Fan Mail, Reversed

Circa September, 1976, I received an astonishing postcard in the mail. Its handwriting was unfamiliar, the postmark said “Bellingham, Washington,” and it was signed, apparently, by Annie Dillard, my favorite writer. Or certainly one of the top five. I knew she lived in Bellingham.

I would quote the text verbatim, but I can’t put my hands on it right now. It should be tucked into my battered 1974 copy of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but it’s not there, which I’m trying not to worry about right now. Anyway, the postcard wished me a happy birthday, and the writer added that her wishes frequently come true. A postscript read, “John Ewing loves you.”

I knew there was no way Annie Dillard would send me a birthday greeting at my home address in Canton, Ohio. I was painfully aware that Annie Dillard had no idea where I lived or who I was or how much I loved her. That P.S. was my only clue, so I immediately rang up my boyfriend, John Ewing.

I began by asking something like, “How did you manage to send me a postcard from Bellingham, Washington?” I was imagining John’s conniving with some WA acquaintance who could forge a signature and arrange for the appropriate postmark.

John replied, “Oh, she did it? I had given up!” This was happening a week or two after my birthday.

“C’mon,” I insisted. “How did you do this?”

John said, “Really. I wrote her a letter telling her how much you liked her and asking her to send you a birthday greeting. I can’t believe she did it.” He worked at a library and had contrived somehow to find her address.

Eventually, he convinced me that the missive had come to me from Annie Dillard’s actual hands. I kept it safe lo these many years, until now, when I don’t know what became of it. I treasured it because of Annie Dillard, of course, but even more because of John’s creative and sweet gesture.

A few years later, I wrote to Pauline Kael, John’s (then) favorite film critic, and made a similar request. I enclosed a stamped, self-addressed postcard, hoping to guarantee success. Like Annie, Pauline sent John a friendly greeting.

Some years after that, I attended some talks and workshops Annie Dillard presented at Oberlin, when her daughter was a student there. In a smallish group setting, I asked her if she remembered sending me that message. She responded that she didn’t remember, but that she received similar requests fairly often and tried to respond to them. She liked to encourage romance, she said.

Writing this, I was pleased to discover a David Remnick New Yorker interview with Annie Dillard from 2016. Even when she was young, she was cranky, and in her seventies she’s a little more cranky. A crank who encourages romance.

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/tnyradiohour/segments/david-remnick-speaks-annie-dillard