10,676. BUTTERFIELD 8

BUTTERFIELD 8

That's John O'Hara, for those not in

the know. He's buried in Princeton too,

with the rest. They made a film of this;

one of those sexpot, dame things they

used to do in black and white. His house

was in the woods on Fakler Lane. Cocktails

at three each day, the whole bit. He had

a Rolls Royce he drove around town, 

maybe 1956. You get stuff like that when 

your name makes it big  -  the lucky break, 

the right talent, the need. I never had that 

stuff myself : the goings-on of my own 

life owed more to bread and butter needs,

the nasty slog of getting on. And then again, 

I never needed cocktails at three, either. And 

He was dead at 65, and for me, as it is,

I'm still alive.