When I was in high school we had a pen pal project. Our teacher had a list of people around the world who supposedly wanted a pen pal from central Texas.

I decided I was going to be a smartass and write Iggy Pop instead. He wrote me back on some badass stationery from some hotel in Madrid. I was dumbfounded. He gave me a bunch of suggestions about how to deal with high school. On the top of the letter it said "HOLD ON!!!!" in huge letters.

No one in my class knew who he was. I still have the letter in a frame. I am kicking myself for throwing away the envelope.

I'm currently accepting fan letters if anyone wants to send one. Just PM me for a mailing address.

cwendeld wrote:When I was in high school we had a pen pal project. Our teacher had a list of people around the world who supposedly wanted a pen pal from central Texas.

I decided I was going to be a smartass and write Iggy Pop instead. He wrote me back on some badass stationery from some hotel in Madrid. I was dumbfounded. He gave me a bunch of suggestions about how to deal with high school. On the top of the letter it said "HOLD ON!!!!" in huge letters.

No one in my class knew who he was. I still have the letter in a frame. I am kicking myself for throwing away the envelope.

that's pretty damn cool man!

I sent a fan letter to Quentin Tarantino when I was maybe in eighth grade or so.

He sent a letter back that had a From Dusk Til Dawn logo on it and said "If you like the other movies, just wait until From Dusk Til Dawn comes out. It's gonna be awesome. Signed, QT." I was psyched.

I wrote a letter to the band fIREHOSE when I was 15 or so, asked some questions about drums and how to play a song or something teenage like this, ASSUMING I was going to maybe get a sticker and some "join our fanclub" xeroxed sheet.

Instead, I got a letter from Mike Watt with pen and paper, and it blew my fucking small town Texas mind.

I can easily say that that instance was one of my major realizations with bands and music and punk rock.

I wish everyone who received letters from their fans replied to them.

Not replying won't usually make the fans super sad, but replying is universally good for the fan. The stories above demonstrate that.

I had read gcbv's Mike Watt story before, and I loved reading it again. These stories make my heart feel fuzzy.

i wrote ian mackaye twice. he wrote back twice.

i think i have the postcards around somewhere.

i wrote henry rollins once. he didn't write back.

the sellout.

gcbv wrote:Instead, I got a letter from Mike Watt with pen and paper, and it blew my fucking small town Texas mind.

I can easily say that that instance was one of my major realizations with bands and music and punk rock.

I had the same experience with Fugazi when I was younger.
I have had mail back from Guy, Ian and Joe over the years. Plus a couple of replies from the Dischord staff. What nice people.

I wrote to Jerry Rice as a kid. I still can't really tell if the autographed photo I received in return is a fascimile or not (most likely).

I also wrote to members of the Montreal Expos...no reply...maybe they thought I was joking.

When I was 8 or 9 I wrote to the Smashing Pumpkins, but I didn't get a reply.

Conversely, my friend wrote to Bill Clinton, REM, and Jim Carey, and received replies from all of them. Some people just have all of the luck