Glad to hear Fritz Westermann has gone off to the [Spanish-American] war. Has been writing headlines about the blockade of Santiago Harbor. Sorry not to come to her commencement. Dorothy [Canfield] will be visiting in early July. Has been in Washington with her cousin Professor Gore, who was preparing for a polar expedition. His Norwegian wife, Lillian Thekla Brandthall, is glamorous and impressive. Looking forward to getting back to Nebraska. Willa [Stout #49]
Thanks for launching her with S. S. McClure. Had a telegram from him and has been to New York to see him. Feeling elated, as if her life is now more valuable than before. McClure to run her stories in the magazine, then publish as a book. Will place for her any he does not use. At the McClure house met wife of Robert Louis Stevenson, who had read the stories. Greatly appreciates his help. Other plans afoot. P.S.: Doesn't seem to be able to reach Sarah Harris. Willa S. Cather [Stout #84]
Isabelle's marriage still hard to accept, but the world looks brighter now. Is enjoying being with Roscoe and his wife in the mountains. Glad that Elsie is working well on her book. Will be in Red Cloud by the end of August. Recommends she go to Taos, though there is a good dude ranch near here in Wyoming. [Stout #364]
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]
Just received copy of Her Son's Wife that she sent to the apartment. What a somber book; has the middle-aged quality Dorothy saw in The Professor's House. Harsh but true that problems are perpetuated in successive generations. Has seen it in action herself. Admires the book but can't enjoy such unrelieved somberness. Mood overwhelms her, much as in Ethan Frome [ Wharton ]. After all, it is possible for a person to emerge from a squalid home and see beauty—like that of Jaffrey. Willa [Stout #849]
Likes her book [ The Deepening Stream ] very much, especially Morris and his wife. He is entirely real. Likes Adrian, too. All the Paris part quite wonderful, and Matey very good in that section. Earlier she is too fully specified. A mistake to try to tell all, as she did herself in The Song of the Lark. Proust succeeds in it, of course, but that's in the first person. Writers ought to keep the third person more distanced than most do; it shouldn't resemble first person. Looks forward to telling her about someone she met at Aix-les-Bains this summer [Mme Franklin Grout, niece of Flaubert]. Willa [Stout #1027]
Sending press clippings about honorary degree at Princeton. Sat beside Charles Lindbergh at the formal dinner and had lunch with him and his wife. Hated not to stop in Red Cloud, but will come some day. Willie [Stout #1055]
Right hand was smashed in a drug store door in May. Can't write. Appreciated the orange blossoms, which came while she was in Atlantic City but were still fragrant when she returned. Orange marmalade a treasure. Is feeling reconciled to Hephzibah's and Yehudi's marriages. Isabelle wrote from Sorrento that the entire family, including the new husband and the new wife, visited her there. Though usually so critical of people's shortcomings, Isabelle likes them in spite of theirs. Is herself somewhat like a porcupine when meeting people, so is glad Isabelle reassured her about these new members of the Menuhin family. Thinks Thornton Wilder's new play quite good, authentically in the spirit of New England. Has felt that the dead remain part of people's lives there, as in the play. Willa [Stout #1407]
Douglass, the brother she most loved, died in June of a sudden heart attack. He had spent her birthday with her last December. Only four months later, on October 10, Isabelle died. Wrote many letters to inform people— the only service she could give Isabelle. Feels emotionally numb. Regrets Yehudi's wife takes such bad pictures. She is Scotch, not Jewish. Feels confident it is a good marriage. Was happy to see them. Then Douglass died the next week. P.S.: No, does not like Hephzibah's mother-in-law. Willa [Stout #1423]
Has not been writing many letters recently, except to family and to friends of Isabelle. In December 1937 brother Douglass came to New York to spend her birthday with her. He died on June 13, 1938, age fifty-two, the only joyful and attractive member of the family. On October 10 Isabelle died in Sorrento of nephritis after four-year illness, during which her loving though unreliable husband cared for her. This has been the hardest year of her life. Is enclosing a letter from Jan Hambourg. Please return it, but don't write back. Is worn out with letters about Isabelle. Enjoyed [the picture of ?] Dorothy's two granddaughters. Enjoyed having her two nieces with her at Grand Manan in the summers of 1936 and 1937. Both married this year—as well as three Menuhins! Likes Yehudi's wife. Appreciates receiving Dorothy's new book and will read it soon. Eyes giving her trouble, but what is worse is the trouble of keeping people away who want to come and comfort her. Doesn't want them; wants quiet for reflection. Willa [Stout #1440]
