Man in the Middle: John Patrick Diggins

I MET John Patrick Diggins (aka “Jack”) only once.  It was at the Century Club, and my publisher had lined up a meeting with Diggins and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. I remember barely hearing a word that Schlesinger was saying to me, across the big wooden table and amidst the numerous conversations spinning around.

But I remember Diggins turning to me with a glass of wine in his hand and inquiring, “You’re a writer and you’re not going to have a drink?” I bashfully told him that I had a book talk to give and that the drinking would occur afterwards, thinking we might meet up again ... More