Later years Willa Cather

1973 u.s. commemorative stamp honoring cather.

in 1932, cather published obscure destinies, final collection of short fiction, contained neighbour rosicky , 1 of highly regarded stories. cather , edith lewis moved new apartment on park avenue, , cather began work on next novel, lucy gayheart, book revealed author s darkening vision began seventh decade.

cather suffered 2 devastating losses in 1938. in june, favorite brother, douglass, died of heart attack. cather grief-stricken attend funeral. several months later, isabelle mcclung died. cather , mcclung had lived when cather first arrived in pittsburgh, , while mcclung married , moved husband toronto, 2 women remained devoted friends. cather wrote friends isabelle 1 whom books had been written.

cather grew increasingly discouraged united states moved closer involvement in world war ii. when french army surrendered nazi germany, cather wrote in diary: there seems no future @ people of generation. during summer of 1940, cather , lewis went grand manan last time, , cather finished final novel, sapphira , slave girl, novel darker in tone , subject matter previous works. sapphira lacks moral sense , not character evokes empathy. however, novel great critical , commercial success, advance printing of 25,000 copies. adopted book of month club, bought more 200,000 copies.

although inflamed tendon in hand hampered writing, cather managed finish part of novel set in avignon, france. however, edith lewis destroyed manuscript, according cather s instructions, when cather died. cather s remaining papers reveal cather had titled unfinished manuscript hard punishments , set in 14th century during papal reign of antipope benedict xiv. elected fellow of american academy of arts , sciences in 1943. in 1944, cather received gold medal fiction national institute of arts , letters, award given once decade author s total accomplishments. though cather suffered no specific medical problems in last years, closest felt health deteriorating.

on april 24, 1947, cather died of cerebral hemorrhage @ age of 73 in home @ 570 park avenue in manhattan.

cather buried in old burying ground, behind jaffrey center meeting house in jaffrey, new hampshire. grave site, shares edith lewis, @ southwest corner of graveyard. had first visited jaffrey in 1917 when joined isabelle mcclung , husband, violinist jan hambourg, staying @ shattuck inn, came late in life seclusion necessary writing. inscription on tombstone reads: