It doesn't make sense that Herb would sit by silently as the publication of Poorboy—the novel he'd paid a record advance for, and the novel featured on the cover of Publishers Weekly—was sabotaged. My surmise is that Herb's career must have really been ended shortly after I spoke with him by phone in the winter of 1967. Where was he from 1967 through 1973? It's incomprehensible that he would voluntarily step down at the top of his game and go incommunicado. Nor can I buy it that he could be out-smarted by Michael Korda.
        “He was possibly the smartest man who ever lived,” Ed McBain said of Herb Alexander in the introduction to his novel Cop Hater. The author of The Time of Our Lives, Al Silverman, called Herb “a larger-than-life editor in chief in every way.”
        After Korda somehow eclipsed Herb, he wrote a book titled Power: How to Get It, How to Use It. This title, by itself, highlights the difference between the two men—Herb Alexander pioneered mass market paperbacks which brought delights and education to millions; Michael Korda confiscated the fruits of his work and bragged about it.
        Time magazine's review of Power (January 19, 1976) was not flattering, in spite of Korda's power in the book industry.
        “Korda dispenses breezy bits of office one-upmanship (jam a visitor's chair into a small space to make him feel powerless, speak softly to an elderly rival —it may make him think he is going deaf). The message... death will come soon; meanwhile, there is nothing left to believe in but success and power in a cruel world we never made…Much of Korda's book concentrates on dress and the trappings of power, including which briefcase and footwear to buy (Gucci loafers are 'power shoes'). Some of his advice reads like a mad parody. Rising executives should practice a strong 'power gaze' in front of a mirror. If they can't maintain it without twitching, Xylocaine, an anesthetic ointment, should be applied to the face before important meetings.”
        Under Herb Alexander, book publishing was for the greater good. Under Michael Korda, book publishing was for personal power.
        I relish the memory of what Herb said when we first met, that writers who grow up orphaned aren't “Polly-want-a-cracker” types. But Jim Morrison's words about freedom returned to haunt me: “You can take away a man's political freedom and you won't hurt him—unless you take away his freedom to feel. That can destroy him.”
        My freedom to feel got lost during the coming decade as I struggled to deal with the consequences of Korda's actions.

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