>> selling to the developing countries, selling to the chinese, selling to the brazilians. let them have a stake in the world economy rather than us just turning our kids as they

sit in front of the tv and bloat up and, you know, the west have to figure out a way to consume less and to maintain its economic standards in a way that brings up the standards of other people. and that is sort, one of the aspects of this policy, selling to the chinese, selling to the brazilians, selling to developing countries. i think that germany would be doing if the better were doing better. that's the kind of model that we should be looking at, one that talks about some restraint here while we lived up other people in other countries. is one of the other things that interest me about the book. >> that seems to be a good place to move the discussion to the wine table. i'd like to -- [applause] >> i'd like to thank thomas geoghegan. >> thomas geoghegan is a practicing attorney and author of several books including "which side are you on?" and

"see you in court." to find out more visit his website, tomgeoghegan.com. >> next ted gup talk to his grandfather, sam stone, and the anonymous 5-dollar check ck2 150 residents of canton, ohio, just before christmas 1933 during the height of the great depression. mr. stoned writing under the pseudonym place an ad in a canton newspaper asking people affected by the depression to write to him and described the difficulties they were experiencing. he selected 150 of these to send checks to. after coming into contact with the letters decades later, mr. gup went back again to find out who these unknown recipients were and what ended up happening to them. he spoke at the franklin d. roosevelt presidential library and museum in hyde park, new york.

>> [no audio] [no audio] [no audio] [no audio]

[no audio] >> those were the hard times. and i want to take you to another place, which is my hometown of canton, ohio. i want to take you to the week of christmas 1933. unemployment was 50%. that's the best guess. nobody knows for sure, and it

didn't matter because there was no one to help them. the number was academic. there was no social security. there was no medicaid. there was no unemployment. there was no fdic. you dropped, there was no one to catch you. that week on december 18, a small ad appeared in the canton repository newspaper. it was addressed to the community and basically said if you're hurting, you write to me, tell me what you are going through, and i will help you in a small way before christmas. this was the summer 18, 1933. the ad was about as big and it ran on the inside of the can repository. the writer instructed the community to write to mr. b. virdot, general delivery, canton, ohio.

and he said it's not my real name. you will never know who i am. and those of you who write to me, no one will ever learn your identity. the offer was so electrifying that the newspaper or a front-page story about it the same day, which ensured that everyone in the committee would know about it. and word spread for hundreds of miles. and within a couple of days hundreds of letters, perhaps more, forward in address to mr. b. virdot. a couple of days later checks went out to 150 families for $5. each of inside b. virdot. -- each of them signed b. virdot. even those who did not receive the checks were elevated by the offer that someone should care. now, over the years -- welcome

in that period when this offer was made the community buzz about who was this b. virdot because there was speculation it was wealthy and privileged families and communities. always known it was a good christian, someone who in the and wish to them a joyful and merry christmas. that's all that was known. but no one learn his identity or the identity of the people who wrote to him. and the years passed, and the use became decades. and prosperity returned to canton, and the younger generation grew up not knowing anything of b. virdot. the people who wrote to have went to the grace and in times, so to b. virdot himself. and there ends the story. except that i am here. y.? well, because the story doesn't end there. two years ago, i surprised my

mother on her 80th birthday. she lives in maine, and out of which he says i have something for you and those who did case -- an old suitcase, don't know what's in it but some old papers. she handed me the suitcase, and a few days later i opened it up. and i found a mass of letters, all of them dated december 1933, and 150 canceled checks, each of them for $5 signed or not. i had no idea what i was looking at. i put it away under my bed, and a few days later i pulled it out again and this time i found a front-page story in the canton repository which sets the whole thing out. and then i realized he forgot was my grandfather, sam stone. let me show you what i saw when i opened the suitcase.

