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crollyson.bsky.social

@crollyson.bsky.social
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 18h
October 1, 1957: Vows to maintain a “stoic face.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...; more on Plath and Stoicism in my forthcoming book, Searching for Sylvia.
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2
Since her death in 1963, Sylvia Plath has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience, ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetr...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
carlrollyson.substack.com/p/sapphos-fi...
carlrollyson.substack.com
Sappho’s Fire
Kindling the Modern World
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
9/30/43: reports to agent that he is writing a new work, “a fable, an indictment of war perhaps, and for that reason may not be acceptable now.”https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/William-Faulkner-Day-by-Day; for more on this much misunderstood novel: www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/F/Faul...
upress.state.ms.us
Faulkner On and Off the Page
Though numerous biographies have been published on William Faulkner, readers are often presented conflicting interpretations of his life and work. Faulkner’s view of himself and his own family was mer...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On September 30, 1938, Two days after the release of If I Were King, Ronald Colman (47) married Benita Hume (32).
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
September 30, 1959: “I must leave dreams of money and grandeur alone. If I can only get some horror into this mother story.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2
Since her death in 1963, Sylvia Plath has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience, ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetr...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
www.nysun.com/article/pict...
nysun.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
9/29/62, a riot at U of Miss as James Meredith is first African American to enroll. Segregated schools still the norm, and violence, as WF feared, would come with federally enforced integration. What happened next was not what even WF could imagine: www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/F/Faul...
upress.state.ms.us
Faulkner On and Off the Page
Though numerous biographies have been published on William Faulkner, readers are often presented conflicting interpretations of his life and work. Faulkner’s view of himself and his own family was mer...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
September 29, 1961: Desperate for apple recipes. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...; and who isn’t this time of year?
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2
Since her death in 1963, Sylvia Plath has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience, ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetr...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
9/29/79: At Scranton, PA Century Club, a memory of a party at Mary Pickford’s house: “Ronald Colman…seeing [Mary Paige] alone gallantly asked [her] to dance: ‘All I can remember …is wishing my friends could see me.’”—“Life with Superstars” Times-Tribune) www.amazon.com/Ronald-Colma...
amazon.com
Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero
Ronald Colman, the silent film star, who showed a generation of actors how to perform for the talkies, remained Hollywood’s gentleman hero for more than two decades. He appeared with many of the scree...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
September 28, 1953: Life publishes part 1 Robert Coughlan’s profile, “The Private Life of William Faulkner,” to the consternation of the subject and his family. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
September 28, 1959: Records her dreams, in one of which her father appears. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv.... Beginning shortly after therapy with Ruth Beuscher, her father becomes a looming figure. Not much mention of him in her early diaries before 1954.
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
9/27/58: Mentions Ted’s depression, “unspoken nervousness about our futures, my lack of a job. . . Ted diagnosed my disease of doldrums—& I feel better.”https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylvia-Plath-Day-by-Day-Volume-2; he is always diagnosing her; she never diagnoses him
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Signed the Michigan State University Press contract for A Detroit Odyssey, my work in progress; working on copyedited text of my Sappho book; awaiting publication in February 2027 of my presidential biography book; awaiting copyedited text of Our Eve Arden.
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
9/26/48: NY Herald Tribune rev of Intruder in the Dust: “he can write of the Negro without false pity, without the usual haze of shallow sentiment . . .” My view: www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/F/Faul...
upress.state.ms.us
Faulkner On and Off the Page
Though numerous biographies have been published on William Faulkner, readers are often presented conflicting interpretations of his life and work. Faulkner’s view of himself and his own family was mer...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
9/26/50: Lots of party girls in her house but a few seem interested in literature. She has subscribed to the Sunday edition of The New York Herald Tribune. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/T/The-...
upress.state.ms.us
The Making of Sylvia Plath
Since her death, Sylvia Plath (1932–1963) has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking po...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
9/25/43 Command Performance: “It is our privilege to say good night to these men, to you, to the kind of Americans who will never give up until that freedom which is part of God’s own religion shall have its free place among all the nations on this earth.” www.amazon.com/Ronald-Colma...
