204 Williamsburg Drive
Silver Spring, Maryland

November 21, 1955

Dear Mr. Bok:

I doubt that I can express adequately the deep pleasure your letter brought me. It should have had an earlier reply, but I have been away much of the time for the past month.

It is good to know that you have read my books -- not one, but all of them -- and that they have given you enjoyment. I think I am glad that you especially treasure my first book, Under the Sea-Wind. It has many faults, some of which greater knowledge and maturity may have corrected, but I doubt that a writer ever quite recaptures the freshness of a first book.

My own bit of the Maine seacoast is located on the eastern shore of Sheepscot Bay on the island of Southport -- a beautiful spot to which we return with renewed pleasure each year.

Yes, there are more books planned, and it is good to know you are waiting for them.

With grateful appreciation, and good wishes for a speedy recovery,

The Honorable Curtis Bok
Gulph Mill
Radnor, Pennsylvania

I've been playing with the idea of a brief family vacation on a South Carolina beach the first of April, and this might provide a good setting for the photography. And either the end of March or the first of April I need to spend several days in Boston. The point of this complicated story is that the rather tight schedule depends on the least predictable and controllable of factors -- me! If I'm late finishing the article, everything gets pushed along, and crowds April 14-15.

In another week I think I ought to know where I stand. Meanwhile, if you and Mrs. Bok find something else you'd like to do that week-end, please consider it open and let's try for later in April or early May. But April is a lovely

March 12, 1956

Dear Judge Bok,

I don't like the typewriter for personal letters,
but this time -- with an editor breathing down my neck --
I'm going to use it anyway!

As I should have explained, I was in New York only a
couple of days, but the New Weston forwarded your letter.
Your suggestion is a very pleasant one indeed. Somehow,
our correspondence has given me a feeling that I already
know you, but it would be good to go on from here, and to
know Mrs. Bok and the girls. At the moment there is a bit
of uncertainty about the date; and it occurs to me that on
Mrs. Bok's return you might just possibly discover that she
already had plans for that "nice-looking week end." So may
we confirm it later? As my calendar looks now, nothing
earlier would be possible, but I seem to be relatively free
after mid-April, until June and Southport.

month. Here in Washington we crowd the spring a little;
alre ady there are yellow splashes of forsythia and in the
wet places frogs are singing -- a sound that never fails to
stir me.

I was going to utter words of caution about Mr.
Sanderson, and now I don't need to. He draws beautifully
and writes engagingly, but I don't trust his facts. I
haven't seen his whole book. At Christmas, in spite of what
I've just said, I bought his "Living Mammals" for my mother,
but that was chiefly because of the many handsome pictures.

Oh-- I'm reading "American in Italy", though with
long interruptions, and so far find it delightful. I have
never been in Italy and am amazed by many of the things he
reports, but I always have the feeling that he is writing
honestly and perceptively. So why all the fuss -- the ban
on reviews, etc. that poor Mr. Kuby reports? I think I
can guess; our ambassador has certain connections -- was
that it?

Do you see The New Yorker? Your "sardonic one",
Richard Rovere, had a long piece in last week's issue,
written from Washington the day the President made his
announcement. You might enjoy it.

Returning to week-end plans: I should probably
drive, arriving fairly early Saturday afternoon. Radnor
shouldn't be impossible to find and I could always phone
if hopelessly lost. My mother would greatly enjoy meeting
you but will hope to do so instead at Southport. And Jeffie
would definitely not like to meet your houseman's dog, so he
and my mother will remain quietly at home. But do come to
Maine before or after Italy. I'm afraid I built my cottage
small with the inhospitable thought that I could do more
writing if I couldn't entertain overnight guests, but there
are several pleasant hotels and motor courts.

I think you once mentioned pictures of your earlier
Atlantic crossing. Will you show them to me at Radnor?

Sincerely,