Yours, Willa Cather

http://catherletters.org

"Yours, Willa Cather" is a 30-minute documentary inspired by the recently published Selected Letters of Willa Cather, edited by Andy Jewell and Janis Stout. In "Yours, Willa Cather" we meet the woman who confesses to a friend that she is "paralyzed" by the open spaces of the West. Who is so bored with her job as editor of McClure's that she compares it to living in a "tepid bath." Who believes her boss when he tells her she has no talent as a writer. Who writes to F. Scott Fitzgerald, "After all, the only thing one can tell about beauty, is just how hard one was hit by it. Isn't that so?"

In Yours Willa Cather we hear a voice very different from the polished and controlled voice of Willa Cather the novelist. Instead we meet a person who is vulnerable, funny and at times, ruthless. A fascinating woman who thoroughly mastered the art of letter writing.

Nebraska born actress Marg Helgenberger (CSI, China Beach) is the voice of Willa Cather. Author and actor Christopher Cartmill is the narrator.