Letter writing: reader's note reminded me of what we've lost

When was the last time you wrote a letter? A proper handwritten letter to someone?

It’s something we see a lot less of these days. And it feels we’re losing a lot more than the art of letter writing.

Do people still have pen pals?

Do children still write notes to pals in school so they can pass them on in the corridor on their way to the next class?

Getting a letter through the door with a handwritten address feels weird these days. It makes you think “Oohhh who could this be from?”. And usually it’s a wedding invite or a card from a relative, not a letter in someone else’s writing.

Now, on the odd occasion when I pick a pen up to write – a to do list for instance, it’s so unnatural that my hand feels like it’s about to fall off.

The writer Lynne Hoggan next to a quote: "The handwriting, the headed paper, everything about it was very sweet. And it really touched me that someone had gone to all that effort."

We are so used to texting, emailing and messenger apps that there’s no need to pick a pencil or pen up at all.

It’s funny to think back to my school days, which weren’t that long ago. Back then, I would be writing stuff on a daily basis. God forbid if you left the house without a pencil case.

But things have changed a bit since then, and it took the arrival of a letter this week to make me realise what we’re missing.

Writing a letter about taping the radio – how times have changed

I wrote – sorry, typed – a column a couple of weeks ago about the good old days of taping songs off the radio.

I’d tape the Top 40 and wondered who else recalled the stress of trying to stop the recording before the DJ – that’s me now – started speaking.

Lynne Hoggan at a Pure Radio microphone. — Lynne is a DJ on Pure Radio now, so talking over the records is part of the job.

Then there was the challenge of having to play songs, then pause them, so I could write the lyrics down. This was before the days of Googling them of course.

And then, over the weekend I received a letter. A handwritten letter about this column.

In it, the writer explained that they had made recordings of John Lennon’s last ever radio interviews, not realising at the time that the former Beatle would be murdered a few days later.

And now, 40 years on, they still had them on cassette tapes at their Dundee home. Another relic of a simpler time.

I write a weekly column for the @Evening_Tele and a couple of weeks back I wrote about taping songs off the radio. I received a letter about it, Someone actually wrote me a wee letter and sent into the DC Thomson office Dundee for me 🥺🥺 I will need to write back. 🥰 pic.twitter.com/XfaJRK4Nch

— Lynne (@Lynneontheradio) February 5, 2023