these are the actual checks. this is one of the letters. can "repository." that's what i found. over the next two years i said about trying to track down what happened to the people who wrote to b. virdot. i wanted to know if they survived the depression. did they escape poverty, what became of their children, did they know about the b. virdot gift? that was one mission that i put myself on. and the other one was why did my grandfather make this gift? let me address the second one first, if i may. i knew my grandfather well. i thought i knew my grandfather

well. he was a lot of fun, and i had his birth certificate from pittsburgh that showed he was born in 1888. i had his passport. and he told me about growing up in pittsburgh. in the course of doing my research i discovered that all his documents were fraudulent. that he wasn't born in pittsburgh, that he was, in fact, a romanian refugee who the country at the age of 15 in 1902, the victim of religious persecution. and this secret santa that everyone is guessing about in canton was born an orthodox mac who spoke yiddish and kept kosher, not exactly who they had in mind. so i think that one of the reasons why he made this gift in 1933 have to do with that, because 1933 was the year hitler came to power and he was there much aware of what was happening in europe. and i think he was very grateful

to be in a place that welcomed and accepted him where he was safe, and i think he wanted to reach out to his community. and he knew what hard times were himself. he had worked in a coal mine. he worked washing soda bottles. he had a tough time, so he could identify with people that wrote to him. but now let's get to the letters, because to me that's the most moving part of this story. they came from all walks of life in the community. they came from bellhops. they came from baker's. they came from butchers. they came from the fellow that takes the steeple on the church. they came from windows. they came from 12 year old little girls. they came from, well, among others they came from once wealthy fallen -- following executives. so let's start there if we may. and that would bring us to georgia moderate -- george

monett. >> if i may, i want to shape one other thing before we get to mr. monett. what i want to show you is a picture of the real b. virdot, sam stone, with his wife and three daughters. why is that relevant? because in many b. virdot is a combination of these three daughters names, barbara, urging endorsee. b. virdot. okay? and he selected that name i think because he wanted to believe that they would inherit a better world. the little girl on the far, on my right, that's virginia. that's my mother.

hasn't changed at it. [laughter] >> in the middle is barber, that the. and next to her is dorky, who was known as doxy, and b. virdot. so that's the stone family about the time that this gift was made in canton, ohio. but let's go back to mr. monett because mr. monett was one of the people that wrote to him. and mr. monett was the picture of success. let me show you literally. quite a distinguished looking gentleman. two years after henry ford incorporate the ford motor company, he started selling

forged. and within a few years he was on the most successful ford dealers in the nation to get 1200 cars on a showroom that stretched the entire city block. he had an orchestra that dressed in texas and performed, was named after his car dealership to get a summer home. he had a yacht. his wife, alice, was probably one of the most prominent socialites in the area. that was george monett. and that was until 1929 when he lost everything. and four years later, he had less than nothing. he saw this at any canton "repository" and he reached out to a stranger named mr. b. virdot. dear sir, your interesting and benevolent article appearing in the "repository" prompted me to write and advise how the depression left of the writer.

426 years was in the automobile business, prosperous at one time and had done more than my share in giving at christmas, and at all times. have a family of six, and struggle is the work for me now for a living. christmas will not mean much to our family this year, as my business, bank, real estate, insurance policies are all swept away. our resources are nil at present. perhaps my situation is no different than hundreds of others, however a man who knows what it is to be up and down can fully appreciate the spirit of one who has gone through the same ordeal. you are to be congratulated for your benevolence and kind offer to those who have experienced this trouble in such as the writer is going through. no doubt you have a happy christmas, as there is more real

happiness in giving and making someone else happy than receiving. may i extend to you a very happy christmas. george monett. a couple of days later i check arrived for $5, and mr. monett wrote a thank you note. to my dear mr. b. virdot, permit me to offer my sincere thanks for your kind remembrance for a happy christmas. indeed, this came in very handy and is much appreciated by myself and family. it was put to good use paying for two pairs of shoes for my girls, and other little necessities. i hope someday i have the pleasure of knowing to whom we are indebted for this very generous gift. at present i am not of employment, and it is very hard going. however, i hope to make some connections in. i again thank you on behalf of the family, and an earnest wish

