Big Mac wrote to mother after her divorce to father. No idea what this means then, 8 years before that. 'Big Mac' was Robert E. McCracken, also called Mac and Bobbie Mac. Mac was one of Bradley's closest friends. They had known one another from at least their days of teaching ROTC at the University of Chicago. After Bradley was transferred to New York, Mac wrote one of the columns to which Bradley had been a frequent contributor

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Bobby Bev was Ralph B. Robinson, the second member of the triumverate. It was probably for Bob that Bradley named his son Robert and Bob, in turn, named his son Bradley.

The three men were hard drinkers and alcohol figured prominently as a curse of their lives. Ralph was depressed over his marriage falling apart and shot himself. He was found by Mac, who fell apart after the funeral. It was left to Cap, the one to whom this book was signed, to give the bad news to Bradley.