{"id":1573,"date":"2012-02-27T12:40:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T16:40:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2013-12-18T20:31:10","modified_gmt":"2013-12-19T00:31:10","slug":"hall-to-mcnair-january-21-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/hall-to-mcnair-january-21-1980\/","title":{"rendered":"Hall to McNair: January 21, 1980"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
\"McNair-to-Hall-01-21-1980\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Click image to view]<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

January 21, 1980<\/p>\n

Dear Don-<\/p>\n

I enclose a mini-poem which I hope you like well
\nenough to pass on to Joey. Also: there are three
\npoems which I hope Joey will be willing to remove
\nfrom circulation – namely, “The Man,” “Country People,”
\nand “Memory of North Sutton.” Howard Dinin would like
\nto claim them for The Boston Monthly<\/span>, would you please
\nask Joey about this? It was good to see you both on Wednesday.
\nDiane will surely never have a better audience for
\nher slides from Chile. How great it was to share them
\nwith you!<\/p>\n

I have now started String too Short to be Saved<\/span>,
\na book which I cannot help liking, it reminds me
\nso much of my own early experiences on farms.
\nMore about that<\/span> later.<\/p>\n

Best to you both,<\/p>\n

Wes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\n

Editorial note about this letter:<\/em><\/span><\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The “mini-poem” included in this letter is \u201cThe Fat Enter Heaven.” Here, from McNair’s writing notebook, is a draft of the poem as sent in this letter.<\/p>\n

The Fat Enter Heaven<\/p>\n

It is understood, with the clarity that is possible only in heaven,
\nthat none have loved food better than these.
\nAngels gather to admire their small mouths and their arms, round
\nas the fenders of Hudson Hornets. In their past
\nthey have been among the world’s most meek,
\nthe farm boy who lived with his mother, the grade-school teacher
\nwho led the flag salute with expression, day after day.
\nNow, their commonplace lives, the guilt about their weight,
\nthe ridicule, fade like a dream. They come to the table steaming with food
\nmore appetizing than they have ever seen, shedding their belts and girdles
\nfor the last time. Here, where fat itself is heavenly,
\nthey fill their plates and float upon the sky.<\/p>\n

Read The Man <\/span><\/a><\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read Country People <\/span><\/a><\/strong>(published version)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read Memory of North Sutton <\/span><\/a><\/strong>(published ve<\/span>rsion)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n <\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Click image to view] January 21, 1980 Dear Don- I enclose a mini-poem which I hope you like well enough to pass on to Joey. Also: there are three poems which I hope Joey will be willing to remove from circulation – namely, “The Man,” “Country People,” and “Memory of North Sutton.” Howard Dinin would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2206,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35324,35504,42973,42963,293],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2206"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11279,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions\/11279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-mcnair\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}