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Letterlocking 101

Before there were postage stamps, before there were government-run post offices, before there were paper envelopes for written correspondence, there was letterlocking.

What is letterlocking? Letterlocking is a technique for securing handwritten epistolaries that was invented by letter writers during the 1300’s. That’s when flexible paper first became available in Europe; this thinner paper enabled correspondents to fold and secure their letters so their missives could function as their own envelopes or sending devices and their contents could be kept private.

Until the 1800’s, mail delivery in the western world was haphazard and expensive. Postage, which was usually paid by the recipient of the letter, was based on the number of pieces of paper, which would have included the paper used for the envelope, had envelopes existed. So for reasons of security and frugality, letter writers folded their letters into packets to both hide their contents from prying eyes and reduce mailing costs. These so-called security measures were certainly not foolproof but at a minimum, the recipients of these letters were able to determine whether the letters coming to them had been tampered with.

Letterlocking involved folding and securing one’s letters with small slits, string, tabs, and/or sealing wax. Over time, correspondents in all levels of society began to develop their own folding techniques. Mary Queen of Scots, Elizabeth I, John Keats, Machiavelli, Galileo, Walter Scott, and Marie Antoinette were among the more famous people who used letterlocking. Some of their unique folds and sealing techniques are recognizable, even today.

Letterlocked packets were of various sizes, some purposely small enough to be surreptitiously passed from one palm to another because in some cases their contents, if discovered, could have formed the basis for treason charge.

In 1926 the Sound and Vision Museum in The Hague acquired a trunk of letters that had once been in the possession of a postmaster named Brienne and his wife, a couple at the heart of Europe’s early communication networks. The trunk contained around 2600 letters sent to people in The Hague between 1689 and 1706, none of which was delivered to its intended recipient. (600 of these letters still remain unopened.) During the time these letters were sent, since their recipients were responsible for the postage, if the recipient was deceased, absent or rejected the letter, no fee could be collected and the letter remained undelivered. Some of the Brienne letters actually have the word “Refused” scribbled across them. Letters in this collection have been preserved and analyzed and are wonderful examples of letterlocking.

This winter I enrolled in a letterlocking class taught by Janet Faught, a calligrapher and artist who has studied the history of letter writing from its earliest days. Janet emailed instructions and snail mailed materials to the students in the online class and during class time she patiently demonstrated various letter locking techniques so we could try our hands at each. I now have a notebook filled with historical information, step-by-step diagrams of letterlocking instructions, and samples of each of the techniques she showed us, including those used by Jane Austen, John Donne, John Keats, and Elizabeth I. After the class ended, I sent some of these examples to friends and family. It was an artistic and fun way to communicate, although I needed to observe modern postal requirements to assure delivery.

Below are a couple of examples of letterlocking. The first photo shows the letterlocking technique used by the poet John Keats when he wrote to Fanny Brawne in 1820.

The next three photos show an example of the Anglican priest and poet John Donne’s letterlocking, sent around 1600. Note the paper brad securing the “paper lock”, which would then be further secured with sealing wax and the sender’s personal stamp.

If you’re interested in more information about letterlocking or enrolling in one of Janet’s online classes, contact me (Marilyn@Leelenauletterwriters.org or via snail mail) and I can put you in touch with her.

Please note: Some information for this post came from Wikipedia and Signed, Sealed and Undelivered at Brienne.org.

As always, thanks for reading!

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Letters Mingle Souls

Lynda and Dani beneath the Dali Museum Wishing Tree

I first encountered these two Floridians in 2020, during the early days of the shutdown.   The three of us happened to enroll in an online class titled “Deepening Your Connection with Nature”, in which our instructor, who also resided in Florida, offered a series of assignments designed to help us look more closely at our surroundings and then write about them.  Videos and handouts with ideas and suggestions for focusing our attention on a scene, a walk, or some other aspect of the natural world were emailed to us.  

I was in California at that time, and a bit homesick for Michigan, so I chose a sturdy tree with a large canopy that reminded me of the Leelanau. The tree was grand, a presence; its smooth grey bark connected with the turf like the foot of an immense elephant.  Sitting in the shade of my “elephant tree”, I wrote prose and poetry while becoming more familiar and fonder of this magnificent specimen as the days ticked past. 

