Mary Ann

ARI

Mary Ann, we know from her hand-edited, practice inscriptions in the Ayn Rand Archives, that Miss Rand gave a great deal of thought to the inscriptions she wrote in books she gave to people. Can you tell us about the inscriptions in the books you received from her?

MARY ANN

Charles and Mary Ann Sures at their Wedding, 1965 I’ll do them in the order she gave them to me. The first one is The Fountainhead: “To Mary Ann Rukavina—Thank you for a magnificent performance and for the inspiring way you made use of the philosophy of this book—Ayn Rand, May 24, 1955.”

ARI

What was the performance?

MARY ANN

A lecture I gave to my medieval art class. Ayn attended. The lecture compared a modern suspension bridge to a nonobjective painting. I asked: what made each possible, and then answered the question by explaining the underlying philosophy of each. To connect it to the course, I quoted from Roger Bacon, specifically his predictions about technology in a future civilization. To introduce philosophy, I quoted from Roark’s speech¹—the paragraph that begins “Man cannot survive except through his mind.” And brought in concepts of identity and causality.

Ayn loved the lecture. She said it was the first time, to her knowledge, that The Fountainhead had been used in a college class. The next time I saw her, she gave me the inscribed copy of The Fountainhead. And a small gold pin in the shape of the dollar sign, inscribed “A is A.”

ARI

Let’s go to the next autograph.

MARY ANN

That was Atlas Shrugged: “To Mary Ann—expecting you to fight for Richard Halley as I fought for Hank Rearden.² Ayn, August 15, 1957.”

ARI

Any memories connected with that inscription?

MARY ANN

Yes, two. One is the night we were given Atlas. She handed the books out, one by one. And of course everyone read his inscription immediately and thanked her. Everyone felt the same thing: what a pleasure to see Atlas as a real book! To hold it as a physical object! Then, we all sat down and started to read, ignoring her completely. This went on for a few minutes, and then Nathan started to laugh and called it to our attention.

ARI

Was she at all offended?

MARY ANN

Just the opposite. She said it was a great compliment to an author, especially since we had all read Atlas in manuscript. She was very pleased, and amused.

ARI

What is the other memory?

MARY ANN

A conversation Ayn and I had a few weeks later, about my inscription. I raised the subject of how one fights for Richard Halley. And we discussed the forms the battle would take—such as teaching and writing. She added that it also included every conversation I might have in which I explained the purpose and meaning of art. And then she said something that was then and has always been very important to me.

ARI

What was that?

MARY ANN

She reminded me that her goal was to write fiction, to create the kind of characters she admired and wanted to see in real life, and that all her work as a philosopher was for that purpose. She stressed the importance of pursuing values in the way one finds most interesting and gives one the most pleasure—as she had done. She said that over the years she had been criticized for not writing her ideas in nonfiction form; some people said it was her duty to do so. She said she would never have given up fiction to write philosophical treatises, that doing so would have been self-sacrificial. In that conversation she stressed the importance of pursuing personal values, and not undertaking any battle as a duty.

ARI

And the next inscription?

MARY ANN

We the Living: “To Mary Ann—with my thanks for being a ‘morale-building’ ‘assistant—Ayn, December 24, 1958.” She gave all of us copies on Christmas Eve, which was close to the official publication date in 1959.

ARI

She was referring to your assistance on Atlas Shrugged?

MARY ANN

Yes, but also to other work I had done. After the publication of Atlas, I continued to do small typing jobs for her, from time to time. One of them was typing the Foreword to We the Living, and there’s an amusing story connected with that. But first, if you look at the inscription, you see that she enclosed “morale-building” with quotation marks, and started to put quotation marks around “assistant.” She apologized for the mistake, and I assured her that it was all right, that as her assistant I would correct it. Of course, I never did. It’s one of my favorite inscriptions.

ARI

What were you doing to boost her morale?

MARY ANN

She knew she could count on me to come on time, get right to work, finish assignments, and so forth, in a professional manner. And I loved working for her, I always went in a buoyant mood. She said that lifted her spirits.

ARI

Tell me about the Foreword incident.

MARY ANN

I typed it from the handwritten manuscript, and then I proofread it before giving it to her. She noticed immediately a mistake I had made: I didn’t type “foreword,” I typed “forward.” She was amused by the mistake, and said it was a good Freudian slip, that it meant I was thinking ahead, looking to the future.

ARI

Any other memories of that evening?

