George Mergenthaler, the grandson of the inventor of the Linotype, was an only child and at the time of his birth in 1920, became the sole male heir to the family fortune. Tall, handsome, Ivy League educated, speaking fluent German and French, "MERG" as he was known to his friends, did what many in his generation did following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor: he enlisted in the Army. Insisting on serving as a buck-private, George was...