Emory unveils correspondence of Catholic author Flannery O'Connor

Published: 2007-05-17

ATLANTA (CNS) -- Catholic author Flannery O'Connor and Elizabeth "Betty" Hester first began corresponding in 1955 when Hester wrote a letter to O'Connor commenting on her work. Hester's initial letter was a comment that she thought the author's collection of short stories, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," were about God. O'Connor quickly responded, seeking more information about the stranger who understood her writing so well. It was the beginning of a friendship that lasted nearly a decade, with O'Connor and Hester exchanging written communication almost weekly until O'Connor's death from lupus in 1964 at age 39. Hester donated the letters to Emory University in 1987 with a stipulation that they remain sealed for 20 years. Now, after two decades, the university unveiled the 274 letters to the public May 12. Edited versions of some of the letters were published, with Hester referred to only as "A" in "The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor" in 1979, but this is the first time researchers will be able to view all the letters in their entirety.

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