apoplexy). The Third was one of its flagship products, and the G. & C. Merriam Company would abandon it when hell froze over. One James Parton, the publisher of American Heritage magazine, decided to do all he could to make it snow. In 1962, a few months after the release of the Third, he began buying up shares of Merriam stock with the view of buying out the company. His reason: the company “badly needs new guidance,” and the Third was “an affront.” His plans were to “take the Third out of
