Harrington Park, N.J.
Mar. 19- '54

Dear Ezra and Dorothy;

I recognized Dorothy's handwriting on the page from the Washington Post all about the McCarthy episode and it will be just that in a few more days- we saw the whole of it from the beginning- from time to time on TV. McCarthy should have known better than to back up against the government, he being a catholic to boot. It was amusing to hear the senator from Vt. can't remember his name speak of McCarthy as being viewed with "quiet mirth"- we had his co-partner Cohn on the mat before "author meets critic" and it was slightly nauseating to see him lie out of everything.

Tonight we saw the train in Russia that runs from Moscow to Peiping, 9,000 miles--almost modern equip equipment.

Very self-satisfied passengers milling around.

I remember the time Will Rogers took a ride on one of their trains some years ago when he told how it broke down in the middle of the journey--

What is that about my wanting to read some good poetry? of course- do tell me about it--

I saw a lovely little verse by Padraic Colum which I enclose-that's the kind I like and Stephen Phillips Marpessa.

I suppose you know the Wash. Post bought the Times-Herald. How did you like the Lonely Crowd?

Tonight about 5:30 the bell rang and before I got to the door it opened and in rushed Roy with a

large box of dark chocolates 2 lb. which he said he had ordered and it had just come-with that he gave me a peck on the cheek and rushed out to his car-saying that Donnie had been sick but was better- all this I see was at the request of Sue who is trying to "make up" with me for being so tantrumy the other day--of course it(the candy) was for my birthday.

I would like to ask if the Essay's you wrote with Eliot's foreword, New Directions, $6. has ever been printed before?

love, as ever,

Viola
P.S. Bryher is home and writes that intellectuals are delighted with freedom in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi. Peshewar etc but the others clamor for "english justice-inhabitants

GIBSON Letters 2621-3
CINTI., U.S.A.

Harringt Park, N.J.

Cher Ezra;

Je supposer vous avez été tôt
ou tard que je serai vouloir écrire
en français a Dieu ne plaise.

Je viens de retourner Englewood ramp
ou Barbara aller en omnibus a Best's.

En Tenafly a la Chinois buanderie.

Je lui donne Con's chemise de jour ..

Il est nommé Tom Sing et j'ai
connais depuis longtemps, plus de
trente ans----- En Closter il y a
neuf chinois, buanderie ,propriétaire
Jimmy F. Chin-- il et sa femme sont
trop jeunes. Quelques les hommes
fumer la pipe, quelques les hommes
boire mais Fu men chew (chu)

Dimanche nous sommes faite un
visite la fille de ma vieux amie
Inga Wank, en Jackson Heights.

Con prendre nous sur sa car.

This is quite enough of looking
in dictionary- I suggest anyone
who has time on their hands, to
try to write in french as badly as
I have.

Ah me, the jonquils are up
and its the same old spring again.
Hilda sent me four or five more
of those lovely birds made in
mexico-- I told her I would
give the first one she sent me to
Linda to take to school- hence
more of them. As Sue is still
not friends I haven't heard
whether or not Linda took it to
school.

I don't know how long Sue
will stick it out, but
altho I miss the children
terribly I think it best to let
her see what it is not to
have a mother to call upon
for help in many things.

Perhaps it is best this way.

I know I have spoiled her
by always doing what she asked
even anticipating her wants
etc. Now she will have to
eat humble pie for a while.

I am waiting for some
pansies(don't care for them
especially) to plant- a little
cub scout came and asked me
to buy some- says he, you have
to pay in advance--50c.

I will close now
love to you and
Dorothy

Viola

LAROCHE AVENUE
HARRINGTON PARK, NEW JERSEY

Mar. 27-'54

Dear Ezra:

Wha' do yuh bet I can't make you
laugh? It is a beautiful sunny morning.
Con, before going golfing, went out in
garden to look at the nectarine tree that
seems not to have weathered the winter-
he looks at it on nice days but does nothing
about it--so this morning he was inspecting
it per usual, and then came toward the
house--I watched him from my open casement
window and called out to him some derogatory
remark and as he stood beneath said window
I coughed and my upper plate went rolling
down the roof, I screaming, catch it, catch
it and then went shrieking downstairs
laughing hysterically but all the time
thinking there goes $350 to pot- but
found my teeth safe in the dirt grinning up
at me- now wouldn't you think Con who
used to play base-ball at Prep would have
caught it? he only stood there laughing
with tears in his eyes-

I remember my grade school teacher said
"a loud laugh bespeaks a vacant mind" so
I will not laugh near an open window again.

tushily yours,

Viola

and they say measles is quite serious in N.Y. one child died of it but probably among the puerto ricans I hope-hardly any child dies of measles today-- I don't know tho what I would do today if my children were small and had to have that polio vaccination- I think I'd die-- I'm agin' all that stuff tho we all took small-pox vac. when young.

Sue has a car-- a little Austin and Roy has given her a few lessons driving and she wants me to also-- O dear, I hate to-- the older I grow the less adventurous I am and that's putting it mildly- I'm just an old worry-wart.

I am having fun tho listening and seeing those two characters, McCarthy and Cohn go thru their stuff on TV. Enjoy Mr. Welch, as everybody does- his tone of voice when he says those witticisms is initi inimitable. When he said "not so fast Mr. Cohn"- well- why go on.

Mr. Dulles has come home very mad, but I don't know of any cure for diplomacy-it never settled anything.

O, to change the subject, I don't suppose you know that Bryher wants to sell her villa-and can't find anybody who wants to buy it- she thinks perhaps someone might want it for a hostel- isn't it a shame-it must be a beautiful place. I suggested Charlie Chaplin who lives in Lausanne and has lots of money and lots of children- Do you know of any rich man who would want the villa? this is not official you know-Bryher probably wouldn't like me to tell you but I'm just asking because I think you might know of some rich guys etc.

And now I must get busy with the vacuum cleaner- hope you like the cookies.

love from Viola

Mae 5- '54

Dear Ezra;

We had fun laughing at Conrad this morning-
he came down to breakfast with his trousers at the
ankle stuck to his socks about half a foot from the
ground- the nylon socks had some attraction
for his trousers-suppose electricity, anyway he went
off to the office looking that way. Bet he wants
to give the girls in the office a laugh.

Barbara was late this morning so I had to do
a Paul Revere-jump in the car and take her way to the
ramp in Englewood this awfully cold morning-
yesterday when I started out grocerying I noticed
smoke coming from the bottom of the gear shift and was
I scared-- on Knickerbocker road and no garage for a
mile- I finally turned down a street to Demarest and
they told me at that garage it was exhaust from the
engine and wasn't too harmful-- the car is very old
but I didn't believe them so turned up a road to
Closter to ask my good Henry about it-- they put the
car up and looked underneath at the transmission and
said it was full and the smoke or fumes didn't matter.
Of course I know the muffler has a big hole in it and
the clutch doesn't work without a horrid squeak some-
times- and as I go along a noise comes forth like a
bus and people think it is a bus coming. O well, you
can't have everything going smoothly-as long as it
doesn't get a-fire and they told me it wouldn't
I'l l go along with 'em.

Hilda sent me a card with lovely feathered

Harrington Park, N.J. Oct. 12-'54

Dear Ezra:

Powerful sorry to see this in
the World Telegram about Bill. The button-
man catches up with us some time. Remember
in the old days we didn't pay much atten-
tion to the I.W.W.'s- used to call them
"I won't work". I remember going to a
loft on 14th St. at the invitation of

Bill(Virgil didn't feel well and there
we sat on packing boxes and it is where

I met Babette Deutsch and all the other
group of that time-have forgotten the
names-- when we came home, Bill and a
soldier took me home to Bogota where we
lived then and as we went up the steps
the soldier said, you know I'm a communist
and I said, rather laughingly, if I'd
known that I wouldn't have let you come
up on the porch. We went up-stairs to
see Virgil who had gone to bed. I don't
remember much of the conversation except
that Virgil told them that I always looked
in the paper for his obituary notice.

These days are lovely aren't they?
very unusual- Barbara hasn't been to Dr.
Tether yet with her suggestion that she be
looked at every month to see if there is any
change. I have decided to write to one
of my old correspondents- getting a letter
no matter what is in it will help me perhaps
You know Oscar Wilde said, a woman who will
tell her age, will tell everything- and
that means me for I never had any coyness
about telling my age and I believe that
people or friends should tell each other
their troubles- they can't help and it
makes them unhappy but it keeps the lane
of sympathy open which if closed may lead to
all kinds of inhibitions. The one I

-2-

am going to write to this morning if I
can get up my nerve is to Dorothy Mott,
Rachel's younger sister- this poor girl had
her breast cut off thinking she had cancer.
She keeps house for Pat, the youngest sister
who is a nurse in Pittsburg. Dorothy has
the kind of nature that looks at things
practically tho I haven't seen her since
Susan was a baby. She has sent me her pic.
tho. Some while back Pat became ill and
had to go to her hospital for some weeks-
she is quite fat and got high blood
pressure and I don't know what else. Now
that Rachel's husband is dead it seems to
me she ought to do something for those girls
at least get them to come live with her
in Kenwood Seems to me Pat could get a
position in one of the Utica hospitals.
It's none of my business, I was just
thinking.

Tomorrow, Wed. is the day when Sue
and the children come over, also my old
friend Mrs. R. who to be cheerful has
developed spur in her heels. Going around
with low shoes is bad for walking- she lives
in a bungalow type house, doesn't have stairs
to climb but is one of those women who have
to clean constantly- and she hardly ever
goes to the village (her old husband does
the marketing) she is on her feet too much
evidently. I mustn't gabble too much-.
I was thinking the other day I forgot to
say in my letter that I looked up Confusius
and found out he said "Have respect for the
gods but have as little as possible to do
with them. Last night on TV they put on
a scene from Marco Polo where he is asking
the chinese emperor for money to continue
his journeys, back to Venice etc. quite good
actors. I wish you would tell me whether you
ever look at TV where you are. Is it diffi-
cult? do the others quarrel over what things
to look at? do you have TV. Couldn't you
look at it when the doctors do if they have

one? I don't see why you can't tell me
if you have access to TV. How is your
radio? were you given a good one? that
is did Eliot only give you a little one?
I do wish you had a nice large one with
good reception- you could put on FM which
means no advertising between numbers.

Well I must stop now- must make
a cake, nothing to it but add 2 eggs
and a cup of milk, one of those mixes-
and it always turns out right- I make
a nice chocolate frosting tho and I
suppose the children will turn the place
upside down as usual- I have a box with
toys in it and they turn it upside down
and don't play with the toys. I have
rigged up a net for badminton in the yard
but Linda isn't old enough to know how to
use the racket with the "birds". Did I
mention that Con and I took my 16 goldfish
in a pail over to the pond- can get more
next year- and it's too much work to bring
them in the house and empty the tank every
three days. I brought in some african violets
that I grew from a leaf and my
other plants and the tomatoes before the
frost the other day.

must close now, love,

Viola

P.S. The ad. from the Col. Univ. Press
I wonder if sent me at suggestion of
our neighbor Pagliero.

I didn't know Bill was 71- there must
be some mistake- he isn't older than
you is he?

Harrington Park, N.J. Nov. 12-'54

Dear Ezra:

I vow and declare, as great-grandmother Scott used to say, when it gets to be 3 o'clock in the P.M. it's only 2 hrs. before sunset.

I enclose review of "Confucius" from New Yorker. Also a notice of a dinner for Bill from Bergen Ev. Record with some misspelled words which the New Yorker ought to get after in their sometimes very funny excerpts from different newspapers around the country. The New Yorker I fear isn't funny any more and very few articles that are interesting- but I suppose Con will get it again for Xmas-it's fun to have some mag. coming each week.

I've been expecting Sue to either

call me up or come over this P.M. and leave Donnie while she takes Linda to Englewood to the dentist and perhaps take me grocerying too- because my car has been sitting in the yard since last Sat. The Browne motors consisting of a cockerspaniel-eyed owner and his s.o.b scotch assistant evidently put a used Bendix spring in my car so it broke last week-they think they can throw anything into my car because it is old- paid $10. for the spring and Con is going to try and get his money back tomorrow if and when they come for it. Let 'em haul it down to their garage first I say and then surprise them with the news- There is another garage I wish I had gone to but didn't think fast enough-they do ignition jobs and are decent. It's really appalling to be without a car these days- carrying big bags of groceries on a bus

waiting half hours for a bus- not being allowed to get on a bus which should stop within a block of our house because it is not allowed to stop at Harrington Park- having to wait another half hour for one that does stop is enough to give one brainstorms.

I see McCarthy the rabble-rouser got his "friends" did he pay their fares to go to Washington, number greatly exaggerated and they sang a song about loving Joe etc It is too bad that our Senate has to act like spineless animals when it comes to recalling a senator. This McCarthy should never have been sent to the senate-he has no business there- and I'm glad to see he's showing himself up even more by this display.

Well here it is Sat. A.M. and my car still sits with blanket and stuff on radiator and the cocker-eyed man isn't coming and I've phoned another decent garage and they probably won't come as Henry the nice one has just had a baby by his wife of course and hasn't been in to work since Tues. So it will probably be Monday before I can get anything done-

James Gordon Finley telephoned last eve and wants Con to go over there tomorrow- Irene is working in the five and dime to get money for Xmas. only on Saturdays' tho.

Con is busy typing his novel or story or whatever-and will take me over to Sue's this P.M. if man doesn't come and call for me after a ball game.

farewell for now- my best to Dorothy as ever

Viola

only one day- vomiting and diarr-
can't spell it--I she had left a
note that it began last the night
before so to be on the alert to go
get her- but I didn't really know
whether it was the virus or what and
worried dreadfully til she got here.
She is all right now- up today and it
was only the virus. No one knows how
or what causes this- it goes around
somehow.

Well, glad Thanksg. is over tho we have
had a fine turkey about 20-22 lb costi-
costing $13. Sue paid $6 toward it-
we invited the Riddells so there were
9-- the children ate their fruit cock-
tail first and cheese crackers and
hardly ate any of the turkey so I
invited them all over the next night
so that they would eat more of the
turk. Sue brought over some COFFEE
and her electric percolator-this
sits on the table and keeps coffee
hot all the time-

Roy brought Linda and Donnie over

yes

Harrington Park, N.J?

Nov. 28-'54

Dear Ezra:

Glad you liked the apples-will send you some more later.

A beautiful day-, that is not cold-
Con has gone to a professional foot-
ball game in N.Y. Yankee stadium.
Yesterday the Army-Navy game in
Phila. the field Franklin I think
which you should have looked at eh?
100,000 people there at $6. per-
a rather disappointing game-the navy
seemed to have lots of little
fellers who ran pretty fast. InJust
as it began B. telephoned for Con to
go over to Best's and bring her home
and can you believe it- he didn't
want to leave the game and said I
could go get her and I told him he
would never forgive himself if he
didn't go so he went--B. had that
virus- it lasts about 2 days sometime

3

yesterday to dig up a small cherry tree
an offshoot of our big tree- Donnie wanted
to take home a toy engine (we have a box full
of toys which he always dumps out and never
plays with- but Roy wouldn't let him take
the engine home and he cried-poor little mite-
but if he took toys home every time he came
over we wouldn't have any for him to play
with see? when you ask Don what he wants
for Xmas, he says "sire engine" Sue is
making or talks of it- a doll about 44 in.
high, stuffed with kapox or something and of
the feet an elastic that fits over Linda's
shoes so she can dance with it-- B. says
there is a doll at Best's for $12.95 that has
a music box inside it that children can
dance with but alas too much money.

