Keeping The Faith In Humanity: A Letter From E.B. White
The following is a letter written by acclaimed author E.B. White (published in Letters of Note) replying to Mr. Nadeau, a man who expressed his lack of faith in humanity:
Read MoreHow I Would Like To Work For You! A Letter From Eudora Welty to The New Yorker (From Letters of Note)
In March 1933, in an attempt to secure some writing work, twenty-three-year-old Eudora Welty sent this charming solicitation to the offices of The New Yorker magazine and gently laid her cards on the table. It’s difficult to imagine a more endearingly written introduction to one’s talents and it’s both a surprise and a disappointment to learn that her perfectly formed plea fell on deaf ears, initially at least. The New Yorker later rectified its error and Welty went on to write numerous pieces for the publication. Multiple awards followed, including the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1973. for her novel The Optimist’s Daughter and, seven years later, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Read MoreJack The Ripper to George Lusk: A Letter From Hell
On October 15, 1888, George Lusk, chairman of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee - a group of concerned citizens who actively searched for the person responsible for a spate of killings known as the “Whitechapel Murders” - received this chilling letter from someone claiming to be infamous serial killer Jack The Ripper.
Read MoreA Letter from Teenage Fidel Castro to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
In November 1940, thirteen years before spearheading the revolution that would ultimately see him replace dictator Fulgencio Batista as leader of Cuba, a teenage Fidel Castro - aged fourteen, not twelve as he inaccurately claimed - wrote a somewhat cheeky letter to the then president of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and asked him for some money: a $10 bill, to be precise. Some time later, he received a standard reply from officials. His request for cash had fallen on deaf ears, as had his offer to reveal the whereabouts of Cuba’s largest iron mines. Young Castro’s priceless letter was rediscovered in 1977 by specialists at the National Archives and Records Administration.
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