A few days ago, I put up a post taking issue with an excerpt of Guy Sorman’s book about American philanthropy that ran in the Dallas Morning News. He wrote that locally we refer to a group of super-wealthy philanthropic people as “The Thousand Families.” I’d never heard the term. He also described a scene where he watched someone with $10 billion ask his secretary to tell him how much he was worth. I said I’d update the post when I heard back from Sorman, which I did over the long weekend. Here’s what Sorman says:
Sorry, Tim, I have nothing to add. What has been published in the Dallas Monring News is an abstract of one chapter in my coming book, The American Heart. I have not invented anything and I shall not give you my sources. The text has been thoroughly edited and verified by Dallas editors. You may have a different interpretation or different sources. Anyway, I am no Dallas insider; I only try to convey to my readers (not only in France, as my books are translated in many countries) what US philanthropy is about. It is uniquely American for sure. I got many feedback from Dallas, all favourable except yours; I have been very surprised by these positive reactions. Probably my irony was lost in translation.
NB: how does the European debt crisis relate to all this? You may know as little about Europe as I myself know about Texas.
Warm regards.
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