When Albert Camus arrived in New York he was all but unknown on foreign shores - our shores for example. The Stranger, his first influential novel, was to be published only during his American visit. University specialists knew something about him, and some were already great admirers, as were a handful of francophile journalists. But in Paris Camus was a full blown hero, a young and brilliant author of eminent works, a likable champion of the Resistance. His relative obscurity in New York made him totally accessible, added intensity to his brief stay, for those fortunate enough to meet him then, and for us now as we reach back to recreate those days.