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T S Eliot

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The article I wrote for Valerie Eliot about novelist Djuna Barnes

Valerie Eliot agonized about writing anything. It drove me crazy. There was, for example, a footnote about a reference to “charflappers” in a letter from T. S. Eliot (TSE) to his American publisher Scofield Thayer that she rewrote, or rather we rewrote, dozens of times. I’d think we had put that question to bed, and a day or two later she would say, “Remember that footnote, dear, the one about charflappers?” I don’t think I ever showed my impatience, but that kind of fussing was definitely one of the reasons [...]

July 26th, 2016|Categories: Writing a Woman's Life|Tags: , , |

The Mysterious Mr. Thayer

Once upon a time, an author looking for information had to advertise in the paper. She or he would place a notice in the New York Review of Books or the Times Literary Supplement, saying that he or she was working on biography of so-and-so and would like to speak to anyone who knew him or her. I tried to get a notice like that printed when Sophie Mumford was 96 and we were starting to put her notes and memories together for a book. It was 1996 and I [...]

January 11th, 2015|Categories: Writing a Woman's Life|Tags: , , , , , |

From T. S. Eliot’s poem

Footfalls echo in the memory Down the passage which we did not take Towards the door we never opened Into the rose-garden. My words echo Thus, in your mind.

January 12th, 2013|Categories: Oddments|Tags: |

T. S. Eliot and Berkshire Publishing

A year ago I wrote one of my monthly e-letters about how I've moved between literature and science, and I'm glad now, as I revisit the Eliot story after the death of Valerie Eliot, that I recorded some ideas about my work on the Eliot letters and about the "two cultures." I was quoted in a number of articles last week:

November 21st, 2012|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , , |

Remembering Valerie Eliot

I learned about Valerie Eliot's death before the news went out on the wire services yesterday because an acute reporter at The Times (that is, The Times of London) found my 2005 article about the Eliot Letters and emailed me (proving how easy I am to locate). He introduced himself as a science reporter who happened to be working on Sunday and mentioned "the two cultures," which immediately warmed my heart. I'm a literary person who has ended up doing a lot with science, so the idea of having a [...]

November 12th, 2012|Categories: Uncategorized|Tags: , |