When our online course ended, we students were eager to continue, so our instructor obliged us with another class, offering us a deeper dive into our individual artistic pursuits.  This time we were to use whatever kind of artistic expression we wished.  Once each week, we participants met online to share our work and our journeys.  Our conversations involved not only writing, but other artistic processes.

One student in these classes, Lynda, was a watercolor artist, among her many artistic interests and talents.  During one session, she shared the story of a letter writing group she was involved with called the Tampa Bay Letter Writers.  Lynda created artist stamps and illustrated letters for the TBLW and she shared with us pictures of a zine she’d recently made for the TBLW that was full of ideas for coping during the pandemic.  A Michigan friend of mine was, at the time, struggling because she could not spend time with family and friends.  I asked Lynda if she would snail mail me a copy of the zine to share with my friend, thinking it might help, and she agreed to put one in the mail.

A few days later an illustrated envelope arrived in my post office box. Inside was the zine but in addition, there was a handwritten, personal letter from Lynda.  As it turned out, after I’d requested the zine from Lynda, I’d received a difficult health diagnosis: I was also suffering with my own pandemic fatigue.   So when I saw this beautiful, handmade, tactile expression of kindness from Lynda, I was moved to tears.  I resolved to answer Lynda’s letter and that day began investigating the possibility of promoting a similar letter writing group in Michigan.  A few days later, the Leelanau Letter Writers was born.

Dani was also one of the students in these classes. Over time, I learned she was a retired businesswoman, a life coach, a Francophile, a wonderful collage artist, and also a generous spirit.  During one online gathering, she offered me some wise advice so I wrote a thank you note and mailed it to her.   Then it turned out that Dani and Lynda, who were already friends, lived near one another in Florida; they sometimes met at a park to chat and paint. They also met monthly on Zoom.  When they contacted me and offered to include me in their online sessions, I was eager to join them.  As we became closer, our online meetings became longer, sometimes lasting two or three hours; we found we had much to discuss.

Meanwhile, our handwritten letters to one another continued. We shared titles of books we’d read, art techniques, resources, general information, and personal stories. Dani surprised both Lynda and me with one-of-a-kind books she created using photos, quotes, collages, and pieces of art that captured the interests and passions in each of our lives.  I felt comfortable enough to share copies of my unpublished novel with the two of them.  When we began exchanging a traveling letter, we decided we needed a name for our trio and soon after we began referring to ourselves as “The Soul Sisters”.

Finally, inevitably, we began to talk about meeting in person.  Since the two of them lived in Florida and I was then in Michigan, it was decided I would fly to Tampa for a visit.  Dani met me at the airport and drove me to Lynda’s home where I stayed for six wonderful days.  The two of them had planned surprises and outings that would make my visit special.  We visited the Dali Museum (where there was also a Picasso Exhibit) and had selfie cubist portraits made.  We sketched, journaled, enjoyed watercolor instruction from Lynda, ate beautiful and tasty meals, talked, shared, opined, drank wine, and even met our online instructor for an outdoor lunch along the Intercoastal Waterway.  It was a magical time and I smile whenever I think of it.

Selfie at the Dali
Journaling by the Pool

And as an added bonus, during my visit to Tampa, I was able to attend an in-person gathering of the Tampa Bay Letter Writers, which, even though my participation is limited, I have joined.  The TBLW April gathering took place on the porch of The Paper Seahorse, a converted bungalow in downtown Tampa that’s home to a unique and inspirational shop focused on letter writing.  

Our Host
Preparing for the TBLW Gathering

The weather that Saturday morning was ideal; tea and banana bread were offered, and members who had not been able to meet in person for months talked, hugged, and shared stories.  I was warmly welcomed as we swapped letter writing and art mail items members of the group wanted to pass along.  I also got to meet the woman who, along with the owner of The Paper Seahorse, started the Tampa Bay Letter Writers.  Tammy’s unique combination of enthusiasm and imagination, plus her friendly manner, are infectious and a continuing inspiration to this special group.  Unfortunately, a broken foot kept Tona Bell, owner of The Paper Seahorse from attending the gathering but her husband Randy opened the shop for us so I was able to look around and purchase some “much needed” supplies for my own letter writing.

