MR: I trust you all will find that letter as humorous as I do. Especially the lament followed by the petition, a poet's prayer if I ever saw one. Anyway, this certainly proves that Ford did not send VN the book. Given that fact, combined with the fact that VN was in Europe and was a regular reader of the NYHT, we can only conclude that VN saw the poem in the newspaper, not in Ford's book, A Thicket of Sky. King, by the way, wrote back in August. In a completely unbelievable dodge, he told Ford that he had "not been able to get a copy of the book to see in what context your lines were used." But, he added, "I am interested in seeing them, and also in the fact that the author of Lolita reads our editorial page verse." Then he told Ford to take it up with VN's publisher. No word if he accepted the poems.
 
Best,
Matt Roth