By William Stolerman

Photos of Marilyn Monroe that have been held in a private collection for over 45 years were unveiled to the pubic on Friday. Only 250 prints will be made.

The shots were taken in 1961 - nine months before Monroe's untimely death. She had turned up at photographers Len Steckler's New York apartment hoping to see her friend, the Pulitzer-prize winning poet Carl Sandburg.

Steckler snapped her looking relaxed wearing pointed, thick-rimmed sunglasses and a short sleeve dress while talking and laughing with Sandburg.

"It was serendipitous with these two icons in their moment and me there with my camera," Steckler said. He was "like a fly on the wall" while he shot Monroe, then 35, and Sandburg, 83, chatting and holding hands.

Steckler revealed that Sandburg had casually told him that afternoon they were expecting a visitor. "Hours later I went to open the door," Steckler said. "And there I was face to face with Marilyn Monroe, and she looked more ravishing than on the screen. She said 'I am sorry I am late. I was at the hairdressers, matching my hair to Carl's.'" Intriguingly, the photos show her hair that day (with its shimmering whiteness) did look a lot like Sandburg's.

"As we know, Marilyn loved older men, she loved the intellectuals - and Carl was very parental with her," said Steckler. "It was a lovely thing to see."

The photos had gone unseen for years until Steckler's son found the negatives while doing an appraisal of his work. As a result, Steckler decided the next generation should get a chance to see them: "I had forgotten about them," Steckler said. "And I thought this would be a good thing to show and for them to talk about."

They have never been published for public use.

Via [nypost]

www.thevisitseries.com