69. Macdonald, The True Intrepid, p. 247.
70. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 06/04/46—WLC Box 22.
71. Payn and Morley, eds., The Noël Coward Diaries, Sunday, Feb. 14, 1954, p. 231.
72. Charles Marsh, Letter to Roald Dahl, 07/27/45—CMP.
73. Antoinette Haskell, Conversation with the author, 01/14/98.
74. Charles Marsh, Letter to Roald Dahl, 02/18/46—RDMSC RD 16/1/1.
75. Charles Marsh, Letter to Roald Dahl, 06/27/43—RDMSC RD 15/5/95/1.
76. Roald Dahl, Letters to Charles Marsh, undated—CMP.
77. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh and Claudia Haines, 02/07/49—CMP.
78. Roald Dahl, Letters to Charles Marsh, undated and 05/25/49—CMP.
79. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 07/30/47—CMP.
80. Charles Marsh, Letters to Roald Dahl, 06/11/46 and 12/22/46—RDMSC RD 16/1/1.
81. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh and Claudia Haines, 09/26/46—CMP.
82. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 07/20/47—CMP.
83. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 05/20/46—CMP.
84. Roald Dahl, Letters to Ann Watkins and Charles Marsh, 05/20/46—WLC Box 22 and CMP.
85. Charles Marsh, Letter to Roald Dahl, 10/12/47—RDMSC RD 16/1/1.
86. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 07/26/46—CMP.
87. Charles Marsh, Memo to Claudia Marsh, 08/19/50—CMP.
88. The agreement was signed at the Grand Hotel in Oslo on Aug. 17, 1950, and witnessed by Claudia Haines.
89. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 07/26/46—CMP.
90. Anna Corrie, Conversation with the author, 10/08/07.
91. Lesley O’Malley (née Pares), Conversation with the author 1998.
92. Memories with Food at Gipsy House, p. 107.
93. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 10/04/50—CMP.
94. Ibid. Dahl here incorrectly refers to his niece as Astrid, rather than Astri.
95. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 10/23/50—CMP.
96. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 11/18/50—CMP.
97. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 10/04/50—CMP.
98. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 11/18/50—CMP.
99. Roald Dahl, Handwritten note, c. 1950—RDMSC RD 1/1/2/244
100. Fifty Thousand Frogskins, pp. 8–10—RDMSC RD 3/2/2
101. Ann Watkins, Letter to Roald Dahl, 02/27/51—WLC Box 23.
102. Roald Dahl, Speech to Boys at Repton, Nov. 21, 1975—RDMSC RD 6/1/1/25.
103. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 06/04/46—WLC Box 22.
104. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 07/26/46—CMP.
105. Roald Dahl, Speech to Boys at Repton, Nov. 21, 1975—RDMSC RD 6/1/1/25.
106. Archie Gordon, Internal Memo to Miss Rowley, BBC Written Archives, Caversham—RCONTI (1948–54).
107. Roald Dahl, Letter to Archie Gordon, 09/05/51, BBC Written Archives, Caversham—RCONTI (1948–54).
108. Martha Gellhorn cited in Treglown, p. 84.
109. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 08/01/49—WLC Box 22.
110. Jean Macy (Ann Watkins Agency), Letter to Ned Brown at Columbia Artists, 12/27/49—WLC Box 22.
111. Ann Watkins, Letter to Roald Dahl, 03/02/50—WLC Box 22.
112. Ann Watkins, Letter to Roald Dahl, 03/14/50—WLC Box 22.
113. Jean Parker Waterbury, Letter to Roald Dahl, 05/25/50—WLC Box 22.
114. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 12/26/50—WLC Box 23.
115. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 02/07/51—WLC Box 23.
116. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins, 02/14/51—WLC Box 23.
117. Ann Watkins, Telegram to Roald Dahl, 02/26/51—WLC Box 23.
118. Ann Watkins, Letter to Roald Dahl, 02/27/51—WLC Box 23.
119. Roald Dahl, Postcard to Ann Watkins, 03/15/51—WLC Box 23.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN : The Master of the Macabre
1. Sheila Lewis Crosby (née St. Lawrence), Conversation with the author, 07/21/08.
2. Felicity Dahl, Conversation with the author, 01/29/09.
3. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 09/10/51—CMP.
4. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 16/12/51—CMP.
5. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 12/18/51—RDMSC RD 14/5/16/7.
6. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 02/27/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/6.
7. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 03/27/52—CMP.
8. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 01/04/53—CMP.
9. Claudia Haines, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 01/17/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/3.
10. Felicity Dahl, Conversation with the author, 11/03/09.
11. Neal, As I Am, p. 152.
12. Critic in The New Yorker writing about The Hasty Heart.
13. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
14. Neal, As I Am, p. 154.
15. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
16. Barry Farrell, Pat and Roald (London: Hutchinson, 1970), pp. 124–25.
17. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 12/30/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/33.
18. Neal, As I Am, p. 155.
19. Farrell, Pat and Roald, pp. 124–25.
20. Neal, As I Am, p. 155.
21. Ibid.
22. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
23. Ingersoll, But in the Main It’s True, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University.
24. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, undated (?1952)—CMP.
25. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 12/19/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/32.
26. Roald Dahl, Note to Claudia Haines, undated—CMP.
27. Else Logsdail, Letter to Charles Marsh and Claudia Haines, 01/15/53—CMP.
28. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Haines, 06/23/53—CMP.
29. Neal, As I Am, p. 159.
30. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
31. Neal, As I Am, p. 157.
32. Louella Parsons, untitled article, 06/16/53, cited in Stephen Michael Shearer, Patricia Neal: An Unquiet Life (Louisville, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2006), p. 153.
33. Patricia Neal, Letter to Jean Valentino and Chloe Carter, 03/03/53, cited ibid., p. 154.
34. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
35. Neal, As I Am, p. 158.
36. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 01/16/54—WLC Box 23.
37. Neal, As I Am, p. 162.
38. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 05/16/53—RDMSC 14/5/8/18.
39. Roald Dahl, Letter to Matthew Smith, 05/14/53—Guildhall Art Library (No. 682).
40. Diane Johnson, Dashiell Hammett: A Life (New York: Random House, 1983), p. 211. Pat Neal also suggested to me that Hammett had been physically attracted to her and that this may have influenced his negative reaction to Roald—Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
41. Neal, As I Am, p. 166.
42. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 05/23/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/19.
43. Claudia Haines, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 06/20/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/21.
44. Neal, As I Am, p. 167.
45. Roald Dahl, Letter to Eura Neal, 05/26/53, cited in Shearer, Patricia Neal, p. 156.
46. The Buckinghamshire Advertiser, July 10, 1953.
47. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
48. Roald Dahl, Letter to Ann Watkins and Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/04/51—WLC Box 23.
49. Gus Lobrano, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/20/52—WLC Box 23. He was referring in this case to Nunc Dimittis.
50. Bob Gottlieb, Conversation with the author, 06/24/08.
51. Alfred Knopf, Introduction to Recent Publications by Borzoi Books (Winter 1953).
52. Alfred Knopf, Memo to Harold Straus, 03/21/52—HRCH KNOPF 102.8.
53. Alfred Knopf, Letter to Ann Watkins, 06/17/52—WLC Box 23.
5
4. Roald Dahl, Letter to Eura Neal, 05/26/53, cited in Shearer, Patricia Neal, p. 156.
55. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 02/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/5.
56. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 03/21/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/8.
57. Claudia Haines, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 12/03/51—CMP.
58. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, 01/25/49—CMP.
59. John Selby, Letter to Roald Dahl, 05/28/52—RDMSC RD 1/1/2/305.
60. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 05/18/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/15.
61. Claudia Haines, Letter to Mrs. Dahl, 10/03/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/21.
62. Claudia Haines, Letter to Mrs. Dahl, 04/25/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/12/1.
63. Anna Corrie, Conversation with the author, 10/08/07.
64. Louise (Lou) Pearl, Conversation with the author, 05/09/08.
65. Theo Dahl, Conversation with the author, 09/17/07.
66. Felicity Dahl, Conversation with the author, 11/20/06.
67. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
68. Anna Corrie, Conversation with the author, 10/08/07.
69. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Marsh, 08/09/53—CMP.
70. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Marsh, 09/13/53—CMP.
71. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
72. Sofie Magdalene Dahl, Letter to Claudia Marsh, 10/01/53—CMP.
73. Nicholas Logsdail, Conversation with the author, 04/24/08.
74. Neal, As I Am, p. 165.
75. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 09/17/53—RDMSC 14/5/8/24.
