In Memoriam: Bill Else
Bob Shippee writes: Thirty-nine years ago, in the spring of 1971, I was sitting in a classroom in Mid-town Credit, finishing up my pre-pocket-calculator accounting studies. It was a typical late afternoon in the very early days of my banking career – I couldn’t quite believe we were actually being paid to go to classes and do “homework.” Bill Else was sitting to my right. He put down his pencil and said, “You know, old son, it’s not too early to pop over to the Algonquin. What do you say?” And so Bill and I, along with some others like Jan Hasek and Peter Otto and Dick Buckley, sauntered over to 59 West 44th, leaving the slower learners to struggle with their T accounts. Thanks, Bill, for the early lesson in the meaning of carpe diem. Those were the days.