6 ms·

I enjoy cheeky letters and even moreso, I really enjoy cheeky responses to said letters. The staffer who replied probably enjoyed writing it.

mwcremer 2y ago
This is one of my favorites: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-rejection https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-...
- kzrdude 2y ago
  that was lovely. Sure enough the letter writer has a wikipedia article as Paul Devlin (filmmaker)
- lostlogin 2y ago
  I like the Arkell versus Pressdram. https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
  - mauvehaus 2y ago
    That is excellent, and if you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy the Cleveland Browns one: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/very-truly-yours https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/very-truly-yours
    - hodgesrm 2y ago
      The cc: to Art Modell [0] was a nice touch. He was a real character. I imagine he thoroughly approved of the response, assuming he didn't think of it himself. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Modell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Modell
- fifilura 2y ago
  There is a reference to a "small grammatical error" in the rejection from Harvard, but I did not quite understand what he was referring to. Was that obvious from his reply and I missed the point? I am guessing it must be in the form of "Please accept our letter of rejection" or similar?
demondemidi 2y ago
Yeah I’m pretty sure Reagan didn’t write this reply. Spending decades on social media has made me not trust anything I read that is “feel good”.
- Merad 2y ago
  Around 2017-2018 I remember reading a really interesting article about how the Obama White House handled letters to the president. The vast majority of letters (hundreds per day, IIRC) were answered by staffers, but each day they would select 10 letters that Obama would read himself. He didn't personally write out a reply, but he'd make notes for the staff about how he wanted to respond. No idea how Reagan's team handled it, but it's at least possible that he was personally involved in the reply.
  - mlyle 2y ago
    Reagan's administration worked in the same way. But Reagan himself was a prolific correspondent, and personally dictated a much greater share of those replies than most 20th century presidents. (Reagan also was known for reading articles and scribbling notes to staff about a note to send "from him" about the content-- quite a few journalists and essayists received Reagan letters).
    - octopusRex 2y ago
      Would like to see responses from the Alzheimer's years. He got pretty bad towards the end. Biden sounds like a 20 year old in comparison. Trump is still off in cofeve land.
- eleveriven 2y ago
  Social media has ruined our faith in kindness

mwcremer 2y ago

This is one of my favorites: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-rejection https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/i-am-unable-to-accept-your-...

kzrdude 2y ago
that was lovely. Sure enough the letter writer has a wikipedia article as Paul Devlin (filmmaker)
lostlogin 2y ago
I like the Arkell versus Pressdram. https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/arkell-v-pressdram
- mauvehaus 2y ago
  That is excellent, and if you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy the Cleveland Browns one: https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/very-truly-yours https://news.lettersofnote.com/p/very-truly-yours
  - hodgesrm 2y ago
    The cc: to Art Modell [0] was a nice touch. He was a real character. I imagine he thoroughly approved of the response, assuming he didn't think of it himself. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Modell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art_Modell
fifilura 2y ago
There is a reference to a "small grammatical error" in the rejection from Harvard, but I did not quite understand what he was referring to. Was that obvious from his reply and I missed the point? I am guessing it must be in the form of "Please accept our letter of rejection" or similar?

demondemidi 2y ago

Yeah I’m pretty sure Reagan didn’t write this reply. Spending decades on social media has made me not trust anything I read that is “feel good”.

Merad 2y ago
Around 2017-2018 I remember reading a really interesting article about how the Obama White House handled letters to the president. The vast majority of letters (hundreds per day, IIRC) were answered by staffers, but each day they would select 10 letters that Obama would read himself. He didn't personally write out a reply, but he'd make notes for the staff about how he wanted to respond. No idea how Reagan's team handled it, but it's at least possible that he was personally involved in the reply.
- mlyle 2y ago
  Reagan's administration worked in the same way. But Reagan himself was a prolific correspondent, and personally dictated a much greater share of those replies than most 20th century presidents. (Reagan also was known for reading articles and scribbling notes to staff about a note to send "from him" about the content-- quite a few journalists and essayists received Reagan letters).
  - octopusRex 2y ago
    Would like to see responses from the Alzheimer's years. He got pretty bad towards the end. Biden sounds like a 20 year old in comparison. Trump is still off in cofeve land.
eleveriven 2y ago
Social media has ruined our faith in kindness