Irrepressible
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266 “spiritual aspects of death”: JM, PP, 104.
266 “new-found respectability”: JM, PP, 109.
266 “It is bad enough keeping up with the Joneses in life”: Stephen H. Fritchman, “Expose of Funeral Industry Proves It’s Cheaper to Live” Peoples World, September 7, 1963.
266 “the whole ghoulish paraphernalia”: “Author Mitford Tagged Foe of Religion By Utt.”
266 “crypt-o Communist”: Bulletin of the National Review, December 1963, 466.
267 “synonymous with cheap funerals”: JM, PP, 89.
267 “Mitford style” . . . “the plainest and least expensive”: JM, PP, 89.
267 “masterpiece of black humor”: Alvarez, “Memento Mori,” New York Review of Books, 24 September 1998.
267 “made fun of the sacred cows of the time with equal glee”: Ibid.
267 “death was on everybody’s mind”: Ibid.
267 Robert Kennedy had to choose: Schlesinger, Robert Kennedy and His Times, 610.
267 RFK had read The American Way of Death: JM to RT, 23 June 1964, OSU.
267 “a lot of sad things like Tom’s first hair when it was cut, in a teeny envelope”: JM to Barbara Kahn, 24 July 1964, OSU.
268 “Nancy was dressed by Chanel and I by J.C. Penney”: Marge Frantz, interview by author, November 2005.
268 “loved Nancy’s company”: JM, AFOC, 250.
268 “Nancy treated Decca like shit”: Marge Frantz, interview by author, November 2005.
268 “Oh dear, I regard her as Muv’s greatest failure”: NM to Debo, 31 August 1964, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 420.
269 “psycho-dramatist” . . . “meddle with these deep-seated desires”: JM to Barbara Kahn, 6 March 1965, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 335.
270 “How do I go about getting accepted?” . . . “Oh come on”: JM, PP, 288.
271 “linked together by mutual amorality”: Earl of Birkenhead, London Daily Telegraph, 25 March 1960.
271 “Vietnam,” she wrote, “nags unbearably”: JM to Barbara Kahn, 5 March 1965, OSU.
271 “Jessica Mitford Treuhaft was the first speaker”: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jessica Mitford File, FBI archives.
271 “a touch too sappy”: JM to Durr, 27 January 1963, OSU.
271 “Hazel Grossman”: JM to Barbara Kahn, 4 December 1967, OSU.
271 “I can’t bear to join”: JM to Debo, 11 September 1965, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 339.
272 “level of chaos . . . underdeveloped country”: Hinckle, If You Have a Lemon, Make Lemonade, 192.
273 “The idea of actually owning”: Ibid., 109.
273 “the ranking capitalists of the land, affording them the treat”: Ibid.
273 “dithering manner”: Toynbee, “Decca Mitford,” 1, OSU.
273 “Darling, is the District Attorney the man who puts the rope”: NM to JM, 4 May 1964, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 448.
274 “It was all worth it”: JM to Leonard Boudin, 24 June 1966, OSU.
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275 “Decca loved parties”: Marge Frantz, interview by author, November 2005.
276 “People who amused her . . . people in other contexts”: Kathy Kahn, interview by author, December 2006.
276 “a lot of boring”: JM to Maya Angelou, 7 May 1968, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 273.
277 “house on Regent Street”: Herb Gold, interview by author, December 2007.
277 “makes one love everyone, they say”: JM to NM, 4 May 1967, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 365.
277 “munching” . . . “There must be so many American children, surely some of them could be spared?” JM to Durr, 20 September 1967, OSU.
278 “quieter” . . . “the most bonded couple”. . . “sense of intimacy”: Herb Gold, interview by author, December 2007.
278 “enjoyed her fame” . . . “strong women”: Mark Lapin, interview by author, March 2008.
279 “cold fish”: Marge Frantz, interview by author, November 2005.
279 “about law cases” . . . “talked about writing, not literature” . . . “by an adoring husband”: Herb Gold, interview by author, December 2007.
279 “The Arctic trails have their secret tales”: Service, “The Cremation of Sam McGee,” in The Spell of the Yukon, 50.
279 “The thing I’m most afraid of in”: Mark Lapin, interview by author, March 2008.
280 “It really did take the edge off”: JM to Durr, 20 September 1967, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 374.
280 “The inevitable has happened”: Debo to NM, 13 March 1967, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 485.
280 “Is he the foreman?”: NM to JM, 10 April 1967, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 488.
280 “Mrs. O slightly mis-reported me”: JM to NM, 4 May 1967, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 491.
280 “I only said that now”: JM to NM, 4 May 1967, in TM-LBSS, ed. Mosley, 491.
281 “a lot of anger”: Herb Gold, interview by author, December 2007.
281 “they were impressed by him and liked what he was doing”: Benjy, interview by author, January 2007.
281 “had a knock-down drag-out fight”: Dinky, interview by author, May 2006.
281 “Caen mentioned subject after describing her”: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jessica Mitford File, FBI archives.
281 “to disobey the draft law”: JM to NM, 14 March 1968, OSU.
282 “Washington was rather extraorder”: JM to Pele deLappe, 14 April 1968, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 377.
282 “The law of conspiracy is so irrational”: JM, The Trial of Dr. Spock, 61.
282 “Spock and Coffin particularly were demanding”. . . “a confrontation”: JM to Marge Frantz, 17 June 1968, OSU.
283 “in violation of international conventions”: JM, The Trial of Dr. Spock, 83.
283 “the people in power are nothing to fear”: McCreery, “Queen of Muckrakers,” 77.
283 “vaguely lavatorial”: JM, The Trial of Dr. Spock, 89.
283 “Dan has a low threshold of boredom and mercifully enlivened”: Ibid., 117.
283 “a very, very uphill job”: JM to Durr, 17 April 1969, OSU.
283 “a workman like job”: Ibid., 396.
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285 “great tradition of open, democratic meetings”: Langer, “The Oakland Seven,” Atlantic Monthly, October 1969, 77-81.
285 “opponents of the demo”: Ibid.
285 “got to go”: JM to Aranka Treuhaft, 28 March 1969, OSU.
285 “a kind of low-water mark for prosecutors”: Packer, “The Conspiracy Weapon,” New York Review of Books, 6 November 1969.
286 “slight tight-rope—between going up to her room”: JM to Debo, 18 June 1969, OSU.
286 “another planet, another century”: JM to Durr, 26 March 1969, OSU.
286 “rather lost interest in the book, in all the worry over Nancy”: Ibid.
287 “swoop in” . . . “nothing but rapid-fire jokes”: Ibid.
287 “To Virginia she said”: Ibid.
287 Debo, “who was the go-between, the manager of it all”: Fursland, Jessica Mitford, 181.
287 “Diana and I are getting on”: JM to Marge Frantz, 22 May 1969, OSU.
287 “a really marvelous statue”: Fursland, Jessica Mitford, 182.
288 “a sort of awful betrayal not to tell the truth” . . . “I do feel most”: JM to Debo, 17 July 1969, OSU.
289 “Shall I give up writing & take Laurent’s massage class, instead?” JM to Marge Frantz, 25 October 1969, OSU.
289 “state-of-mind trial” . . . “charged with carrying certain ideas across state lines”: Abbey Hoffman, as depicted in the animated film Chicago 10, directed, produced, and written by Brett Morgan (Paramount, 26 August 2008; DVD); transcript of film.
292 “wouldn’t it be equally unethical to publish a piece blasting them!!!”: JM to Barbara Kahn, 2 December 1969, OSU.
292 “I am furious”: Ibid.
292 “more pleasure from start to finish, than any other”: JM, PP, 170.
293 “spontaneous and true”: Patricia Holt, interview by author, March 2008.
293 “Of course, the whole thing is a terrific fraud”: JM to Aranka Treuhaft, 3 January 1970, OSU.
293 “I’m an awful ham”. . . “a very hard sales pitch, an appeal to the gullible”: JM, PP, 156.
293 “Would you prefer to paraphrase”: JM, PP, 156.
294 “one of the clear-cut successes”: JM, PP, 170.
294 “Wasn’t it sad about Bennett Cerf croaking. I felt v. put out about that”: JM to NM, 21 September 1971, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 434.
294 “I know in my heart of hearts”: JM to Virginia, 5 March 1968, OSU.
295 “this cat”: JM to Various Friends, 1 February 1993, in Decca, ed. Sussman,668.
295 “He slept in his clothes, seldom bathed, and lived on a diet of Gitane cigarettes and Nembutals”: Ibid., 532.
295 “You’re at Donald Sutherland’s. I’ll be right over”: White, Genet, 530.
295 “wearing green socks”: Ibid., 531.
295 “like a street fair”: Herb Gold, interview by author, December 2007.
