[No surviving envelope]
ISheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff')reports on Henry's condition;c6 haveEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)terminal leukaemia;k7 rather moreMinot, Dr George;a1 reassuring news of Henry, from Sheff, which is based upon the opinion of his new doctor, a Dr. George Minot.1 Ittravels, trips and plansTSE's 1947 summer in America;g1itinerary;a7 seems that Minot is not gravely concerned by the leuchaemia [sic] at present, though he is not yet prepared to give an opinion as to the cause of the swellings (oedema) in several places. (These swellings are painless). So Sheff advises me to hold to my original plans. I now propose to come by air, for by sea not only are the sailings few and the dates likely to be inconvenient, but there is the uncertainty of the date of return. It seems that the air company will assure a return passage on a date bookable here in advance. So I propose to arrive in New York on the 23d April: whether I come on at once, orMorleys, the;k5 stop for a couple of nights with the Morleys (and there are people in New York I ought to see on business) depends upon Henry’s condition at the time.2 I am booking a return for the 11th June. IRichardses, the;b4 shall accept the hospitality of the Richards’s while in Cambridge; at least, I shall sleep there, and take my meals at the Faculty Club, whenEliot, Theresa Garrett (TSE's sister-in-law);d9 not with Henry and Theresa or elsewhere. ItWellesley College1947 poetry reading at;a7 isYale Universitypoetry reading at;b3 aPrinceton UniversityJohnson lectures revamped for;b8 problem fitting in theHarvard Universityspeaking engagement at;c3 several engagements: Wellesley, Yale, Princeton and Harvard, and also trying to get to Washington for a night if I can. I am glad to be staying with the Richards’s: they are good friends, it is a link with this country, and I shall feel more at ease with them than with anyone else.3
The weather has moderated, yesterday, and some of the snow has melted; so I am able to dispense with one layer of clothing. I shall now, unless another blizzard comes, be able to get to early church more often, as I ought to do in Lent. CheethamCheetham, Revd Eric;g8 very kindly fetched me yesterday morning with his little car: for on Sundays the buses do not start early enough, and otherwise I have twenty-five minutes walk, which, in the past weather, on an empty stomach, when I was guarding against a return of bronchitis, was too much.
IHale, Emilyas director ('producer');v9Richard II;b3 hope that you will have a rest after Richard II (it seems odd to me that a school should put its chief theatrical production in Lent: I don’t know how much religious instruction would be given in such a school in America).4
This is an interim letter: I shall try to pursue the subject of my letter of March 1 when I hear from you again. IEliot, Vivien (TSE's first wife, née Haigh-Wood)her death;f3TSE's shifting response to;a3 am still in a very dark passage, and God knows what I shall find at the end of it. ItChristianityvirtues heavenly and capital;e1self-discovery teaches;d5 should be a lesson in humility, this discovering oneself afresh, as a stranger, and realising (what one forgets after every crisis) that self-understanding is a process which has no end in this life, and probably is consummated only in purgatory.
1.DrMinot, Dr George George Minot (1885–1950), a native of Boston, joined the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital in 1917, rising to be Chief of Medical Services in 1923; Physician-in-Chief, 1934. He was Professor of Medicine at Harvard, and Director of the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory at Boston City Hospital. A member of the Pernicious Anemia Committee at Harvard, he received in 1930 the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh; and in 1934 he was awarded, with William P. Murphy and George H. Whipple, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on the treatment of blood anaemia. Minot himself was diagnosed in 1920 with diabetes mellitus, and (after initial treatment with a severe diet) was kept alive for many years by the happily contemporaneous discovery of insulin. See further F. M. Rackemann, The Inquisitive Physician: The Life and Times of George Richards Minot, A.B., M.D., D.Sc. (Harvard University Press, 1956).
2.TSE to Mary Trevelyan, 15 Apr. 1947: ‘As I have been dreading this visit, I hope that it will be a relief to get started, as then I shall have my return to look forward to.’ FrankMorley, Frank Vigoron TSE's 1947 New York stay;l6n Morley wrote from New Canaan, Connecticut, to A. W. Wheen, 7 May 1947: ‘Who do you think – Uncle Tom – has just been visiting with us. What fun it has been. He came to see his brother who was dying, and we got him off to Cambridge (Mass.) just in time for it, as everybody thinks and nobody dares to say, and he’ll be back next week’ (Morley Papers, Berg).