is that you have a most happy new year. george monett. this is not a frank capra film. this is not it's a wonderful life, not every story ends happily. a man who had 1200 cars could barely afford bus fare, and he ended up working as a clerk in a factory and died at a relatively young age of pancreatic cancer. the only thing really that he was able to pass down to his children was a very large tool chest that he used to make model t fords in his day. that tool chest now resides with his grandson, jeffrey, and jeffrey enjoys a lifestyle much like george monett did before 1929. he has a home on a golf course in england, a home in oregon and home in south carolina. he is a skin diver and has a tag

is a collection coins, and he drives a mercedes and a porsche, no ford. [laughter] >> one of the footnote, that wonderful children that took up a city block in canton. it went through many different incarnations down through the decades, but for years now by sheer luck it is a classic car museum. and right in the middle of it as a model t ford of exactly the vintage that george monett sold. my grandfather had promised the letter writers he would not identify them. and i just did. so i want to tell you first that all but one letter in my book is accompanied by released from a family descendent of the letter

writer. there is one instance in which there is not a release, and i perhaps we'll try to account for that. but there is this letter, and i just use the first name come and let me read this snippet from the letter. i am a poor woman with a sick girl trying to work and help keep home for a crippled sister and myself. we are one of the thousands of unfortunate families who have seen better days, now to proud to ask for charity. this is one of the poorest christmases i've ever had. if i thought this would be printed in the papers, i would rather die of hunger first. as i haven't been a bigger always. hoped for better days for my family and the others like us. she was an immigrant from ireland. she came over in 1880, and she found life no easier here than there. and because of what she wrote in her letter, i couldn't bring

myself to identify her. it's an anomaly in the book, but given what she wrote i couldn't do it. now, i want to read you a from howard summers, and it conveys something of the resourcefulness and begins to which people would go to survive during this period. dear friend, b. virdot, as i picked up the morning paper i saw your most generous offer to worthy people do i count myself and my wife most worthy, as for the last four years i have only had a few days work here and there. but i will go ahead and stay with the jobs my wife and i have had to do before we would ask for charity. picking berries in season and selling them as late as 12:00 at night. picking cherries on and selling our share.

my wife had to climb to the tops of the highest treaties, as i am lame and cannot climate. we have started as early as they toured together again alliance to sell. dandelions were a common dinner in a great depression. to sell and sell them until may or until people would not buy them any longer as they were too tough to beat. our wintertime job is gathering sassafras, which is a lot of hard work, and not much money in it. the last six or eight months i have been selling liquid solder, pills and sturdy pencils in about 10 for about 10 miles around and nearby towns. but i found that selling house to house is a hard job. -esque ss money was. as far as clothes is concerned i've had to buy a few things for myself as i had to meet the public. but my wife has not had a coat

in seven years, and her last pair of shoes were bought in 1929. the code is not fit to wear. we have always kept an old car which was the only way we had to get out of wood and coal and take us to country to take our berries. well, i think this is enough said. but i could sit here and write for hours, but three pages is enough. after you have read it over and you are the judge, and you do feel that we are worthy of your donation, secretly as you promised, please destroy this letter so no one will know but you and i. so, goodbye and good luck. and we are living in hopes that good luck comes our way. howard summers. now, this is an instant why ask we did use the persons name without permission. i will try to explain why. i don't know if i can justify it or not. howard summers also never recovered from the great

depression. he worked as a handyman, died relatively young. his wife died before him. a couple things i should tell you. that letter, you heard the willingnewillingness in the tone. he was 28 when he wrote it. okay. and he left no heirs. they had no children. all that survives of howard summers is this letter. and i took it upon myself to include it because i thought that some degree to give meaning to what he experienced and endured. i could be criticized for that. i could be wrong. i don't know, but that was the decision i made. now, the next letter -- i want to get into a couple of the children's letters, because to