296 “Bay Area radicals, politicos”: Herman, “Before I Forget,” Huffington Post, 2 January 2008.
296 “to hear the latest news and to rally”: Ibid.
296 his “fuse”: Hilliard and Cole, This Side of Glory, 260.
297 “Isn’t it nice”: JM to Various Fiends, 1 February 1993, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 668.
297 “What do you think we should do?” . . “You ask me how”: JM to Various Friends, 1 February 1993, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 668.
297 “composed as a turtle”: Herman, “Before I Forget.”
297 “the sandbags and automatic weapons put them off”: Albert, Who the Hell Is Stew Albert? 154.
298 “The old, balding”: Ibid., 157.
298 “It’s always the children who get hurt in wars”: Decca was paraphrasing Michael McClure in a letter to various friends (JM to Various Friends, 1 February 1993, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 668.)
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303 “wit’s end”: Dinky, interview by author, February 2010.
303 “to protect the public”. . . “they never mention punishment”: Don Wegars, “A Radical Switch,” San Francisco Chronicle, 1973.
303 “ . . . “hot stuff”. . . “nobody seems to know”: JM to Robert Gottlieb, 5 September 1972, OSU.
304 “more proud of sticking pins”: Leah Garchik, interview by author, March 2006.
304 “ruthless gutter fighter”: Robert Gottlieb, interview, Portrait of a Muckraker: The Stories of Jessica Mitford, produced by Stephen Evans, Ida Landauer, and James Morgan, KQED, 1990 (DVD and VHS).
304 “I don’t think of myself as a muckraker”: “The Press; Queen of Muckrakers,” Time, 20 July 1970.
304 “I really don’t understand”: JM, interview, Portrait of a Muckraker: The Stories of Jessica Mitford, produced by Stephen Evans, Ida Landauer, and James Morgan, KQED, 1990 (DVD and VHS).
304 “I’d got him”: Ibid.
304 “This hard heart”: JM, PP, 175.
305 “Miss Mitford is artful”: Doug Smith, “James Dean Walker,” quoted in, Decca, ed. Sussman, 538n196.
306 “gallant little” . . . “Her hair is thin”: James Degnan, “Jessica Thumb Her Toes,” Change (winter 1974-1975): 38-41.
307 “From a distinguished professor”: Ibid.
307 “Every time she gets a chance she tries to stick”: Ibid.
307 “Some day my prints will come”: JM to Aranka Treuhaft, 17 January 1974, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 466.
307 “that the university’s fingerprint requirement”: JM, PP, 213.
308 “cremate them”: JM, PP, 213.
308 “Pay the lady”: JM, PP, 213.
308 “Jessica succeeds”: Degnan, “Jessica Thumb Her Toes.”
308 “Nancy’s favorite symbol”: JM, “The Saga of Swinbrook,” San Francisco Chronicle, 24 March 1985.
309 “This he sold you . . . throw it at his head!” JM, AFOC, 145.
309 “Radical chic marches”: Herb Caen, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 October 1975, quoted in U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jessica Mitford File, FBI archives.
310 “grim feminist who talks sociologese”: JM to Dinky, 9 November 1975, OSU.
310 “thoroughly muddled”: Ibid.
310 “in adversary position against all comers”: JM to Marge Frantz, 29 August 1974, OSU.
310 “I’m afraid I was a rather rotten mother”: Decca to Tilla Durr, 6 March 1984, OSU.
311 “some of the unutterably beastly”: JM to Katharine Graham, 9 April 1990, OSU.
311 “about the whole thing of Nicholas”: JM to RT, 10 October 1990, OSU.
312 “really extreme prejudice . . . had to go to a psychiatrist”: Dinky, interview by author, January 2007.
312 “I was militantly pro-mania”: Benjy, interview by author, January 2007.
312 “the whole experience . . . farcical anecdote”: Bernstein, Loyalties, 76.
312 “ex-menaces . . . had to be done”: Marge Frantz, interview by author, November 2005.
313 “incredibly upsetting . . . but then what else could it be?” JM to Sonia Orwell, 14 October 1976, OSU.
313 “sibling rivalry—horrid phrase”: JM, AFOC, 15.
313 “one experience but two outcomes, opposed in externals though in fact”: JM, AFOC, 16.
313 “thousands simultaneously”: JM, AFOC, 16.
314 “two sides of the same coin”: JM, Faces of Philip, 101.
314 “Stalinism may well have been almost as horrible”: Ibid.
