Love, Otto: The Legacy of Anne Frank

In 1957, Wilson, a 12-year-old growing up in North Hollywood, auditioned unsuccessfully for the lead in The Diary of Anne Frank, the film based on the inspiring diary written by a Dutch Jewish teenager while in hiding with her family from the Germans during WWII. As a Jewish teenager herself, Wilson identified with Anne and in 1959 began a 22-year correspondence with Anne's father, Otto, the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust. The letters printed here reflect Wilson's idealism, which was nurtured by the political struggles taking place in the 1960s. She frequently asked for Frank's opinion about her problems, including her conflict over her relationship with a gentile boyfriend, whom she eventually married. Frank's thoughtful responses are marked by support and understanding. In 1977, Wilson visited Frank for the first time, in Switzerland. He died in 1980 at the age of 91. (May)