Browse Items (15 total)

A Ouija séance transcript of the recently-deceased Tony Harwood describing the experience of his death.

James Merrill's notes on a possible title for the Ouija trilogy, eventually titled "The Changing Light at Sandover."

Journal 16 captures the visit to the Mayo Clinic during which Merrill was tested for HIV and received the diagnosis of HIV positive. The entry includes haikus, some of which would appear in "Prose of Departure," a 14-part haibun poem.

A draft of a letter to Merrill's mother, Hellen Ingram Plummer, to prepare her for the publication of his memoir,A Different Person, which contained elements of his life he knew would be unsettling to her.

Journal 50 contains Merrill's last poem draft, called "The Next to Last Scene," scribbled down (without his glasses) the day before he died of a heart attack. It was unusual for Merrill to title the first draft of a poem in his notebook.