When I was writing A Reader’s Book of Days I made a rule not to visit Usher’s blog, Letters of Note, because there was so much good stuff there. (It was too tempting to crib.) Now he’s made a big, lovely book of his best finds. Some of the letters are famous, some are not, but they all carry the thrill of history and personality, in part because for so many of them Usher has included an evocative image of the original. What was it like, you wonder, for Francis Crick to pen this opening sentence to his 12-year-old son in 1953 (in a letter than includes his hand-drawn diagrams of DNA): “Jim Watson and I have probably made a most important discovery.”
—Tom Nissley, Phinney Books, Seattle, WA
Peek at others’ letters the completely legal and non-creepy way with your copy from Phinney Books or your local indie bookseller.
First letter I flipped to left a lump in my throat. One of the loveliest things I’ve ever read.