In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Portrait ofTerrell Maverick. Maury Maverick Sr. Papers, di_0532g, Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, the University ofTexas at Austin. Touched with a Sunset: The Letters of Terrell Maverick and Walter Prescott Webb A Love Story Edited by Betty Hannstein Adams* excerpts from the courtship correspondence between Terrell Maverick and Walter Prescott Webb ran in theJuly 2009 and the October 2009 issues of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. She was the widow of Maury Maverick Sr., U.S. congressman and mayor ofSan Antonio, and Walter Prescott Webb was a professor of history at the University ofTexas at Austin and a recent widower. Longtime acquaintances, they developed a friendship in late i960 that turned into a love affair in 1961. They regularly exchanged letters, as she lived in San Antonio and he in Austin, and both traveled separately. This set of letters begins with Terrell visiting New York City with her friend, Elma Dill Spencer (referred to in the letters as EDRS). Webb is in Austin, getting his affairs in order and looking for a place for him and Terrell to live after their marriage. Upon her return to Texas, they continue to look for a place to live, and the place they settle on is an Austin duplex owed by Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson. Included is a letter from Terrell to Lady Bird Johnson, a longtime friend and then the wife of the vice president of the United States, about everything from Terrell's reasons for marrying Webb to detailed requests about remodeling the duplex. Among the wedding plans, house hunting, and the objections ofWebb's daughter, Mildred, the letters also detail their reactions to a scare about Webb's health. He continues to express a sense of urgency about their relationship. He writes as a man who feels that time is running out, but also as one grateful for a last, unexpected, chance at happiness. * An auuior of books on Latin America, Betty Hannstein Adams was a friend of both Walter Prescott Webb and Terrell Maverick. Her friendship widi Terrell lasted well beyond Walter's deadi in 1 963. For full biographical information on Adams, please see theJuly 2009 issue of the Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Vol. CXIII, No. 3 Southwestern Historical Quarterly January 2010 344Southwestern Historical QuarterlyJanuary The WaldorfAstoria New York, N.Y. October 12, 1961 Monday, 3:45 p.m. Dearest Walter, You are keeping me awake way up here in NYC. I can't seem to make myself unwind at night. For the past 3 nights I have been open eyed until way past the midnight hour trying to fit all our puzzle pieces together. I know they'll work, but the method system is what's bothering me. Today is Columbus Day and although the parade started at noon it's still going strong over on Fifth Avenue. We have just returned from Mrs. Roosevelt's (74th St.) and are supposed to be resting (EDRS is). . . . [L]uncheon at Mrs. FDR's was, as usual simple, thrilling and right. She knows so much and is so amazing. Yesterday, Oct. 1 ith was her 77th birthday. . . . Adios, Walter darling. It's good for us to drag out this thing a bit, it presents the correct perspective, I can see myselfjockeying for a good starting position. You and I are going to get something more out of life than what we've had. Isn't it great that we discovered it in time? Love, Terrell The University ofTexas Department of History Austin 12 October 12, 1961 My dear Terrell: . . . Last week I made a talk to the Austin Women's Club. . . . They were polite, gave the appropriate amount of applause, but I noted an abstract look in their eyes, and considerable murmur of conversations in the intervals. My spies informed me later that they were more interested in me as a specimen than in my moving story, and that the table conversation was concerned more with my personal affairs than with the great lesson I had tried to teach them. The abstraction which they could not wholly conceal was due to their wandering minds, and I can hear them saying to themselves , or to their table mates: "What on...

pdf

Share