His issue wasn’t a lack of friends. His problem, which lead to alcoholism, was explained to me by his former colleagues, primarily Doug Hay. Katz turned to his mother for comfort following Walter’s death. Unfortunately for him and his firm, he received none.

His buy-out of her shares was a poorly communicated effort to remove the business from between them and to attempt to salvage their familial bond. Hildegard instead saw it as a financial assault on herself and resorted to communicating with her own son through lawyers, even after the transaction was completed.

This piece paints her with typical maternal instinct and filial interest despite evidence neither existed once she saw her son’s ability to write, and then subsequently delete, her financial future. Given her reputation was well known I struggle to understand why she was repeatedly given this benefit of the doubt.