Notes:

He wrote a lot of letters, understandably much less read than his fiction. This one reveals some of his intellectual persuasions and the reformed politics of his latter life -- very latter, as he was diagnosed with terminal cancer about a week after writing it, passing away a month after that. Perhaps his name would come to be associated with his more enlightened opinions if he hadn't died so young. He was killed by irony. Deeply neurotic, the many phobias which had prevented him from enjoying life put a capstone on it: the great horror writer was diagnosed so tardily because he was afraid of doctors.