he become so wealthyt ''s your Greek mythologyt ''m a -little rusty.' 46 of Oedipust ' know the story Steve nodded. ' killed his father to get his mother.". Well, that was Harry Stanford. Only he killed his father to get his mother's vote.' Steve was staring at him. ' Fitzgerald leaned forward. ' the early thirties, E""Harry's father had a grocery store here in Boston. It did so well that he opened a second one, and pretty soon he had a small chain of grocery stores. When H411M finished college, his father brought him into the business as a partner and put him on the board of directors. As I said, Harry was ambitious. He had big reams Instead of buying meat from packing houses, he wanted the chain to raise its own livestock. He wanted it to buy land, and grow its own vegetables, can its own goods. His father disagreed, and they fought a lot. ' Harry had his biggest brainstorm of all. He told his father he wanted the company to build a chain of supermarkets that sold everything from automobiles to furniture to life insurance, at a discount, and charge customers a membership fee. Harry's father thought he was crazy, and he turned down the idea. But Harry didn't intend to let anything get in his way. He decided he had to get rid of the old man. He persuaded his father to take a long vacation, and while he was away, Harry went to work charming the board of directors. ' was a brilliant salesman and he sold them on 47 his,-concept. He persuaded his aunt and uncle, who were on the board, to vote for him. He romanced the other members of the board. He took them to lunch, went fox hunting with one, golfing with another. He slept with a board membees wife who had influence over her husband. But it was his mother who held the largest block of stock and had the final vote. Harry persuaded her to give it to him and to vote against her husband.', "Mat's unbelievable!" Harry's father returned, he learned that his family had voted him out of the company.' GMy God! s ''s more. Harry wasn't satisfied with that.
When his father tried to get into his own office, he found that he was barred from the building. And, remember, Harry was only in his thirties then. His nickname around the company was the Iceman. But credit where credit is due, Steve. He single-handedly built. Stanford Enterprises into one of the biggest privately held conglomerates in the world. He expanded the company to include timber, chemicals, communications, electronics, and a staggering amount of real estate. And he wound up with. all the stock." must have been an incredible man,' Steve said.
"He was. To men - and to wornen." he marriedt Simon Fitzgerald sat there for a long time, remembering. When he finally spoke he said, "Harry Stanford 48 married to one of the most beautiful women I've ,',,4ver seen. Emily Temple. They had three children, two boys and a girl. Emily came from a very social family ""In Hobe Sound, Florida. She adored Harry, and she to close her eyes to his cheating, but one day it C. tot to be too much for her. She had a governess for 4he children, a woman named Rosemary Nelson. Young and attractive. What made her even more 4ttractive to Harry Stanford was the fact that she refused to go to bed with him. It drove him crazy. He wasn't used to rejection. Well, when Harry Stanford turned on the charm, he was irresistible. He finally got Rosemary into bed. He got her pregnant, and she went to see a doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor's son-in-law @was a columnist, and he got hold of the story and printed it. There was one hell of a scandal.
You know Boston. It, was all over the newspapers. I still have clippings about it somewhere." she get an abortiont Fitzgerald shook his head. '. Harry wanted her to have one, but she refused. They had a terrible scene. He told her he loved her and wanted to marry her. Of course, he had told that to dozens ofwomen. But Emily overheard their conversation, and in the middle of that same night she committed suicide."'s awful. What happened to the governess?" Nelson disappeared. We know that she had a daughter she named Julia, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Milwaukee. She sent a note to