Randal Hunting

January 6, 2004

I and my wife moved to Hoboken from New York City a couple years ago. It is now a lovely, yuppified bedroom community just about to get its first Wolfgang Puck restaurant — miles away from the grimy, poor, but probably much more interesting community you moved to in (was it 1969)?

I once heard you on NPR telling your funny story about moving to an apartment over a bar in Hoboken. I am very curious — where did you live? As the second most famous person to live in Hoboken (and the only one so far to write a book with the word Hoboken in the title) I would like to be able to point out your historic domicile to tourists staying on our yuppie sectional convertible couch.

By the way I have been compiling a stack of other Hoboken trivia if you are interested. For example, did you know that Frederick Douglas used to meet his longtime mistress in Hoboken? Or that Hetty Green, the infamous “witch of Wall Street” used to live on Washington street?

Maude

December 26, 2003

Hi,

I am a new admirer of your work and I just enjoyed your story The Big Orange Splot. It was just a wonderful dear story that made my holiday vacation more enjoyable.

Sincerely,

Maude from Michigan

Malia

December 16, 2003

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

I’m a 4th grader at the French American School and in English class we have to write a book report each month.

For December, I’m writing about THE HOBOKEN CHICKEN EMERGENCY and I was wondering if you could tell me if it won any awards and what award was it?

If you can help me, please write back to me.

John

November 7, 2003

DANIEL;

I KNOW THAT YOU’RE TIRED OF ANSWERING THIS QUESTION. BUT, WHAT EVERY HAPPEN TO BOGEL PT.(2) TAPE FROM DOVE AUDIO?

I GIVE A LOT OF YOUR BOOKS ON TAPE AWAY TO KIDS IN EUROPE WHO CAN’T READ ENGLISH, BUT TO HAVE AN AUDIO BOOK WITH YOUR VOICE MAKES THEM WANT TO LEAN… I BUY USED ONES FROM AMAZON.COM…

WOULD YOU CONSIDER PUTTING YOU BOOK ON TAPE/CD AND SELLING THEM ON YOUR WEB-SITE LIKE: www.hankthecowdog.com

LOVE YOUR PHOTO GALLERY….

YOURS,

JOHN

Dr. Charles Fuller

November 4, 2003

I just got “4 Fantastic Novels” from the library for my 12 year old son. (Yeah, right.) I like Scott Simon’s foreword, which reminded me of a favorite quote of mine. Unfortunately, favorite though it may be, I can neither remember who said it, nor the exact words.

A rough approximation was that there is a lot of garbage that is passed off as kid lit, but truly good kid lit is recognizable as good by adults as well. The argument goes that although there exists adult stories and concepts that kids cannot appreciate simply because of lack of life experience, a truly good “children’s book” can and will be recognized as such by any adult because it is, simply, truly good.

Your books fall into that latter pile, as far as I can say.

Any hints about the exact quote, and who said it? My first guess (who knows why) is that it was W. H. Auden who said it.

Itzah C. Kret

November 3, 2003

Daniel-

I don’t have a Big Orange Splot on my forehead, but I did paint one on the roof of our back shed and I sense you might be a kindred spirit.

I’d like you to review my first of seven illustrated children’s books. It’s a Seussian tale of a man’s adventures sneezing himself to and fro.

People who’ve seen it are ordering multiple copies, but I didn’t realize until yesterday that I need someone in the field to review The Man with the Sneezes to have any credibility with the media. Shel Silverstein and Dr. Seuss are gone. That leaves you. How about it? You can see what a lot of unknown people have said about my books by clicking on the Review link on the web page. www.itzahckret.com

Sincerely,

Itzah C. Kret

P.S. A former school superintendent and grandfather wrote “Itzah C. Kret seems to have found the magic formula for helping children, laugh, think, and talk about his many topics-what a wonderful gift for you and the young ones in your life”

P.P.S. Please.

www.itzahckret.com

LLyn De Danaan

October 30, 2003

Daniel,

I loved your piece on NPR today. I’ve written a couple of dog books I think you and Lulu would love. Especially since Lulu reads. The new book is called Koans for the Inner Dog: A Guide to Canine Enlightenment. It is a hoot. You can read about it at Amazon.com.

I’m gonna try the flash cards with Cosmo. Funny thing is, he calls me Lulu. Hmmmm.

Pamela Goldberg

October 30, 2003

As a young child in the mid-to-late 1950s I had a book that I recently recalled. I don’t remember the name or author but I do remember the salient content of the story. It is an woman who has somehow acquired a bone. At night when she tries to go to sleep, a voice calls out, “Give me back my bone!” At first quietly. She responds by moving the bone to a better “hiding” spot. As the night (or nights) go by, the voice grows increasingly louder, always with the same and only command, “Give me back my bone!” Each time, the old woman grows more and more frightened and each time she tries to hide the bone more and more securely. She also tries to lock her bedroom more and more securely, moving a number of items to block the doorway, finally pushing her heavy bureau in front of it. It is in the bureau, by the way, where she has hidden the bone. Finally, she can bear it no more when the voice screams out “GIVE ME BACK MY BONE!” Bone weary and frightened beyond belief, the old woman bolts up in bed and shouts back at the top of her lungs “TAKE IT!” And so ends the tale.

