ALS, one page, 8.5 x 11, Ketchum, Idaho, April 3, 1961. Letter to Joseph F. Lord, a representative of the Morgan Guarantee Trust Company regarding banking services. In full: “Thank you very much for attending to the matter of Rene Villarreal at the Finca Vigia. On receipt of this letter would you please send a check payable to Internal revenue Service to Mr. Alfred Rice, 640 Fifth Avenue, New York 19 for $15000 deducting it from my special tax account & will you please send me two small check books (pocket size 15 checks) to this address.” Several notations in the recipient’s hand concerning Hemingway’s requests, several words underlined in red pencil, punch holes and an office stamp to top (one hole affecting the return address), and some light horizontal lines at edges from prior storage in a magnetic photo album, otherwise fine condition.
Villarreal was Hemingway's confidant and friend during the author’s lengthy stay at the Finca Vigia, an estate outside of Havana. Hemingway recognized the young man—someone the literary giant came to see as a son—as an especially responsible and attentive individual, eventually naming him household manager in 1946 when Villarreal was only 17 years old. For the next fifteen years, Rene ran the Finca, tending to Hemingway and his wife, Mary, and their neverending stream of visiting family and distinguished guests. Even after leaving Cuba in the wake of Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, Villarreal maintained the property, with Hemingway ensuring financial matters were addressed. Despite such attention to detail, the great author, at the time of this letter, was in the grasp of a worsening depression that culminated in his suicide three months later. Pre-certified John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and RRAuction COA.
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