Subject: Michener2 From: Fred Zimmerman To: fzimmerm Michener, My Lost Mexico, 65 [T]he gossamer filament which holds the artistic life together is so delicate that it hardly bears analysis. It ... must be shielded carefully if one hopes to survive as an artist. ... [Consequently] I adopted a policy of brutal clarity and ease of enforcement. I would consult with no one about my plans. I would not announce what ideas I was contemplating. I would allow no one to read anything I'd written until it was completed. ... I adopted this rigorous policy in self-defense, for I had learned through three abortive attempts at finishing a novel ... that I must permit nothing to imperil my forward progress. ... The protection of one's personal source of power and one's integrity as an individualized spokesman is vital to a writing career. The preservation of that gossamer filament which holds my personality, my perception and my performance together so delielicately has become a major obligation in my life.