As a young man Robert Marshall Shepherd moved to New York to establish a career in clothing design and merchandising. He became acquainted with Mary Hambidge while recuperating from a World War II wound in Nashville, Tennessee. The friendship between Shepherd and Hambidge spanned from the late 1940s to her death in 1973. In the mid-1990s, Shepherd retired to his birth state of Kentucky, where he met Philis Alvic, an artist, Appalachian scholar, weaver and writer. During the course of several personal interviews conducted by Alvic, Shepherd shared that Mary Hambidge had been very influential in his life. The relationship is recounted in Weavers of the Southern Highlands, by Philis Alvic.
From the description of Letters to Robert Marshall Shepherd, 1948-1969. (Atlanta History Center). WorldCat record id: 162106115
