Lost in the Post

How would you feel if the letter you penned carefully and posted to your favorite star ended up in the recycling bin? That's where unopened fan mail sent to singer Taylor Swift was found in Nashville. ___ __

Swift’s management said it was an accident, but dealing with piles of letters is a burden for most public figures. According to the BBC reporter Jon Kelly, at the height of his fame, Johnny Depp was said to receive up to 10,000 letters a week. ___ ___

The dawn of the digital age in which public figures with a Twitter account can be messaged directly has made the process easier. The White House says it deals with 20,000 messages addressed to President Barack Obama each day.

Some celebrities don’t want letters. In 2008, Beatles drummer Ringo Starr said that he would throw them out because he was too busy. __ ___ Robert Pattinson, star of the Twilight films, claims that he reads tonnes and tonnes of letters from fans, which takes up almost all his free time.

Many artists, however, outsource(外包) the task of opening, reading and replying. Sylvia “Spanky” Taylor, 58, has run a service in California that does just that since 1987. __ _ Most letters are simply declarations of affection and admiration, she says. A few ask for money. A small number contain threats which require her to contact the celebrity’s security team and law enforcement.

The biggest problem for Taylor is working out how to deal with the correspondence(通信). Presents such as soft toys are sent to local hospitals, and most of the letters just get shredded and recycled.

__ __ For some, this is enough, according to Lynn Zubernis, an expert at West Chester University. She says that the relationship between fan and celebrity may exist only in the mind of the former but it comes from a deeply-rooted human need for community.