Autograph letter from Charles E. Burchfield to Lawrence A. Fleischman, Detroit, Michigan, March 17, 1956

“Nighthawks” needs no comment I guess, I love to see them frolicking in the vanguard of a storm – I think they must use the swirling eddies of wind as we do sliding places. How I envy them – if there were anything at all to the theory of evolution (which I doubt very much) man would long ago have developed wings. And I love the eeriness of a woods at nightfall.

I wanted wings so often, on our trip. Going through the desert, some odd-shaped mountain-peak in the distance called so strongly for a closer look. I guess the answer would be a helicopter. I am anxious for the time when helicopters will come down in price and can be handled easily by an ordinary driver. I feel sure that time will come, and that I will run one before I die. It’s one of the things I think I simply must do or my sojourn on this earth will not be complete.

Charles E. Burchfield, Letter to Lawrence A. Fleischman, March 17, 1956