I swept Con's room this A.M. while he is
at football game-so I will have more time for
things next week- tho what I don't know--

Con is writing something-I say something,
as I told you- I pick up the pages and read
a bit of conversations etc and it seems
mighty uninteresting to me but then, it is
practice and I hope he won't be too disappoint-
ted when the Mss comes back- we live and learn
I know it is awful of me to talk down(only
to you and myself) the efforts of people even
my son)who tries to write try to write but
I know it is dam hard work anyway and if he
really has something to say he might as well
try it.

I really have nothing to tell you that is
worth anything no news- I called up my
friend Miss Broadhead in Oneonta last week-
low rates after 6 you know- she had written
me about a chemical concoction that is called
"depression plant" you take three pieces of
hard coal put tablespoon salt and one of
water and one of ammonia and bluing in it and
I don't know what it is supposed to do-mine
is doing nothing-- I think I'll try it again
as the ammonia Con got me is not Pearson's

more if he uses ghost writers
and gets into skits etc.

This P.M. Maurice Evans is
going to do Macbeth and I do hope
the Fairfields will not take it
into their heads to come over (the
parents of Roy I mean) because
then we can't listen to it on TV
of course- they wouldn't be in-
terested you see. I wonder if you
are going to see it- we saw an inter-
view with Evans tother night-
he is a bachelor and keeps dogs
in his cellar and was not very
interesting as a talker I mean- he
has lost most of his British accent.
This man Fabian from Scotland Yard
we have seen on TV- he is cockney
I think and he sure is canny to come
over and make some money out of this
Shepard case ain't he? he has been
writing articles etc etc of course
he won't give his opinion of it but
the man is guilty all right and
it is ridiculous how they are drawing
the case out so long

he got it for me because he
was going to get other stuff like
ice-cream across the tracks-isn't
it funny how one gets involved in
describing a simple thing-I mean he
the
original ammonia, bought an all-
purpose ammonia which I don't think
is as good- but what do menfolk
know about the dillutions and
substitutes that go on with food-
stuffs today-- anyway if the experi-
ment grows anything I'll be a dirty
bird. This brings to mind my newest
monologue comedian Geo. Goebel who
says that- he also says "you can't
hardly get them kind no more" He
had, originally, A very distinctive
and amusing monologue but now he is
in "skits" and is not funny, woe is
me. Someone ought to tell him to
stick to the monolog but that's
always the way- he's probably too
lazy to keep it up and wants more
money at least he thinks he will get

G

I guess we were all glad Vishinsky passed out of the picture- that bloody evil man-his casket cost $8,000 hurra for communism-- now Malik comes over and I'm waiting for Mr. Lodge to put him in his place also if that is possible with those dam russians.

Well I sit here just rattling on with nothings- I'm glad snow hasn't come yet- lots of it up-state New York of course-and now I will close- I have been thinking of calling you up after 6 for a chat(lower rates you know) but don't know if you would be allowed to come too to the phone and don't know what on earth to say to you anyway- I get pessimistic the minute anything is delayed-Nothing in the papers today- it's just awful what slaves we are to the Sunday papers, all advertising- etc. books so uninteresting to me -- book on Byron supposed to be his conversations- alas the only thing I read the review for was to see some reference to his incest? what an evil mind I have- didn't he had have a child child by his sister? O well you see what reading the daily news and about murders etc has brought on me. We heard a little boy(supposed to be 11 but who knows? play the violin superbly last night- he is free-from Braintree, Mass. named Castleman as I remember- looked like a little old man- man all ready-is it really worth it?

well I must stop getting maudlin. much love to you and Dorothy.

Viola

P.S. Did you watch Macbeth as ever
the P.M. very nice -
"Signet thickens + the crow
makes wine to the rocky wood"
I like this line.

Con gets regular letters from his
little sweetheart in Buffalo.

Last night in the rain and wind Barbara
told Con to "get back in his car
as we were going to vote- we did
and I hope it was our votes that put Case
in in N.J. As for that Harriman, less
said the better.

They didn't call me for jury duty
during October and I can't remember if
November was designated on the card-
I hope not-altho I would like the $5
or $6 a day.

As ever, Viola

made of straw, a wonderful thing
to carry things in-a shopping
bag really from Perdita tonight-
She has been visiting her mother
in Switzerland and wrote me from
there on a card that she might
come over with a station wagon
full of little boys- she has 2
as you don't probably know-
I sure will be delighted to see
her in this dirty old house but
what care we where we live as
long as we do. I shall probably
make her go with me over to
see Sue-her house at least is
something to see now that she
has a huge gray rug on living room
floor instead of the fibre one
and Donnie will like to see her
little boys.

Barbara is making up her mind
gradually to the inevitable and
perhaps an operation in January.
God knows if there is a God.

Harrington Park, N.J.

Nov. 3- '54

Dear Ezra:

Ah my dear your taste for
cookies must be spoiled by
other two sweet cookies-I could
have sent another kind, choc.
mint. And what happened to the
pen. I suppose you have scads of
'em--sent this one as the one I
sent some time ago probably
needed a re-fill.

Linda's name is in the paper
tonight- a new member of the
Brownies.

I'm enclosing a picture of
your beauteous friend e.e.Cummings
egad he is frightful is he not?
And Hemingway-the-gut-is-good
got the Nobel prize, whee?

I receive a beeyewtiful bag

Every Xmas and while I like to get the money I actually don't feel very happy about it but have to write her that I do- My family stand around and say"you aren't go going to send it back are you?" Of course I sent her things during the war when I knew nothing about her at all- didn't know she was rich and I suppose it makes her happy to send money to people. I have asked Dorothy to get you and herself something for Xmas with $10. of it and am of course very glad to have been able to help Conrad pay for a new battery for my car. I can't save money you know- it bores me awfully to have too much of it-- I wasn't going to send two of my old friends anything but here they are sending me a sweater and apron etc. and I have to wrack my brain to think of something to send in return-- Xmas is really for children and I don't know how come us grown-ups horn in to the extent they have since the old days-

It is almost impossible to send Bryher and Hilda anything as they have to pay duty and they can have anything they want-- I think I'll send for a grape-fruit cutter a very handy thing that cuts sections so neatly- but do they get grapefruit over there? I suppose so. You send 35c. for one to Cincinnati-think I'll get 3- they won't get here in time for Xmas now but it doesn't matter.

Conrad saw an enormous painting( just a painting fromma blown-up photograph of a scene in Canada- mountains and water and pine trees, at Sears, of all places and so B. and I got it for him, $6.95. It is too large for his room but he had good times in Canada and so he will like it. It is about 3 ft. square, and altho his bedroom is a nice large bed-room I'm thinking it will look funny on the wall.

Barbara wanted a radio so Con got one for

her with clock attachment and music plays when the alarm is set.

O I suppose we'll have the same funny old Christmas but I'll be glad when its over-in fee

fact when everything is over.

Eh? I found what Donnie asked for, a sire engine- he can't say anything with it in it--I try to get him to say fee,fi,fo,fum I smell the blood of an englishman but he just smiles. This little sire engine has sparks in the back of it when you push it and it runs quite a ways-- also a siren and only cost $1.25.

Well it's supper time and I must go down and eat. My how it rained all night and morning-I didn't get up til 10- Barbara had to work but she gets Monday off. I think I'll send you some baked nuts and other something- I made 108 of those Joe Froggers(small) for Roy's

sister to take to Camp Dix last Friday-
she belongs to the Eastern Star and had
asked many women to make cookies for them.

XSo farewell for now-
Merry Christmas
and love

to you and Dorothy
Viola

I sent a card to Bill but they didn't send one- hope he is all right- I don't quite get your line about him- perhaps an article I sent you but have forgotten what it was.

Card from Mary Barnard from New York, her same apartment and she says, "life is uneventful" I could have asked her out but knew she wouldn't enjoy the children and the hubbub- and it means meet her at the bridge-it's a long way out here on bus 84 tho it stops around the corner.

Guess I'll call her up and ask her out for next week Sat. or Sunday IF Con is going to be here because I couldn't depend on my car.

Guess that's all I can think of to write about right now--

bless you my dear and give my best to Dorothy.

as ever

Viola

Harrington Pk, N.J. Jan 4-'55

Dear Ezra:

Sending you tonight some more
rice-balls- not pop-corn as you
have found out. Walked to Closter
this noon- about 2 miles maybe less-
have to wait so long for bus- went to
talk to a garage man (german) who
doesn't seem to want any work at all.

Asked me if we had a heated garage so
as we don't he didn't like the idea
of lying on his back to tinker with
car and has no one or facilities to
come drag it down to his shop-
fact is I am mad at the Closter

Carburetor boys--and when I get
mad god help them-I will have nothing
more to do with them- they didn't
come here twice when they said they
would and I don't care whether they
were busy or not and I don't believe
they were. Looks like I'll have
to phone Englewood the Ford people.

The german told me if the fly-wheel

was engaged with the spark- spring
it would cost more than the car is
worth--

Just now have been talking to
our budgie bird- he has the
greatest sense of humor it seems-
he tries to squeeze and does so
successfully underneath his perch
near the floor and sometimes under-
neath his water container and then
flies up on another perch and does
it again and again and of course I
laugh- he is just tempting me to
let him come out of his cage but
it would be too dangerous with the
cat around and I'd never get him
back once he got out. Mrs. Fairf-
field, Sue's ma-in law has two and
she lets them fly around on her en-
closed porch and she says they fly
back in the cage when they're hungry.

I've named him "exra" and also
trying to make him say "pretty bird"
and "hello" but altho people say
they have had the patience to get
them to talk I don't believe he will

say anything for a year. Every morning I
change the paper and give him some new
gravel and water and two kinds of seed-
he also has a millet spray and some cuttle
bone made especially for that kind of bird-
the canary cuttlebone is too brittle. He is
a darling little bird-powder blue and white
and gray and his "cere" the part over the beak
is lavender and the book that came with him
says if blue it is a male.

Sunday Mrs. Fairfield, Sr. asked us to
supper so we started out in Con's luxurious
car, first to stop at Sue's in Demarest where
Roy said they had some champagne- well, I don't
care much for it- we have some Voigny that I
like much better-- then we went to Englewood
to the supper- one of Roy's brothers showed
us some colored pictures he had taken in Fla.
and Canada and they were perfectly beautiful
you could see every separate hair on the

heads of himself and his wife Catherine-what
I mean is that everything was so clear.

Bill, that's the brother has a machine
of course that shows the pictures in color.
A friend of Mrs. F's was there, a german
woman and she put on my fur coat by mistake
and left hers. Well they live down in Ft. Lee
so next day, Monday which Con had off as did
B. we went down there to get my coat and
that's all--too long to tell you more and not
interesting to you.

Well it's getting toward half past five
and I must go over for mail and put supper
in oven. Barbara has composed a long
verse which is quite funny and I'll copy it
when I get back and enclose it.

My best to Dorothy-hope she could
have fun with the money, tho it wasn't much.
love as ever

Viv Viola

on the thing and then they
go off to say the usual
things-like other people liked
it etc and hope I will like their
future broadcasts and signed by
one Craig, Community Relations.
I was rather disappointed be-
cause I had hope there would be
a loop-hole for me to belabor
them some more but now I see
one can do nothing with such
people without seeming to be a
shrew which I am of course-
but I just wish you had heard
the caterwauling and seen the
ridiculous version of this
famous old classic.

My friend in Oneonta, a
neighbor from Tenafly now living
there sent me a copy of an
english magazine, Holly Leaves
containing lovely printings
of water-color scenes reminding
me of our american painter F.

Harrington Park, N.J.

Jan. 7-'55

Dear Ezra:

As it is Fri. Con will not
be here for supper and B. goes to
the five and dime after work to
browse around and buy foolish
things, so after putting the cat
out with his liver, and donning
my fur coat and wool scarf on
head like a peasant I hied me to
the P.O. for mail at 5;30. There
is a bitter cold gale ablowin'
and has all day- Was glad to get
back in warm house. I found an
answer from the Chrysler people
to my complaint about the Max-
well Anderson idiocy of the
Christmas Carol which I told you
about I think. Say they," Max-
well A. and Frederic Marsh and
another idiot worked very hard

3

Hopkinson Smith whose water-colors I
used to copy. Also a page beautifully
illustrative of all mother goose rhymes
and the political origins of them, (some
of 'em) and pictures of smugglers
country around Suffolk and Ipswich,
altogether a joy of a magazine making
the New Yorker look pretty silly and to
tell the truth the New Yorker has de-
teriorated much- cartoons not funny and
articles about the writers childhood and
surroundings very boring.

My car needs fixing- too long to tell
about- Con tried to start it 2 weeks
ago- it jammed and I have had the dickens
of a time with garage people around here
trying to fix it- it is an old car. 1937
so in desperation I phoned Englewood,
the Ford people and they gave me an
estimate on what I reported to be the
matter with it- if rings, $31.75, if
clutch, $31/50 $5 road service and
if bent starter, MORE and Con will
have to think it over. the groceries
around here are "robbers" and it takes
all morning to wait for a bus to
Closter etc I walked to Closter the
other day- about 2 miles-it wasn't
bad but I couldn't carry groceries all
that way. It reminds me of the cart
I used to bring groc. back in in Tenafly
before I got a car- a car is a
necessity today. Con could take me every
Sat. for groceries

I am hard put to it to know
what to do with myself after work is done
I could paint the walls and ceilings
in some rooms-guess I'll broach the
idea. Ain't it awful to be OLD.

4

Sue got a little paper-covered book of Essays for 4¢ for Xmas- An essay by Aldous H. on Accidie, pretty good and Chesterton on running after One's Hat etc One you don't like him I remember-- of course Montaigne is the best. I like essays. Wish I could start even one but Accidie comes along and says "All is vanity"

My friend Marjorie Fletcher's husband John has retired from 41 years, latterly treasurer of some Quotation Bureau of Corp. somewhat like the N.I.C.B. that Virgil was pres. of- and now he (John) is going to play golf and Marjorie wants him to do some painting around the house- I hope he won't go in for them too strong as too many hearts are damaged by old people working as if they were young again.

5

After getting out a curtain rod that had fallen into my piano which made a tinkling sound (it is out of tune too) I find I have not the heart to even play a scale- I heard a record of Chopin played by a 15 year old girl which discouraged me also-- I never thought I could forego music- It takes will power now to do anything. alas.

My "budgie" bird is so cute- he is powder blue and makes me laugh when he squeezes under his perch again and again-did I tell you this? it will be a year they say before he says anything-I keep saying "Pretty bird" but I haven't any hope that he will learn it.

I must go down now and eat some rice and tuna fish and peas and I made an apple dumpling pie with a dandy sauce

Harrington Park, N.J.

Nov. 13-'55

Dear Ezra:

Did you receive the candy, nuts and
hkfs.? Will send a tracer Monday if you
haven't-- I mailed them the Friday before
the 30th of Oct.

