Newberry Library - Light, James (Jim), (includes photographs), Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, n.d., 1956-1989

Light, James (Jim), (includes photographs), Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, n.d., 1956-1989

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Open book Light, James (Jim), (includes photographs), Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, n.d., 1956-1989

Title Light, James (Jim), (includes photographs), Jack Conroy incoming correspondence, n.d., 1956-1989

Creator Conroy, Jack, 1898-1990

Date n.d., 1956-1989

Language English

Subjects New Left

Format Correspondence

User-Contributed Transcription Light, Jim
1724 Crawford
Terre Haute, Indiana
August 8, 1959
Dear Jack + Gladys:
I got back to Terre Haute a few weeks ago, + though I had a good time in South Dakota, Maryland, + New York, I was glad to get back to my own small town. Since I returned I've been teaching four hours a day, + preparing to teach most of the rest of the day. The Contemporary Novel course is the course: lots of work. You may be interested to know that one of the students (a girl named Mary Youman) is writing a term paper on — guess what — Jack Conroy. Another student (Bill Lowes) is writing on Existentialism in Nelson Algren. Both students are excellent; I know, for I had them in their undergraduate days + they know more than I did then. (Don't say it wouldn't be hard!)
A week or so ago I got a long distance phone call from California. Couldn't imagine who it was. Wondered who I knew well enough there, so that some-one would call to tell me about his death. (To me long distance phone calls — the influence of the thirties — are to tell about death; telegrams to tell about sickness; letters for everything else.) Turned out to be W M Ryan, or some such name — the Contact man — + he wanted to tell me Contact was going to publish a West piece I had sent them. It's to appear in the September, 1959, issue, + it's to be entitled, rather flamboyantly + not my idea, Genius on the Campus: Nathanael West at Brown.
While I was in New York I wrote to Algren asking his permission to do a profile on him. He never answered, so I assume he was irritated by the request. I can guess why (one should never trade on friendship + I was — that is, I was if I know Algren well enough to have the right to call him a friend), + I felt wary. At any rate I shan't do — or rather finish, for I had it started — any profile on Algren. I'll return the ma-

Transcription Status Needs review

Transcription Note This document was transcribed by volunteers as part of the Newberry Transcribe crowdsourcing initiative.

Archival Collection Title Jack Conroy papers

Link to Catalog View finding aid | View record

Call Number Midwest MS Conroy Box 17 Folder 901

BibID nan

Projects Tag IMLS Cares 2020

Rights Status Copyright Not Evaluated

Contributing Institution Newberry Library

Newberry Open Access Policy The Newberry makes its collections available for any lawful purpose, commercial or non-commercial, without licensing or permission fees to the library, subject to these terms and conditions.

Size 3485px × 4403px 87.83 MB

File Created 10/19/2021

Filename 992006198805867_midwest_ms_conroy_box_00017_fl_00901_000059.tif

Unique Identifier NL1BZ94

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