JESSE HILTON STUART SIGNED BY STUART. TLS TO JOURNALIST DEANE MORRISON

4to 11" - 13" tall; Jesse Hilton Stuart. TLS to journalist Deane Morrison. Reads, "Mr. Morrison… Your mentioning my ‘Esquire’ stories… brings back old memories. So many people around here dind’t like them either. But our drugstore sold them, and it wasn’t an uncommon sight to see a man slip in and buy one, as if he were a little ashamed, and put it under his arm and walk out. Even the papers went after me over a few stories. So I would stay away, not see many people, until a story ‘had died down. ’ That is, read and partly forgotten…" Dated "Riverton, Ky. Nov. 12th, 1952." Signed "Jesse Stuart. " [2] leaves, single-sided. 11 1/8" x 7 3/8". Very good with original envelope. Jesse Stuart (1906-1984) achieved prominence with his short stories, poetry, and novels. Born and raised in Greenup County, KY, Stuart relied heavily on the rural locale of northeastern Kentucky for his writing. He said that most of his stories were elaborations of true incidents that he observed or heard about. His plots and dialogue give a stereotypical view of the region. He was made poet laureate of Kentucky in 1954, and in 1961 received the award from the American Academy of Poets. His first novel was "Trees of Heaven" (1940). Stuart's "Taps for Private Tussie" (1943) sold over a million copies in only 2 years, and won the Thomas Jefferson Southern Award for the best Southern book of the year. A fairly uncommon signature. ; Signed by Author.…