J. Powers - Suitable Accommodations - An Autobiographical Story of Family Life - The Letters of J. F. Powers, 1942-1963

Much love,

James

Jim

DA

Buckeye

BETTY POWERS

Portland, Oregon

Sunday night, May 2, 1954

Dear Betty,

[…] The Pacific was really beautiful. I expected it to be inferior somehow. But the rocky coast reminded me of Ireland as you first (and last) see it. We saw the sea lions — at some distance and with a wind blowing, and still they stank like dogs — at 200 yards. I want to read about them sometime. They live 40–60 years. Most of them appear to be asleep, but there is a honking clamor just the same. Their only enemy — said a sign — is the killer whale. […]

I was happy to hear that your father has turned against [Joseph] McCarthy. I heard a snatch of it the other night = disgusting. I’d hear every word of it, if I could — so you’re lucky I’m not there. In these circles, everyone is convinced that homosexuality is at the bottom of it all. […] All for now. Much love to you —and the other people . XXXX

Jim

BETTY POWERS

Portland

Monday p.m. [May 3, 1954]

Dear Betty,

[…] I saw Portland from a high crest today. The country all around was shrouded in mist. It’s like Ireland, the weather, and texture of the air (and grass); the viny-ness. English ivy everywhere. Things — the way people live — seem more bourgeois than Minnesota. Food is much better. You buy very good breakfast rolls everywhere — and they are always served warm. That’s just one thing — but it’s significant. Things cost more, but you don’t get the atrocious stuff (rolls, hamburgers) I’m used to (in eating places, I mean). […]

Much love,

Jim

BETTY POWERS

Albuquerque

May 15, 1954

Dear Betty,

[…] I was naturally sorry to hear of KA’s falling in with the larger boys and trust you’ll not let it happen again; not that it was your fault. I don’t see why she has to play with boys anyway. I suspect it’s those kids who live in the Atwood house, on the alley, where the yard looks like a country fair all the time. You are right about letting the girls get some experience of other children. But I wouldn’t feel that we’re monsters, in the way we’ve brought them up so far. In this matter, most parents are wrong, and the situation they create is wrong. We must use discretion. There will come a day when the girls will see the point in our prohibitions — which don’t strike me as severe at all, not unless I consider them from a point of view which, in fact, I abhor, popular now and here though it is. And you know how many people are out to break down what order we have managed to establish in our house, where the children are concerned. They will not rest until they’ve made us like everyone else, you yelling pointlessly and me carrying a potty wherever we go.3 I guess, secretly, I’m preparing for the day when we can leave this country for Ireland or England, where, it seems to me, if we continue as we have with the children, it will be possible for them to make the change without too much trouble. So much for that. […]

Here the sky rumbles constantly with the noise of airplanes, mostly jets, like a sick stomach. All for now. Much love to you and the girls. XXXX

Jim

BETTY POWERS

Albuquerque

May 22, 1954

Dear Betty,

[…] I was glad to hear that you’re battling off the red squirrels. That was my constant fear, while away, that they’d get back in again, maybe while you were up the river. […] XXXX

Jim

I dreamed of Marilyn Monroe last night. Nothing serious, just amorous dalliance, when George and a couple of other people, males but not priests, came along and put a stop to it, using ridicule but insinuating that I was a family man. I ended up going down the street — seemed to be in London — with a faulty umbrella, in the rain. Interesting?

HARVEY EGAN

509 First Avenue South

St Cloud

June 5, 1954

Dear Fr Egan,

[…] George was here last weekend with Fr Philip Hughes, the historian. Good time. Refreshing to meet someone now and then, I mean, another human being.

Haircut today, and my barber (knowing my line of work) asked what was the bestseller now. Might have been the beginning of a stimulating discourse, but I had to tell him I don’t keep up with things anymore. […]

Jim

Jim gave a short creative writing seminar at the University of Indiana, stopping in Urbana, Illinois, to visit Charles Shattuck and Kerker Quinn. (“I had a good time,” he told Betty, “not too much to drink in case you think so.”)

BETTY POWERS

Indiana University

Monday, 1:00 p.m., July 12, 1954

Dear Betty,

[…] It is hot here. I had my first class this morning. It went all right. I have more MSS to read than I’ve ever had before. But have plenty of time, I guess. The big occasion today is an escorted tour through the Institute for Sex Research, with a good chance of hearing a few words from Dr Kinsey himself. If he looks my way, I’ll expose myself. Keeping the welfare of Stearns Co. — and its problems — in mind, I’ll inquire as to the work going on in the Bestiality Division. I get the impression we’re lucky to be taken behind the walls. […] Hope you are all well — and not fighting.

BETTY POWERS

Indiana University

Wednesday afternoon, July 14, 1954

Dear Betty,

[…] The visit to the Kinsey’s domain was interesting, and I rather liked the man. I’ll tell you (and everybody) more when I get home. I ought to be in some demand — even though most people don’t care a lot for me. “I spent 2 hours with Dr Kinsey” will be my tentative title. […] Love to you — the girls — Bozzer.

Jim

Caricature of Jim by Jody O’Connell, mid-1950s

HARVEY EGAN

509 First Avenue South

St Cloud

September 2, 1954

Dear Fr Egan,

Thanks for the Orwell. Betty and I’ve been reading it. Amazing, I think, his power to be interesting. I’ll have to discount a lot of what he says against England. I wonder what he would’ve thought of this country if he’d had any real experience of it. England, he says, is a family, with the power in the hands of doddering aunts and uncles. America is a supermarket, where you’re at the mercy of the clerks and checkers, and just being in it is demoralizing.

I spoke to Don about your chalice, and evidently he has definite plans for it. More I’d like to do, but you know how it is. He doesn’t respond to strong treatment — like grabbing a handful of water. I didn’t understand him, or Mary, until I went to Ireland, which is full of such people. […]

Jim

Jim once again ducked a family Thanksgiving, spending it in 1954 with Egan in Beardsley.

HARVEY EGAN

509 First Avenue South

St Cloud

March 19, 1955

Dear Fr Egan,

Glad to hear from you. Have been about to write to you several times, but was never sure where you were. I heard some weeks ago that you were very sick after I saw you — embolism, I think it was — but this was hearsay from Mary Humphrey, and by that time evidently you’d recovered. I’ve been wondering — let’s face it — if I’m very high up in your will.

[…]

We’re expecting a visitation tomorrow from George, Caroline Gordon, and an unspecified number of interesting people. They are bringing their lunch.