330 From a letter to William Cater 

1 November 1971

[During this month. Cater visited Tolkien to interview him for the Sunday Times. The interview was published on 2 January 1972, as part of an eightieth birthday tribute to Tolkien.]

I am v. sorry about this : your letter of 19th October is still unanswered, although it was one of the most kind and encouraging letters I have received from any one. I must ask you to believe that letters (of any length) to an isolated man are like bread to a prisoner starving in a tower.