Letter from John G. Neihardt to Lucile Aly, March 13, 1968

5835 Vine Street
Lincoln, Nebraska 68505
March 13, 1968 Dr. Lucile Aly 1138 Twenty-second Avenue, East Eugene Oregon 97403 Dear Lucile:

I am greatly encouraged by your recent letter, as I understand from it that you will have a batch of manuscript to send to me before long. I have arrangements made for handling the material at once. Mr. Young is a retired high school teacher and a very active person. He will help me with the manuscript by reading to me and taking down my comments.

I am so sorry about your father. It is such a pity that he has to have such a struggle in getting to the other world. That's the only criticism I have of the Lord's business as he takes care of it. There surely should be a better way to exit.

I note, too, that you are actually near enough to the end of your long task to think of May as a possible time for submitting your work to the Press. Won't it be bully to see your book actually in print? And I know, Lucile, it will be a good book. Surely it has been a labor of love as well as of scholarship.

A Hungarian painter from Kansas City will be here three days this week to paint my portrait. He is a very remarkable person, and we are looking forward to having him here.

I have hearl from Mr. Black of Denver University. He is not a professor, as I had supposed, but a graduate student 24 years old. I am glad he is a young man since he is the sort of man who can be interested in THE DIVINE ENCHANTMENT and THE MESSIAH.

I can't be sure that I will be able to come out to see you for the final check-up. If I can I will, you know that, and I will let you know reasonably soon. I have sent your letter on to Enid to see if she might be interested but I have little hope that she would be able to come, especially this time of year.

With the old love, John John G. Neihardt

JGN:nh

P. S. 3-14-69

You may remember John G. Madden, who was a student at M. U. when you were there. He was [my?] one of my boys and he has remained almost passionately faithful to this old friend of his. He is a reserve Navy flyer, and he has taken me about — once in a Lear Jet (19 minutes from K. C. to Lincoln). He insists that I let him know when I want to go anywhere and he will

be on hand to take me there! I mentioned needing to see you, and he leaped at the idea — wanted to start next [morning?] morning. He will take me to Eugene if it seems right for me to go. But there would have to be a co-pilot (government regulations) and two men could not wait for me to be through talking with you; and I don't want to travel alone with my eyes. (They misinform me.)

Affectionately — John N.