Selecting from the stash
Offerings for the letter writers
Randy

I’m home in Michigan now, having exchanged one bay in paradise (Tampa Bay) for another (Grand Traverse Bay).  I think back daily on this journey of friendship with my two Soul Sisters, Lynda and Dani.  We met online but we really began to connect through that first letter Lynda sent me, that single missive that changed my life, making it richer, filling it with art and poetry and, mostly, encouraging me to embrace my creative side and, as a piece of that, to start the Leelanau Letter Writers.  

Letters Mingle Souls?  I’d say that phrase says it all.

I’d also say you should never underestimate the difference a handwritten letter from you might make in someone’s life. 

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Slow Media

I recently realized I had become an iPhone scroller.  If I were bored or anxious or looking for cheap entertainment, I scrolled.  Or worse, I played Solitaire or tried to reach Genius or even Queen Bee status on the New York Times Spelling Bee game.  I scrolled YouTube videos for one I might want to watch, and then for good measure checked Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook posts.  Sometimes I repeated this process several times each day. 

I concluded my social media scrolling was lazy and undisciplined behavior.   Sure, I accomplished what I needed to do each day, but I sensed that time was floating past me.  Time.  The most precious commodity each of us possesses.  And I was wasting it. 

Then, as these things happen, I noticed a book on my shelf I’d purchased last fall but hadn’t gotten around to reading.  The title was Digital Minimalism. The author, Cal Newport, was a Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University.   Newport had been curious about the hold digital media had on so many of us and he decided to investigate.  

As he studied, Newport learned that our interest in social media usually began quite innocently.  That we joined Facebook to see what our nieces and nephews were doing but eventually found ourselves scrolling countless articles we hadn’t signed up for. But they were included on these sites because social media developers hoped they would hold our interest, even for a few seconds.  Why? Because each time we visited one of their sites, it generated income for Silicon Valley.  

And what were we giving up in return?  Our time.  Without thinking about what we were actually spending for these sites, we kept scrolling.  

Our attraction to scrolling was not, Newport argued, as innocent as the social media developers would have us believe.  Nor did it necessarily mean we were lazy or undisciplined. Over time, the developers of these sites and apps became cognizant of two things: our basic human need for social approval (hence the “Like” button on Facebook, for example) and secondly, that humans are more likely to remain interested in something when its rewards were unpredictable and intermittent, rather than steady and reliable.  One Silicon Valley whistleblower, when disclosing the behavioral manipulation deliberately built into social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, called iPhones and other handheld digital devices, “Slot Machines”.  Yikes.

Newport recognized the value of social media.  What he objected to was the mindless scrolling that people became addicted to (yes, it can be classified as an addictive behavior). He wanted to present an approach to help people become more mindful in their use of social media.  So he set up an experiment to help people detox from their mindless scrolling and advertised for participants. He expected forty or fifty people to respond.  Instead, sixteen hundred people answered the ad.

The participants in Newport’s experiment were required to detox from all unnecessary social media sites for thirty days. They removed social media apps from their phones to make it less easy to pick up their handheld devices and mindlessly begin scrolling.  During the thirty-day period, they examined how they used their leisure time and, more importantly, how they wanted to use that time.  Newport argued that a reexamination of leisure time was crucial to a successful digital detox because people would fall back into old scrolling habits if they didn’t have anything meaningful to replace the time they once spent aimlessly scrolling.  

The participants in the detox reported that they began reading real books again, exercising and taking walks, building things, spending time with their families, engaging in face-to-face conversations, drawing, painting, writing, and otherwise making mindful choices about how they were spending their leisure time.

Once the thirty days were up, the participants were offered the choices of which apps and social media sites they wanted to reintroduce to their phones and which, they then concluded, would be time wasters.  After the detox period, it became much easier to make responsible and mindful social media choices because their information was more clear-sighted.  

