I’m a History Channel fanatic. Not surprisingly since most of my novels have historical settings. Last night I was watching, what else, the History Channel, and a documentary on FDR. I had seen the doc before, but it was very well done and so interesting I didn’t mind watching it again. I’m glad I did, because it got me thinking about the lost art of letter writing. The doc mentions a lot of letter writing- FDR to Churchill, Churchill to FDR (these letters were actually copied by a spy who fortunately was found out before they were made public), Eleanor to FDR, FDR to his lovers. There was one distant cousin he was particularly close to who he confided in and wrote numerous letters to. She in turn not only wrote back, but kept a journal filled with about 1,000 pages of writing. Handwritten writing, to be exact. Nowdays we can’t fathom anyone handwriting that many pages, but it was common practice as little as thirty years ago.
With the advent of the computer and email, I think letter writing is a lost art. I’ll admit to eschewing handwritten letters for a quick email due to ease and efficiency, but I know I should take the time to sit down and write. I don’t even own any stationery anymore, unless you count the handmade cards I stamped with my scrapbooking stamps. Although I wouldn’t count those, since I’ve stamped the greetings on the cards!
Is letter writing going the way of the dodo bird and the wooly mammoth? In fifty years will there be any personal correspondence left, or will it all be in email/memo form ready to delete in an instant? Does anyone even use a diary anymore? I wonder…
happy writing!
kathy
www.freerice.com