Silhouette

There are few public relations men who stutter. Only one cured himself and then relapsed so that people would listen to him more carefully. He is Commander William J. Lederer, Nieman Fellow and Chief of the Magazine and Book Division of Navy Public Information.

Lederer's background qualifies him for what he calls "P-R" work and also for naval leadership: born in New York City, 1912; radio factory worker; school reporter for The New York Times and New York Post; secretary to Heywood Broun; enlisted in Navy to get education; Naval Academy, 1932-36; skipper of cruiser Great Falls in 1945; Navy Cross; Korean War, 1950; author of "All the Ships at Sea," a naval autobiography, and "The Last Cruise." When he is not attending classes or telling sea stories to other Niemans, Lederer can be found in Lowell D-21, where he leaves the door ajar. There he writes his "mag articles" and talks to anyone who will listen to him.

"Are you Commander Lederer?"

"No, dammit. I'm Bill Lederer. Come on in and sit down."

"Are you busy? I'd like to ask you a few questions."

"Hell, no. Do you want some coffee?" He was stretched back in his chair with his feet on a cluttered desk. His white shirt was open at the neck, and a set of large, red plastic pens was sticking out of a sheath attached to his belt. His hands were toying with an old pipe which had lost half of its stem many years ago. On one wall was hanging a black-board which read "Crimson interview at 1:30--Later: Finish 'Mass Appeal' Chapter--Look for Hickey Letter--Write Ben Hibbs." Bill explained that Admiral Hickey is the Navy Public Information Chief and Ben Hibbs is the editor of the Saturday Evening Post.

He began to tell of his experiences at the Naval Academy. "I loved the midshipman cruises. I loved everything about Annapolis. I cried the day I left. It was like being pushed out of a nest. I was there five years, too."

Bill explained why it took him five years to be commissioned. "I was just plain dumb. It was a combination of just having a year of high school and being really stupid.

"This P-R work and mag articles really interest me. Public relations in the Navy is a new lash-up. There's no rank in it now. But we hope that it will grow. Maybe there will be a public relations admiral in ten years. P-R men should not be press agents. They should be the medium between the press agents and the people . . . The Army and Air Force are more advanced in all this. When the Korean War started, the Army had 52 P-R men in the Korean theatre, the Air Force had 38, and the Navy had one lieutenant, j.g. The other services have their own little schools for six weeks, but I'm the only one who has a deal like this Nieman business.

"I'm getting a hell of a lot out of it too. These Niemans are a remarkable lot. I applied to be with them as a guy who writes mag articles. I feel that mags are becoming a more important kind of journalism. Up here there are so many people who know so much. I've been hanging out with them at lunch and at their houses. I'm trying to develop a technique of informational strategy--I don't like the word propaganda and what it stands for."

Bill discussed some of the courses he was auditing and described his favorite professors: Chafee, Morison, and MacLeish. He used hand gestures continually and occasionally interrupted himself to curse at his pipe or swallow some coffee. His light blue eyes had a twinkle in them, and he frequently wore a broad smile. He talked slowly and looked very pleased as he began to discuss his wife Ethel. "You've got to come out and meet her and the three kids. We have a house in Belmont. It seems like half of Lowell House is out there every evening and we love it."

In his spare time, Bill is trying to write his third book. "I'm writing one on how to write articles for mags. I'm writing it especially for part-time writers like naval officers, housewives, and businessmen. If everyone could only write well, they could make a hell of a lot of money and impart their knowledge to a lot of people."

When asked about his future plans, Bill replied, "This summer I'll be a combat correspondent in Korea. I want to stay in the Navy as long as I can. It's the greatest source of information for stories that I have."