Love letters have been written since the start of the 14th century and as time has gone on and language evolved, so have love letters. They are a look into our souls and a glimpse into society, highlighting important values, personal expression, and styles of communication. Some love letters and their authors are more famous than others. Take those written by General Napoleon Bonaparte to Josephine Bonaparte, Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas, Zelda Fitzgerald to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frida Kahlo to Diego Rivera.
There is something very captivating for me when I can hold a letter and read words written straight from the heart. Equally fascinating for me is the journey to learn about the people who wrote these letters. What is their story? How did their love story begin?...
My love letter journey begins with the letter pictured above. It was written by a young French woman, Marielle Bancou, age 25, to Major Hugh Cameron, age 24. The letter is postmarked November 1946, approximately 18 months after the end of World War II. At the time the letter was written both are stateside; Hugh in Washington, D.C. and Marielle in New Jersey. Marielle was born in Lyon, France, Hugh was from Willard, North Carolina. Two very different people from different corners of the earth brought together by war. From the bits I know, their love story began during WWII when Major Cameron's 27th Fighter Group was stationed in the south of France near where Marielle lived with her family. Her letter to Hugh begins by quoting Shakesphere's Sonnet 61.
"Is it thy will, thy image should keep open
My heavy eyelids to the weary night?
Dost thou desire my slumbers should be broken,
While shadows like to thee do mock my sight?
Is it thy spirit that thou send’st from thee
So far from home into my deeds to pry,
To find out shames and idle hours in me,
The scope and tenor of thy jealousy?
O, no! thy love, though much, is not so great:
It is my love that keeps mine eye awake:
Mine own true love that doth my rest defeat,
To play the watchman ever for thy sake:
For thee watch I, whilst thou dost wake elsewhere,
From me far off, with others all too near."
The modern English translation...
Is this what you want – that the mental picture of you should keep my heavy eyelids open all through the weary night? Do you want my sleep to be interrupted by tantalizing images of you? Are you sending your spirit so far from home to pry into my affairs, to find out the shameful things I’ve been up to in my idle hours? Is that the extent and nature of your jealously? Oh no, although your love for me is great, it’s not that great! It’s my great love that confounds my sleep, constantly concerned about you. I watch over you while you are awake somewhere else, far away from me, while certain others are all too near to you!
...and Marielle writes "If you are free I would like to have 2 or 3 days spent with you. I hope you understand that I mean without followers. Just us together. I have things I want to ask you, tell you, to discuss with you. If you don't find sometimes, in life, you must have this kind of privacy. Think of that. Love, Marielle"
While I don't know if Marielle ever got to a special few days with her lover in November of 1946, I do know that they never married each other. She outlived Hugh by 10 years, passing away in 2015 at the age of 94. Marielle went on to become an international stylist, textile designer, painter, author, set designer, and friend to many important artists, writers, and visionaries of the Twentieth Century. She spent most of her time between her apartment on Park Avenue in New York City and Paris, France. Her friends described her as truly a "force of nature", both personally and artistically. She was certainly a key positive influence--her joie de vivre, savoir-faire and boundless generosity."
At some point in time, she married William Segal, (1904-2000) He worked in magazine publishing, and soon started a series of publications that included GentryandAmerican Textiles, and in that capacity met such notables as D. T. Suzuki, P. D. Ouspensky, and G.I. Gurdjieff. An acclaimed painter, he had several gallery exhibitions, including a 1999 retrospective at the Tibet House in New York City. He died in 2000 at the age of ninety-six. This is a link to an article written in the New York Times about Ken Burns, the renowned film maker and his relationship with William Segal. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/arts/television/01burns.html
And what happened to Marielle's love, Major Hugh Cameron?
Hugh maintained a friendship with Marielle up until the time he passed away in 2005. And I believe that she was truly "the love of his life" and "the one that got away." I can say this because Major Hugh Cameron was my father and I heard him speak of her often and with great affection.
When was the last time you wrote a love letter? Maybe today? Maybe tomorrow...? It is never too late to write words to someone you love. Words from the heart.
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