June 20, 2011

A correction...




We were delighted to receive the following e-mail containing a correction to the editor's note in the post Everything You Always Wanted to Know About.... We had implied that Mr. Steere, author of the Toledo Blade article, had seen an advance copy of The Official Preppy Handbook. Apparently not, according to David Kenger:


My name is David and Michael Steere and I were friends while attending the University of Michigan. Upon graduation, Mike’s first job was with the Toledo Blade where he regularly wrote Feature Articles for the weekend editions. The “Prepdom Craze”, if you will, was swirling around the University and gave Mike an idea: he said, “Dave, you own more wool than what’s in Australia; would you like to help me write a Sunday story on what being a “Preppie” is? With NO assist from that gawdawful book that came out shortly after this was published, we met at the Blade offices in Toledo then adjourned to a nearby steakhouse where over a number of martinis and 3 inch steaks the story was conceived, from “SMOKES” to the “stateroom key from the RMS Olympic, Grandmama’s 1927 crossing”, to Dad’s watch worn on the inside of the wrist. That photograph is of me; missing from the original article is a second photo of me wearing a navy blazer and holding a Scotch Rocks glass and cigarette in one hand. Please give Mike full credit. He is an excellent writer, interviewer and old friend.

Regards,

David Kenger

2 comments:

  1. Great letter. It's nice to hear more reporting about this period from a non-TOPH source. Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It was a pleasure, Sir.

    ReplyDelete