Literature Forever?

March 15

You are a nimble old artist. Always were—nimble beyond your years. Old when young and now vice versa. I wonder though: If you and I lived to be 300, would either of us be reading with excitement the literature of that far time? But that raises a more general question: could a person that old feel any excitement at all? The necessary succulence of mind might have long since departed. But for now we are succulent. I’m as interested by literature and writing as ever, as you seem to be. Do feel a diminution? I feel an increase. Cheering to have you sharing your latest brush with these two masters of our literary dawn. Personification is in fact a frequent Steinbeck effect, and one of my favorites. The affectionate and interested way he sees human personality in animals and things. And of course his lively imagery and easy, colorful style—there are many favorite things in his writing.