Yes, is the daughter of Jennie Boak Cather. Mother had stroke and is in sanitarium. Father died four [sic] years ago. Remembers Aunt Susan Hackney and cousin Katy Gamble. Appreciates invitation to visit. Willa Cather [Stout #1053]
Little wonder Austin has lost track of her. Hopes to be in New Mexico within the next year; they have much to talk about. Will consider donating for preservation of Spanish crafts when economy improves, but just now is helping two brothers plus others who are hard hit. Is sorry to hear her eyes are troubling her. Willa Cather [Stout #1080]
She and Edith have leased an apartment and are decorating it. Almost ready to move in. Edith very busy at work; hopes she will resign soon. What about Mary Austin's book [Earth Horizon]? So full of special pleading and self-pity. Not true Archbishop was written in Austin's house—didn't even want to go to the house, but had to, to be polite. Couldn't help it the archbishop was French. Houghton Mifflin had to make deletions [from Earth Horizon] after some 30,000 copies were sold, under threat of lawsuit by H. G. Wells. Has she read Hemingway's fine new book [Death in the Afternoon]? Would like to go to Mexico this winter, but must get settled first. Has heard lots of people talking about Lorenzo in Taos. Willa [Stout #1135]
Just arrived from three months in Canada and found his letter in accumulated mail. Has just learned of Mary Austin's death. Has he begun his work as executor? Willa Cather [Stout #1329]
Brother Douglass died of a heart attack in early June. He had spent her birthday with her last December in New York. Is having trouble getting over it. P.S.: Got a laugh for the first time in a long while from The Laughing Horse [satirical literary magazine published in Taos, N.M., by Witter Bynner's secretary and friend Spud Johnson]. It caught Mary Austin and Mabel herself quite well. Willa Cather [Stout #1411]
Writing to call his attention to an error on page 434 of his book on New England. Not true she edited the letters of Sarah Wyman Whitman. Willa Cather [Stout #1499]
Reply has been delayed by repairs of apartment. Greatly appreciates his insightful reading of her work and generally agrees with his judgments. Is not writing much nowadays because low in spirits since the deaths of her brothers Douglass and Roscoe. Yes, Death Comes for the Archbishop is her best. It was hard to find a structure to pull together so many disparate elements in the Southwest. It simply came to her one day when watching the sunset color the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that the essence of the early Southwest was the story of the missionaries from France. Devoted herself to research on it from that day. Mary Austin claimed the book was written in her house, and now a woman named Wheelwright claiming it was written in hers. Actually, mostly written in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Has always felt disappointed with O Pioneers!. Tried to put together the Norwegian and the French settlers, and they never mixed. Once, not long after it was published, met Louis Brandeis on the street and he told her that what he most liked about the novel was its sincerity of feeling for the place and people. Said that one of the writers in whom he did not find that sincerity was Edith Wharton. Never saw him again. Probably he didn't find her own next two books sincere either. Kept working and trying to learn. Believes Brown underestimates the early railroad builders; Jim Hill, for example, a person of great imagination and personal quality. Never gave great care to language per se in her books, but tried to let the language come to her that would express feeling for the subject. Is pleased by his praise of My Mortal Enemy. Agrees that Lucy Gayheart isn't very good, except in the last part, after the Gayhearts themselves are dead and the book centers on the effect they have in the businessman's memory. Wishes she'd had a better sense of form earlier in her career. Willa Cather [Stout #1741]
This brings love and admiration. Willa Cather [Stout #1761]
Mary Virginia will read this aloud if Elsie is not in Red Cloud yet. Wishes Mary Virginia could have been in Santa Fe with Roscoe and his family. Hopes one day to have her own adobe home in Santa Fe to invite her nieces to. Elsie will report that the trip was wonderful, if too short. Edith returned to New York just before Roscoe's family left. Is feeling lonely. Is writing mornings in Mary Austin's house while she is away, but wishes she were not by herself in Santa Fe. Douglass said he was coming, but never did. Is traveling to Taos for a few weeks. Wishes she could come to Red Cloud on the way back to New York, but it won't work out. Needs to be in New York the first week of August, and cannot tolerate the hot Nebraska weather. Mother and Elsie will be better off if she is not there causing problems. Will possibly come in the autumn. Does much better in cool weather; the heat makes her ill. Edith, like her, enjoyed the twins. Mother should allow Virginia to come for a visit, as she really would like to. Virginia is possibly the grandchild most dedicated to her grandmother, and she will not be troublesome. Roscoe's family is terrific and he enjoys his daughters very much. How wonderful! Willie
Has been in Boston since January and is now, after a couple of weeks with Mrs. Deland, back in the comfortable, old-fashioned Parker House. Has been seeing many remarkable people, including Winthrop Ames, an arts patron interested in Ibsen who has an air of ennui and the grandson of Otis [actually, Oliver] Ames. Listening to him talk, one thinks of that rocky monument to the Ames brothers on the mountain [near Laramie, Wyoming], and knows that they were not bothered with ennui. Oh, well, it is difficult being one of the first generation of sophisticates—think of the talk they heard about the Troll Garden. Is sailing for Naples with Isabelle on either April 8 on the Carpathia or on April 11 on the Freiderich der Grosse. Itinerary includes Naples, Capri, and Pompeii, Rome, a 300-mile walk along the Mediterranean from Monte Carlo to Marseilles, Arles, Avignon, and finally Paris. Seems odd to go to Rome after its long life in her imagination and education. One could say that Rome, London, and Paris were the three main cities in Nebraska. May or may not stop at London; has letters of introduction to Kipling, Maurice Hewlett, Barrie, and Conan Doyle, among others, but is more interested in places and ancient ruins than people right now. By comparison with Roman civilization, our own looks pretty shabby. The Roman civilization is still preserved in southern France, where people still live as in Virgil's Georgics. Has bought Roscoe several excellent pictures in Boston: Van Dyck's self-portrait, The Windmill (old Dutch), The Song of the Lark by Jules Breton, Wyeth's Calling the Moose and Indian Hunter, "The Dinkey Bird is Singing in the Amfalulu Tree" by Maxfield Parrish, and Remington's Caught in the Circle, all for $16.23, which Roscoe now owes her. Hopes he and Meta like them. If he doesn't appreciate the Van Dyck, she will be angry, as she has one and loves it. It was Jessie who thought he would like The Song of the Lark. Would have preferred to send older French and Dutch images herself, but thought he might prefer these moderns. Does he like The Queen's Quaire? Willie
