When Isak Dinesen Met Marilyn Monroe

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On the fifth of February, 1959, Carson McCullers gave a luncheon. She seldom entertained any more, her health was so precarious, but Isak Dinesen was in town - New York, that is - for the first (and only) time, and there were two women she wanted to meet. McCullers was one. The other was Marilyn Monroe.

Dinesen mentioned this to McCullers when they were introduced at a literary function, and Carson said nothing could be easier. She knew Marilyn and there was Arthur Miller at the next table; she would ask a few old friends as well. It was a little disconcerting to learn that "Tanya", as Dinesen preferred being called, lived on oysters and white grapes, washed down with …