amazon.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
9/25/52: Like other scholarship students at Smith she works an hour per day, waitresses at lunch. Classes creative writing, medieval literature, modern poetry, Milton, Physical Science. Decides to drop Art because of her heavy schedule. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
9/25/05: On his birthday, enters first grade, exhibiting prowess in drawing & reading. The Clansman: An Historical Romance of the Ku Klux Klan by Thomas Dixon, Jr., signed by Billy’s teacher, Annie Chandler, remains in his library. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
9/24/31: Accepts invitation to attend Southern literary conference but warns his behavior is like a hound under a wagon, never venturing very far to meet anyone and growling when encroached upon. TLS review of Sanctuary: “no moral or aesthetic purpose.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
To pen pal Hans-Joachim Neupert: Dreads the the atomic bomb and wishes that all nations could “forget their differences and work toward a common goal.” She has many questions about the way Hans-Joachim lives, his hometown, and how young people think. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
000
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
9/23/48: interview? “visit whenever you can, but no piece in any paper about me as I am working tooth and nail at my lifetime ambition to be the last private individual on earth & expect every success since apparently there is no competition for the place.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Not too late to join me, starting tonight, for an online course about the Snopes trilogy. All sessions will be recorded for enrollees. centerforfiction.org/group-worksh...
centerforfiction.org
Faulkner After Hollywood: The Snopes Trilogy with Carl Rollyson | The Center for Fiction
Online | Explore three radically different novels that reflect Faulkner’s evolution as a writer, the influence of his Hollywood years, and his changing portrayals of women.
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
For the philosophically minded: www.nysun.com/article/the-...
nysun.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Read the blurbs for my new book. I don’t know any of the blurbers and didn’t solicit their comments, so they mean a little more to me than if I had set the whole thing up—not that I’m averse to setups. I just can’t take credit for this one. www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10249/
upress.virginia.edu
Making the American Presidency - UVA Press
The craft of presidential biographers and how they influence our perceptions of historyOur impressions of US presidents are based largely on the work
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Just received the copyedited text.
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
9/22/ 25: Writes from France to his mother about Rodin’s museum and private collections of Matisse and Picasso. Cézanne: “That man dipped his brush in light like Tobe Carothers would dip his in red lead to paint a lamppost.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...; his mother was a painter
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
September 22, 1946: Stays in bed reading Oliver Twist. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
000
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
September 21, 1956: Decides it is too dangerous to have Ted teach at Smith, given the “irresponsible flirting” and professors affairs with students. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 2
Since her death in 1963, Sylvia Plath has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience, ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetr...
000
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
September 21, 1984: “Ronald Colman was, and is, because movies are forever. Be assured . . . that in his heyday Colman was about as glittering as stars were allowed to be.” (Larry Swindell, “The Reel Dope,” Fort Worth Star-Telegram). www.amazon.com/Ronald-Colma...
amazon.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
9/21/18: In RFC camp at U of Toronto: “quite English and quite ugly. The buildings, some of them, are individually attractive… but…sort of red-face, beef-and-cheese tastelessness. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...; 51 years later, I show up, determined not to serve in a very different war
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Part of my Detroit Odyssey: www.nysun.com/article/the-...
nysun.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Part of my research for A Detroit Odyssey
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Calls Percy Grimm in Light in August “the Fascist Galahad who saves the white race by murdering [Joe] Christmas. I invented him in 1931. I didn’t realize until after Hitler got into the newspapers that I had created a Nazi before he did.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
September 20, 1945: Chooses her clubs: Art, Stamp, Recreational Reading. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
001
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
September 19, 1954: Dinner at Mrs. Prouty’s with good talk about poetry, writing, coffee after dinner and a look at the Stella Dallas scrapbook. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
000
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Dudley’s Murphy’s film adaptation of The Emperor Jones premiered on September 19, 1933 in New York City at the Rivoli theater. Six years later he would collaborate with William Faulkner on an adaptation of Absalom, Absalom! retitled Revolt in the Earth. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/F/Faul...
