Social Correspondence has reached a new anniversary. Launched in 2014, we are now twelve years old.
After a lifetime of writing and receiving letters in the mail, it was my hope to motivate friends and readers to do the same. Postcards, notes, or full-length letters –all are good. Could this thing, so often characterized as “the lost art of letter writing,” be revived?
I was hopeful. There were several letter writing sites available on the Internet. Perhaps Social Correspondence could add and strengthen these efforts, some of which were written and managed by women much younger than myself. And who doesn’t like receiving a written letter in the mail?
I received mixed reactions. A long-time friend, a publisher, asked me who I thought would read it? My friends? Well, yes, but I hoped for something more – to engage people, to encourage readers to write about their own experiences. One of my favorite responses was a guest piece by Eileen Shields, who submitted a fake and very funny “Dear Friends and Family” holiday letter. A post about the late artist Alan Blackman and his Letters to Myself (2015) was widely read.
Over the years, Social Correspondence has addressed many subjects related to letter writing. Beautiful stamps, handwriting, typewriter repair, thank you notes, and the history and politics of the United States Postal Service (USPS). I started with a particular interest in historical and war letters.
Handwriting now is going into the dustbins of history, as it is no longer taught in many, or perhaps most, public schools. Many of the people I exchanged letters with were women, sometimes older than myself, including one longtime correspondent from a different country I had once visited in my youth. Each and every letter was precious, and part of the fun was deciphering the handwriting of older writers, which could involve many readings to get to the heart of the message. And I admit, it was exciting to receive letters from young men, boyfriends perhaps, who wrote to me when I reached college age.
Gradually, letter writing has become a thing of the past. Even communication by email is most often replaced by text messaging. But one exception remains the holiday letter. It is such a joy to receive these communications, often pre-printed on a commercially prepared yet artistic card. I enjoy the photos and messages and hope this form of communication does not dwindle.
Twelve years is a long time to write solely about letter writing, and Social Correspondence has branched out into other personal topics. I have written about travel, art, music, jury duty, history, becoming a grandparent, books and reading, and more.
In the current best-selling epistolary novel, The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, a complex history and emotional development is gradually unveiled through the letters written by and to its 70-year old protagonist, Sybil Van Antwerp. One of the remarkable things about this novel is that it shot onto the best-seller lists mostly through word-of-mouth. It was not helped by a celebrity endorsement (although one is coming soon).
Perhaps interest in the art of letter writing has not totally vanished, especially when accompanied by a well-written and most enjoyable novel.
