HAROLD SWANSON HOOK

In the Summer of 1964, before beginning my freshman year at MU, I was hired by National Fidelity Life in KC for a 3 month job, helping out in the accounting department. I would have had no reason to hob-nob with really important people like Mr. Hook. That is, until one night when we were all working overtime to run the agents' statements and checks to get in the mail the next day. Something had gone wrong, so all were staying late into the evening. Mr. Hook was there, too, so great was our...

In the summer of 1964, before beginning my freshman year at MU, I was hired as an accounting clerk at NFL. I busied myself on the 5th floor, as I recall, with no need to interface with Mr. Hook or other really important people. Until one night that seared itself in my memory and provided me with a story to tell many times: We were working late, having missed a deadline to mail agents' statements and checks. The statements were printed from the probably nearly brand new IBM computer that...