During the 40s, one of the best known gentleman in our town was a fellow by the name of Louis Kagoul. He attended every social event of the season. He toured the night spots. He was a frequent visitor to far away places. His name appeared constantly in the social columns and there was always a table reserved in his name for the Saturday night supper dance at one of our swank hotels. However, no one ever met Louis Kagoul. You see, he didn't exist. Louis was the creation of two young men in our town who decided it might be fun to see how well-known a person could become without ever really existing. When the war came along, Louis Kagoul was one of the first to go. He enlisted in the ranks, but we read in the paper shortly after that he had been promoted. The newspapers after that often carried news of Kagoul's great acts of bravery on the field of battle. It was with considerable regret one Saturday that his many friends read of his untimely death in the face of enemy fire. In social circles, his death was discussed at great length and it was agreed that we had lost a friend. During his brief but spectacular career, I was one of the very few who knew that there was no such person as Louis Kagoul; that he was only a name in the social column in the newspaper. Yet I talk to many, many people who had entertained him, dated him, toured with him and fought with him. I must confess however, I felt a keen sense of loss when he was reported dead. You see I had always felt there was not enough of this kind of harmless nonsense in this grim world.
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