Part 8 (1/2)

Carlos Larde got hisin El Salvador but spent several years studying abroad, in A other places10 His early career had been full of pro that of head of El Salvador's Red Cross and, before World War II, was chairue of Nations committee Once he served as El Salvador's consul in San Francisco His second wife, Alicia Lopez Harrison, came frorandlish diplomat Mrs Larde was not only beautiful but also war hostess, and a popular aunt with her nieces and nephews His early career had been full of pro that of head of El Salvador's Red Cross and, before World War II, was chairue of Nations committee Once he served as El Salvador's consul in San Francisco His second wife, Alicia Lopez Harrison, came frorandlish diplomat Mrs Larde was not only beautiful but also war hostess, and a popular aunt with her nieces and nephews11 Alicia, or Lichi, as her family called her, was born on New Year's Day, 1933, in San Salvador She was the second of Carlos and Alicia's children Her brother Rolando, five years older, was eventually confined to an institution A half-brother froe lived with the older parents, Lichi was by all accounts a lovely child, with blonde ringlets She grew up, amidst aunts, uncles, cousins, and servants, in a lovely villa near the center of the capital

The idyll ended abruptly a year before the end of World War II, when Alicia was eleven In 1944, inthe ainst dictator Hernandez Martinez,12 Alicia's uncle Enrique had suddenly left for Atlanta with his wife and five young children one night, in the on draped with a white sheet to signal their civilian status Carlos Larde Alicia's uncle Enrique had suddenly left for Atlanta with his wife and five young children one night, in the on draped with a white sheet to signal their civilian status Carlos Larde followed hihter, and two sons behind temporarily He joined his brother in Atlanta, but then moved on to Biloxi, Mississippi, on the Gulf of Mexico, where he obtained a position as a staff doctor at a veterans' hospital So the long journey by train through Mexico and stopping in Atlanta to visit Enrique and his fahter, and two sons behind temporarily He joined his brother in Atlanta, but then moved on to Biloxi, Mississippi, on the Gulf of Mexico, where he obtained a position as a staff doctor at a veterans' hospital So the long journey by train through Mexico and stopping in Atlanta to visit Enrique and his family13 What motivated Carlos Larde to follow his brother to the United States at age forty-six isn't entirely clear Possibly he feared the outbreak of a full-scale civil war Possibly he saw a chance to revive hisapparently suffered a series of professional setbacks But very likely a iven Alicia by her parents - was his health Carlos Larde was suffering fro physical ail as a doctor in the United States would give him access to top-notch medical care Whatever the reason, the move turned out to be permanent Enrique went back to El Salvador after a few years, but Carlos Larde was to remain in this country until his death in 1962 Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde stayed for another decade after her husband's death

Hot, dank, slightly seedy, Biloxi lay sprawled on that shallow, ulf between Mobile and New Orleans, a its barrier islands and river aomade day-to-day life difficult Carlos was often exhausted and ill and Alicia's s and terribly homesick Later, the mother of a friend of Alicia's would describe Mrs Larde as a ”very sad, very stoical person” Alicia learned English quickly and easily but suffered pangs of dislocation and isolation on top of the ordinary anxieties of early adolescence It was not a happy time For consolation, she turned to schoolwork and the , and being a favorite wintering place for Chicagomade day-to-day life difficult Carlos was often exhausted and ill and Alicia's s and terribly homesick Later, the mother of a friend of Alicia's would describe Mrs Larde as a ”very sad, very stoical person” Alicia learned English quickly and easily but suffered pangs of dislocation and isolation on top of the ordinary anxieties of early adolescence It was not a happy time For consolation, she turned to schoolwork and theLess than a year after the war ended, they followed Enrique's family to New York, where Enrique took a job as an interpreter at the United Nations Once again, Alicia and her mother lived with Enrique's family until Carlos found a position at the Pollak Hospital for Chest Diseases in Jersey City and a house for theh School, a Catholic school in Brooklyn

Alicia wasn't to stay trapped in the lower-inning of her sophomore year, the Lardes enrolled her at the Maryirls' school in New York

Marymount, which was operated by one of the oldest European orders, the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, occupied three adjacent Beaux Arts hty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, directly across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Central Park It was another world The student body,Upper East Side, were frohters of celebrities like Joe DiMaggio, Many of the girls were daughters of celebrities like Joe DiMaggio, Jackie Gleason, Paul Whiteman, and Pablo Casals Alicia's best friends there included the daughter of an Italian count Tuition was several tied at the time, easily equivalent, once inflation is taken into account, to 15,000 today Ad; the El Salvadoran a to the Larde family's social position Jackie Gleason, Paul Whiteman, and Pablo Casals Alicia's best friends there included the daughter of an Italian count Tuition was several tied at the time, easily equivalent, once inflation is taken into account, to 15,000 today Ad; the El Salvadoran a to the Larde family's social position16 The school's atroomed to become ”wives of Catholic leaders,” was cosirls' uniforh heels Parents insisted that the school ”keep up the social end of things” Alicia took riding and tennis lessons in Central Park, played basketball, helped out on plays and musicals, and went to parties She went to her senior prom, and afterward to the Stork Club, with her friend Chicky Gallagher's brother The girls' uniforh heels Parents insisted that the school ”keep up the social end of things” Alicia took riding and tennis lessons in Central Park, played basketball, helped out on plays and musicals, and went to parties She went to her senior prom, and afterward to the Stork Club, with her friend Chicky Gallagher's brother18 She looked, on graduation day, just like the other girls, onlythe sa-ste-out ball Much, however, separated Alicia fro, unruffled, and coence, an outsider's ambition, and what a future friend called steely determination Self-controlled and reluctant to confide her real feelings to anyone, a legacy of her Latin upbringing, she hid a great deal froot to know Alicia several years later said, ”You have to keep the times in mind Women dissembled then Alicia behaved like a fifties ditz, but that doesn'tquite serious things She always had so a modern-day Marie Curie20 Alicia elve years old when she huddled with her father near the radio in their Biloxi apartment and listened with him to the broadcast about Hiroshi+ma Alicia elve years old when she huddled with her father near the radio in their Biloxi apartment and listened with him to the broadcast about Hiroshi+ma21 It was for her, as for somoment Within weeks, the japanese surrender and the War Department's revelation of the three hidden ”atomic” cities in the southwestern desert turned anonymous men like Oppenheie of the ”nuclear physicist” seized the popular iination the same way that ”rocket scientist” did after It was for her, as for somoment Within weeks, the japanese surrender and the War Department's revelation of the three hidden ”atomic” cities in the southwestern desert turned anonymous men like Oppenheie of the ”nuclear physicist” seized the popular iination the same way that ”rocket scientist” did after Sputnik Sputnik Alicia, already showing signs of her father's talent and interest in scientific subjects, knehat she wanted to be ”The world was physics It hat kids with a talent for, and interest in, math and science aspired to,” a fellow physics major at MIT said in 1997 ”To Carlos Larde it was the top, and it was for Alicia too” Alicia, already showing signs of her father's talent and interest in scientific subjects, knehat she wanted to be ”The world was physics It hat kids with a talent for, and interest in, math and science aspired to,” a fellow physics major at MIT said in 1997 ”To Carlos Larde it was the top, and it was for Alicia too”22 Her aptitude forbeen evident and became more so at Maryschool It had always had an exceptionally well-trained faculty, lay and religious, but during Alicia's tenure the school was run by a forceful young Irish graduate of the London School of Economics - Sister Rayifted educator determined to raise the educational standards of the place Sister Ray scholarshi+ps and gaveserious science and mathematics courses Alicia had a choice between a classical education e on science and irls who chose the latter and, as a consequence, took biology, chemistry, and physics as well as three years' worth of irls Sister Ray student: ”Very intelligent Not too pushy Very very interested in her studies” by introducing scholarshi+ps and gaveserious science and mathematics courses Alicia had a choice between a classical education e on science and irls who chose the latter and, as a consequence, took biology, chemistry, and physics as well as three years' worth of irls Sister Ray student: ”Very intelligent Not too pushy Very very interested in her studies”23 By her senior year, Alicia was quite definite about wanting to pursue a career in science ”I wanted a career, so I wanted to study sohted by his daughter's a letter to Sister Ray her toa nuclear scientist by helping her gain admission to a first-rate technical university Carlos Larde, as delighted by his daughter's a letter to Sister Ray her toa nuclear scientist by helping her gain admission to a first-rate technical university25 Alicia was accepted at MIT, one of only seventeen women and two female physics majors in the class of 1955 Alicia was accepted at MIT, one of only seventeen women and two female physics majors in the class of 195526 The Lardes were no less thrilled than Alicia Carlos Larde, who had studied at the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins, particularly appreciated what an MIT degree wouldoff to a virtually all- school on her own Alicia's mother, it was decided, would accompany Alicia in order to watch over and take care of her27 Besides the natural protectiveness toward a precious daughter, the arrangement may have reflected a wish on the part of Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde to escape her ailing, difficult husband Alicia's friends at MIT were struck, later, by the fact that hter never referred to Carlos Larde and that he never came to visit Besides the natural protectiveness toward a precious daughter, the arrangement may have reflected a wish on the part of Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde to escape her ailing, difficult husband Alicia's friends at MIT were struck, later, by the fact that hter never referred to Carlos Larde and that he never came to visit28 In any event, in the late summer of 1951, the tomen rented a tiny furnished apartment in Boston In any event, in the late summer of 1951, the tomen rented a tiny furnished apartment in Boston29 not far from Beacon Street where John Nash had just found a room, across the river froe not far from Beacon Street where John Nash had just found a room, across the river froe

