Evening star., 1939-12-17
By John Lear,
Associated Press Stan Writer.

W
not be treated as other people. But they
have unconsciously abetted the effect
by retreating from attention and by
declining to disclose their serious inter-
ests lest they be hopelessly overwhelmed
with requests for time and money.
Being Rockefeller" Nelson explains,
"is sometimes like living in a goldfish
bowl
Sought Out Daily.
Any one with an idea to sell seems to
think first of the Rockefellers and their
financial backing. Thousands of per-
sons from all walks of life seek entree to
the brothers every day, in ways both
direct and devious. The pressure is ter
rife.
Other wealthy men, faced with similar
barriers to normal existence, have with
drawn themselves from the world. Some
have planted bodyguards between the
public and themselves. The Rockefel-
lers go right on living their usual, quiet
life.
The goldfish get use to it," Nelson
says. so do We
The life of the five boys is surprisingly
like the life of the average New Yorker
Except for the fact that they do not
have to worry about money, the five are
unusual chiefly for their intense loyalty
to each other and to the family, and for
their deep feeling of obligation to society.
In their Office the boys are grouped
around their father on the 56th floor of
in midtown Manhattan.
Give Time to Each Other.
Socially, the same arrangement holds.
They spend more time with each other
than with outsiders" They all live in
the midtown neighborhood when they
are in town for the winter. In the spring,
summer and fall the families of the
three married boys-John, Nelson and
Laurance-are congenial neighbors on
their fathers Tarrytown estate, Pecan
tico Hills, where their houses for long
time shared common lawn and where
they play together in a "playhouse"
equipped with swimming pool, outdoor
and indoor tennis courts, squash court,
gymnasium, card room so big that it
has been mistaken for the Rockefeller
residence
The first is John-tau 6 feet 2
inches, dark-haired and thin, as his
grandfather was, and the third John D.
Rockefeller faithfully follows the same
"bracer" diet his grandfather did, milk
and crackers, served on his desk at II
o'clock each morning.
Unlike his grandfather, who spent
the energies Of his youth and middle age
in earning money, John, Sd, is devoting
his life to giving money away.
At 80, he sits on the boards of all the
major Rockefeller agencies, and conse-
quently is now more active than his
father, who has retired from all but the
Rockefeller Institute devoted to medi-
cal research) and the Rockefeller
Foundation directed toward human
wellbeing in all fields of scientific en-
ton next year.
For many men, a job of such magni-
tude would meet all the demands Of
social conscience. For the third John
D. Rockefeller, it does not. His interest
in the life around him carries him
deeper into the social structure than
most wealthy men are wont to 60.
He has spent hours in night court, be-
hind the bench, listening to the pleas
and the commitments of the 16 to 81
year old prisoners.
It has been the custom for John D.
Rockefeller, jr's married children to
occupy houses around his own. Now,
perhaps foreseeing the time when VIM
throp and David will marry and move in.
John, Sd, has moved a little further to
| a corner of his own, as has his older and
only sister, Abby.
Nelson Man Of Action.
| Nelson Rockefeller Is big, broad
shouldered, restless man. He likes to
work in his shirt sleeves, rolling up his
coat and putting it under his chair when
no hook is convenient. The vigorous
curl of his blond hair accents the man
of action. But the real key to his char
acter lies in his eyes. Gray-green- slate
blue, they reflect the dreamy tenderness
of an artist strangely mixed with the
daring of a great promoter. He sees
everything in broad perspective, as a
promoter must. He runs Rockefeller
Center not merely as . business enter
prise but - modal of private initiative