Bill wrote me on his electric type-
writer-- his signature was shaky which was
rather pitiful. He asked me to get a
copy of Arts, in which he has an article
on Brancusi- Couldn't get it at the local
paper store so asked P rof. Pagilarro next
door(Pagliarro) and he tried to get it
around Columbia where he teaches english
but ended up by getting it downtown on
an errand he had- soooo- Mrs. P. brought it
over Sat. she is a Texas girl, they have a
little boy about 7 named Blake-- Prof.
P. who is a very short curly-haired italian
is a great admirer of Blake. Do you know
if Blake was blind? I saw something about
him in Ev. Adams book which led me to be-
lieve he was. Haven't talked with Pagilarro
long- only every now and then if I go over
with cookies or raspberry bushes which I'm
going to give her more of if I can get to it.

This article by Bill I haven't the patience
to read. Bill goes into each piece of seupl
sculpture, describing it etc The Kiss which
I think is particularly ugly and childish
reminded me of the legend that once the human
race was ONE, that is male and female in one
body and some god or other thought they were
too happy and separated them- guess Brancusi
had never heard of it--

I'm sending you the magazine for it's of
no interest to me- A pox on all art? of this sort.
can't see anything in Lautrec, etc.

How did you like your birthday greetings?
in the newsletter- very interesting I thought but

Babbette Deutch spoiled it by sending Bill's letter-silly Billy. I suppose by now you know I'm two-faced- I write bad things about Bill behind his back, hey? and write him, I hope, nothing to offend him.

I do hope you are not ill- havent heard from you for some time.

Love as ever,
Viola

P.S. I've got rheumatism in me legs darn it.

Harrington Park, N.J. Nov. 19-'55

Dear Ezra:

Sholom. Nice to see the snow this day- have you got any? Yes I rec'd your amusing acknowledgement of the food and clothing but wondered what took you so long.

It "passes my comprehension" why you foam at the newspepers mouth at newspapers- what on earth did you see now that is worth getting mad about-I can't remember what I sent- that's the way to read newspapers- never believe what you read and you'll be happier.

Rec'd a letter from Bill in the same mail- he says yesterday he thought he was dying, was sure of it( bad weather) but now that the sun was shining convinced that he will live forever. This reminds me of the thing I saw on TV some time past-- a member of some mexican tribe of indians began to get melancholy- word went around among the tribe or relatives and they came on their horses circling his abode and shooting off guns then went in and had something to eat-which presumably was a cure for the sad one. They didn't need psychology in them days. Bill mentions perhaps getting his friend Jack Thirlwall, in good weather, possibly but only possibly, so many things depend on his ability to do it-- to come over. Now I don't know much about Bill's condition, can he walk? can he dress himself? I don't think he ought to try it. He wants some of the letters he wrote me- aha, I smell a biography in the air-- I have kept his letters the very first one in 1908- I never tear up letters- but when we came here from Tenafly I had a big bonfire of many of my girlhood's correspondents-letters- couldn't remember who the writers were-- I got bursitis in my shoulder carrying down books, magazines and

-2-

boxes of letters and all kinds of junk
from the attic. So you have changed your
ideas about this so-called sculpture- glad
to see it- you are growing up.

Received the annual bulletin from Olga
of the music accomplishments of the Accademy-
frontispiece of George Enesco looks like he's
suffering from toothache or the vibrations of
Beethoven whom I certainly cannot stand any more-
particularly since I read that he ruined his
nephew's life so that he committed suicide- the
old satyr. We heard Gilel the Russian pianist
on TV- not a smile on his face at the applause-
wonder if he is called a bourgeoise at home-
he played wonderfully of course- on the other
hand we saw the ballerina who lives near Sue
can't remember her name, Slavenska or something
do some unusual steps in The Great Waltz, and SHE
smiled- something that Pavlova nor the other
russian dancers never did-- probably she thinks
we americans will like her better if she smiles-
but it isn't "the thing" to do- she wants to
please of course for the MONEY. I have met her-
she was sitting under her grape-vine sewing
and ever and anon when I go by to Sue's I see
her out digging in her garden with practically
nothing on- she has painted the door and windows
of her little house, chinese red.

Well Con is home today of course and
said today was a good one to "work" so he
is in his room doing just that- writing I believe.

I just must tell you something cute about
baby Leroy-he was sitting in Sue's lap, cornmeal baby
food all over his little cheeks when I took Don and Linda
back from an afternoon over here yesterday- at my greeting
and kisses, he made a funny noise almost, like growling-
indicating that he would talk if he could. I wake up at
night laughing about him he is so cute.

Incidentally yesterday afternoon I waited for Linda
to come from School and then gathered up Don and brought
them here for the afternoon- I bought some cookie mix
thinking Linda and I would make cookies- the first thing
Linda did was put the mixing bowl on her head- and went
in to look at TV because I washed the bowl and Don helped
me grease the pans and removed the cookies to a platter
when done but he got my ball of sewed strips and

-3-

brought it down-stairs and made spiderwebs from
table to door to chair with it- would you keep
your temper at these doings? Sue and Roy got a
letter from Linda's teacher that Linda fools
around in class making her distracted etc etc
Alas, someone is to blame, is spanning it?
They used to call me "scatter-brained" when I
was a child and look at me now, still scatter-
brained. I wrote Linda a letter today but I
doubt if she will pay attention in class any
better after reading it.

So, farewell for now- guess
I won't send you any more articles from news-
papers, but I remember you asked me to send
you everything, detrimental or not.

love to youaand
Dorothy as ever

V.

P.S. Tell Dorothy we saw the english comedienne
Grenfell on TV doing a skit she wrote herself
about a kindergarten class. We were in
stitches over it- she certainly is comical
and extremely charming.

Harrington Park, N.J. Dec. 5-'55

Dear Ezra;

It was such a gray, dismal, lowering,
misty, beclouded, overcast, alto-cumulus, murky
mare's-tail day that Bill and Flossie both
talked with us over the phone saying Mr. Thirlkall
having to come from somewhere on the Hudson would
probably wish not to--sooo we decided on next
Sunday. And, I suggested that next Sunday Mr. T.
could go home from here and Con could take Bill
back home-

So, after all my house-cleaning like
polishing silver, washing linen for the tea-
table- getting in some wine, malmsey as Con
said and blackberry julep for me and making
chicken sandwiches and getting a cheese-cake
and other things, "our little world was shaken"
as you have written,

Furthermore I had to stay up til 2 A.M.
at Sue's while they went to the Military Ball
at the Teaneck armory (Roy brought me home in his
car) Sat. night and didn't get my "beauteh"
sleep you see--

Last night we saw that mime from France
Marceau-- well you can have him-- just a little
boring as he wasn't particularly funny except
when he went skating- and with him was
dear old Chevalier- alas looking like a
galapagus turtle so Con said-- as he sang
one or two of his old songs (he didn't sing the
one I liked about a "pomme" one could see his
efforts to keep his upper plate in - bless
his money-mad heart-- he comes over every year
to replenish his coffers no doubt- so does Kate
Smith-well who can blame them- amusement has
never bewe-r-e before drawn such high salaries.

So I hope you won't hang by your
eye-brows waiting to hear about Bill's cvisit
and I won't send you any of my chatter about my
doings as you don't tell me about yours.

Selah

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Aug. 10-'56

Dear Ezra:

A long time ago I wrote Dorothy to see
how you were feeling as I hadn't had the pleasure
of receiving your heiroglyphic postcards. She
said nothing was the matter only you were old.
Aren't we all?

I haven't felt like writing anybody-
every four days we have a day like this one, so
humid and hot one can't breathe-
to say this is
the result of the atom bombs being set off is
a question which nobody especially the scientists
wants to settle. Neither you nor I will be going
to the moon or Mars, the latter has been showing
colors, red and green and lichen and whatnot and
canals-but who wants to go there with an oxygen
bowl on the head.

I don't suppose it will shake the world
if I tell you that Con made $3360. on the market
Aircraft of some kind and has given up his job
or will next Wednesday, at Colgate and will stay
home to "write"- as he says we can go along for
6 months at least. Bless his heart-I seem to be
living too long or is this a cowardly thing to say-
but he doesn't seem to want to get married yet tho
this is one of my thousand worries-in fact I
worry so much that I found I couldn't get food down
even tho I felt hungry-I have realized this and
am trying to overcome it- You see my mother was
22 when she had me and I came into the world with
lots of nervous energy, a horrid predicament when
one gets old. I have been reading Turner's
book on all the philosophies from Babylonia to
ceny-contemporary and shall have to go over it
again altho I realize that Kant, Hegel, Spinoza
Descartes et al had no idea of the atom. However
they all buck up against Why there is life and
some of them think there is God, unlike the
russians tho I do believe they are kidding themselves
Let me see, one of those old philosopher-philos.
said something to the effect that to be active
was the only Good-but active mentally or
physically they don't say. Too complicated eh?

-3-

And now I come to Prof. Thirlwall and his
visit to bring back the letters Bill wrote
me- God knows what he will say in his book
about Bill and how he will treat the letters-
I do wish I hadn't given them to him- it
all seems so silly. Thirlwall wants us to
make him a visit at his home in Riverdale
I think it is-- he has a garden with apple
and peach trees and a japanese wife(second) and
a boy by his first wife and a 4 mo. baby by the
japanese. He said he would send Bill's
Paterson for B. to read as we haven't seen it/

I have been seeing different different
things about you in the papers but as you didn't
write thought you were tired of hearing from me-
I suppose you saw what that Robt. Graves said-
too vile to repeat but we did laugh about his
crit. of Eliot.

Well I'm tired and will go now and fan
myself and do some crossword puzzles- they
keep me alive.

Much love to you and Dorothy

Viola

-2-

Barbara is home on her 3 week vacation-
she is taking one week extra without pay and
when people ask her if she is going *away*-she-
anywhere- she says, "from the TV to the ice-box.
We sat on the porch last night singing? old
popular song, she with her ukelele which she
plays well and can play most anything with the
right harmony too-- and those little midges kept
getting in her mouth as she was sitting on that
part of the porch where they abound. The front
lower part of our house has been looking very
shabby, paint off, so she painted it almost the
color of the rest-and also has been painting other
furniture in the kitchen - which I used to do but
as they have the money to get paint I left it to
them.

My garden has many tomatoes but not ripe
and the corn doesn't look very flourishing- beans
pretty good and peppers coming-- musk melon seems
to be vining- and we have had so many apples
we don't know what to do with them- small but
make dandy applesauce.

Sue expects her baby around Aug. 24 and
then I will have to get up at 6 and get over there
before quarter to eight as Roy leaves for work
then and I will have to stay all day til 7 I
guess- perhaps the other Grandma will help out
some days. I have been going over every other
day but today Sue said Roy was home even tho he
has a boil in his ear, and the doctor finally
is going to give him penecillin, and they might
go to some lake with the children for a day.
But it looks like rain- anyway I have to go
over tomorrow morning as she is going to see
her doctor for a check-up etc. I wish you
could see that little "old head" as my great-
grandfather used to say, little baby Leroy only
14 months old look at his picture books. Such
concentration as he gazes at Mother Goose etc
we imitate the animal's like Moo, baa etv and he
crows like the rooster when he sees one.
I could go on and on about him he is phenomenal
it seems to me.

Harrington Park, N.J. Aug. 22-'56

Dear Ezra;

Well, we have another little
Fairfield, a girl, born Monday night at 9.
Monday morning when I was over there Sue
had a warning and called Dr. Protzman, but
he was slow in answering-- he has delivered
about 2,000 babies you see-- anyway
finally he phoned and told her to come over
to his office or he would come over to her-
but as Roy has been home for a week with
an infected ear, he took her over there
with the children and I went home- but
about 4 P.M. Roy telephoned that after
they had gotten back home the warnings
came in earnest so I got over there again
just as they were going and stayed until
7 or until Roy got back. It had rained
all day. Con got back from the Poconos
that night and a good thing too for
next morning I found I had a slow flat in
a tire so he took me over to Sue's Tues.
morning, are you following me?

Con changed my tire so now I am
all right, and am going over to Englewood
Hosp. in about an hour to see Sue but I
doubt if they will let me see the baby.

Sue wasn't sure of a name for her-
thought Trilby would be a good name, but
if they haven't come to her bedside with a
recording book before I get there this P.M.
I hope she will think twice and we think
Victoria or Cynthia or even Sarah would be
better. I am taking a lovely white wooly
shawl that B. got at Best's for baby.

We certainly had a great time
yesterday- it was raining in the A.M. and
what with my flat tire when I got over there
taken by Con, the sink was all stopped up
and Roy was doing his darndest to fix it-
bought a huge monkey wrench for $3.75
and said he had been plunging the sink last
night and nothing happened- didn't want to
get an expensive plumber- so finally
about 5 P.M. yesterday he went down cellar

-2-

and opened a trap near the ceiling, that was of course the floor and the stuff flew out all over him—almost in his eyes—he wears glasses. he had to take a shower and now everything is all right. I couldn't wash any dishes all day as I don't know how to use her dish washer which was working, silly me. Then Con came for me about 6:30 and also the senior Fairfields and Mrs. F. said she would stay with the children today.

But I must tell you how Monday, Roy who has been digging a place back of the house to enlarge their kitchen, was trying to get the root of a tree out of the deep hole about 4 feet deep—he had a pulley around another tree and attached to the root which was big enough to believe me—finally I thought I could help so took hold of the rope and while Roy used two levers and I pulled about 2 inches at a time, we got that root out.

He then hosed the root and got it on a wheel-barrow and took it back in the woods—

I took baby Leroy out in his stroller yesterday after the rain stopped and met two of Linda's little girl friends on bicycles and told them Linda had a baby sister. One of the girls was Sclavenska the dancer's little girl 9 years old and very big for her age, who had just come back from somewhere, anyway they rented their little house while away— and the other was little Susie Kruger— they went back to the house to see Linda whom I had left looking at television and Linda told me afterwards they came in and said "Happy Anniversary." Then they proceeded to lie on their stomachs in Sue's large room and play marbles.

Later.

Started out early this P.M. luckily and luckier still our garage man was busy so didn't leave my spare tire to be fixed. Got over to Englewood and going down a street toward the A & P and bakery where I was going to get a cake for Susie's ma-in-law (her birthday today) when bang—** the same tire that Con had put on last night became flat. I had to walk quite a way down to a service station and the man rode me

-3-

back in his towing truck, took off tire and put it in the back and took the spare down to be mended while I waited in car. It only took him about 15 min. $2.50 and it was lucky I had a little more than that amount with me. After this I will insist on carrying $5. with me and Connie boy will have to agree.

Well I went to the bakery and got a lovely mocha cake $8-. .90 cents and to the A & P for liver for the cat and off to the Hospital. Sue looks very well but she is rueful about having another in the future- I told her 4 is certainly enough. I did not see the baby as they don't like people to see the babies so soon but as they make the mothers get up the 2nd day and every day thereafter (a thing I think is very wrong) I think Sue will try to come home Saturday. Of course I will make her stay in bed when she gets home. She says the baby has brown hair and blue eyes and a fat little round face like Roy.

Our boy Con went golfing in the afternoon and I think that is what he is going to do- write all morning and golf afternoons.

I took cake over to Demarest and Roy was digging in the backyard and his mother was toting little Leroy in the stroller. We had coffee and then Mrs. F. fed the baby and I left before she put him to bed because my day is tomorrow. I think she will go over Friday.

Sue hasn't made up her mind about naming baby- we think Felicia would be a nice name.

There is nothing on TV but the Rep. convention- I shall vote for Eisenhower of course.

Well nothing more to write about so by by for now and love to you and Dorothy.

V.

Harrington Park, N.J. Sept. 25-56

Dear Ezra;

Am sending you some fudge brownies.

