Thinking of her on this day of peace. For the first time in all history the sun rose on a world without monarchies. A fulfillment of Ralph Waldo Emerson's prediction that God would one day say He was tired of kings. Wishes Grosvenor had lived to see it, but he is now God's soldier, as the line in Macbeth says. The old is gone for good. Now more than ever the flag belongs in churches. Willie [Stout #440]
Between a friend's illness and Josephine's, is driven to distraction, but has started the introduction and will send it to Miss Jewett to see if she accepts. Burton Rascoe caused a lot of mischief. Wants to place "The Queen's Twin" between "A Dunnet Shepherdess" and "William's Wedding." Enclosing a list of stories for second volume. List: (1) "A White Heron" (2) "The Flight of Betsey Lane" (3) "The Dunham Ladies" (4) "Going to Shrewsbury" (5) "The Only Rose" (6) "Miss Tempy's Watchers" (7) "Martha's Lady" (8) "The Guests of Mrs. Timms" (9) "The Town Poor" (10) "The Hiltons' Holiday" (or "Decoration Day"?) (11) "Aunt Cynthia Dallet" Willa Cather [Stout #729]
Miss Feld distorted what she said in interview. Doesn't object to all social workers but to those who take it up only to gather material for fiction. Willa Cather [Stout #766]
Has enjoyed the rose tree. Is spending Easter in bed. Enclosing some catalog text for My Mortal Enemy. W. S. C. [Stout #825]
Is quite well now. Many thanks for the rose tree. Has been reading The Last Puritan. Can't read his technical books, of course. Still misses Josephine, whose letters are as pleasant as she was herself. Had a Swedish maid for three months but let her go, so plodding and unimaginative. Appreciates the invitation to Green Fountains [Zoë's house in California], but doesn't feel she is very good company these days. W. [Stout #1316]
Enjoyed her letter. Her grandmother, Mary Ann Anderson, a childhood favorite in Virginia. Used to watch out the window for her to come up the road when in bed sick. Saw her again on visit to Virginia after graduating from college. Walked together up the beautiful Hollow Road to her house on Timber Ridge. Mrs. Anderson always took such a keen interest in people's lives. Mrs. Ackroyed's Aunt Marjorie and Uncle Enoch went to Nebraska with the Cather family. He went to California two years later with two other men from Winchester and only wrote once after that, but Marjorie stayed with the family until she died. Remembers hours spent with Marjorie on the back porch or in the kitchen. Is enclosing a recent picture of Willow Shade, now in bad repair, and has circled the window from which she used to watch for Mrs. Anderson. P.S.: The woman who wove their rugs was Mrs. Kearns. Willa Cather [Stout #1542]
Treasuring the card and photograph [of Mrs. Anderson], taken when she was older, but recognizes her nonetheless. Yes, remembers her Uncle Snowden clearly. Remembers once when she was about five years old, when she and Marjorie had gone to visit at Mrs. Ackroyd's grandmother's house on Timber Ridge, a heavy rainstorm came up and Snowden rode up on his horse and took her home riding in front of him on his cavalry saddle. Willa Cather [Stout #1569]
Will let him know her plans as soon as they are made. Hephzibah Menuhin, her husband, and their two little boys were there to see her yesterday morning. Yehudi and his family arrived soon afterward. Visited happily until 11:30, then rose and quietly got the children into their wraps, went down on the elevator, and took cabs to the North River docks for lunch before sailing on the Queen Elizabeth at one o'clock. They never seem to get into a flurry. Yehudi and Hephzibah to give concerts in London and other cities in Europe. Have been a joy to her for sixteen years. Are people with beautiful natures. Still feels their presence in her rooms. Willa Cather [Stout #1755]
Yes, please come for a visit before going to Northampton. The apartment will not be destroyed too much before the 20th, and the maid will keep her comfortable. Has Margie found the photographs of Willow Shade? She really wants to have one. Where are Grandma [Emily Ann Caroline Smith] Cather's photos? Very pleased that the family likes "The Swedish Mother" [a poem by Cather published first in McClure's 37 (September 1911), p. 541], and that Mary Virginia recognizes the people in it. Let her know that her grandpa will recall the night he left Cather by the mountain field and she saw a bear's nose between the shrubs. Though it looked like a pig nose, it troubled her. Often waited by a hawthorn tree, but did not know what her Swedish character would call a hawthorn. McClure likes it very much and says the poem is being talked about around town. Everyone seems to like the "red-haired" girl. It will be great to see Elsie. Tell Mary the story about saving the girl in the Park from the dog that assaulted her crow. Mary should take her crow over to see Irene, who would like it. Think of it: Elsie will be at 82 in just ten days! PS: Stand on a chair and give Toby a kiss before leaving. Willie
