Has just seen a report of G. P.'s accident in the Red Cloud newspaper. It appears he is out of danger but must be in a lot of pain. Has always been afraid of automobiles, and gasoline seems inherently dangerous. Only a week ago an explosion a couple of blocks away caused several apartment buildings to burn down. G. P. is a very strong young man, but this is a terrible ordeal. Elsie is enjoying Northampton. Hopes to see her next week during a trip to Boston. Willie [Stout #194]
Poem is beautiful but too long for McClure's. A terrible summer in New York. Leaving at the end of September for a six-month vacation to set herself straight. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #202]
Verses he sent are too intellectual for McClure's. Poetry they use must be more pictorial or narrative or emotional. Eager to leave, but hopes to see him before she goes. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #203]
Wrote to him from New Mexico, but he may not have received letters. Sorry to hear about Mrs. McClure's illness and his business troubles. People should be as generous to him as he has always been to others. Contracts have been changed so much it is hard to know what his share of the company now is. Will help with autobiography without charge for friendship's sake. Hopes she can write the articles as he wants them. He will recall that she couldn't hit what he wanted in some parts of the Christian Science series. Hasn't written a bit since she left New York, but is suntanned and healthy and in good humor again. Hopes people will forget how cross she was. It was from fatigue. Will never let little things bother her so much again. Willa Cather [Stout #235]
Please come to dinner on Saturday, May 6. Willa Cather [Stout #357]
The Columbian Hotel in this wonderful place is pink adobe, the owner a dark Mexicana. Enjoys taking horseback rides and stopping at people's houses. Sorry she didn't invite him another day and arrange for him to bring his friends, but reached the point where she had to leave. Hopes he will visit in the fall. Has taken Paul Reynolds as agent, and he has sold a story she would never have tried to place with a magazine. Willa Cather [Stout #361]
Can he come to dinner on Thursday Dec. 21 at seven? S. S. McClure and Isabelle McClung Hambourg will be there. Enjoyed his poem in the Atlantic. Willa Cather [Stout #374]
People she knows from Sweden and Norway have indicated possible interest there in translations of O Pioneers! and The Song of the Lark. Could he take it up with publishers, perhaps enclosing a copy of Edward Garnett's article in last February's Atlantic? Is enclosing a list of the best people to write. He can get their attention by mentioning that reviewers have thought Thea Kronborg was modeled after Olive Fremstad. Please send three dozen copies of the advertising booklet for her to send to people who inquire. Finishing some short stories for Reynolds to place, but will start on the next book soon. Hopes he can come to New York to discuss the Scandinavian possibilities. Will have a phone in soon and send him the number. Might he be there next Thursday [Dec. 21] for dinner with the Hambourgs, S. S. McClure, and Harry Dwight? McClure will tell everyone about the war. Willa S. C. [Stout #375]
Understands her regret that G. P. has enlisted, but he has always wanted to be in the military and this is his chance. It's a time of return to basics: men carrying guns. For herself, feels proud of him and glad he can go, especially as an officer. Wishes Jack were going. Was sorry not to see her, but the heat was debilitating and she and her friend fled back East. Was too worn out to work for a while, but now is working every morning in a tent about a mile from the inn. Douglass's reports about Mother are disheartening. Wonders if she should go to California to see about her. Address is at Hotel Garfield on O'Farrell Street in San Francisco. Elsie is delighted with her school and with Albuquerque. On the whole, families are pretty good things to have. Willa [Stout #390]
Knows she must be thanking God for a son who could make them all so proud with his courageous deeds, showing he was a true man and not an inferior one. She and Uncle George are the only ones who deserve the glory he has brought to the family [referring to a newspaper notice of G. P.'s death on the parapet of a trench]. Willie [Stout #418]
