Former employees of Alfred A. (for Abraham) Knopf, a publisher with the appearance and manner of a retired Cossack sergeant, recall that on the frequent occasions when Knopf was displeased, he would rumble: "If this keeps up, I'm going to sell to Bennett Cerf." At last, without a frown, Knopf has sold. The price, according to Random House President Cerf: in the neighborhood of 135,000 shares of Random House stock, worth roughly $3,000,000. Knopf and his wife Blanche, an aloof, astringent woman who is the firm's president (her husband is chairman), will still...
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