Jim Faber to Murray and Rosa, 1954 -- "write when you find work"

Jim and Murray, typically rumpled, in their Mexican shirts

In 1954 we moved to Puerto Vallarta (then a little-known village) to live cheaply while Murray was working on writing projects in the absence of his radio journalism income. He and Jim Faber had been reporting together, and the position was downsized to one person. Murray and Jim's plan had been to take turns on the job, with the Fabers staying at Trout Lake while we were in Mexico.  Shortly after sending this note, Jim got fired for both of them. Although he was not, as claimed, the illegitimate son of Jean Harlow, he was in fact the cousin of Gypsy Rose Lee.

 

 

dear turists..

finally got around to bailing out the morgan mailbox today- and found this in it…i took the liberty (as social secretary) in dispatching a letter off to brother moskin saying you were in mexico city attending a bund meeting and that i was forwarding your letter.

Otherwise, your mail is most uninteresting. we’ve settled down to enjoying the morgan manse, and all is under control. your suit came back from the cleaners, and I think with a few alterations, it will be ok. drove rosa’s car the other day, and found it most satisfactory, except that I noted a tendency to shimmy whenever it hit 90. ann is a little miffed at me for breaking the bean pot, but I did it in a fit of pique when I found she had painted the front room pine boards in alternate stripes of red and white.

 

The pine boards, unstriped

And we managed to meet a few of the neighbors the other night—it was my first realization that most people out here belong to the volunteer fire department. 

hope you're enjoying yourself. the weather here has been wonderful, and I am the illegitimate son of jean harlow. write when you find work. 

jim und ann

ps…rosa – did you really tell ann to put in a cupful of detergent when operating the dishwashing machine?