It is a shame Hugo is not around to read this book. He would certainly approve of some of the adventures as well as identify with a lot of the business experiences.
Hugo was in business before me. As soon as he got his product going, he set up low cost production in Latin America. That is when he mastered the art of mixing business trips with pleasure.

I don’t know whether Hugo got more enjoyment from his adventures themselves or telling about them, but I will say he certainly kept me amused. We met by chance at technical conventions, electronic shows, and conferences around the world. He always had a pocket full of pictures of his latest conquests. It was never clear whether he was conquering or getting conquered, but that was the charm of Hugo.

We both liked Paris a lot, and one time we discovered that we would both be there a few days at the same time so we planned to take on Paris. The first night was my birthday, so Hugo took me to a bar in Pigalle. What a dive—we couldn’t get out of there too soon! Since neither of us had ever been there before, we had one more thing to joke about—my birthday in Pigalle. The next day, Monsieur Fontaine, a great French guy who knew both of us, came over to a little bistro where we were having lunch. When Fontaine came in, he saw these two Americans gesticulating and speaking loudly to each other in French. He never got over that.

Hugo and I went our separate ways for a few days and then we got together at my little hotel on the left bank; he was staying at a nearby hotel. He had thought he was checking into a regular hotel off the Boulevard Raspail, but it turned out to be a whorehouse. He stayed there anyway because it was so close to the Kit Kat nightclub he had discovered nearby. Since he didn’t feel comfortable about receiving visitors at his “hotel,” he came by my hotel.

He couldn’t wait to introduce me to the Kit Kat club—a very well appointed place, dim lights, really good disco music with a nice sprinkling of Latin tempo pieces, plush seats and tables.