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Elena Magnoli Via Nievo 27 21052 Busto Arsizio (VA) ITALIA Tel. 0331/638212

 October 7, 1982

Dear Jack Conroy, thank you for writing. I am sorry you had so much trouble this summer. I hope everything is O.K. now. Kisses to your Gladys.

 Do you understand my handwriting? I am faster in it than in typewriting and I can communicate

my ideas better. My English has never been good and if you knew I was in the U.S. for a year you would understand how bad it is. I was an A.F.S. exchange student in Red Wing, Minnesota. When I came back to Italy I took on Modern Languages at the State University of Milan and now I am graduating in American Literature. (By the way my sponsor thanks you and says Hi)

 What surprised me most in the United States (more than the beautiful landscapes and the habit

of organizing lots of parties) was the American hatred toward Communism. You could breathe it in the air. At that time I was only seventeen, just making my first steps in the world, but even then I could not understand this unjust