… I remember for my first job at CBS Records, I hired Milton Glaser to do an illustration for a Carole King ad. As I was dialing his phone number, I was shaking in my boots. It was like calling the pope. I remember I rang him up, and I asked him to do an illustration for a full-page ad for Carole King. He sent me an illustration that was—well, let’s say it wasn’t his best. I knew it. Even at that age, I knew it, even though I thought of him as God’s gift to the uni- verse. So I called his rep and told him we were hoping he’d give us something different.

Milton absolutely refused. He just said, «Sorry, what you see is what you get.» And I went home and cried and didn’t sleep for a week because I thought I had offended Milton Glaser. It wasn’t until many years later that I realized that he had done the right thing by standing up for what he thought was right. If you don’t, people will take everything you have. You may risk losing a job, but in the grand scheme of things, I believe that by standing up for yourself, you’re doing the graphic design business a service. I used to get angry with friends of mine who were also doing book-jacket design as freelancers. They wouldn’t charge for messenger bills and they wouldn’t charge for mechanicals, and I’d say, «You know, you’re fucking it up for the rest of us.» And they’d say, «I’m afraid I won’t get called again.» And it just drove me crazy. I’m a big believer in the bungee jump. I think you have to do the right thing and the fair thing even if you’re afraid.

Carin Goldberg.