Barbara Kraft of Studio City experienced a double whammy of literary encounters most of us can only dream about: She met and worked with Anaïs Nin at her home in Silver Lake in the last years of the author’s life. (Though she wasn’t aware at the time of the author’s infamous bigamy.)
A few years after Nin’s death, Kraft met Nin’s most famous lover, Henry Miller, who was living in Pacific Palisades and came to depend Kraft in his rotation of chef-caretakers. (He was by then in his mid-80s.)
KCRW figured into that friendship. Kraft had read a letter to Henry Miller on the air in 1977. (A recording no longer exists but you can read it in printed form here.) And after hearing it, Miller requested a visit from her.
Kraft has a new book called “Anaïs Nin: The Last Days,” being published by Sky Blue Press. Listen to Kraft recount both meetings.