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

I've been having the Biography read to me, and I want to tell you again that I'm delighted with the writing — just now with the chapters on the Lyrics.

Lucile, it's just "awfully" good!

There are little errors, but I don't think there are any in the Lyrics. Hilda was here for a day, and she told me of several small, but important slips of the pen. She didn't want to write you, but I've insisted. There is some mis-statement in the matter of the valedictory, I believe. She will tell you, and you may trust her.

In Missouri the Friends of the Library, working with the State Library Board, is planning a "Neihardt Corner" on the main floor of the University Library. It will contain much of my more or less precious stuff and be a sort of museum.

A Kansas City lady, who is involved in the affair, was here today and told us of the plans. Also, arrangements re are being made for my 90th birthday in K. C. celebration, as well as here.

90 years!! (My God!)

We will have records on sale by spring, it seems — Lyrics, Sitting Bull's Death, Death of Crazy Horse. Vision of the Spirit World. All in perfect shape. They are now ready to begin "cutting" the records from the tapes.

Do please tell me what is being done to the Biography by way of "revision". I'm [jealous?] for that book.

Love to you, Bower and Old Man Stewart. (I have not yet heard if John Paul Jones is still being collected!)

The "Neihardt Room" will be in addition to the Neihardt Collection and the Western MSS Collection (in the same building, of course.)

Do tell me something exciting about the U. of Neb. Press and its doings with the MS.

P. S.

Hilda, who is my lawyer and agent [plenipotentiary?] (?) will leave tomorrow for an a week in New York. She is going in my interest. And we need very much to have close contacts there.

Hard-back rights are still mine in all the U. of Neb. publications and nobody is making a dime out of them. Even so, the sales are very good (all without promotion of any kind. I do believe that if Black Elk Speaks were taken over for hard-back publication and pushed a bit, the book would go wild in the market. We hear from it all over the country, and, of course, it pulls the Cycle along with it.

We were right on the edge of having a m movie when the money market knocked hell out of the movie business; We may still have Black Elk produced, but I'm not too hopeful.

I'm just completing my story, "The Two Boys" which is a chapter in the Adult section of my Old Man book. The Adult section will be a collection of significant episodes. I'd like to send you my Spearfish Canyon dog story. It's a corker, I believe.

Write me about the Biography and thep preparations for publication.