Fullerton(?), California, No Publisher, 1975. . Unbound. A three-page (3pp) typed letter signed. A fantastic letter. Dated February 16th 1975. The letter is signed by PKD with nine amendments in the author's hand. Addressed to Claudia Bush.
Bush commenced her dialogue with PKD whilst writing her thesis on him for her MA at Idaho State University. The thesis was published as "The Splintered Shards: Reality and Illusion in the Novels of Philip K. Dick." Much of the Bush correspondence is held in the Willis E. McNelly collection at California State University Fullerton; they are scarce in commerce. This letter is written in the aftermath of his VALIS visions of 1974, which happened shortly after a wisdom tooth operation. Dick received a home delivery of opioids from a woman wearing a Christian Ichthys necklace. The symbol emitted a pink beam of light which was the catalyst for months of visionary experiences, including Dick?s belief that his mind had been invaded by a benign but separate consciousness. The period of PKD's visions began in February or March of 1974, and continued for anywhere between two and 12 months. In What if Our World is Their Heaven, Dick asserts that this separate consciousness was present ?for one year. From February 1974 to February 1975? (p. 149).
The present letter commences with a page of PKD warning Bush not to be too free with her ideas, for fear of plagiarism; having been the victim himself, with a Ubik adaptation. The letter continues with a discussion of a nine page treatment for a novel PKD was working on called To Scare the Dead, which he sends to Bush (not included in this offering). The letter than meanders, in PKD's usual style, to a discussion of Jesus as Zeus as Zagreus followed by a short discussion of the transition from paganism to Christianity. The letter gets interesting further still with a discussion of the mysterious word 'Albemuth' (later appearing in the title of one of his works). Dick claims the word came to him in a dream, and then continues to deconstruct the word itself attributing an interpretation, meaning and even the cryptology of the world. A fascinating insight into PKD's mind. Small liquid stain to the edges, but it doesn't detract. [11094, Hyraxia Books].