The following arrived this morning...

Subject: fan mail as usual
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 2004 16:49:19 +0000
From: Jenny *
To: clocke@panix.com

Hey, Mr. Locke, my name is Jenny and, though I've tried to restrain myself from writing to you what you've probably read a good few thousand times, I'm too tempted to tell you how much I appreciate your books and your blogs. Gonzo Marketing has made me look at business in a whole different way (a more positive one..just thought I'd clarify that before you start banging your head on something solid for ripping apart a poor child's brain!..just kidding) and there was a time fairly recently where I printed out your blogs in the evenings to read in the mornings on the bus to school. they've woken me up and helped me assume a happy look when there wasn't one naturally. people started to stare at a teenage girl laughing at seven in the morning.. pure outrage! once I began reading the more serious posts, I was almost surprised that someone with such a wonderful sense of humor can be sad..I became sad with you. I hope this doesn't freak you out heh. all my friends now know about you, and it's given me a chance to bond with my dad who recommended you to me.

anyway, enough rambling, I doubt you'd want to hear any of this in the first place. toodloo. .

I wrote back...

Jenny,

what a wonderful letter! it may surprise you to learn that I don't get all that much fan mail. depending on my mood and the phase of the moon, I think this means a) everybody's scared of me, or b) everybody hates me. The notion that most people are just too busy never occurs to me. I mean, how can they be too busy for ME!? Mi-mi-mi... (Practicing my voice exercises.)

Would you mind if I blogged this? I could just say it was from "Jenny" -- or, if you have a blog and wanted me to, I could point to that. I have a teenage daughter (14) who I'm just about to go pick up for lunch and the usual light (or heavy, it depends) banter. She never tires of telling me what a lamer I am -- usually while doing quite an excellent Napoleon Dynamite impression. Anyway, if the idea doesn't freak you out, it might win me some points with Selene (her real name, duh).

in any case, I was very glad to read this. thank you so much.

chris/RB

I got a response very quickly. She said, "go right ahead, but no, I have no blog as of yet." Adding, "have fun with your daughter!"

I did tell Selene about this exchange, and I could tell she thought it was pretty cool. She even said so, which is rare praise indeed, coming from her. There is a lot of love between us, but it's not something that fits too well into so many words. Whoever your dad is, Jenny, I suspect he knows this. And that you do too. I hope you'll thank him for me for the recommendation that resulted in your mail today. The image of you cracking up over my stuff at 7am on the school-bus just blows me away. A world worth living in is made of just such small stories. I bet someone reading this is getting that right now. So you've already passed it along. As far as I can figure, in my fifty-something years of figuring, this is how it works. Keep laughing, and -- don't tell your dad I said this part -- rock on with your bad self!