Here, Graham Greene writes to Christopher Sykes, who was at the time working on a biography of Evelyn Waugh. Greene and Waugh were contemporaries, and both had converted to Catholicism during their lifetimes. Below, Greene relates several anecdotes about Waugh, such as the time Waugh crashed a plane with Randolph Churchill (the son of the prime minister) in 1944. Sykes’ book was published in 1972.
29 August 1967
Dear Christopher.
I was delighted by reading your broadcast programme on Evelyn in The Listener, which could hardly have been better done. One or two points occur to me which may be of use to you as a biographer. Evelyn when he told me of the plane crash in Yugoslavia always said that he was flying to join Randolph. He remembered nothing of the crash, but after the crash found himself walking through a field and to his astonishment, because he had no idea where he was, saw Randolph walking towards him through the field carrying a drink! He never mentioned that Randolph was a fellow passenger. He also used to tell me that he found he was put off alcohol completely by sharing a hut with Randolph in Yugoslavia because the smell of Slivovitz coming from his companion was too strong for him.
Evelyn on Tito. Evelyn used always to say that Tito was a lesbian who lived in Paris at the period when it was fashionable for lesbians to have their breasts removed!
I always disbelieved a little in the stories of Evelyn’s rudeness at parties and used to deny such stories until one evening when Carol Reed invited Evelyn, myself and Korda, who was then living with Alexa, to dinner. Suddenly at table Evelyn developed an extreme anti-Semitic rudeness towards Korda. The next day I was with him in a taxi and I said, ‘Why did you insult poor Alex like that?’ He said, ‘He had no right to bring his mistress to Carol Reed’s house for dinner.’ I said, ‘But I had my mistress with me.’ Evelyn’s reply was, ‘That is quite different. She is a married woman.’
It’s only after a good lunch and reading The Listener that I send you these notes with affection.
Graham
From Graham Greene : a life in letters. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.
FURTHER READING
Sykes’ biography about Waugh.
A letter, unearthed decades after both authors’ deaths, between Waugh and Greene.
Greene’s relationship with the Vatican.