IL- -, Ar-, - -,.S,

September 17, 1956

THE MICHIGAN DAILY

Page Five

Septeber 1, 196 THEMICHIAN DILY P rerFv


He spent $8,000,000 to erect a law school, quibbled over a
$174 expenditure, and never returned to see his buildings
for fear that reality would belie the dream.
but that If he really had in mind On July 22, 1927, he oejected
my temperament, that was still s building will last for a thousnd years," retorted Cook to strongly to a $5 a week raise for
supposed by my acquaintences to Miss Bozorth, a raise earned after
be rather vigorous a suggestion that depreciation reserves be established. Of the three years' service. July 30 he be-
'He took the remark as it was gan a vigorous protest against al-
meant and smilingly said, 'Sit Lawyers Club's financial statements he raged, "I defy gods and lowing Miss Bozorth to occupy one
down. I believe you will do'." n , . of the Club's guest rooms, a con-
Cook unquestionably had a flair men to understand these accounts. Of the Club's director, Miss dition necessitated by her duties.
for the dramatic. One of the con- Inez Bozorth, he stormed ". . . I have heard from four different August 11 he raged, "Public sen-
ditions which he stipulated during timent if informed would not sus-
the negotiations was that his independent sources that she is discourteous and obnoxious tain your giving the husekeeper
name remain secret. one of the six fine guest rooms.. .
It was discovered only when, on my advice to you is to substitute a new management." But his I am trying to make a high-toned
-September, 21, 1924, an alert re-intuio ofyrclbad o
te noticd a nscition ear- pettiness did not preclude a great depth and intelligence, high-toned institution gives its
ing Cook's name on a small stone best spare bedroom to its house-
panel over a door leading to the keeper. It is absurd, and if I had
lounge of the Lawyer's Club,
Th e v e n t w a s signiicant stand first Cook's relation to the would give the money to the gov- G. C. Grismore, then secretary of dreamed that such a thing would
enough to ake the New YorkClub. Of all his projects the Law- ernment if not to the institution, the Club, Cook asks, "I see that happen I would have made it a
Times, which noted, "The identity yers Club was the most cherished, Article 10 of his will (cast in $872.64 was expended on the build- condition of the gift that no ser-
of the donor has been a mystery had rad idls concernin metal in the Law School) reads: ing. What were the main items for vant should occupy any guest
for two eais . what he thought it should be and 'Believing, a I do. that Amer- this? Has the entrance been block- room.
yers watched it&rLrespondence. c a institstions are of more con- ed regiiinst autumn lea as directed In the same letter he wrote:
can i' ae f enS . a respondence. sequence than the wealth or pow- by the architects?" 'You state you have heard no
. LTIOUOH it is probable tha Though he had many precise er of the country: and believing And in another letter he is dis- criticism of her by members and
LTHUGAitisprbabe ha and odd notions regarding con- that the ores ervation and develop- turbed by an expenditure of $174. esiests. I have heard from four
his nsitane onkeeinghisdifferent independent . sources
hsnatneikepn hs atr'uction and practices, and must ment of thes institutions hive7
name a secret resulted in part r of them 'erg incorporated, the been, are n i ons t'b Feuds & Figlts that she is discourteous and ob-
from his love for mystery and the . . a ' noxious to callers and has given
jmany stipulations he is rumored under the ledrhpo h ea OKSpiei h osre
dramatic, it also evidenced an ab- to have attached to the gift are pre leadership uf the legal COOKS pride in the construe- a very bad impression of your
horresce for publicity, which he profession; and believing that the tion of the Lawyers Club is club
shunned at every possible point. for the most part false. character of the law schools de- shown in his reaction to a sugges-
On March 3, 1927, long after his It is not true, for example, that I termines the character of the le- tion by the auditors that part of BJECTING strongly to both
dream had been built, Cook 'rote the Law Library is legally prohib- gal profession, I wish to aid in en- the profits be set aside for a de- the low profits and Miss Soo-
the University, ".. .I shall be glad ited from charging fines, nor that larging the scope and improving preciation reserve. orth, Cook wrote, in September,
to write you a letter to be read at the Lawyers Club must serve ice the standards of law schools by on June 2, 1926, he wrote, "Now 1927, "It [the profits] is very far
your annual club . . . provided the cream daily, nor that the Cook aiding the one from which I grad- as to the repreciation reserve. You from being satisfactory . . . You
better is not m.ade public and ne fund adds to faculty salaries. uated, namely, the Law School of don't need any. That building was pay no interest nor rent nor taxes
