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Correspondence from Grady McMurtry to Karl Germer
1661 Sacramento St, Apt. 3 San Francisco, 9, California
15 May 1946
Dear Karl,
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
Yours of May 7th, on hand. Yes, I have a copy of the Blue Equinox. Sorry I didn’t mention it. I would like to have one copy of “The Diary of A Drug Fiend” and a copy of Liber Aleph. No hurry about these as I won’t be able to use Liber Aleph constructively for some time.
Does Aleister plan to come over here this summer or not? From your list of the things he has planned to publish over there I don’t see how he can plan on it. And if not then I don’t see how we can afford to support another person, such as myself, not that I am doing much supporting at the present time, over there. It is certainly unfortunate that none of the English lads such as that Grant [Kenneth Grant] fellow have worked out for him. I begin to doubt very much that you will get any money from Jack [Jack Parsons] for some time. Maria Prescott wrote to me, confidentially, some time back that Jack had put the assets from the sale of the house at the disposal of himself, Betty [Betty Northrup] and Ron Hubbard in what looks like a hare-brained scheme, it Seems Betty and Ron went to the East Coast to buy a boat and cargo which they are going to sail around to the West Coast and unload at a profit. It might work and it might not. I do not think that it would be wise to write Jack questioning him about this at the present time but I thought you should have some idea of what may happen. Assuming that you did not know it already. If this latest project is ineptly handled Jack may wind up a very broke young man indeed. I don’t suppose there is any point in worrying Aleister about this until we know more. It is certainly a shame that you had to send your reserve cash but there doesn’t seem to be anything else you could have done.
Yes, I have every reason to believe that I will be here when you come around in July. To explain why here is an excerpt from a letter I sent to Aleister on the 12th of May. “I mentioned to Karl when I came back from Europe that I thought that someone would go over and help you straighten yourself out when you are ready to come over here. At that time I saw no reason why I shouldn’t be the one who did the traveling but there is no reason why Jack or Jane [Jane Wolfe] couldn’t do the same. Regardless of who is to go I think it advisable that we start planning on it right away. My position at present is this, Foxie [Marjorie Fox]—that’s my wife—is expecting to give birth to a new McMurtry in October. We had not planned him or her until after I finished school but things like that happen in the best of families. There are several points on the bright side, of course. For one thing it seems about time for some Thelemite to start having a family. Except for Phyllis [Phyllis Seckler], who was outcast by Agape [Agape Lodge], no one down south has seen fit to do same. In the second place I have reason to believe that this child is the outcome of a ninth degree operation. If so we may have super-man on our hands on of these days.
But all of this leads to a certain complication. In order to pay for Junior’s arrival and support ourselves in the meantime I will have to go to work this summer and next fall or, if I come over to England, someone else will have to foot the bill. Then there is the matter of timing. Have you set a definite date when you plan to leave the U.K.? And the matter of passports. I checked with passport people here in San Francisco and they said that I would have to show cause why I wanted to go to England. Either I must be on business or, if I am to render assistance to another person, then I will have to have a doctor’s certificate that such assistance is necessary.” So. Now what do you think? Do you suppose it would be feasible to send Jane? And just when is Aleister coming over?
Here is a copy of “Space Tides”, the final form of that poem I was showing you and Sascha [Sascha Germer] when I was in New York. Once around the universe to kiss the Absolute, I always say.
Love is the law, love under will.
As ever,
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