To Trix with much love. PS: They [accompanying gift] are very fresh and from Superior. Willa
Had to sign deed he sent the very day she returned home from the hospital, and is afraid Miss Bloom's businesslike letter that accompanied it sounded rude. Excuse them both. PS: Health is improving; is now able to walk many blocks. Willa Cather
Has followed his advice and asked Mr. Crowell to ask $3,200 for the Osborne land. Dropping of atomic bomb has made all her doings seem very small and unimportant. He need not return enclosed newspaper clipping; Major Eliot has been the most reliable analyst of the war. Willa Cather
On September 30, 1946, the bank sent receipt of her $200 gift to the Red Cloud Hospital Fund, a little amount given to be polite. Carrie Sherwood's October letter, which lay unseen until January 22, enlightened her as to the very real need in Red Cloud for the hospital, which she did not fully understand before. Apologizes for mentioning him and the Peoples-Webster County Bank when dealing with the Stern & Reubens firm. Trusted the old man, an expert in copyright law, who used to manage her complicated taxes, but the man to whom he turned over the account, Alexander Scheer, is her natural enemy. PS: Will write a better letter to Trix soon. Dealing with foreign publishers has been grueling. Willa Cather
Please mail a year-end balance statement and a new firm-backed checkbook. Happy New Year. Willa Cather
Excited to see her! Please bring Sidney and come to dinner; can decide when via telephone. Unlisted number is Regent 4-8354. Hopes to talk intimately the way they used to in Trix's Red Cloud parlor. Willa
Has not seen Myra, who has been ill and traveling often. Trixie's illness adds her to a list of friends poisoned by penicillin. Would only accept the medication from an experienced physician, like those at Johns Hopkins or the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Is not working much, though had productive time at Northeast Harbor, Maine, during the summer. Is focusing on fixing up her apartment since she delayed repairs during the war. Chairs were falling apart, but the upholsterer repaired them wonderfully. Has never been a careless bohemian artist! Marutha Menuhin sent thirty pounds of kitchen gear from San Francisco since it is more available on the west coast. Merry Christmas. Willa
Appreciated his piece on Fred Maurer in the newspaper. Is thankful for it and will put it in her scrapbook. Sat near the Maurer brothers in Red Cloud High School and saw them struggle with poor reading light and inadequate clothes. They were not dealt a fair hand in life. Kept in touch with Fred through letters to the Gurney girl who cared for him, but stopped after she died. Willa Cather
Loves the roses, but loved seeing her much more. Was very moved to talk with someone from her youth, which hasn't happen since she last saw Roscoe in California in 1941. Felt very homesick after Trixie left. When parents lived, spent a lot of time in Red Cloud in their home—even cut European trips short to do it. Their distinctive house was sold without her knowledge, so never had the chance to buy it; found out about the sale, in fact, from business correspondence with Trixie's husband. Should see one another again soon. Willa
Thoughtful of her to write. Has felt pain before, but the death of Roscoe left a wound that will not heal. They were very close and spent considerable time together. Likes his wife and three daughters. He is irreplaceable. They corresponded often; two of his letters found her after she learned of his death via telegram. He died in his sleep, an appropriate way for someone of such innate gentlemanliness to die. Mr. Florance would have liked him. Willa
