Patricia West

November 22, 1999

Mr. Pinkwater:

I am a freelance writer and am writing a very short biographical piece as an introduction to an excerpt from your book “Fat Men from Space,” which is included in an anthology. The publisher would like to make a connection between the influences on your writing and the concept theme of the unit, which is “Messages from long ago or far away connect us to people and places we might never see.” Would you care to make one of your typical pithy comments?

Years ago, I read several of your books to my son (now aged 28). I still remember our favorite of the book jackets comments about you, something to the effect of this: Mr. Pinkwater and his wife travel extensively, most recently to Iceland, which they hated.”

I would very much appreciate a prompt reply, as I am on a tight deadline. Thanks a lot!

Trish West

While I was writing the full-length FAT MEN FROM SPACE all those years ago in Hoboken, New Jersey, the fellow two floors up was sandblasting his brick walls, and the sand filtered down and made a beach of the loft upstairs, and filtered further, and made a sandy mess of mine. Also there was a lot of noise, large objects, like a giant bathtub, being rigged up the side of the building on cables, and there was a water-pipe rupture and flood. Also at this time, someone was suing me--I forget why--it was one of those frivolous nuisance suits. And I had a terrible, terrible flu. In the middle of all this, our favorite cat died. I may have had something in mind when I wrote the book, but if I did, I don't remember it now.