Spencer Heath Archive

Item 2550

Letter from F.A. (“Baldy”) Harper. The phrase “fruits of freedom coupled with wisdom” was underscored and marked in pencil by Heath

April 21, 1957

 

 

Dear Mr. Heath:

 

Thanks for your letter of April 10 which was here awaiting my return from a ten-day speaking trip.

 

 The one point of special need for attention in it seems to

be that of the Malthusian tone of THE WORLD’S HUNGER. In

a great many ways that project was enjoyable and stimulating,

but I am sorry to say that some of the stimulation was of a

negative sort. It was from that experience that I firmly

saw the impossibility of any complete joint authorship.

I wonder why I had to see it from direct experience, because

Mrs. Harper had tried it too, on a book of nutrition she had

co-authored, with the same experience. Two persons just can’t

hold the same pencil at the same time, and in authorship above

most anything else individuality persists in being individuality.

 

 On the matter of Malthus, I had wanted very much to add two more chapters, one to deal most forthrightly with the whole population problem, and the other bringing out as best we could how the point Malthus missed was the fruits of freedom coupled with wisdom. In a theoretical sense, at least, it has seemed to me that these things negate the gloomy side of Malthus’ concept — at least as commonly interpreted in our time — and allows the fruits to exceed the consumption. The USA, with all our stumbling, seems to give support to this view. It is that that I strongly felt needed to be stressed. But the senior author, within his rights I presume, vetoed the idea on some basis which seemed not to be fully a matter of disagreement.

 

 All the best,                Sincerely,

                          /s/ (signed) Baldy

 F. A. Harper