Katherine Whitmore permitió a Salinas vivir un amor hondo, apasionado, en contra de las normas sociales: tal amor, para él, fue su gran obra, hecha en conjunción con la persona amada. A la vez, las cartas de Salinas revelan la zozobra acompañante del gozo en este "amor en vilo", "amor sin matrimonio", o que exigiría -para realizarse totalmente- la destrucción de un matrimonio previo. Del epistolario emerge también vívidamente la figura de Katherine, "pudorosa, fina, delicada", pero asimismo independiente, sociable, a quien Salinas amó no como a una "mujer abstracta", sino "en cuerpo y alma", en todas las facetas de su rica personalidad.
Salinas was able to live a deep, passionate love in opposition to social norms thanks to Katherine Whitmore. For him, this love was his greatest work, achieved in conjunction with his beloved. At the same time, Salinas's letters reveal how anxiety and joy coexist in this "unstable love", "love without marriage", which would demand the destruction of a previous marriage in order to be fulfilled completely. From the epistolary the figure of Katherine also emerges vividly: "modest, gentle, delicate", and independent, sociable. Salinas loved her not as an "abstract woman" but "in body and soul", in all the facets of her rich personality.