I would like to add a few last words on the Impresario Performing Arts Tour, as mentioned in the last blog.
Travel is a dream that I have always had. Ever since I was a very little boy, I always wanted to see what was down the street, across town, or around the world. I never expected to have the opportunity to fulfill those dreams. Circumstances presented themselves, allowing many of those dreams to come true.
Although I expressed disappointment about the Impresario tour, it was with the participants, not the journey. Russia, in the late sixties could be pretty dismal, compared to America or any other place outside the "Iron Curtain". In many ways, however, it was a fascinating country. Children would come up to you and ask for chewing gum, but if you tried to shake hands with them, they would slap your hand away. I guess they had been pretty well brainwashed about the American capitalist enemy. Lenin Square in Moscow is immense. Russian visitors stood in line for hours to go through Lenin's Mausoleum. Our Russian Intourist guide took us to the front of the line and yelled at the others in line to let us in. We got a lot of dirty looks, but they let us in. Inside the immense rotunda was the body of Lenin, propped up in his coffin looking like a wax body. You could only spend about one minute for the viewing. No cameras were allowed; you were relieved of cameras as you entered, and were returned when you came out. At the far end of the square was the St.Basil church, with its impressive onion shaped domes; to the right was the entrance to the Kremlin, surrounded by its massif walls. We toured the Kremlin and were fascinated by the architecture. Looking at Russian history under the Tsars, you have to marvel at the fact that, although the Tsars' were disposed of, the Russian people kept what they had built. Another example of this the Winter Palace, in Leningrad, with its beautiful fountains, gardens, and canals, built by Tsar Nicolas the Great. The paintings in the Palace came from all over Europe, especially from Holland, where Nicolas lived and studied for some time.
I just thought that I would add the above, as I didn't want to leave the reader with the impression that the Impresario tour was terrible. It was far from that; the many performances we attended were beautiful and the cities we visited were full of old world art, architecture and for the most part, friendly people. I just wish our tour members could have been nicer.
Upon my return to work, I still had to find a new location for our office. I had also promised to have lunch with Joe Scolara, Dick Robinson's assistant. I was hoping that Dick's murder had been solved. Joe's admission to me that he was the chief suspect was certainly unsettling. I gave Joe a call and he asked me to meet him at the old Impresario office. The offices were in a one story building in Southfield, Michigan. Arriving at the office, I was greeted by Joe Scolara. He then went over the Robinson family demise and said the police had no leads, and were still interrogating him as the chief suspect. He thought the reason for this was because he had no alibi for the time when the murders occurred. He had been attending the Michigan Fair all that day but couldn't recall anyone he knew, who could say they saw him there. Additionally, he served as a Special Forces member during WWll and therefore had a great deal of experience with weapons. He swore up and down that he had nothing to do with the murders.
He told me that the reason he wanted to see me at their old offices, was because he owned the building and wondered if I would like to rent it for KLM. He knew that I wanted to get out of Detroit. To make a long story short, I sent the details and a picture of the building to my New York Home Office and got a "go ahead" to rent it. It was well suited to our needs. It was a small building containing three private offices, a reception area and a large conference room which we converted into a reservations and ticket office open to the public. In the back of the building was ample space for parking. The nicest part was that it fronted on Southfield Road which was a main road out of Detroit, to the suburbs. We had a nice sign out front proclaiming "The K.L.M. Building".
After moving in, Joe Scolara stopped by several times to visit. On one visit, he suggested that we have lunch together at that great Dutch restaurant in Windsor. On the way back, he surprised me by saying he hoped U.S. Immigration didn't ask him to open his trunk (we were using his car) as he had a rifle in the trunk. I don't know if he was joking or serious. In any event, we were not asked to open it. That was the last time I ever saw Joe. He had a small office in downtown Detroit, where he was working and his mother was helping him. One day, she went out for lunch, and when she returned, the door was locked and there was a note on the door telling her not to come in, but to call the police. When the police arrived, they broke down the door and found that Joe had committed suicide. He left a note saying that he was a thief and had stolen money from Dick Robinson, but he was not a murderer. To my knowledge, the police never solved the case. I imagine that not having any more leads, they just closed the case hoping the murderer was dead.
For me, I was happy the year was pretty well over. I got us out of Detroit even though it took me more than twice as long to get to the office every day. I had increased the KLM revenue for the year by over another million dollars. The sad part of the year was the losing of a friend, making the year less happy as it could have been. Overall, I felt good, but could not help wonder what the next year would bring.
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