Details
MITCHELL, Margaret. Typed letter signed ("Margaret M.") to Herschel Brickell, Atlanta, 28 June 1937. 1.2/3 pages, small folio, single-spaced, on her stationery with name embossed in blue at top of each sheet, usual folds, with stamped, addressed envelope.
"I WOULD MUCH RATHER GO THROUGH WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION THAN HAVE TO LIVE THIS YEAR OVER"
"The item you enclosed about Margaret Mitchell, a Southern belle before, during and after the Civil War is not so remarkable as you think. For a long time the rumor has been afloat that I am far advanced in years and that Gone With the Wind was really a verbatim account of what happened to me in my youth. The strangest thing I have encountered during this last year is the inability of the public to conceive of creative writing. People cannot or will not believe that a story and characters can be manufactured from whole cloth. The story must have been the author's life story or that of someone the author knew, or it must have been from old diaries or letters. And characters, of course, are always 'taken from life.' I do not know why it is so difficult for people to believe in the possibility of complete creation. As far as I am concerned it is very easy to think up plot and characters and utterly impossible to take plot and characters from life..."
"...You say that for a belle who has been working at it since 1860 I am 'remarkably well preserved.' Well, I am not so sure of that. I will leave it to your judgment when you see me [Brickell would soon be visiting her in Atlanta]. I don't mind admitting that I would much rather go through war and reconstruction than have to live this year over again. However, things are almost normal now, with the exception of out of town visitors whose minds are made up that they are going to meet me so that they can go home and tell lies about me and write lies for their daily papers..."
"I WOULD MUCH RATHER GO THROUGH WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION THAN HAVE TO LIVE THIS YEAR OVER"
"The item you enclosed about Margaret Mitchell, a Southern belle before, during and after the Civil War is not so remarkable as you think. For a long time the rumor has been afloat that I am far advanced in years and that Gone With the Wind was really a verbatim account of what happened to me in my youth. The strangest thing I have encountered during this last year is the inability of the public to conceive of creative writing. People cannot or will not believe that a story and characters can be manufactured from whole cloth. The story must have been the author's life story or that of someone the author knew, or it must have been from old diaries or letters. And characters, of course, are always 'taken from life.' I do not know why it is so difficult for people to believe in the possibility of complete creation. As far as I am concerned it is very easy to think up plot and characters and utterly impossible to take plot and characters from life..."
"...You say that for a belle who has been working at it since 1860 I am 'remarkably well preserved.' Well, I am not so sure of that. I will leave it to your judgment when you see me [Brickell would soon be visiting her in Atlanta]. I don't mind admitting that I would much rather go through war and reconstruction than have to live this year over again. However, things are almost normal now, with the exception of out of town visitors whose minds are made up that they are going to meet me so that they can go home and tell lies about me and write lies for their daily papers..."