upress.state.ms.us
Faulkner On and Off the Page
Though numerous biographies have been published on William Faulkner, readers are often presented conflicting interpretations of his life and work. Faulkner’s view of himself and his own family was mer...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
On September 18, 1956, in the home of Hughes’s parents, shortly after marrying Ted, she noted in her calendar diary: “a “cold, nightmare rest on bed in horrid imagining of rivalry & sickening voodoo forces.”https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/T/The-Making-of-Sylvia-Plath; 50% off
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
9/18/20: A month after marrying Thelma Raye, he left for the U.S. with a dress suit and just enough money for a steamship ticket and traveling expenses. Thelma waited until he could send for her, no longer the driving force in his career. www.amazon.com/Ronald-Colma...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
9/17/86: Brit actress Jane Baxter obit in Vancouver Sun: “acclaimed for her elegance,” left Hollywood in mid-1930s after affair with RC, the love of his life. Kendall Miller: “I seem to recall she dated…his agent…in old age, she improved upon her story.” www.amazon.com/Ronald-Colma...
amazon.com
Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero
Amazon.com: Ronald Colman: Hollywood’s Gentleman Hero eBook : Rollyson , Carl : Kindle Store
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
September 17, 1924: Phil Stone wires Four Seas Company that the author “TELLS ME TO AUTHORIZE YOU TO USE ANY FACTS REAL OR IMAGINATORY THAT YOU DESIRE TO USE IN THE BOOK OR ADVERTISING MATTER.” www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...; 50%off
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
9/17/44: Eats breakfast “in the warm sun on the porch.” Bikesm reads in apple tree with the warm sun on her. Bikes over to Betsy’s. Builds a miniature fern hut with plans for a snow hut. Listens to Charlie McCarthy” before going to bed at 9:00. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...; 50% off
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
010
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
9/17/44: Eats breakfast “in the warm sun on the porch.” Bikesm reads in apple tree with the warm sun on her. Bikes over to Betsy’s. Builds a miniature fern hut with plans for a snow hut. Listens to Charlie McCarthy” before going to bed at 9:00. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/S/Sylv...; 50% off
upress.state.ms.us
Sylvia Plath Day by Day, Volume 1
Since Sylvia Plath’s death in 1963, she has become the subject of a constant stream of books, biographies, and articles. She has been hailed as a groundbreaking poet for her starkly beautiful poems in...
000
crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
We can all learn from this one: www.nysun.com/article/an-a...
nysun.com
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
carlrollyson.substack.com/p/archives?r...
carlrollyson.substack.com
Archives
How They Facilitate and Impede
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
September 15, 1954: Muna Lee of the State Department writes to Saxe Commins, enclosing reports of Faulkner’s success in Peru and Brazil. www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/W/Will...; 50%; He became quite a diplomat. No writer of his stature today could pull this off.
upress.state.ms.us
William Faulkner Day by Day
William Faulkner has been the topic of numerous biographies, papers, and international attention. Yet there are no collected resources providing a comprehensive scope of Faulkner’s life and work befor...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
9/15/47: Enters a Cynthia contest. Cynthia Clubs, organized for girls between 14 and 19, were part of a marketing campaign including a line of Cynthia clothes, reflecting a generational shift toward the driving force of children and young adults. 50% off: www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/T/The-...
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Available for pre-order, to be published on Presidents’ Day 2027. Pre-orders matters. Publishers can gauge how much interest there is in a book. So please consider pre-ordering. You won’t be charged until the book is published. www.amazon.com/Making-Ameri...
amazon.com
Making the American Presidency: How Biographers Shape History (Miller Center Studies on the Presidency)
Making the American Presidency: How Biographers Shape History (Miller Center Studies on the Presidency) [Rollyson, Carl] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Making the American Presidency: How Biographers Shape History (Miller Center Studies on the Presidency)
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
My updated website: www.carlrollyson.com
carlrollyson.com
Carl Rollyson - Biography and Bulletins
This website is maintained by Carl Rollyson.
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I was googling to find a review I wrote of Heather Clark’s biography of Sylvia Plath. AI said I never wrote such a review but that I had called the biography “definitive.” I deeply respect Clark’s work, but I would never call it or any biography definitive.
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crollyson.bsky.social @crollyson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I was stunned to learn the other day that Smith College is no longer collecting material about Sylvia Plath. I had offered to donate my digital recordings of interviews with Al Alvarez and others, including Smith students, and the archivist did not show the least interest.
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