~~Send~~-- taking some to Sue tomorrow also as today I am home--Sue loves them but says the walnuts don't digest well- hope they agree with you and you haven't said anything to the contrary.

Also enclosing article by Breit about you from the N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. Neither Con nor I get the meaning of the paragraph beginning "If you tarry around Papini etc. Does it mean that you are in St. Eliz. for nothing?

I'm wondering if Hilda sent you a copy of her book "Tribute to Freud" which came to me yesterday- I managed to finish it in an hour or so by simply scanning down the pages, but I reached a snag on page 21, as you no doubt did "The Professor said, "The trouble is--I am an old man--you do not think it worth your while to love me." Aha, so all the cartoons are true about the "couch"-- anyhoo I think it bad taste of Hilda to mention it. The Sigmund Freud Copy rights Ltd. may not like it. And what does Hilda think readers will think if she doesn't say why she went to him in the first place. Always thought Freud was a fool-- evidently he thought nobody grew up.

Wonder what he would think of poor maryln Monroe with her backgrund and she's doing right well in all accounts.

This morning we had Godwin on TV and I always liked that old critter-- I said to B. if someone we liked died and we had pictures and talk of him or her we could put it on every day and pretend they had not died. B. said maybe they don't and they are THERE.

O, I'm also enclosing a little something for Dorothy- B. gets them at her restaurant- perhaps they are good for cleaning glasses too. haven't tried.

I hear Con pounding away in his bed-room- as I said before, he writesmmornings and plays tennis or golf afternoons. He

to Europe/ Ezra at that time was staying
with his parents in a house outside Phila."

It is about half a page more, something about
"It was there one afternoon that Ezra said,
"I have an idea about your snake on a brick"
as he called it."

I could copy it but am too tired tonight.
If you would like to read the book I will
send it to you.

Farewell for now

love to you and D

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J.

Nov. 5-'56

Dear Ezra:

Well our "outing" to Bill's and then
to the Thirlwall's in Riverdale yesterday was
quite enjoyable. Con is a good driver and you
would be amazed at the traffic, thousands of
cars on the bridges and routes, that have
accumulated over the years. Con had only been
once to Rutherford but we finally got there
and parked at Bill's house, but I couldn't
remember it as it was painted brown years ago-
so I wasn't sure- so we turned around and went
up Ridge Road only to come back and realize
it was Bill's house after all. They have made
a few alterations in it and it is very charming
now- lovely furniture etc We then went to
Riverdale-got there about 4:30 I think. The
japanese wife is a Vassar girl and quite
americanized-I suppose Bill has told you all
about them- they have a beautiful house and for
the life of me I don't know how they can keep
it up-I suppose they rent- they also have
beautiful decor etc- we sat talking in a
closed in verandah, tile floor and the windows
filled with begonias, jade plants and geraniums
that Thirlwall takes care of-

The two children, a little boy about 7
and a very fat 7 months baby girl were very
interesting and cute thet they have the jap
cast of feature- and the mother stayed in the
kitchen, didn't eat with us- I went out to meet
her altho Fuji, that's the wife s name said
she was deaf- she bowed very low. They have
fine china etc and a huge bowl of yellow
chrysanthemums all kinds on table- Con dis-
tinguished himself by putting salt in his
coffee altho we posses little salt spoons and
tiny dishes but he had forgotten. I did not
care for the mild, tho it was, wine before supper
I like it sweet you know. I really like Grandjo
that Con gets- well, no matter-- Bill of course
gets tired, as do all we old people. Says he
can't sleep but I told him to do cross-word
puzzles like I do.

Norman Pearson contats me himself. V.

Bill offered to read Con's MSS and advise him
etc but I haven't yet asked Con how he took it-
between you and me and the lamp-post don't
think Bill would like Con's work.

Well I hope some day, to return the Thirlwall's
hospitality- the old mother could take care
of the baby if they brought the little boy
along and then I would like them to meet Sue
and see her children- but it is very tiring even
to think of it-too bad they live so far away.
Thirlwall is very likeable- after you know him
better, aren't we all? he told me he had a
great great grandfather for a Bishop and I think
showed his picture to Barbara who went over the
house, 3 floors but I stayed stayed downstairs
holding the baby--
Thirlwall also said his
great great great grandmother would lay a
knife or stiletto on the table and call on the
menfolk to go steal a sheep from the scots-
evidently he traces his ancestry far back, he
said 850 years- so I felt called upon to be
"witty" in my bread and butter letter to Fuji
and told her of my admiration for her Pict-
descended husband. I'll never stop chuckling
to myself about this. Wonder how he'll take it.

We left about 8 P.M. and of course
didn't get to bed til long after 9 P.M. my
bed-time and I've been tired all day after
having been over to Sue's all morning.

Tomorrow we vote for Eisenhower of course.
Con says some time Russia will get put in her
place we hope by the rest of the civilized
world- what dastardly people- scratch a
Russian and you feel a Tatar you know the old
saying. One can't help but be pleased with
Britain's action about the canal but it was
again' the u UN-- something had to be done
and they took the psychological moment I guess-
Nasser was too brash and England has oil over
there etc etc what a mess but it looks as
if things are getting under control.

must hie me to my downy , am tired-
have to make 4 loaves of banana bread
for a church and more bread for Serena.

love to you and Dorothy

from Viola

F.S. Thirlwall is always approaching me sotto voce about your letters wanted. I won't do anything until N. E. C. S. by Yale, but guess I didn't get to bed til long after 9 P.M. my bed-time and I've been tired all day after having been over to Sue's all morning.

Harrington Park, N.J. Dec. 29-'56

Dear Ezra;

Thank Dorothy for her nice letter and
glad you are getting books- if you'd tell me
what kind you like, could have sent you at
least one.

What paper do you read? or do you.
Am enclosing clipping about Bill getting
the award of $5000. very nice. but he'll
have to give some of it to the Gvt. after
he buys Flossie a mink coat, what?

Mary sent me a teeny tiny booklet
of latin I think and also italian and expects
me to read it. Well I'll try with a dictionary
altho I have only a spanish, german and
french dict. and an italian grammar.

Con is pegging away at his book
and I hope he is writing something worth while
that is, readable.

B. had to stay at the store til
midnight last night taking inventory. She
is going to take a week or two off in Feb.
without pay.

We had a merrie Xmas with the chil-
dren. Donnie, five, kept saying "f+i+n+
see if there's another one for me." And
little Leroy 17 mo. threw the humpty dumpty
I had given him to the floor when he saw
the teddybear that B. gave him. I rec'd
an electric coffee percolater and a new
waffle iron and a lovely dark blue wool dress.

Prof. H. sent me the broadcast from
Yale about you- very interesting reading tho
I don't remember the hat Bill writes about
that you wore at Hamilton.

Love to you and Dorothy
from Grandma Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Jan. 24-'57

Dear Ezra;

Glad you liked the filberts and that candy was gotten by Roy, someone at the shop gave them to him as being purer than most candy.

Well, about Conrad, he is pegging away at his book. It would be a long long story to tell you, or rather it would be too boring to go into the personalities of the reason Con is trying to write. You see Ezra the war took him out of college and when he went back after the war to the Univ. of Washington and took up English. I wish he had specialized in something else but the young do not think ahead of a family or marriage and supporting themselves unless guided by someone or maybe they aren't born with a desire to study a certain thing. Anyw間 Now here is Roy, Sue's husband who learned printing in the army and is making a lucrative living and works overtime and belongs to the Nat'l guard and also does police duty in the town- Con says he has always wanted to write BUT he says if his book is not a success he won't care- it is just something he has wanted to do.

When he was a "white-collar" worker as the expression goes, he did not like it and all of a sudden rebelled and I might just hint that he took it out on me. Well mothers always get this treatment especially if there is no father to blame it on. I guess that's all there is to it- in four or five more months when Con has finished his book we'll have to see what happens then.

To more cheerful things; we have been invited to Bill's for Feb. 17th to eat shell-fish so Flossie says- at first she made the date for Jan. 27, but Bill received so many letters from friends, well-wishers, aspiring poets and cranks and also dates for four Sundays until Feb. that she postponed our visit. The letters were about his getting that prize you understand.

Marjorie Fletcher who has recently come back from Xmas doings in Mass. with her son's family called up yesterday while I was at Sue's and Con whom she didn't know was home referred her to me at Demarest so I was just about to bathe little Beverly but went to the phone with her in my arms- Marj. wanted to come over and get me to have lunch with John and herself so she gave me a "rain-check" etc. She told Con on the phone that she had listened to a program with Bergen Evans (I used to listen to him on TV when he had a program called "Down you go" a very complicated affair too long to explain to you and noticed that he was quite an "intellectual") so Marj. said he has another program now and they tried to read some of your poetry. I will have to see Marj. to get the details.

Well I just called up John Fletcher. Marj. it seems has gone to Mountain Lakes with friends- he had also listened to this TV broadcast and he told me John Mason Brown is the mediator or whatever they are called and they have a panel and Daiches(he is a modern poet is he not) was trying to explain one of your cantos but J.M. Brown could make nothing of it. guess I'll have to listen in to their program some afternoon. John said there is an amusing article called "Note" by John Updyke in the latest New Yorker(we don't take it any more) about how all poets are writing books with "notes" at the bottom etc. will get it and perhaps send it to you if you can stand it.

And now as this is my off day from Sue's must get busy chasing dirt etc. Donnie is to have a birthday party Sat. and I'll probably write you later. I love to you and Dorothy

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Sept. 16-'57

Dear Ezra;

Am enclosing a list of poems from my
old friend Marj. Fletcher who didn't quite
understand me over the phone about the age of
the "child" I guess- but she has included some
fine poems that any high school pupil would like
I think- she wanted to include Patterns by
Amy- but I told her you used to fight with Amy
so she didn't but I'm writing it on her list- she
says that is her favorite poem.

Marjorie Pagliarro, the wife of the
Italian prof. of english at Columbia whom I
wrote you about brought over the other night
3 of Blake's poems that she had typewritten out.
Of course she thinks Blake is the be-all and end-
all of everything like her husband and

I can't see and never could see anything in
Blake. She will also give me more of her
favorite poems later. I have written to Rachel
in "Oneida" and Marj. Gordon in Florida and expect
they will answer.

Sue is busy with her list-- she bought
a paper-back book of "American verse at the large
grocery store in Cresskill and was surprised and
to find 20 pages devoted to your poetry.
It seems to be the fashion now to publish many
books in "paper-backs".

Will send the lists as they come in.

How you doin'? We were wondering if
Dorothy gets you copies of the poems people
send you as perhaps you have not the books near
you and Dorothy could get them in the libraries
of Washington, eh?

love

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Feb. 1.-'57

Dear Ezra:

The Herald Trib. is running the story of you and that Kaspar who says he is a "disciple"? of yours. Con bought 2 or 3 copies but on second thought I'm not going to send them to Hilda or Olga.

With the visit of King Saud etc and talk of Yemen etc reminded me of a song by Rubenstein and I spent some time in the cold attic trying to find it- but my mother had so many books of songs, Schubert, Erik-Meyer Helmud- Janssen etc etc and with the years and pawing over have become all jumbled so that I could not find it. As near as I can remember the words it was about a guard of a princess. Every day as the princess passed he grew paler until one day she stopped and asked his name, and he answered "Mein Stamm ist Yemen" and it goes on to say they die when they love. I always thought it such a romantic song

Today there is a newspaper or labor strike so no papers can be had- quite a blow to Con who looks at the stock market. But they say TV will have the important news.

We're having a lovely snow-storm and tonight Con will take me over to Englewood to buy groceries and meet Barbara who always shops Fri. night. Poor B. is discouraged about her car- it seems she will have to pay $8 extra on her licence if she is not insured and cannot be insured until she has driven the car for 8-9 months-some new regulations I guess. She will have to get a new battery too- perhaps Con will help with the money.

Well I must get at household chores love to you and Dorothy

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J.

June 1-'57

Dear Ezra;

How many teeth have you? I've got five. Have wondered if you have your teeth attended to down there and of course they do, but would they supply you with plates? I have an upper plate but the lower ones hurt my five remaining so I don't use it.

Well enough of teeth.

I am sending you a bottle of Lyons tooth powder - and have enquired of one at least drug store and they don't have the paste. I will inquire at other drug stores anon but I don't believe they make the paste any more. You will have to put some powder in your hand and use your toothbrush that way-we used to do this when I was a child.

You know you can get Colgates that is not fluorinized and a million other kinds of tooth paste that are not- but I have an idea you just wanted to know why I haven't been writing you, eh?

Well I am writing this with a left hand that doesn't want to function any more, must have sprained it doing petit point and then other disinten disintegrations like rheumatism and stuff like that there creeping up on me. I can lift some things with it but can't squeeze anything and my right arm is sore at times with something or other and my right leg has a vein that if I bend down a certain way, I can't move it without excrutiating pain. and there you have the wreckage. I keep an elastic band around wrist but have quite a time to lift Sue's babies when I go down there every other day for half a day. When we were over at Bill's that time I told Bill about my leg and he said consolingly, "can you walk?"

Bill and Flossie have been travelling again to New Orleans-got a card from them.

I was going down to Sue's today but
B. has bought a bed and it is supposed
to come today so I will have to stay here.

Con still pegging away at his book-
useless to tell details of life around me--
I am not going to write you in my usual way
telling you amusing things and mentioning
my ideas of space, atheism, Billy Graham that
idiot who sells God for money- and all this
kind of thinking because you won't even tell
me what papers or magazines you read and
you have such unprogressive ideas about monopo-
lists and this "bleeded" country.

So, farewell for now-I haven't heard from
Hilda or Bryher lately but I did get a little
booklet from Maria about masks- perhaps you did
too-I'm enclosing the one I like best.

by by and love to Dorothy
and "carry on"

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. June 8-'57

Dear Prince Fussy;

My what a nice long newsy letter
about characters I know nothing about i.e.

Gloria

P. Hutchins

Possum

I did re cognize Patricia Barbara, being
the little girl Mary has adopted? she
who loves to play in the barn amid the
cows etc? glad she is happy with the
kittens.

Mary certainly is industrious and talented
what with the Noh play, a very difficult
thing to do in Italian I should think on
account of the Japanese way of thinking.

If that was Doc Ungaro whose pic. I
admired, he looked more like my mother's
cousin's husband, Dr. Ramsay who was a
scotsman and had a closet full of whiskey
sent him by friends and his nose was 3
times its reg. size and he cut part of it
once to make it look nicer and died in
his sleep which I wish I could.

So you read english newspapers-well
I haven't seen anything about Possum at
Claridges- he's probably up a tree somewhere
or playing dead.

Now to the tooth paste. Will send you
more powder as soon as I think you've finished
with the other bottle because you just can't
get the paste no more- I called up our
Tenafly pharmacy, run by the two Bower boys
who used to know us in Tenafly. He said they
haven't had the paste for 5 or 6 years but
when I told him it was for YOU- he very
kindly went to look in a drawer where he said
there might be some left over but could find
none. I clean my teeth etc with Dial soap
and there's no better disinfectant than soap
and water so a nurse told me once.

There was some news of fluorine being put in drinking water some time ago but I think the idea was defeated at least in N.Y. state--I don't think it will be done so you needn't worry about it-- I believe Nevada was the state where they found it in the water and people had good teeth-- but it is like everything today-- scareheads, and germs found of multiple sclerosis by Jewish women doctors following in the glory of Salk and his polio germ. They've got to put serum into us these days willy nilly.

