1945 March 8 Booth Tarkington, Indianapolis, Indiana, to Elizabeth Trotter, writes concerning her observations about his book Image of Josephine, "I'm glad you 'got' the girl in this book… You're off track, though, when you say I give Josephine a mean set of trials; the author doesn't do those things - he's a detached observer of what happens and this ("what happens") grows out of the basic 'situation' and the characters therein inter-engaged. Once that 'situation' is set, the rest is mechanical, can't be interfered with. The clue to Josephine comes late in the book when her opponent, old [?] says 'Fine girl!" He also writes about Susanah's proposed trip to New York in order to accept the Academy's Howells Medal for him for his work since 1940 on May 18th and Mr. Roberts news that it will take an Act of Congress to remove the disgusting mural from the village post office at Kennebunkport.