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1674-1 Hank Meyer Notes of interview with HANK MEYER March 19, 1992 Student at U-Miami in 1938 . Came with no money from New York. Was 18 years old. Suffered terribly from hay fever, came to Miami Beach. Stayed at a motel on Collins Avenue; paid $3 a week; no a/c. Decided to go to U-Miami. Took trolley to Sears circle, another trolley to Flagler Street, then bus to C.Gables where hitchhiked rides to U-Miami. Went to see Bowman Ashe for a scholarship. One thing led to another, including a meeting with Ashe, and Meyer wound up with Franklin Harris, in charge of publicity, to try out to earn a scholarship. Hank was told by Harris that John Erskine ( 1879- 1951 ) -- poet, author, literary critic, educator, concert pianist -- was to deliver a lecture and that Hank was to interview and write a story about him for publicity purposes. Meyer never had interviewed anyone before and so told Erskine. Erskine agreed to the interview with the condition that he get to read it after Hank has written it and before it was to be turned in. He wrote the article and gave it to Erskine who told him it was the worst thing he ever read. He asked if Hank minded his applying some cosmetics to it. Of course, Hank agreed. The doctored article was turned over to Harris who read it and, in turn, reported to Ash. Ash told Meyer he had real talent -- and also a full scholarship plus a job in the publicity department at 25 cents an hour. Meyer admitted to Ash that he did not write the finished product. Ash told him he was going to give him the scholarship anyway for two reasons: 1 . He told the truth. 2 . If you can get better and smarter people to do the work for you, then you were going to succeed in life. Meyer said he rarely went to class; that he worked instead in the publicity department. He did admit, however, to splitting time going to classes given by Reinhold Wolff and Ernest McCracken, both teaching courses in economics . After getting his b.a. , Meyer went on to U-M law school but after six months decided he did not want to pursue that line. He was offered his university p.r. job back but at $40 a week. He also worked as a bus boy at King' s Cafeteria ( 1121 Washington Avenue. ) Was in Navy during WWII, got out winter of 1945 . (I am not sure I have this right. ) In 1946 Hank went into the advertising business with Franklin Harris but after a year broke up the partnership, saying he did not like advertising, preferred public relations. In 1949, Miami Beach decided to separate its publicity department from its convention bureau and hired Hank for the job. He held it for 27 years -- also handling outside accounts. One day, he says, he asked himself why he still was representing the city and interrupted a city commission meeting to resign. Morris Lapidus designed great hotels but got little credit. He had a feud with Ben Novack; Novack had condemned him for taking bows. At the Saxony Hotel one night, Hank was introduced to Arthur Godfey. Wouldn' t it be great, asked Meyer, if you introduced doing live TV shows from Miami Beach. Don McNeil (Breakfast Club and Walter Winchell already had done radio shows from Miami Beach. Hank brought McNeal here in the early 50s. ) Godfrey liked the idea but noted that there was no coaxial cable to Miami Beach. Hank spoke with Southern Bell ' s Phil DeBerard (spelling? ) and, in time, the cable was run through to Miami Beach. Godfrey agreed to do the show from the Kenilworth Hotel which was not in Miami Beach but in Surfside. In November or December 1953, a Wednesday night, it was freezing up north. Godfrey does his show from the Kenilworth by going offshore in a boat and jumping into the water and swimming to shore. Then he tells his audience how great it is down here and to look at that Miami moon. It was a five-minute commercial for us. Godfrey was the first to originate a live TV show here. Hank had nothing to do with bringing Winchell here. He says Winchell had an intense dislike for him. Hank says he disagreed with something Winchell wrote. "You don't disagree with Walter Winchell. " Re: Gleason. Hank read in an Earl Wilson column that Gleason was tiring of staying indoors in the winter, that he wanted to go out an play golf. Hank called Wilson and told him that he didn't know Gleason but that he read the item and wondered whether Jackie would like to move the show to Miami Beach. Wilson gave Hank the home number of Gleason and Hank called. Jack Philbin answered the phone and sounded polite as Hank began his pitch. If I were he, says Hank, I would have hung up on me. Then he put Hank on with Gleason. Hank asked him if he would like to be the best publicized TV star in the history of the tube. And he asked him if he would like to improve his golf game by playing year ' round. Hank got Jackie' s attention. Gleason sent some people down to look over the situation and later Jackie called Hank to say that it was a great idea. There were conditions, however. Gleason required a first-rate TV origination studio and that would take money. He needed a stage, rehearsal rooms, absolutely cold