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315 “I bloody well don’t see why she is self-appointed arbiter”: JM to Ann Farrer Horne, 23 February 1980, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 522.
315 “Victorian old ladies”: Anthea Fursland, interview by author, 186.
316 “Obviously I applaud many of the changes you enumerate”: JM to Hillary Rodham Clinton, 10 May 1980, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 527.
317 “When we hit Bilbao”: Brahms, Sherrin, and Greenwell, The Mitford Girls A Musical, Warner/Chapel Music, 1998.
317 “the boy in the attic”: Katie Edwards, interview by author, December 2006.
318 “it would be in no sense another spinoff”: Patricia Holt, interview by author, March 2008.
318 “three packs a day . . . a Jack Daniels or two”: Kevin Ingram, telephone interview by author, September 2006.
318 “I’ve never written a biography”: JM to Kevin Ingram, 13 October 1981, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 550.
318 “rat-like cunning, a plausible”: JM, PP, 1.
319 “If my parents believed in God”: Dinky, interview by author, May 2009.
319 “I’m glad she’s found”: Ibid.
321 fretful “if Bob was out of her sight”: Katie Edwards, interview by author, December 2006.
321 “Oh he’s perfectly splendid”: Pele deLappe, interview by author, October 2006.
321 “My daughter tells me I’m an alcoholic”: Dinky, interview by author, January 2007.
322 “chuck in all sorts”: JM to Kevin Ingram, 13 October 1981, in Decca, ed. Sussman, January 2007.
322 “narrative style is so peculiar”: Raymond Mortimer, quoted in Hastings, Nancy Mitford, 219.
322 “Toynbee memoir proceeds”: JM to William Abrahams, 20 July 1983, OSU.
322 “[Decca] has a strong element of genuine”: Toynbee, “Decca Mitford,” 1, OSU.
324 “riveted” . . . “I, of course”: JM to Michael Straight, 25 February 1983, OSU.
324 “caused temporary loss”: Katie Edwards, interview by author, December 2006.
324 “indictment nor an expose”: Patricia Holt, interview by author, March 2008.
325 “SURPRISINGLY good”: JM to Edward Pattillo, 24 February 1985, OSU.
325 “happy that he’d finished it”. . . “weighed
in so”: Kevin Ingram, telephone interview by author, September 2006 .
325 “SANE and AMUSING” . . . “You know how desperately worrying”: JM to Robert Gottlieb, 26 May 1981, OSU.
325 “dreadful, and absurd”: JM to Benjy, 24 January 1984, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 582.
325 “disgusting manic episodes”: Ibid.
326 “snakepits,” where “they shoot you full of thorazine”: Benjy, interview by author, May 2006.
326 “you wouldn’t be”: JM to Benjy, 24 January 1984, in Decca, ed. Sussman, 582.
326 “Bob’s affair was very very painful”: Dinky, interview by author, March 2009.
326 “the Loved One” . . . “only interested in”: JM to Sally Belfrage, 8 August 1985, OSU.
326 “SQUALOR of it all”: Decca, ed. Sussman, 593.
326 “given persistence & good will”: JM to Sally Belfrage, 22 August 1985, OSU.
327 “if it was easier & less painful for him to give up”: JM to Sally Belfrage, 22 November 1985, OSU.
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329 “began in a cocaine”: Benjy, interview with author, January 2007.
330 “And why not? Say I,” JM, letter to the editor of Harper’s magazine, November 1992.
330 “Hillary Clinton had interned”: “Jessica Mitford’s Diary,” The Times Magazine, 9 October 1993.
330 “I think Decca probably”: Diane Johnson, interview by author, May 2010.
330 “anything which sniffs of phoniness or misplaced earnestness”: Toynbee, “Decca Mitford,” OSU.
331 “There had, she said, been”: Alexander Cockburn, “Farewell, Lady Decca,” Salon, February 8, 2005.
331 “some v. catty items about me & Bob, many more”: JM to Debo, 28 October 1994, OSU.
331 “to take out” Charlotte Mosley, letter to author, 19 October.
331 “before an interview a”: Katie Edwards, interview by author, December 2006.
332 “Help I’m trapped at this ghastly dinner”: Leah Garchik, interview by author, March 2006.
332 “Have I ever told you about my abortion?” . . . “grisly details” . . . “Of course we were going to America”: Barbara Hall, telephone interview by author, February 2006.
332 “An obvious omission”: JM, fax to Robert Boynton, August 1992, OSU.