----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2007 11:47 PM
Subject: Re: Why I'm so upset
Thanks, John. yep you are right and
ultimately my dad's memory continues on in at minimum of 1000 books and who
knows how many over the years. that's all that really matters :-) People, will
read the poem and many will take something from it. My family will be so
pleased and that is worth all the money in the world. My mum really was so
happy he rang. She was abit down today as it is coming near to dad's
anniversary and Rick calling her and spending the time to talk about me and the
book and dad was such a lift. The change in her voice from before and after his
call was amazing. Hell after that he could have come and burned down my house
and I wouldn't have minded :-)
At 10:42 PM 3/31/2007, you wrote:
I know, I told them to go on with
production ( I really had no say, but know time is money in books), I said it
was to late to cancel. Always remember this, the dedication will always
be the first words read when the book is open.
Lord John Vargas
503 Clarissa Drive
Brandon, FL 33511
813-571-9505
-----
Original Message -----
From: Dr. Peter McClean Millar
To: Lord John Vargas
Sent:
Saturday, March 31, 2007 11:31 PM
Subject: Re: Why I'm so upset
Never talked to John. Rick said that
basically John was at the printers, he was on the end of the phone. They had 20
mins to make a decision and it was 9 AM in the morning Germany time. I couldn't
be contacted. What could they do? They went for the right choice. hell i can
see that now. It is what I would have done too. I was just too focused on my
dedication and my mum and dad. That's not the way to make decisions in that
situation.
Pete
At
10:26 PM 3/31/2007, you wrote:
Hey
Pete,
Sounds
great you got it lt all sorted out. Your mom is right. Wise woman.
What
did John say?
John
Lord
John Vargas
503
Clarissa Drive
Brandon,
FL 33511
813-571-9505
-----
Original Message -----
From: Dr. Peter McClean Millar
To: Lord John Vargas
Sent:
Saturday, March 31, 2007 11:16 PM
Subject:
Re: Why I'm so upset
Yea
got it sorted. He rang my mother. I didn't ask him to he just used my old contact
number and rang her out of the blue. He apologized profusely and spent 20
minutes talking to her. She was really pleased. Explained what had happened to
her and Mum said he was really nice and seemed very concerned that he had
offended me and her. Mum was really great about it. I had previously rung here
and told her the whole story and I asked her what would dad have done and what
would she do. She said she was disappointed at the way things happened but that
if dad was still alive then the dedications position wouldn't be important to
me or him and I wouldn't be so emotionally tied up in it. She said just turn
the other cheek and don't fall out with people because I was upset. She is
right of course. She also is wiser than me because she said she could
understand that with it being a watch book the first thing people wanted to see
on the first page is a watch. Not bad coming from a 75 years old woman :-)
I then rang Rick and we talked it
out. John in the end, life is too short. I'll do the contract and just carry on
as normal. I have to look at the big picture and not cut my nose off to spite
my face. I stand to win out of this and "Doxa" have been good to me.
Why ruin it. Rick and I sorted everything out and I'm happy. More than that my
Mum is happy and that's what counts. I thought it was very big of him. No
matter what anyone says about him, I was impressed. He did more than I would
and that counts big. It more than made up for any differences. Mum was right,if
wasn't so emotionally tied up in it because of dad, I wouldn't have cared. Dad
would have said 'Pete, you are about to kill the goose that laid the golden
egg. These guys are giving you fame and what could be a considerable amount of
money. Don't let emotion get in the way of business". In the end the book
has my fathers dedication on the inside and my name on the spine. My mother is
proud and I know he would be too.
I
just want to see the darn thing in my hand. It sounds like it will be pretty
darn sharp.
Pete
At
09:18 PM 3/31/2007, you wrote:
Any
reply mate?
Lord
John Vargas
503
Clarissa Drive
Brandon,
FL 33511
813-571-9505
-----
Original Message -----
From: Dr. Peter McClean Millar
To: lord.john.vargas@earthlink.net
Sent:
Saturday, March 31, 2007 11:06 AM
Subject:
Re: Why I'm so upset
John,
would
you do me a favour please. have a read.Bottom to top. Top part is my response.
Not sent. I'll work on a contract today and would like your thought as to what
should go in. I'd also appreciate if you would give it the once over before I
send it.
