by Anne Conover
24 “Writing is not a game . . .”: HC to Henrietta Crosby (Nov. 15, 1923), SIU 140/46–10.
24 “that small woman with the fierce courage of a hummingbird . . .”: Boyle, Stories (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1929).
24 “Harry used to dart in . . .”: Beach, Shakespeare and Company, p. 134–35.
24 “You’re dumb as an oyster . . .”: see McAlmon, Being Geniuses Together, p. 248.
25 “pranced about as the spirit of the jazz age . . .”: McAlmon, p. 122.
25 The Black Sun Press writers . . .: CC, “How It Began,” p. i.
26 “like a Delta dog . . .”: HC to Henrietta Crosby (Jan. 7 1927), SIU 140/46–10.
26 dining with the trend-setting Crosbys on American cuisine . . .: PPD memoir, p. 13.
27 “Val Kulla”: an etching by the Swedish artist Anders Zorn.
27 “Our One-ness is the color of a glass of red wine”: HC/SOS (June 1929).
27 “Mama’s Gypsy Lover”: PPD memoir, p. 8.
28 “Caresse believes that woman . . .”: HC/SOS (Apr. 15, 1928), SIU 140/40–1.
28 “anything she herself wanted. . “: Boyle, interview by Wolff, BS, p. 22.
28 I have been feeling very physical. . . .: HC to CC (June 25, 1929), SIU 140/43–1.
28 a Boston friend was shocked . . .: Wolff, BS, p. 146.
29 “At one o’clock, it was WILD . . .”: see Wolff, BS, pp. 167–70, for description of the Quatre Arts Ball.
30 Polleen “came to know the servants well”: PPD memoir, pp. 14–19.
31 “drink this, my Wretched Rat . . .”: PPD memoir, pp. 12–13.
31 . . . stepfather’s flirtations . . .: Ibid.
32 One evening, I was dressed . . .: PPD memoir, p. 3.
33 “He wrote the most beautiful love letters . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 3.
33 “plus emancipée, plus independente . . .”: Headmistress of Chalet Marie Jose to CC (Feb. 28, 1927), SIU 140/62–1.
34 “If I get to Paris . . .”: Lindbergh, see Wiser, The Crazy Years, p. 187.
34 “My ears, which are unusually keen . . .: he looked boyish . . .: For CC’s reportage of the Lindbergh arrival, see PY, p. 152.
Chapter III: Moulin du Soleil
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from PY.)
36 “Right now?” Armand asked: This story is apocryphal. For the facts behind the legend, see Wolff, BS, pp. 226–27. According to Wolff, the Crosbys rented the mill for 5,000 fr. (U.S. 200) a year on a 20-year contract.
36 “Our swimming pool was no larger than two postage stamps . . .”: PPD memoir, pp. 22–23.
37 “to die at the right time”: HC/SOS (July 6, 1928), SIU 140/40–1.
38 “Hart Crane here, and much drinking . . .”: HC/SOS, SIU 140/40–1.
38 “M. Henri liked to eat snails . . .”: PPD memoir, pp. 24–25.
38 “Hart, what thunder and fire . . .”: HC to Crane (Mar. 1, 1929), SIU 140/36–5; see also Unterecker, Voyager, p. 586.
38 “the most inspiring novel. . .”: HC/SOC (Feb. 10, 1928), SIU 140/40–1.
39 “My wife went to Florence . . .”: Lawrence to HC (May 26, 1928), SIU 140/55–6.
40 “He is direct, I am indirect . . .”: HC/SOS (Mar. 15, 1929), SIU 140/40–1.
40 “a glimpse of chaos . . .”: Lawrence, intro. to Chariot of the Sun (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1931), pp. ii–iii.
40 “Harry was really so well . . .” see Moore, Priest of Love, p. 490.
40 “It’s all so vivid to me . . .”: Frieda Lawrence to CC, quoted in Moore, p. 469
40 . . . weekend at the Mill . . .: PPD memoir, pp. 23–25.
40 “the new atrocities”: see Unterecker, Voyager, p. 581.
40 “Mobs for luncheon . . .”: HC/SOS (Feb. 3, 1929), SIU 140/40–1; see also Wolff, BS, p. 255.
41 “The top floor of the Mill . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 25.
41 “Opium was his drug of choice . . .”: HC/SOS (Nov. 22, 1925), SIU 140/40–1.
41 “. . . a fairly ‘normal’ way of life . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 25.
42 “A mixture of Surrealists . . .”: Dali, quoted by Wolff, BS, p. 228.
42 Caresse collected titles . . .: see PPD memoir, p. 26: Wolff, p. 229.
Chapter IV: Lit de Mort
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from PY.)
