CARRÉ, JOHN LE (DAVID CORNWELL). (b. 1931). British intelligence officer and author of some of the best-known works in the espionage genre. ALS. (“John le Carré”). 2pp. 4to. Penzance, October 6, 1995. On his personal stationery. To his friend and correspondent, Maine obstetrician Willard J. Morse Jr.
“So much to thank you for! We are building a birdhouse in the form of a Cornish chimney/lighthouse (granite base, brick top where the smoke gets hot) and our sculptor, or builder, or whatever he is, bears a close relationship with your Chipper. Except that his strongest suit is not the booze, but an absolute silent, terribly angry wife, who sits & glowers in the van all the time he works. Thanks also for the Choate News & of course the photograph of the finished work – slightly Concorde-like in the thrust, but as my sculptor w[oul]d say, ‘a lot going on there, a lot going on!’ I just returned from Central America to gorgeous Autumn weather here, & as soon as I finish this I’m going out to look for mushrooms. Thanks for writing, & for all your news. Safire bores me, I don’t know why. It’s the way he scratches the surface so deeply, perhaps, and knows everything, all the time, with a kind of chirpy righteousness that makes us all small. I couldn’t read the book, though as always he sent it me. I don’t expect he c[ould] read mine either. In a way, I hope not! Best to you all…”