Empire: a tale of obsession, betrayal, and the battle for an American icon

361 Pages·2001·2.063 MB·English

by  Pacelle, Mitchell

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E
M
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I A Tale of
Obsession,
Betrayal,
and the
R
Battle
for an
American
E Icon
M P
ITCHELL ACELLE
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
New York • Chichester • Weinheim • Brisbane • Singapore • Toronto
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Copyright © 2001 by Mitchell Pacelle. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York
The Empire State Building design is a registered trademark of the Empire
State Building Company.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, pho-
tocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under
Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either
the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through
payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Cen-
ter, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax (978)
750-4744. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to
the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue,
New York, NY 10158-0012, [phone], fax [phone], E-Mail:
[email protected].
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative infor-
mation in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the under-
standing that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional
services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the
services of a competent professional person should be sought.
This book is also available in print as ISBN 0-471-40394-6. Some content
that appears in the print version of this book may not be available in this
electronic edition.
For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www
.Wiley.com
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CONTENTS
Prologue 1
Part One Sky’s the Limit 7
Chapter 1 The Deal and the Deception 9
Chapter 2 Reaching for the Sky 21
Chapter 3 Trophy Hunting 47
Chapter 4 Yokoi’s Secret 71
Chapter 5 Yokoi Meets His Match 95
Chapter 6 Old Guard, New World 109
Chapter 7 East Meets West 138
Part Two Tower of Discord 155
Chapter 8 Who Owns the Empire State Building? 157
Chapter 9 Trump’s Broadside 174
Chapter 10 The French Front 191
Chapter 11 Fall of the House of Harry 208
Chapter 12 Sibling Rivalry 223
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Contents
Chapter 13 Behind Bars 238
Chapter 14 A Meeting with Daddy 251
Chapter 15 Yokoi’s Last Stand 262
Chapter 16 Heirs 274
Chapter 17 Donald’s Endgame 288
Epilogue 309
Source Notes 315
Acknowledgments 331
Index 335
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PROLOGUE
A
white stretch limousine braked at a midtown Manhattan
curb on the afternoon of August 11, 1997, and a frail old
man shuffled out of an office building, trailed by an
entourage of a half dozen. He was a small man, perhaps five
feet two, his hair dyed jet-black, slicked back, and parted
down the middle. As always, he was dressed impeccably, this
afternoon in a two-button blue suit, a crisp white shirt, and his
trademark bow tie, a clip-on. Although 84 years old, Hideki
Yokoi was still a vain man.
ThetwoandahalfyearsYokoihadjustspentinaJapanese
prisonhospitalhadnotbeenkindtohim.Astrokehadlefthim
unsteadyonhisfeet.Butonthisblessedlycoolsummerafter-
noon,theseconddayofhisfirstevervisittotheUnitedStates,
YokoicarriedhimselfasifhewasstilloneofJapan’swealthiest
men.Withtheaidofasilver-handledwalkingstick,hemadehis
way to the limousine—he had insisted on the white stretch—
andclimbedinside.Hisdrivernosedtheunwieldyvehicleinto
thecrushofcabsandpointeditdownFifthAvenue.
1