43 “. . . married seven years . . .”: HC/SOS, quoted in PY, p. 253.
43 “An aeroplane? Is Harry really tired of life?”: Lawrence to CC (Nov. 1, 1929), SIU 140/55–6.
43 “The most simple Sun-death . . .”: HC/SOS, SIU 140/40–1.
43 In the fall of 1929 . . .: see Wiser, The Crazy Years, pp. 227–28.
44 . . . another Princess cabled “Impatient!”: Josephine Rotch Bigelow to HC (Nov. 19, 1929), SIU 140; see Wolff, BS, p. 10.
44 “I have invited our little seamstress . . .”: HC, Sleeping Together (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1929).
45 “You will adore this room”: CC to HC (Nov. 25, 1929), SIU 140/43–1.
45 “One is not in love . . .”: HC, unpublished notebook, SIU 140; see also flyleaf of SOS, “si ma dame mourroit je mourrois avec elle.”
46 “I ponder death . . .”: HC, unpublished notebook, SIU 140/41–3.
46 “I promise with the absolute Faith . . .”: HC to CC (Dec. 25, 1921), SIU 140/42–9.
47 “pick a card”: Malcolm Cowley interview, in Wolff, BS, p. 8. (CC preserved the ace of hearts, SIU 140/46–6.)
47 Fire Princess was known locally as a “strange wild girl who delighted in saying things to shock people”: see Wolff, BS, p. 282.
47 “It was madness, like cats in the night . . .”: HC, unpublished notebook, SIU 140/41–3.
47 “This is the letter Josephine brought Harry . . .”: see SIU 140/42–8 (also the two unpublished poems by Bigelow).
47 They discovered Harry Crosby . . .: see Wolff, BS, p. 9.
48 “I shall die within my Lady’s arms . . .”: HC, Red Skeletons (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1927).
48 “2 Boston/Dolls . . .”: e.e. cummings, Poems, IX (1923–34).
48 “SUICIDE PACT EVIDENT . . .”: Boston Post (Dec. 12, 1929). CROSBY POEMS CLEW: New York Daily News (Dec. 12, 1929).
49 “in spite of Harry’s crazy ways . . .”: PPD memoir, pp. 4–5.
49 “she was too uncertain of herself . . .”: Boyle to Wolff (Jan. 23, 1973), quoted in BS, p. 299.
49 “Those of us who knew Harry . . .”: MacLeish to Henrietta Crosby (Dec. 12, 1929), SIU 140/46–7.
49 “Harry Crosby willed himself to die . . .”: CC to Olson (Jan. 20, 1950), SIU 140/61–1.
Chapter V: Born to Myself
(This chapter is based on PY, corroborated by interviews and correspondence with Polly Peabody Drysdale and surviving members of the Jacob family and friends. Page numbers refer to PY.)
51 The name Jacob . . .: p. 18.
52 “Poor father never liked being a businessman”: p. 69.
52 distinguished ancestors: p.20.
52 “[mother’s] belligerent and caustic spirit . . .”: p. 21.
52 “I was the first child . . .”: p. 14.
53 [East Island] cottage . . .: p. 15.
53 “Into my ears the waters poured . . .”: p.15.
55 their first literary venture: pp. 44–46.
55 Cole Porter: p. 53.
56 Richard Peabody: p.63.
57 “Idealists are all crackpots . . .” [father’s death]: p. 69.
58 brassière invented by CC: pp. 71–74.
58 marriage to Peabody: p. 75.
60 birth of son, Billy: p. 75.
60 at Peabody home in Mass.: p. 88.
61 birth of daughter, Polleen: p. 77.
62 Army wife in South Ca
rolina: pp. 84–87.
Chapter VI: Life after Harry
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from PY.)
64 Ecclesiastes 4:11.
65 “I was at boarding school when Harry died”: PPD memoir, p. 3.
65 “I presumed she meant . . . Harry would have seduced me”: PPD memoir, p. 4.
66 “You are meant to heartbreak people . . .”: Crane to CC, SIU 140/36–5.
66 “Mama draped herself . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 6.
67 “a death from excess vitality . . .”: Pound, “Notes” to The Torchbearer (Paris: Black Sun Press, 1931), p, i.
67 [Pound] “In his loud checked trousers . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 1.
68 “the list of Mama’s lovers grew . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 8.
68 “Will you be in Paris . . .”: Lymington to CC (May 23, 1930), SIU 140/56–9.
69 “With my dearest love . . .”: Lymington to CC (Dec. 1969), SIU 140/56–9.
69 “I don’t know why he loved my mother . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 9.
70 “. . . It’s three o’clock . . .”: Porel to CC (Aug. 3, 1930), SIU 140/64–3.