Do you know this book? Its title? The author’s name? Whether it is still in print and available? I would love to know.

Thank you for your time. I enjoy hearing you on NPR and look forward to you and Bob E. reading aloud together.

Heather Ruffalo

October 8, 2003

Mr. Pinkwater,

I am a second grade teacher, who has recently been introduced to the INK DRINKER books by Eric Sanvoisin. I was especially intrigued by the author’s comment at the end of the book encouraging people to write to him to receive a straw. I thought this would make a great writing assignment for my students, and they would really love receiving something from an author. My problem is that I have been unsuccessful in finding an address for the author. I am hoping that you can help me in this regard. I would truly appreciate any help you can give. Thank you in advance.

Joe Midzalkowski

September 22, 2003

After over thirty years of teaching I retired, in part to write a novel that’s been kicking the back of my head since I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Marshall Islands. Then, a few weeks ago, I was suddenly inspired to write a children’s book based on a strange thing I observed while driving from my home in central Florida to the family’s cabin in the Smokeys.

I have a friend who is an excellent, though unlettered and completely amatuer, painter. I would like to contact her about illustrating this book. What is a fair split between the originator of the idea/author and the illustrator. This book would rely heavily on the illustrations.

I would appreciate your advice in this matter. I have enjoyed listening to you read your works with Scott Simon on NPR. “The Picture of Morty and Ray” sounds absolutely hilarious.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me.

A Fan

August 1, 2003

I am doing a report for college on cults and alternative religions.

I know you were raised Jewish, but I recall hearing somewhere, might have been NPR, that you belonged to a sect or cult of some sort at one time. Is this true and if so was it a Jewish Cult? Could you elaborate some? Would you elaborate some if you could? I am serious in my desire here as I feel it would make a nice addition to the paper I am writing.

Thank You

Gail George

July 23, 2003

Hi there….:) I am an NPRofile AND a Kindergarten teacher in Florida….(that is quite a combo!) I have bought books to read to my kids based on a couple that you reviewed with Scott Simon…the latest was about Murphy the dog…that’s the one we will read on the first day of school…thanks! My question is, did you hear or read the story this past week about the temporarily purple polar bear in the Buenos Aires zoo? I was thinking I would tackle that as a subject for my first children’s book…what do you think? I may try my hand at illustrating it too… thanks for your thoughts….you have great taste in kids’ lit!!! Gail George

Daniel Kobayashi

July 23, 2003

Dear Capt. Pinkwater,

Rest assured Saul Bellow had no idea who you were. We gave the book to him because you claimed, in one commentary in Fish Whistle, that the TV producer with whom you were working on “Fuzzy Bunny Babies” said he was referred to you by Saul Bellow. If I recall correctly, you said that the writer was really Harlan Ellison.

My question is: Why libel poor Saul Bellow like that? Bad enough that he was teaching The Red and the Black to petulant freshman at Boston University, but to suggest that he was finding you television work?

Here’s my theory. You were well aware of Harlan Ellison’s legendary fits of pique (I once heard him walk out on an NPR interview after host Christopher Lydon described him as a science fiction writer) and felt that it would be easier to pick on a frail old man. Moreover, Bellow had cornered the market on Eastern European Jewish characters leaving a painfully small niche for you.

That has to be it right?

Stefan Jones

July 22, 2003

Captain Manus, African Explorer:

I enjoyed hearing about your dealings with “Maxine” yesterday on NPR.

As someone interested in adopting a dog, but who can’t devote the contiguous time off work to properly train and raise a puppy, I’m curious about guide-dog training dropouts. (I saw an advert for them in the local paper the other day.)

My assumption is that they’ve had basic training (housebroken, sit, heel, make tea). Are they generally OK dogs with just a few quirks, or do they only get washed out for being incorrigible?

Daniel Kobayashi

July 22, 2003

Dear Captain Pinkwater,

You likely do not remember be but we have had a periodic dialogue for 10 years now. It began when you joined America Online for a story and discovered that I was the only person on AOL with the words “Daniel Pinkwater in my profile. Years later, my then girlfriend and I pawned a copy of Lizard Music off on Saul Bellow, who she had as a professor at Boston University at the time. Our thinking was that this would lead him to use his influence as a Nobel Laureate to secure you the prize you deserve as America’s foremost writer on the subject of celestial potato pancakes and sentient reptiles.

You did an ATC commentary about it some time later which I have been trying to locate. It appears to be this:

But it is not totally clear. After all, there was nothing about hyper-text fiction in the one I heard. Do you remember that commentary? Is this it. I used to have a tape of it but it was lost in a move or some such, and I desperately want a new one to put in a safe deposit box where it belongs along with my secret decoder ring and collection of clamshells.

Yours,

Dan Kobayashi