"I don't know, you might want to reconsider your whole 'I'm not posing with my shirt off' stance," writes Mr. Ward, in reference to an earlier "post." Mr. Ward attached (to his email) photos of a shirtless Hemingway and a shirtless Faulkner (the latter smoking a pipe shirtless, actually, but with shoes and socks on, writing a great novel probably and showing a good bit of leg as well). I thought for a moment of illustrating this "post" with the shirtless Faulkner image, given recent news, but I decided against it as the population of my new hometown might consider it blasphemous and silly, and revoke their kind offer. So here, instead, is John Steinbeck in what Mr. Ward describes as "a sexy robe."