70 “the only place where you can see life and death . . .”: see Cowley, Think Back On Us, p. 221.
72 “They say they have a big demand . . .”: CC to Pound (Aug. 28, 1931), YaleU.
72 “Your wonderful and enthusiastic letter about bucking Tauchnitz . . .”: CC to Pound (Sept. 20, 1931), YaleU.
72 “get hold of a public”: see Ford, Published in Paris, p. 223.
72 “Do you remember that torrential day . . .”: CC to Hemingway, PY, pp. 298–99.
74 “Yes, I was wise in leaving . . .”: Porel to CC (1930), SIU 140/64–3.
74 “You have been a dear . . .”: Porel to CC (Oct. 1930), SID 140/64–3.
74 “She died without a bob”: author interview with PPD, London, 1985.
74 “Caresse, you don’t understand me . . .”: Porel to CC (Oct. 1930), SIU 140/64–3.
75 “I have already written . . .”: Porel to CC (Feb. 2, 1931), SIU 140/64–3.
75 “Just one week “: Porel to CC (Feb. 9, 1931), SIU 140/64–3.
76 [Jacques was] “. . . a pic-assiette . . .”: PPD memoir, p. 11.
76 “dans sa langue maternelle”: Porel to CC (Oct. 28, 1931), SIU 140/64–3.
76 “I have one more word to say . . .”: Porel to CC (Nov. 1931), SIU 140/64–3.
77 “So your doctor says . . .”: Porel to CC (1931), SIU 140/64–3.
77 “Consider how many years . . .”: Boyle to CC, SIU 140/33–6; see also Ford, Published in Paris, p. 227.
77 “I find it discouraging . . .”: CC to Boyle, SIU 140/33–6.
78 “had not one cent of working capital”: Ibid.
78 “About CCE . . .”: CC to Pound (1931), YaleU.
78 Caresse Crosby, alone, is carrying on : Leeds (London: UWS, April 1931).
79 “Mama’s chauffeurs . . . often rebelled”: PPD memoir, p. 15.
Chapter VII: Hampton Manor
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from PY.)
83 “Green Hat Tree”: refers to Michael Arlen’s popular novel, The Green Hat, a thinly disguised portrait of Nancy Cunard.
83 . . . some 433 shares of common stock: document dated Sept. 30, 1936, SIU 140/27–3.
84 “Bert dearest: You went away again . . .”: CC to Young (1937), SIU 140/72–2.
85 A license had been applied for in September 1936: document in SIU 140/27–3.
85 Polleen never forgave her mother: see PPD memoir, p. 4.
85 “a very unpleasant scene . . .”: PPD to CC, SIU 140/62–1.
86 “the wheat dust flew around her . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 38.
86 “Henry Miller, originally of Brooklyn . . .”: page from guest book, Hampton Manor (1937), SIU 140.
86 “Henry came to my Black Sun Press . . .”: CC, narration of “Always Yes! Caresse” (Snyder film). For the true story of their meeting (at Crosby’s East 53rd St. pied-à-terre in NY), see Nin, Diary II, pp. 54–56.
86 “he looked for all the world like a rosy-skinned Buddhist monk . . .”: Nin, Diary I, p. 8.
87 [Dudley,] “penniless and nowhere to go”: Nin, Diary III, p. 40.
87 (According to Henry, he was “gestating”): Miller, “Letter to Lafayette,” The Air-Conditioned Nightmare, p. 44.
87 “I am counting on you . . .”: CC to Dali, SIU 140/46–13.
87 “Maybe with your help . . .”: CC from Doubleday editor, SIU 140/46–13.
87 “Dali used to come down to the Mill . . .”: CC, “Always Yes! Caresse.”
88 a “Dream Ball”: see PY, pp. 330–32, 382; “Always Yes! Caresse.”
89 “that nut Dali”: Miller to CC (July 27, 1968), SIU 140/58–5.
89 “We were not allowed to enter . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 40.
89 [of Dali’s moustache]—“I have a bigger one . . . :”Dali Reapproached,” The New Yorker (Feb. 1963).
89 “He was so full of inventions . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 40.
89 “with all of us sitting around her table . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p, 39.
90 “Dear Carress: As when all things . . .”: Young to CC, SIU 140/72–2.
90 “I’m on my way without you . . .”: CC to Young (Aug. 13, 1940), SIU 140/72–2.
91 “Dear Carress: You were wrong . . “: Young to CC, SIU 140/72–2.
92 the meals were deadlocked by undercurrents of hostility: Nin, Diary III, p. 4.
92 “He has no need of wine . . .”: Nin, Diary I, p, 8.
