1958

After a bitter fallout with Styron and growing boredom with country living, The Mailers move back to New York, renting an apartment at 73 Perry Street in Greenwich Village.

In the fall, Mailer spends a week lecturing at the University of Chicago, where he meets a graduate student, Robert F. Lucid, who becomes his archivist and lifelong friend.

He is invited to join the Actors' Studio (Playwright and Directors Unit) in New York City, where staged readings of his play are performed.

Late in the year Mailer's sister Barbara begins doing secretarial work for him, which she will continue intermittently for a few years. Following her will be a chain of secretaries to handle his professional activities, and his overlapping personal life.

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  NM in 1958.

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  NM in 1958.

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  Robert F. Lucid and Fan Mailer (1976). Photo by C. Zumwalt.