76. Neal, As I Am, p. 180.
77. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 09/17/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/24.
78. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 10/03/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/26.
79. Patricia Neal, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 09/21/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/25.
80. Patricia Neal, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 10/17/53—RDMSC RD 14/5/8/29.
81. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 03/14/53—RDMSC 14/5/8/11.
82. Time magazine (December 1953).
83. John Hutchens, Review of Someone Like You in New York Herald Tribune, Nov. 21, 1953.
84. Roald Dahl, Letter to Harold Strauss, 04/29/60—HRCH KNOPF 280.1 (1960).
85. Patricia Neal, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 03/29/54—RDMSC RD 14/5/9/14a.
86. Neal, As I Am, p. 180.
87. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 01/11/54—RDMSC RD 14/5/9/3.
88. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 05/03/54—RDMSC RD 14/5/9/20.
89. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 01/11/54—RDMSC RD 14/5/9/3.
90. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles and Claudia Marsh, January 1954—CMP.
91. Charles Marsh, Letter to Roald Dahl, 01/19/54—CMP.
92. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, undated, January 1954—CMP.
93. Neal, As I Am, p. 180.
94. Claudia Marsh, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 03/22/65—RDMSC RD 14/5/11/13.
95. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
96. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles Marsh, undated, 1954—CMP.
97. Gloria Vanderbilt, It Seemed Important at the Time (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004), pp. 138, 142.
98. Patricia Neal, Letter to Sofie Magdalene Dahl, 03/29/54—RDMSC RD 14/5/9/14a.
99. Marian Goodman, Conversation with the author, 03/11/07.
100. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 01/24/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/3.
101. Roald Dahl, undated MS (probably mid-1950s) in Ideas Books No. 4—RDMSC RD 11/4/14/1.
102. Farrell, Pat and Roald, p. 128.
103. Jane Pepper, Conversation with the author, 07/27/09.
104. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles and Claudia Marsh, undated, 1954—CMP.
105. Neal, As I Am, p. 184.
106. Dahl, undated MS (probably mid-1950s) in Ideas Books No. 4—RDMSC RD 11/4/14/1.
107. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/08/53—WLC Box 23.
108. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/24/54—WLC Box 23.
109. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/08/53—WLC Box 23.
110. David Hughes, Undated review in Time and Tide—WLC, Box 23.
111. Nicholas Logsdail, Conversation with the author, 04/24/08.
112. Susan Vivian (née Denson), Conversation with the author, 11/03/09.
113. Anna Corrie, Conversation with the author, 10/08/07.
114. Nicholas Logsdail, Conversation with the author, 04/24/08.
115. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/05/50—WLC Box 23.
116. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/16/54—WLC Box 23.
117. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 07/02/54—WLC Box 23.
118. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/06/54—WLC Box 23.
119. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 08/09/54—WLC Box 23.
120. Dahl, Letter to his mother, 11/26/52—RDMSC RD 14/5/7/29.
121. Cheryl Crawford, One Naked Individual (New York: Bobbs-Merrill, 1977), p. 254.
122. Cheryl Crawford, Letter to Roald Dahl, 05/20/55—RDMSC RD 1/1/3/186.
123. Neal, As I Am, p. 186.
124. Roald Dahl, Letter to Cheryl Crawford, 05/16/55—RDMSC RD 1/1/3/185.
125. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 07/02/54—WLC Box 23.
126. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 10/02/56—WLC Box 23. The male actor Dahl was referring to was probably Meredith Edwards.
127. Sheila St. Lawrence, Letter to Roald Dahl, 09/27/56—RDMSC RD 1/1/3/257.
128. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 10/08/56—WLC Box 23.
129. Patricia Neal, Letters to Claudia Marsh, 04/27/55 and 05/06/55—CMP.
130. Anna Corrie, Conversation with the author, 10/08/07.
131. Patricia Neal, Conversation with the author, 03/21/07.
132. Neal, As I Am, p. 190.
133. Ibid.
134. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/13/55—WLC Box 23.
135. Roald Dahl, Letter to Claudia Marsh, 06/09/57—CMP.
136. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/03/56—WLC Box 23.
137. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles and Claudia Marsh, 07/56—CMP.
