Re Ms. Lear's remark about the scene in Truman's "Murder at the Smithsonian" not matching the real scene is due to the fact that former director Roger Kennedy radically altered the space in order to install an exhibition on the first floor over the space where the pendulum originally swung. The pendulum cable is now shorter than at the time of Truman's book, swinging across the second floor level. The pendulum can be seen from BELOW at the first floor level. Incidentally, in this book Truman puts words in the mouth of a real person. The real person is Roger Kennedy (all others are fictitious). She has Kennedy resigning just as a vice-president (of the US) who is favorable to the Smithsonian takes office. Kennedy says something like: "As usual, my timing is terrible." I've always wondered if this was a private joke between Kennedy and Margaret Truman. Hmm. I don't mean that QUITE the way it may sound, but it's a curious quotation from a real-life person in a work of fiction. --David Haberstich