Dear Mr. Vonnegut,
i realise that this may seem strange receiving this letter a little over a year after your death, but as you seemed an unconventional man, i figure this was hardly the weirdest occurence for you. i have been reading your books since i was nine years old which is two thirds of my life exactly. The first one was Dead Eye Dick which i purchased for ten cents at my elementary school library's back catalogue sale. i have often wondered if the librarian brought it from home and pointed it out to me because it always seemed a little inappropriate for grades k-7 and there weren't any other vonnegut's next to the Chronicles of Narnia, Chronicles of Prydain, and nature books that mostly comprised the library that wasn't Sweet Valley Twins books or Nancy Drew.
Not that i have anything against Nancy Drew, she got me through a lot of long summers but you Mr. Vonnegut have helped get me through a long life, and i'm not even that old. There is that facts of your family's history of mental illness which you have been so open and forthcoming about in your own oblique way. That has really been a rock upon which i can firmly rely.
Thank you so much for all of you many years of service to culture and humanity. Thank you for being a shining beacon of intellect in a very dark age.
Sincerely,
rhean murray bfa