me, welcome or not necessary from children but affect children. this one is from a woman named edith mae. edith mae was 39 years old when she wrote this. and she lived on a tumbledown farm outside of canton, and she was a little concerned as you hear that she might not qualify or be eligible for this gift because she wasn't in canton proper it and this is what she wrote. i'm not going to read the whole letter. some of these letters by the way are eight, nine pages long. and in those days, there were no therapy groups. people didn't go to psychiatrists and psychologists, and they didn't unburden themselves even to their spouses because they didn't want to add that way to what their spouse or the children were tearing. so they kept it bottled up inside. and this offer by b. virdot in many ways was the first release that they had to speak of what was on their mind. but that being said this was from edith mae it was written

december 18, 1933, the same day that the ad came out and she had three young children and lived on his farm, and she wrote, mr. b. virdot, maybe i shouldn't write to you, not living right in canton but for some time i have been wanting to know somebody who could give me some help. we have known better days. four years ago we were getting $135 a month for milk. they had milk cows and basil the milk. now saturday we got 12. is 12 has to go as follows, pay for the gas to haul the milk, get shopping, pay for coal, during the cold spill by and asked to make would. by a tire for 1 dollar. and i had $2 to buy groceries. imagine, five of us for a month. if i only had $5, i would think

i am in heaven. i would buy a pair of shoes for my oldest boy in school. his toes are all out, no way to give him a pair. he was just six in october. and i have a little girl who will before, today's before christmas, and a boy of 18 months. i could give them all something for christmas, and i would be very happy. up to now i haven't a thing for them. i want to jump ahead to how this letter ends. it's one of the more than verbal in things of any of the letters that i read. and, oh, my, i know what it is to be hungry and cold. we suffered so last winter, and this one is worse. please do help me. my husband don't know i am writing, and i haven't even a stamp. but i'm going to beg the mailman to post this for me.

obliged, yours truly, mrs. edith mae. in the letter was delivered without a stamp and found its way into the suitcase. and there are a couple of things about this writer that i think you should know. she complained about the cold. she was a jamaican. she didn't know what the cold was when she was growing up. she had been a governess in jamaica. and she had struck up a penpal relationship with an african-american, a grandson of slaves come in through the mail that falling in love, get going to jamaica to meet her. and their they married and he brought her back to this hardscrabble farm outside of canton. that's why she complained about the cold. i know this because i found their daughter, police made. and she told me two things that i want to share with you. first, in her family, skunk was

the smell of money. that's what she told me. pardon? and she said, father travis cox and sold the pelts. and we knew he was successful even go for he got home. [laughter] >> no explanation needed. and on occasion he would arrive at the door blinded, his eyes swollen shut from having been sprayed directly in the eyes. and her mother would wake with a pail of water to cleanse his eyes. so that was one story that she shared with me. her birthday was two days before christmas, december 23, and birthdays and christmas meant nothing in this household. they did the chores, they went to bed. she said that she never went into town and saw the city lights of christmas. only on one occasion did she see the lights. one day before her birthday

after the chores were done they went into town, and her mother took her to a five and dime to the back of the store for the toy section was. and her mother said to her, your choice, you can have a dolly or you can have this little wooden horse that had a pull string and was on wheels. and she chose the horse. and it became her favorite and only store-bought gifts. and she used to pull that little wooden horse all around the farm. and today, she raises miniature ponies. and in the course of our conversation she said, you know, i never understood how that one birthday, we could leave the farm and by that horse. and now i do. it was your grandfather's gift

okay. now, i'm a pretty decent reporter. i spent a couple of years tracking down these descendents, and i was doing pretty well, but there was one letter writer named helen whose descendents i could not find. and i used all the tricks i kn knew. in pursuit of these descendents i used a 1930 census. i use city directories. death records, cemetery records, obituaries, city crisscross directories, passenger lists, immigration records, probate records, you name it. okay, but i could not find a decent for helen palm. and the deadline for the book was looming, and finally my editor who is a wonderful gentleman finally, had to get the book to him. so i turned in the book and it was edited and it was done.

