The friendship between Arno Vihalemm (1911–1990) and August Sang (1914–1969) began in their schooldays in Pärnu and continued in Tartu, where both went in the 1930s to continue their studies – Sang to the University of Tartu and Vihalemm to the Pallas Higher Art School in Tartu. Kaarel Ird (1909–1986), who was also a Pärnu boy and went to study in Tartu – at the Tartu Drama Theatre Society Theatre Arts Studio – was the third member of that circle of friends. Those young men shared a common interest in literature and theatre. Their friendship lasted throughout their lives, though fate inevitably separated them in 1944: Vihalemm fled to Sweden, where he settled down in the city of Ystad, but Sang and Ird stayed in Estonia. The Stalinist period forced the interruption of communications between those men. The milder conditions in the thaw of the Khrushchev era provided the chance to once again contact one another through letters. Sang had become an excellent poet and translator while Vihalemm became a painter, printmaker, and poet. Ird became a director and the chief theatre director of the Vanemuine Theatre. The correspondence between Ird and Vihalemm has already been published in Tuna. The current publication focuses on the correspondence between Sang and Vihalemm. The original letters of both men are preserved in the Estonian Literary Museum Cultural History Archive, where they were deposited after the death of their authors according to the wishes of their families.
The correspondence began in 1965 and ended in 1969 when Sang died. Although it was brief, that interval provides a reasonably good picture of the work and life of both men at that time, and also a more general picture of literary life in occupied Estonia and of the Estonian diaspora in Sweden. Literature is the main topic of discussion in the correspondence, first and foremost the creative work and translations of both men. They constantly sent one another their own published books. Vihalemm had for the most part illustrated his own books.
These two friends also succeeded in meeting face to face. Sang managed to visit Vihalemm in Sweden in 1967 and Vihalemm came to Estonia in 1969, when all three friends got together at Sang’s place. Vihalemm had very good memories of that trip, even though there was a delay in issuing his visa, so that he did not make it to the Song Festival, which he had wanted to attend. Even so, he was able to visit his former home in Pärnu and in addition to friends, to also get together with his sons, who lived in Estonia. Unfortunately, that was the last time that Vihalemm was able to get together with Sang because Sang died that same autumn. Vihalemm visited Estonia a second time in 1974, but his memories of that trip were negative: after being brutally searched in customs in Tallinn, Vihalemm swore that he would never go to Estonia again, and he kept that promise.
Both brilliant creative people have left a profound legacy in our cultural history, which we can learn and draw inspiration from.