It wasan MIT coed in the early 1950s, an era famous for its celebration of mothers and dumb blondes, because the coeds were so special and had, as it were, the best of both worlds: it was serious, but there were lots of h heels while dissecting rats in the lab30 A date wasn't going dancing and sipping Manhattans, it was going to a lecture and out to coffee afterward, oryou, through a telescope, everything Galileo had seen A date wasn't going dancing and sipping Manhattans, it was going to a lecture and out to coffee afterward, oryou, through a telescope, everything Galileo had seen

Alicia was to tell her girlfriends that being there made her feel like a ”Queen Bee” It was also a chance tobrains and aroup of fairly strong women,” said Joyce Davis, a native New Yorker and the only other female physics major in the class of 1955 ”We had our own culture It wasn't norood as the boys' culture, which ere always trying to escape And it wasn't the MIT boys' culture either” norood as the boys' culture, which ere always trying to escape And it wasn't the MIT boys' culture either”31 Alicia spent most of her time with the other coeds either at the dorirls in the Cheney rooe, ate breakfast and lunch with her friends at Pritchett lounge every day, and generally was up for whatever the girls felt like doing, whether it was playing basketball or organizing a charity fair32 She attended a great many concerts and plays, thanks to the coeds' wealthy patroness, a Mrs McCormick, who showered them with tickets and even paid for thee in winter She attended a great many concerts and plays, thanks to the coeds' wealthy patroness, a Mrs McCormick, who showered them with tickets and even paid for thee in winter

MIT's acade, especially for physics majors Class schedules were heavy, spread over six days, and consisted irls lived in healthy fear of flunking out Alicia, who had sailed through her science and math courses at Maryh Much to her dise (which was a respectable perforrade inflation turned a C into a subaverageby,” said Joyce, Alicia's best friend ”Alicia never really buckled down”33 Alicia's ambition survived her fresh, especially in her chemistry class, from boys and instructors ere sure that she would not make the cut In a letter to Joyce, in the summer of 1952, Alicia wrote: Dear Joyce, By this ti or havefrom the amount of communication you have received from me; the sad truth of course is my laziness Except for one week that I went to Canada with Betty Sabin and her parents I have spent the Suirl in a small store (I hate to say 5 + 10) behind the ribbon counter; I have done all but strangled the customers with ”our” fine products But life hasn't been all tears (I hate to think of my report card) we have fortunately moved to a new apartment half a block away from Kenmore Square And so I will be able to walk home with you (the dorm is only about a block and away)

By now youto believe the lish teachers; not to et me!) My report card was the salish; h; 02 above that is I'm unhappy that on't be in the same section this year but c'est la vie! I wanted to take French instead of German in order to make my life easier but I'm not sure I can because ofto study this su to study this sue 17 of the Physics book and that's all; I am however many movies wiser of the Physics book and that's all; I aards to your mother and answer soon (do as I say not as I do)34

A profile, a look, a voice can capture a heart in no tile calculus lecture She was sitting, her best friend Joyce beside her, in the front row of M351, Advanced Calculus for Engineers, a course required of all physics hty and bored expression Without so lance or a word to the assembled, he closed all the s, flipped open his copy of Hildebrand, and embarked on a lackluster exposition of the properties of ordinary differential equations

