V: Thank you for joining us today, Mr. Payne.
A: Please, call me Addy.
V: All right. . . Addy. So you were formerly married to Liz Michaels. How did you meet?
A: Don’t you want to know about my career in the ad business, my family connections?
V: Okay. Tell us about your family.
A: Well, I’m a descendent of Edward Tiffin, the first governor of Ohio, on my mother’s side, and on my father’s side, several ancestors were English royalty. Both of my parents came from wealth, and my father was quite adept at increasing that wealth. I come from the best and I had a great deal to live up to.
V: I see, and this expectation led you into advertising?
A: Yes, I had the connections, and I have the people skills and an organizational technique that never let me down. Oh, and I had a real sense for when to take a risk.
V: What are you doing now?
A: I’m in the process of starting my own ad agency. Believe me, it’ll be the premier agency in Pittsburgh. I have my financing and talent lined up and clients are already calling me for appointments.
V: Uh-huh. Well, good luck with that, Addy. Now, I think the audience would like to hear how you and Liz Michaels met.
A: Sure. I did an ad campaign for Kernan, Feinstein and Company and worked closely with her. She was quite impressed with me, and I found her pretty attractive, despite her background.
V: Despite her background?
A: Yes. She came from nothing. But she was incredibly talented, smart, and ambitious. She also had great style, exquisite taste, and is quite beautiful. Of course the Kernans may have had a hand in guiding her. I thought she would be a perfect mate for me. I chose to overlook her early background. However, Mother never accepted her and thought I could do better.
V: I see. What do you think attracted her to you?
A: Well, at first, she refused to go out with me. She was quite a challenge, but the Great Ad Man never fails. It wasn’t long before I had her thinking she was the center of my universe. I think my heritage and social standing helped, too. She knew I’d gone to Harvard and was pretty successful.
V: So what happened? Why did you break up?
A: We grew apart. I was busy building my career, and she wanted children. We were going to have a baby, but she miscarried. Instead of moving on, she got depressed. I couldn’t be there for her all the time because of my work. It all went downhill from there. She seems to be doing better now. Maybe in time we’ll get back together.
V: Uh-huh. Well, Addy, good luck with that. Oh, we’ve run out of time. Thank you for being with us.
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