Dear Marion,

The copy of my letter to Cynthia Behrman which I forwarded, 
may interest you. My comments about Elizabeth concern one of
her daughters, a professor of physics at a university in Kansas,
who has received a faculty award for excellence in teaching.
The rest of the letter speaks for itself.

Thank you for describing the movie about Baron von Mildenstein
and Judge Tuchler. It concerns a topic which I find very, very
difficult, so much so that I hesitate to address it directly
except in fiction. cf:
home.earthlink.net/~ernstmeyer/andere/kk07.html
a reference with which most likely I've provided you (many times)
before. Forgive the repetition.

The Executive Director of the Plumbing Board, Mr. Joseph A. Peluso,
has so far failed to inform me of any date set for the hearing
of my appeal. Apparently their lawyers are unable to digest my
arguments. Prospective meetings are scheduled for May 30, June 6,
June 27, July 11, July 25 and August 1. Until I know the date of the
hearing, obviously I can't make any plans.

Meanwhile Margaret and I are spending a calm and blissful summer
in Konnarock, practicing being (very) old. All I've done in the way
of maintenance is to repair the video surveillance system which will
guard the house in our absence. When we drive to town in a day or two,
I'll take the occasion to buy a new toilet for the second floor.
The existing fixture no longer flushes adequately, and Mr. Gordon,
my Nantucket plumber whom I consulted by telephone, agrees with me
that it should be replaced.

I've been adding to Chapter 53, more and more aware of the emergence
of fictitious events from the subconscious and trying to be careful
not to impede or distort them as they appear. The future plot of the
novel is as inscrutable to me as the future course of life, except
for the certainty that both must end, - and if I am permitted to say
so, I hope sooner rather than later.

The editing of my earlier novel Die Andere gives me much satisfaction.
I rediscover what I thought, how I felt and who I was, twenty years ago.
To write is necessary and inevitable. I think I'm finally learning how
to go about it.

Please stay well. 
Jochen