John James didn't realize he had left more than $100,000 of jewelry and other valuables in the back seat of a taxi until he reached for his bag to show off the treasured photographs he'd taken with a few of his late friends: the actress Sylvia Sidney, writer Dominick Dunne and broadcaster Alistair Cooke.
Mr. James had just returned to his apartment Sunday afternoon from an office near Madison Square Park, where he'd picked up a tote bag holding the photographs, just over $200 in cash and the jewelry. He said he planned to carry them on the Amtrak Acela train that night to a bank in Delaware, where his family has two homes.
But when Mr. James got out of his cab outside the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park Sunday afternoon, he left the bag in the back seat.
Mr. James lives at the club's landmarked headquarters, the Samuel Tilden mansion at 15 Gramercy Park South. His twin brother, O. Aldon James, is the president. Among its members are Martin Scorcese, Uma Thurman and Robert Redford, according to the club's website.
When Mr. James realized his mistake, he said he felt "complete shock and disbelief."
Read the rest here.
No comments:
Post a Comment