Renaissance Man of Cannery Row: The Life and Letters of Edward F. Ricketts

1943–1945

To Torsten Gislen Paci¤c Biological Laboratories Paci¤c Grove, California April 7, 1943 Dear Gislen: This will seem like a letter from a long-lost friend. I haven’t written for some very long time. I guess since US went to war. We had your Christmas letter of Oct. 26th, and were most appreciative . I am glad that it came thru, and hope this reply goes thru equally promptly. I feared that there would be no communication with Sweden whatsoever. Dr. Schmitt, even before Pearl Harbor, tried to get in touch with some anthozoa specialist there in Sweden, oh of course, it was Dr. Carlgren, in connection with some Panamic anemones I was most anxious to have identi¤ed, but reported he couldn’t even contact him by air mail. I had a copy of our most recent book “Sea of Cortez” sent to you along with a great many other specialists who received their copies. Fear it may not have gone thru, or that something may have happened to it en route. I do hope you got it; it may be some fun for you, and in any case the bibliography of the marine biology of the Panamic Faunal province will prove valuable. I put a great deal of work into it, as much almost, as I put into “Between Paci¤c Tides” but in much shorter time. Now I have hoped to be able to make a survey of the marine invertebrates of the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian, the Bering Sea and the Kamchatka region, but of course that is now out of the question. Maybe after the war. And then I will be reasonably well equipped to 1943–1945 start work on a manual of the marine invertebrates of the entire Paci¤c coast. Could be a very good job. If I live long enough. And if I can ¤nd funds to sustain myself while I’m doing the job—which will be ¤nancially unrenumerative. Ed Jr is in the army. Nancy Jane has been trying to join the WA ACs, but she is still too young. My brother in law [Fred Strong] expects to be called. Don’t know if you met him. Nice fellow, but very quiet, and not too well, fear he’ll have a bad time in the army. Finally, I myself, was drafted last October. So we are quite an army family. I am running the laboratory of the dispensary here at Monterey. Very interesting work. Urine analyses, urethral smears, venipunctures for Wassermanns, blood counts and differentials, etc. All involving lots of microscopic work which of course I like. The lab (PBL I mean) is going pretty well to pot, but there’s little demand right now for specimens from schools, and maybe I can pick it up again after the war. I have even been doing a little bibliographic research on Pac[i¤c] coast marine invertebrates, per previous schedule, in my spare time, but there’s little of that, and I haven’t been able to manage much really serious work. And the literature problem is more acute than ever before. I have been compiling a polychaet library that I hoped to make complete for Paci¤c coast descriptions, but it’s pretty nearly hopeless to pick up the few Vidensk, Medd fra dansk naturhist Foran papers here, and one of them is pretty important, CCA Munro’s 1928 account of the Mortensen, letter wouldn’t go thru. I wish science were more international, in connection with things like that. I ¤nally married again, very kind and intelligent girl, considerably younger [Toni]. Now in third year and we get on well so far. I saw Nan last year up north and was very welcomed and welcoming. Even Cornelia, the youngest, is now a grown up lady. You remember “I’ll tell my gweasman on you!” 1943–1945 / 177 Well, I will say goodbye to you and to Mrs. Gislen, and to the family I have never met, but which I feel warm towards nevertheless. I hope we may see you again sometime. Greetings and friendship!  To Ingersoll-Waterbury Co. May 8, 1943 Dispensary SCU 1930 Presidio of Monterey, Calif. The Ingersoll-Waterbury Co. (Division of Waterbury Clock Co.) Repair and Service Dept., Waterbury, Conn. Attention: Mr. Ingersoll (or Mr. Waterbury) Dear Mr. Ingersoll: I am in a dif¤cult situation and I think you should know...