public announcement made as to As one member of the Law the University of Michigan." built for a thousand years. I have nor expense for heat, light or
its contents. There shall be noth- School Faculty has put it "There no patience with these theoretical power . . . The large original cost
ing startling , .. but newspaper were enough peculiarties about , BUT in his gift there was more depreciations which absorb mon- of the building and equipment is
notoriety I never have sought." Cook but few specific strings at- than even the cherished ideals ey , Do you expect some part no liability. If you had to pay
Informed of the difficulty in tached to his gift." Some of his of a profession. The Lawyers Club of the building will tumble down taxes, and for heat, light and
preventing reporters from making suggestions, contained in letters, appears to have been a focus for or be worn out?" The Club still power, and either interest or rent,
public his speech, Cook replied, were incorporated but their legal Cook, an outlet for all the eccen- does not have a depreciation re- you would go bankrupt in six
April 5, 1927, "I can see from your status is uncertain. An example is tricities, loneliness, dreams, that serve. months under Miss Bozorth's
letter that you would be somewhat his wish that the Lawyers Club characterized the man. He constantly corresponded with management . .. The trouble pro-
embarassed to control the report- not be used for "accomodating or- For Cook, the Lawyers Club was the Law School regarding sale of bably is bad management in the
ers. I am embarassed not to con- ganizations, conventions, or asso- to be an integral educational ad- his two books on corporation law, kitchen, supplies and dining room
troil them .. . you can read it at the ciation, nor for meetings of any junct to the Law School, like the sometimes receiving checks for as There is something wrong . ,
end of the meeting after first sort." famous Inns of Court of England. little as $7 in payment for sale of It seems to me you are paying an
ejecting summarily all the report- Nothing was too good for it. seven copies. exorbitant price for the cooking
ers ... I have had publicity enough mniCWU(I . . . Though a usually prudent man, he Cook was not, from all evidence, and serving .. 'My advice to you
and don't want any more A resolved all doubts in favor of an easy man to deal with: once de- is to substitute a new management
To avoid publicity Cook cancel- FERtERENT esergy was poured money when the Lawyers Club cided, he was not easy to sway. in place of Miss Bozorth. A net of
led his plans to send a letter and into the project by Cook. It was built. His feud with Miss Inez Bozorth, only $11,552 is absurd . . . You
was more than simply a large Much of Cook is revealed in the director of the Lawyers Club from have had three years of the pres-
don't want to do this but the re- mney gift. Cook did not, ia his letters he wrote. They show a man 1924 to 1954, is an example. ent management and it is a failure
sponsibility lies elsewhere " eyes, give eight or sixteen million living in a world of dreams yet Though regarded as a highly ef- and the time had come to try
dollars. He gave a law school. proud of his hard business realism, ficient worker, she became the someone else."
THE more than 100 letters Cook That he was dedicated to the proud of his Lawyers Club. target for Cook's bitterness, a bit-
wrote the secretary of the Law- iwsls of law and education seems They show also a man fanatic- terness motivated by the belief 5EVERAL days later, in reply to
yers Club during the five-year per- clear. His flowery inscriptions ally attentive to pretty detail and that the Club was making too lit- a letter attempting to explain
iod from 1925 until his death, June werc not, as these things so of- trivia that should have been be- tle money for legal research, his the profits and suggesting that the
4, 1930, give a full and interesting ten are, the work of a good public neath worrying over for a man general distaste for women, and Regents investigate the manage-
picture of the man, relations expert. He was not mo- who had given away countless mil- his particular resentment at hav- ment, Cook said, "You mention
To understand the I e t t e r a, tivated, as many of today's bene- lions. ing a woman manager of his men's expense for new equipment. An
though, it is nercssry to unde- factors ar, by tax laws which In a letter Nov. 18, 1925, to Prof. club. ee THE DREAM, Page 6
4,y sk"i...".

COOK ROOM - Once an exact replica of Cook's New York
library (including many of his possessions and hooks), the ro m
is now used as a seminar for law school students, Reproducedl
here is a facsimile of a portion of the room.

FORMAL RECEPTION - Reproduced from an old photograph taken in the mid-twenties, this scene
shows the dedication of the Lawyers Club. Despite his having donated the money to build the
structure, Cook did not see fit to attend this ceremony, living up to a description of him as a man
who refused to view "the creations of his own mind . for fear . . they would not realize the
splendor of his dreams."