Shankar Vedantam

It was.

In 1979, three years after his first letter, Riley got in touch again with the Library of Congress.

He said he'd been unable to find a publisher.

And so he writes, Dear Mr. Hickerson, In case you don't remember, I have enclosed a photocopy of your letter to me dated July 8, 1977.

First, I want to thank you for your suggestions and the addresses of possible publishers.

I followed up.

No funds are available for a work such as mine, though they are interested in what I have done and would appreciate a copy of the Folk Song Finder and Index.

It is a voluminous work, so I can understand the reluctance of a publisher to undertake the expense of its publication.

So here I am, back to you again.

It was an act of desperation.

If you were or are serious about the library reaching some agreement with me, I am ready to proceed.

My problem is this.

I don't know what to ask for in terms of financial remuneration to myself.

I do know that I cannot ask as much as I have spent in terms of time, work, and money, but I would like to recoup at least some of my own expenditures, if not payment for my work and time.

In fact, I must recoup some of what I have spent because I have already signed a lease on a small farm and house in Porterville, California, and expect to move there in approximately six weeks.

As I am, as they say in the country music field, flat busted.

Riley never got what he was seeking.

What he was asking was a significant outlay of money that I just think the library couldn't afford at the time or couldn't, you know, apportion to that project.

Because, as he says in the correspondence, in addition to these volumes, there are 54 other volumes of this book.

54 other volumes.