Letters

　

☆ In August 20,'42 A Young Man In Slovenia Wrote A Letter to his brother(Louis Adamic) in the United States.The various notations on the back of the sheet indicate that it somehow got out of Yugoslavia to Egypt,thence to London,thence to America,where it was delivered on June 19,'43.It reads:

For an endless time we have not had any word of you or your wife.Now and then on the radio we hear words spoken in America which stir hope but give no assurance.

Mother and all the brothers and sisters are still living today.Of our relatives many are already lost.

Suffering is extreme.The storm with metal hail rages on.Losses are enormous for our small nation. We ask for urgent help,or it will be too late.

All of us send you,your wife and all your friends in America our greetings.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　……………My Native Land 1943

　　

☆ From Stella to Louis Adamic

Dear Louis: Jan.14’49

　　In the course of correspondence with Henry Wallace,I ventured to tell him that some of his good followers were a bit worried by the rumors that he might give the world federation or world government movement a degree of support with which we would not agree.He replied promptly,saying he was ‘so glad’I had raised the subject.Here are　excerpts from his letter of January 10th:

　‘…under no circumstances would I be active in any organization designed to isolate eastern Europe and China from the rest of the world.I agree completely and whole-heartedly with you that any plan to organize and federate the ‘Capitalist world’ would only bring war and universal destruction.Personally I can stand for no World government or World Federation unless both the United States and the USSR　are members.But I do say that the ultimate objective is such agreement between the United States and the USSR that both will be willing to see the U.N.or the World Government equipped with an armed might greater than both of them combined. There is no reason why there should not a peaceful co-existence of the Communist states and the Capitalistic states in one world.I would hope and plan for World Government but I would know that such hopes and plans are utterly futile unless and until there is complete understanding between the United States and Russia.

　　The idea of imposing world government on Russia first by isolation,second by economic pressure,and third by world government,is utterly fantastic.I shall not fall into that trap.’

　Tine Kurent, “PISMA LOUISA ADAMICA NECAKU TINETU” （Letters by Louis Adamic to his nephew Tine） ,Dve domovini/Two Homelands-9-1998,27-53:Centre of Scientific Research of the Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts The Institute for Slovene Emigration Research;

　

☆ From Louis Adamic To Tine Kurent　

Dear Tine:
This is part of a letter I recently received from Stella;I suggest you begin to correspond with the girl,whose address is in the note;but let me repeat it here:
Miss Velma Gordanier;
Rood212,
Mount Vernon,Iowa,
U.S.A.
If you wish some guidance in the matter,let me know-or wait till we get together again.
Sincerely,

Prilo?eni del Stellinega pisma:

≫Letter from a bright-sounding but probably naive girl,Velma Gordanier,Rood213,Mount Vernon,I .A student,senior,active World Federalist,reader of your books,22 yrs.old interested in social studies and furthering cultural intecorrespond with some one of college level in Yugoslavia;asks would you put her in touch with someone.I wrote her you were away so you need not bother if you don't want to.≪

　

☆ "To the reviewers and critics of Laughing in the Jungle in Yugoslavia" from Louis Adamic

March '32

　　My book is described on the title page as an autobiography.It is an autobiography in a limited but essential sense of the world. The first part of the book deals with my early years in Slovenia,with circumstances with prompted me to go the United States,etc.What I tell is true only essentially.While the book is ostensibly a personal narrative,my aim in writing it was to give it a touch of universality:that is,by telling my personal story,I wanted to tell also the story--more or less--of other immigrants from Slovenia. You will see,too,that I use the Lunder-Adamic incident in a disguised way.
　　My purposes in this were several.One was to improve the narrative.In the first,as well as in the subsequent parts,I have adjusted other facts,characters,incidents,etc.,for the same purpose.To capture the American attention,one must tell a good story.I have adjusted facts,charactes,incidents,etc.also to give the narrative firmer connective tissue.For this I offer no apology,merely an explanation.
　 My purpose was to write an interesting book;at the same time a true one--not necessarily in its details,but essentially. I request that you bear this in mind. I make the same request to the possible translator of the volume into the Slovenian.

　　　　　　　205　the Slovene journal Zbirnik Obcine Grosuplje　

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