Charles

ARI

Charles, what books did Miss Rand inscribe for you?

CHARLES

I have two inscribed books. My copy of Night of January 16th reads, “To Charles—Happy Fourth Anniversary!—Affec­tionate­ly, Ayn, 1969.”

The other one is Atlas Shrugged. “To Charles—with my congratula­tions on the happiness you have achieved, and my best wishes for a future of ever-grow­ing achievement—Affec­tionate­ly, Ayn, 11/15/65.”

ARI

Does the date commemorate any event?

CHARLES

The event was a conversa­tion I had with Ayn about how Ob­jec­tiv­ism had affected my life.

ARI

And how had it?

CHARLES

In essence, it taught me that seek­ing happiness was moral­ly right and the purpose of liv­ing. My reason for hav­ing the conversa­tion was to thank her for Ob­jec­tiv­ism and tell her how it had enriched my life. And, most important, Ob­jec­tiv­ism brought Mary Ann and me to­geth­er, and that is and always will be the source of the greatest happiness for both of us. Not long after the conversa­tion, Ayn gave me the inscribed copy of Atlas.

ARI

Did she explain the reason for the inscrip­tion?

CHARLES

She didn’t have to. One of the points she stressed in that conversa­tion was that happiness can be achieved. It was up to each of us to decide what we wanted of life, to think about what values to pur­sue and what goals to reach—in effect, to think about what would make us happy. There are causes for the state of happiness which we can enact. And to reach that state is an achievement. That’s the focus of the inscrip­tion, and that’s why I treasure it.

ARI

Do you have other souvenirs?

CHARLES

I have a great many from the stamp collect­ing days with Ayn. I should say stamp collect­ing years—we started in 1971 and continued until her death in 1982. Shar­ing this hobby was one of the most enjoyable aspects of our friendship.

Earlier, I spoke about collect­ing her favorite stamps that were illustrated in her article “Why I Like Stamp Collect­ing.” I mounted the actual stamps over the illustra­tions and showed her the results of my work. And, of course, I thanked her for inspir­ing me to revive my interest in stamps. She inscribed that copy of the article, “To Charles and Mary Ann—Thank you! Ayn Rand, 5/10/71.”

ARI

What are the other stamp souvenirs?

CHARLES

Correspondence about stamps, includ­ing a number of thank-you notes from Ayn for stamps I had sent to her. Stamps Auction Receipt from Ayn Rand I have lists of stamps she needed for her collec­tion. And many glassine envelopes she labeled which contained stamps she sent to me—stamps she couldn’t use for one reason or another. And accountings. One of my favorites is a scrap of paper with a brief, handwritten account­ing she sent regard­ing some stamps she took from an album in that worldwide collec­tion I talked about. It reads, “Total: I have taken 39 stamps—at 2¢ per stamp = 78¢ AR.”

ARI

Do you have any souvenirs relat­ing to Frank O’Connor?

CHARLES

Yes, indeed. We have four of his paintings, all still lifes. One of them is the very first still life he did in oil. It shows a crystal decanter with green liqueur, and a silver candelabrum, and a copper tray, some fruit—all lit by sunlight. Frank never gave it a title, but Ayn always called it “Benevolent Universe.” We also have the candelabrum, which was one of a pair; we have both.

Another paint­ing is the Still Life with Apples, a simple composi­tion with three red apples and a small, blue ceramic vase. We have that vase, also. Mary Ann often fills it with perky daisies.

The other still lifes are studies in light and texture. One, which is unfinished, includes some artist’s materials—a tube of paint, a bottle of oil, a package of cigarettes. The other still life includes a brick-colored container full of art brushes cast­ing prominent and sharp shadows on an adjacent wall, some books (one of which is blue-green and looks like it could be Atlas Shrugged), a newspaper—all sitt­ing on a lustrous surface. Both paintings have sec­tions of drapes in the back­ground, done in Frank’s unique style of render­ing cloth.

ARI

He didn’t give titles to these paintings?

CHARLES

No. They weren’t ful­ly finished, and he never titled a paint­ing until it was finished to his satisfac­tion.

We also have the toy drum and the artist’s wooden anatomical model Frank used in Diminish­ing Returns.

ARI

How about photographs of the Sures with the O’Connors?

CHARLES

Very few of those, just the ones from our wed­ding album. Ayn always discouraged snapshots, so I seldom car­ried a camera with me on our trips to New York. But for our wed­ding, there were no restric­tions. We didn’t have a professional photographer, but many guests there had cameras. Ayn wanted a picture of the four of us, and she and Frank posed with us for that memorable occasion. We all look so happy to­geth­er. It’s the best souvenir of the wonder­ful friendship we had with Ayn and Frank.

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