My dear, dear Patricia:
I could write you a dozen letters this afternoon, if I could write fast enough to keep with all my thoughts, but that will not be possible, and probably, if I could and did, you’d be so appalled you wouldn’t read them all anyway, so I’ll stop with one - or maybe two, if I can’t resist the urge. Of course, I could try once more to express adequately how I fel toward you, but I suspect that you already know - I’ve said it or tried to in so many ways that I’ve used most of my potential - even though, secretly at least, you might like to hear it again - most persons are that way so long as the one who’s talking is sincere - and I trust and hope that you haven’t doubled that. So I’ll leave it to you - just take the quintessence of all that I’ve said up until now, compress it until you can perceive only its true essence - and that’s how I feel about you.
Today again, I’m happy over your chance at a holiday -0- one to fly in and to be with Benno, for he’s one of the nicest young men in your circle of affection. I felt this way when you were with the Whitings and there are enough such fine people scattered here and there that you’ll be able to build a lot of your friendships among them in the future. Your appeal is such that you attract them along with some of the lesser ones and you can take the time to pick the good ones and to shake the less worthy - as Connie, I think, is learning this summer. Thank god for [?] and the [?] management.
I was out to your Mom’s yesterday PM - took out some celery juice and some milk. I also took out - and I hope you weren’t counting on doing it yourself too strongly - the banquet picture from Washington. Your mom was immensely pleased and all the boys derived much [page 2] satisfaction from picking out “Patty” and “Dr. Duncan” - or “Gunken - Gungken!” more than anything else, this gave your mother a good impression of the nature of the convention. She saw, too, as well as we, that the general attitude of those in the picture - at least at our table - reflected a spirit of relaxation and general friendliness and she expressed pleasure at the fact that you and I obviously were completely at home in the group. She easily picked the prettiest one there and commented on how well both of us looked. I made her so happy to see the picture that I’m sure you’ll forgive me for taking it out to show her. But I’m so proud of you that I couldn’t resist anyway. I left the picture with her for a few days so she could study the details.
She told me you phoned her about the latest pictures and she’ll be on needles and pins until she gets a chance to see Twischen looking at Hermie out of his two gleaming eyes! That is a superb picture. She wants to see all the late ones of us in Washington and the ones of the family taken at the place on Peravale Street. Another thing she told me that will please you enormously, I’m sure - perhaps she already has told you - is that she feels so much like a new person in a new world on Los Padres that she is looking forward to the time when she’ll feel equal to inviting the neighbors in! and living normally! She is tremendously pleased with the neighborhood.Quite a few of the neighbor women have told her how glad they are that she has moved in to replace the Footers - whom, it seems, almost no one liked. The Footers didn’t like children - and the neighbors have children - they didn’t like animals - not cats or dogs and repeatedly threatened to have the neighbor’s dog and cats caught and taken to the pound. And the Footers were snooty to the adults - didn’t want them for visitors - they might leave wrinkles on or soil the fabric of the furniture etc. and the neighbors are pleased that your mom and Leon are sprucing up the garden [page 3]so the place will look its best. The man next door - on the side where the oleander bush was, trimmed the boxwood hedge that extends from the house out to the street, even though it’s apparent that the hedge is entirely on 457 Los Padres. He just wante4d to be helpful! This is all wonderful for your mother. Georgie and Nobie visit and play with the youngsters on the other side - 2 and3 hours at a time and get invited back “because they are such intelligent and well behaved youngsters”.
Well - I got my first retirement check - a sort of payment on account and it’s part of a partly humorous partly exasperating performance. With it came a copy of form let #528A, wich tells me, among other things, that the “Retirement System” would appreciate correspondence regarding this payment only on those matters of great urgency.” In their words, “you may not like how we’re handling this or the amount of the check, but don’t tell us unless you are caught in an emergency.” The letter also says the amount is tentative and “has been conservatively estimated and is intended to be less than your actual allowance.” Actually it is less than my half time pay was last year, when the Business Office of the College [?] me me that ultimately it should be around or in excess of three-fourths of a full time salary check. The letter further states that “you will continue to receive this same estimated payment on or about the 5th day of the month for a period of three to six months.” It also tells me that I am not yet legally retired because I “requested information concerning options” until all the mathematics of my service and earnings and connections into options can be processed. Then the state will magnanimously make up for the current deficit. This will be in December (3 mo.) or March (6 mo). In the meantime I am “not legally retired and if I perform ‘ANY SERVICE ‘ - ‘IN ANY CERTIFICATED POSITION’ until the processing is over my ‘APPLICATION FOR RETIREMENT’ will be cancelled! Even though I have already been officially acknowledged as retired!! In their words, until the [page 4] final figuring on my retirement pay has been completed though I am considered “retired” by the college as of June 11, I’m not so considered by the State or at least not by the Teacher’s Retirement System, and dare not do anything for a Public School that draws pay or will lose everything! It’s a good thing a person doesn’t have to be certificated to teach in a State College - otherwise I’d already be lost because I taught two weeks on Field School during the summer. Please come home and laugh with me - or help me sputter! All this seems so unutterably silly that I feel like talking or ranting as Peter O’Toole does in the interview that is written up in the latest Playboy. You’ll find it interesting reading though a lot of it isn’t in refined English. Like me, you’ve doubtless heard all the language he uses most of your life and perhaps a lot more - unless you were able to close your ears to it while you wer so strongly religiously bent but good English, generally speaking, is a lot more impressive. O’Toole apparently is a brilliant and certainly highly talented young Irishman who deserted school after only 3 or 4 years of attendance. He has since at the expense of considerable money and time learned his English. He reads widely, has all kinds of independent and often stimulating thoughts with many of which I am in complete agreement but in expressing himself - at least for Playboy - he meixes in with his correct English all sorts of inelegancies, to be euphemistic in referring to them.
The interview supposedly is given in O’Toole’s own occasionally raw or ribald words, but I notice that, although I have commented that playboy editor Hefner probably has his tongue in cheek a lot of the time, he extends his more “delicately eared” readers the courtesy of softening the impact of a few of O’Toole’s comments. Initial letters and blank spaces following convey the meanings without spelling out the words. Well, dearest Patricia - have yourself one more grand day and I’ll be seeing you. Love -Carl
Dr. Carl Duncan and Patricia Whiting Collection (SJSU)
