A Calendar of the Letters of Willa Cather

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To Mrs. Helen StowellAug. 28, 1889 from Red Cloud, Nebr. on father's letterhead ; WCPM 

Has been studying Greek and reading Bulwer-Lytton and Dickens. Brothers Roscoe and Douglass competed in the Firemen's State Tournament. Is serving as a reporter for the Republican, edited by Dr. McKeeby. Has been to picnics in the Garbers' grove. Local couple flirting ridiculously. Jessie, Roscoe, and Douglass singing in cantata. Is going to baseball game in Superior, Nebraska, with Mary and Hugh Miner. Is going to dance at platform in the Garbers' grove tonight.   Willa Cather   [Stout #3]


To Mariel GereMar. 12, [1896] from Red Cloud, Nebr.WCPM 

Feels exiled. Why doesn't Mariel write? Cooks sometimes to relieve boredom. Rides bicycle when weather permits. Planned and orchestrated a wedding breakfast for her [Cather's] cousin and Hugh Miner. Looked after the children the previous week while parents went to Hastings. Enjoys playing cards and going visiting with Douglass and Roscoe, when he comes to town. Has been reading Arabian Nights and Alice in Wonderland to James.   Willa   [Stout #22]


To E. J. Overing, Jr.,  [President of the Red Cloud Board of Education] Apr. 30, 1909 [letter read at 1909 commencement exercises and published in the Red Cloud Chief May 27, 1909] ; WCPM , also Bohlke.

Had hoped to be there for commencement, but is leaving for London on business. Has kept up with Red Cloud schools through brothers and sisters. Remembers with love Mr. and Mrs. A. K. Goudy and Mr. and Mrs. O. C. Case. Mrs. Case, then Miss King, was principal when she first entered the school. Remembers her first teacher and some of her fellow pupils. Always tried to please Miss King, who helped and advised her all through high school—even tried to teach her algebra, an impossibility. Hard to believe it has been nineteen years since she graduated. Best wishes to the new graduates. They should try to live up to their teachers' goals for them.    Willa Cather   [Stout #159]


To Ferris Greenslet,  Monday [Jan. 31, 1916?] Harvard 

Sending H. L. Mencken's article [in Smart Set January 1916?]. Has he seen Hugh Walpole's article in Bookman?   Willa Sibert Cather   [Stout #348]


To Ferris Greenslet,  Friday [Mar. 1919 or after] Harvard 

Hugh Walpole's phrase in Bookman—"one of the very finest of all American novels"—might be good for the dust jacket along with Mencken's comment.   W. S. C.   [Stout #454]


To Ferris GreensletOct. 7, [1919], from Jaffrey, N.H.Harvard 

Please try to get something quotable about her books from Hugh Walpole. Knopf would do this if he were publishing her next book. Leaving Friday [Oct. 10].   Willa S. C.   [Stout #476]


To Ferris GreensletMay 8, 1920Harvard 

Was too ill after typhoid shot to write sooner to thank him for the check. Anticipates a good trip. Saw Hugh Walpole recently.   W. S. C.   [Stout #506]


To Stephen TennantJan. 6, [1937]Yongue 

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]


To Zoë AkinsJan. 18, [1937], from New YorkHuntington 

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]


To Hugh King [agent(?) with Playmarket, Hollywood, California] [1941] transcription, not original. ; UNL-Rosowski Cather 

Appreciates kind request, but will not allow her books to be dramatized or filmed. Likes going to movies, but prefers to stick to the written word and a more discriminating audience of readers. 


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