I launched Jackass Letters on June 2nd, 2008.
The art of the letter is nearly lost. This is a skill I am cultivating. Jackass Letters is dedicated to examining correspondence with real people and companies. It is equal parts spoof, satire, parody and criticism. New letters are sporadically published. If I made money doing this—or if the writing, transcribing, and site updates took less of my time—there would be more letters. This site is inspired by the Lazlo Letters (among others) and by sitting through countless Business Communication classes.
I have a few rules that I seldom violate:
All letters must not contain lies (they don’t have to be the truth, they just can’t lie).
Courier is the official Jackass Letters font when sending letters.
Letters (errors and all) will appear here exactly as they were sent.
All envelopes must be hand addressed.
I can’t ask for a specific items other than photos.
Letters must be pithy (no more than one page).
Letters must be signed.
When applicable I will ask for an autographed photo.
I will violate the above rules when needed.
I type these letters because my handwriting is bad (to say the least). My partner says it’s like a Kindergartner’s. She calls it, “Christopher at 5.” She’s being too kind. I am incapable of writing a character the same way twice. And this is print (even I can’t read my cursive if too much time has passed)! So I type these letters, but they are still hand addressed and signed.
I aim to share, aim to have some fun, and hope no one takes me too seriously.
I am standing on the shoulders of giants on this one. Alexander Pope, John Locke, Henry Root, Don Novello (aka Lazlo Toth, aka Fr. Guido Sarducci), Jonathan Swift, Ted L. Nancy, Paul Rosa, and Benjamin Franklin to name a few. This site is not a new idea, but little on the internet ever is.
I hope you enjoy my letters and responses.
