Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the enthusiastic support of the Bennington Writing Workshops (Brian Swann, director), and especially of my mentor in the writing of Creative Non-Fiction, Scott R. Sanders, who found merit in the project and suggested a publisher. In Scott’s words: “Writing is a lonely business, the most isolating of all art forms. We need to gather once in a while to share our work . . . to hear other human voices.”

I am also deeply indebted to the staff of the Morris Library, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, who were unfailingly helpful: Dr. David V. Koch, curator of Special Collections; Sheila Ryan, curator of manuscripts (for the photo research); and Shelley Cox. Beatrice Moore of Carterville, widow of Harry T. Moore, also gave freely of her time and intelligence in assisting my research.

Of the many others who gave abundantly of their efforts, I wish to thank:

Polleen Peabody Drysdale of London, Caresse’s only daughter, who graciously received me and gave generously of her memories and permission to quote from her unpublished memoir;

Richard Peabody, editor of Gargoyle and D.C. Magazines: A Literary Retrospective, who put me in touch with many valuable resources (when I first contacted Rick, I assumed he was a descendant of Caresse’s first husband, which he is not);

Evelyn Lazzari, widow of Pietro, who offered memories and tea and sympathy and started me off on my path of discovery;

Allegra Fuller Snyder, Buckminster Fuller’s daughter, and her husband, Robert Snyder, who contributed the narration of the film, Always Yes! Caresse; Selden Rodman, for permission to quote from his unpublished diaries; Kay Boyle, Caresse’s closest and only remaining friend of “the passionate years,” who reviewed that portion of the manuscript;

In Paris: Henri Cartier-Bresson and Josef Erhardy;

In New York: Helen-Louise Simpson Seggerman, who contributed memories of the brownstone on East 91st Street and of her parents, the Kenneth Simpsons; Andreas Brown of the Gotham Book Mart, and the late Frances Steloff, whose memory remained extraordinarily clear and faithful into her 90s; Buffie Johnson, Bertha Klausner, Priscilla Morgan, David Porter, Sam Rosenberg, George Stillwaggon, and Dorothea Tanning Ernst;

Of the Washington years: Ellen Barry, Garry Davis, the late Major Howard “Pete” Powel, Mrs. Raymond Piland of Bowling Green, Va. (owner of Hampton Manor); and Lucy Keith Tittman (of Concord, Mass.), who lived at 2008 Q Street in the ‘50s and shared her letters and memories.

In Italy: the late Roloff Beny and Robert Mann; Giuseppi Picchi, mayor of the Commune of Roccasinibalda; Giuseppi de Stefani, owner of the Castello; and Dr. Luigi Ceccarelli, the accommodating friend who put me in touch;

Also special thanks to Desmond O’Grady of Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland, and Professor Sy M. Kahn of the University of the Pacific, who filled in the gaps on Caresse’s life at the Italian Center for Creative Arts and Humanist Living;

Walter Phelps Jacob of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Caresse’s only surviving brother, who despite “the considerable age differential” and the “very different worlds lived in by Sister Poll and myself,” received me and reminisced about the Jacob family; and Josette Spiero, Caresse’s daughter-in-law for memories of “Billy” Peabody.

Others who were contacted for briefer interviews, in person, by mail, or by telephone, were: Malcolm Cowley, Larry Allen (childhood friend of Romare Bearden), Catherine Hios (sister of Michael Lekakis), the late Sarah Hunter Kelly, Robert Payne, Ted Peckham, Florence Tamburro, Arthur Wagmann, Volkmar Kurt Wentzel, Billie Wills, and Mrs. Theodore Watson (Leonard Jacob’s widow). Of those who died almost on the eve of an interview—most recently Isamu Noguchi and Edward Weeks—Romare Bearden, Salvador Dali, Archibald MacLeish, Harry T. Moore, and Helen Simpson: their loss is felt on these pages.

With grateful appreciation to George Robert Minkoff for providing a rare copy of the Bibliography of the Black Sun Press; the late George Butterick of the University of Connecticut, Storrs, who provided access to the Charles Olson letters (and to Charles Boer, who catalogued them); to Edith Wynner, who introduced me to the Schwimmer-Lloyd Collection on World Peace at the New York Public Library; to Marc Pachter, assistant director of the National Portrait Gallery (author of Telling Lives) for his helpful suggestions and for the support of the members of the Washington Biographers’ group.

To Derek W. Marlow, who visited Roccasinibalda in the ’60s and suggested Caresse as a subject;

To Dr. Karen Shanor, who helped to explore Caresse’s psyche, and who encouraged me through the birthing process;

To Veronica Wilding-White, who began the word processing of the manuscript; and to Mary W. Matthews, who finished it, without whose intelligence, skill, good humor, and long hours at the computer we could not have gone to press on schedule;

To Noel and Judith Young and Lynn Maginnis of Capra Press, who shared my enthusiasm and were the “wind at my back” in seeing the manuscript through to hard cover;

To Hugh M. Pinkerton, William Paul Pinkerton, and “Polly” Parsons Pinkerton, who taught me the beauty of the English language; and to my mother, Louise Pinkerton Conover, who inspired me to write it;

To my daughter, Natalie Ambrose, and to my husband, Thomas B. Carson, neglected during the many months from prologue to finish, but without whose cooperation and love I could not have stayed the course.