and i had a couple of spare hours one afternoon, and i decided had, i'm going to try once more to find a descendent for helen palm. and with the help of the genealogical branch of the canton, ohio, public library, i managed to track down a daughter named janet. finally. and i was interviewing her about her mother, helen. i asked her where she was born, where she grew up, when she married. i was about to ask when she passed, and she said, would you like to speak with her. of the 150 letter writers, only one is allied. it was the last one i had found after the book was done. i persuaded the editor to open the book up again, and he did, willingly. and so i called helen palm and

asked her about this there can she remembered the letter. she was 14 when she wrote it. she was 91 and i interviewed her. what i'm about to show you is a picture of helen palm today holding a picture of helen palm at about the age she wrote the letter. is that great or what? she is a sweetheart. and i asked her, do you remember what you did with the money? and his 91 year old woman reverted right back to the 14 year old, and she said you bet. [laughter]

>> her shoes at so many holes in them that she had taken a box of shredded wheat, and from the cardboard, cut out the soles of the shape of her feet. i see a lot of head shaking in your because people know exactly i'm talking about. and she went out and she bought herself a pair of black patent leather shoes. and then because $5 went so far then, i don't was closer to 80 or $100 today, she bought something for her sister and her brother. and then she took, just as she said she would in the letter him and i'm going to redo the letter, she took her parents out for the evening. okay, christmas week. this is her letter. and in those days 3 cents for a newspaper was 3 cents more than people had. so they would borrow it or they would read it with the neighbors come and this is how her letter starts.

dear sir, when we went over to the neighbors to bar the paper, i read your article. i am a girl of 14. i am writing this because i need clothing, and sometimes we run out of food. my father does not want to ask for charity, but as children would like to have some clothing for christmas. when he had a job as children use have nice things. i also have brothers and sisters. if you should send me the money, i would buy clothing and by the christmas dinner and supper. i thank you, helen palm. isn't that wonderful? so i'm going to give you a couple of footnotes to all this, and then i want to open it up. the first footnote is that i got this crazy scheme in my head as i was writing on this book, that i -- i want to thank these people who trusted me with their stories and allowed me to publish the letters and such. and i decided i want to bring

them all together. and so i sent out invitations quite literally across the country to gather together in a theater in canton, ohio, where they and their parents would go to escape the darkness of the great depression for nickel matinees called the palace theatre. and sure enough they came. and they came by the scores. and a few weeks ago in canton, ohio, we had between 406 other people in the palace theatre. and they came on stage about a dozen of them, and read from the letters and talked about what became of their families. helen palm who was 91 was on stage, but she was a young in. that he was 98 and she was hoisted up by her two sons who were former marines and read from her father-in-law's letter. and it was a room full,

remarkable evening. i want to show you what it meant to my hometown. if you can read this headline on the front page. a night to remember. eddie told me it was the high point of her life. afterwards i hosted a banquet in their honor in an old german restaurant where the parents had eaten. so that's one footnote. but the other footnote, to a footnote. there was a musical group to contact in a couple of years ago. i've written a piece for the "new york times" about this story, and a composer contacted me and said i was right a suite of music about these letters and his story, may i do so? and we talked back and forth and lo and behold he did it. beautiful music. the group is called red rock, classically trained. and they came to canton to

perform. their songs are based on the lyrics of the letters. and they received no fee and pay for part of the way into canton, the six of them flew in and the composer, his music has been performed in carnegie hall, the kennedy center. is quite distinguished. and the night before he left for canton he received an envelope in the mail the day before. he opened it up and there was a cashier's check and a note inside, and it said, this is to help pay for you and the other musicians to go to canton to perform. please give my very best to my grandson, ted gup. signed b. virdot. and the check was drawn on a salt lake city bank. one final footnote, on thanksgiving day of this year, three gentlemen in canton, ohio, who are not known, they are

