Dr. John Neihardt 5835 Vine Street Lincoln Nebraska 68505
Dear Dr. Neihardt:

I must tell you again how delighted we are that you could spend last Wednesday on our campus. You captivated your audiences this year, just as you did in the fall of 1965, by the magnetism of your personality and poetic art. The intense, expectant stillness in both the auditorium and the classroom while you were speaking proved that your power to quicken and illumine continues undiminished. Your fine craftsmanship, sensitivity, inclusive sympathy, bright humor, controlled dramatic force, tested wisdom, and, above all, your genuineness, create a flow of communication with everyone who hears you. From our most experienced teachers to our underclassmen have come tributes stating, in essence, "Wasn't he wonderful!" What you have achieved and what you are make you a revered spokesman for the great tradition to which you have given your life.

Because you have had such a distinguished part in creating an enduring literary heritage for the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountain region, your counsel will be of the utmost importance to Dr. Lueninghoener and me as we collaborate on our "planevista" programs, combining high fidelity sound with color triad, panoramic projection. We hope to make good headway on the Neihardt unit this winter and, aided by a foundation grant, to travel in the summer and gather photographic documentation of settings in A CYCLE OF THE WEST.

Yours in deep respect,

Herman Gimmestad
Herman Gimmestad, Chairman
Division of Humanities