Con has just departed for tennis in a pair of very short white shorts. Barbara is home with a chest cold-- it being her last day before her vacation next week and she is taking 3 weeks (one without pay) so that's all the home news I have. Have just been out tying up tomato plants, bei bending down slowly and rising slowly. My arthritis or whathave you is better after I get going in the mornings-Like Bill every morning I feel like dying or going to-- but if one persists in getting into one's clothes and tottering down stairs, after a drink of canned orange juice and coffee, one begins to feel better.

I am doing a hooked rug which Sue bought for me--the dear child went down to the village yesterday with little Leroy in car and got me a bottle of THRU which is supposed to be good for muscles, arthritis etc. This hooked rug will perhaps never be finished and they will say yes, this is the rug Mom was working on when the angel Gabriel blew his horn etc.

I will make some fudge brownies one of these days if my hand and arm will let me stir it up.

I will close with a saying that pleases me, said by an Irish woman we knew--"all you can do is fire along the line." ain't that sumpin?

Love to you and D.

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. June 27-'57

Dear Ezra;

Glad the brownies pleased you.

Regarding your translation of your Rome correspondent as to whether we have reached a pragmatic crisis from the phase of the dogmatic encounter---

Firstly I would have to know whether the corresp. is an american in Italy or an italian and whether the american would be talking about world affairs in Italy or America or whether the ital. corresp. if it were he, is referring to world affairs in Italy or America.

To view the question from either corresp. outlook I would then have to know whether they have in mind our or their or the world's dealing with Russia which seems to be the main agitation today.

When you say "if not- why not? " I certainly would not want to let the question rest there, and of course you know nothing is at rest, least of all world affairs. It would not be wise to be dogmatic about a pragmatistic crisis.

A scientist recently has said that "fission products from megation explosions rise into the stratosphere and circulate round the earth for years. Most threatening of them is strontium 90 whose long half-life (28 years) keeps it potent during its stratospheric circling and whose habit of lodging for keeps in human bones makes it a probable cause of leukemia and bone cancer."

Then other scientists have said that the fall of strontium is not too much compared with strontium that is already in vegetation and the elements as I remember the context and my memory isn't too good. So you see it is rather silly to be dogmatic

in any kind of encounter today for we may
not live long enough to reach any kind of
crisis.

And now I must go down and grate cheese
to make a souffle for supper and it won't
be easy with my left hand.

As ever

Viola Minerva

I don't know about the cat that was in the animal corner showing odd stories but I regret I did not happen to see or hear about your story-where did you see it? not that I care because you never tell me what paper or mag. you read or whether you see TV or not.

I don't suppose you saw the devastation of the 31 earthquakes at Acapulco this morning.

About Caruso singing raisins into his aria in Hamlet, it sounds just like him whether it was Wagner's version or not. he was always full of jokes. Slezak used to sing and turn aside and make jokes to the chorus. Caruso used to gargle back scenes and spit the residue nonchantly on to the floor- and in Aida he used to go up to the chorus men wearing beards and snap the rubber and beard onto their chins but everyone was good-natured about it.

Con has gone for a week to New Milford, Pa. to the Sagamore and I hope he is having a good time. Before he went he took his MSS in to New York to MacDowell and Oblensky and I suppose it will be about 3 weeks before they get thru reading it and we hear news. While there Con saw a book about Bill by Thirlwall and he said there was a letter from Bill to me in it- I ain't going to like it- and if Thirlwall has said anything intriguing he's going to hear from me. Seems people can't wait until one is dead before they begin scandalizing.

Con's novel (I forget the name) begins with a conversation with his father. It holds one's attention but I have lost all my enthusiasm and am hardly alive. I am reading Stevenson's essays to put myself to sleep-such a wonderful nature the man had.

Bill gave a reading at Columbia the 23rd. I called up my neighbor Mrs. Pagliarro who is a Texas girl married to this little Italian who teaches English at Columbia thinking he would like to hear Bill. I found Mrs. P. in bed with the "virus" in a huge bed in an air-conditioned room-tel. by her side and her husband called up while I was there and she told him about Bill-he asked her if I was going but I don't think he went as he wouldn't probably want to come home and then go back to N.Y. Again. This Prof.

-3-

Parliarro's idol is Blake- he named his small
son 8 yrs old, Blake. The situation is that
young Mrs. P. has found herself in with all
the so-called intellectuals at Columbia, they
entertain them etc and being a simple girl
is trying to "keep up" and attended philosophy
classes at Col. for a time but lately she has
been working as sec'y somewhere (Prof. of course
doesn't make much money at teaching and they live
in this large house surrounded with beautiful
fir trees right in the center of town- and taxes
are going up. Mrs. P. showed me Blake's poetry
and asked me to read the one about the lamb-
which is in everyone's third reader etc and said
it was her favorite poem. And yet she is
corresponding with Herr Herman Hesse who is now
in Switzerland-- she is all tangled up in
intellectualisms like Universal Indifference and
told me she has been thru quite a siege of
different thinking as her people are baptists
and of course can't understand her husband etc.

She will untangle as time goes on. I don't
go over there as she doesn't come over here-
I took her over some cookies and as she was
drinking pepsicola I took over some tea and
tom Collins a most refreshing drink.

I called up Bill and told him about Prof.
Pagliarro but as I say I don't know whether
he stayed to hear Bill or not. Bill interested
that Parliarro idols Blake. I think Blake became
blind in later life-Bill said he was also a
painter- poor Blake's mysticism seems old-
fashioned today doesn't it? never tried to
understand it.

Well I must get busy at something and
try to keep my head.

Much love to you and Dorothy.

P.S. will send you more Lyons toothpaste
next time I'm in Closter.

-4-

I had just got seated on the porch with my hooked rug when it began to thunder so thought I'd go in and tell you about the TV program I saw last night.

The head of the Protestant Council, have forgotten his name, and two other members of the cloth or professors or something, one's name was Ferguson were talking about Eliot's Cocktail Party of all things and trying to get something religious out of it. Now I never read any of Eliot or any of these poor minded writers of today. However I was glad to have it explained and to get the three men's way of interpretation. If getting eaten by ants is funny or makes a missionary a seafarer, that is worth writing about I'll eat my hat.

The lesson or moral of whatever that the three tried to get out of it, something that was not there, shows the paucity of writers such as Eliot today. What do they believe? they don't know. Of course Eliot was astute enough to know his play would be interesting to a certain class enough to get it on the boards and make a little money.

That's all- except that we have a new thing in town- a bell that strikes the hours but stops doing it at 7 P.M. til 7 A.M. thank God.

The bell has a tone, the exact note that Chopin's funeral march begins on and I often finish the measure with it until I have told myself that I will not try to find out who is the bright man who runs it-whether the church, a little episcopal one not far away, or from whence the bell is rung.

It is still thundering but I shall return to my hooked rug natheless.

V.

Harrington Park, N.J. Aug. 27-'57

Dear Ezra;

re- bright red hair

For casualidad Barbara bought Esquire yesterday and there was a long long article about you by Richard H. Rovere- well it was interesting but he said or somebody told him you had bright red hair when young. I couldn't stand this so wrote him that you had nice yellow hair and lots of it when I knew you at Hamilton at 18, or was it 19.

I suppose you have a copy of Bill's selected letters by Thirlwall - all well enough but Thirlwall says in the preface? to one of Bill's letters to me that he met or called on me under "distressing, or rather a distressing situation which was only that Bill calling at 9 or 9:30 P.M. mother wouldn't let him in- of course Bill had to return to Rutherford a long way off. It was silly of mother of course but we were conventional about those things then- or else it was a whim of mothers.

Well Con has been going into in to N.Y. looking for a job lately- went to 4 or 5 places yesterday- we have not yet heard from Obolensky etc about his book.

Little Beverly, 1 yr old last week had a birthday party and sat in her high chair covered with chocolate cake making sputtering noises. She got some sleep-r nice presents dresses and a pinky corduroy bonnet and coat and slacks from Barbara, some socks from me and a little plastic ball in which a little fish swims in water. She takes 4 or 5 steps alone and then sits down. She still creeps mostly and on all fours makes like standing on her head- she is a fat little thing and perhaps thinks walking is a tiresome job.

I sent off some fudge brownies to you this morning-- the day has been sort of soporific so that I just had to sleep and someone telephoned to Con which woke me.

I don't know if you received Hilda's book of poems- do you like her epitaph? pretty good I think if I know what she means.

Con and I have been highly entertained by the Senate RRackets investigation all last week- on TV- once there were 3 thugs who sat in a row and on being asked if they knew each other, took the 5th amendment-"Sir, I respectfully refuse to answer the question on the grounds that my answer may tend to incriminate me." We heard this from all the thugs more than 300 times I think- the lawyer who sat next to Johnny Dioguardi would say under his breath "read" and out would come the 5th.

Young Kennedy made us laugh many times by his soft questioning, "and did you keep this money in the little box?" Hoffa, the pretender to the presidency of the unions answered questions but we and the Senate got tired of having his memory fail him so many times.

All goes to show how a little power makes criminals. Power, power, for what? to do good? Oh no. what does it amount to in the end- when you're dead your'e dead- If Hoffa was satisfied with the pleasure? he got using labbrers money, all right- but I doubt it. Hoffa's lawyer looked like a pieface. Oh yes they all had lawyers.

I have finished my hooked rug and it looks like something indian-never thought I would get it done so soon. Kept at it constantly in spare time.

I go over to Sue's tomorrow while she goes out grocerying- Barbara took me in her car down to Piermont for groceries without any mishap- Pretty soon she will take her test and get a licence- altho I still have my licence and that is why I went out with her-I couldn't drive her car-different gears but would have had to if anything happened.

love to you and Dorothy

Viola

Bear with my weakness my old brain is troubled
Be not disturbed with my infirmity.

If you be pleased, retire into my cell
And there repose. A turn or two I'll walk,
To still my beating mind."

The other "stuff" I copied from a blank-
book I kept when I was 18 or so. None of it
appeals to me now very much. Sorry, nothing of
Bill's appeals to me either, not any of the
modern poets. I find at 70 I don't like
ANYTHING much. We think differently at
different ages, n'est cest pas?

Love to you and Dorothy

Viola

Ladies, fly from Love's smooth tale
Oaths steep'd in tears do oft prevail,
Grief is infectious, and the air,
Inflamed with sighs, will blast the fair.
Then stop your ears when lovers cry,
Lest yourself weep, when no soft eye
Shall with a sorrowing tear repay
The pity which you cast away.

Carew

Yes, hope may with my strong desire keep pace,
And if I be undeluded, unbetrayed
For if of our affections none find grace
In sight of heaven, then, wherefore hath God made
The world which we inhabit? Better plea
Love cannot have, than that in loving thee
Glory to that eternal peace is paid
Who such divinity imparts.

As hallows and makes pure all gentle hearts.
His hope is treacherous only whose love dies
With beauty, which is varying every hour
But, in chaste hearts, uninfluenced by the power
Of outward change, there blooms a deathless flower
That breathes on earth the air of Paradise.

Sonnet addressed by Michael Angelo
to the Marchesana of Pescara, trans. by

Wordsworth

Beneath my grief I fainted not
And hope within me seemed to live
Until the moment when I thought
That they who injure ne'er forgive.

Be pardon ready-- oft one sees
A wound inflicted ne'er intended
And oftener by carelessness
Than by design are men offended.

I hoped in vain--when hope had brought
Her dreams so fond so fugitive;
I hoped--but sunk beneath the thought
That they who injure ne'er forgive

Mosen Jordi de Sant Jordi

Catalan troubadour

Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the faults I see,
That mercy I to others show,
Such mercy show to me.

Pope's Universal Prayer

A Quiet Vale by T.S.Jones of Utice

I know a quiet vale where faint winds blow
The silver poplar branches all awry,
And ne'er another sound comes drifting by
Save where the stream 's cool waters softly fl
Wild roses riot there and violets throw
Their perfume recklessly, while up on high
Great snowy clouds pillow the smiling sky
And cast frail shadows on the grass below.

All is the same, the summer stillness dreams
In idleness across the sunny leas,
Until for very drowsiness it seems
The wind has gone to sleep within the trees-
Yet we once laughed at what the years might bring,
And now I am alone remembering.

Say not; Anothers Grief
Marie von Ebner Eschenbach

No man can weep alone
Tears in a brothers eye- and
Are they not your own?
One only heart beats through the night,
All your breast but hears the echo call
You are the other. Should his pain
Grow sore and he fall hurt-you stand upright no
more.

Contentment in the Dark

Wm. Bell Scott

We ask not to be born; 'tis not by will
That we are here beneath the battle smoke
Without escape; by good things or by ill
By facts and mysteries enchained, no cloak
Of an Elijah, no stairs whereupon
Angels descending and ascending shine
Over the head here pillowed on a stone
Anywhere found;-- so say they who repine.
But each year hath its harvest, every hour
Some melody, child-laughter, strengthening
strife
For Mother Earth still gives her child his
dower
And loves like doves sit on the bough of life

Barbara

saps — Dover Beach

Matthew Arnold--

B. also says remind Ezra
what wordsworth said about
poetry —

"Poetry is emotion
reflected in tranquility."

Harrington Park, N.J. Sept. 26-'57

Dear Ezra;

Well, my friends, Rachel and Marj. Gordon seem to be cogitating overlong about the ten poems I asked for or else they don't want to write me. I wrote them it seems 2 weeks ago. Marj. Gordon's mother was a poetry lover and used to read Shakespeare to her children and I am surprised that she doesn't write me-but I haven't heard from her all summer-hope she or her brother with whom she lives in Florida aren't sick but then they or she is a christian scientist and how could sickness occur?

Marj. Pagliarro brought over the enclosed verses by Blake and I understood she would come over with more poems but hasn't yet.

I saw Aldous Huxley on TV last week, interviewed by Jinx Falkenberg and a Mary Margaret McBride(of all people) and he never looked up during the interview-they asked him about his Brave New World but as usual the english answer so evasively and diplomatically that I never can follow them. He said I think if I remember correctly on being asked if he liked TV, that the "little gray figures" didn't mean anything to him or words to that effect. Silly man. His father Julian, or is it his brother, has written a rather old-fashioned article but spiritual withal, in this week's Sat.Rev. I notice he speaks of the Holy Ghost and the Trinity in which I don't believe but also said that Jesus and Buddha and the others were ahead of their time so he can't mean that he really believes Jesus was the son of God and born in the way all good christians believe.

It all boils down, Belief in God I mean-to whether we have a soul or not. I don't believe we have and I don't believe in an after death life, so I read everything with toleration I hope. Julian Huxley speaks of the destiny of man but doesn't explain what he thinks it is.

I saw in Time I think about the italian
Repe-te Reporter was it, asking you
questions etc and I didn't like what you
said about the UN being a sugar lump.

I'm glad that dam southerner Faubus is
getting HIS. You can't stop progress.
And friend Kaspar is in jail thank heaven.
Well, guess that's all today.

as ever
Viola

P.S. After much delay B. got her license to drive and has been driving to work for a week-the other day down in Closter she backed out and a tree with a large growth on it made a dent in her fender so she asked a woman going by with 3 children to tell her which way to turn and the woman got in and backed her out- very nice of her. Now the bendix spring on the starter has broken and I expect the garage to bring it back fixed this P.M. Con goes over to get her after his game of tennis almost every day, when her car won't start and I hope this last expense will be the last and permanently fix it-lots of things the matter with an old car but she didn't have the money to get a decent second hand car.

