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WHO IS JOHN GALT? 1957–1968
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that Rand was one of the “people other people are interested in.” After
her appearance on his TV show, several of his staff members converted
to Objectivism. A coworker remembered the transformation of Edith
Efron, who “began speaking in a very, very strange way about psychology,
art, politics—in a way that I’d never heard before and certainly
not from a New York Jewish intellectual. I thought she was going out
of her mind.” Soon other outlets recognized Rand’s audience appeal.
She began a radio program on the Columbia University station, “Ayn
Rand on Campus,” and appeared on CBS’s discussion series The Great
Challenge. In 1964 she reached what was then a lofty summit of journalism,
the Playboy interview. In the mid-1960s Playboy was at the height of
its cultural infl uence, publishing serious essays and commentary alongside
photos of its famous playmates. Hugh Hefner had long been a fan
of Rand, and his magazine ran a long and probing piece by the future
futurist Alvin Toffl er, who treated Rand with care and respect. She even
visited a Playboy Club, which she pronounced “a wonderful place and a
brilliant undertaking.” 17
Despite all the attention she attracted Rand was an unwilling celebrity.
Even NBI events disconcerted her. She normally made a dramatic
entrance from the back of the room, receiving applause as she made
her way to the stage. An NBI student seeing her off was surprised when
Rand muttered, “I hate doing this. Every time I walk down that long
aisle, I feel like a bride getting married.” When she traveled to distant
places she preferred to have the Collective with her, or at least Frank
and Nathan. Her husband raised eyebrows among outsiders like Mike
Wallace, who called him “her gelded companion.” 18 The Collective had
grown used to Frank’s silence, but to others his passivity was a troubling
suggestion of Rand’s need for dominance. Few understood how vital
Frank’s presence was to Rand. If it could benefi t Objectivism, she would
go through the rituals and forms of being famous and expose herself to
the public eye. But she needed Frank there with her, a comforting shield
against the world.
Nowhere was Rand more popular than on college campuses. Her fi rst
appearance before a student audience, at Yale University, was a tour de
force. A reporter at the event described the overfl ow audience Rand
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