Social Correspondence

Call Me Grammy

As a child of the ‘50s and ‘60s, I grew up knowing three of my grandparents, my maternal grandmother and grandfather and my paternal grandmother. While my paternal grandfather passed away when my father was still a toddler, I also was fortunate to grow up having a living great grandmother and three great aunts on that side of the family. But here’s the rub. None of them lived near me. My parents, who met in San Francisco during World War II, chose to live in the Bay Area, with only one paternal family member in proximity,…

6 Comments

October 24, 2016

Letter writing / Mail / Mailboxes / Postal Service / U.S. Postal Service

Magical Mailboxes

It’s here again already - National Letter Writing Day is Sunday, Oct. 9. And what a pleasure it is when a real letter arrives in the mailbox. A letter separate and distinct from the usual junk mail that flows through the mail stream, which is now exponentially increased by the proliferation of election-related ads and flyers. Decades past, if one had a mailbox at the post office, the front of the box might have been made of glass, especially if the post office was very old. These mailboxes often included a combination lock, though usually a…

5 Comments

October 9, 2016

books / Grandparenting

On Being a Grandparent

Just over a month ago, my life took a new turn. I became a grandparent, an event long hoped for, though it wasn’t something I readily admitted, even to myself. It certainly was not something to be taken for granted. In fact, my grandson’s eminent arrival caused me a bit of trepidation. He would live so far away, how would he even get to know me? What if he didn’t take to me? Would he cry if I held him? How would being a grandparent affect the activities that otherwise keep me busy and engaged in…

5 Comments

July 25, 2016

Read more about the article Postcards from Manhattan

Postcards. Washington Square, Union Square and The Strand bookstore, New York, New York.

Uncategorized

Postcards from Manhattan

Rarely do I travel 3,000 + miles for a weekend, but I did so recently, and the experience and rewards were great. While staying in New York, it seemed appropriate to visit some sites and share some postcards with Social Correspondence. Postcard # 1 Dear Francine, It seems that we have developed a fine new tradition, catching up with one another while taking walks, and how fortunate it is for me to benefit from your knowledge of the many treasures tucked away or hidden in plain sight in Central Park. What an amazing place for your…

1 Comment

June 21, 2016

Handwriting

Onegin Ballet

The San Francisco Ballet has concluded its repertory season, ending on a high note, even for this world-famous ballet company, with the magnificent production of the Onegin ballet. The story, based on the poem Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, with libretto by John Cranko, is performed to the beautiful music of Tchaikovsky. References to letters are significant to the drama. The Onegin ballet enacts the story of Tatiana, a young woman living in rural Russia, and her love for Onegin, the worldly, elegant friend of her sister Olga’s fiancé, Lensky. In the opening act and scene,…

0 Comments

May 12, 2016

Handwriting / Letter writing

The Benefits of Gratitude

Perhaps one of the most prolific writers of thank you notes that I have known is the late Marjorie Stern. She was a master of expressing gratitude through letters. Born in 1915, Marjorie was a do-gooder, a lover of fine books and Asian art, and most importantly, an activist. The great granddaughter of San Francisco’s first reform rabbi, Marjorie knew how to get things done. One of her most cherished, long-held dreams was to build a modern, new Main Library in San Francisco. This dream came to fruition 20 years ago, but in order to make…

5 Comments

April 29, 2016

books / email / Letter writing / Mail / manners / Postal Service / telegram

Love Letters from Wisconsin Lumber Camps

By Catherine Roberts Life in the Wisconsin lumber camps in the 1920s, revealed through letters written to my Aunt Lois from 1924 – 1925, was not easy. The letters, preserved for nearly a century in a Milady of Quality Chocolate Covered Brazil Nuts box, tell a story about the everyday news and concerns of this long-ago way of life Aunt Lois, of course, was young and pretty, but not all of the letters addressed to her are love letters. One letter, postmarked January 14, 1924, is from a lumber camp outside Hannibal, Wisconsin. My aunt must…

0 Comments

March 9, 2016

Letter writing / Postal Service

Dead Letter Office: A Reader’s Response

Ian Jackson of Berkeley, CA, has collected and privately published limited edition compilations of historical quotes on a variety of letter writing topics under the title The Imperfect Correspondent in Historical Perspective. The collection first started with the subject of the tardy response to a letter. “I do not always answer letters promptly,” he said, “so I began 20 or 30 years ago to collect excuses for late replies.” With the collector’s zeal, The Imperfect Correspondent includes letters written in French, Italian, Spanish and English, ranging from as early as the 16th century to the early…

1 Comment

February 26, 2016

manners / Politics

Good Manners

Campaigns and elections are upon us and I am irresistibly drawn to reading, listening to, and watching stories about the caucuses and debates. That said, election years, whether they are about local mayoral campaigns, national presidential elections or something in between, can be both appalling and puzzling, as ambition and passion overtake the candidates and their supporters, and good manners are cast aside. Manners are another form of how we correspond or communicate with one another. Unfortunately, this year’s name-calling has reached a whole new level of vitriol, with ridiculing the opposing candidates growing with each…

3 Comments

February 17, 2016

Handwriting / Letter writing / Mail / Stamps

Love letters from Wisconsin, 1923-1925

By guest writer Catherine Roberts What is the interest in a small box of letters written to my Aunt Lois about 90 years ago? I find history, a big mystery, and stories that connect me to my family and Wisconsin. As I get older I become more curious about the early lives of my mother and her five sisters. Genealogy interests me not at all, but I love the stories, and now it is too late to ask. I have nothing like these letters. What happened to this serious romance? Why did my aunt, and then my…

4 Comments

February 10, 2016