Katherine Anne Porter was especially close to her nephew Paul. He came to take on the role of the child she wished for and was never able, after four unsuccessful marriages and a hysterectomy, to have. Porter even published an essay in a 1966 issue of Mademoiselle on the subject of their correspondence (“Letters to a Nephew: Observations on Pets, Poets, Sex, Love, Hate, Fame, Treason”). In the letter below, Ms. Porter inquires after her family and speaks of her isolation during the holidays. Paul would later be charged with the care and custody of his aunt towards the end of her life.
To Paul Porter
South Hill
December 30, 1942
Dearest Paul:
….That was a fine impression you gave me of the group singing carols under the street light, and of the two boys drawn together by some vague but real sympathy and need of human warmth… And of course you were there, too, which is what they didn’t know, seeing them. That is what the artist does: he sees, he is the witness, the one who remembers, and finally works out the pattern and the meaning for himself, and gives form to his memories.
I have been absolutely alone here, except for the Russian Polish neighbors down the road, whose children drop by and say Good Day now and then, since last Wednesday morning. I spend some time every day polishing my house a little, it is getting into fine order. I read, and write letters, and rest, and think, and plan my work, and my energies seem to be coming back, and my mind is getting into a good steady rhythm. I needed this quiet and this solitude, there has been a great deal of pleasant but quite aimless excitement and too much distraction. Now with this preparation I mean to begin the New Year with real work; wish me luck. There is so much to do…
Aunt Katherine Anne
From Letters of Katherine Anne Porter. Selected and edited by Isabel Bayley. New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1990.
FURTHER READING
Porter’s legacy traced through history, from third-wave feminism to Lady Gaga.
An excerpt from Porter’s “A Christmas Story.”