air conditioning, etc. Everything he said he needed, he said in a jocular tone. There also would have to be between $300, 000 and $400, 000 expended for new cameras. Hank called Mitchell Wolfson, chairman of Wometco and explained the situation. Wolfson said that in order to expend such money, there needed to be an assurance that the Gleason program would continue to originate from Miami Beach for several years. Hank relayed that to Gleason, who also spoke with CBS about it. About six months later, Wolfson agreed to fund part of the needs and hoped CBS would come up with some as well. The deal was done. The cast of the show didn't like Miami Beach in the first year and so told Hank. By the following year, they had the sand in their shoes and thanked him for getting the show moved down. I asked Hank about the Estes Kefauver hearings here and the Miami Beach syndicate. He said that he had a fear of getting involved in anything he didn't understand. I asked if he was aware of gambling going on in Miami Beach and he said it was part of the personality of the city at the time. He told of his representation of with singer Lanny Ross, who sang at the Brook Club ( 9424 Harding Avenue, Surfside) in which gambling took place. Ross, through Meyer, gave a start to a woman named Judy (Drucker; get maiden name) as a stunt in which she appeared to be a member of the audience. (Little vague here, need to talk more with Hank about it. Am I sure of Brook Club gambling?) Anecdote: Meyer was handling Mt. Sinai hospital as well as Reynolds pens. Fund raiser was being held at Latin Quarter for hospital and Meyer got Reynolds to donate 500 of its pens to participants in the fund raiser. Dress theme was white and to everyone' s astonishment, the pens leaked over everyone ' s white clothing. TtlPk r4-t; Arthur Godfrey' s letters were too intimate to save. He confided in me, says Hank. He away a lot because they were so personal. Same with Jack Paar. One rap Godfrey feared was that of anti Semitism. Godfrey wrote to Hank that he was not and never had been an anti-Semite and predicted that the day he died, "they" will take down the signs on Arthur Godfrey Road. Hank used to take a putt-putt across Indian Creek from his home. He watched every structure going up on Collins avenue from Government Cut to 63rd street and can recall each Hotel of the Year: San Souci, Saxony, Casablanca, etc. Harry Singer son' s bar mitzvah. Attending were Godfrey, Gleason, Toots Shore, etc. (Need to get date, more info. ) Celebs each got up to toast the honoree. Godfrey said that while they all were celebrating the event, people were dying around the world in wars. Meyer says Godfrey' s comments hit the wires and he was ripped apart. Godfrey, he says, meant no harm, just spoke the wrong words at the wrong time. Meyer says he probably brought in 100 different shows to Miami Beach over the years. Meyer never met Steve Hannegan. He said Hannegan rarely went to the office. He was a great hand holder with the press. Meyer says Ed Sullivan called him to say he was bringing the Beatles to Miami Beach. There was silence. "Hank, did you hear what I said? Do you know who the Beatles are?" Hank: "Are they acrobats?" Sullivan: "How can you be in public relations and not know? Talk to your three daughters . " Event took place at Deauville. It was a crowd control nightmare. Meyer publicly ripped Sullivan for not better preparing authorities for what was expected. At the track one day, Hank and Sullivan met and Hank apologized. Sullivan told him to forget about it. Once brought Tonight Showw (Paar? ) to Roney Plaza Hotel. Producer calls Hank and asks for permission to do an opening on the beach in which there are Army, Marines, cannons, etc. It would be an attack on the beach. Hank OKs it. At home that night, he hears barking dogs and tremendous bangs. He thought it was an actual attack, as did the police. Carl Fisher home became a kosher restaurant (Lincoln Manor. ) (Here is where I get real confused among Walter Jacobs, Bob Jacobs, etc. Need to get back with Hank on this . ) Bob Jacobs ran the restaurant (Lincoln Manor? ) . Walter Jacobs (brother? ) was a hotelier who created the care of celebrities. He was a typical hotel man. Owned the Lord Tarleton (4001-11 Collins Avenue -- now the Crown. ) When a celebrity came to his hotel, Jacobs -- rather than the bellman -- would carry his or her baggage. (Hank spoke of a small restaurant called Jimmy' s Just-A-Hobby on 41st Street where you had to be known to get in the front door. I need to know more about this place. Celebs went there. What years? Who was Jimmy? What was special about it?) (Additonal names and things to research for as a result of conversation with Hank: Hank says Steve Hannegan' s former secretary sent him Hannegan' s scrapbooks and that Hank turned them over to Miami Beach Public Library. Tom Smith, Miami Beach Convention Bureau Claude Renshaw, city manager Morris Lapidus, still living Ben Novack Don McNeil Sam Halpern, commissioner Marcie Lieberman Bob Jacobs Walter Jacobs Jimmy' s Just-a-Hobby Brook Club Singer/Godfrey bar mitzvah fallout #### 6