MARY ANN

Yes, one lovely one. And that was the Christmas tree Frank put up for Leonard. Leonard loved everything about the Christmas season, and asked for a tree. So, that year, Frank bought a small, perfectly shaped pine, some ornaments, tinsel, lights—the works. And he made a splendid tree. He placed it on a table in a dimly lit corner of the living room, and the tree twinkled and glistened in the semi-darkness. It was a cheerful sight. That, incidentally, was vintage Frank O’Connor—to create something beautiful for a friend he loved.

ARI

Are there other inscriptions?

MARY ANN

There are two more, both related to my marriage to Charles. Ayn’s engagement gift to me was a cookbook: Rombauer and Becker, Joy of Cooking. The inscription reads, “To Mary Ann—to make it a joy, think of a certain scene in Chapter II, Part III of ‘Atlas Shrugged‘—with all my best wishes and love, Ayn 10/10/64.”

ARI

And what is that scene?

MARY ANN

Dagny cooking breakfast for Galt in the valley. Ayn asked me to promise her that I would use it, even though she autographed it. I did use it, but first I put Saran Wrap over the autographed page to protect it. Soon, the book began to look like a cookbook in use, pages all splattered with food. It must be the only cookbook autographed by Ayn Rand! I love the inscription. It says so much about her.

ARI

What is that?

MARY ANN

Her focus on values, on making something that could be boring, like cooking, into a romantic episode. It was Ayn’s reminder that a wife can find enjoyment in cooking, if it’s for someone she loves. And Ayn’s sense of drama, too—the philosopher giving something simple, like a cookbook, but with an inscription referring to a scene in her grand opus. It also reflects her tiddlywink, cheerful aspect.

So does the next inscription, five years later, in the copy she gave me of Night of January 16th: “To Mary Ann—Happy Wedding Anniversary!—Affectionately, Ayn, 1969 (‘The exact date is on the book jacket.’).”

ARI

You were married on January 16?

MARY ANN

Yes. Actually, it was Ayn’s idea. Charles and I were thinking of getting married early in January, and sailing on a honeymoon cruise on January 17. When Ayn learned this, she suggested we get married the night before, on January 16. “It’s good writing,” she said.

ARI

Were you married in New York?

MARY ANN

Yes. We had a lovely wedding given by Joan and Allan Blumenthal in their apartment. Incidentally, Frank gave me away and made my bouquet—a stunning arrangement of white calla lilies. So, four years later, to celebrate our anniversary we decided to give each other copies of Night of January 16th, and I asked Ayn’s secretary to get copies for us and deliver them to Ayn for autographs. She liked the idea and insisted on giving them to us as her gifts.

ARI

Do you have any other mementos of your friendship?

MARY ANN

I have a few. One is a note she wrote to me. We had planned to meet at her apartment and go to the Roosevelt Hotel for dinner and a lecture. When I arrived at the apartment building, the doorman handed me this note from Ayn:

Ayn Rand's Note to Mary Ann, February, 1960

“Dear Mary Ann: Please excuse me. But I had to go out and could not reach you (phoned several times, but you weren’t home). I will not have time to come back home, so I’ll go straight to the Roosevelt Coffee Shop. See you there—and will explain. Love, A.” It’s dated February 1, 1960.

When we did meet, she explained that she had been called to an unexpected business meeting with her agent. This note is an example of how scrupulous she was in her dealings with people.

ARI

In what way?

MARY ANN

Her doorman knew me, and she could easily have asked him to tell me she had to leave and would meet me in the coffee shop. In a real emergency, she would have. But, by writing the note, she let me know that it wasn’t an emergency. She took the time to call me more than once and to write a note confirming our arrangements, saying she would explain. She didn’t leave me to worry and wonder.

The other souvenirs are some notes and costume jewelry. There is a darling note from 1962, after I had stayed with Frisco while they were away. “With love and thanks—from Frisco” followed by Ayn’s drawing of a paw print.

ARI

What was the occasion for the gift of jewelry?

MARY ANN

Her expression of thanks for the times I had come to stay with Frank while she was hospitalized. There are three pieces, two that she knew I especially liked. One is a necklace in the shape of a snake, made of silver, and green-blue glass and enamel. It always made me think of Cleopatra’s asp. Another is a six-pointed star-shaped brooch, made of pieces of mother-of-pearl, with diamond chips at the star’s points. Something to be worn, she said, by an elegant and feminine sheriff. And the last is a necklace I had never seen her wear, but which she thought I would like. It’s a series of moonstones suspended from a delicate silver chain. She advised me to wear it against a bare neck, not on clothing, for the best effect.

When she gave them to me, she told me not to put them away as souvenirs, but to wear and enjoy them.

Howard Roark is the hero in The Fountainhead. ↩
Hank Rearden is an industrialist in Atlas Shrugged. ↩