Michael Blumentha is an economist, business leader, and former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter. A Holocaust survivor, he fled Nazi Germany at age 13 and endured years in Shanghai’s Jewish ghetto before emigrating to the United States. Blumenthal built a distinguished career in business and public service, holding positions under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson and later serving as CEO of Burroughs Corporation and Unisys. A prolific author and advocate for cultural preservation, he directed the Jewish Museum in Berlin for 17 years and remains the oldest living former U.S. Cabinet member
Interview by Warner Holme
Q: What made you gravitate toward noir as a style for this book? Was it influenced by your interests or the subject matter?
Mike: It didn’t start out that way. Payday deals with an international conspiracy against democracy—murder, mystery, betrayal, and morally compromised protagonists in an urban setting. As the story took shape, I realized it fit the classic definition of noir.
Q: How was writing this fictional work different from your past nonfiction projects?
Mike: Completely different. Nonfiction requires intensive research, uncovering facts, and interpreting their significance. Fiction, on the other hand, means imagining situations—developing plots, characters, and dialogue. It’s a wholly different kind of challenge for a writer.
Q: Which writers influenced your approach to mystery and suspense?
Mike: I enjoy the genre but only when it features clever plots and high-quality, literate writing. Authors like John le Carré, Robert Littell, Graham Greene, and Henning Mankell have inspired me and motivated me to try my hand at writing in this style.
Q: Adam, your lead character, is 35 and in the Foreign Service. Did your own experiences, such as working as an armed guard during university, influence this portrayal?
Mike: Adam isn’t in law enforcement; he’s a Foreign Service officer thrown into an unprecedented situation. Many of the characters, good and bad, are composites of people I encountered during my various careers. My time as a U.S. Ambassador and my role at Treasury—where the Secret Service Director reported to me—certainly informed aspects of the story.
Q: Did your childhood experience of fleeing from German authorities shape the power dynamics in the book?
Mike: Absolutely. Experiencing powerlessness as a child sharpened my sensitivity to the ways those with power can affect others.
Q: Are you concerned that conspiracy theorists might misuse your book?
Mike: Interestingly, after I finished the manuscript, the Germans uncovered a real conspiracy strikingly similar to what I imagined. But nothing in Payday could possibly aid any conspiracy theorist—it’s pure fiction.
Q: Adam deals with inter-agency struggles in the book. How much of that was drawn from personal experience?
Mike: Quite a bit. My public service roles gave me an extensive education in bureaucratic infighting, which is reflected in Payday.
Q: Given your unique background, did you envision yourself writing fiction at 98?
Mike: Not at all. Fiction wasn’t on my radar. But in my 90s, after writing well-received nonfiction books and reflecting on my life experiences, fiction just naturally emerged.
Q: How did you balance incorporating personal experiences with fictionalizing political situations?
Mike: It wasn’t too difficult. My vivid imagination helps, and my wife insists it made me a “natural”!
Q: What message do you hope readers take from Payday regarding authoritarianism?
Mike: Authoritarians are not benevolent. They crave power and curtail freedoms. Their promises of easy solutions to complex societal problems often fail to deliver.
Q: Any advice for older writers tackling fiction for the first time?
Mike: Sit down, start writing, and have the courage to see where it takes you. The rest will follow.
Q: Will there be more fiction from you in the future?
Mike: I’m already halfway through a historical fiction book about OSS wartime espionage in Shanghai, where I grew up. Stay tuned!