Vendredi

Remember the anonymous auction winner who spent $12,500 on a letter penned by John Kennedy Toole at Sotheby's in New York last week? Well, turns out it wasn't some rich yankee that won the bidding. The Ragin' Cajuns are bringing this piece of Louisiana history back to its proper home. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette identified themselves as the buyers of the 1963 postage from Puerto Rico today, saying they bid on the letter and adjoining lot of Toole artifacts in order to keep them in the Pelican State.

The auction returns the letter to the institution where Toole taught for a year from 1959-1960. But even if that wasn't the case, it's easy to argue UL Lafayette is their proper home, as the letter was sent by the Confederacy of Dunces author to Dr. Patricia Rickels, a longtime professor at the institution and the inspiration for the Dunces "minx," Myrna Minkoff.

“Through their years of friendship, Toole had likely gained a muse in Pat Rickels and she had become an incidental collector of Toole memorabilia,” said UL Lafayette interim provost Dr. Carolyn Bruder, who is also an English professor.

The letter, which is signed "Ken," also includes a reference to another university professor, Robert Byrne, who is referred to in the letter as "Bobby."

Though it had to travel much further than Ignatius J. Reilly (or Toole) would ever have wanted to travel by Greyhoud, the letter's return to UL Lafayette completes a full circle. After Rickels' death in 2009, the missive was bequeathed to a friend, who later put the letter up for auction.

The university plans to display the lot, which also includes a first edition of Dunces, a copy of the New Orleans Review where the novel was first excerpted and children's books that Toole owned. And it's not just for students to see. The university is already making a play for a visit from future Ignatius Zack Galifianakis.

“I would advise that the road to success for a film of A Confederacy of Dunces begins with a visit to the University of Louisiana campus in Lafayette,” Bruder said.