Thanks
Pete
Rick,
I'm not questioning then integrity
of your statement. I'm telling you facts. John P and you and Greg and John V
all knew of the changes 2 weeks before I did. That is undisputable and has
nothing to do with integrity. The integrity bit comes in because no-one had the
decency to tell me. Why was that? Not one of you thought it was important? The
reason I don't want to talk to you is because I am too emotionally tied to this
at the minute and we would fight and then it really would be the end of what I
consider a good friendship. I do not want that to happen so I would prefer to
just walk away from you, Doxa, the book and everything associated with it. The
problem for me is not just the fact that my fathers dedication is not on the
first page but that everyone knew what was happening for over 2 weeks but
no-one other than John V had the decency to tell me and the only reason he said
anything was because he assumed that I had been told. I feel like you all
treated me like some kind of fool. I asked Greg to change the Dive table image
back to my version a number of times. He totally ignored me and eventually
admitted that he ignored me on purpose hoping that I would just forget about it
and he would get his way. Why would he treat me like that? It was me who put
him and Doxa in contact which lead to his working for Doxa. It was because of
the book that he had a canvas to show his talents. He made sure that his name
is in the book more than anyone else yet he changed things or refused to change
things because he believed his ideas were better than mine. You, he and John P
all did the same over the dedication. You all knew but you never told me. Rick,
I may be a fool over many things but I am not a complete idiot. I resent being
treated like one. You also told me that you have not seen a printed copy of the
book but from what you say the printer printed the first proof more than 2
weeks ago showing that another 2 pages were necessary. Who saw this proof? John
P? Did he take photos of it? did he send you or Greg pictures? If so why did I
not get copies. Too much went on and no-one thought it worthwhile to tell me
what was happening. If someone even had of told, I could have thought about it,
talked to my mum, explained what had happened and we could have moved on. Now I
look like an idiot. My friends and family are asking; "Do you not have a
contract with these people?, What about royalties? Did you not see the final
version? Why did they not tell you? etc etc etc," As I said, I am not a
fool, but to everyone I sure look like one. They all think I am being taken for
a ride. I don't believe I am, but I sure don't look too smart. Now that hurts,
especially when you are supposed to be dealing with friends.
Upset
as I am, and after a lot of thought (most of it while not sleeping last night)
I still believe that it would be insane to pull the plug on the book now after
all the time and money has been spent on it and also the 40th anniversary at
Basel is a one shot only chance, so I will let you print the book as it is. I
think it will be good for both Doxa and me to have it there and missed
opportunities don't come again. I may be many things but I am not vindictive. I
have had the chance to publicly crap on a few people who tried to screw me over
Doxa stuff in the past few weeks and against peoples advice I said nothing.
People who do bad things have bad things happen to them. I'll let someone with
higher powers than me take care of them. For me to say no and then explain to
people what happened and publicly crap on you and Doxa lets you down and lets
me down. I'm not prepared to that. I'll live with what happened and try to look
at the bigger picture as you suggest. Rick, I know an awful lot more about Doxa
and Walca and your production and costs than you think I know. I still have a
lot of friends in China and information is easy to come by when you know where
to look and who to ask. I've stood up for you and Doxa on more than one
occasion by massaging facts. For me to fall out with you now and the split
become public makes me out to be less than honorable. I really don't want that.
I'd prefer to let people think its all rosy in the garden. I have no desire for
this to become a Cussler / Sahara saga. I'd also prefer to remain friends with
you. Ultimately because of you and Doxa I got my book published. Sure I could
have done it without your help but it would be a different animal to what it is
now. I'm grateful to you and even though i don't work for Doxa everyone thinks
I'm somehow part of that. It's kinda cool in a way.
However,
now it is business and it is time I started doing it in your world rather than
in mine. So to that end, I do not want any copies of the book sold or given
away without a contract in place. I am working on a contract this weekend and
will run it past my lawyer on Monday morning. I have a problem with some of the
figures you are presenting so I would like a breakdown of the following,
please.
Actual
printing / production costs for the book. You quote 33 dollars. How is that
made up? I was quoted between 13 and 18 dollars by my printer friend. Your
costs will be higher but how much?. What are Greg's costs? I'm assuming they
are amortized over the initial run of 1,000 copies. If that assumption is
correct then production of any subsequent run will not have those built in and
total cost will be less. I do hope his costs weren't $10,000 because that
really is excessive for what was done.
Regarding
Gregs costs. You will use material from the book in your brochures, marketing
and magazines. This will have been paid for as part of the book production. I
get no return from these and therefore should be compensated somehow. I will
propose some solution when I see your figures.
Rick I hate doing this and asking
for this info. In my world business doesn't come between friends but really
it has to become business now and so it has to be done.
I've
just reread this and I think it is fair comment without too much emotion. Steph
and Kieran and I are going out for a while. If i feel I can handle it. I'll
give you a call later.
Pete
At
01:28 AM 3/31/2007, you wrote:
Pete,
now hold your horses and don't question the integrity of my statement please as
this might ruin a friendship ! There is one thing that I am proud of, which is
to be loyal and honest to those who deal with me.
When I
said, 2 pages had to be inserted, one at the front and one on the back lat
minute, I meant it, and did not lie to you. Johns watch was shipped back
to Europe for a picture that was supposed to be used in the T-Graph section. But
it arrived too late although we already had professional images made of it. We
then forgot about it because the final files were already at the printer.
