Sorry she didn't get the invitation to his wedding. Heard he was married, but not that he was in Wisconsin. A good place to teach. McClure's never uses literary articles. Might try Atlantic Monthly. A lot of trash written about Robert Browning, but he remains popular because behind his hectic style are strong ideas fairly near common sentiment. [Breaks off] [Stout #204]
Curtis Brown won't do much for her book due to resentments left from McClure's days, when she got the magazine out of bad agreements made by McClure. How about advertising at women's colleges? Girls will like the aggressive careerism. Willa Cather [Stout #324]
Laundry tablets arrived Saturday, and curtains have been washed and are back up. Enclosing an article by Professor [E. K.] Brown of Bowdoin College. Please share with Carrie. Some time please return the letter from Collier's sent earlier; would like to keep it. Willie [Stout #779]
Found his essay when she returned. Likes the way he presented his opinions of her books. Very fair, though too much emphasis on geographic surroundings. Not true the Southwest is not her own country in the way Nebraska is. On the contrary, knew it well. Please read her comments on Death Comes for the Archbishop. Believes it is quite possible to admire Latour and Vaillant equally, though they are so different. Willa Cather [Stout #1360]
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]
Believes she will be the kind of mother her grandmother was—that is, Cather's mother. Took care of her seven children but let them be their own persons and keep their own souls. [Stout #1743]
Does not yet know plans for spring and summer. Anticipates being in California for part of that time to see two brothers [Jack and James]. Will hope to meet with him when he is in town. Would have many things to talk about—such as the new edition of Shakespeare that cuts out what the editor considers unimportant. Does not want writers like John Dos Passos to be legally stopped from writing as they want, but wishes law would stop editors who tamper with classics. Brandeis's death a great loss to the work of the Supreme Court. Spent many evenings at his home during years in Boston and often saw the Brandeises at the opera. Was introduced to Mrs. James T. Fields by Mrs. Brandeis, who was a fine and intelligent woman in her own right. Life sometimes seems dreary when one thinks about the people who have gone. Remembers William Archer well; remembers being in Lady Gregory's box with him the night the Abbey players made their London debut. Saw Synge's The Playboy of the Western World. Archer helped open her mind to new kinds of theatrical drama. Looks forward to discussing their personal values when he comes to New York. Willa Cather [Stout #1749]
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]
Dictation of the enclosed letter was interrupted, and Cather left town without finishing it. Believes she should not hold it any longer. [Stout #1756]
Still doesn't have definite plans for summer, but will not go to California as expected. Instead, to Northeast Harbor, Maine. Hopes to be able to work some. Agrees it is good for young people to go to France, but only if they are the right kind of young people. Once saw the kind that clustered around Gertrude Stein, and not one of them has amounted to anything. Not people of force; some actually wore bracelets! Found a great force of life in John Steinbeck's play The Moon Is Down, but wishes he hadn't used a long quotation from Plato as the climax. Will let him know when she is leaving for Maine as soon as she knows. Willa Cather [Stout #1758]