3.TSE stayed with I. A. and Dorothea Richards at 41 Kirkland St., Cambridge 38, Mass.
4.‘RichardHale, Emilyas director ('producer');v9Richard II;b3 II’, The Chameleon (Concord Academy), June 1947, 4–5: ‘ForHale, Emilyas teacher;w1her work at Concord Academy;d8n two months after our return from the Christmas holidays our time seemed about equally divided between studies and preparations for Richard II. Under Miss Hale’s direction the cast, stage crew, and lighting committee met in the gym afternoons, evenings, and Saturdays to perfect all phases of the production. It was not until a week before the performance, when the entire cast met to run through the whole play for the first time, that we realized what a tremendous task we had undertaken or how rewarding it promised to be. We were all completely absorbed by the intensity of the rehearsal that day, performed on the unfinished stage by girls attired in blue jeans and sweaters.
‘The play was one of the most successful ever given by Concord Academy. The production was a gratifying and valuable experience, for it taught us the importance of group cooperation, it broadened our understanding of human nature, and it deepened our appreciation of great drama.
‘Miss Gertrude Rideout in her generous review of the play in the Concord Journal said, “It was a bold choice of Miss Hale’s but one wholly justified by the success of the experiment. Her especial triumph other than the creation of the play’s exterior beauty was the defining for herself and her players of the deep and essential spirit of the piece. The pace, which was always measured but never oppressive, was suited to the tragedy, and the sincerity and intelligence which the girls exhibited in the reading of their lines contributed immeasurably to the attainment of this illusive [sic] quality … The girls all placed their voices well, and their diction was faultless … The reading of Shakespeare is not often accomplished so successfully, even by professionals, unless those professionals have originated in England.
‘“… All the girls wore the gorgeous clothes as if they were everyday apparel. These was no self-consciousness as lords and ladies moved about the stage, apparently unaware of the pictorial value of their garments … The stage effects … often striking … were essentially simple and did not distract … The production was lovely to look at, and lovely to listen to, a sensuous delight that will be ‘a joy forever.’
‘“… To Miss Hale Concord is indebted for a unique experience in the theatre; to Miss Hale the Academy and the girls who took part in the play are indebted far more deeply than they now realize, for it was her courage, her vision, and her skill which initiated the project and which brought it to successful completion.”’
4.RevdCheetham, Revd Eric Eric Cheetham (1892–1957): vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, London, 1929–56 – ‘a fine ecclesiastical showman’, as E. W. F. Tomlin dubbed him. TSE’s landlord and friend at presbytery-houses in S. Kensington, 1934–9. See Letters 7, 34–8.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
1.DrMinot, Dr George George Minot (1885–1950), a native of Boston, joined the Collis P. Huntington Memorial Hospital in 1917, rising to be Chief of Medical Services in 1923; Physician-in-Chief, 1934. He was Professor of Medicine at Harvard, and Director of the Thorndike Memorial Laboratory at Boston City Hospital. A member of the Pernicious Anemia Committee at Harvard, he received in 1930 the Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh; and in 1934 he was awarded, with William P. Murphy and George H. Whipple, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work on the treatment of blood anaemia. Minot himself was diagnosed in 1920 with diabetes mellitus, and (after initial treatment with a severe diet) was kept alive for many years by the happily contemporaneous discovery of insulin. See further F. M. Rackemann, The Inquisitive Physician: The Life and Times of George Richards Minot, A.B., M.D., D.Sc. (Harvard University Press, 1956).
4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.
8.AlfredSheffield, Alfred Dwight ('Shef' or 'Sheff') Dwight Sheffield (1871–1961) – ‘Shef’ or ‘Sheff’ – husband of TSE’s eldest sister, taught English at University School, Cleveland, Ohio, and was an English instructor, later Professor, of Group Work at Wellesley College. His publications include Lectures on the Harvard Classics: Confucianism (1909) and Grammar and Thinking: a study of the working conceptions in syntax (1912).