Read Pluto Walks the Earth, Chapter 46: Bad Beet
Milton Pleasence <mpleasence@NACM.org> Wed, June 27 2:10 PM
To: Colleen Z. Amberson <czamber@sincityspeakers.com>
CC: LoriAnn Falcone <lfalcone@NACM.org>
Dear Colleen:
At the risk of excess haste, I write to you immediately with respect to the June 27 opening session at the NACM Credit Conference & Expo. It was a problematic culmination to a problematic booking of the day’s opening speaker, Mr. Pluto McDowell. It came to a halt five hours ago, but has already led to media repercussions.
As you know, we engaged Mr. McDowell for his appearance through your agency at the fee of $25,000 plus 2-nights lodging, first-class air travel and incidentals. We, of course, also engaged Ms. Joan Lunden to be his interviewer at a significant expense. The booking process was complicated at the outset by McDowell’s demand that we include, onstage with him and at our expense, a gentleman named Manuel Baerga, who was, as you explained “a character in the Pluto McDowell story.” We consented, committing to additional first-class travel and accommodations and adjusting our program accordingly, which included a new brief for Ms. Lunden. Then, one week before the event, we were suddenly informed that Mr. Baerga could not attend due to a serious illness in his family. This again required inconveniencing Ms. Lunden and readjusting our program.
Then, yesterday, at 1 pm during the general luncheon, Mr. McDowell was a no-show for his rehearsal in the adjacent Grand Ballroom. It is my understanding that he arrived in time for his 7 am call this morning, and sat curled in the corner of the green room hugging himself and humming. When Ms. Lunden called him onto the stage at 8:40 am, what a spectacle that was: stepping up to the dais in a bathrobe, looking as if he’d slept in a sandpit. From the front row, where I sat, it was all too clear he was wearing no pants. I am separately forwarding the videotape and the full transcript of the session. But let me please excerpt the first few questions and answers: