Typed letter, signed “Larry Barretto”.
Carmel, California: 1 October 1958.
Price: $75.00
About the item
One and a quarter pages. 1 vols. 4to. To Wesley Hartley, a long-time educator and teacher, formerly of the American Council on Education. Folded, else in fine condition.
Item #24232
¶THE IMPORTANCE OF EDUCATION. Responding to a question about the importance of his high school education and asking whether the college experience was necessary in creative writing. Regarding high school he writes “I think a high school education is extremely important, if for no other reason that this, that it gives the student a much better chance to sample fine literature than grammar school…I didn't have a college education, but I would not advise skipping it. It is almost esssential these days if one wants to eat. But I just don't think it has much to do with writing beyond adding to the would-be writer's general culture, and that can be enlarged through reading.” He goes on to recommend“Writing is not easy. There will be moments when the writer knows he is turning out shoddy work and other moments when some detail of characterization or plot evades. If so, then let him ask his subconscious for the answer before he goes to sleep. Chances are after a little practice he will be the answer on awaking. This goes for other things too like mathematics.” Barretto is probably best known for his first novel “A Conqueror Passes” which was one of the first novels to tell of the soldiers returning from war, He wrote several other novels and some non-fiction and autobiographical works.
