Erik Donald France to Wallace Fowlie, July 8, 1989

[Though earlier I'd donated to Duke letters from Wallace Fowlie (1908-1998) to me, more recently, in sorting through my files, I came across photocopies of at least some of the letters I wrote to him. Here's another one of them, from when I lived near Little River Church Road in Hurdle Mills, North Carolina. Ellipses indicate slight editing (deletion of a few personal details). For his other letters, please see Wallace Fowlie Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Here's a link to the collection guide.]

                                           Hurdle Mills, NC
                                             July 8, 1989

Dear Wallace,

Are you doing well? The Summer is here, and not a bad one like last year. I have returned from the underground! It has been a challenge to juggle day-to-day work with school and home -- home which includes reading and writing, gardening and contemplation. That is my excuse for not getting back to you sooner. Now, about 5 months later, I look back and see some accomplishments.

First, I finished Within a Budding Grove. What can be said? Of course, it was superb. The Guermantes Way now beckons. Proust is a genius, even in English. When well-versed in French, I'll tackle the original -- if life permits. I have a few related questions about this: was Elstir based on an actual painter? What kind of name is Elstir & why did Proust choose it?

[Y, X] & I watched the German film Swann in Love. We had mixed feelings about it. Though I enjoyed its look and much of its feel, the almost humorous emphasis on the disparity between servants and self-indulgent aristocrats nearly destroyed the fragility of Proust's balance. I forgot to mention that last year [Y] and I saw The Rules of the Game, which she had seen and loved several years before. I think that this is the most fantastic movie I've ever seen. It's showing again on some late night satellite channel, which I'll ask [Z] to tape.

Well, my next major accomplishment was to read Aubade. It was immensely enjoyable to read . . . The text is balanced, thoughtful, and compassionate; it is also inspiring. It would take time to craft the reaction or response to your work that it merits. But for now let me say that you've moved me to pursue self-reflection to a deeper level. You've inspired me to widen my inquiry into being. Your homages were so honest and decent that I've pursued and read Dante's Inferno and Montaigne's Apology for Raymond Sebond and also sparked an interest in Latin and the Classics. I thank you for that!

This year has been in many ways dreadful.* The oil spills, Communist China, the American mob aroused by mobster idealogues [ideologues] -- where will it end but in more violence? The Iranians condemn Rushdie, the Chinese condemn the goddess of Democracy, the tyrannous American majority condemns freedom of speech -- hasn't this all happened enough?

I hope, Wallace, that you are doing well. This week we celebrate Bastille Day and liberty. fraternity, and equality. Have you found your place of retirement? Please let me know how you're doing. Perhaps we can meet again before the Fall semester?

Take care, and all my best.

                                                 Erik 

[*Oil spills = Exxon Valdez, Prince William Sound, Alaska. 
Iranians/Rushdie = fatwā against author Salman Rushdie. 
Chinese/Goddess of Democracy = Tiananmen Square.
Freedom of Speech = Robert Mapplethorpe exhibition at the Corcoran, Jesse Helms/Dick Armey protest; Texas v. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989): Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects the right to burn US flags, which annoyed many but was clearly correct].