The Helmer Family

February 21, 2000

Daniel,

We love your books, we love Chinwag theatre (although the children frequently muse, “I think I’m not sure what’s going on right now…”) and we favor the adoption of the Pinkwater standard for auto and airplane design.

We are also library people and appreciate your firm advocation for research by students.

The Big Orange Splot is a particularly brilliant work and one of our favorite birthday presents for young minds. Juvenile minds get 5 Novels. Mature minds also get the Big Orange Splot. Where oh where is Blue Moose? I have had out-of-print searches done, to no avail. We have the original story in the great compendium of world children’s lit, but the sequels cannot be had anywhere. Your out-of-printness is extremely frustrating to your loyal fans.

Thank you. Keep up the weird and wonderful work.

the Helmer family

If you think my out-of-printness is frustrating to fans.... So, Blue Moose is out of print? I will look into this. I don't want to frighten anyone, but it's possible that publishing is the harbinger of things to come for all American industries...like the canary taken down into the mine, it's frail and feeble and will show symptoms (like death) first. It was in print for around 25 years, and has been anthologized all over the place, and printed in foreign countries. Used copies of Blue Moose, Return of the Moose, and The Moosepire ought to be findable. I am thinking of releasing one Chinwag Theater CD in the next year. The moose could be it. I will discuss it with my colleagues.