In 1949, White published "Here Is New York", a short book based on an article he had been commissioned to write for "Holiday". Editor Ted Patrick approached White about writing the essay telling him it would be fun. "Writing is never 'fun'", replied White. That article reflects the writer's appreciation of a city that provides its residents with both "the gift of loneliness and the gift of privacy." It concludes with a dark note touching on the forces that could destroy the city that he loved. This prescient "love letter" to the city was re-published in 1999 on his centennial with an introduction by his stepson, Roger Angell.