Lincoln, Nebraska 68505
August 14, 1973
I had intended to tell you how much I appreciated your wonderful speech at Bancroft on August 5, but I was barely ambulatory and did not overtake you. (You will note that I am hospital-minded and use hospital terms even in my private letters. But I am thanking you now for the generous things you said. What means most to me is the knowledge that you really meant it, and I hope some small portion of it is actually deserved by me.
I also want you to know l that I value your friendship and am grateful that I know you.
You may be interested in this bit of news. My WHEN THE TREE FLOWERED has sold 115,000 copies in four months and is still going. I don't know what Simon and Schuseter will report for the Pocket Book BLACK ELK SPEAKS. I have also heard that Johnny Cash and I are to be featured together in some sort of television program. They tell me Johnny Cash is a loveable man. I have never met him. The United Artists records of my work will be distributed September 16, I am told, and I am very eager to see the first album. I will see that you have one.
It is good to know that you will be in our country and that we will see you now and then.
Bless you, Val Peterson!
John G. Neihardt
