This Week's Letter
DEAR 90,
I ADDRESSED THIS LETTER TO A # BECAUSE A # LACKS IDENTITY.
I CANNOT IDENTIFY WITH YOUR CALLOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH MYSELF DURING YOUR MARATHON, I CALLED TO REQUEST SOME VINTAGE GEORGE BENSON I.E. CALF. DREAMING ON THE WHITE RABBIT ALBUM. THIS REQUEST WAS TOTALY IGNORED. I KNOW YOU HAD THE PIEVE AS LAWRENCE PLAYED IT ONE AFTERNOON. THERE WAS NO EXPLANATION FROM YOU.
ARE YOU ABLE TO EMPATHIZE WITH YOUR LISTENERS?
TO A DEGREE, YES, BUT....... LIFE, SPACE, AND TIME RESIDE ON RESPECTIVE CONTINUUMS.
I HOPE THIS NOTE WILL BE AN ALARM CLOCK. ARISE FROM YOUR STAGNANT SLUMBER
PLEASE CONTINUE PAST PROGRESSIONS, LEST YOU ALIENTATE APPRECIATIVE AUDIENCES, AS MYSELF.
ENCLOSED IS AN APPROPRIATE TIP & POEM.
HONESTLY,
M<redacted>
P.S. SAY HI TO RAY HILL.
Editor's Note
Dated April, 1978.
To be clear, this letter was written on rolling papers and stapled into a stack that had to be carefully separated to see it in its' full splendor. Also, regrettably, the poem referenced on the last page has been lost to history.
As KPFT enters the fall fund drive this week, today's mailbag reminds us of a few things:
- The need for community support is as pressing as ever.
- No one is ever completely satisfied with their experience.
- The DJs, programmers, and producers of various programs have the creative freedom to play whatever they want, so if you hear a song one time, maybe that DJ brought in his/her own records and it wasn't in the library (Although that's less pressing today in the modern era of streaming music libraries).
- Rolling papers come in packages of more than 5, and...
- Writing in all CAPS has a meaning that's evolved to suit digital communications.
If you are able, please visit https://kpft.org/ to donate on the web, https://cash.app/$KPFTHouston via Cashapp, or Paypal at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=YZG5MU43UZU3C.
As always, comments, corrections, and additions are welcome. Contact Us
About The Mailbag
The letters posted here were among the boxes recovered from 419 Lovett Blvd, as documented in The Mighty 90 Project post and are reminiscent of the work done at Found Magazine and PostSecret. The vast majority of letters date from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, although some newer materials of more recent vintage have been supplied by programmers.
Historically KPFT would, on occasion, read letters on the air and in some cases the letter writers explicitly ask NOT to be so presented. Attitudes towards consent and personal privacy are very different in 2022 as compared to the time these letters were mailed and no one then writing could have imagined the modern internet, much less this type of public sharing.
Accordingly, whenever a letter has personally identifiable information from a correspondent it will be lightly redacted to protect the privacy of the original author.