Which brings me to the Slow Media Movement.  Newport explained that this movement, which originated in Germany, was based on the premise that social media use should focus on quality, not quantity.   It’s a version of the popular Slow Food Movement, whose premise is that we should focus on eating delicious, healthy food rather than fast food or junk food.  Likewise, in our social media consumption we have the choice between a small amount of high-quality offerings or a large amount of low-quality fare.  As Newport writes, “The key to embracing Slow Media is the general commitment to maximizing the quality of what you consume and the conditions under which you consume it.”

As I write this, I’m in my thirty day digital detox.  I still check emails and texts and use my phone for directions and music.  But my Facebook app, my Instagram app, and my Pinterest app are no longer on my screen and I don’t plan on reintroducing them when this detox is finished.  I don’t play Solitaire anymore and I haven’t been a Queen Bee in several days.  

However, I am reading more books, journaling (both with words and art), exercising, and feeling like I’m more autonomous, more authentic, and more like I’ve gotten my life back.  And I’m also writing more letters.  Imagine that.  

Slow Food, Slow Correspondence, Slow Media.  All mindful.  And all good. 

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Awakening

Like many people, I entered the reawakening following the COVID shutdown with a long list of people I wanted to see, hug, and enjoy in person.  I’m still not caught up, but during the last couple of post-vaccination months, instead of writing letters, posting blogs, or preparing the latest LLW Zine, spending real time with friends and family was my priority, along with a large project here at our home:  reworking our tired perennial and herb gardens.    

The entertaining part was fun, easy, like getting back on a much-loved bicycle. The garden project was a whole lot more work. I’d neglected my perennial and herb gardens the past several summers and, coupled with this year’s unreliable Leelanau spring weather, updating them proved to be quite a challenge.  

Before–

I began planning the modifications during the winter months. Sitting beside our fireplace, gardening books and magazines on my lap, I studied soil types, growing zones, composting, and, of course, plants. But I soon became overwhelmed by the amount of information and recognized I needed the help of someone who had expertise in the world of horticulture. I searched online and eventually hired a garden designer to suggest an overall layout (because we wanted to add a gravel patio and path) and offer a list of plants he thought would work.

The actual preparation of the beds didn’t require a lot of expertise, just a willingness to get the job done. I was determined to handle this work myself. I spent days ripping out matted Cedar chips and pulling what seemed like miles of roots that had taken hold beneath the wood. Some days as I toiled, I needed a wool stocking cap and heavy denim jacket to protect me from the fierce winds.  Other days, salty sweat stung my eyes as I worked in the blistering sun.  My husband hauled rocks from our fields to define the edges of these beds and I worked with a second landscaper to select a revised list of plants hardy enough to withstand the conditions on our ridge.  

During–

It became my mission to resurrect these gardens.  Always, after I finished my day’s garden work, I came inside the house dirty and tired.  Often the muscles in my hands ached so much that holding a pen would have been a challenge.  But as I began to see progress, the refreshed landscape reflected my own spirits. I found myself growing increasingly excited as the landscaper laid out the paths and patio and began moving and adding new plants to the surrounding dirt.  And after many weeks of planning and many long days of hard work, the garden I envisioned is now complete.

After–

The air is close this morning, humid, and I’m settling into a calm space in my head, a reverie, admiring the gardens: the purples and yellows and pinks and whites, the spiky Russian Sages, the Lavender shrubs, the bushes of Baptisia, and the Catmint whose purple fronds explode like the final fireworks display at a Fourth of July celebration.  The fragrances of these plants are subtle, grace notes that float past if I’m not paying attention.  

Sitting in my rattan chair on our screen porch with a mug of tea ( 2/3 English Breakfast and 1/3 Earl Grey) on the glass table beside me, listening to the chirps of birds and the buzzing of insects from the nearby meadows and woods, along with the occasional hum of a motor as a car passes on M-22, I’m also holding my fountain pen. A pad of paper is on my lap, and I’m ready to resume my blogging, to work on the next LLW Zine, and mostly, to get back to handwriting letters. It’s time.

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Spend Locally, Send Globally

Last week’s snail mail delivery included a letter from a friend written inside this beautiful notecard.  Look closely and you’ll see that Midsummer’s Day at Pyramid Point depicts a profusion of meadow flowers along a trail leading to one of Leelanau County’s dunes.  Roiling clouds cast ominous shadows on both the shoreline and the surface of Lake Michigan.  Butterflies rise from the meadow and dance in the upper border of this complex and intricate card, a creation of Leelanau County artist, Kristin Hurlin.  

