What happened to Re: Open Letter to Jo Rowling?

[msbeadsley]

> Jen:
> I unearthed this letter while looking through the archives and 
> started wondering--what happened to it? Did it get sent to JKR from 
> HPFGU?

Thanks for posting a link to this; as a relative newbie, I'd never 
have known. I did a lot of archive surfing of the main list, but 
never here; it must be time. What a fantastic letter!

And now I'm curious as well: was it sent? Perhaps we (here I am 
trying to appropriate poor Dicentra's letter just like *that*) should 
update it and send it around the world to HPfGU listees to sign (or 
perhaps have each list member just send along a signed scrap of paper 
and attach the lot to the letter and send it off...perhaps if each of 
us mailed ourself a letter and then cut out the part of the front 
with the address and postmark and scrawled an "autograph," in 
between, perhaps with a bit added: XOXOX or "luv you, Jo!" and then 
made a sort of roll-up collage of them all. (Or not: I was just 
thinking something a little more personal and immediate than a 
mention of "thousands of members" might be called for. I had 
considered a "care" package, too. I know that some fairly well-known 
authors have been pleased as well sometimes to receive things like 
personally crafted, well executed one-of-a-kind 3-D representations, 
such as carvings or miniature sculptures of certain unusual beings 
from their fiction, when inspired by and offered for no other reason 
than homage. (I am thinking specifically of Larry Niven here; SF fans 
will know the person I mean.)

It's very hard sometimes to quash that impulse to reach out to a 
person whose creative efforts have had such a profound impact, yet I 
suspect that the most truly appreciative thing to do (besides buying 
the books, etc., of course) is often to stay as far away and 
unobtrusive as possible and send prayers, or good vibrations, or just 
a personal, heartfelt entreaty to the the universe to treat the 
object of one's affections kindly. (Whatever your persuasion.) Oh, 
and recruitment, always recruitment: "Have you read the Harry Potter 
books? No??! Well, you need to, you're going to fall straightaway in 
love with them. Here's a copy of the first one and a nice comfy 
chair, now sit right down there. Got everything you need? Good!"

Hey, we could be Jo's Army, like Dumbledore's Army...<g>

Sandy, who can waffle wildly forever on the proper role of "fandom"