The Letters of Note website has provided endless entertainment with a mailbag filled with nostalgia. (Marlon Brando's letter to a stewardess, Andy Warhol's warning letter from his Factory landlord, and the amazing rejection letter penned by Hunter S. Thompson while at Rolling Stone, to name a few.) Most recently they reprinted a ltter that E.B. White wrote to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on East 92nd Street. It's dated April 12th, 1951, and comes after White was accused by the ASPCA of not paying his dog tax and therefore "harboring" an unlicensed dog. Yes, to the man who penned Charlotte's Web. You can read the full thing here (and we recommend you do), but here's a excerpt: more ›

In 1957 Jack Kerouac wrote a letter to Marlon Brando (which just sold for over $33,000 at Christies) asking him to buy the rights to On The Road and make a movie out of it, noting that they could both star in it. In his vision, the novel would be reworked to a "perfectly acceptable movie-type structure," compressing all of the separate voyages into one large journey across the country. He began the letter: more ›

Former Saturday Night Live writer and Kids in the Hall producer, 63-year-old Joe Bodolai, died in a Los Angeles hotel room sometime over the last couple of days, and police believe the death was a suicide. According to TMZ, Bodolai—who co-wrote the Wayne's World movie—had been staying at the hotel for over a week, and cleaning crews discovered his body yesterday. The site learned that police found a bottle of antifreeze and Gatorade in his room. more ›

Remember last month, when McDonald's landed itself in some hot water over allegations that their egg supplier horribly mistreated the chickens responsible for Egg McMuffins? The fast-food giant dropped the producer, Sparboe Farms, right quick, but for some celebrities, that just isn't enough. A completely random assortment of celebrities, including Ryan Gosling, Zooey Deschanel, Steve-O and Alicia Silverstone have signed a letter from Mercy for Animals to McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner asking the chain to adopt stricter animal welfare policies, like they already have in place in Europe. The tagline? "I'm Hatin' It." more ›

This practically unreadable letter says: "Dear Mary — Please make sure all the errands are done before you go on vacation, as I do not want to be bothered with insignificant things. Thank you. J.D. Salinger". If the letter does sell for the asking price of $50,000, that means the one sentence will have been written at $2,083/word. According to the Nevada-based company selling the item, the "rare handwritten letter" was to his maid, and written in 1989, which would have put him at about 70 years old at the time. more ›

If you're going to get this kind of rejection letter it might as well be penned by Hunter S. Thompson. Rolling Stone should keep this on file to send out to other worthy rejectees. Writer Mike Peterson sent a scan of his rejection to Letters of Note, who have some background—"Written in 1971, at which point young Mike was a resident of South Bend, Indiana, the furious missive was sent in response to a piece of satire he submitted to Rolling Stone magazine; unluckily for him—or luckily, depending on your angle—said piece was forwarded to Hunter for assessment." You can read it in full below: more ›

Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre may be replacing Charlie Sheen and giving Jon Cryer a bigger role, so of course the MaSheen fired off a letter to Lorre (and CC'd TMZ, of course). You can read the entire thing right here, where the self-proclaimed Warlock explains, "My fans may tune in for a minute, but at the end of the day, no one cares about your feeble show without me." Just to play Devil's Advocate for a moment: isn't that how it sort of was before this whole thing started? more ›

John Lennon may have left his mortal coil more than 30 years ago but his words and music live on. And next year a whole lot more of them will be living in public, as Yoko Ono has consented to the publication of a collection of the singer's correspondence that will include everything from doodles to postcards to actual letters. more ›

Move over passive-aggressive notes, there's a new note-writing tactic in town! The management and tenants of an East 9th Street building are fed up with their neighbors, who are allegedly partying and skateboarding on their building's roof. And now, they're being watched, monitored, and threatened! EV Grieve spotted this note taped to 440 East 9th Street's door: more ›

