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Robert Heinlein's Pre-Internet Fan Mail FAQ
Hugh Pickens writes "Kevin Kelly has an interesting post about a letter he found amongst correspondence from his days editing the Whole Earth Catalog. The letter is Robert Heinlein's own nerdy solution to a problem common to famous authors: to deal with fan mail. In the days before the internet, Heinlein's solution was to create a list of frequently asked questions, answer them, and remove the questions. Then he, or rather his wife Ginny, checked off the appropriate answer(s) and mailed it back. Some of the entries in Heinlein's answer sheet are quite illuminating and amusing. Our personal favorite: 'You say that you have enjoyed my stories for years. Why did you wait until you disliked one story before writing to me?'"
Why did I wait?! Because I am Lazarus Long and I do things my own way, Bob.
is this person who reads the TFA ? and why cant he act like other /.ers ?
(X)The article
( )The intervieuw
( )The ramblings
was
( )intresting
(X)informative
(X)funny
( )bullshit
and thank you for
(X)sharing this with us
( )informing us of such a very important item.
( )wasting our time
I'm not sure that is an excuse; I'm fairly confident that Robert & Virginia Heinlein were fully capable of producing a computer from parts from a TV, washing machine, and whatever was laying around in the basement, anytime from about 1946 on.
I bet it was the printer that was the sticking point.
Why, yes, I AM a Pagan Libertarian.
This is why hate mail makes so much more sense. People like reading their hate mail.
How we know is more important than what we know.
What question in a fan's mail will receive the answer: "Please do not write to me again" ?
What question in a fan's mail will receive the answer: "Please do not write to me again" ?
Writing to say you loved his foundation series.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Do you like what Stanley Kubrick did in the on-screen adaptation of your book?
"Kill 'em all and let Root sort 'em out"
Even in real life he was way ahead of his time. Look, the letter has underlined links!
My fans are pretty well-behaved. Sometimes they'll say "hi" to me on the street, but they're almost always too shy to tell me that they recognize me from the photos on my blog. Occasionally, my more enthusiastic fans will take time out of their workdays to send me fan mail, often exclaiming that I'm "Super lucky!" or "Pre-qualified!". I do find it a bit creepy when my more ardent fans send me lists of all of the public places I've been in the past few weeks. Although I don't usually notice them when I'm out and about, some of them must get pretty close, as they've been keeping track of my spending habits.
Come to think of it, rising political stars often take advantage of the boost in self-confidence that comes with their new stature on the national stage to send me personalized greetings in the mail, praising our shared values and beliefs. Somehow, though, we always lose that special connection once they're in office.
You need to maintain a balance. In any room an ideal mixture is half ready to kill you, and half eager to defend you. That's maximum entertainment.
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
( ) CowboyNeal
No no... You are confusing him with McGyver.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
Those were the later stories and they suck so hard my bookshelf is surrounded by a cloud of Hawking Radiation.
Virginia is for lovers. EVE is for griefers.
'You say that you have enjoyed my stories for years. Why did you wait until you disliked one story before writing to me?'
Because, if I sent you a fan letter after every story I liked you would probably have me arrested for stalking.
I am intrigued by your lesbian star trek fan fiction and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Life needs more saving throws.