March 2, 1975 (Letter from Diane)

You disappointed me!  Here I was, expecting all kinds of sarcasm because I sent the Tweety stockings 3 weeks after Christmas.  Of course, being a former Scout  I was prepared to have the final word -- the Peanuts cartoon.  Since it's too good to miss, I'm sending it anyway  Incidentally, I was also late for Bev's birthday.  What do you expect from a person who was born 3 wks late and never caught up?

ALso enclosed is an offer from Aim toothpaste for a Tweety doll.  Unfortunately, I'm a longtime devotee of Colgate so I can't take them up on it.

I wish I could say that life has been wildly exciting but actually it's about the same.  This swinging singles stuff is for the TV and movies.  Bev and I did go to the Latin Casino this weekend.  I(It's similar to Pgh's Holiday House.)  The Fifth Dimension was performing -- they were excellent.  The food was awful; it reminded me of the Towers cafeteria.  And the parking attendant lost my car. Eventually they found it, thank goodness.  But I'm not sure we'll recover from the mad rush of 2.000 people all trying to get their coats from the clerks at the same time!  But as I said, the show was great and made up for the rest.

Your discontent with your present home is shared with several of us.  Bev would like to go back to Pgh, Grayce wants to stay in Philly and I miss my mountains.  I'm sure the shore will be a delight this summer but for the rest of the yr., N.J. has little to its advantage except its proximity to N.Y. and Philly.  And when the weather is miserable, it's really miserable.  The wind is terrific and the rain pours.  Of course, with the job situation being so bad and getting worse, I shouldn't complain. However, Pa is looking better all the time.

Work is getting to be frantic!  The people are realizing that a librarian is there and, as they should, they're asking for all kinds of library service.  The problem is the LC conversion and the paperwork that also has to be done.  I won't see daylight for at least a year.  But it's tremendously rewarding to see these engineers become aware of the resources available to them.  Education is one of the biggest aspects of the job.  Lack of it among the higher echelons is causing problems as far as money and, particularly, space requirements are concerned.   If I can make the library an integral part of the district, most of the problems will be solved.

Let me know what's going on in Big Sky country.  Are you really going to Seattle?  Still writing? Keep in touch.

February 9, 1970 (Letter from Patty)

Well, I started classes Thursday and I get the feeling that this semester isn't going to be any better than last.  I have terrible courses and terrible teachers.  I didn't even get into half of the courses I wanted.  My grades for 1st semester weren't too good -- about 2.3 and in general, I guess this isn't going to be the best year of my life.

I didn't have a really terrific time at Elizabeth's (in New Jersey), but it was quite interesting.  I saw her father's art work and got to help him in one of his classes.  Elizabeth was with her boyfriend most of the time though so mostly I just read a lot.  Have you read Steppenwolf by Hesse yet?  If you haven't, try to.  It's a great book.

I've been trying to keep pretty busy since I got back here so that I don't get bored too soon.  Friday night James Taylor and Mickel Cooney were here in concert.  It was really good.

Well, this is just a quick letter cause I've got to go to my printmaking class.  That's what I finally decided to major in and it's the only class I like and the only teacher I like.

Say hello to Ken and Mike for me.