TLS John Steinbeck to John F. Kennedy, 23 January 1961

3 THE WHITE HOUSE JAN 24 5 23 PM '61 JOHN STEINBECK 206 East Seventy-second Street, New York 21, N.Y. RECEIVED January 23, 1961 My dear Mr. President: I thank you for inviting me to your inauguration. I was profoundly moved by this ceremony which I had never seen before and even more moved by your following speech which was not only nobly conceived and excellently written and delivered, but also had that magic undertone of truth which cannot be simulated nor synchronized nor synthecized. Personally, of course, I am honored to have been invited, but much more sharply felt is my gratification that through me you have recognized the many goo members of my profession as existing at all. A nation may be moved by its statesmen and defended by its military but it is usually remembered for its artists. It does seem to me that you, sir, have discovered or rather rediscovered this lost truth. Again my thanks, my pledge and my passionate hope that your words may become history. and I believe they will ! Yours gratefully, folu John Steinbeck