The printer rang me up when they printed the first proof and calculated the
number of sheets to be used. The needed 2 pages to be inserted and that is when
I asked Greg to make 2 pages instead of just using a plain filler that would
have looked stupid.
Now,
If minor things will distract you and make the whole book worthless and the
dedication that you have on the first written page is actually gone for you
because I only had good intentions and did not want to leave out 3 empty pages,
then I will really need to think over shredding the first chapter and
postponing the release. Every minor issue seems to be a big deal if you blow it
up like that. You keep forgetting the whole picture and look only at details
that later on turn out to be minor when looked at rationally.
This
book is a whole production and not a bit or piece or a single page to look at .
It is an effort of you and others to bring it out to look this way and make
everyone who contributed, to be proud and especially you. If this page has
ruined all those efforts then I am ready to sacrifice $10.000.00. for
reprinting the first chapter. Please let me know if you like me to stop binding
the book and postponing the release or if I should buy a license of the book
from you and publish it this way.
Your
call not to contact you, offends me personally but I will be able to live with
it. This issue is between you and me only and nobody else should get involved.
I produced the book and paid for printing and I had to make decisions under a
lot of pressure and I assume full responsibility so nobody else should get
involved in this matter.
Look
at the big picture Pete and you and your whole family will be proud !
Rick
visit
the DOXA forum athttp://forums.watchuseek.com/forumdisplay.php?f=34
-----
Original Message -----
From: Dr. Peter McClean Millar
To: rick.marei@doxawatches.com
Sent:
Saturday, March 31, 2007 6:04 AM
Subject:
Re: Why I'm so upset
Rick,
I listened to your message on the
phone. I cced everyone because I didn't believe that you did it. Now before you
ring me you better get your story straight. You said that the page was inserted
at the last minute when they closed the PDF and you hadn't time to talk to me
and needed a suitable image. Well that's funny how on the 15th of March John P
told John V that the T-Graph image would be the first photo. That's almost 2
weeks ago. Even more funny how he never informed me or you so you could inform
me. When I heard, I thought John V was joking with me as I teased him about the
T-Graph saying it was a "girlie watch". I thought he was just joking
and I said they better not or I'll go mental. I never guessed for a minute that
he was serious. Well guess what, he wasn't joking and I went mental. You could
have left the page blank or inserted a blank page between my fathers dedication
and the next bit. I cced everyone as I never suspected you. If you did it and
knew about it before the 15th and didn't think it worthwhile to tell me then I
do blame you. Did you also remove the last image of the dial and bezel without
consulting me too? Is that why i never got the final proofs because you didn't
want me to see it until the book was done?
This
book is not about me or you or Doxa watches now. It has been about my father
for more than a year. It was getting published whether you did it or I did it.
If I had published it, it wouldn't have been as fancy as it is now but it still
would have sold by the bucketload and it would have been with my fathers
dedication as the first page.
I
will see my mother and brother in 4 weeks time. I was hoping to have a copy of
the book to present to her and the T-Graph to him (it arrived today - thank
you). We will look at the book and the dedication and we will all cry like
children. I promised her that it would be the first thing that people saw in
the book because it was in honour of him. It was my book. I had the right to
have it the way I wanted. You took that away from me. In the weeks before his
death he kept the review edition on the table beside his hospital bed and
showed it to everyone. He was so proud of his son and the fact that it was
dedicated to him.
It
may just be an extra page with a photo of a watch to you but it is far more to
me and it is something that you may not even begin to comprehend. You have
absolutely no right to be pissed at me because I cced people about it. Everyone
worked on the book not just you or me. Maybe they had less and maybe only read
bits of it but anyone of them could have done it. Greg, you or John P. I doubt
John V did anything other than read it. I believed that you would tell me about
the changes and I believed it when you and John P said that nothing would be
done or changed without my consent. Greg, let me down on that front before so
it could have been him again. I have had little or no dealings with John P, I
know little about him so it could have been him, I never suspected you would do
it. So I cced everyone to let them know my displeasure and see if I at least
got an apology. Now you tell me you did it.
Rick,
please don't ring me tomorrow. I am not going to even think about the book or
Doxa or watches for a while. It is time for me to walk away from this. You have
been my friend for a number of years now and I would like that to continue but
at this minute the fact that you knew 2 weeks ago that the dedication would be
moved is really sticking in my throat. And the fact that you are pissed at me
because you did wrong is totally unfair to me. You were able to modify the
acknowledgements to include Mr Jenny and let me know about it yet in 2 weeks
you couldn't even inform me about the photos. Rick, ultimately I have let my
mother down. I made her a promise and it is broken. You got the book you wanted
and your catalog and I'm sure you and Doxa will continue to be a great success.
At least I can walk away with my head held high knowing that I was part of that
but I will have no more part in it. As for the book, I think it is time you
drew up some kind of contract.
See
you around sometime.
Pete
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