Fine TLS, one page, 8.5 x 11, personal letterhead, November 21, 1962. Steinbeck writes to Dr. Vernon Reyman at the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. In full: “I can’t tell you how happy your letter of congratulations has made me, but I’m going to try. Anyone who says he doesn’t like a friendly pat on the back is untruthful or a fool. Far from the least rewarding results of the Nobel Award to me have been the many letters of congratulation which are a clear indication to me that people care. I am sorry to tell you, however, that I do not have any autographed photographs of myself to send to you. Thank you again for writing me....” The citation for the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature lauded Steinbeck “for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humour and keen social perception.” In his acceptance speech, Steinbeck noted that “Literature is as old as speech. It grew out of human need for it and it has not changed except to become more needed. The skalds, the bards, the writers are not separate and exclusive. From the beginning, their functions, their duties, their responsibilities have been decreed by our species.... The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat, for courage, compassion and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature....” A few faint marginal creases, and mailing fold just touching “J,” otherwise fine, clean condition. Auction LOA John Reznikoff/PSA/DNA and R&R COA.
