Carla Kaplan, "Editing an Icon"
(page 7 of 7)

So as I say, we learn a lot from her letters. Those that survived the fire. This one did not, in its entirety. It's a letter to Nunn, and like many, it's partly burned. But there are also many things that we will never learn.

And I think she knew that. My favorite letter in the book is actually a letter which is only a fragment. This is all we have of it, and it reads: "To add to the storehouse of human knowledge and permanent literature. So don't bother about me. You could never understand me. Cordially yours, Dr. Zora Neale Hurston."