I have seen a paragraph in the press to the effect that you are not in good health.—I was sorry to read it, & trust you will not regard as an intrusion a word of kindness and goodwill from an admirer and a friend, ten thousand miles away.—I was glad to have seen you before I left, and apparently destined to live many, many years.—I trust that what I have read was a mere newspaper exaggeration, and in sending you this wish, I send the assurances of my gratitude & esteem, & pray that it may find you enjoying a very happy New Year.—
Yours sincerely, Jno Russell Young. Walt Whitman Esq. loc_vm.01591_large.jpg