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friends but only socially and I never asked for further help.

They had subtly said to me “Bill go get your own authors;

go get your own illustrators and go get yourself in the

project catalogue.” All very understandable:

It was my editor, Maria Celeste, who had the idea first. She

suggested to get our own authors and illustrators was to

go to the heart of their industry which was their trade

union; Sindicatos dos Escretorias. (Writer’s Union).

The category “Infantile Literature” was new to me and to

the publishing company I was working for and there was

much to learn. We did several months of research of the

typical type of book that was required and how the teacher

would review it, use it and hopefully select, we talked to

the pedagogic staff in the educational system of São Paulo

and studied PIAGET the children’s educational

psychologist who was considered to be the leader in the

field.

Both São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro were full of authors in

this category, but they were all assigned and often

contracted to the various competing publishing houses

many of whom did not speak English and this was a further

problem to me.

A meeting was arranged to speak to the Writers Union

President, again he spoke no English and so the meeting

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