'Yours Ever'- A New Book About Letters

'Yours Ever: People and Their Letters' is a new book by author Thomas Mallon. I found this book from an entry on Twitter that linked to '100 Notable Books of 2009' at the NY Times. I also found this listed on the Indie Bound website which promotes buying books from your local independent bookstore.

If you visit National Review Online (NRO) you can listen to a short interview with the author as he discusses this book which just came out (Nov. 2009).

In addition to his novels, Mr. Mallon also wrote 'A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries' published in 1984.

I haven't read either of these yet, but plan to get them both. Common Good Books (CGB) is a local independent bookstore I recently discovered on a day trip with a friend. This store is owned by Garrison Keillor and opened in St. Paul, MN three years ago. The bookstore sits below Nina's Coffee Cafe which is a cozy, comfy, casual coffee shop that lends itself to promoting and inviting local writers to hone their craft while relaxing in the coffee shop with their peers.

Letter Writing in the News

Sunnygram
There is a new service that will print your emails and send them to your parents, grandparents or whomever you would for a fee of $9.95/month. The service is called Sunnygram and this article was recently featured in Time magazine. Sunnygram is trying to bridge the gap between those who only want to communicate in their computer generated environment and those who don't have or use a computer.

At first, I thought that was silly, and although I can't imagine ever having need of it, you have to admire someone finding a niche product to fill the communication gap. And if this is the only way for some of these people to get the emails and photos from friends and family, then it is worth the fee- especially considering that once the account is set up for the recipient you can have as many people as you want to send them email and photos for the price of just the one account.

One Husband, Two Kids, Three Deployments
On the other hand, an article more dear to my heart - letter writing. In this article the letter once again enriches lives of those it touches as written in this op-ed piece of the NY times. I actually came across this beautifully written piece while visiting the Green Paper Company blog.
Melissa Seligman talks about each of her husband's deployments and how the couple started with webcams and then found, eventually, that letters were more intimate. I won't say any more. You must read the article.