I’ve admired Kristin’s work for many years and before I received my friend’s letter, I’d already reached out to ask Kristin if I could feature her stationery on the Leelanau Letter Writers blog.  This post, the first in a series highlighting and promoting stationery by Leelanau artists, is meant to showcase their artistry and help you obtain products from these individuals if you’re interested.  (Please note that I don’t market any of these products, nor do I receive any payment or products for writing about them.  I’m simply hoping to promote local artists and, of course, letter writing, and to suggest that if you’re looking for writing paper, you might think about spending locally and sending globally.  Besides, supporting Leelanau County artists can be a way of sharing the natural beauty of this peninsula with the world.)

Back to Kristin—

If you’ve spent time in this area, you’ve likely wandered into Kristin and her husband, Paul May’s, Glen Arbor shop on a summer afternoon to check out Paul’s handcrafted furniture or admire Kristin’s prints.  Or you may have spotted Kristin’s cards in one of Leelanau County’s many gift shops.  Kristin and Paul moved to Glen Arbor in 1983 with their two children.  Now longtime Leelanau artists, their creations have delighted visitors and residents for years.  In particular, the Leelanau scenes Kristin captures in her prints and transfers to her stationery possess a magical quality; the borders surrounding each card are their own versions of amazing.  

This past December I purchased several of Kristin’s winter scene cards from her website.  I selected cards showing a pine forest laced with lake effect snow, a somber orchard with unharvested apples capped with snow, a snowy owl sailing beneath a silvery full moon, and a cedar wreath hanging on stained glass adorned with chickadees.  From these, I chose the card I thought each person on my list would appreciate.  When I finished my Christmas letters and mailed them to friends and family, some of whom live on the other side of the world, I felt like I’d included a present, in addition to my handwritten letter.  

And although it’s not stationery, since this website is the Leelanau Letter Writers, I wanted to share a Kristin Hurlin product I only recently discovered.  While in Northport’s Pennington Collection, I came upon a jigsaw puzzle with Kristin’s version of a map of Leelanau County.  The artwork depicted the varying depths of Lake Michigan with soft shades of blues and greens, the intricate geography and topography of both the mainland and islands that comprise our county, and an imaginative legend and border.  I purchased the puzzle and spent the following weekend putting it together.  Once completed, I left it on my coffee table for several days just so I could admire it; Kristin’s use of color and her designs were, as always, one-of-a-kind, recognizable, distinct, and beautiful.  I found myself thinking that this puzzle would be a welcome addition to a Northwoods cottage.  Or a souvenir of a memorable visit to the Leelanau.  

A selection of Kristin’s cards and her puzzle can be purchased at Northport’s Pennington Collection or you can order more of Kristin’s cards, along with her prints and other art work directly from her website: glenarborartisans.com.  If you mention the Leelanau Letter Writers when you order cards directly from Kristin, she’ll include an extra card with your order. 

And the next time you’re in the market for stationery, consider spending locally and sending globally.  Support the artisans who enhance the quality of our lives.  But above all, keep writing and mailing those letters!  

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“Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste”

‘Never Let a Good Crisis Go to Waste’ was the theme of my priest’s sermon during yesterday’s Zoom church service. The saying is attributed to Winston Churchill and before that, Mark Twain, but I’d been thinking, even before I heard her sermon, about when we will begin to emerge from the pandemic and more important, what I will bring with me and what I will leave behind when I do.

I’ve had my shots, thanks to the Benzie-Leelanau Health Department, and many of my close friends and family members have as well. Although we don’t know yet what is the safest course of action for ourselves and for others going forward, we continue to learn and consider as we come squinting out of the darkness into what feels like bright sunlight.

I realize there will be no return to life as we knew it. Too many of us have lost loved ones or know those who have, we’ve lost countless opportunities to spend time with family and friends, we’ve cancelled much-anticipated travel plans, and postponed funerals, weddings, and other gatherings. Even during our own medical difficulties, we’ve sometimes found ourselves more worried about being exposed to COVID than getting the treatment we needed.

