angels beating their wings in time

"In a class [in 1966], while waitig for the last few students to take their seats, i casually asked, "Do you recognize the name Jim Morrison?" My students were shocked by my ignorance. "Don't you know the Doors? He's the lead singer." My stock dropped low that morning in my classroom. I had lost favor. To recuperate and the steady my nerves, I held up the letter and said: "Give me a chance! Let me read this letter to you."

Dear Wallace Fowlie,
Just wanted to say thanks for doing the Rimbaud translation. I needed it because I don't read French that easily... I am a rock singer and your book travels around with me.

The class was quietly attentive by this time, and I said to them, "There's one more sentence, a post-scriptum at the bottom of the page:"

That Picasso drawing of Rimbaud on the cover is great."

Wallace Fowlie