Personal encounters

"As a U.S. Army military correspondent in the European theater during World War II, Ralph Hammond interviewed some of the most notable artistic individuals in the twentieth century, including Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, and T.S. Eliot - the latter two at their studio and home, respectively. And he worked beside Ernest Hemingway, who was also writing as a correspondent. Then, during the following decade serving as the press secretary for Governor Jim Folsom of Alabama, Hammond interviewed William Faulkner, escorted Carl Sandburg throughout the state for nearly a week, and escorted the world-famous silversmith William Spratling as he received his honorary doctorate from Auburn. The memories of Hammond include a tete a tete between Alabama's governor and Carl Sandburg as they swap Lincoln stories, a visit to Spratling's Taxco silver shop and house, and a tea-time chat with T.S. Eliot about his book of practical cats - all these sung in a Whitmanesque paean."--BOOK JACKET.