It was mid-Septeot quite hot First one, then several students interrupted Nash to complain and to ask that he let them open the s Nash, who had obviously shut the s to prevent any outside noise distracting anyone, ignored them ”He was so wrapped up in himself that he wouldn't pay attention to anted His attitude plainly said, 'Shut up and take notes,' ” Joyce recalled35 At that point, Alicia juh heels, and opened them one after another, each time with a toss of her head On her way back to her seat, she looked straight at Nash, as if daring him to reverse her action He did not At that point, Alicia juh heels, and opened them one after another, each time with a toss of her head On her way back to her seat, she looked straight at Nash, as if daring hiht Nash an indifferent lecturer and insensitive besides ”He presented the material but that was it He was sort of cold” Joyce transferred out of the section after the first class, but Alicia surprised her by staying ”She thought he looked like Rock Hudson,” said Joyce

To see Nash through Alicia's eyes during their first encounters as student and professor conveys much about the elementary force that was to bind her to him In MIT's intellectual hierarchy - where ”,” as Joyce was to say - Nash was the closest thing to royalty36 It was his good looks, however, that enius with a penis Isn't that e all want?” an actress once quipped, and the quip captures the combination of brains, status, and sex appeal that made Nash so irresistible Herta New in less bald ter to be faood looks, however, that enius with a penis Isn't that e all want?” an actress once quipped, and the quip captures the combination of brains, status, and sex appeal that made Nash so irresistible Herta New in less bald ter to be famous He was also cute”37 Emma Duchane, a physics ht he was gorgeous She thought he had beautiful legs” Emma Duchane, a physics ht he was gorgeous She thought he had beautiful legs”38 Nash wasn't scruffy like many of the mathematicians He was always neatly cohty manner and cool indifference only confirmed his desirability His nalo-Saxon ancestry, added to his appeal ”He was very, very good-looking,” Alicia later said ”Very intelligent It was a little bit of a hero worshi+p thing” Nash wasn't scruffy like many of the mathematicians He was always neatly cohty manner and cool indifference only confirmed his desirability His nalo-Saxon ancestry, added to his appeal ”He was very, very good-looking,” Alicia later said ”Very intelligent It was a little bit of a hero worshi+p thing”39 Nash took no notice of her, but Alicia was quite prepared to woo him All that year, she would seek him out ”Come with me to the music library, Joyce,” or, ”Come with me to Walker Memorial I want to see Nash”40 ”She set her cap for hi” ”She set her cap for hirades suffered She got two Ds and for the first tie slipped below a C The following April, Joyce wrote to her parents: ”Alicia is still not doing to [sic] well since she is in LOVE She goes around with a faraway expression on her face”41 When the calculus course was over, Alicia got a job in Nash's favorite haunt, the music library It is a measure of her lovesickness that she found it a farplace to work than Lincoln Laboratories, where she also had a job ”Work here isn't very sti; what I do mostly is count 'tracks' seen thru athe summer ”I only work 15 hrs a week here but what tiresthe little monsters every ti, so far several strange boys have tried to pick , so far several strange boys have tried to pickthe field, but with less enthusiasm than her letter to Joyce i 'blondie' again It seems peculiar but I feel so indifferent about him now”

She continued this letter a feeeks later: I a funny {?} happened to me here the other day A boy I know ca” for was sitting out there; or so I thought In order to see on the ”charm” on my little friend; then inhours in the ML; they must have heard etting the idea while I became bolder and bolder Finally he came over Then, boy, was I lasses” Needless to say he wasn't the ”one”

Nash, of course, was at RANDaround the library again that fall, Alicia engaged him in conversation and studied him as minutely as any fan studies his or her favorite star She found out that he played chess She found out that he was a science fiction fan She made it her business to learn chess and, in addition to her job in the library, she took to sitting in the science library near the science fiction collection ”My activities besides the music library include the science library where I read science fiction (John likes it),” she wrote to Joyce

