Frederick A. Otte, Jr., Jr. (January 17, 1944)

#1656: Willa Cather to Frederick A. Otte, Jr., January 17, 1944

Plain view:

Guide to Reading Letter Transcriptions

Some of these features are only visible when "plain text" is off.

Textual Feature	Appearance
passage deleted with a strikethrough mark	~~deleted passage~~
passage deleted by overwritten added letters	~~overwritten passage~~
passage added above the line	passage with added text above
passage added on the line	passage with added text inline
passage added in the margin	passage with text added in margin
handwritten addition to a typewritten letter	typed passage with added handwritten text
missing or unreadable text	missing text noted with "[illegible]"
uncertain transcriptions	word[?]
notes written by someone other than Willa Cather	Note in another's hand
printed letterhead text	printed text
text printed on postcards, envelopes, etc.	printed text
text of date and place stamps	stamped text
passage written by Cather on separate enclosure.	written text

⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ January 17, 1944. My dear Otte¹:

Happy New Year.! It is awfully nice of you to remember me. But won’t you, just for once, write your address a little more clearly? You used to write a very clear hand - I would recognize it anywhere - but you have done something to it and made it as untranslatable as possible. That seems to be a fad among lawyers and successful business men. Your signature I recognize with pleasure, and I am awfully glad to see it wherever and whenever. It is nice of you to remember the day³ which we celebrate for me and for Pearl Harbor⁴.

Always your friend, Willa Cather

Information about this letter:

Source File:: cat.let1656.xml
Letter identifier: 1656
Contents: Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only.
Person to whom letter was written: Frederick A. Otte, Jr., Jr.¹
Date letter was written: January 17, 1944
Place letter was written: New York, New York, United States²
Location of original letter: WCPM Collection, National Willa Cather Center, Red Cloud, NE

Individual Annotations

Willa Cather's birthday was 7 December 1873.

The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, precipitating the entry of the United States into World War II.

Person Annotations

0640

Otte, Frederick A. Jr. (1884-1956) (“Fred”). American businessman; Cather’s student. Born in Indiana, Fred Otte moved east with his family to Pittsburgh in the early 1890s, where he attended Central High School and had Cather as a teacher. After graduation he joined his father and brother in a steel company in Pittsburgh. Later he held managerial positions in various industries in Wheeling, WV, New York City, and Evanston, IL. By 1935 he and his wife Frances were living in Cuyahoga County, OH, where he owned a crude oil production company. He and Cather corresponded occasionally.

Place Annotations

New York, New York, United States