anonymous, decided that they would repeat transfix his gifts so they took out an ad in the canton "repository" offering to help 150 families in the city adjusting for inflation instead of $5, $100 for every family, $15,000. and the people who are appealing for this help were to write to b. virdot in care of the canton "repository." to date hundreds of letters have come and. others have come forth with donations, at least 5000 mark at the last council is now up to 203 pounds that will be helped. and that's what we are now. it shows the power of small gifts from long ago. so with that i would like to thank you and opened up the discussion and questions. [applause] [applause] >> questions? thoughts, comments?

>> of all the people that you have interviewed, what were the various reactions you get from them? i would assume that in some instances they were very happy to talk about it. in other instances they would be very reluctant. you did a very nice presentation. oslo you're a professional anyway. but that's quite apparent. >> that's a great question. the one common denominator is the almost in every case when assured the letters, the people sobbed. i needed to provide them a couple minutes to gather themselves. that was the common response. i would say in 90, 95% of the cases the people could not speak after hearing the letter. that was for one of two reasons.

one, because they didn't know what their parents had gone through. their parents had shielded them and suddenly they became aware of what they endured and how much they had been protected. and the other reason is because they knew exactly what the parents had gone through and this brought it all back. the vast majority of folks that he worked with on this, the families were powerfully moved and delighted to have this. to hear the voices of their loved ones, but it wasn't universal. there were a few cases where it wasn't that way and i'll tell you very quickly, there were some instances, a lot of families disintegrate. you had a choice as parents sometimes it's in your kids go to bed hungry or breaking up the family and placing them in orphanages or with others. and children didn't understand what was happening to them. and there were children who felt abandoned by these parents. some of these found themselves in orphanages and such, and they

didn't understand and still don't understand how and he did not want to hear even from a parent that was gone. there were a few instances of that. there were several instances in which parents were imprisoned and the children didn't know it. and these were depression inmates. that is, these were not hardened criminals. these were people that were faced with a choice between feeding the kids are crossing the line. and, you know, i'm not going to stand up to you that i can stand in judgment of him. i can't. i don't know -- i had two sons and if they were hungry i'm going to tell you what i would do. and these people who did go to jail never went back once they got out. you know. and so, in some cases that came as a shock to the children or grandchildren. but a cushion it by telling them exactly what i just told you,

that this was not a reflection of a lack of character. that even my grandfather had committed fraud and created bogus documents, and that it promised in the book that i would present this in the context where people would not stand in harsh judgment of them. and, in fact, i've gotten letters from the children and grandchildren thanking me for making good on my promise. but the overwhelming majority of the people that have worked with to do this book were grateful to have these letters brought back. it meant a lot to them. other questions, comments, thoughts? please. >> from what you said about your father or grandfather can he was a wealthy man. and the money was a lot of money. whatever happened to him after he gave this money i would --

gave this money away? >> he was not a wealthy man but he was quite comfortable that price point life. in 29 he was in bankruptcy court along with the rest of the country. in 42 u.s. increase relative to most folks in the town. he had a clothing store and that was the source of the money that allowed him to do this. in 37 he was in bankruptcy court again. like the rest of the country they were too big waves in the great depression and he wrote of them both. along with everyone else. but he was a very comfortable life and i would suggest otherwise. but he had the same setbacks that folks in that generation had. i would also that he had a giving heart and in 1940 when the germans were bombing the birds in london and hitler was on the move, and i mentioned in 33 was the first gift, he

anonymously sent coates to british citizens in christmastime to keep them warm. and in the pocket of each code he wrote a note about what democracy meant to him. so this was a guy who both at what was happening around the world and had to do more to make difference in a small way. and in this era of tarps and billion dollar bailouts, i think people are really hungry to see that individuals can make a difference and that small gestures have real power. because a lot of times we feel that the big, big things don't seem to make that much difference but the little things do. this is about community, about caring, making connections, and seeking nothing in return. and so i think that's the power of it. and as a gift which was so small and so long ago, my focus have