V.

Harrington Park, N.J. Sept. 28-'57

Dear Ezra;

At last my old friend Marj. Gordon
answered-she's been busy cleaning house
reading to old people, going to meetings
(she is a christian scientist) anyway I'm
going to let you decipher her writing. You'll
notice she quotes your "tragical faces, who
has forgotten you" etc does she mean it was
written by Tagore, some of it?

Well Jack Thirlwall telephoned and
wants us to go get Bill and Flossie and go
over to his house Oct. 6- that's a week from
this Sunday- what for I don't know. Think
he's making a chauffer out of Con to get Bill
over there- he has a car but he'd have to
go get Bill and take him home again See?

I don't care to go especially and Barbara
can't go or doesn't want to and of course
Roy could put the children to bed and let Sue
go but somehow I hate to think of it. Sue
says she has no "small talk" and she always
sits and listens and nobody says anything
to her- heigh ho. I tell her it's the ex-
perience of meeting somebody new etc but she
doesn't even go to visit neighbors and goes
to PTA sometimes under, what is the word,
compulsion? or only when the children ask
her to. Having once seen the japanese wife
and old mother who stays in the kitchen
and the little boy and the baby, what else?
The last time we went we had some underdone
lamb and stuff for supper. Barbara says why
doesn't eh the old mother make a real
japanese meal instead of trying to be american
It's going to be a great bore.

Getting back to Marj. she quotes
a verse from memory, but why don't I send
you her whole letter(if you can read her
writing) Marj.G. had a beautiful voice once
and was for a time in the Met.chorus after
I had been. she can't play the piano.

Well there's nothing more to write about-
I brought in all the larger tomatoes last
night as weather man said light frost.

Saw an- a review of Hilda's poems by
Babette Deutsch and sent it to her. Haven't
heard from her or Bryher all summer.

Con took me for groceries down to Tenafly
this morning and I was going to have some
pennies ($2.50) worth of them done up in the
papers they give at the bank, changed to paper
money but the bank is closed on Saturdays.

I wanted to go to the Tenafly drygoods store
and get 3 yds of blue cotton flannel and make
some pyjamas for little Leroy, now I'll have
wait. Con has gone to Teaneck, tennising-
he has a doubled match this noon.

Barbara drives her car at last to work and
all around and is happy about it. I asked
her if she was going to find ten poems to
send you- she may do so yet.

Sue has a cold. I am supposed to give
Linda piano lessons but she came over one day
last week and is such a scatter-brain that
I'm going to have quite a time to get her to
do even a scale-she doesn't want to read the
notes-cries and says she can't. Heigh ho.
She's 9 years old and Sagittarius, excitable
and erratic, but I suppose all children don't
like to "learn" anything.

I myself am full of rheumatism and
manage to get up-stairs and down and dress
myself slowly. but can do lots of house-work
like sweeping and mopping Sue's small dining
room and bathroom. Have lots of fun putting
a hdkf.over Beverly's face and saying "where's
Beverley, and then pull it off quick and she
laughs and thinks that's so funny. I couldn't
begin to tell you how darling both babies are-
and the cute things they do.

so farewell for now- love to you and

D.

Sue bought a new large chair with Firm rubber
cushions and now she can sit and look at her TV
while Roy looks at the other TV for the "fights"
etc.

Harrington Park, N.J. Oct.15-'57

Dear Ezra;

How is the paper-back poems for
highschool teenagers who MIGHT have a flair
for feading poetry, coming on? Rachel Bedford
hasn't answered my letter and I fear her
sisters may be ill or she might be-

Did I tell you Sue was looking for some
poetry as she hasn't got many of the old books
of poetry that I have- and found in one of the
huge grocery stores that sell everything, in-
cluding clothes for children etc etc- a paper-
back book of verse that devoted 20 pages to
your poetry. quite a surprise. I suppose you
know about it.

Well sa queer situation arose about our
visit to Thirlwall-did I tell you they wanted
us to go over to get Bill and Flossie two weeks
ago and take them over to Thirlwall's? well Bill
couldn't go and over the telephone I talked to
Flossie who didn't make a future date, but 10 and
behold last Sunday she tel. and Con answered and
found they had been waiting for us. Now I had no
idea they wanted us to get them last Sunday,no
date was set and we're going to leave it at that.
If Thirlwall wants us to get them he can jolly well
make a date.

Young Mrs. Pagliarre, the neighbor I have
written you about and who sent the Blake insipid
poetry- is now painting in oils- she does quite
well too. I took Sue over there yesterday when she
brought me back from her house, to see what Marj.
had done- a still-life of a teapot and some fruit
and a candle- her first attempt- but then she had
a scene from somewhere around here, on an easel
a hill and some buildings and Sue said it was
quite good- she doesn't spare the paint as some
beginners do. I hope she and Sue will be friends
as Sue is beginning to think of painting and
drawing again altho she is so busy now with
those two little tads Leroy and Beverly and
Roy has not gone on with the studio he was
going to make her in their cellar.

Speaking of the two last little Fairfields

-2-

they are so cunning and full of mischief-they
run around like little kobolds- Leroy throws
pillows at her and squashes her with them-he
goes in her room in the morning and says hello
Bevvy-he is so glad to have someone his age
around you know. he is 2 yrs.old and she is 1 yr
I might remind you. They are the darlingest
little creatures you could imagine-they both
have brown eyes-Linda is the only one with blue-
gray eyes. Linda is going with her class to a
concert the 29th and wants Sue to go with her.
an orchestral concert-can't remember where it
is located-understand Carnegie is no more-and
don't know if they will have a soloist.

Well if the russians had not got our secrets
from their spies over here of which there are
still more here and had not held those german
scientists they would not have been able to
make their spudnik. / Con says he is interested
in an article about sending a person into outer
space and the person's heart would only beat once
a day or some such fool thing and after a hundred
years he might come back and be only three years
old-bla bla bla. Con says I have been unconsciou
all my life, but I say he's off his rocker to
believe such stuff. May you live in interesting
times-this I understand is a chinese curse and
while I understand the irony of it,perhaps you
can thro more light on it for me.

That prime minister of Nigeria who was
refused orange juice at a Johnson restaurant was
on TV tother day-a nice lookin' fella. I wish you
would tell me if you see TV-guess I'll have to ask
Dorothy in order to get some kind of answer.
Con is patiently waiting for word on his book
playing tennis every day almost-gives lessons I
believe over at Teaneck.wish he would get a job.

My rheumatism is still with me and I have
a nerve, sciatic? in my thigh that just about kills
me if I bend over a certain way- result don't bend
over eh? but I can still walk thank heaven.

well I could chatter more but will spare you.

love

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Oct. 21-'57

Dear Ezra.

At last Rachel sent me word and says
I addressed env. wrong but it seems to me
just Kenwood, N.Y. ought to get there. However
will put Oneida on in future tho she is
and always has been a procrastinator when
it comes to answering letters. Clive Kline
of whom she speaks is or was a concert
singer-must be pretty old now.

Con and B and I have been out trying
to get a glimpse of sputnik- they saw the
rocket but sputnik being so small guess
it went by and we didn't see it- but then
B. called us again and we used glasses
and saw something that was all lit up
but went around in a circle and it probably
was a jet plane.

Well we have had a lot of Queen Elizabeth
the Second and Prince Philip on TV- I wonder
if Dorothy saw them.

How is the paper-back book of poems
going?

Love to you both

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Oct. 29-'57

Dear Ezra;

How -- getting ready for "trick
or treat?" It's a lovely day up here and
I'm waiting for Con to take me over to
Sue's to stay practically all day as Linda
and she are going to a concert in Carnegie
orchestral I believe- baby Beverly is not
feeling well, probably getting a cold-
but little Leroy is much better after his
bout with vomiting and Sue seems to have
no desire to give them cathartics, says it
is old-fashioned, but I took over some
Haley's MO mint-flavored the other day and
hope she will give it to Linda and Donnie
at the first signs of a cold.

I was late getting a present for your
birthday so next Monday you will get it-
I was disappointed at not finding more than
one Lyons toothpaste at our drug-store after
they told me they would have it in stock.
But from here on they will.

Con has been playing a great deal of
tennis at the Teaneck court and has been
teaching-so they gave him a trophy yesterday-
a statuette of a figure playin with racket
and they want him to teach next year. He
doesn't know whether he will or not, says
he could make money and then go down to
Florida and teach next winter-but that is
so far ahead I wish he would think more about it

Sue gave me a bag full of the children's
clothes to mend so I will get at it -

Hope you and Dorothy are well and
happy- and how is the poetry book coming?

love from

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Nov. 14-'57

Dear Ezra;

Was just about to write to Dorothy
to see what happened to you- I suppose you got
the toothpaste as well as the fudge b.
About the birthday present I was going to
send you- had a funny time about it- Con and
I(of course I have to be taken in either Con's
of B's car now as I don't drive any more)
well, I decided to have some writing paper
printed with your name and remembered a little
print shop in Tenafly- we went in, talked
with the printer who gave us a horrific price
for 300 sheets with envelopes. well Con said
all right- it was before election day- we
went to get the paper and note on door said
"gone to N.Y. some days later went again
and note on door said "gone to hospital".

Well Con tried again and the man hadn't even
started the job so Con got his money back and
you are without paper- BUT you will have some
by Xmas as I have a favorite printing place
in Peru, Ind.

About Con giving advice to our generation
he says he can't think of anything funny to
say-- says that your generation has done every-
thing- says sit back and relax and let this
generation take over and also that you should
have a TV set. Con answered a blind ad. from
CBS and went in and gave his usual resume and
is waiting- same as all the other places he
has tried- He doesn't want to start "from the
bottom" in anything says he is too old and
just wants personnel work. I told him to
take his book away from Obolensky and Company
which he did and took it to Doubleday. Hope
we'll get some action. Did I tell you Con
has been teaching tennis in Teaneck and they
gave him a trophy- he is thinking he'd like
to teach maybe in Florida which he could do
in winter and up here in summer.

Now I'm going to tell you that I go
crawling around with rheumatism and also
have a touch of sciatica in my right leg and
if I turn my foot a certain way or sit too
long on a hard seat I can't walk until circu-
lation comes back and it is an excruciating

-2-

pain- we have to have something when old y'kno.

Tomorrow I go over to Sue's- was there Monday
and yesterday- yesterday she didn't get home

til 5:30 and didn't tell me and I was very
worried- she went shopping for coats and shoes
etc-poor Sue is very tied down with the four
kiddies as you must know- I clean up and do
what I can but never have the time to do it
thoroly as one of the two little kobolds are

always needing attention and Don and Linda
have to have lunch etc etc I must tell you
what my little Leroy did the other evening.

We were invited to the other grandma's for
a birthday cake for Sue etc- Sue put the cutest
little suit on Leroy (Barb. gave it to him, from

Best's- a sort of plaid trousers and short
jacket and he looked like something out of

Dickens- well Grandma Fairfield has a cushioned
foot-rest, it is hollow-that is it can hold
things- and the kiddies took the top off and
behold a nice little thing to jump into.

So Leroy gets on top of one half, and jumps
into the other half and just fits like a little
elf- he was going to do it again and when Papa
said no, you'll hurt yourself, but atop the
half he yells "Nooooo" and adjusts the half
nearer the half he's standing on and jumps
again. It was the cutest thing you ever saw-

Little Beverly is just like a doll- Con sat
on sofa and made eyes at her and she was
intrigued but kept murmuring aaaaaa there's
no other way to describe that she just wasn't
sure whether she liked him or not-he would peep
at her around me and she would demur with the
little plaintive sound-she has the most darling
smile. When I get her out of her crib and
go about to change her- little Leroy peeps
over top of bed and says "hello Beverly in such
a darling way-can't explain it- he thinks she
is just right- when she dances up and down
in front of the record player he shouts NOOOOO
but she still dances. Of course he takes things
away from her but that's born in humanity eh?
Nyah nyah, we got a sputnik in the air before
you did.

Today I mended a bag full of all kinds of
kiddies clothes which Sue seems to have no
time for.

B. has just come home and I know will com-

-3-

plain again about having to be sent up to
the barber shop (they have to take turns) and
in the day there are about 100 children who
have their hair cut and scream and yell and
she has to "make change" that is receive the
money etc and is not good at arithmetic.

Now that Stern's has come to Paremus, Best
will have a big rival- they have an enormous
place- with other stores, Fanny Farmer etc etc
and route 4 is going to be packed with traffic-
Barbara drives carefully and I hope will con-
tinue so.

Well guess this is all I can write about-
Dorothy Ramsay, who is librarian at Perth
Amboy High School (she is Cousin Mary Ramsay's
daughter-- wrote to Sue and I'm still wondering
why- sna and says she is trying to get out to
see us and her but that she is so tired when
she gets home, has to go to bed- says that they
have about a thousand pupils and a school burned
in Metuchen and 500 more children had to come
to their school- the world is full of children
these days.

So farewell for now- love to Dorothy-
don't know whether Bill or Hilda or Bryher are
dead or alive- I expect my own demise daily.

as ever,
Viola

P.S. Read in the paper that a play was so
bad recently that the audience hissed
the ushers- this keeps me in good humor
whenever I think of it.

Harrington Park, N.J. Nov. 23-'57

Dear Ezra;

I don't know why I write to you- seems as if my doings and happenings fall on deaf ears azs you never answer my questions etc but while I can still move the muscles of my fingers I suppose I will go on sending out tidings of the amusing, to me, things that occur. Con says your correspondence is probably enormous so that you can't concentrate on what I write-of course I know you get my letters or they would be returned so--

I am reading a book by Aldington that Sue bought at the large grocery store off which I have told you where you can get anything from needles and thread to raincoats etc. The name of this book is The strange life of Charles Waterton, 27th Lord of Walton Hall etc etc and it is boring me to tears but Sue says she hasn't time to read it and I believe she bought it because of the name Aldington. This fella ate a lark's egg whole when a little boy and when he got home his mother gave him a mustard emetic, and when he was 90 he liked to crawl under tables and bite people's legs. I can stand this kind of stuff but not the excerpts in quotes from old diaries etc etc and pompous letters to and fro the fella's father etc.

I have asked you how you are getting on with the "poems teen-agers oughtn't to be without." Mrs. Pagliarro next door who typed out Blake and which I sent you asked me the other day how everything is turning out and I could only say you haven't told me.

It looks and feels like snow flurries today. Yesterday I had Linda and little Leroy stay to supper when Sue brought me home from chasing dirt and ironing etc at her house. We have got some kind of prodigy I do believe on our hands with little Leroy 2 yrs old.

We have a game called Lotto which has 5 or 6 cards showing articles like boats, clocks rocking chairs, vacuum cleaners, etc and cards to match them and little L. on his hands and knees matching these cards and saying "I got it" was something to see- he did it so long he got

tired and then went and took a whole
banana from the dish, peeled it and goodness
knows at home he would only get a small piece-
but at Grandma's everything is for free and
Barbara's candy in different places is taken
by handfuls by Linda. Sue's household is
certainly a screaming place when they all are
there- Donnie, 6 comes home at noon and screams
if he has to keep on the same coat instead of
putting on a lighter one and asks for a quarter
saying he promised a classmate to bring it to
him- at this Sue screams do you think I'm made
of money- they're making a sucker out of you-
howls and sobs ensue-I could go on and on but
you can't imagine what 4 children can do all at
once.

