Helping Hands 2

I turned to several other freelance researchers while working on 'Nightmare in the Pacific.' (See 'Helping Hands' for an explanation of why the word 'other' applies.) I learned some valuable lessons from each.

In one case, I had found reference to the late publisher Lyle Stuart having interviewed Artie Shaw, apparently while considering a possible autobiography. A 92-page typed transcript of the 1971 interview was tucked inside 36 linear feet of Stuart's papers held at the Columbia University Library.

Question: Do I travel from Washington, D. C. to New York City to check out the transcript?

Columbia University Low Library Library of Congress

Possible answers:

Yes: Any survey of Artie's life is bound to include discussion of his Navy service. Lyle Stuart, as a commercially savvy publisher, would likely try to tease out fresh and sensational material. And remember, kid: Turn every page.

No: If Stuart's excavation of Artie's eventful life spans 92 pages, the World War II years would likely be covered in, what, three pages? Five? Ten? And even then, would he have delivered more than his standard anecdotage? A one-day, up-and-back trip to the Columbia University Library would cost upwards of, say, $350 for train and miscellany, plus my own time, all for a probable gain of maybe a paragraph or two of good stuff.

But: Maybe a Columbia University Library visit could be folded into a larger New York City reseach excursion that included, say, a trip to the New York Public Library for a review of the library's collection of USO-related papers which might or might not include some passing reference to Artie. Add hotel and other travel costs.

Final answer: Upwork. I discovered this quite useful site and hired a New York City reseacher to take a short subway trip to Columbia and copy any of the relevant pages from the Lyle Stuart transcript.