OTD! Title & Copyright Pages
Our family name is Kantz, despite how it’s spelled on the title page of On the Double! Apparently, the publishing company didn’t let my dad have final sign-off or proofreading rights.
While in Germany, there were two members of the German military who worked under my father, and the subject of his name, nationality or ethnicity never came up, despite it sounding Germanic.
Had someone asked, my father might have told them he was Jewish and that his original name was Kalnitzky, of Polish origin. The story goes that my grandfather’s family migrated to the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century and lived for a time in Philadelphia before making their way to Chicago. In Philadelphia, they saw the name on an ice cream parlor and decided to take it as a shortened, Americanized version. In typical Phil Kantz fashion, he likes to joke that they were probably running from the law.
The International Media Co. of Frankfurt / Main Germany and Gottlob Volkhardtsche Druckerei Amorbach/ODW appear not to be around anymore. I sent one email to a company that I believe purchased GVDA/ODW, but it bounced.
If my research into German copyright law is correct, On the Double! moves into the public domain after 70 years, so just a few more to wait. Until then, The International Media Co. (specifically, the one in the 1950s in Frankfurt Am Main, Germany) is free to complain. If they do respond, I’ll tell them:
a) I tried connecting with someone about copyrights and permissions
b) K-A-N-T-Z!