92 “When [Dali] finished working . . .”: Miller, “Letter to Lafayette,” p. 43.
92 “So far everything is fine . . .”: Miller to CC (July 20, 1940), SIU 140/58–5.
93 “ . . . distant roads looked wet . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 42.
94 “At noon the next day . . .”: Miller, “Letter to Lafayette,” p. 43.
94 “I’m still tremendously afraid of grasshoppers . . .”: “Dali Reapproached,” The New Yorker (Feb. 1963).
94 “Bert arrived in the middle of the night . . .”: Miller to CC (Sept. 1940), SIU 140/58–3.
95 The Young vs. Young divorce was granted on grounds of “incompatibility”: document in SIU 140/27–1.
95 [Dali’s] “photo opportunity”: Life (Apr. 7, 1941).
Chapter VIII: Wartime Washington
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from WIW (SIU 140/5–1).)
102 Mary Jacob Crosby [Caresse] signed the lease: document (Jan. 1943), SIU 140/7–7.
103 “Dear Baby: I wish you had been here . . .”: Porter to CC, SIU 140/64–5.
104 Lazzari delighted in telling people: author interview with Evelyn Lazzari (Washington, DC), Oct. 1985.
105 Porter contributed . . .: author interview with Porter (Wainscott, NY), Aug. 1985.
105 “We want to bring the Museum of Modern Art’s . . .”: open letter from “The Directors,” 1943, SIU 140/7–7.
106 “De Chirico’s work is immortal . . .”: program note to exhibit, Nov. 1943.
106 “Yesterday was a social and artistic triumph . . .”: Porter to CC (Dec. 1943), SIU 140/64–5.
106 “In private life, Mrs. John Latham….”: Washington Times Herald (Apr. 29, 1944).
107 “Till human voices wake us and we drown”: Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” Collected Poems, p. 7.
107 “Washington is in for . . .”: Art Digest (Nov. 11, 1943), p. 15.
107 “Dear Baby: New York dealers . . .” Porter to CC, SIU 140/64–5.
108 “Dear Snooks: Life wants photos . . .”: Ibid.
108 “Canada Lee came down . . .”: Rodman, unpublished diary (Feb. 1, 1944).
; 109 “The motive-force . . .”: Romare Bearden, program note to “The Passion of Christ” exhibit, May 1945.
109 Porter defrauded one of Crosby’s black artists: Rodman, unpublished diary (July 7, 1945).
110 “This is to confirm our verbal agreement . . .”: CC to Porter, SIU 140/64–5.
111 “I was very disturbed . . .”: Wallace to Sam Rosenberg, in letter to author (Jan. 26, 1986).
112 According to one of her guests; author interview with Evelyn Lazzari (Washington), Oct. 1985.
113 Born Lionel Cornelius Canegata: see Dictionary of American Negro Biography (NY: Norton, 1982)
113 “I first heard his warm voice . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 269.
115 Dearest my sweet: Everything in the world . . .”: Lee to CC (Feb. 1941), SIU 140/56–2.
115 “Last week was one of our biggest . . .”: Lee to CC, SIU 140/56–2
115 “I just got your letter . . .”: Lee to CC, SIU 140/56–2.
116 “Every day I say . . .”: Lee to CC (Mar. 19, 1941), SIU 140/56–2.
116 “The quality of life . . .”: New York Times (Dec. 26, 1943).
116 “an immensely touching and kind and gentle man . . .”: Zorina, p. 296.
116 “warm, orange-toned voice . . .”: Nin, Diary III, p. 106.
117 “Fortunately, I can write . . .”: Lee to CC (July 11, 1946), SIU 140/56–2.
117 an “insult to the Catholic Church”: see Chris Mathisen, Washington Star (Oct. 11, 1946).
118 “a man like St. Anthony . . .”: Tanning, Newsweek (Sept. 30, 1946).
118 “You haven’t seen such creatures . . .”: Charles Yarbrough, Washington Post (Oct. 11. 1946).
119 “The silence for a poet . . .”: David Remnick, “Pound: The Voice and the Silence,” Washington Post (Oct. 30, 1985)
119 On a typical day : T.S. Eliot and Pound: Ibid.
119 “his eyes worried. . .”: Charles Olson, quoted in Tyrell, Ezra Pound, p. 292.
120 The exhibition notes for “The Private and Public Life of the Animals”: privately printed, 1944.
120 “an opening door to a more enlightened, saner world . . .”: press release (1945), SIU 140/7–6.
120 “I am putting wheels in motion . . .”: open letter (June 15,1945), SIU 140/7–6.
Chapter IX: Portfolio
(All quotations not attributed to other sources in this chapter are from WIW VI and VII (SIU 140/5–1).)