Eric Iverson

January 1, 1997

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

I’ve been meaning to write you for quite some time. Nearly 20 years, in fact. A few years ago, when I saw the cover of _Young Adult Novel_ I couldn’t help but think I was looking at a modified photo of my highschool chums and me. There were all the elements I recalled… skinny white boys, bananna necklace, a guy with gray hair (although I was 19–2 years out of HS when I dyed mine). Quickly scanning through the book I found references to the Club Hoi Polloi (of which I was a member) and the DaDa Ducks (some kind of Devo reference?). Sorry if I’m getting “reality” mixed up with fiction here, but it’s been a while. 🙂

It occurs to me that the circa 1980 correspondence my pals Russell Johnson and Thomas Unterberger wrote to you about our fascination with your books and other cultural matters may have contributed in part to this literary work. If this is true, I would consider any acknowledgement of that as a kind of prize in itself and will be very happy! I say that of course because I supressed the urge to ask if there were any prizes in it for me if I was right. 🙂

If you’d like to pass along any words to the guys, or if you want to hear what the young adults are up to as just plain adults, say the words and I’ll make the connections.

Seeing a copy of _Fat Men From Space_ on my bookshelf at work today, and having an internet connection on my destop, made me wonder if I could find the info I was after on the web. I’m glad I took a few minutes to find out!

The Principal doesn’t exist.

Well, that's what great art does--makes you feel you are somehow being addressed personally. It's hard to remember everything that happened in 1980. 
Eat more toast!