been translated into mandarin and then published in the people's republic of china and korea and published in south korea, an italian in italy, and other places. so, you know, there's a universal message here. all human beings cannot dignify with us. we all understand the power of these small gifts, but the ones that are pure and not motivated by self and brandeis met, you know, so. of the questions and comments, please. >> yes, i would ask what impact this revelation has been to your grandmother and to your own family. i mean, it's a bit of a -- it's a wonderful life type of wonderful thing. i'm very, very happy for you, and thank you for sharing the message. >> thank you. well, my grandmother passed away. it would impact on my mother and

her sister, my aunt, the two girls that are still alive. barbara passed away so it is -- my mother is 82 now and god is 79 to 80 and they're both right as we speak in the amazon. say they are doing okay. [laughter] >> my mother is to what she she is a travel agent. and she's down in the amazon. for both of them i think, i know i've said this before but it is too. this is among the highlights of their life having the story brought out. it's that important to them. my aunt dorothy, a dot in b. virdot said to me that said unto the day she was married this is the happiest time in her life because of this book. so i think that's what it is meant to them. into my whole family -- and to

my whole family, we came together. and at the end of the event were i brought the descendents together i had the descendents of b. virdot rise and this of the letter writers rise. there was electricity in the air, you know? so that's what it meant. >> can you talk a little bit about the differences and similarities between the depression and the current economic crisis? >> that's a not a softball question. the differences between the hard times and difficult times we're in today. i think for 50 million americans, the difference as a whole lot less pronounced, you know? if you're one of the 50 millionth without a job, or any of those that depend on those 15 million, the differences seem to pale. but that being said, i think

that we live in a different world and we are a different breed. americans are different today from 1933. the way we see the world cup the way we seek government, the way we view our neighbors, our families, our committees is entirely different. in 1933 pride ran so deep that people would not accept charity. and men have the luxury of holding onto their pride even as their children went hungry, and the mothers didn't. the mothers felt i think that it was their responsibility to feed the children even more than the fathers did. and so what tended to be the mothers who both these letters. not exclusively. but the women couldn't afford to indulge their pride. today there is no stigma attached to being on unemployment. there is no stigma attached. you don't called on the dole. and we talk about unemployment benefits as it is to be unemployed. it's kind of a perverse phrase it unemployment benefits.

that was -- there was no governmental structure to help the people of this christmas a 33. the new deal was barely a glint in roosevelt's i pick all the stuff we associate with the new deal was yet to come. and, in fact, americans probably were not ready for it and wouldn't have accepted it at the time these letters were written. and the spirit of america was redefined in this period because it was exact period that even the most self-reliant and resourceful americans came to realize the limits of the individual. and they came to realize it wasn't a character failure that you couldn't find a job. are used to talk about the shift was poor. they stop talking about the shift is poor at this big because everybody was out of work and it had nothing to do

with lack of character. and so people started to realize that if someone in something larger than themselves did not intervene, the entire country would collapse. and that opens the way i think for the new deal. if it were not for this kind of incredible catastrophic experience that redefined the way that we do to ourselves, pride was a luxury that no one could afford by 33, four years into the great depression. the something was too fast. and so, i think that's a big difference. also our definitions of poverty are so radically different. i mean, and i have to be careful here because i don't want to offend anybody. i lived in china for a year, 25 years ago. and other very well and very comfortably but also very simply. concrete floors, pretty simple, bicycle, not a car.

