A Letters Aloud Gig on Rejection

'Letters Aloud' is an ensemble of about four people who do reading concerts. They read real letters written by real people while the screen on stage shows images. The letters vary from those that are tone-deaf, mean, discriminatory to hilarious, inventive and kind.

One such letter was quite amusing. The State of Michigan sent a letter in December 1997 to a property owner directing two dams in a pond on the property be removed. A January 1998 reply informed the state that the beavers couldn't do that. Here is a link to the exchange: The Dam Letters.

Writing and sending hand-written letters was the primary way people communicated before computers, smartphones, and social media platforms (even before telephones, television, and radio too). I used to write letters quite often. Now, it amazes me how much less I do it, but how much greater I prize receiving them. Letter-writing is becoming a lost art and could use some resuscitation!

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Cay Denise

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