Folks; Again, my thanks to all for the suggestions so far. The quote is not in the SELECTED correspondence; it may be in the full 2 volume set, which my library inexplicably does not own (I have requested through ILL). Or: the quote may be from a notebook entry, another letter to another correspondent; Or, it may be in a score of other locations; and/or it may be a figment, a canard: for all I know there is no such quote. I might also point out, as I was reminded by one respondent: "the club" metaphor is common in parental grief narratives. Bereaved parents often use it, as in this NPR coverage a week after the tragedy, and the quote from the Columbine HS principal about Newtown's survivors: "Unfortunately the elementary school in Connecticut now becomes a part of this club, a club that we know is tragedy, heartbreak," said DeAngelis, who began teaching at Columbine in 1979. "And no one wants to be a part of that club, but what we have to do — no one asked us to be a part of it — but now, how do we help each other?" http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/12/14/167293608/in-grief-stricken-newtown-vigils-and-support-for-victims-and-families indeed: "no one wants to be a part of that club." -- Prof. Harold K. Bush Professor of English 3800 Lindell Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 63108 314-977-3616 (w); 314-771-6795 (h) <www.slu.edu/x23809.xml>