Chapter seven: to answer in english—a Heroic decision

“He is now in the Dominican Republic”: James Geraghty, art editor, TNY, 1941 memo to Ik Schuman, TNY administrative editor; reprinted in Ben Yagoda, About Town: The New Yorker and the World It Made (New York: Scribner, 2000), p. 178.

When it finally docked: ST to R & M Steinberg, July 16 and 25, 1941, October 20, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12, Folder “Letters from Milano and Santo Domingo.”

He drew his room: ST to Henrietta Danson, Ciudad Trujillo, August 25, 1941. Original in possession of Lawrence Danson, copy in SSF.

By October he had still not recovered: ST to “Henrietta and Harold [Danson],” October 1, 1941, copy in SSF.

he had generated more good ideas: ST to Henrietta Danson, October 12, 1941, copy in SSF.

“much primitive”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” October 22, 1941, YCAL, Box 12. On November 20, he spent the “evening at Godesteanu’s and his wife.”

the real excitement came: There is a notebook in YCAL, Box 2, Folder “Santo Domingo 1942,” of lists and sketches of work ST was doing for U.S. magazines, plus ideas for drawings. Almost all of it is in Italian, with the occasional English word.

“the very goods English”: ST to H & H Danson, November 17, 1941, copy in SSF.

“like a x‑ray picture”: ST to H & H Danson, October 12 and November 17, 1941, copy in SSF.

No matter how sick, tired, or depressed: ST to R & M Steinberg, July 16, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

The only unvarnished truth: ST to R & M Steinberg, October 20, 1941, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

After the United States entered the war: Harry Steinberg to R & M Steinberg, January 7, 1942, Romanian letters, YCAL, Box 12.

Aldo did reply: AB to ST, “22 Aug.,” YCAL, Box 12, “Wartime Letters from Ada”; also AB to ST, July 22, 1941, YCAL, Box 12.

“He makes it clear”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” October 1, 1941.

“She writes bullshit”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” October 16, 1941. The word is either puttanate (bullshit) or puttana (whore). Whichever, ST is angry with Ada.

“feel rancor toward Aldo”: Ada to ST, n.d., YCAL, Box 12, “Wartime Letters from Ada.”

Ada tried to explain: The account that follows is based on internal evidence from undated “Wartime Letters from Ada,” YCAL, Box 12.

Aldo did not like Ada: When I asked him about this in June 2007, he became angry and said that he was “finished” talking about Ada because “she is not very interesting and she bores me.”

several days later when Ada sent a photo: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” October 17, 1941.

From then on, her letters referred casually to her husband: Ada to ST, “Wartime Letters from Ada,” YCAL, Box 12.

On any particular “today”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” various entries from October 20, 1941, through February 11, 1942.

“Dear Adina, poor little thing”: Ada to ST, Milano, October 30, 1941, “Wartime Letters from Ada,” YCAL, Box 12; ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” various entries, October 17–20, 1941.

“in great fear”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” November 21, 1941.

he moved again: Estrelleta 42 (Altos), to H. & H. Danson, December 19, 1941; Gavino Puello 9, to H. & H. Danson, April 22, 1942.

a book jacket for Simon & Schuster: ST, undated letter to H. & H. Danson, probably November–December 1941. In “Journal, 1940–42,” December 7, 1942, he wrote that he sent ten drawings to Simon & Schuster on December 6.

the Valentine’s Day spread: “Don’t Ever Marry These Guys,” Mademoiselle, February 1942.

“silence from New York”: ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” January 18, 1942.

“I continue confusedly”: ST, undated letter to H. & H. Danson; also “Journal, 1940–42,” December 7, 1941.

He was pleased with his success: ST to H. & H. Danson, January 15 and March 16, 1942; Danson, “An Heroic Decision,” p. 64; ST, “Journal, 1940–42,” January 15, 1942. L. Danson posits that the painting reproduced on the cover of the issue of Ontario Review in which his article appears may be one of the three. It is reproduced in S:I, cat. 3, and cat. 4 is another painting done in Santo Domingo. In “Journal, 1940–42,” November 24, 1941, ST describes a “neoclassical tempera. Framed picture came out well.”

“Is a pity”: ST to H. & H. Danson, January 19, 1942, and March 16, 1942.

“other, Communist” Steinberg: ST to H. & H. Danson, n.d.; internal evidence suggests early 1942.

“is better don’t mention”: ST, undated letter to H. & H. Danson; internal evidence suggests October 1941. Letter to Harry Steinberg, October 12, 1941. In a letter to AB, April 19, 1985, while reading a novel by Gadda, who wrote in the Milanese dialect, ST disparaged his “ancient association with Bertoldo, and other nonsense of that era.”

Civita also furnished a statement of ST’s earnings: Ik Schuman, TNY administrative editor, sent a memo to editor Harold Ross and art editor James Geraghty saying they should all “avoid seeming to say we guarantee ST work as this would be a violation of law prohibiting labor contracts with prospective immigrants; we should say that we feel his talents would enable him to get work.” November, 21, 1941, TNYR, Box 366. Letters from these publications to various officials and addresses at the U.S. State Department begin with the date of February 3, 1942, and are in YCAL, Box 1, Folder “Correspondence 1942.”

directed his letter to a high-level contact: Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., to Mr. A. M. Warren, March 25, 1942, copy in YCAL, Box 1, Folder “Correspondence 1942.”

“I have seen his work on the editorial pages”: Smith, Steinberg at The New Yorker, p. 16, notes that “cartooning under watchful Fascist eyes had taught Steinberg to poke fun at war in general rather than condemn its opponents; in fact, the first set of drawings he published in America [ Harper’s Bazaar, March 15, 1940] had satirized, of all things, French defense efforts.”

“very much to our interest”: Geraghty, 1941 memo, reproduced in Yagoda, About Town, p. 178.

Even better was the agreement Civita arranged: Ik Schuman contract letter form to Cesar Civita, as “attorney or agent” for ST, May 15, 1942; Cesar Civita to Ik Schuman, July 1, 1942, spelling out details of an agreement “valid for two years from July 1, 1942,” making “Victor Civita (brother) and Charles Civita (father)” ST’s lawful attorneys. They were to receive a 40 percent commission on anything sold, with the remaining 60 percent to go to ST. Both documents are in YCAL, Box 1, Folder “Correspondence 1942.”

His application had been approved: In 1978, when his work was featured on the cover of Time, ST received a letter from Paul Radin saying that what may have been the best gesture he ever made was to “sign a paper sponsoring your entry into the US.” ST never forgot Radin’s gesture: in 1953 he sent one of his false diplomas and in 1979 a signed copy of his latest book. Radin’s letter is dated April 14, 1978, YCAL, Box 22.

He had his visa in hand: ST to H & H Danson, May 16 and May 26, 1942; Gertrude Einstein to ST, June 1, 1942.

admitted that it was “stupid”: ST to Harold Danson, May 26, 1942.

“There is not the slightest danger”: Gertrude Einstein to ST, May 25, 1942, YCAL, Box 1.

“I’m wasting my time here”: ST to Harold Danson, June 17, 1942.

“Traveling by bus, if you manage”: R & S, pp. 53, 55.

And that was how he got his first view: R & S, p. 55.

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