A Calendar of the Letters of Willa Cather

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To Ethel Marie Armes,  n.d. [1918?] , fragment ; Knox 

Sends greetings from Howard Gore, whom she saw in May 1917. Does not want to be interviewed.   Willa Sibert Cather   [Stout #417]

To Zoë Akins,  Oct. 8, [1919], from Jaffrey, N.H. ; Huntington 

Delighted to see the good review in yesterday's Times [of Déclassée, which opened at the Empire Theatre on October 6 with Ethel Barrymore in the lead]. Seems a triumph—a word that can only be used for the theater since the advent of trench warfare. Confident the play has real quality, is not just what is usually popular. Will go see it as soon as she gets back to New York.   Willa Cather   [Stout #477]

To Elizabeth Moorhead Vermorcken,  Mar. 23, [1924], from Pocono Manor Inn, Pa. ; PM 

Can hardly do any writing for fending off people inviting her to speak. Has been here to rest in a lovely setting. D. H. Lawrence and wife have been there, marvelous company. Expects to go home in a few days. So few people at the inn, hasn't been bothered by them at all. Appreciates invitation to visit, but that is something she just doesn't do. P.S.: Ethel Litchfield can tell her why. Does visit Mary Jewett in Maine occasionally, but that's really the only person.  Willa Cather   [Stout #727]

To Carrie Miner Sherwood,  Jan. 16, 1930 from the Grosvenor, New York; WCPM 

Enjoyed her long letter, but can't write back at length because leaving for Philadelphia, where an old friend is dying. P.S.: Jan. 17. Having to go to the funeral—Dr. Lawrence Litchfield, whom she knew in Pittsburgh.  Willie   [Stout #1001]

To Irene Miner Weisz,  n.d. [pm. Aug. 6, 1931] , from Grand Manan ; Newberry 

Please see August Atlantic Monthly and keep clipping. Glad to have pleased this reviewer [ Ethel Wallace Hawkins ]. Enjoying quiet of the island.   Willie   [Stout #1065]

To Elizabeth Moorhead Vermorcken,  Aug. 24, [1931], from Grand Manan ; PM 

Glad she likes the new book; many do not. The word "shadows" in the title should have given them some indication of the intent. Has enjoyed summer at Grand Manan. Will leave toward the end of September and go to California to see her mother. Isabelle and Jan have been to Brussels. Has lost track of Ethel Litchfield.   Willa Cather   [Stout #1070]

To Mary Willard [in San Francisco],  May 6, 1941 ; UVa 

Is grieved to hear of May's death. Knew her even before she knew Isabelle. Edith Lewis phoned Ethel Litchfield, who was so overcome she had to hang up without saying anything. Called back and implored her [i.e., Cather] not to die before she did because couldn't bear another death of a dear friend. Feels that way herself. Such a precious group of friends. Remembers how they enjoyed folk dancing classes. May was the best dancer of the group and the youngest-looking. Hasn't seen Ethel recently. Brother Roscoe ill in Colusa, California with a heart lesion. Don't answer, just wanted to say she shares her grief.   Willa Cather   [Stout #1540]

To Irene Miner Weisz and Carrie Miner Sherwood,  May 16, 1941 ; WCPM 

Has been under a great deal of stress since mid-March. An old and dear friend died in San Francisco, and Roscoe has been in hospital with heart lesion. Local heart doctor let him go on with high blood pressure several months before calling in a specialist. Attack might have been averted if he had taken action sooner. Is going to California as soon as doctors will let him have a visit, probably June. Not letting Elsie Sergeant know how seriously ill he is. Has thought of them a great deal during these weeks and wishes she could have been with them to see exhibit of French paintings in Chicago. Has had many touching letters since publication of Sapphira and felt under emotional strain. Will probably not see them on her way to California, because doctors can make special arrangements for her on train from Montreal. Edith will go. With hand in metal gauntlet cannot even dress herself without help. Still hopes to write again with special brace. Sigrid Undset and the Menuhins have helped cheer her up. Undset a woman of great character and many abilities; knows everything about flowers; is a person cut on a heroic scale and never speaks of her son's death in German concentration camp. P.S.: What she said about Madame Undset to be kept confidential. Wanted them to know about this wonderful person who could not be broken even by the German Army.  Willie   [Stout #1541]

To Ethel Garber Cather [sister-in-law],  July 23, 1930, from Paris; postcard showing the St.-Martin's Gate in Paris ; UNL-Rosowski Cather 
Image of postcard showing the St.-Martin's Gate in Paris, France
Front of postcard #1876

Going south soon to see friends near Marseilles. Sends love to Jim and children.   Willa Cather 

To Elsie Cather,  August 23 [1932?] ; UNL-Rosowski Cather 

Is pleased that Elsie had a fulfilling summer, but hopes she will relax now and revel in accomplishments. Appreciated Bessie's lengthy letter—read it several times—but wishes she would use a soft lead pencil. Elsie was kind to welcome Ethel [Garber Cather, sister-in-law] and her children; Helen Louise and Charles Edwin surely had a fine time. Is very glad Charles got on with Jess and her sons [William Thomas Auld and Charles Auld]; he is very sensitive. Used the incorrect name [in the short story "Two Friends"] to describe the astrological phenomenon which she saw in 1893 from the Wieners' porch, and scientists are in a tizzy. Proper description is "occultation" of Venus, not "transit." The second printing [of Obscure Destinies] is revised. Heard about it first not from an astronomer but from the omnipresent Professor Phelps of Yale University. Enclosed is his response to Cather's acknowledgment, which Elsie may destroy after reading. 

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© 2004-2019, Willa Cather Archive. Andrew Jewell, editor. Updated July 2019. The Willa Cather Archive is freely distributed by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. UNL Logo