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in pencil 1948 Dear Mr Conroy,

Sally and I, in our reading today, went through your and Mr. Bontemps books, which you so

graciously sent to Sally. My dereliction of manners and courtesy provoke me tonight to write to you. More, knowing you have probably seen D? on already, I am mortified. Please accept my belated thanks for your books.

Your interest in my short piece in Directories is flattering, both for its lack of academic stigma and its coming

from me whose comment I respect highly. Sparing? was no part of a larger concrete design. It was originally one of a series of isolated studies to bring out what has lain dormant in me so long. My mining days are more vivid to me than my war experiences, though they come first. I worked as a surveyor on a depoession - decimated engineering corps. I hated the work. Two dirty years, crawling among broken?-shutes? in two foot veins, impressed me. If you will advise me, I shall try your suggestion of making Spring? part of a larger work