138. Roald Dahl, Letters to Charles and Claudia Marsh, 07/56 and 08/04/57—CMP.
139. Roald Dahl, Letter to Charles and Claudia Marsh, 07/56—CMP.
140. Patricia Neal, Letter to Claudia Marsh, 04/27/57—CMP.
141. Ophelia Dahl, An Awfully Big Adventure, BBC, 01/12/98.
142. Roald Dahl, Ideas Book No. 4—RDMSC RD 11/4.
143. Roger Angell, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/09/58—WLC Box 24.
144. Alfred Knopf, Letter to Roald Dahl, 08/05/59—HRCH KNOPF 253.1 (1959).
145. Roald Dahl, Letter to Alfred Knopf, 08/11/59—HRCH KNOPF 253.1 (1959).
146. Armitage “Mike” Watkins, Letter to Murray Pollinger, 09/29/65—RDMSC RD 1/2/2.
147. Alfred Knopf, Letter to Roald Dahl, 04/26/57—HRCH KNOPF 253.1 (1959).
148. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 04/29/57—WLC Box 24.
149. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/14/57—WLC Box 24.
150. Sheila St. Lawrence, Letter to Roald Dahl, 06/05/57—RDMSC RD 1/1/3/282.
151. Neal, As I Am, p. 173.
152. Marian Goodman, Conversation with the author, 03/11/07.
153. Dahl, Ideas Book No. 3—RDMSC RD 11/3/14–24.
154. Roald Dahl, Letter to Alfred Knopf, 05/02/60—HRCH KNOPF 280.1 (1960).
155. Ophelia Dahl, Memories of My Father, unpublished MS.
156. Roald Dahl, Interview with Todd McCormack, The Author’s Eye (1986).
157. Ibid.
158. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/05/59—WLC Box 24.
159. James and the Giant Peach, p. 5.
160. Ibid., p. 40.
161. Armitage Watkins, Letter to Laurence Pollinger quoted in Laurence Pollinger, Letter to Roald
Dahl, 08/16/60—RDMSC RD 1/1/4/195.
162. Sheila Lewis Crosby, Conversation with the author, 07/21/08.
163. Sheila St. Lawrence, Letter to Roald Dahl, 04/27/60—WLC Box 24.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN : A Tornado of Troubles
1. Murray Pollinger, Conversation with the author, 10/30/08.
2. Charles Pick, Finding New Authors, pp. 59ff—FSG.
3. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 04/06/60—WLC Box 24.
4. Ibid.
5. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/04/60—WLC Box 24.
6. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/06/60—WLC Box 24.
7. Helga Greene, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/16/60—WLC Box 24.
8. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/13/60—WLC Box 24.
9. Sue Vivian, Conversation with the author, 11/02/09.
10. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/17/60—WLC Box 24.
11. Alan Higgin, Conversation with the author, 08/04/09.
12. Astri Newman, Conversation with the author, 10/15/07.
13. Alan Higgin, Conversation with the author, 08/04/09.
14. Wally Saunders, Conversation with the author, 08/97.
15. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/20/60—WLC Box 24.
16. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 05/22/60—WLC Box 24.
17. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 06/24/60—WLC Box 24.
18. Sheila St. Lawrence, Letter to Roald Dahl, 07/02/60—WLC Box 24.
19. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 07/11/60—WLC Box 24.
20. Ibid.
21. Alan Higgin, Conversation with the author, 08/04/09.
22. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 07/12/60—WLC Box 24.
23. Sheila St. Lawrence, Letter to Roald Dahl, 07/31/60—WLC Box 24.
24. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 08/17/60—WLC Box 24.
25. Armitage Watkins, Letter to Laurence Pollinger quoted in Laurence Pollinger, Letter to Roald Dahl, 08/16/60—RDMSC 1/1/4/195.
26. Roald Dahl, Letter to Bob Bernstein and Bob Gottlieb, 10/20/69—RDMSC RD 1/4/2/75.
27. Roald Dahl, Letter to Anne McCormick, 02/10/81—RDMSC RD 1/1/10/9.
28. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 09/06/60—WLC Box 24.
29. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 08/17/60—WLC Box 24.
30. Roald Dahl, Letter to Sheila St. Lawrence, 08/20/60—WLC Box 24.
31. Dahl, Ideas Book No. 4—RDMSC RD 11/4/17/1.
32. Dahl, untitled MS (dated December 1960) in Ideas Book No. 4—RDMSC RD 11/4/17/1.
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