The saga of Helen DeWitt

[Toby G Levy]

Has anyone else been following the saga of Helen DeWitt?  She of the
fabulous novel "The Last Samurai" that came out about five years ago.

I have been trying to find out for a long time if another book would be
forthcoming from her, and now in light of a handful of news articles,
here is what I have found:

She was awarded a fellowship by the NY Public Library last year.  The
fellowship stipends authors with enough money so that they can ditch
their day jobs for a while and just concentrate on writing.  The stipend
has a max of $50,000 a year plus office space in Manhattan.  Helen DeWitt
accepted the fellowship but dropped out of the program in short order.

She took an apartment in Staten Island to escape the noise of the city.

One of her friends said she was suffering from writers block but another
said that she had sold the book to a publisher but was despondent after
cancelling the contract because the publisher was editing the book
against her wishes.

Last week she sent emails to friends telling them she was going to commit
suicide.  She was last seen leaving her Staten Island apartment Tuesday
morning, dressed in black, boarding a bus that was going to the Staten
Island Ferry.

Her mother (I assume) told the police to look for her in Niagara Falls. 
She had a "history"  of going there. On Wednesday morning  the NF police
were given a description of her and by early afternoon  they found
standing near a hot dog stand. She was admitted to a local hospital for
observation.

I sure hope she works out her problems and finds a publisher that will
get her book out to readers without mucking it up.

Toby

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