Details
MITCHELL, Margaret. Four typed letters signed ("Margaret") to Herschel Brickell, Atlanta, 30 July to 30 November 1937. Together 8 pages, small folio, all but one page single-spaced, on her stationery with the name embossed in blue at top of each sheet., a holograph postscript in one letter, a holograph sentence in another, usual folds, tiny hole touching a date in one letter, with stamped, addressed envelopes.
"I COULDN'T WISH ANY WORSE LUCK ON AN ENEMY THAN TO HAVE HIM WRITE A BOOK"
Three of the items are chatty, personal letters about family, friends, travel plans, etc.; the fourth (22 November) is brief. 30 July 1937: "For your private information and not to be told anyone, I got an extortion letter day before yesterday. It was most moderate in terms as the demand was only for $100.00. I had it in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the hour ... It came from New Jersey and is either from an insane person or a very stupid person taking their first step in crime..." 12 August: "...You were nice to say that success hasn't changed me, although you know very well that this is not true. For instance, my foot work has improved a thousand per cent. I have also developed the slipperiness of a greased pig as well as the toughness of a pig's hide ... A critic reviewing Stark Young's last book [A Southern Treasury of Art and Literature] took a swipe at him for not including me in it. Mr. Young had written me in full about this matter ... When I think over the matter of books and the writing of them I am more than ever convinced that the most sapient remark of the Bible is 'Oh that mine enemy might write a book.' I couldn't wish any worse luck on an enemy than to have him write a book and entangle himself in a mass of misunderstandings. I know you'll understand from the foregoing that Mr. Young [a fellow Southern writer] is not mine enemy..." 30 November: "The Billy Rose case is coming up in Texas early in January. Sometime before that happy event we'll have to have a legal conference here in Atlanta. For all I know, I may be dragged, kicking and protesting, to Fort Worth for the trial ... While on my travels I read Gene Fowler's Salute to Yesterday and was enchanted by the insanity of the characters and awed by the author's prodigality of creation. He had enough characters to man a battleship; he'd use them for two paragraphs and throw them away. I don't know why this book should have reminded me just a little of South Wind [by Norman Douglas] -- perhaps because it was so different..." (4)
"I COULDN'T WISH ANY WORSE LUCK ON AN ENEMY THAN TO HAVE HIM WRITE A BOOK"
Three of the items are chatty, personal letters about family, friends, travel plans, etc.; the fourth (22 November) is brief. 30 July 1937: "For your private information and not to be told anyone, I got an extortion letter day before yesterday. It was most moderate in terms as the demand was only for $100.00. I had it in the hands of the Federal Bureau of Investigation within the hour ... It came from New Jersey and is either from an insane person or a very stupid person taking their first step in crime..." 12 August: "...You were nice to say that success hasn't changed me, although you know very well that this is not true. For instance, my foot work has improved a thousand per cent. I have also developed the slipperiness of a greased pig as well as the toughness of a pig's hide ... A critic reviewing Stark Young's last book [A Southern Treasury of Art and Literature] took a swipe at him for not including me in it. Mr. Young had written me in full about this matter ... When I think over the matter of books and the writing of them I am more than ever convinced that the most sapient remark of the Bible is 'Oh that mine enemy might write a book.' I couldn't wish any worse luck on an enemy than to have him write a book and entangle himself in a mass of misunderstandings. I know you'll understand from the foregoing that Mr. Young [a fellow Southern writer] is not mine enemy..." 30 November: "The Billy Rose case is coming up in Texas early in January. Sometime before that happy event we'll have to have a legal conference here in Atlanta. For all I know, I may be dragged, kicking and protesting, to Fort Worth for the trial ... While on my travels I read Gene Fowler's Salute to Yesterday and was enchanted by the insanity of the characters and awed by the author's prodigality of creation. He had enough characters to man a battleship; he'd use them for two paragraphs and throw them away. I don't know why this book should have reminded me just a little of South Wind [by Norman Douglas] -- perhaps because it was so different..." (4)