Marjorie Williams was director of the Hollywood Studio Club, a residence for young women aspiring to careers in the film industry. AR lived there her first three years in Hollywood.
66 Park Avenue
New York, N. Y.
April 27, 1936
Dear Miss Williams,
Thank you ever so much for your letter. I was very happy to know that you remember me and that you liked my play. I am sending you a copy of my first novel which has just come out. I think that it is a much better piece of work than the play—and I hope you will like it. I would appreciate it very much if you would write to me and tell me what you think of it.
The novel describes Soviet Russia in the years when I lived there. So if you still remember what a crazy, temperamental person I was when I lived at the Club, you may understand it now, when you read about the kind of country I had just left.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and the other officers of the Studio Club for all your kindness and help at a time when I needed it so badly. I am happy that I have reached some degree of success to justify your interest in me and to prove that your help has not been wasted. It has taken me a long time, as careers usually do, but I am happy to be, in some measure, among those “graduates” of your splendid organization who justify the wonderful work which you are doing and which is needed so very badly—because there is nothing more helpless and tragic, I am convinced, than a beginner with ambitions for an artistic career and without money or experience. I want you to know that I have not forgotten and that I am grateful to the Studio Club from the bottom of my heart.
I may be back in Hollywood this summer, but I do not know exactly when, because there is a possibility of my going to London instead: my book will be published there this summer, and my play is scheduled to open in London sometime in June. However, I know that I will end up in Hollywood eventually and I shall certainly be delighted to see you.
Thanking you again,
Sincerely yours,
Copyright © 1985 – 2024 The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI). Reproduction of content and images in whole or in part is prohibited. All rights reserved. ARI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions to ARI in the United States are tax-exempt to the extent provided by law. Objectivist Conferences (OCON), Ayn Rand Conference (ARC), Ayn Rand University (ARU) and the Ayn Rand Institute eStore are operated by ARI. Payments to OCON, ARC, ARU or the Ayn Rand Institute eStore do not qualify as tax-deductible contributions to the Ayn Rand Institute. AYN RAND, AYN RAND INSTITUTE, ARI, AYN RAND UNIVERSITY and the AYN RAND device are trademarks of the Ayn Rand Institute. All rights reserved.