter, everybody loved
her-even women. Never did Lu and I leave FEE without a big
bunch of flowers she secretly put into our car.
Lu loved the seminars at FEE. He knew that every participant
was carefully selected, concerning his interests and his education,
and so he was always sure of talking to an audience eager to hear
him.
Before the classes started, Lu regularly made the rounds. First
he had a little talk with Read; then he went to see Edmund Opitz,
for whom he had a special appreciation; then .he visited with W.
Marshall Curtiss and Paul Poirot; Paul usually had to discuss an
article that he was about to publish in The Freeman, FEE's
luonthly luagazine. Finally, Lu went into Bettina Bien's office. As a
rule, Bettina had a pile of his books ready for him to autograph or
letters to sign, which were typed for him in her office. On his way
down to the lecture hall-all these offices, with the exception of
that of Dr. Opitz, were on the second floor-he had a friendly word
for everyone of the eluployees.
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