NEW YORK – Philip Marlowe, the most self-reliant of fictional detectives, had no boss and no one to boss around.
His creator, Raymond Chandler, needed some help. “Advice to a Secretary,” a rarely seen essay published this week in the spring issue of the literary quarterly The Strand Magazine, is a wry set of instructions for his assistant in the 1950s, Juanita Messick.
For Chandler, who had little family beyond his wife and few close friends, work was personal. His tone with Messick varied from indulgent employer to hapless spouse. “Assert your personal rights at all times.
You are a human being. You will not always feel well. You will be tired and want to lie down. Say so. Do it. You will get nervous; you will want to go out for a while.