Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I don't know if this is still your email address, but I emailed you an "Ode to Pink" (a set of clips of you and others speaking about you on NPR that I remixed) in 2007, and you used it in your podcast. Six years later, I still love your work (I'm now 18), as do several of my friends. We all credit reading your books (particularly The Snarkout Boys, Borgel, Robert Nifkin, and Alan Mendelsohn) with playing a significant role in the development of our appreciation for the surreal, our strange, shared sense of humor, and our appreciation for good food. (I love good food to such an extent that it's inspired me to become an activist for food justice, sustainability, and hopefully even an organic farmer. I have chickens in my backyard, and named one of them Henrietta the Giant Chicken.) We all live in New York City.
We also recently discovered The Squirrel Cage by Gene Ahern (through trying to figure out what "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop" is in Borgel). Turns out my friend's Georgian music teacher is trying to re-publish all of The Squirrel Cage comics, since they're largely unavailable! Pretty funny coincidence. My friend wrote a post about it on this blog about you: fuckyeahdanielpinkwater.tumblr.com/post/50039204054/nov-shmoz-ka-pop-borgel-and-the-squirrel-cage
Anyway, all of this introduction is leading up to our request that perhaps you allow us (me and my friends Sunny and Emma) to come visit you wherever it is that you live and speak with you for a little while. We are interested in understanding your influences, having discovered what seems to be one of them in The Squirrel Cage.
Being that we live in NYC, we would of course bring good food. I live in Brooklyn near one of the best bagel bakeries in the city, the Bagel Hole; I also regularly buy smoked salmon, babka and other delicious Jewish food from Russ & Daughters, an incredible family-run appetizing that's been open for over 100 years on the Lower East Side. I assume your preference for bagels based on your decision to have Borgel compare space to a poppy seed bagel, but if you would prefer something else, please let us know. Any requests, food or otherwise?
We are all free on June 6, if that would work for you. We don't have a car but we can take a train and then bike to meet you wherever you want.
Thank you,
Nina
P.S. I tried to send this to your email address, in response to our old email correspondence, but because it's six years old I guess you don't use it anymore.
I sort of remember the Ode to Pink. I think it's usually a bad idea to meet artists you like. They tend to be boring--especially me. Anyway, I am sort of busy on June 6th, and the period before and after, so the matter of a visit is moot for now. I know all about Russ and Daughters--I bought things there 100 years ago. I am happy to learn that you are still a cool person and probably destined to be cooler still.
