Kenneth Tynan was born in 1927 and became a prominent theater critic in the 20th century. The 1920s were the peak of Louise Brooks’ career as a silent film actress. It was in the late 1970s, while doing research for his essay The Girl in the Black Helmet, that he first saw Brooks, initiating a series of encounters that would have a profound impact on his life. Although Tynan and Brooks were separated by nearly fifty years of age, they managed to become friends and remain so until Tynan’s untimely death in 1980. They corresponded frequently, discussing books, art, and each other’s works that they both admired. A letter from…