REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 12/29/1931 - HFSID 87371

REAR ADMIRAL RICHARD E. BYRD
The famed polar explorer signs a letter to "Bim", sensing conflict regarding lectures and payment, and hoping to extinguish it
Typed letter signed: "Dick", in black ink, 1 page, 8½x11. Boston, Massachusetts. December 29, 1931. In part: "Now, Bim, please tell me definitely, are you or are you not going to cover this area? Pettes could not, in the short time he would have, succeed in booking any lectures. It takes hours of persuasion and many days to close these lectures because this area has been partially covered and it makes it more than usually difficult. I myself am doing some work on these lectures and I have Bernrieder under my direction giving hours every day to it. We do not pay him unless we are successful because that would not be fair to you. In other words, I have been paying him since he started with me the 19th of this month. He is doing splendidly. In order to meet your objections and to protect you, won't you please let me know what organizations you are communicating with and I will guarantee to protect you? Don't let it worry you at all". On May 9, 1926, Richard Evelyn Byrd (1888-1957) and Floyd Bennett became the first to fly over the North Pole. Both were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. Scholars have raised questions about whether or not Byrd actually reached the North Pole but all have agreed Byrd thought he had reached the North Pole. In 1929, Byrd established the "Little America" Antarctica base and flew (indisputably) over the South Pole. He was promoted to Rear Admiral upon his return in 1930. On his Antarctic expeditions in the 1930s, Byrd discovered Marie Byrd Land and the Edsel Ford Mountains. Still exploring in his late 60s, he commanded the Operation High Jump (1946-1947) and Operation Deep Freeze (1955-1956) operations. JAMES B. POND ("Bim"), who had become the nation's premier lecture agent, had established his agency in New York in 1879. In addition to Byrd, his notable clients included Mark Twain, P.T. Barnum, Thomas Nast, James Whitcomb Riley, Henry Stanley and Booker T. Washington. Normal mailing folds. Hole in top left corner. Pencil note (unknown hand). Otherwise, fine condition.