CHURCH STREET,
STATION

Oct. 14, 1954

Dear Mr. Anderson:

It is a pleasure to have news of you again
and to know that you are going ahead with
your writing.

I would be happy to see some of your work
but do not advise you to send it to me for
about a month, as I am leaving the city for
the middle west early next week and do not
expect to be back in town until shortly be-
fore Thanksgiving.

I have not heard from Mr. Jahn for a long
time either. But he promised to send me
copies of the Anthology, and I trust that
he will whenever it comes out. Perhaps these
are on the way now.

With all good wishes to you.

Mr. Alston Anderson
27 Bethune Street
New York 14, N. Y.

Langston Hughes, Esq.
20 East 127th St.
New York, New York

Yaddo

January 12, 1955

Dear Langston,

Thanks for your letter. I concur completely about the end of the story. Originally I had the person who helped the old man remain anonymous; but it seemed when I typed it that I was cheating my readers a bit. But I have it figured out now, I think. I didn't want to make a hero of either the old man or the Negro; but it seems that I did despite myself.

It was nice of you to hold the John Hay Whitney forms for a month. Hell, man, I didn't have a dime for a telephone much more subway fare. But things are better now that I'm here. I'm sending them a few chapters early next week, and am now busy preparing them. Most of it is pretty good, I think, though the first chapter is, frankly, overwritten.

Sam Allen is a very dear friend of mine. By all means get in touch with him and take a look at his work. As he may have told you, Jahn is publishing a book of his poems soon, if he hasn't already. We've corresponded since his arrival. He's in Washington, mostly, but is in New York from time to time. I knew about his using a pseudonym in the German anthology, but forgot to mention it to you. The biographical data printed there is, for reasons of his own, pure myth. But I'd better let him explain that.

You might tell Ralph Ellison the next time you see him that I met a good friend of his while I was in Paris: Al Murray. Murray read me parts of his novel while there. He's a damn good man. What news does Ralph have of him? I wrote to him once but he never answered.

Jimmy's still going strong. I delivered your message, and he sends hello. I haven't met Goldie. The crap joint was closed some time ago, Jimmy says. Too bad. I also said hello to Elizabeth Ames for you. She remembers you fondly.

Jimmy Baldwin's due here on the 22nd. (Or, as I once called him, Baldwin James. He's hated me ever since.)

February 2, 1955

Mr. Alston Anderson,
Yaddo,
Saratoga Springs, N. Y.

Dear Anderson,

Your story is excellent. I wish I'd had it some weeks ago, as I had to
return the Whitney blanks with the statement that I knew nothing about
your work, having seen none of it—since I held them about a month and
did not hear from you, and they asked that they be returned promptly in
any case. Sorry.

"The Thin Wall" is vividly written--so much so that I could retell it to a
friend after one reading--and the characters revealing etched and very
much alive all of them. I liked it immensely up to the very end--which
seemed a little off (and sort of O., Henryish) to me--over sentimental or
something or other, can't quite put my finger on what strikes me wrong in
its quality. If it were my story, I think I'd end it more wryly -- maybe
having the colored boy pull a pint of whiskey out of his pocket and say,
"Here, old man, I was planning a nice quiet Sunday afternoon drunk all by
myself--but you need it worse than I do." Or something other than the
over-kind too-good gesture of picking up his things and helping him back in
the house. But I love the first 19 pages! And the kind of guy the Negro
is, and all the rest of the folks in it!

I spent two summers at Yaddo and liked it very much. Mrs. Ames is one of my
favorite folks in the universe. Please give her my best regards.

And when you go down to Saratoga Street, tell Jimmy and Goldie hello! Also
Jack if the dice are still rolling there.

I believe there is an expedimic of brokness going around--so let's not
mention that. Stamps gratefully received. I'll send the story back soon.
Want to let another writer or two read it. Ralph Ellison was the friend
I was telling it to when he came by yesterday, but didn't get to the top
 floor where the manuscript was in my work place.

Best wishes for a creative winter,

PS: Damni! Got to telling you about
your story and forgot the main purpose
in writing so promptly—to tell you
that just before your note came, a
Mr. Sam Allen, c/o American Express,
649 Fifth Avenue, New York City, phoned
to see he's just back from Germany and asking Langston Hughes
how to get in touch with you, which I then couldn't tell him. He says Jahn wants
you to come back to Germany to work at radio station. So maybe you'd better write
him. Allen says his poetry name is Paul Vesey in the SWARSCHER anthology.

388 East 10th St.
New York 9, N.Y.

March 5, 1956

Dear Langston,

As you probably know by now I again took the
liberty of using your name as a reference on my second
application for a Whitney fellowship. The fact that
you haven't heard from me before now bears witness that
I am perhaps the world's worst procrastinator, and an
impolite one, at that.

I've been working on short stories in dialect, with
a Southern setting, and I should, of course, have shown
you some of the stories before submitting them. But in
fact what happened was that I had a letter from the Whit-
ney people (a form letter) inviting me to submit more
material for this year's competition, but because of the
fact that I'd been moving around quite a bit I only got
it two days before the closing date, which was February
15th. It was therefore a last-minute proposition.

But now that I'm settled (and am having a 'phone
installed on Wednesday of this week) I'd like very much
to have you down for supper (I'm a good cook) and a drink
or so afterwards. I'd been out of touch with Sam Allen,
but ran into him on 42nd Street last week, and I'd like
to have him down at the same time, along with one or two
other people who're familiar with Negro literature.

I saw your review of Jimmy Baldwin's book in the
*Times*, and thought it a good one. A propos of identity,
of which you wrote, I think that that's precisely the
problem that confronts most young - and I use the word
advisedly - Negro writers. You hit the nail squarely on
the head. With the breaking down of the barriers of
segregation, already in process, what happens is that
one begins to wonder just who he is: a Negro, or an
American? I don't think Jimmy has solved it, but I must
say in all honesty that I've profited from his struggle.
I'm a Negro.

Well, ... more about that. I don't have your 'phone
number, and since you're not listed it's difficult to get
in touch with you that way. I do hope you'll call on
Thursday or Friday. Mornings are best, 'til noon.

Very sincere regards, and heartfelt thanks.

144 East Broadway
New York 2, N.Y.

July 12, 1955

Dear Langston,

How've things been?

I didn't get the Whitney fellowship, but am applying for
a Saxton Award and have again taken the liberty of using your
name as a reference.

Things have been as hectic as usual, but - also as usual
- one manages to survive. At the moment I'm living in a
small flat near Chinatown with Sam Allen, whom you probably rémem-
ber. We would both like to drop up to see you whenever it's
convenient. Since we have no phone and very little "bread"
communication is somewhat of a hassle. But I do drop a card
if you're in town.

My very best x to you.

As ever,