For years I promoted the joys of letter writing in my Social Correspondence posts, but often I felt like one of the last letter writers in the world. By letters, I mean the kind written on paper, stamped with the appropriate stamp, and sent to the recipient via U.S. Mail.
Today, the concept of letter writing is not merely old-fashioned, but on the cusp of becoming extinct. Handwriting is no longer taught in most schools. Children who receive handwritten cards or letters in the mail struggle to read them. E-mail might be used for quick communications, but has been largely replaced by texting. I marvel at the dexterity of people’s thumbs, while I still type text messages with my index (pointer) finger.
A cousin and I recently lamented together that we might be last letter writers on earth. Writing to one another was a habit we developed in early childhood. Today, a short email will suffice, but holiday cards and letters still have a place in our correspondence, at least for now.
We are not alone, of course. Writers and readers share the commonality of love for the written word. In the past month, I have encountered more than one mention of letter writing in novels.
In Peter Swanson’s literary mystery novel A Talent for Murder, one character says to another, “Thank you for all the letters. They make me feel that I am in a different, better time.”
“We might be the last writers on planet earth.”
“We might be.”
This reminds me of all the fuss that occurred in the 1990s, when libraries started to discard their old card catalogs in favor of online catalog systems. Never mind that card catalogs were always out of date, whereas online systems are updated constantly.
One friend lamented to me from another part of the country, “I miss the old card catalog.” I suspect, unfortunately, that she was not an actual library user. Nostalgia does not always match reality.
A local television anchor went a step further, with the statement, “I will miss the books,” as if books were in danger of being replaced by an online catalog system.
A once prominent American writer mourned the loss of the “card catalogue” in a piece published in a national magazine. Nostalgia delivered with venom and spite was this author’s trademark. Surely there are better, more civilized ways of expressing disagreement.
My late father did not much like the changes that occurred in his time. Fax machines particularly annoyed him, despite working as controller for a significant U.S. company, where timeliness of information mattered. “There is nothing so important that it cannot be sent via U.S. Mail,” he declared.
I do not share the anger, despite being nostalgic about letter writing. I am a daily user of social media and online news. I love my smart phone and its multiple uses. Perhaps I will give up my beloved watch of 30 years in favor of a smart watch, for fitness and health, convenience, and other purposes.
I will continue to send cards and notes in the mail, in addition to texting via various apps. But perhaps I will not be alone in writing letters. Kate Atkinson, the brilliant UK -based novelist and literary crime writer, helps one of her characters cope while serving in the military in a war-torn country in her wryly humorous novel, Death at the Sign of the Rook. “He had taken his mind off the danger by catching up on letter writing, a soothingly old-fashioned analogue activity.”
Indeed, writing letters can be a soothing activity. Perhaps the art of letter writing will survive. I hope that I will not be one of the last letter writers in the world after all.
