BACK WHEN HE RETURNED A LIBRARY
BOOK, MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY
LATE.
SCOTT RAPOPORT HAS MORE FROM
FAREWELL.
THE YEAR WAS 1966, AND
VIETNAM WAR PROTESTS WERE
RAGING.
LYNDON JOHNSON WAS PRESIDENT.
AND IN FAIRLAWN, NEW JERSEY,
SOME 13-YEAR-OLD KID TOOK OUT
THIS BOOK FROM THE SCHOOL
LIBRARY AND NEVER RETURNED IT.
THAT WAS 53 YEARS AGO.
19,345 DAYS.
NEVER SAW IT AGAIN.
SO YOU CAN IMAGINE THE VICE
PRINCIPAL'S SURPRISE WHEN THAT
MYSTERIOUS STUDENT, NOW AN
ADULT, CAME WALKING UP TO THE
SCHOOL, AND ASKED FOR THE VICE
PRINCIPAL, SAYING HE HAD
SOMETHING HE WISHED TO RETURN.
IT WAS THE BOOK.
YES, AFTER MORE THAN HALF A
CENTURY, THE FORMER STUDENT
BROUGHT THE BOOK BACK.
WHEN HE ASKED MY NAME, I
TOLD HIM, I CAN'T TELL IT TO
HIM, BECAUSE I'M IN THE WITNESS
PROTECTION PROGRAM.
[ LAUGHTER ]
65-YEAR-OLD HARRY CRAME OF
FAIR LAWN IS THAT STUDENT.
I TOOK IT OUT TO READ AND
PROBABLY NEVER RETURNED IT.
HARRY SAID HE FOUND THE BOOK
RECENTLY WHILE CLEANING OUT HIS
BASEMENT.
AND STARTED TO FEEL, WELL, KIND
OF GUILTY.
COUPLE OF SECONDS.
LIKE [ BLEEP ]
SORRY ABOUT THAT.
[ LAUGHTER ]
HE SAID HE KNEW AT THAT
MOMENT, HE HAD TO TAKE IT BACK.
BUT HAD HIS TREPIDATIONS.
WHAT DID YOU THINK WHEN YOU
SAW THE BOOK?
"SEINFELD" EPISODE IS WHAT I
THOUGHT OF ACTUALLY.
I RETURNED THAT BOOK.
I REMEMBER IT VERY
SPECIFICALLY.
YOU THINK THIS IS A BIG
JOKE, DON'T YOU?
I THINK OF THE SEINFELD
EPISODE.
I'M GOING TO GET HIT WITH A
BIG FINE.
AT 10 CENTS A DAY, ABOUT
$2,000 IN SCHOOL RECORDS.
BUT NOT TO WORRY.
WE'RE NOT LOOKING TO COLLECT
ON IT.
A STORY HALF A CENTURY IN
THE MAKING.
