So, the whole job came crashing down around me. And so did the book project. I hoped to work out a freelance relationship with Virginia King, the Company, and the new Supervisor. I hoped that I could continue on in some capacity after I got over the shock of being removed from my job, my work people, my creative center. That never did happen, for many reasons. Instead, I got a job as a deck hand and moved to a private island off of Cape Cod. That, however, is another story.

First, I had to grieve over the losses. The worst of them was losing the opportunity to work with a team to create a startling and seductive book of insider photographs. There was no doubt in my mind that this would be a powerful piece of work. I had been anxious and excited about writing an introduction to the book that would be worthy of the project.

Unfortunately for me, my dream book project was taken up by others.

Still, now three years later, the book "in-store", I am emotionally crushed by the loss of the project. I have friends who have reported that the project was not without its difficulties. But I was compelled to reply that there could be no difficulty in making the book that could match the measure of pain I felt in NOT making the book. Perhaps melodrama, again?

I don't think so.

The book is fine enough. And yet, I can offer no neutral commentary. I will try to remind myself what I had hoped the book would become. Its title, by the way, is 20th Century Fox: Inside the Photo Archive.