if you live in a place like that, i was in calcutta 25 years ago, that's poverty. you know, if you have a tv and a car, that's not the poverty that we are referring to in other parts of the world. it's all relative. and i think that's a part of it, too. you know, i mean, i -- i think that in a way, and here's what i really get on the advice and i can hear it cracking as a move towards the statement, that as much as we cherish prosperity not everything it brings is good. and we sometimes lose perspective on what's important, become more paternalistic, less appreciative of the basics of life. and i think that's something of a difference in the character of

our people and our generation today from 1933. and i think to some degree there is a realignment of values going on right now because of what we are experiencing, which it doesn't mean anyone should welcome what's happening now, but it might mean that the legacy of the great depression is getting a kind of booster shot now. anyhow, other thoughts or comments? >> you reminded me of something that i remember reading in the book seabiscuit, and the movie that was a very wealthy family that they showed. and when they fell on hard times, the oldest boy was just given a suitcase and said we can take care of you anymore, you have to fend for yourself or it

was my daughter thought that the question. you have the book. is there any talk about a movie, or do you think it would make a good movie? >> well, self-interest blinded me. [laughter] >> you know, i will tell you this. i mean, i'm not going to make another nickel or dime everyone in your bias a thousand copies. i'm not kidding you. i won't. i got an advance that it's a wonderful advance. i'm not going to make another done that way, but i really want people to read it. and the thing about a movie is that it enlarges your audience even more and brings people to the book. and so i would love to see a movie for that reason. and, you know, there are movies and there are movies. some of them take a great what license and are trash, and some

show a degree and/or one over and it was the latter i would welcome it. i would be delighted. so i think it would depend in whose hands this is and what was done with it. but yes, i basically would love to see it of course. i believe in this story. i believe in these letters. i just think that is, you know, this is about the formation of the american identity and character. this is where the greatest generation came from. it came out of the great depression. it didn't come into being the second world war. it was already there. people that went through what these folks want to in the '30s came out of it steely, resourceful, understanding the nature of self-sacrifice, the importance of collaboration. that's what the greatest generation was about. that's what is its hallmark. so anything that eliminates that i would be all for coming serving a movie would do that. are there any other comments or questions?

thank you very much. [applause] >> for more information about this book and author ted gup visit asecretgift book.com. >> we are here at the national press club's book and also not talking with veteran newsman jack cole about his new book "what is happening to news." tell us what is happening to news. >> was happening to news is the audience is changing fundamentally. and that's as much as anything else re- shaping the way we are getting our news. >> in what way? >> well, there are obvious ways. the attention span is short, but there are deeper ways, not the least of which is that the information environment we live in today axa, because of the way

our brains are designed, built, causes us to be much more drawn to emotional presentations of information than we were in quieter times. and naturally manifested itself in a way people are trying to tee mccabe with us, with a lot more intensity and often anger and passion and so forth, then 15 years ago or 20 years ago then you would of thought was appropriate. >> what are some of the examples of this phenomenon that you have and the book? >> well, just the commentators on cable news, for example. just one example. is probably the most prominent example, but you can even see it in the rhetoric of written news,

particularly commentary, which is extremely intense. certainly you see it in the internet world and the kinds of things that attracts attention and an audience and internet world world are often not sort of neutral disinterested reports of this or that. but, in fact, are rants about something. why is that? why are intelligent people being drawn to that information? that's what i ask we try to answer in the book. >> what do you see as the ultimate outcome for the news industry of the current attention span that the audience has? >> well, i think for young journalists it's a little bit scary, but an exhilarating time. and the reason is that it's not enough for them to just do a little better than the master of

the craft of the generation preceding them. they have to completely redo the craft. that's exciting. it's also scary because nobody has a template for how it's to be done. but i actually have confidence that as a journalists begin to really understand what's happening out there, these are the audience they are trying to speak to, and begin using their creativity to give away to speak to them that we will see a renaissance. it will be different. they will be a different kind of journalism and it will look different. some of the old practitioners of my generation will sniff and say this is not right and so forth, but the thing is journalism,

journalism that puts the message first. that is, decide what is important to say first and then figures out how to say that. not decide what people are going to be interested in first, and tells them only that. >> thank you do much for your time. >> booktv is on twitter. follow us for a regular updates on our programming and news on nonfiction books and authors. twitter.com/booktv.