To Helen Blodgett, a fan [Letter 92]

139 East 35th Street
New York City

August 28, 1943

Dear Mrs. Blodgett:

Thank you for your fine letter. I appreciate it very much that “The Fountainhead” made you want to inquire about its author, and I consider it a compliment that you thought it read as if it had been written by a man. I think the best personal compliment I have ever received is your saying that I “look right for ‘The Fountainhead’.”

You ask why I chose architecture as the profession of my hero. I chose it because it is a field of work that covers both art and a basic need of men’s survival. And because one cannot find a more eloquent symbol of man as creator than a man who is a builder. His antithesis, the collectivists, are destroyers.

If you liked the ideas of “The Fountainhead”, I suggest that you read “The God of the Machine” by Isabel Paterson. It is a non-fiction book, recently published, that presents the best, most complete statement of the principles of individualism in the political-sociological sphere and the basic laws of a free society. It should be read by all those who believe in man’s freedom.

With my deep appreciation,

Sincerely yours,