When we experience a difficult time, it changes us.

The question I’m asking myself these days is whether and what I’ve learned from this crisis. Whether the slower pace of life I was able to experience was a positive by-product of the pandemic or whether, when I’m able, I’m going to jump back on the horse and gallop ahead at full speed like I used to do, missing the scenery and the insights that come with a more relaxed way of living. Whether the class I took on Zoom or the books I read (all the novels of Jane Austen, among others) because I was stuck inside the house enriched my life enough to make me want more of those experiences.

Sure, those of us who admit to being introverts had an easier time during this long shutdown than the extroverts who need to be around other people to recharge their batteries. But no matter which slot you fit into on the Meyer-Briggs Personality Inventory Test, I invite you to make the time just now, while you’re pondering what happens next in your life, to examine what you’ll take from the crisis we’ve all experienced and what you’ll happily leave behind in the darkness when you emerge.

I already know that on my list of what I’ll carry forward is letter writing. I don’t want to lose the benefits offered and received when I make the effort to slow down and share my thoughts on paper. Writing and sending letters to friends, family, and those of you who also found value in the art of slow correspondence has become a treasured part of my life and I’ll definitely be taking this habit with me.

But what about you? What will you bring with you into the light? What will you leave behind?

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Keeping in Touch

Last week Canada Post announced it would deliver 13.5 million postcards, one to every postal address in Canada.  Recipients will be able to write a note and mail their postcard free to anyone they choose, anywhere in Canada, simply by dropping it in a mailbox.

Six versions of these cards will be randomly distributed, each offering a simple message of love, appreciation, or thanks, written in both English and French.  The postcards are part of Canada Post’s “Write Here, Write Now” program launched last September to encourage Canadians to use letter writing to connect in a heartfelt way during the pandemic.  Doug Ettinger, President and CEO of Canada Post, said, “Meaningful connection is vital for our emotional health, sense of community, and overall well-being.  Canada Post wants everyone to stay safe, but also stay in touch with the people who matter to them.”

In a similar vein, a few weeks ago my Michigan health insurance company sent out “Wellness Packages” to its customers.  Besides a list of suggestions about how to handle the physical and mental health challenges we’re all facing during the pandemic, each package included a mask and two stamped postcards.

These colorful postcard illustrations are by six-year-old Elle and eight-year-old Imelda.

Keep in touch with those you miss, was my insurance company’s suggestion for the postcards they sent me. And though I’m currently more of a letter writer than a sender of postcards, I’ve become intrigued by the idea of sending off short messages of love, appreciation, or thanks to someone I care about. So I’ll be sending my two postcards off soon.

One more thing . . .

Have you seen the postcard stamps our U.S. Post Office is issuing these days? They’re exquisite little illustrations of four different kinds of corals and sea creatures, painted in tropical colors. Besides being beautiful, these stamps, featuring Elkhorn Coral, Brain Coral, Pillar Coral, and Staghorn Coral, are tiny lessons in oceanography.

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A Book of Letters

I have a fascination with novels in which the stories are told through letters written by one or more of their characters.  These stories, fictional epistolaries, don’t easily translate to the screen so, with exception, they mostly sit quietly on library and bookstore shelves, waiting to be discovered. 

 Here’s a list of some of my favorites:

 84 Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff,

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows,

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, 

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki,

Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar,

Ella Minow Pea, by Mark Dunn, and 

Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. 

For me, reading an epistolary is like probing the minds of the individual characters.  Their letters zero in on the circumstances, the places, and the times in which they live.

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson, is one of my new, favorite fictional epistolaries.  It’s a contemporary novel entirely composed of letters between Tina Hopwood, a sixty-something farmer’s wife from rural England, and Anders Larsen, a recently widowed professor who is the curator of a Danish Museum.  

The story begins when Tina, who feels ignored and undervalued by her husband and adult children, can’t remember choosing the life in which she now feels trapped.  Questioning her own failure to pursue a girlhood fascination with Tollund Man, an Iron Age fossil (circa 250 B.C.) discovered in a Danish bog in the 1960’s, she writes a letter to the curator of the museum where the remains of Tollund Man are preserved.  Although the person to whom she initially writes is, by then, deceased, the current curator, Anders Larsen, obliges her with a polite response, inviting her to visit the museum.  

