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TLS, one page, 7.25 x 10.5, personal letterhead, January 7, 1959. Letter to Dr. Helen D. Mayer, in full: "This is just a note to again express my appreciation to you for all that you did to bring me through a very critical period of my life to full blooming health again. I will long remember the many times that you came into my room with a warm smile and a radiant countenance expressing genuine concern for my welfare. I am sure that your thoughtful considerate gestures of goodwill went a long, long way to give me the strength to face the ordeals of that trying period. I am happy to report that I am doing very well now and back on the job with a full schedule staring me in the face every day. I hope things are going well with you. You have my prayers and best wishes for continued success in the great humanitarian work that you are doing, and for a new year packed with meaningful fulfillment." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope.
On September 20, 1958, a mentally disturbed African-American woman, Izola Curry, attempted to assassinate Martin Luther King, Jr., at a book signing in Harlem, stabbing him in the chest with a sharp steel letter opener. He was immediately transported to Harlem Hospital, where a team of trauma surgeons successfully removed the blade. In his posthumously published autobiography, King wrote: 'The razor tip of the instrument had been touching my aorta and that my whole chest had to be opened to extract it. 'If you had sneezed during all those hours of waiting,' Dr. [Aubré de Lambert] Maynard said, 'your aorta would have been punctured and you would have drowned in your own blood.'' Dr. Helen Mayer was part of the team that cared for King during the life-saving procedure and subsequent recovery period.
While still hospitalized hospital on September 30th, Dr. King issued a press release in which he reaffirmed his belief in 'the redemptive power of nonviolence' and issued a hopeful statement about his attacker: 'I felt no ill will toward Mrs. Izola Currey [sic] and know that thoughtful people will do all in their power to see that she gets the help she apparently needs if she is to become a free and constructive member of society.'
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