Dear John:Your column is delightful this week. There is a promise ahead of you to develop into a columnist. It is especially true of the paragraph centering about politics. There you are so decidedly human that many a reader will find himself in that column and just sit back and laugh at himself. So is your paragraph about Hallowe'en and neuroticism. The last paragraph becomes informative, and how the American people hate to be informed.
It is striking this keynote of a universal self that is hard to attain, but once you get it, it becomes an invaluable asset. May I also urge that whenever you want to become cynical and satiric for a diversification, you are welcome to it without any fear of inciting the editorial bluepencil. There are things which can be most squarely hit on the head that way and that way only. You have an innate capacity for it.
But what I have been looking forward to is that "universal self" expressed through current universal thought and interest. It is along this line that you will find yourself making the greatest and most delightful strides in this column. It will also serve as your greatest mode of self-expression. In other words: How do you react to all the things Jones and James are interested in. Politics prove a most interesting issue. There will be an opportunity for you to say something about it in next week's issue as soon as the election results are determined.
Frankly, John, I am delighted in your column. I can't even wait until it is set. I read it "hot." Already you are showing definite signs of development. I shall keep watching further development with keen interest.
Fraternally yours, Morton
