Quotes

[on his father's writing] If there is a quality overlooked in his writing by some of the more obtuse commentators it is that gentleness coupled with a total honesty on every plane and an utter freedom from anything cruel, cheap or mean.

[on his father's unpublished book] Would have been Father's most brilliant novel, the most concentrated distillation of his creativity but whose release in incomplete form he expressly forbade.

[on his father's last moments] Tears suddenly welled in Father's eyes. I asked him why. He replied that a certain butterfly was already on the wing; and his eyes told me no longer hoped he would live to pursue it again. Nor would he ever visit that enchanted mountain valley on the far side of the lake. But perhaps, in Father's memory, I shall.