John Cheever and Tanya Litvinov, his Russian translator, enjoyed a lively correspondence after the author’s visit to Russia in 1965. Afterwards, the FBI opened and maintained an extensive file documenting Cheever’s activities. Some items that passed through the mail between the two friends include: copies of the New Yorker, foul-smelling Russian glue, soap, magnets, and this death notice.
Cedar Lane
Ossining, New York 10562
October 17th, 1976
Dearest Tanya,
Since you are an old, old friend you might like to know that the horse, to whom I feed apples, is well and comely and that Flora, our oldest Labrador, died on Wednesday night. She had hoped to outlive me. She was a distinguished dog and had a most distinguished end. A black gardener named Lyndon Facey—a deacon in the Star of Bethel Church—buried her at the end of the terrace. Mary planted the grave with yellow chrysanthemums and strawberries.
Luve,
John
From The Letters of John Cheever. Edited by Benjamin Cheever. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988. 397 pp.
FURTHER READING
Rachel Cooke conducted an interview with Cheever’s wife and children after his death. You can read it here.
The New York Times reviewed Cheever’s journals in 1991, less than ten years after his death. Their analysis is available in their archives.