IN LIFE Pearl Buck was a human bridge between the civilization of the East and West. With simple eloquence she translated her personal love for the people and culture of China into a rich literary heritage, treasured by Asians and Westerners alike.
She lived a long, full life as artist, wife, mother, and philanthropist. Through her eyes, millions of readers were able to see the beauty of China and its people at a time when direct personal contact was impossible. It is fitting that Pearl Buck lived to see two peoples she loved so much draw closer together during her last years. Mrs. Nixon and I join all Americans in extending our sympathy to her family, and in mourning the passing of a great artist and a sensitive, compassionate human being.
Note: Mrs. Buck, 80, died in Danby, Vt. Winner of the Nobel and Pulitzer prizes in literature, she established the Welcome Home, which later became the Pearl S. Buck Foundation, to aid in the care and adoption of Amerasian children.
Richard Nixon, Statement on the Death of Pearl S. Buck. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/256130