But when Tina answers his letter, she tells him that she has no desire to visit the museum, that the real reason she is writing, is “to make sense of myself”.  The childhood friend with whom she shared her interest in Tollund Man has died and Tina wants to understand why she (Tina) never pursued this passion.  She writes that she is not expecting a response but that she needs to be honest with herself and believes writing these letters will help her figure out some things about her life.  

Anders, an urbane academic who deals only in facts and figures, responds again, discussing whether Tollund Man, whose neck was encircled by a rope when found, was the victim of a primitive ritual or was being punished for an offense against his community.  Anders also shares that his wife recently passed away and, he mysteriously adds, he has no place to visit her remains.  He asks Tina to continue to write because her letters are making him think. 

Now also curious to learn the story of Anders’ wife, Tina writes again and Anders begins to open up about the details of his lonely personal life.  Without giving away too much of the story, I’ll just say that over the next year, the pair relies on snail mail and eventually email (In my opinion, the story’s only disappointment), to exchange their stories, becoming more and more open with each other as they do. Because they are geographically insulated from one another as they pen their missives, each possesses the sense of security needed to share the disappointments and elations of their private lives. At one point, Tina writes, “If I destroyed the first half of this letter, it would be to disguise myself from you, and I do not want that, so I will send it.”  

Through their letters, Tina and Anders better understand the choices they made during their lives. They also discover that, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they have much in common.  When a dramatic and unexpected event befalls each of the correspondents, they find themselves relying on the bond they’ve developed through their letter writing to cope with their respective situations.  

I think I was drawn to this little book because I’d previously read that, like me, the author of Meet Me at the Museum, began writing after she retired and this story, like some of my own writing, focused on the lives of people who, because of their age, were viewed by much of the world as neither having value nor being interesting.  But I didn’t have to read far to see that the characters in this unique, understated work were very interesting. There’s an intelligence to Meet Me at the Museum, a richness that’s revealed as these two people, well past the prime of their lives, continue to discover who they are and, in the process, realize that perhaps their own love stories are not entirely over.  

This simple tale, well-told, captured not just my interest, but my heart.  If you’re looking for a quiet, thoughtful book and you, too, appreciate a good epistolary, I recommend Meet Me at the Museum.  

Do you have any favorite epistolaries? If so, I’d love to know what they are. Write to me or email me at marilyn@leelanauletterwriters.org. (Some day I’ll figure out how you can add comments to my blog posts.) In the meantime, happy reading and, of course, letter writing!

Oh– and copies of Meet Me at the Museum are currently in stock and available at Bay Books in Suttons Bay.

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Musing

Recently, I received an amazing package from my dear friend, Lynn. The Book of Correspondence, which she imagined and then created, quickly became one of my most treasured possessions.  I keep it on my writing desk because it’s full of images and words that inspire and delight me. I never tire of looking through it and I thought I’d share it here with you.

Lynn Parise is a Michigander who creates collage art from antique photos and postcards, decoupaged pictures, clever sayings, thread, postage stamps, old telegrams, wire, keys, drawer pulls, charms, beads, envelopes, and even dictionary definitions.  

Here’s a photo of one of my favorite pages in The Book of Correspondence:

See what I mean about inspiration?

Here’s another favorite page:

And if this amazing book wasn’t enough, last week she snail mailed me one of what she calls her “Tag Cards” with a handwritten letter on the back.  

“I have arrived, you may bring forth the frivolity and high jinks.”

Needless to say, this little girl has become my latest muse, reminding me to have fun and enjoy this slow correspondence journey I’m on.  

Besides being a unique and loving person, Lynn’s a mentor and an extraordinarily creative artist. Her tag card and The Book of Correspondence make me smile.  They also remind me that correspondence comes in many forms: not just letters but sketches, photos, poems, recipes, funny sayings, and any other creative way people send love to the world.

See more of Lynn’s creations at lynnparisestudios.com or email her at Lynnparisestudios@gmail.com.