Katherine Anne Porter Remembered

William R. Wilkins

43 / william r. wilkins William raymond Wilkins (1928–) grew up in the redwood country of northern california. After receiving a b.A. from Humboldt state college in 1951, he joined the U.s. navy, where he eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant commander. in 1952 he married fern stahl, and during his navy career the couple and their two children, david, born in 1954, and robin, born in 1957, traveled widely. He served twice at national security Headquarters in maryland before retiring in 1974. After he left Porter’s employment in 1977, he worked for the assistant superintendent of the maryland school for the blind and then as a volunteer for the University of maryland Libraries. source: William r. Wilkins, personal interviews with darlene Harbour Unrue, 27 may 1995, baltimore, and 13 August 1997, college Park, maryland. the day in early november 1968 when my wife, fern, and i met Katherine Anne Porter was the saddest day of our lives. Our fourteen-year-old son, david, had been killed by a drunk driver several days earlier, and bob beach, fern’s cousin, was driving us home from david’s burial at the Arlington national cemetery. Our daughter, robin, and my sister eleanor, who had come from california, were with us. At the time, bob was employed by the University of maryland as presidential assistant for university relations, and among his duties was that of liaison between Katherine Anne Porter and the university, which had given her an honorary doctorate in 1966 and to which she had donated many of her manuscripts, letters, and personal belongings. He asked whether we minded if he stopped by her apartment to drop off some papers. Of course we didn’t mind. He went in and came back out quickly to tell us that nothing would do miss Porter but that we come in and have lunch with her and her other guest, who happened that day to be Glenway Wescott. it was an especially thoughtful and gracious gesture. Her sympathy and kindness touched us deeply. After that day we saw Katherine Anne occasionally either with bob or by ourselves when bob asked us to stop by her apartment to pick up or drop off some- Part 6. new york, Washington, dc, and maryland / 207 thing. in 1976, a year or so after i retired from the navy and was looking around for something interesting to occupy my time, bob called to say that Katherine Anne needed an assistant who could help her with a variety of tasks. He thought it would be the perfect job for me. “Would you be willing to undertake it?” he asked. i called Katherine Anne and said, “Are you looking for help?” she said cheerfully, “yes, i need all kinds of help. can you start monday?” i said yes and never regretted it. i stayed on with her for a little over a year, and i was with her most days from nine in the morning until four or five in the afternoon and sometimes beyond. she dictated letters that i typed up and mailed, i answered the phone and took messages, and i tried to help her sort through her boxes and baskets of papers and photographs that were stacked all over the apartment. i helped her put together her memoir of her participation in the sacco and vanzetti affair.30 during the fourteen months i spent with her, i also worked on a cookbook with her (we got as far as corn pone and mint juleps) and her biography of cotton mather, trying to combine her notes and previously published pieces into a coherent whole.31 it is one of my regrets that this was never completed. When i let myself into her apartment in the mornings, or when fern went with me to help with the shopping, Katherine Anne would sing out, “coffee’s on the stove.” And then, “come on in here, baby” (or “babies,” as the case might be), “there’s kissin’ goin’ on.” fern, robin, and i became Katherine Anne’s friends. We took her to movies (Snow White was one of her favorites), introduced her to a nearby farmers’ market , and escorted her to gala functions such as a memorable one at the Jewish center that should have been a delightful occasion for her—but wasn’t, because the crowd was large and she felt penned in. i also suspected that she was frustrated because she wasn’t so much the...