“And in her [Eleanor Roosevelt] letters, she writes the most, you know, fanciful letters: when we are together, and when we are reunited, and you know, I will be your surrogate wife. Of course she doesn't use that word, but I will be the mother to my brothers, and I will be your primary love.” KnowsWritingUseTogetherMotherCoursesWifeBrotherLettersPrimariesMy BrotherEleanorSurrogatesReunited Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I think Eleanor Roosevelt always had a most incredible comfort writing letters. I mean, she was in the habit of writing letters. And that's where she allowed her fantasies to flourish. That's where she allowed her emotions to really evolve. And that's where she allowed herself to express herself really fully, and sometimes whimsically, very often romantically. And it really starts with her letters to her father, who is lifelong her primary love.” ThinkingWritingMeanSometimesFatherEmotionFantasyHabitComfortLettersIncrediblesPrimariesEvolveLifelongEleanor Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“It's interesting to me that really one of the first things she [Eleanor Roosevelt]did as First Lady was to collect her father's letters and publish a book called The Letters of My Father, essentially, hunting big game, The Letters of Elliott Roosevelt. And it really was an act of redemption, really one of her first acts of redemption as she entered the White House. She was going to redeem her father's honor. And publishing his letters, reconnecting with her childhood really fortified her to go on into the difficult White House years.” YearsFirstsBookBigsFatherGamesHouseDifficultWhiteInterestingChildhoodGoes OnHonorLettersRedemptionWhite HouseHuntingPublishingPublishFirst LadyEleanorReconnecting Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I think FDR was very dashing and charming and debonair, and probably reminded her of her father. A great bon-vivant. He loved to party. He loved to sing. He loved to have fun. And he wrote beautiful letters, just as her father did, which - alas and alack - Eleanor Roosevelt destroyed. But she refers to his beautiful letters. And she was charmed by him.” ThinkingBeautifulFatherFunPartyLettersDestroyedHaving FunCharmingAlasEleanorCharmedDashingDebonair Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
“I think that Hick was in love with Eleanor, and Eleanor was in love with Hick. I think it's very important to look at the letters that are in my book, because unlike some of the recent published letters, I have both the personal and the political. And their relationship is about ardor. It's about fun. And it's also about politics.” ThinkingLooksImportantBookPoliticalFunLettersEleanorArdorHicks Author:Blanche Wiesen Cook
