The following personalities were invited to take part in a round table discussion, held in the spring of 1964 at the American Students’ and Artists’ Center, Paris, concerning Paris “Then”—in the twenties and thirties—and “Now”— in the fifties and sixties:
The Moderator: Janet Flanner, longtime Paris correspondent of The New Yorker;
Virgil Thomson, leading American composer, for many years resident in Paris;
Maria Jolas, leading lady of the "thirties" literati, widow of Eugene Jolas, the founder of "transition" magazine;
Man Ray, painter and photographer closely associated with avant garde movements;
John Levee, American painter, native of California;
James Jones, noted American author; his most recent book is “The Thin Red Line”;
William Gardner Smith, novelist, author of the best-seller “The Last of the Conquerors.” After many years’ residence in Paris he is now working with Ghana’s new television service.
The following is an abridgment of their remarks.