An original handwritten two-page letter to Louise Kertesz from Muriel Rukeyser, dated August 9, 1976. Muriel states that whatever happened to Louise’s daughter is wonderful news, and sends good wishes to Louise and her family. Monica McCall had found reviews of Body of Waking in her office at ICM, along with "the plays." The second part of the letter states that Muriel will be in London from the 19th to September 3rd for the P.E.N. Congress, where she will speak on "the Truth of Imagination" in poetry. Page 2 of 2. The letter is attached with a paper clip to a seventeen-page bundle of Louise's handwritten notes of findings, quotes, observations on Rukeyser. [See documents 018_LK_01_006 to 018_LK_01_023.]
An original handwritten two-page letter to Louise Kertesz from Muriel Rukeyser, dated August 9, 1976. Muriel states that whatever happened to Louise’s daughter is wonderful news, and sends good wishes to Louise and her family. Monica McCall had found reviews of Body of Waking in her office at ICM, along with "the plays." The second part of the letter states that Muriel will be in London from the 19th to September 3rd for the P.E.N. Congress, where she will speak on "the Truth of Imagination" in poetry. Page 1 of 2. The letter is attached with a paper clip to a seventeen-page bundle of Louise's handwritten notes of findings, quotes, observations on Rukeyser. [See documents 018_LK_01_006 to 018_LK_01_023.]
An original, typewritten letter, dated July 7th, 1975. The letter is from Muriel Rukeyser to Louise Kertesz. In the letter, Rukeyser thanks Louise for sending her essay on Thoreau. Rukeyser also provides an answer to Louise’s question [how to access a copy of M.L Rosenthal's 1949 thesis, "Chief Poets of the American Depression: Contributions of Kenneth Fearing, Horace Gregory, and Muriel Rukeyser to Contemporary American Poetry"] and suggests that she write to M.L. Rosenthal at N.Y.U. and ask to borrow a copy of his thesis. Rukeyser ends the letter by saying that she is enclosing a copy of the issue of American Poetry Review that Louise had requested.
Dated September 11th, 1976. A typewritten note From Muriel Rukeyser to Louise Kertesz. Muriel had received Louise’s questions on August 25th, and she praises “The depth of perception, the beauty, of your work - what you have written and your questions - lead me now to make a further commitment to your work.” There is “one condition, very important, that I must make: will you send me a confirming note that all passages in your manuscript concerning my son and his birth be sent to him, and none of those passages be published without his consent?” Muriel ends by saying, “Your book, as it is taking form, seems extraordinary to me. It is not a thesis.”
Dated June 24th, 1977. A photocopied handwritten note from Muriel Rukeyser to Louise Kertesz. Rukeyser states that Kertesz's manuscript “is an astonishing and beautiful book, and brings through the structure and vocabulary.”’ Rukeyser had written to Bernard Perry to “hasten things along” and asks if Louise wants her to write to another press. Rukeyser also looks forward to seeing Louise. Her final words, "Slowly coming back," refer to her recovery from her second stroke.
A photocopy of a typewritten two-page letter, dated September 12th, 1942. The letter is from Albert Einstein to Muriel Rukeyser. The background information on this letter is that Muriel Rukeyser had asked Albert Einstein to write a foreword to her biography of the theoretical scientist Willard Gibbs. Rukeyser asked Einstein to “lend his name to her effort to make Gibbs known to a time that needed the story of his achievement." Without reading Rukeyser’s book, Einstein refused, saying that “In my view, there is but one way to bring a great scientist to the attention of the larger public: it is to discuss and explain, in language which will be generally understood, the problems and solutions which have characterized his life-work. This can only be done by someone who has a fundamental grasp of the material.” Kertesz found this letter during her research in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. Page 2 of 2.
A photocopy of a typewritten two-page letter, dated September 12th, 1942. The letter is from Albert Einstein to Muriel Rukeyser. The background information on this letter is that Muriel Rukeyser had asked Albert Einstein to write a foreword to her biography of the theoretical scientist Willard Gibbs. Rukeyser asked Einstein to “lend his name to her effort to make Gibbs known to a time that needed the story of his achievement." Without reading Rukeyser’s book, Einstein refused, saying that “In my view, there is but one way to bring a great scientist to the attention of the larger public: it is to discuss and explain, in language which will be generally understood, the problems and solutions which have characterized his life-work. This can only be done by someone who has a fundamental grasp of the material.” Einstein acknowledges that "the personal side must be taken account of," but it can’t be the whole focus of the book, or the work becomes “banal hero-worship, based on emotion and not on insight” and that Einstein has learned “by my own experience how hateful and ridiculous it is, when a serious man, absorbed in important endeavors, is ignorantly lionized.” In the end, Einstein refuses Rukeyser’s request, writing that “I cannot give my public endorsement to such an undertaking. It would seem to me less than honourable. That sounds harsh: I even fear that you will take my inability for unjustifiable unkindness. But so I am, and cannot be otherwise.” Kertesz found this letter during her research in the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library. She bracketted the first part of the letter, and attached a sticky note to the back of the paper that says, “Einstein.” Page 1 of 2.
Photograph of Muriel Rukeyser with Sarah Lawrence President Charles R. DeCarlo on her left. “A day in Honor of Muriel Rukeyser," December 9, 1978, Sarah Lawrence College.
Dated 1954, a photograph of the Bollingen Poetry Prize Selection Committee. A group photograph (from the back row, left to right) Wallace Stevens, Randall Jarrell, Allen Tate. (Front row) Marianne Moore and Muriel Rukeyser.
Louise Kertesz, far right, standing with poet Richard Eberhart and two other individuals, one man and one woman, at a poetry event, date and location still to be determined.
The poet Richard Eberhart stands behind a low table with an open book in front of a small audience of seated individuals, at a poetry event, date and location still to be determined.
Muriel Rukeyser is present in the photograph, sitting with the writer Alice Walker to her right. Grace Paley appears to be the woman standing in front of Walker and involved in conversation with her. Alice Walker was a former student of Muriel Rukeyser at Sarah Lawrence College.
“A day in Honor of Muriel Rukeyser," December 9, 1978, Sarah Lawrence College. Muriel Rukeyser is present in the photograph, sitting with the writer Alice Walker to her right. Alice Walker was a former student of Muriel Rukeyser at Sarah Lawrence College.
“A day in Honor of Muriel Rukeyser," December 9, 1978, Sarah Lawrence College. Muriel Rukeyser is present in the photograph, sitting with her nephew Louis Rukeyser to her left, and the writer Alice Walker standing and facing Rukeyser. Alice Walker was a former student of Muriel Rukeyser at Sarah Lawrence College.
"A day in Honor of Muriel Rukeyser," December 9, 1978, Sarah Lawrence College. Muriel Rukeyser is present in the photograph, sitting with her nephew Louis Rukeyser and the writer Grace Paley to her left and the writer Alice Walker standing to her right, facing her. Alice Walker was a former student of Muriel Rukeyser at Sarah Lawrence College.
“A day in Honor of Muriel Rukeyser," December 9, 1978, Sarah Lawrence College. Muriel Rukeyser is present in the photograph, sitting with her nephew Louis Rukeyser and the writer Grace Paley to her left and the writer Alice Walker to her right. Alice Walker was a former student of Muriel Rukeyser at Sarah Lawrence College.
Black and white photograph of Louise Kertesz (pictured far left), her husband Chris Kertesz beside her, and four other individuals, among them Marge Piercy, in conversation with poet Richard Eberhart, at a poetry event, date and location still to be determined.
