Some years ago, I wrote a number of companies and celebrities ridiculous letters. I still do it every now and then.
For years, I thought what I was doing was original, and I always enjoyed hearing back from companies, especially since I usually forgot completely about the letters I wrote as soon as I mailed them.
In college, I found out about (and read!) The Lazlo Letters. To my surprise, Father Guido Sarducci (of SNL fame) had been doing the exact same thing – and doing it much, much better- long before I was even born.
In the past few years, there have been a number of people writing letters like this and collecting them to publish as book material. What really irks me about this is that (A) these books do not give Lazlo Toth any credit or mention at all, and (B) their letters are not even 1/10th as funny, biting, or relevant as Lazlo’s were.
So, before I share some of my letters, I want to give Lazlo his credit. If you think these letters of mine are funny, do yourself a favor and check out The Lazlo Letters at Amazon or your local bookstore to see how it’s really done.
Which begs the question: Why publish my letters on the Internet? A friend of mine prompted me to put these up, and I figured if they’d give other people a laugh, they’d be doing more good online than in a dusty old scrapbook.
Finally, I’d like to state that all of these letters were a product of their time, and my age. They are what they are.