[written in different handwriting, Hans Thatcher Clarke Papers]
[stamped, APR 21 1981]
Jan 2, 1950
Dear Hans:
I don't like writing you this anymore than I egotistically hope you'll like the contents, but after much careful deliberation we're decided to stay here. It was a hard decision to make in many ways, and I can only hope it proves the right one for the future. Perhaps you should attribute it in large part to the attractions of California, but also to my satisfaction with my set-up here, and to a lack of ambition on my part. (The latter perhaps due to the softening effects of the climate of the West Coast.)
I can assure you that I was most impressed with the fine group of men I met on my visit, and with the potentialities of microbiology there.
Thanks, too, for your part in my being considered. The prospects of being associated scientifically and socially with the Clarkes were the hardest to give up.
Please give my best thanks to Mrs. Clarke for her hospitality. I hope she will reconsider her stand and join us in Florida!
With best regards and sincere regrets, Yours
Ed.
[written in Lederberg's handwriting, Ed Tatum -- must have been offered chair at Columbia.   (cf. Sol Sp.?)]