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In 1970, two of America’s greatest writers — Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald — embarked on a friendship largely through letters that blossomed into a devoted relationship.Their association is recounted in a new play, “Meanwhile There Are Letters,” by the Irish novelist, playwright and screenwriter Declan Hughes. The play, which will be presented in process, is an unexpected bonus to the UC Santa Barbara LAUNCH PAD Summer Reading Series at UCSB.
“Meanwhile There Are Letters” chronicles a 12-year correspondence that began when Macdonald, whose real name was Kenneth Millar, wrote a letter to Welty, praising her novel, “Losing Battles.” A year later, Macdonald — borrowing a tactic from his critically acclaimed Lew Archer detective novels — staked out the lobby of the Algonquin Hotel in New York to meet Welty, an award-winning author, records show.
When Macdonald left New York two days later, he wrote Welty: “I feel an unaccustomed sorrow not to be able to continue our friendship viva voce, and in the flesh, but these are the chances of life.” Though they didn’t have a love affair as far as anyone knows, the two writers shared an intense connection. But their relationship was limited by distance and circumstance: Welty lived in Jackson, Mississippi; Macdonald lived with his wife — renowned mystery writer Margaret Millar — in Santa Barbara. (Kenneth Millar used a pen name to distinguish himself from his prolific wife.)
The play — based on the book, “Meanwhile There Are Letters: The Correspondence of Eudora Welty and Ross Macdonald,” (Skyhorse Publishing Inc. 2015) — will be directed by Risa Brainin, professor and chair of the Department of Theater and Dance. Since 2005, Brainin has served as artistic director the UCSB theater program that brings together professional playwrights, guest artists and students to develop plays — in the form of works in progress staged as readings — both during the year and in the summer.
The LAUNCH PAD ...

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