Just over a bad case of influenza. Edith was gone to her mother's funeral. Please send the measurements for father's window [at Grace Episcopal Church, Red Cloud, Nebraska]. Willie [Stout #937]
Sorry to hear she broke her collarbone. Has been working well, also walking and taking boat rides and enjoying the case of champagne she bought in Canada. W. S. C. [Stout #976]
Won't be able to get to Portage; must go to Pasadena soon after Christmas. Keeps wanting to quote Kent in King Lear: "Fortune, turn thy wheel." Read Gale's book with grim humor. Impossible to live in isolation but impossible to avoid harming others if one isn't isolated. Has been wanting to talk with her about a particular matter. Will she be in New York before Christmas? [Stout #991]
Sorry to have missed her when she was in town. Must have been at the dentist when she phoned. Can only say again what Kent said in Lear. Christmas shopping for old German and Bohemian friends on Nebraska farms. Would feel guilty if she skipped them and they died before next Christmas. Willa S. C. [Stout #994]
Has just returned from Canada and begun to answer letters. Gives permission to make a Hungarian translation of either "Paul's Case" or "The Sculptor's Funeral." Secretary will send one of the pamphlets Knopf puts out giving biographical information. Can't send a photograph just now. Willa Cather [Stout #1236]
The debate over Joseph Conrad is endless. Prefers a more direct, unadorned sentence style. Few writers can give themselves up to baroque emotionalism and succeed. Turgenev could. Conrad becomes artificial or decadent. Listened to the king's abdication speech on the radio [Edward VIII abdicated on December 11, 1936] and found it plausible and distinguished. An example of rhetorical control. What does he think of the people close to the king? [letter breaks off] [Stout #1350]
Loves the Chinese nightingale! But don't order from Thorley's florist shop again; quality has deteriorated. Will try before long to explain why she so dislikes Dan Totheroh's dramatization of A Lost Lady and send it back. How could Zoë have liked it? Dialogue doesn't fit the characters. Maybe she thinks it doesn't matter how a book is butchered so long as it becomes a play. However bad [Eugene] O'Neill is, at least he makes up his own drivel. Is always struggling to protect books from stage and radio. But as to radio, hopes she listened to king's speech. Sorry to be so cross. Please don't hold it against her. W. [Stout #1352]
Returned from Canada only a few days ago [?] to find even the poorest quality wines very expensive. Appreciates his sharing Margaret Kennedy's letter about quality of life in England nowadays. Wants to show it to her niece before returning it. Hopes he will like the new book. Not true it was five years in the writing, since for much of that time she wasn't writing at all. P.S.: Has received a case of Sancerre Sauvignon 1938, from the Anjou region. Does he know it? Willa Cather [Stout #1501]
Keeps thinking about her and wishes she could write a real letter, by hand. Was saddened by Mary's telegram telling of Walter's [Carrie's husband's] death, but had heard how ill he was. Also heard how beautifully she was taking care of him. Remembers first seeing his picture in her watch case when she was going away to school at St. Mary's. Has spent a great deal of time alone this winter enjoying precious memories like that. Sees very few people besides Mary Virginia and Yehudi Menuhin and wife. Will write again soon. Hand is improving since going to Dr. Ober, a surgeon from Boston. Enjoys remembering evenings she spent with Carrie and Walter ten years ago, when they both gave her good advice. Willie [Stout #1534]
Has decided to allow use of "Paul's Case" because "The Sculptor's Funeral" is overused and not a very strong story to represent her. Will let Alfred Knopf decide whether to allow use of one of the stories in Obscure Destinies. Willa Cather [Stout #1554]
