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Letter from Lincoln Colcord to Ole Rølvaag, 1926 March 17
- Title
- Letter from Lincoln Colcord to Ole Rølvaag, 1926 March 17
- Identifier
- p0584_00584
- p0584_00585
- p0584_00586
- Date
- 1926 March 17
- Creator
- Colcord, Lincoln, 1883-1947
- Description
- Lincoln Colcord's letter to Ole Rolvaag.
Transcription:Wednesday –
Dear Rolvaag : –
Saxton is right, of course, it is a business matter, and that is the way it’s run. In fact, your books could not be published any sooner, as the publishing business is at present organized – so there you are. I am rather glad, in a way, for it will give plenty of time for everything – I presume you will have to pay attention to the translation of the second volume for the first part of the summer; no stone must be left unturned to harm that done by the first of July – Thus you will be reasonably free. I don't see why you cannot take a vacation in August, and have your proofs come to the camp in the north woods. But that is your business.
Your letter about vision of war touched me deeply. I am glad you saw what I tried to put in it. It was written in the winter of 1914-15, in a spirit of revolt against our unpolitical analysis of the European wars – that was while we still held ourselves to be neutral – Curiously enough, it was received almost with acclaim, for a short while – but the growth of the war spirit here and the swift progres of events, soon swamped it.
My life, I suppose, has only been tragic because I have made it so. I appreciate all that you say, good friend – and really, I am trying my very best. I have no doubt of my powers – but life has neither knocked the wind out of me – you see me at a bad ?, but it will be better pretty soon. I am writing every day and all day ? a resource which I am trying to finish before the summer, but it goes slowly. I feel as if I were carrying heavy stones up a mountain side – I am lonely and homesick – and I need a woman beside me – The woman is ready, but I cannot swing the deal financially. That worries me terribly, too. – and there is my daughter, who is also homesick and unhappy. A girl is terribly lost without a mother – My own mother and sister are so cold! Without emotions, they do not understand. It’s all wrong, somehow. My daughter is the very breath of life to me, and I have ? saddened and hurt this winter beyond expression – and I haven’t the strength of practical ? to solve the situation! These are the things I think about all the time –
Now I must get to work. Be sure and write me any work you have of the translation –
Yours,
Colcord
- Funding to digitize the O.E. Rølvaag Papers was provided to the Norwegian-American Historical Association through the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund, a component of the Minnesota Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment, ratified by Minnesota voters in 2008.
- Lincoln Ross Colcord (August 14, 1883 – November 16, 1947) was an American journalist and author of short fiction. He wrote for a number of American newspapers and magazines beginning in 1908, and throughout the Woodrow Wilson presidency (1913–1921). Colcord helped translate Giants in the Earth.
- Type
- Text
- Format
- Letters (correspondence)
- Contributor
- Rølvaag, O. E. (Ole Edvart), 1876-1931
- Rights
- No Copyright - the United States
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
- The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information.
- Bibliographic Citation
- [Indicate the cited item here]. O.E. Rølvaag Papers. Norwegian American Historical Association, Northfield, Minnesota.