It's been a hectic week. On Tuesday, The New York Times wrote about the 9 letters written by the late novelist J.D. Salinger to my aunt Marjorie Sheard Carter. These 9 letters were recently acquired by the Morgan Library and Museum, NYC.
My aunt Marjorie struck up a 3-year correspondence with J.D. Salinger back in 1941-1943.
The N.Y. Times did a piece about these letters and the story has gone global.
My lovely, elderly aunt is now 94, still truckin' after a fashion, in her nursing home. The press descended upon her for two days (with surprising gentleness and deference) to poke and prod her memory for additional insights, anecdotes, tidbits into this paper-only relationship that came and went over 70 years ago.
I've sat with Marjorie for these media encounters, helped her dress for the part and shepherded reporters and photographers out of her room before they wore out their welcome. Marjorie has glowed with a fresh beauty and basked in the unaccustomed attention of strangers. I am impressed by her stamina and her willingness to answer a steady barrage of questions about a connection that ended with V-Day. I mean, we're talking quite some time ago.
This news story has already been translated into numerous foreign languages and web appearances number well over 100 at this point.
Perhaps we should exchange more letters on paper with one another. Clearly certain letters can only be news that stay news if they are written and saved in a drawer for treasure-hunters of the future.