William MacFarland was a product marketing manager for Campbell's at the time Andy Warhol turned their soup cans into a now-iconic work of art. In 1964, MacFarland took pen to paper to write this letter to the artist (full transcript below)—sent to 1342 Lexington Avenue, site of the first Factory. In it Warhol is told that MacFarland wishes he could afford one of his paintings, and then informs him that, "I have learned that you like Tomato Soup. I am taking the liberty of having a couple of cases of our Tomato Soup delivered to you at this address." Wonder if Warhol repaid him with a painting... [via NYMag] more ›

Though the suspected stabber has claimed his girlfriend wasn't even murdered, the courtroom got a look at Robert Camarano's scary side when prosecutor Peter Casolaro read a letter victim Michele Hyams allegedly wrote three days before her murder. Hyams wrote, "you said...'I want to knock your face off, see your teeth break and fly out of your mouth. I want to slam my fist into your f---ing face and knock half your f--in' head off. I will disfigure you.' And then you asked me to make you dinner." She then predicted, "You are going to kill me." more ›

The white powder sent to Rep. Anthony Weiner's office appears to be a kind of antacid. The powder—which forced nine staffers at the Congressman' Kew Gardens office to be decontaminated yesterday—was harmless, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly told the Daily News. "That was the initial finding, and it'll be confirmed in a lab." more ›

Someone is taking passive-aggressive note-writing to a whole new level. Miss Heather spotted this giant cardboard sign on Kent Avenue and North 1st Street in Williamsburg recently. The note reads: "Dear Medieval Slum Neighbors or Transients, Please buy trash cans. Take it off your rent, or call your parents or servant to clean this up. I hope you are at least using your indoor plumbing. Yours, Your Appalled Neighbor." Sigh, and now they have to recycle that massive piece of cardboard, too? more ›

The 18-year-old political science major was hauled off in cuffs in front of his team members and charged yesterday with taking 21-23 letters, hawking some of them off across borders. The stolen set includes correspondences sent to Methodist leaders by Abe Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelet and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, reports the Star Ledger. more ›

The Department of Education mailed out thousands of inaccurate letters to parents informing them that their children attend schools that are failing. The botched mailing—which was sent to parents of students at 16 schools citywide including Brooklyn's esteemed Edward R. Murrow High School—stated that under federal law, students had the right to transfer to a better school. more ›

One person was reportedly exposed to a suspicious white powder after an envelope containing the substance was delivered to Downtown Brooklyn's Supreme Court building. According to the Daily News, the letter was sent to Justice Abe Gerges, who is currently presiding over a case involving a Staten Island doctor accused of selling steroids, and ruled earlier this week that state officials can use eminent domain in the controversial Atlantic Yards development. more ›

Possible Senate candidate and former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford Jr. called his likely rival a "hypocrite" and a "tobacco apologist" in an open letter. According to the Post, the Merrill Lynch executive—who has come under fire for tax discrepancies and not disclosing if he received a "taxpayer-backed" bonus—demanded Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand release her tax records. "Why won't you release your tax returns from when you defended big tobacco companies?" more ›

Earlier today, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sent out an email blast encouraging New Yorkers to donate relief supplies to help the people of Haiti. But someone in her office pulled a major boner and forwarded a letter Quinn previously sent in 2008, seeking help for Haiti's hurricane victims. Oh, fiddlesticks. Shortly thereafter, Quinn's office fired out a new letter, seeking help for victims of the current tragedy. more ›

Yesterday Jay Leno issued his own open letter to the People of Earth, and even though it was just a parody, we imagine it wouldn't be far off from what the man himself would have to say. Which would be nothing in comparison to Our Hero Conan O'Brien's letter. But the big news today is Conan is leaving NBC. According to Bill Simmons, at least, "Next week is Conan's final week hosting the Tonight Show. His staff is trying to book big guests so he goes out with a bang. It's true." more ›

