SIGNED "Ayn," with ORIGINAL Air Mail envelope. Rand blames Mayer for the dropped adaptation of 'We the Living' "He is afraid of producing an anti-Soviet play" 

In part: There are no immediate prospects for our return to Hollywood, and I have two plays on my hands, which, if all goes well, may be produced this season. One is a new play I finished this summer. The other my adaptation of WE THE LIVING. You ask me about its production. Well, Jerome Mayer, who had it, has dropped his option on it recently, and for a very sad reason: he is afraid of producing an anti-Soviet play. When taking the option, he had assured me that he was not afraid of it, but he has a great many Red friends and they got the best of him. I am somewhat indignant about it, because it appears as if the Reds have established a nice little unofficial censorship of their own, and it is very hard to get ahead with anything anti-Communistic. But we shall see what we shall see. Right now, I have a very big producer interested in the play and expect to hear from him definitely within the week. If the politics do not stop him, he would be much better for the play than Jerome Mayer could have been.

Rand's debut novel, We the Living, was published by Macmillan on April 7, 1936, nearly two years after its completion. Originally titled Airtight, the novel explores the struggles of the individual against harsh communist rule in Soviet Russia, and was later described by Rand as the most autobiographical of her novels. Not long after its release, Rand began to negotiate with producer Jerome Mayer on a theatrical adaptation of the novel. While Rand completed her initial draft in January 1937, Mayer struggled with both casting and raising production funds. These constant setbacks ultimately led to the production s cancellation, and Rand's assertion that Mayer was afraid of producing an anti-Soviet play. George Abbott eventually took over the production, and the play opened under the title The Unconquered at the Biltmore Theatre on February 13, 1940. The play closed after just six performances largely because of universally negative reviews. Accompanied by the original air mail envelope. An historic, insightful letter from the revered scribe during the very height of America's "Red Decade." Book #Pv1249. $9500.