Across the Spectrum:The Interdisciplinary Life and Letters of John G. Neihardt (‘Flaming Rainbow’)

You're a perfect gentleman (in the high sense, of course) as well as a scholar; but you're a lovely lady too, and I don't like you some, the way I used to didn't, do I? (Parse that one!)

I've read your letter several times - with satisfaction and gratefulness. You do know, bless you!

About the Sterling remark concerning "Bundleizing": I do not know the year, and your objection is reasonable. But Sterling did write enthusiastically about the Bundle, saying in effect: "No one has ever expressed the gloom and glory, the Hell and Heaven" of love as you have. I remember this clearly because I thought, surely no one is a better authority on erotic love than he!! It was almost the

man's profession, and it would have been impossible to impress him with less than the real thing! This is cited to show that George was greatly impressed by the Bundle. It came out in 1907, but the "New Poetry" outbreak did not come until 1912. So there could have been no "Bundleizing" before that date. Soon thereafter it seemed that a considerable portion of the population had taken to "poetry".

I wish we could locate Sterling's letters to me - those that I sold back East. It's a pity; but I needed money - had to have it. Is there not a way to run those letters down? I understood at the time that they were sold "to an institution". Brown University was very active then in collecting poets. Maybe they would know, even if they didn't own them. They must have been microfilmed, I'd suppose.

I've sent the tape. It gives an accurate account of the Graff brush war. I am sure he did not turn & hasten down the street because of cowardice. No such thing. But he did know about my alleged athletic prowess. The whole town knew. He might well have thought I'd make a fool of him

And, indeed, I would have done at least that, because I could have hurt him; and, I believe, I would have done so under the circumstances. He was not magnanimous. Really, Lucile, I was, ten years later when I told him he was right and I was a damned fool.

In dealing with Graf's political campaign, I had no thought whatever of "politics". I was after Graf, the man, in the interest of my f friend, Fred Nelson, the man, who wanted to be State Senator the same as Graf did. It was funny, Lucile, and should be handled in a way somewhat less than heavy.

You can make make a real small-town drama out of it, by golly! The impending clash with Graff, who had announced his intention to " trounce" me; the meeting; his insulting remarks about my size; my expression of the my intention to "go through him like a dose of salts"; the offering of a horse against what have you that I'd win the battle (this across the street). This episode is characteristic of country journalism, in the good old days of "fighting newspapers" before the R. F. D. came in with the city dailies. So it has historical value too. Make a story out of it! It's a damned good yarn, and, in essence, very funny.

(You make a good point in your defense of [?]. The Divine Enchantment makes a good story too - but not a funny one. Tell it as you would to friends around a fireplace. Don't forget my carrying it with me on the hobo trip. It meant so much to me.

I've been writing fast (with bad eye-sight too) and almost missed the page in my enthusiasm.

On the tape I explained the wrestling hold I used on my big boys in my country school. (This was the winter of 1898-99). This too is a good story, characteristic of conditions in the one-room country schools. Remember that my former school-mate, a young lady, was put out of the school, & locked out, the year before. She went home crying and never came back. I took the school for [$?]30 per month, knowing well what I was up against - big husky boys, who were really men & only half civilized. I knew and secretly liked that breed. The Director of the school board was reluctant to hire me because, as

he insisted, "what them boys needed was to be trashed out." (He was a big Swede). The boys found they couldn't handle me in wrestling and became admiring pals. But, even so, they would laughingly "gang up" on me in our cob-fights at noon and recess. (We heated the school with corn cobs). Once, on my birthday, three boys tackled me, and after a big struggle, got me down. I leaped up and said, "no two of you can do that." And one said, "That That is why we came three!" Long before school was out the big boys were my friends and would have fought for me, I do believe.

I infer that you have not yet read your MS to which I my notes refer. There are further comments on the margins, and even on the backs of pages here and there. Most of the favorable, even rejoicing, comment is on the margins. The notes were prepared for reading with the MS. Please do read through through the MS.

The stories I've emphasized are vital and really interesting. They are the prime stuff of biography if conceived as good anecdotes.

Yes, I was awfully young, wasn't I, to be running a newspaper ! It's such a pity that you could not see a complete, unm unmutilated file of the Blade. There were articles that did represent

me at the time, I know. Perhaps a bit callow, but with stuff in them too. - And those primer pages with illustrations prepared for little children, that they might know and revere Mr. Graff!! Wow! If I had been he I'd have wanted to kick my Neihardt's pants up on the back of my his neck!! But it was funny. My cartoonist was Neil Harman, a budding artist who clerked in his step-father's hardware store. He had a lot of fun too, but I caught all the hell! (Why do I remember names, names & details as I do?)

Love to you, dear Lady, and to Bower - for that matter - to Perky also.