In Good Company

Recollections are generally written by people who have either entirely lost their memory, or have never, themselves, done anything in life worth remembering. To the second indictment I plead guilty, but my best excuse for the publication of this volume is that I write while the first indictment fails. My memory is still good, and the one thing which seems most worth remembering in my life is my undeservedly fortunate friendships. In writing of my friends and of those with whom I was associated, I am, therefore, I believe, giving of my best. I ought to add that these papers were penned for inclusion in a volume of frankly personal and intimate Recollections. A work of that sort is the one book of his life in which an author is allowed some freedom from convention.