To break up the monotony of life inside my own brain, I’ve enlisted a group of close friends to update me on the world outside of kittens, cupcakes and 18th Century British literature. This morning my friend Cristina hipped me to the epistolary diamond in the rough, Letters of Note, a blog-style archive of funny, famous or otherwise entertaining letters “deserving of a wider audience”. Such letters of correspondence include those from Martin Luther King Jr. to the Rat Pack’s Sammy Davis Jr. thanking him for his support, Frank Zappa’s anti-censorship rant addressed to his fan club encouraging members to rise up against the Wives of Big Brother, and letter to Andy Warhol from the marketing manager at Campbell’s Soup Company inquiring about one of the artist’s painting and offering to send him free cases of tomato soup. Here are some femme gems I unearthed on Letters of Note:
Short and sweet: letter from painter Nancy Spero to fellow feminist and artist, Lucy Lippard.
Amelia Earhart lays down the law to her fiancé George Putman on the eve of their wedding:
Wonder Woman creator Dr. William Moulton Marston recieves a complaint from the president of All-American Comics about Marston’s comic depicting too many women in chains. Apparently there are other, more creative ways, to “keep women confined enclosed without the use of chains”.
