OK, thanks to that help, I found the name - it was Ava Gardner (and yes, I could have seen it in the index but didn't...). Interesting that she has a name so similar to Sam's family name later on!
In re-reading that particular letter I came across some amusing sentences:
Quote:
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I am neither disturbed (nor surprised) at the limitations of my 'fame'. There are lots of people in Oxford who have never heard of me, let alone my books. But I can repay them with equal ignorance: neither wilful nor contemptuous, simply accidental.
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'Mercy!' cried Gandalf. 'If the giving of information is to be the cure of your inquisitiveness, I shall spend all the rest of my days in answering you. What more do you want to know?' 'The whole history of Middle-earth..
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