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To Los Angeles
My darling,
… As far as planning went the whole exercise could hardly have gone more smoothly. To start off with, all your planning had only one major defect – that you were not there and the conference was. The rest of it was a much more mixed business and even so that was really what it was there for – to be a mixed business.
… Ken Rice, looking white haired and older, was the same as ever. It soon became evident that R.S. was very nervous, as this was his first experience as Director of the Conference. He was scared stiff of A.K.R. and self, though I did not get wise to this or its extent quick enough or I would have tried to keep my mouth shut. I don't think I would have been successful as he was also continually trying to make me talk and express my views which he then did not like – either because I expressed different ones or because he thought, rightly, that I was trying to re-assure him.
The next morning – the members were to arrive by 4.0 p.m. for tea and Opening Meeting at 4.30 – was passed in continued Staff discussion and this took much the same form. After the plenary I was so unfortunate as to be talking when the meeting ended and the Staff walked out. I had not realized that according to the real rules of Groups – as laid down by Ken – he insisted on split second termination of each meeting, and by the time I had finished my sentence the Staff had disappeared round the corner and I couldn't find where they had gone. So I went to my room. K. turned up about 20 minutes
later and said there was ‘consternation’ about my disappearance. I thought he was joking, but at the final meeting of Staff I discovered to my amazement that he had understated the facts. R.S. held forth on how ‘everybody’ had wondered where I was. ‘Everybody’ likewise, according to R.S., talked of nothing but me and ‘one’ person had said how I stayed behind and had an adoring crowd at my feet. Luckily it did not occur to me to mention how like the Infant Jesus holding fort