ALS signed “Natalie,” three pages, 6.25 x 9.5, 191 North Bentley Avenue letterhead, July 6, 1967. Wood writes to actress Ruth Gordon. In part: “I just have got to tell you again how very much I love your play—how much I admire the phenomenal work you did on it and how bloody sad & unhappy I am not quite young enough—also the great frustration about schedules & having to plan—or rather not be able to plan early enough things that are so extraordinary & good & would bring so much pleasure to me—to be able to work with you & Garson [Kanin, Gordon’s husband], whom I dearly love—also admire—is a very, very difficult & painful loss…. The best thing is the enormous compliment … that you see me as a Bennington girl And when I go to see it, I will wish it could’ve been me—& mostly I will think & feel, as I always do, how very much I treasure our friendship—& I give you my dearest thanks for thinking I could do it…. All I really mean is I am so touched & I thank you and I love you from the bottom of my heart….” The play to which Wood alludes is evidently We Have Always Lived in the Castle, based on the same-named story by Shirley Jackson, a resident of Bennington, Vermont. (Jackson’s husband was a professor at Bennington College.) The original production, directed by Kanin, ran for only nine performances on Broadway in 1966. Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope. In very fine condition. PSA/DNA Auction LOA and R&R COA.
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