MY ERDÖS STORY

 

PART ONE

In 1989, Paul Erdös visited London in the summer. On that occasion, his jacket already had seen better days, and he was in urgent need of a new one. My good friend József Beck and I decided to take Paul to buy a new one. To cut a long story short, I should simply report that Paul took a long time over this exercise, and even advised a lady on the choice of jackets for her husband! Suffice for me to say that Paul eventually bought a jacket, and it became the only jacket that Paul had for the next few years.

 

PART TWO

For several years, William Moser looked for a sports jacket which was 100% cotton and of extremely fine quality. Finally he found one, bought it and loved it. Soon after, Paul visited Canada and stayed with William. One evening Paul had to go out for a social engagement, but his jacket was shabby. William put his fine jacket on Paul, and it looked nice. Paul was not meant to keep it, but William was pleased when he did.

 

PART THREE

Two years later, they met again in Florida, and Paul was wearing the same jacket. As a joke, William said to Paul: "What a nice jacket. Where did you get it?" Paul replied: "József Beck helped me buy it in London." So William pointed to the label which read Eaton, and said: "Eaton is a Montreal store."

Paul replied in an annoyed manner: "All I know is that József Beck helped me buy it in London!"