David Morrell and Anthony Burgess met in 1975 at the University of Iowa, where Burgess was a visiting lecturer for half of a semester. David Morrell joined the university in 1970 as an English professor, and First Blood, his debut novel, was published in 1972. First Blood was eventually made into the 1982 film of the same name, starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam veteran John Rambo.

This copy is from the library at the Burgess Foundation, and is signed to Burgess. On October 22 1975 Burgess had attended the premiere of his Symphony in C played by the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra; history does not record David Morrell’s opinion of the symphony (nor Burgess’s opinion of First Blood), but it appears at least that they met two days later. Burgess had fond memories of his time in Iowa, recording in his autobiography that ‘America accepted me as a composer’ and that he enjoyed playing a solo piano accompaniment to Fritz Lang’s Metropolis during a film festival there.

Will Carr

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