Brigitte Campeau

October 25, 2000

Dear Mr. Pinkwater,

I had to write you. As a child I “stumbled upon” (I know that’s not true) your books and they changed me for the better. I don’t know if I owe it all to you or not, but I became a kid who was very different and didn’t mind being that way. As I grew older I started to lose that and be more afraid of being me. I would come accross your books here and there, seemingly by chance, but there you were, you kept popping up in my young adult life too. Anyway, I got married and for the past while have been very depressive and unhappy, even though I read a million self-help books and tried so darn hard to be happy by following the guru’s. Anyway, my husband was on the internet one day and flipped on a random over-the-internet radio station. Who should be the second caller to the radio car program he had tuned into? YOU. Talking all about why VW Beetles are great cars for fat people. I was blown away, there you were again. I decided to finish the “Five Stories” book of yours I had found last year in a bargain books store. So far I had only read “Alan Mendelson” and “Slaves of Spiegel” and that had been quite some time ago. I knew I was supposed to be reading the book for a reason. The next story I came upon was “The avacado of Death,” one of my all-time favourites and one I had read before. It was greatly enjoyable but not what I was supposed to be learning from. Then came “The Last Guru” and god did it hit the nail on the nose (i have no idea if that’s an expression or not.) When Harold gives his speech about what the Silly Hats believe in and why they wear the hats I was so impressed. It hit me really hard. The Universe was telling me to stop taking myself so seriously through your story. I had heard the expression “don’t take yourself so seriously” so many times, but until I read Harold’s speech it had never sunk in what that really meant. Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for being such a special part of my life. YOU’RE AWESOME MR. PINKWATER!!!!!!! If you’re ever travelling through Canada give me a shout, I’de love to meet you!

Love Brigitte

You realize, of course, that I take myself completely seriously. (The expression, by the way, is ""hit the nail on the knuckle."")