Colombo crime-family soldier Frank "Frankie Camp" Campione, 65, has written a furious eight-page letter to his son Michael, excoriating his progeny for ratting him out to the feds. It's being entered into evidence as a judge prepares to sentence Campione, who's been fuming in jail because his son won't take his calls and some "Rat cop" threw him in the hole. The Post got a hold of the letter, and so now we have this priceless gem, which we'll be sure to unload one day on our own ungrateful, treacherous offspring: "You don't call those Rat Bastard's [sic] on nobody. Never mind you own father. What were you thinking? You are my son and you came from my balls and you should have known better." Now go get your shinebox and respect your father's balls, see? more ›

It's been just over 6 months since the Hipster Grifter, Kari Ferrell, was introduced to the masses. Happy belated anniversary everyone — remember, we're all in this together, and it isn't ending anytime soon. Bucky at Animal, Ferrell's pen pal while she's in jail, just received his latest correspondence from Salt Lake City... and it looks like she's coming back to NYC. more ›

Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau wants to hold a Queens tax preparer accountable for allegedly threatening to kill a prosecutor who's handling a grand larceny case against him. 54-year-old Jack Chang (not pictured) did a year in prison in the mid-'90s for funneling nearly $1 million from his clients to his own account; in April he was arrested on similar charges in a case that's being conducted by the same prosecutor who put him away the first time: Gilda Mariani, head of the money laundering and tax crimes unit. more ›

A letter laced with rat poison was sent to a St. John's University law student yesterday. A St. John's spokesperson told the AP a "suspicious-looking" letter was received at the Queens campus on Monday: "The university was closed for Easter break, but some workers were there and accepted the envelope." Apparently NYPD "determined the substance was rat poison and didn't pose any direct danger to the workers." The investigation is ongoing. more ›

A letter from Edgar Allen Poe apologizing for his drunken behavior in New York City is being made public for the first time. In the letter, sent in 1842, Poe attempts to explain the reasons for his unspecified "queer" behavior to publishers J. and H.G. Langley: "Will you be so kind enough to put the best possible interpretation upon my behavior while in N-York? You must have conceived a queer idea of me - but the simple truth is that Wallace would insist upon the juleps, and I knew not what I was either doing or saying." The explanation comes amidst Poe's attempt to sell an article to the Langleys (they passed), and his pitch is prefaced by the confession that he's "desperately pushed for money." (Those juleps don't come cheap, even by 19th century standards.) Now The University of Virginia has acquired the letter, which until last week had been in private hands, and will include it in an exhibition celebrating the bicentennial of the author’s birth. (Poe attended U.Va. in 1826, where his beer pong skills are still legendary.) [Via Maud Newton.] more ›

A little before noon, the police were called to investigate a "suspicious package" at the NY Times Building. Apparently a letter contained a white granular substance, and the lobby was closed as a precaution. CityRoom explains that a letter had been sent to Andrew Rosenthal, the Times' editorial page editor: "The 13th floor, where the envelope was opened, was evacuated for several hours, but around 2:15 p.m. employees on that floor were permitted to return to their offices... Mr. Rosenthal’s executive secretary opened the envelope, and she and two other Times employees, including a mailroom worker, were being decontaminated as a precaution. more ›

A new restaurant in Little Italy, Dolce Vita, has been trying to serve food that would make the tourist-flooded neighborhood "authentic" again, but according to an open letter posted on Eater, the other restaurateurs are jealous and trying to destroy them: "If you are the new guy on the block and not in everybody else’s back-pocket or part of Old Little Italy, you apparently do not have a prayer of making it. Police are sent to my establishment from these restaurant ‘ghosts’ regularly checking for a liquor license, or a sidewalk café license or what ever else citation they can come up with as soon as a whiff of a busy Dolce Vita is caught from around the block." The jeremiad goes on, but the moral is simple: You're asking for major agita trying to serve good food in Little Italy. more ›