Finishing Atlas Shrugged

ARI

Were you there when Miss Rand finished writing Atlas Shrugged?

MARY ANN

Yes, that is one of my most vivid memories.

ARI

What happened?

MARY ANN

Atlas Shrugged was finished on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 20, 1957. That, incidentally, is the date she wrote on the last page of the manuscript. The only people there, besides Ayn, were Frank, Joan, Leonard, and me.

At the time, Ayn was working against a deadline, a date when she was scheduled to turn in the final typed manuscript of the novel to Random House. My job was to get the typing and proofreading finished by that deadline. I had agreed with Ayn not to let the work pile up; I was to keep up with her. On March 20, there were typewritten pages to be proofread. I had typed them earlier in the week, and I asked Joan to proofread with me. Ayn knew we were coming over.

We arrived at the apartment after lunch, about 1:00 p.m. We knew Ayn was writing the last chapter but we didn’t know how close to the end she was. Frank answered the door, and said something like “I think this is going to be it, kids.” Then, he went back to his easel in the bedroom.

As I said earlier, whenever I went over to do some work and she was writing, I would tap on the study door, enter, take my work, and leave. But, after hearing Frank, I decided that we should not disturb her. We sat in the living room, whispering. More than an hour passed. Finally, I thought that one of us should quietly enter the study and quickly take the manuscript pages we needed—I knew exactly where they were on the bottom shelf of the bookcase. But, which one of us?

ARI

Which one was it?

MARY ANN

Joan. How we decided that Joan should be the one is amusing. We concluded that since she was petite, she would be less noticeable! I told her to tap lightly and enter. She walked back to the study, and here is what I heard: a few taps on the study door, followed by Ayn’s voice speaking in a stern manner: “If you come in here, I’ll kill you.” That’s an exact quote.

Joan returned, and we retreated to the farthest corner of the living room and sat whispering and wondering. I decided to call Leonard and tell him what was happening. I had to go down to the lobby to use the pay phone, because the only telephone in the apartment was in Ayn’s study. Leonard lived a few blocks away, and he came right over. He joined us in the corner of the living room, and we three whispered and waited. I’m not sure how much time passed; it seemed like hours, but it wasn’t. And then we heard the loveliest sound in the world—Ayn’s chair scraping against the wooden floor. We heard her footsteps walking out of the study, we heard Frank say, “Congratulations, darling.” Then we heard her walking into the living room. She entered, dressed in a skirt and short-sleeved blouse, her hair was somewhat disheveled, her face was a little shiny. She was walking toward us, holding up a manuscript page with her thumb and index finger. We approached her and read the words “The End” at the bottom of the page. She looked young, she was smiling broadly, her eyes were bright. Frank followed her in, and he was beaming.

ARI

Was she angry about the interruption?

MARY ANN

She didn’t even mention it. After hugs and congratulations, we apologized for disturbing her. She dismissed it with a wave of her hand. She said it was all right, that we had no way of knowing what page she was on. She was so happy in those moments, I don’t think anything could have undercut her joy at having finished Atlas. She wanted to have the Collective¹ over that night to celebrate. Then we left. It was still daylight.

ARI

How did you celebrate?

MARY ANN

We had champagne. The “If you come in here, I’ll kill you” story was told, to everyone’s amusement. Ayn said that she didn’t know who was tapping on the study door. We had coffee and pastries. I remember picking up some at the bakery on Third Avenue that the O’Connors used, Versailles Patisserie.

ARI

Were there any pictures taken, just after she finished writing the last page?

MARY ANN

Right after she finished? No. No one had a camera. If we’d had a camera, we would have snapped her as she walked into the living room holding up the last page!

ARI

Do you remember typing the last page?

MARY ANN

I typed only part of it. As I was typing the last chapter, Ayn said I could type everything but the last lines. She wanted to type those herself. When that time came, she sat down at the typewriter and said that even though she was a fast typist, she made a lot of mistakes. She added that she better not make any this time. So she typed, very slowly, from “He raised his hand. . ..” to “The End.” After she finished, she said, “Now it really does say ‘The End’.”

“The Collective” was Ayn Rand’s tongue-in-cheek name for a small group that met on Saturday nights to discuss her works and philosophy. ↩