THE LETTER EXCHANGE
Connecting Penfriends Since 1982
Links related to Issue 4, Summer 2004     

The story of Rudy Hines, Ronald Reagan's Presidential pen pal, is based on information in Reagan: A Life in Letters. Of course, there are hundreds of other books by and about Reagan, including other collections of his letters.
Like to make your own mail art? Here's a link to Inkadinkado (page 2; Victorian Marketing doesn't appear to have a current Web site). The Open Source project lists sites for rubber stamp enthusiasts.
 
When Mr. Reagan died, Rudy Hines (see article on page 9) was among those paying tribute. Mr. Hines wasn't Reagan's only pen pal; he also carried on a 52-year correspondence with a fan of his acting career. Many of Reagan's writings, including letters, are contained in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library at the University of Texas, the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library & Museum in California, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation.
 
Other Presidents have been graced with letters from children as well.
 
Fascinated with Lewis Carroll (page 13)? You might want to check out the Lewis Carroll Society of North America, the Lewis Carroll pages at The Victorian Web, or the British Lewis Carroll Society. You can also make your head swim with the Gutenberg edition of Carroll's The Game of Logic.
 
Charles Colson was chief counsel to Richard Nixon during the Watergate affair. After his release from prison, Colson founded Prison Fellowship (see page 14).
 
Want an even smaller mail truck than the one shown on page 18? PostalNews.com sells them on eBay.
 
The College Park Aviation Museum is located at College Park Airport in Maryland, the place where air mail (see page 19) was born and the oldest continuously operating airport in the U.S. The photo on page 20 is one of many at Air Mail Pioneers.
 
Sometimes kids write to Presidents even without being chosen...
Charles Dodgson, who wrote under the pen name Lewis Carroll, is best known as the author of Alice in Wonderland, but he also carried on a voluminous correspondence, particularly with children, and was a well-known writer on logic, puzzles and mathematics.
Today we take it for granted that mail going any distance will go by air, but it wasn't that long ago that this was a bold new concept.
Clicking on the links in this column will take you to Powell's, the world's largest independent bookstore. Any purchase you make by following one of these links will help support LEX – not just these items but any book or DVD in their inventory.
Back to Issue-Related Links