A Heaven of Words: Last Journals, 1956–1984

Afterword

Afterword Wescott never believed he would outliveWheeler, even though Monroe had suffered with arthritis and other problems for the past two decades while Glenway remained relatively healthy. Now it was Glenway marooned at Haymeadows while Monroe kept up his city routine and international travel.To compensate, Monroe would report on their beloved NewYork City Ballet, the dinner parties, and museum news.Though Glenway’s correspondence was over, Monroe sent cheerful postcards from abroad. Looking to the future, John Connolly and Ivan Ashby bought the Haymeadows house from Lloyd and spent weekends there more often. At other times friends visited and found Glenway fairly well, speaking a bit haltingly but with clarity, wit, and humor—and with an excellent memory of past conversations and events. Nothing was getting resolved with the journals, and Lloyd and Monroe had most of the bankers boxes of material stored in the loft of the nearby garage, formerly a barn. In February 1986, Glenway experienced a mild heart attack and spent several days at Hunterdon Medical Center, at 2100Wescott Drive.There he told John Stevenson, “I disgrace myself with loneliness and boredom and vexation.” He’d like to come to the city and have a party, he said. Wescott’s last birthday was on Friday, April 11, 1986, and a local newspaper reported that he celebrated with family and friends at a restaurant in New Hope. The next day John Stevenson and I drove out to visit. At 277 278 Afterword just that time Arbor House had published a handsome new edition of The Grandmothers with a cover illustration of Wescott’s autobiographical character, young AlwynTower. Glenway had heard about it but not seen it and we brought a whole boxful, along with other birthday gifts. In jacket and bright lavender tie, Glenway was pleased by the attractive new book and—coming as it did, out of nowhere—seemed to put to rest any worries about the journals, though he knew they’d be posthumous. He took a phone call of congratulations about the book and replied, “I had nothing to do with it. It came through the trees, looking for me.” When he was asked to sign a few books, his hand could only manage a shaky scrawl, which upset him.Then he went for a ride to see his favorite country lane, Laurel Road in New Hope. With a smile he said, “I dreamed of it last night, but I didn’t think that would be enough to bring it on.” He also enjoyed a visit to a public flower garden and lunch in Lambertville. In May, Wescott’s doctors gave him a pacemaker and he was stable through the summer, with the care of Lloyd, Monroe, and Anatole; John Connolly and Ivan; and Lloyd’s faithful staff: Dorothy, Jerome, and Ethel. In early October he suffered a stroke that affected his speech and mobility. He was home in two weeks and recovered slightly in the coming months. His bed was moved down to their library, by a window overlooking the fields. Still living in California, temporary executor John Stevenson visited in January 1987 for an emotional reunion.Then he met with Lloyd and a family lawyer to help settle affairs. On Sunday night, February 22, Glenway passed away at home. Among the newspaper tributes, the NewYorkTimes referred to him as “one of the last of the major American expatriate writers who lived in France in the 1920s and 1930s,” and the Times of London stated, “He will be remembered as long as fiction is read.” On March 11, he was remembered at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, with speakers including Jane Gunther, Russell Lynes, and William Maxwell, and piano pieces performed by Ned Rorem. Within forty-eight hours of Wescott’s passing, Wheeler suffered a stroke. After a long rehabilitation he lived at his New York apartment Afterword 279 and made his last trip to Europe in late July 1988. He passed away on August 14 and was honored by a large gathering at the Museum of Modern Art on November 3. Lloyd died at home on Christmas Eve 1990. Continual Lessons,Wescott’s journals of 1937 to 1955, appeared shortly afterward. At Haymeadows, a small, nearly hidden, centuries-old farmers’ graveyard has a large marble marker, listing the names of the Wescott clan, including Glenway and Monroe.  Postscript: In his memorial speech for...