George had a Forrest Gump-like ability to be on the spot where things happened, including, as I was to find years into knowing him, the moment when he was among those who, along with my uncle, leapt upon and disarmed Sirhan Sirhan after he had assassinated Bobby Kennedy at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

What's more, though George loved to play the role of trickster, I never found him, when pressed, to be less than truthful.

He shook his head, and said, "James, I'm afraid so. And...well...so you see?"

"Did you ever write about this?"

"No."

"Why not?"

He looked uncomfortable and shrugged.

It was unusual for George to talk about politics, or in this case, since it was more than 30 years later, history, unless it was distant history - the Civil War and the exploits of his two ancestors who had been noted Union generals. But still I didn't quite believe him. Quite simply, I'd never heard a word about such executions.

In the weeks that followed, I sought out accounts of the events he described. Authoritative first-hand accounts do exist. Some historical records speak more loudly to us than others. We know, for instance, of executions in Chile that followed the 1973 Pinochet coup because six months later a brave lawyer presented a dossier to a gathering of foreign ministers visiting Santiago. About Guevara's role in the execution of political prisoners in Havana, the world has taken less interest. For myself, after reading the accounts I was never able to feel the same way about some things ever again.

Sitting across from my boss in our office on the East River, in New York, I held the manuscript pages out to him one more time. "It's not what you'd expect. Won't you at least read this?" He sat unmoved. "James, I'm sorry, I just can't." In the 20 years I knew George, it was the only time he refused to look at a piece of writing.