British Legation
Belgrade
15 February [1951]
Dear Anne,
A brief line to let you know that Eve
is coming to London for a fortnight in
order to scout around and see what she
thinks about having the baby there; I've
told her to drop you a line and perhaps
when she comes to Oxford you'd be good
enough to give her tea and tell her
roughly what the form is ..
There is no news to give you much that
you don't see in the papers; ah yes! I
have struck a great blow for poetry.
While in Trieste I found, hiding in a
garage, too big to be used, a perfectly
gigantic car - a Horch: the German Rolls-
Royce. Eight cylinder, forty horse power.
It used to belong to Goering and then to
the general commanding the area. I bought
it for a song and brought it back. It is
lovely, silver-grey, sleek and with a fun-
ny old-fashioned look. It makes you feel
like a film star of the twenties. We call
it Hermann and are planning one mad summer
of plutocracy in it before the war breaks
out [rumored, with the USSR]. As a matter
of fact you have often seen Hermann in the
newsreels - do you remember the entry into
Prague etc with one of the big shots stand-
ing up in the front and giving the boys the
salute. That's how I go to the office now.
Everyone is speechless with rage, and few
will speak to me these days. But the Bel-
grade police force is deeply respectful.
There are two horns on the car, bass and
tenor. I say that I've struck a blow for
poetry because it is an ideal poet's car:
too large for any purpose except triumphal
entries, and so expensive to run that only
a lunatic would buy such a thing. I shall
sell it to Tito when I leave. He already
has one but not as nice as mine. Wish you
could come out and admire it.
Love
Larry
Spirit of Place
Letters and Essays
on Travel
Alan G. Thomas, editor
New Haven, Connecticut
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