Description

Description: In this wonderfully chatty typed letter signed, Roberts writes in part: “I… have made a careful note to make a cusk chowder at the earliest opportunity. Before the fishermen caught the strike-bug, there were always good healthy-looking cusk on sale at Shaw’s in Portland. I always laid off ’em, because I had a feeling they might taste like pollock…. I’ve taken a few Sebago salmon, but they were always little bits of piss-pots, not much over half a pound. Maine has a way of looking awfully good when you’re far away. At the moment, when we’re struggling with the remains of an ice storm, trying to keep the duck pond chopped open each morning, and hauling wood from the shed into the house at the rate of half a cord a day, the beauties of winter and the advantages of our cold, invigorating air aren’t quite as perceptible as they are to guys who are sweating in Miami.”

The letter is dated in the middle of winter (January 25, 1944) and is written on an 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″ sheet of stationery imprinted: “Kenneth Roberts Kennebunkport Maine”. Item #A01472

Kenneth Roberts (1885-1957) is best remembered for his historical novels, such as Arundell (1929), Northwest Passage (1937), etc., but he also wrote about foods and recipes he remembered as a boy growing up in Maine.

Condition: Mailing folds, light wrinkling, otherwise very good condition with a dark, bold signature.