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To Archives of Amer. Art
Nell Blaine group
(from Mary Durant (Hardwood) with Mike wrote a wonderful book about following Audobon's trail - N)
Early 1972

Dear Nellie -- What a lovely card you and Jean put together [[strikethrough]] [[/strikethrough]] Your drawing is handsome. Oh yes, the everlasting romance of a shipyard. Brine and tar and gulls and back to the source. What a great summer it must have been. Wasn't it in Glouchester, some ten years ago, that you saw the gull drive, kill and incise a rabbit? I remember your telling that story and saying that the deed was done, in seconds, with the precision of surgeon. And I also remember your marvelous descritpion of arriving in New York from Virginia, dressed to the nines in some sort of Russian-esque costume, ready to conquer the town. And then the story about the man in the subway station who lent you a nickel to get to the job painting neck-ties*. [[margin]] *NB note this story is incorrect the job was painting tiles ceramic not ties. that was a different job [[/margin]] Not to mention your absolutely top-dog, a-number-one story about trapping the rat in the trash can and sliding the sheet of glass over the top to check him [[insert]] cut [[/insert]] and there he was, staring back. And the dreary trip through Egypt, when you couldn't bear it another moment and snapped out on the floor and began to dance... and the ice was broken. Well, my dear... it's nostalgia time, indeed. All evoked by Yaddo. Mike and I are going there for March and April, and I am swept by memories. The card games; the bibble-babbly gossip about whether Elizabeth would retire -- and wehn; Neddie and Harold grousing and tempermentalizing; Galway in a big orange second-hand Burberry overcoat. "I only paid two dollars for it," said he. "It looks it," said Ned. And if you were late for breakfast, the bacon was all gone. And the ping-pong tournament you organized on Valentine's day -- prizes, balloons, posters.
So, back again in two weeks. I'd applied, you know, a couple of time since, but didn't make the team. Tried again this year, and here we go. I understand it's quite different with Curt Harnack and Hortense running the show. Oh, and also heard from a friend who was there last summer (Issabelle Case Borgotta, the sculptor) that Jean Garigue has been in a bad spot -- her college job over, and losing her apartment in Westbeth -- everything going wrong at once. Trust she's okay and squared away once more.