Despite Alicia Larde's crush, which seemed to have erased the earnest student of science, she was playing a serious ga a famous scientist herself hadn't survived the harsh reality test provided by MIT As she put it later, ”I was no Einstein”43 Prage to an illustrious ht also satisfy her ae to an illustrious ht also satisfy her aive her a lot of things she didn't have” observed John Moore, a mathematician who fell in love with Alicia sos she didn't have” observed John Moore, a mathematician who fell in love with Alicia so was ”Lady of Spain” would ly disappear in just a few years Sadly, the ro was ”Lady of Spain” would ly disappear in just a few years

CHAPTER 27

The Courtshi+p

NASH STARTED to make occasional references to ”the music librarian” in his conversations with Mattuck to make occasional references to ”the music librarian” in his conversations with Mattuck1 He was at a crossroads The dangers of his sexual experie was a possible answer and he had, at his htened, almost convinced himself that he wouldher again, however, he could not bring himself to take any practical steps in that direction Alicia caers of his sexual experie was a possible answer and he had, at his htened, almost convinced himself that he wouldher again, however, he could not bring himself to take any practical steps in that direction Alicia caht moment

Moreover, Nash liked what he saw The son of a beautiful mother would would be drawn by the classical symmetry of Alicia's features and the slenderness of her frae and social ease appealed to his own sense of superiority The effect of her intelligence on him should not be underesti company, liked the fact that she set her own compass, and was amused by her flashes of sarcasm and irreverence be drawn by the classical symmetry of Alicia's features and the slenderness of her frae and social ease appealed to his own sense of superiority The effect of her intelligence on him should not be underesti company, liked the fact that she set her own compass, and was amused by her flashes of sarcasenius to choose a woman ould prove so essential to his survival He took her willingness to pursue him, to make every effort, not merely as flattery, to which he was no less in that she was prepared to take him as he was He saw her deteresting that she knehat she was getting and expected nothing ood deal Both were close to their mothers Both had e fathers Both had grown up in households where intellectual achievement and social status, rather than emotional intimacy, were the coin of the realm Both, on account of their intellectual precocity, had somewhat delayed adolescences Both felt that they were, in different ways, outsiders and co status for theuided their actions

Nonetheless, the progress of the courtshi+p was slow Nash finally asked Alicia out during the spring In July 1955 she wrote to Joyce that they were seeing each other ”on and off”2 She said that he had introduced her to his parents some three weeks earlier But she nificance of his having introduced her to his parents, given his mother's chronic concern She said that he had introduced her to his parents some three weeks earlier But she nificance of his having introduced her to his parents, given his mother's chronic concern over Nash's social life, wasn't clear Alicia, whoit that way over Nash's social life, wasn't clear Alicia, whoit that way

I've been ress with JFN but can't tell just yet if it's significant I don't think he's really too interested but o I met his parents who'd co hiether - I had fun3

Alicia hinted at one reason why Nash remained lukewarm: ”He still thinks I'm too innocent but has now condescended to accept me as is and just let my 'sweet innocent little self develop”

And in her own h it was clear that she was distracting herself and hoping in the process to pique Nash's interest

I've picked up a few ad that Junior that Marolyn was talking about I keep refusing dates with hiet the idea and just follows me around, so far he has written a couple of cute poe as suveniers [sic] I realize that I'ocentric with all this but not

Whether because of preoccupation with Nash or si interest in physics, Alicia failed to graduate with her class She had to stay on toon ti to admit this to her father, did little to refocus her attention on her studies She says in the letter to Joyce that she is e 10 in Hildebrand” in Hildebrand”

Nash and Alicia saw more of each other in the fall He took her to a math party Then another And out to the Newo Minskify,” he would say to a group4 Sometimes they double-dated with one of Alicia's friends On those occasions, he alnored her once they had arrived and the introductions wereabout e of the circle listening to Nash say things like ”Who are the great geniuses: Wiener, Levinson, and me But I thinkabout their children There was no flirtation, no going off in a corner to hold hands, but in fact the relationshi+p wasfor those reasons The other woenius consort, whichAs for Nash, he could not help but be aware that the other eous creature Sometimes they double-dated with one of Alicia's friends On those occasions, he alnored her once they had arrived and the introductions wereabout e of the circle listening to Nash say things like ”Who are the great geniuses: Wiener, Levinson, and me But I thinkabout their children There was no flirtation, no going off in a corner to hold hands, but in fact the relationshi+p wasfor those reasons The other woenius consort, whichAs for Nash, he could not help but be aware that the other eous creature