Success
Name dropping
Forging links and connections between himself and people who were well known granted Gerber a perception of his own success, as well as shaping the impressions he generated about his success. Gerber had an impressive list of people he could name drop. Starting with his father, Julius Gerber, he named important people that he came into contact with throughout his life, including political figures such as Morris Hillquit, Eleanor Roosevelt, and President Truman, war generals such as John Christmas, David Barr, and Joseph Holley, as well as entertainment figures such as Theodora (Teddy) Getty—wife of J. Paul Getty, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman, and Eric Clapton.
Luddie at his house in California, 1958
He would take any opportunity to bring up even a remote connection, such as his connection to Simon & Garfunkel. While he did not meet Simon & Garfunkel, he told the story of how, through a mutual acquaintance, they rented his house in California for a time and “wrote a very famous song there, Bridge Over Troubled Water.”23 He extended his connection to that bit of glory by explaining that his electric organ was used to produce that song.
Dropping names of well known or high ranking individuals served as an external source of validation to Gerber about his success; it became one manner in which he was able to measure his self-worth. All of which makes it somewhat surprising that the most well-known person that he worked closest with for the longest period of time, his commanding general in Europe, Dwight Eisenhower, is never mentioned by name in Gerber’s discussions. He referred to “my General” or “the General” but never said his name.24
We can only speculate as to Gerber’s reticence in naming that particular name. One possibility is that the imprecise reference was a residual habit of security from working in the intelligence field during the war. Or, perhaps he had become so close to him during service that no name, only a title, was necessary. Another possibility is that while Gerber spoke of Eisenhower with great respect, he may have wanted to distance himself from Eisenhower for one reason or another. Perhaps he wanted the glory of working for the G-2 general who marched into enemy headquarters after the liberation of Paris, but did not want to invoke other historical events that might come to mind with Eisenhower’s name. Perhaps if that is so, given Gerber’s silence about the McCarthy hearings, it is because of Eisenhower’s initial reluctance to speak out against McCarthy.