Dear Mevrouw Schroeder, Thanks for your note, which pushed my conscience into writing a letter, which has been much too long in the typewriter. How is the Rietveld Stichting* going? It must give you mixed feeling to see your lifetime confidence in an idea and in a person vindicated, celebrated and honored, as it is now with the foundation and the present exhibition. As I continue to grow up, I realize more and more how valuable are the Rietveld and Schroeder principles; and I find myself always putting your ideas into the category of ideas of other people -- Thoreau, Gandhi, Wright--whom I admire very much. Also, in time, the work and thought of other people-- Le Corbusier, Mies, for example--goes [begin onderstreping] down [einde onderstreping] in my view. The distinction has something to do with the depth and breadth of their beliefs, I think. I am still not too clear on the matter; but I do know that R. increases in value for me as the others decrease. // But this late respect, honoring, recognition, as you know, has two sides. One aspect is a genuine [begin doorhaling] disc [einde doorhaling] discovery of values; while the other side is simply another fashion, fad, [begin doorhaling] “socal “socal [einde doorhaling] “social” event, something to provide smalltalk at cocktail parties. For example, Walter Stahl remarked that during his last visit to Holland, he was struck by the large number of [begin onderstrepin] superficially [einde onderstreping] -influenced “Rietveld” housing. A kind of R. decoration, in his view. How do you see this matter??? // My life and work for over a year has been determined by a somewhat strange, but fascinating, project. I am now finishing up work on a book and large exhibition of the photography of [begin onderstreping[ Margaret Bourke-White [einde ondestreping]. Maybe you might know // [begin door afzender onderaan toegevoegde tekst] * is there anything I can do to help? [einde onderaan door afzender toegevoegde tekst] // [begin door Truus onderaan toegevoegde tekst] answer my question about the R “honor” and ask me something, I shall become a better letter-maker (dit stond op achterkant 2e kantje) [einde door Truus onderaan toegevoegde tekst] // some of her work from [begin onderstreping] Life [einde onderstreping] magazine?? Maybe you know some of her best-known photos?--“Gandhi and his spinning-wheel”, “Buchenwald prisoners”?? At any rate, she was surely one of the major photographers of the century, specifically a [begin door Truus overgeschreven tekst] “photojournalist. By coincidence she started her work as a student at my university Cornell in 1927 and almost immediately became [begin tekst linker kantlijn] succesfull as the first photographer for Fortune magazine and then for Life in [einde tekst linker kantlijn] [einde door Truus overgeschreven tekst] 1936. She was a strange person, an aristocrat-adventurer, who always seemed to be where the action was, no matter how brutal or revolting-- in the bloodiest parts of WW II; in the death camps at the and of the war, in India during their terrible riots, etc. And her work has an enormous range--beautiful industrial compositions, “de nieuwe zakelijkheid” type; poverty; violence; gorgeous landscapes. The big tragedy in het life was sickness--Parkinson’s disease--which [begin doorhaling] hits [einde doorhaling] destroys the nervous system. She had it for the past 15 years and just died last summer, as her work is only now being given full coverage. // For me, the work has been extremely difficult, but very much fun, to give verbal and visual form in both a book medium and an exhibition at the same time. Both should be ready by March 15. Maybe I can induce Han to visit for the exhibition? I am now in the final stages of both book and exhibit, which, as you know, is the most nervous stage. All the major decisions have been made, and all can one do now is hope that they are not too confused in the execution. // Barbara and the children are fine. Barbara has been working as a children’s librarian in one of the local elementary schools, a job that she enjoys very much. She really likes children and gets great satisfaction from watching their nasty little minds develop. [begin door afzender toegevoegde tekst] I am too selfish for such satisfaction! [einde door afzender toegevoegde tekst] // Best wishes from us all and thanks for the note and, in advance, for the catalogue. // I am sorry that I am such a bad letter-writer; it is not because I do not think about you and Holland; it because of a strange block against letters. Maybe if you