LITMIR.BIZ

      Cover design by Nieshoff Design, Lexington, Massachusetts. Published in eBook format by Highpoint Press, P.O. 50 Watertown, MA 02471. Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com

      eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-6234-6356-4

      ALSO BY JAN DAVID BLAIS

      Twentieth Century Limited – A Novel. Book One ~ Age of Heroes. Highpoint Press 2012. Available as a trade paperback and in electronic versions.

      Flight Path - A Novel. Highpoint Press, 1996. Reissued as a trade paperback and in electronic versions, Highpoint Press 2012.

      For Barbara, Annie and Andrew

      Author’s Note

      A number of people were kind enough to comment on the manuscript and provide advice. Andrew Blais, Annie Blais, Ed Dence, Richard Griffin, Dennis Hanlon, Jamileh Jemison, Susan Keane, John Laschenski, Nicole Malo, Willa Marcus, Lindsay Miller, Larry Pettinger, Michael W. Settle, Peter Steiner, and Charles Tuttle. And a special thank you to John S. Corcoran for review and editing above and beyond. Also Mary Sullivan and Chris Walsh for editing and copy editing, Pat Nieshoff of Nieshoff Design for cover and book design, and Nina Johannessen of Blue Iris Webdesign for website design and construction. And Paula Blais Gorgas for her suggestions and enthusiasm throughout. To everyone, named and unnamed, who encouraged me in this enterprise, my heartiest thanks. Needless to say, the author is solely responsible for any errors the book may contain.

      In writing Twentieth Century Limited, numerous books, articles, online and other resources were helpful. A list can be found in the Works Consulted section at the back of this book. Other invaluable resources included Wikipedia, Britannica Online, the New York Times Online Archives, delanceyplace, and search services of Yahoo and Google.

      Disclaimer

      This is a work of fiction. It is entirely a product of the author’s imagination. Except for obvious references to known individuals, existing institutions and companies, and publicly-reported events, any resemblance to actual individuals, institutions, companies, or events is entirely coincidental. Because of the nature of the story – featuring print and television journalists who report the news – of necessity it makes reference to the real people who made that news, and events they were involved in. Where such newsmakers are quoted or paraphrased, the author has attempted to report their quotations or the gist of their remarks accurately. In some instances, interviews of real people by fictional characters are depicted in the story, as well as other interactions. These interviews and interactions and the dialogues they relate are entirely fictitious; the words, quotations, thoughts and impressions related are solely the invention of the author. Even here, however, the author has attempted to ascribe positions and remarks to these real newsmakers consistent with those they were reported as making in other contexts.

      Watertown, Massachusetts – June 2012

      “ Q. Why did God make you?

      A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”

      The Baltimore Catechism

      “ No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.”

      Said of King Philip II of Spain. Quoted in Barbara Tuchman, The March of Folly.

      “ Compliance wins friends; truth, hatred.”

      Proverbial. Quoted by William, Archbishop of Tyre in “The Problems and Motives of the Historian,” from A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea.

      PART ONE

      ROUGH ROADS

      1. Clay Feet And Other Surprises

      I ARRIVE EARLY AT STEVE’S OFFICE but, as usual, he’s already there. For a lawyer, the guy works very hard. Cahill arrives mid-morning and greets me with a hearty handshake. He is from North Cambridge – we went through BC together. I studied, he played football. Big florid-faced, blustery Irishman, think Tip O’Neill. After a hundred seventeen minutes – I am counting the ticks – they pronounce my answers satisfactory. Steve will file them and move to dismiss the case. It won’t succeed, he says, but we’ll give the judge a preview of our case. What I think about our case is not printable, but that’s just me.

      We’ve received another missive from Paul’s ex, the fair Diane, demanding to know what I am doing with his stuff, saying it’s hers though for a price she’ll let me do all the work. We’re past the point of what she is, it’s just a matter of how much. Painful, reading Paul’s journals, seeing the problems develop between them. Makes me thankful – I was very lucky. I met that Lucie who has just surfaced only once, but I don’t want to spoil that story.

      I have to say I wasn’t that impressed by Paul’s big report. I recall thinking he didn’t answer what he set out to answer. But maybe that’s unfair. Outside your area of expertise as I certainly was, you use standards you’d scream about if somebody applied them to you. But it certainly raised his standing. Interesting, how that film got him thinking about television.

      I got a kick seeing Yamani maneuver Paul into a corner. And you can see his devotion to Israel beginning to cool, rightfully so if you ask me. I am curious to hear about that Mossad rumor. I tend to dismiss it, but crazier things have happened.

      I haven’t yet had a chance to look at that disk of Jonathan’s. He should have given me a manuscript. Easier to fall asleep over.

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