March 21st 1938

My dear Ted,

I was deeply moved by your letter. It is good to know that one has friends and especially in these shaken times. The year in Hollywood was a rather unlucky one. At first Christiane was dangerously ill for months and after she had recovered I was taken ill for months and months. Now I am well again and what is even better, a doctor found out the real cause of my repeated periods of sleeplessness. It is a purely organic trouble which can easily be cured. It is a damned thought, if I think of the many frustrated months. Skip it, says the American.

I am very happy that the last year was so fertile for you. I am longing to read your book about Vienna. Please send it to me. (Alas it will be a historical novel about a capital which lived a year or a thousand years ago.) I am also glad that you are doing a translation of Béhaine. I agree with you, he is a great writer.

For the reason I wrote you about before, I could not do much work. You will be interested that NO MORE PEACE was done in several Federal Theaters and Universities. I am sending you the statement of Curtis Brown about all the royalties we got. Your share is: 126.40 (you know there are three others).

You will also be interested to hear that I did a new version of DRAW THE FIRES, a concentrated one with a new prologue for the American stage. The English sailor slang which you used so excellently is completely unknown in America and sounds here like a foreign language. The new version had to be therefore revised. The work was done by two young American authors Oscar Saul and Joseph Liss. There is a chance that the play will be done here. Unfortunately of course, your share of royalties will be therefore a smaller one, but I took it as granted that you will agree and I could not ask you before as the work had to be done quickly.

I also wrote some poems which will be translated by a young American poet, Muriel Rukeyser.

It is possible that I shall visit you in May. I intend to go to Spain for about two months. Our residence will remain in New York which becomes more and more the capital of Europe.

I am unable to understand why your government sells this Europe into the hands of the barbarians.

Give my love to Claire and good wishes to you both.

Yours ever,

Ernst.