Spencer Heath Archive

Item 2187

Letter from Spencer MacCallum to Heath’s granddaughter Beatrice O’Connell in England.

2018

 

Original is missing.

 

 

Hi Bea,                          

 

     I’m sorry you don’t have a happier memory of your grandfather. He had a tragic era in his life. He dreamed and was building at Roadsend Gardens a model residential community—to be a cultural center for the Baltimore region. It was dashed by two things, the power company using eminent domain to bisect the property with high-tension lines, and a disastrous marriage. PD thought Aunt Ada would be hostess with him of the cultural center. But it turned out that she didn’t share that vision, was gay and paranoid, and entertained her partner at Elkridge. I can only guess that she didn’t think much of men. She accused Popdaddy of having sex with her niece, young Ada, which was disproved by medical examination during the divorce proceedings. Of course she could, and would, be kind to you and Irvan. Children are no threat. You probably know that young Ada came over from England specifically to protect her aunt from “that ogre” who, according to her letters to England, had been mistreating her so. But when young Ada came and found what the real situation was, as she told me­—who was and who was not the “ogre”—she stayed to protect Popdaddy from her aunt. She became Popdaddy’ s right-hand man, as it were, for much of the rest of her life, maintaining Elkridge, running the nursery and so on, with Popddaddy largely in New York. I was so glad when she and Crawford married and made a good life together.

     But I’m interested in what you say, because I’m learning a lot about Popdaddy, having all his papers and records. He wasn’t the world’s best housekeeper (understatement!) and seldom threw anything away; so, that means I have a lot of stuff from his apartment and from Elkridge. I’ve thousands of items in the Archive and lots of miscellanea. But nowhere have I come across anything supportive of your negative impressions of him, most especially with respect to his relations with women. He surely did not think women were dumb! So I’d like it if you were willing to share some of what you remember. You’re the only person left who could do that. If you’d rather not, I’ll understand and won’t bring it up again.

     I guess that’s all for now.

Much love,

Spencer and Emi