November 22, 1958

Dear George:

| have so much to communicate to you that this has paralyzed my writing,
and | hardly know where to begin. And Time does Fly!

Thank you for your trouble in procuring and sending the cards: they were
a levely selection, although none was quite what | had In mind; nevertheless
we are happy to use them for our regular Christmas card distribution -« you
might even see one of them again yourself. { had in mind an actual postcerd
to be mailed without cover as an acknowledgment to go many people who have
written in, but with whom we have no appreciable personal contact otherwise.
| thought some of these might appreciate having a memento that might have some
Imaginative connection with the Nobel celebrations== perhaps ewen a good picture
postcard of the Palais des Concerts where the ceremany is held. We might need
about 400 of these, but it is not so essential that we rush to mail them from
Stockholm. Please don't exert yourself on this point, but if there is time to
exchange another set, we would be happy to see them. We will verify the inscrip=
tion together with our choice.

Has the Swedish PostBureau ever issued a stamp commemorating the proézas or
Nobele- if so, would a useful number of these be on sale?

This is perhaps ehe most trivial item, but you can imagine 1 have been
somewhat drowned in correspondence.

Mm me ee

To turn to somewhat more pressing practicalities: | have taken for granted,
{ hope not "Impertinently'' that you would be willing to be my local representa=
tive for accepting invitations: since | hardly know what is expected of me
it is difficult for me to make definite arrangements myself, except in principle,
and | would beg you to do this for me. 1! am quite agreeable to any affairs that
you would feel yourself | should atten@ in Stockholm, and you may for example
receive a request from the Ambassador for Israel for luncheon. However, {| do
not think it would be feasible for me to accept any invitations for lectures
apart from the Nobel ceremonies themselves, and apart from the open possibility
of an informal visit to Uppsala (BY8k) probably cannot make any visiss, on this
occasion, outside of Stockholm. { have accepted an Invitation from Prof. Caspers~
son for Tuesday night. 1 have been obliged to send my regrets to the Medical
Student Assoc. of Stockholm for the Lucia festival (1 would have liked that, but
will have left by Saturday), to Muntzing, to BOYk (for a formal lecture), and
to VahIiquist (for Mon Dec 15 at Uppsala). If you have any daxexak doubts in any
specific case, or éf you would be under any embarrassment In having to refuse
an engagement on my beha}f do not of course hesitate to refer the matter to me.
Perhaps the 'worst' is already over. However, ! have Jet it be known that you
could be my CentralBureau, and | hope this does not give you any irksome tasks,
Fore example, | have been written independently by Friberg, Stohle and Liljes-
trand concerning my arrangements, and rather than try to reconcile the details
with all three of them at once, | have re§erred them to you as my ‘personal
representative. '
The great difficulty of the situation is that we are moving to Stanford in mide
January, less than 4 weeks after my return from Stockholm. There is amultitude
of things to take care of, and as a result | have not really seen the lab for
several weeks, and two many other peopke's plans hinge on these arrangepents
for me merely to abandon them. This has three drastic effects: (1) § will have
to curtail my visit to the briefest decent interval; (2) Esther has decided
that she probably will not be able to attend on this occasion, as she has hardly
the time and energy as It is to cope with the problems of moving home and lab;
but this Is subject to last minute reversal (3) 4 am asking leave to take advane
tage of the wording of the statutes ($.9) and present the prize lecture ‘withha
six months! and not during the Nobel weeke- | could hardly do justice to the occa-
sion in present circumstances. As you may know, we had already had a fixed inten-
tion to revisit Stockholm in the course of our visit to Cavalli (Pavia) next
spring, and if it were possible to wait as long as early June, | would have a
convenient and relaxed occasion to write the ms. (we were planning to reach Pavia
by April 1). | «mdaxakan understand your academic season ends May 31, and if it
were quite essential ! probably could meet the obligation before then; tf @ had
a free choice, the end of June, just prior to returning go Stanford would be pre-
ferable. If we can schedule our visit to our own convenience we would look fore
ward to a more leisurely visit that would allow us to make up for the very kind
invitations we have had to decline at this time. If this solution is acceptable
in prénciple i can of course discuss the details of execution with the Nobel Committee
at Stockholm. 1 would think there would actually be some advantage én not having
the whole series of Nobel lectures concentrated in a single week, and shanxaxit is
_ particularly fitting that my own should succeed Beadle + Tatum's by an interval for
assimilation.

Enclosed is a tentative Itinerary; we had originally planned to take 2 days to
visit Cavalli, to recuperate and to make other arrangements for our visit in April;
but if Esther does not join me, | will return home directly from Copenhagen, non-
stop.

Do you think it would be feasible for me to arrive incognito on Sunday so
as to leave sometime to collect my bearings and to have some private time with you
and Eva? Naturally | would prefer to prolong this phase of my visit as long
as possible but | imagine it would be Indiscreet to defer my formal arrival
beyond Tuesday morking and perhaps beyond sometime on Monday. 1 would leave
this very much to your discretion,keeping In mind that there will be a number
of private affairs that ! would like to attend to before being overwhelmed by
the matters connected with the ceremonial. { have written to the various
Nobel representatives simply that | would definitely arrive for the ceremony
and that | am communicating with you with regard to the details of my trip.

Among these details is the question of formal clothing. | think that it
would be best for me to pick this up in Stockholm from hat to shoes and { will
send you measurements as soon as possible. One of my concerns is that you
would know very much better than | what the requirements for the occasion
would be. Or. Enders indicated that he found a white tie necessary for al]
formal occasions and a business suit satisfactory for the rest. 1! can also
bring a tuxedo If you feel that would be desirable as well; please notify.
! hardly know what can have happened to Tyne BE FS hed? response to your
inquiry for a visiting fellow. { had originally Dr. A. L. Morse, for whom

| am also enclosing some biographical information. You will find papers

under his authorship among the reprints sent you and he Is a very capable

person. At the moment however | wonder if a more appropriate candidate,

if you can interest him In the proposition as is entirely possible, might

not be Dr. Norton Zinder at the Rockefeller Institute. The press has

mentioned his name prominently(and appropriately) as a codiscoverer of phage~
mediated transduction in Salmonella. You will want to give him careful
consideration. The chlef problem for both these men is, as might be expected,
having to move their families, but an adequate stipend cam lighten that burden
too. ts this a Nobel Institute propositione= | seem to recall noticing something
In the statutes for these that would make this an appropriate guess. If so, it
would be entirely appropriate.

P.s. (To EVA) {n case Esther does find that she can come after all,
she would much appreciate your advice on the minimum requirements for clothing
for the various occasions -« what the probable eccasions are and what dress
would be fitting. She has taken for granted the need for one full length formal
(inc}. long white gloves); Mrs. Enders had implied that this would not begin to
suffice: can you advise further?

As you can see neither of us has had any useful experience with such formidable
problems.

P.S. The news eervice here has just sent me a set of photographs, which
XXKMMM I am deldghted to send you for a personal remembrance. They can of course
be copted If needed for any business purpose, or more copies ordered (direct from
U of Wis Photogr Laby., please) by referring to the negative numbers on the back.