What Becomes a Legend Most?

Book excerpt: This is a rather unusual book by Peter Rogers, the advertising agency executive who created the long-running series of magazine ads featuring famous people wearing Blackglama fur coats. These advertisements—photographed by fashion icons like Bill King and Richard Avedon--feature such subjects as Marlene Dietrich, Lillian Hellman, Liza Minnelli, Mary Martin, and Ethel Merman. Each is accompanied by Mr. Rogers’s recollections of the photo shoots, and the reactions of said celebrities during same. The celebs were paid with the fur coats they modeled, which seems a square deal. Who among them thought it was a truly fair trade?