George E. Brown, Jr. Correspondence with Vardis Fisher, 1954-1968

Most of the letters were written by Vardis Fisher. Because Twin Falls was a long distance call from Fisher's home in Hagerman, Fisher communicated with Dr. Brown via the U.S. mail. While the subject matter of the letters is mainly medical, Fisher includes references to his literary work. It is apparent from the letters that Brown read Fisher's books and discussed them with him, though Fisher chided him, "As a literary critic, you are as big a bum as I am a doctor..." (November 5, 1965). The letters also reveal that Brown and his wife Martha occasionally exchanged visits with Vardis and Opal Fisher.

A notable document in the collection is a personal medical history Fisher compiled for Brown in 1961. In more than one letter Fisher freely discussed his drinking habits, reporting both his periods of abstinence and his binges. In 1967 he wrote: "Alcohol is one of my best friends: it is the only thing I have that enables me to discharge for a few hours my bottled up hostilities and frustrations....In younger years I was able to release these pressures by rapidly climbing a tall mountain, or by putting on boxing gloves....One of my favorite books is by a medical man called Alcohol: the Friend of Man. He means, of course, in all the civilized ways it serves us." (April 9, 1967)

All of the letters and postcards from Vardis Fisher to George E. Brown, Jr., were typed; most were signed in a longhand signature, "Vardis." Dates of many of the postcards were derived from the postmarks; some dates (in square brackets [ ]) were inferred from context. All items are one page in length unless otherwise noted.

Forms part of the Idaho Writers Archive.