Image

ANAIS NIN

by Henry Miller

With Anais I felt safe, secure. She delighted in keeping things running smoothly so I could write. She was really a true guardian angel, supportive and enthusiastic about my writing at a time when I needed it most. She was generous too. Kept me going with little gifts — pocket money, cigarettes, food, and so on. She sang my praises to the world long before I’d become regarded as a writer. In fact, it was Anais who paid for the first printing of Tropic of Cancer. For these reasons I feel utterly grateful to her. It’s rare to find a friend, a confidante, a colleague, a helpmate, and a lover, all in the same person.

Excerpt: Reflections by Henry Miller (Capra Press, 1981), edited by Twinka Thiebaud

Photo: Anais Nin, photographed by Carl Van Vechten (1940). Image courtesy of Marquette University Archives.

Note: Barbara Kraft has written a fascinating, compelling memoir about the last years of Nin’s life. Anais Nin: The Last Days is available at Amazon.com here.