We are going over to Sue's for Thanksg.
but she says she wants us to take the children
in the morning to leave her free to get the
dinner- wow this means little Leroy yelling
that a train is going by and he wants to go out
and watch it and baby Beverly' didies will be a
problem-Linda will want to look at TV things
she's not allowed to see at home- then my parakeet
will be stirred up and lord knows what Donnie
will want to do. I had little Leroy over one
day last week and luckily it was a fine day and
Mrs. Pagliarro's two kittens came over to play
with the two balls I was throwing to Leroy. Leroy
was simply enchanted and couldn't let the kittens
play without taking a stick at them and shouting
"cat, cat, come back " of course he didn't know
he was frightening them and they would go thru
the hedge and he after them-I finally made him
see he mustn't scare them but he enjoyed it so
he would roll on the ground and laugh and laugh.
Too bad Sue doesn't like cats-we always had
a cat and kittens when my kids were young.

## kittens

I just heard Barbara who is home today
because she doesn't want to be sent up to the
barber's shop where all the yelling kids get their
hair cut and for some unknown reason are frightened
so she telephoned that she had to go to the dentist.
You see the girl who is supposed to be there is out
and Mr. Stout sends B. up there when she ought to
be at the service desk and is breaking in some new
girls and they louse things up etc etc for some reason
B. can't stand it up there-has to blow up balloons

P.S. Well here it is Sunday--

Con got in about 4 A.M. said they had
a banquet, about 200 people in restaurant,
band playing etc- ate too much--burgundy
polish sausage and everything including turkey-
I told him it was probably the polish sausage
that kept him from playing tennis today when
they called him on telephone.

I listened to the Met. La Perichole
yesterday as I did my hooked rug and of course
as the opera was mostly ballet 'twas very
boring as to music-was wondering if you were
listening-- at night the Boston Symphony conducted
played Tristan and Eileen Farrel whom Sue met
once and who was taking lessons of the teacher
Sue was going to but didn't, think her name was
Munday, anyway Farrell's voice is good but not
up to Wagner-she's married now and has a 4 yr
old child- Then Munsch played Debussy's
Iberia- and remind me never to listen to it
again-- horrid I thought, no feeling of Spain
at all except castanets once in a while--I
didn't listen to Farrell singing the Immolation
thing as I had had enough.

I see Hemingway didn't like the movie of
his The Sun also rises-- what author does like
what they do to their books in the movies, but
they like the money all right. today's paper.

B. is out cleaning her car with turtle
polishing grease can't remember the name and
Con is looking at the pro football game.

I have been puttering around-it's simply
horrid that I used to do things so fast and now
have to do things so slowly-crawl up-stairs and
I don't believe I could fight my way out of a
paper bag- but making myself do things however
hard is what I now have to do-- I enclose a
cartoon of me.

V.

2 PS. Barbara wanted the cartoon, didn't think you'd
think it funny so I'll describe it- pic. of an old
woman reading newspaper-by her side is a beat up
world and a hammer-she has been pounding places in
the world she didn't like. or places where the thing
she didn't like occurred, see?

for every child and make change which is not
her strong point and she is fed up with it.
There are some things we can't stand I suppose
but if it were me. I think I could-- wish I
were young enough to do it but alas.

So B. was listening just now to her radio
and a polish program was on, man talking and
B. said " and a tisket a tasket to you."

Barbara has sent to Brek's, a place in
Mass. where they have all kinds of toys and
unusual things for Xmas, and I brought a box
cfrom the P.O. this morning- she bought the cut
toy for Leroy- made in Japan, a clown on roller
skates that glides and turns- and a large black
cat blackboard- and a box full of things to make
like bracelets etc for Linda- Well I made a little
rag doll for Beverly but these days I sure am
strapped for money- Con has to buy my cigarets
every time he goes for his paper- and they both
buy the groceries so I have no money at all.

Well I think I have talked enough

I am still making the hooked rug which will never
be finished and is making my forefinger sore
but I will put scotch a tape on it and see if
that will work.

By some coincidence Con has gone to a
polish wedding this P.M. a friend of his asked him
to go and he took a shower and got all smelled up
with some Black Watch shaving lotion-we told him
not to drink too much-

so farewell for now and

HOW IS THE POEMS for TEENAGERS coming?

love to you and D.

Viola

Harrington Park, N.J. Dec. 28-'57

Dear Ezra

Glad you liked the paper-I didn't specify
the type and was surprised to see such tiny letters-

Yes that madonna you sent must have been a famous
one- more palatable than others- of course I don't know
who painted it- Life had pages of them but I didn't look
or admire them- the baby for instance is always too big.

Con and I just in from grocerying and stopped for a
soda-he had a Sunday- the Dairy Queen is shut for the
winter- and the soda was not good, too thin and such a small
portion of ice-cream, 0 my. and cost 30 cents- the world is
sure going to the dogs. Con watching foot-ball game
in Florida bet. Texas A & M and Tenn. such elaborate show
they put on with hundreds of girls throwing batons etc etc.

It is too bad you can't see TV- there was a very enjoyable
play about Dr. Johnson- played by Ustanov-a remarkable
performance- however his wig was not the small dirty one
but a huge white one but his face pock-marked and eye-
twitching and altogether exactly like the pictures you see
of Dr. J. I tried to read Boswell once but gave it up
as Dr. J's wit seemed rather tame-- a bit of it I will
refresh your memory with-- seems he met an old Oxford grad.
friend who told Dr. J. he started out to be a philosopher
but found he was too cheerful so went into trade. Then
he asked Dr. J. what he had been doing and the Rambler
was mentioned-- very charming acting of course between them-
so after the friend had departed Boswell asked Dr. J. if he
was going to send him a copy of the Rambler-- "of course
of course, rep. Dr. J. I don't want him to depart from
this world in total darkness." and so it went-- the
witticisms were sometimes a bit too sharp for Chesterfield
and Goldsmith but then in those days they were a bit thin-
skinned eh?

We also saw Maurice Evans in Twelfth Night which
bored me considerably- it was too elaborate in the first
place and his Malvolio tho funny was a bit old-fashioned or
I can only say again boring. Seems to me I'd rather have
seen it in a forest setting.

We also heard a beautiful voice, Streich of Vienna
I think her name was-- she and Tebaldi have the best

-2-

best voices today.

I have a pumpkin pie in the oven. Oh me, my
rheumatism is bad on cold days- who'd ever think I would
end up with gobbledygook legs etc maybe it is arthritis
I don't know or care-they're not going to put cortisone in
me if I can help it.

We had a great old time Xmas with the children-
Barbara got them such nice toys altho they are very blase
as to toys-they have about 60 picture books at home and
all kinds of toys- Linda and Donnie were over here
yesterday and turned the house upside down- Linda wanting
to "dress up" old clothes from the attic brought down
old shoes etc. I sent Donnie to the paper store around the
 corner for cig. and some dixie cups for ice-cream and
Linda insisted on eating hers on the porch in a sealskin
jacket and ball-dress and it was quite cold. It seems I
can do nothing but sit around and look pained as Con says
but they have been brought up so differently.

I wonder if you have heard from Mary Barnard- she
wrote me she has a cataract in one eye which was taken out
I believe but now has one in other eye if I understood
correctly. She is getting out a paper-back of Sappho's
verse-didn't know there were many of them in existence.
Maybe she found more when she was abroad.

Didn't get a card from Bill- haven't called up to see how
he is- hope all right.

We see so much on TV about space and the planets etc
but a program last week about the sun narrated by my
friend Prof. Baxter in which he called the sun
"Mr. Sun" sort of gave me goose pimples. They think they
must talk as if to children and who do they think watch
their programs- the lower classes? they must think so or
they wouldn't be so childish.

Got a card from Prof. Pearson with latin trans. by
Dudley Fittes and what did it have to do with Xmas.?
I suppose you got one-I could only write and thank him
for the lovely? verse. I didn't "get it" as they say.
I'm getting awfully crabbed and cynical. My answer to
everything optimistic and marvellous is "what for?"

I could go on and on but will let you get
your breath for now. Hope you are enjoying good health.

love from

V.

Dear Ezra

Con and I just in from grocerying and stopped for a soda-he had a Sunday- the Dairy Queen is shut for the winter- and the soda was not good, too thin and such a small portion of ice-cream, 0 my. and cost 30cents- the world is sure going to the dogs.

Con watching foot-ball game in Florida bet . Texas A & M and Tenn. such elaborate show they put on with hundreds of girls throwing batons etc etc.

It is too bad you can't see TV- there was a very enjoyable play about Dr. Johnson- played by Ustanov-a remarkable performance- however his wig was not the small dirty one but a huge white one but his face pock-marked and eye-twitching and altogether exactly like the pictures you see of Dr. J. I tried to read Boswell once but gave it up

friend who told Dr. J. he started out to be a philosopher but found he was too cheerful so went into trade. Then he asked Dr. J. what he had been doing and the Rambler was mentioned-- very charming acting of course between them- so after the friend had departed Boswell asked Dr. J. if he was going to send him a copy of the Rambler-- "of course of course, rep. Dr. J. I don't want him to depart from this world in total darkness." and so it went-- the witticisms were sometimes a bit too sharp for Chesterfield and Goldsmith but then in those days they were a bit thin-skinned eh?

We also heard a beautiful voice, Streich of Vienna I think her name was-- she and Tebaldi have the bstt

Harrington Park, N.J. Feb. 2-'58

Dear Ezra;

Must I write to Dorothy to find out
whether you are alive or not? Of course I go
hobbling around with rheumatism- that is when
I start to walk from a sitting posture I have
to wait til my circulation gets going and then
I manage to walk.

This morning as I sit here doing my hooked rug-Barbara called up to tell me about a letter she saw in the paper and it made me laugh so loud and long that I felt that you should join me eh? It was to the effect that whipping posts should be installed in high schools to take care of hoodlums, and signed "Tired old lady". Thems my s+ne+- sentiments exactly. Of course you do not read the papers so have not heard of the teen-agers shooting their parents because they will not let them have a car etc etc ad nauseam-and about the Principal of a school in Bklyn who committed suicide because he couldn't handle the situation and they have policemen marching in and out of schools.

Yesterday I thought I'd see what the opera
was doing on radio- My ears were assaulted with
hysterical caterwauling of Vanessa.

Let's see what else can I write about.

Conrad has been trying to sell the Ency. Britannic
but found working nights too tiring- he sold
3 sets and made $70 a set- he had to go to
an office and be briefed and learn pages of
psychological approach mornings. He was given
addresses of people who were interested. He says
he will still keep them in mind but now he is
interested in the Chamber of Commerce who want
someone to contact merchants etc etcI don't
pretend to understand how the chamber of commerce
can help merchants and have tried to get Con to
explain it to me.

Barbara has h, left Best's- has had enough
of it for 3 years- so is doing filing and office
work at Prentice-Hall way up on Englewood Cliffs.
It is an enormous place- employs 1400 people.
Her typewriting isn't any too fast and they have
electric typewriters now tho she doesn't have to

use one. She gets there at quarter to nine and
gets out at 4:30. Takes her car but on snow y
days takes bus. She goes up the Old Dock Road
in Closter and along 9W. She started last week-
and had a bad head cold- she took superannahist
and let me warn you not to do it- the stuff dries
the membranes of the nose and makes everything
sore in the symus - luckily she had sent for a
mask, from Breck's in Bowton, this mask made
of plastic filled with some chemical and you
warm it and wear it and it is very soothing. What
next will they invent.

I received another catalog from Olga- she
is very faithful about this but alas a I cannot
read the thing. I saw a picture of Vivaldi who
seems to be coming into vogue and wish I had saved
the picture to send her-of course she has seen it-
but I don't see how a man can have a nost as hig
as his and live.

Mose

Tomorrow I go down to Sue's- she comes for
me with the two little kobolds- I manage to l
clean up her rooms a bit but little Beverly clings
to one's knees and won't let you do anything until
you sit down and look at picture books- She is
absolutely the darlingest little mite and so is
little Leroy- Linda is not good in arithmetic and
Donnie makes fine figures with his left hand.
Roy, the daddy is too fat and his feet hurt-he
must reduce but I don't want to be the one to
say anything about it. Sue tells him, but he con-
tinues to stay in the averdupois.

Now I don't know whether you have been ill or
anything about you-you really ought to tell me
Imsuppose you'd like some fudge brownies- well
sometime soon- I have to make two kinds of brea
once in a while and it's getting hard to knead
them. Letter from Bryher saying Hilda on crutches
went to a party and they had a harpist from the
Zurich State Opera. Well we'll all be dead soon
enough HeighHo ain't life wonderful.

as ever

Viola

I'm not going out to she+e- shovel because I did in the last snow storm and got a "crick" in me back. I haven't anything to write about-

Haven't heard anything about Bill- don't want to call them up as we really ought to entertain them and can't-don't suppose they'd come anyway. What do you think of the weather in Miami-? it was 28 one day and then got up to 57- no fun going in the water eh? Sue's in-laws were down there and don't know if they have returned- My friends Marj. and John Fletcher also were down and I should call or write them but don't feel happy enough to be sociable. Osler was right when he said all old people should be chloroformed after 50 or was it 40 40.

Barbara, brave girl, still sticks to her new job tho she says they all have electric typewriters and she has a lot to learn about everything-taking care of salesmen's itineraries etc- when they get paid a line of policemen or some kind of protection men come in with the payroll- the place is enormous and some day I'll send you a prospectus if I thought you would be interested. They publish text books and every kind of book law books etc etc.

Barbara scratched a car trying to back out the other day- it belonged to a "red-eyed german" so she says- the scratch was not much but he wanted $5. She says his volkswagen was in wrong- and we told her to let her insurance Co. handle it but she says it isn't worth it.

Well I must stop writing nonsense and try to do something around the house-

So glad you are alive- and kicking?

as ever
Viola

P.S On second thought am sending you prospectus of Prene Prentice-Hall.

Harrington Park, N.J. Feb. 18-'58

Dear Ezra;

Well we're all snowed in and you
in Washington, fancy that have 17 inches of
snow while we have had about 8, but just as
cold- zero weather- seems like old UTK don't it?
Cars can't get out driveway-Con shoveled
but left center pretty high and says he will
shave it off today and go get some groceries
up the street. Barbara didn't go to work yesterday
but today is colder and she went- hates to take
busses y'kno.

Yesterday being Monday- my day at Sue's, she
couldn't get car started and even so too cold to
take the little kobolds out- school was closed
so she had the four of 'em all day. Oh one day
last week before this last snow Sue said the two
little ones went down the slope in their front
yard on a tray- and looked too cunning for words.

Last Friday, Valentine's Day little Leroy came
up our front steps carrying a huge 2 pound box
of chocolates in the shape of a heart, from Sue
and Roy of course. I say huge for they put it all
in one layer as you perhaps know.

Last night we played anagrams in front of our
fire-place burning wood that Con got over at Sue's-
They have lots of it but frozen- so when I was
over there last week I found a lead pipe in the
yard and pried some up and Sue and I carried
all we could and put it in the back of her car.

Con is going to get more with B'smcar pretty
on-they say the weather will be like this for
another week.

I have absolutely nothing to write about except
astro-physics- funny isn't it that the scientist
doesn't know where the gas that made the universe
came from? and furthermore they've got to stop
thinking there is an end to space- of course no one
can think of a beginning or an end and there you are.
But even Einstein tried to measure it.

Here I go again about you're not seeing TV-
you would have seen that young fellow who lived
for 7 days in the three by five compartment

simulating air in space or near the moon or something and when he talked over microphone he said inside it he couldn't whistle.

About this weather- my opinion is that these satelites we're putting in orbit, together with the russian ones are stirring up air or whatever element it is- but Con pooh-poohs this- I say the satelites might run into each other but he also says no. It is hard to believe that where there is NO AIR or whatever it is- that there is NOTHING. There must be something eh?

I don't think we'll ever find out the secret of life, do you? and if we do what will we do with it.

Well I must go down and do my hooked rug tho it pulls my fingers- it is a beautiful rug- the design is a little girl in sunbonnet watering flowers- about 4 feet long and 2⅜ wide, oval in shape- she is standing on grass and I shall have to buy some green cloth or wool for that- the background is a lovely soft blue made of cloth that Con got and Sue made into a coat long ago, when he was working some place or other, have forgotten- as I have told you and as you won't remember, I have a little machine that Marj F. loaned me- it cast cuts the cloth in fine strips- Sue gave me some pink material she cut off one of Linda's dresses and this will be an inch wide all round the rug. In case you don't know ANYTHING about it- you pull the strips thru gunny sacking with a crochet or other hook.

I really should go out and get some fresh air but darn it I can't make up my mind-

Next time I send you fudge brownies they will have walnuts in- we have been getting groceries up the street and they are "robbers" which means the chemist stores can sell cheaper y'kno. Dear me it's four o'clock already.

will close this nothing

I love to you and Dorothy

sitting in front of fire place
watching a long piece of wood

from the garage door- Con puts it on V.
Herr + burns end which we burn as it burns.

He is out shovelling- going to begin work on
chamber of Commerce next week- can't start ear.

He could by having it jumped with another battery
but has to go to Belleville u. to see the man - +
roads are bad. V.-

Harrington Park, N.J. Feb. 28-'58

Dear Ezra;

What a wild night last night with the
wind and rain- suppose you down there had some of it.

Sue telephoned that Roy is home with a strained
eye from doing "stripping" under elec. light for
two days- very hard on the eyes evidently- and also
his knee bothers him, an old injury- and also he cut
his finger helping Bill lift something heavy-so
as he looked white this A.M. he decided to go to bed.

Donnie broke out with measles last Tuesday but they
(the measles) have almost disappeared tho he will have
to stay home from sch. until Monday- AND Linda got
a stomach ache from not going to the bathroom, you know
how children are at that age- well everything else is
healthy but as she didn't need me, didn't come over.

Con was down in Jersey City with his "boss"- an
of the office -don't know what to call it, but the
Chamber of Commerce- evidently Con has to go to stores
and merchants etc and ask them if they need help about
taxes etc and that the Chamber of Commerce will do
something about it if they are interested, and buy their
magazine- ha ha- Con says he is on a salary of $145
a week and I can hardly believe it- but he told me
about visiting all the italian stores, pretty sordid
places, and I wish he would try the merchants in
Hackensack as Jersey City must be full of low-class
stores etc.

Barbara brought home some books which Prentice-Hall
lets the employees have- one is "English Masterpieces"
Modern Poetry- edited by Mayhard Mack and in it
are three of your poems, The Study of Aesthetics,
E.P. Ode Pour L'Election de Son Sepulchre, and Envoi.
I suppose you know about this, and there are biograph-
ical references telling where you were born, your
parents names etc. Another book is The Creative
Power of Mind, and much to my surprise is composed
only of short articles by people like SQF-Rhe-
Sir Richard Clifford Tute, Gustaf Stromberg, Max
Planck, C.F. von Weisssacker- having such titles as
A Universe is Born, Religion and Natural Science

3

they are mongols but probably have some chinese
words etc. The pix TV presentation was an hour long
and I can't possibly remember all the things we saw-
I certainly think it is a shame that you show no
interest in TV- and will not tell me whether you are
allowed to see these interesting things. It is all
right reading about people but seeing them is another
thing.

There was a program where some people had gone
to Madagascar and showed how the natives dig up their dead
every four years and feed them honey etc- we actually
saw them do it- they bury them in large coverings like
paper anyway it was stiff and the heads of the dead were
dangling out of the ends- lovely-

This morning Garry Moore had a man, an englishman,
who runs a zoo somewhere up-state I think and he some-
times brings animals- this morning it was a young
kangaroo and he came hopping on the stage with the kang.
on a leash and holding onto its tail. The critter ate
a banana. You could see the strong nails in its claws
and as you know the back legs can split a man in half
when they fight.

Another book B. got was "Founding the Life Divine"
an introduction to the Integral Yoga of Sri
Aurobindo, and you can imagine how I shall leave this
book alone. All these isms annoy me no end.

This morning I finished making a cover for the
looked rug, a back, I mean- it is a lovely rug if I do
say it as shouldn't- the colors very rig rich and
as I look at it I can't imagine that I did it. Of course
it took months in spare time- now I suppose I shall have
nothing creative to do unless Sue gets me another one.

I think I shall go down and cover myself with an army
blanket and take a nap- perhaps putting on the radio-
maybe trying to find something decent to read.

This wet weather makes me hobble more than usual-

I hope you are in good shape and also Dorothy-
will make you some fudge brownies with
walnuts one of these days.

much love

Viola

In my last letter I told you about Roy's
eye- well he stayed in bed all day and is better
today- in fact they are all better so I shall have to
find something else to worry about eh? I wanted B.
to take me over to Sue's in her car but Barbara is
the darndest stubborn thing- says it is her only day
of freedom etc etc etc I could go over on the bus-
I made some doughnuts and bread and finished the hooked
rug but guess I will have to wait til Monday when Sue
comes over for me- it's strange to think sometimes I
don't feel free to go to Sue's tho she says I am welco
always- I guess today is my sensitive one or many who
knows.

I did quite a lot today- swept the parlor rug and
the dining-room and Con's room, what I could as his
things are everywhere- at this age I don't presume to
scold my children- Barbara's room is impossible-
she never can find anything and if her bed were only in
center of room I could make it- but she insists on
keeping it against the wall so, whoopdedo, I no make it.

Well I must stop complaining and try to
get something constructive to do.

as ever,

Viola

3:30 P.M. Con back and says the damage
to the car will be over $200 but of course
the Hackensack newspaper's insurance on their
truck will cover it- fine to have insurance ain't it.

Tuesday, Mar. 4-'58 Harrington Park, N.J.

Dear Ezra;

A light fall of snow last night but now gone- have to get up at 6:30 now y'kno until Con's territory is nearer here- he goes to Newark and visits the merchants down there- has to go in library and get names first-- then knows who to address etc in the stores. Mr. Mermingham(I think the way to spell it) loaned him his car until Con's is fixed.

I have done quite a lot of things this morning- also made you some fudge brownies and B. or Con will probably mail them tomorrow- I have no money you know- they are the wage-earners and also the misers etc. Instead of lying down and worrying I began to laugh at Ustanov's funny program on TV the other night. This Ustanov is the one I told you who played Dr. Johnson etc- he is also a playwright, and certainly a comedian as I will relate if I can without spoiling the telling-by the way Ustanov's play Romanoff and Juliet is now playing. Well, he was on Steve Allen's show, and portrayed the customs agents in several countries, first the english, then the german and then the ie- italian. He has a table in front of him and for the german and english puts on a suitable cap with visor- he wears a beard of his own which made the italian scene so funny. Steve Allen was the "straight " man asking for a visa etc or rather showing his passport-I really can't begin to tell you how funny the german and english scenes were- but I will try the italian- who tells Steve that he wants his picture taken as he too wants a passport so WSteve happening to have a camera holds it up and says "say cheese", the italian says "Gorgonzoooola" holding his mouth- in an O so you can imagine how the passport pic.will look. Then he asks Steve how much money he has with him and when Steve mentions a sizable sum, the italian says "sign here" and after Steve

2

has done so he says "you've adopted me" and
hugs him. The german was also very funny
he puts in a monocle and wears the cap and
says words to the effect that Steve is going
to like the country, everyone does anything
they want to but when Steve makes as if to get
chummy and sit on the table, Ustanov shouts
at him- and after he stamps his passport and
Steve is about to go. he yells "feurer"
after him. Ustanov also imitated what he
heard while waiting to buy his ticket to a
movie in London and also italy- he could hear
thru the door what was going on and mimicked
the throaty unintelligible talk going on in the
picture, too funny for anything-I'd better
not try to explain it any more except to say
the italian he heard was a scolding of a little
kid and he cried etc etc- Ustanov speaks
several languages /

Now that I've got that off my chest I might
tell you how cute little Beverly and Leroy were
yesterday when I was over at Sue's- No I can't
tell you all the things they did but just one-
after I had fed them their lunch and they looked
at the "RomperRoom" on the TV, they came in
where I was ironing, and without for no reason
whatever and in a second- little Beverly threw a
marble at Leroy's head-I could hear the thump-
she was standing near him- he rubbed his little
golden pate-it wasn't thrown with any strength
but you can understand how senseless little
kiddies are- of course she learned to throw things
because little Leroy does and we have to stop
him of course. Sue of course goes out to get
groceries when I'm there and the kiddies are
beginning to say "mama'll come home soon" and it
kinda makes me sad- of course they do get tired
of their toys and staying in that big room- but
it rained yesterday and they could not go out-
I have to sit down and read or show picture-books
all the time-can hardly get the kitchen swept or
do any work as Beverly hangs on to my dress and
cries for me to sit down- but they are such
darlings-they come with their books and turn their
backs wanting to be taken up into my lap.

-3-

Donnie's measles didn't last long and the others haven't caught it yet- and don't think they will- it was a kind of "roseola" as they call it when babies get it. Sue is making a dress for herself and she has so much housework to do- that is, she doesn't have to go up and down stairs you know but somehow can't find time to do her art work-perhaps when summer comes t and the children are out doors she may be able to-- and Roy is making a large room in the cellar for them to play in-- I tell you Ezra when you have a dish-washer and a vacuum cleaner and an electric iron and a washing-machine you have lots of work done for you, only it is the hanging out of the wash which now Sue does in the cellar- but why go on- there is certainly a lot of work like sweeping under and behind beds and so forth.

Well I think that was all I was going to write you about, Ustanov and little Beverly throwing the marble. I suppose Sue will bring the two little tots over one day this week and I hope I can stand it-- that is, I can-

I don't know what is happening to my legs and will not find out- I go doddering around- that is when I first get up from sitting, but after the first step I can walk all right- you can be sure I take care I do not fall down-stairs etc

Dear me I haven't written to Olga to thank her for the bulletin of the Accademia but I will soon so farewell for now, much love,

Viola

Con was sent to the coast for
3 weeks lately on a Jet and sent
back word "Whoosh and I'm
here. Sue is fine and so are the
kiddies. Linda, a very big girl
for 11 was here this P.M.

Roy with the Nat'l Guard in
Plattsburg-had rain and slept on
wet sleepingbag. Con comes home
week ends from Aviation Republic
where he works.

Can't write any more now
humid weather makes me feel worse.
love to all

Viola

[1959]

Thank you dear for
your advice on your
postcard with the handsome picture
of you. Arthritis is pure
mental cruelty-at least it is
with me. I can shuffle with a
cane-even go downstairs but not
up. I have hardly ant strength
in my hands- can hardly scratch my
head. Barbara takes good care
of me.

Let me tell you what little
Leroy just 4 says. In a little
gravelly voice he says "Why doncha
mind your own mind"

(over)

Sue bought that book about you by those two Univ. fellows.

Can't remember their names. Bill's latest book is
about his mother, "Yes Mrs. Williams" Did you know she
lived to be 102 ? heaven forbid. V.

Dec. 14

Dear Ezra

Barbara swiped this
pencil from Best's for you.
Mayhap you can do some chinese
with it eh?

I am now a woiking goil again
There is a toy factory over a
garage in Closter not far from

here- About 10 women, married
middle-aged work there-we make
toy signal lights for toy
trains-- there is no name on
the building as people in
C.

Closter don't like factories.

It is very light work and I
ha ppen to like assembly line
work-like screwing in tiny elec.
bulbs, twisting a wire or two-
putting on globes and packing
in boxes-there must be 50,000
of these things-we get there at
8 A.M. and out at 4:30--have
coffee and ten min. rest periods
A.M. and P.M. radio going--sign
says no smoking but they pay no
attention to it- rather fun--

75c. an hour. don't know how
long it will last but it gives me
something to DO.

love and kisses
Viola

-2-

O dear they are beginning to dig for another house across
the street farther down-- but someone told B. the town owns
the land that is just across from us where there are
lots of beautiful trees so much less the town gets hard up
they won't ever build there. As I've told you before we
are surrounded by so many trees it's simply beautiful.

I'm sending you some of my molasses cookies-
and a few flowers- just for fun-
johnny-jumps and a marigold- the rain
spoiled some gypsophilia, those tiny white
flowers that I love so much- never could
grow them down at 195- the soil was too sour
evidently- but sour soil is good for many things.
I've picked blueberries for different
people but waiting for more of them to get
ripe when I'll send you some-- patienza.
much love

Viola

Barbara is bicycling to Bergenfield
this P.M. and she'll mail them.

How you like the filthy lucre of the
capitalistic people being used for Stalin's
daughter's wedding- humph.

I might add Conrad bought the book of
stories by Aldington last year when he was
in Canada. If you'd like to read 'em I'll
send it to you.

MRS. V. S. B. JORDAN

LA ROCHE AVENUE

HARRINGTON PARK, N. J.

Box 625

Fridays the thirteenth!

Dear Ezra:

After wracking my brain and brushing and combing it I find I remember what you mean by my taste in literature being worse- that article about the pika- plight of he the present day author. I still think it good- the author is cowed by the publisher's attitude- but if he really (some author) felt he had to get something off his chest, he would not be cowed. If he just wants to amuse people and get the satisfaction of having done so- he would not care-- but in fairness unfortunately the element of compensation, lettuce, the long green, filthy lucre etc enters into it- also NAME. The publisher of today is looking at the money side and that's all there is to it.

But Ezra, how about your taste! the peroxide pore little fiedlings tucked under the wicked paw of the rodent squirrel! as it was a Canadian paper, I imagine the lady who saw this horrible thing lives in a region where there are not many nut trees and squirrel turned cannibal. I knew that squirrels steal birds eggs- but this eating of flesh seems to me a bit thick.

But now along this line of animals animals eating each other how about the ant- lion who makes a hollow in the dirt and pounces on other ants who fall into it. How about the wasp who lays an egg on a caterpillar after stunning it so that it still lives and when its own kind is ready for food, there it is! the cruelty among animals is only equalled by man's inhumanity to man- and over all Nature goes on and on with no mind or feeling. What? shall we stop eating the meat of animals- does not wheat live also? and how about the germs that feed on us? O I tell you, Ezra, the world is a crazy place with humans crawling all over it and---- my heavens what a wonderfully cool morning this is- werry humid yesterday and it rained during night. There is a bird that begins at 5 A.M. and we call it the seepin' chopin' bird because C. wrote an etude just like it's song-

I should be practicing it this minute but would rather sit up here and make a sort rag rug for Sue's mother-in-law for Xmas. I made one for Sue- it has 58 little rounds of shirred wool cloth-old coats or sweaters etc- Sue's is made of an old Struck coat, tan colored and the colors are mostly light- some blue and pink in it. The one I'm doing now will have a dark brown coat and blue and red and green in it.