Norris and Thornton, Inc., Publishers

127 Canal Street

New York, NY

Nathaniel and Gladys Eddy

1309 East Sanford Road

Cold Spring, NY

December 2, 1964

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Eddy,

As an associate editor at Norris and Thornton, I have been assigned to review the manuscript submitted on October 2. Please excuse the long delay in my response. Yet, it is with great interest that I have gone over the Memoirs of Sky Flower, as submitted by you, and received on October 18. Other members of our staff have also reviewed it, and found it highly enlightening about a period of history of which most Americans know little.

Our company has seriously considered the possibility of publishing the memoirs of Sky Flower and has decided to defer commitment at this time. The reasons are compelling. There has been a waning of interest in Indian literature across the nation. A sampling of book buyers reveals a readership that is too small to justify an expenditure of this magnitude. Since Longfellow’s popular poem, The Song of Hiawatha, published more than a hundred years ago, the image of the American Indian has become romanticized and mythical. The reality of life depicted in these memoirs jars that image.

Furthermore, we find many errors in grammar and spelling that require editing. In addition, the writing throughout is disjointed rather than having the precise organizational flow required of successful publications. Finally, we have no verification of the historical accuracy of this writing.

Thus, we have concluded that there is little literary merit or national interest in the submitted material. Your pages are returned enclosed in their entirety. Thank you for asking Norris and Thornton to look over this fascinating writing. I truly hope that you will find a company that will put Sky Flower’s story in print.

Sincerely,

Alan S. Jordan

Associate Editor