"Letters, We Get Letters"

"Booking Through Thursday"
Have you ever written an author a fan letter?
Did you get an answer?
Did it spark a conversation? A meeting?
(And, sure, I suppose that e-mails DO count . . . but I’d say no to something like a message board on which the author happens to participate.)

Yes and yes, but it feels a little goofy to tell. Remember the country-and-western comic, Minnie Pearl? She wrote her autobiography in the 1980s. I knew her comic persona, but knew nothing about her true self. It turned out that she was an educated, cultured lady who, among other things, toured with other entertainers for our troops during World War II. Her real name was Ophelia Cannon. I wrote her a brief letter after reading her book. She sent a thank you note on a postcard. I have it, somewhere.

I am not a country-and-western fan. I don't know what caught my interest in her autobiography, but I found it interesting. It just feels funny to say that I wrote a fan letter to Minnie Pearl. For the record, No, I don't leave the price tags on my hats.
(submitted by Moon Rani)