The friendly people over at Moo.com, makers of quality cards and stickers and such, sent over an article he wrote about pen pals to share with us. It's a fun exploration of people's unexpected relationships formed through letters. Enjoy and thanks Moo!

Letter writing is often described as a lost art, but if these letters are anything to go by, it’s one that should be revived. Once the predominate method of long distance communication, letters tell a story long after the people who wrote them can. And, as we’ve discovered, there can often be a very interesting story to tell! Who’d have thought some of these pairs would be in correspondence?
“I love you very much and wish you luck. Wish me some too. Book is on page 592.”
Ernest Hemingway to Marlene Dietrich
After meeting aboard a ship bound for New York, author Ernest Hemingway and actress Marlene Dietrich struck up a risqué friendship which saw the pair exchange a series of love letters. Addressing Dietrich as ‘Dearest Kraut’ and signing off ‘Papa’, the letters caused quite a stir when sent to auction earlier this year.
“Do not for a moment suppose that I have ever thought of you but with a pleasant recollection.”
Charles Dickens to Edgar Allen Poe
Whilst in the US in 1842, Charles Dickens met with poet Edgar Allen Poe who asked the renowned author to help get his book published in England. A man of his word, Dickens tried his best and later wrote Poe to inform him of his failure to find any interest. Despite this, reports suggest that the feelings between the pair were frosty.
“Try to understand me: I love you while paying attention to external things. At Toulouse I simply loved you. Tonight I love you on a spring evening.”
Jean-Paul Sartre to Simone de Beauvoir
The love affair between French philosophers and writers Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir has been well documented; however letters between the pair give a deeper insight into their open relationship. Following Sartre’s death, de Beauvoir published edited versions of the letters they sent to each other.
“In the course of the last four months it has been made probable…that it may become possible to set up a nuclear change reaction.”
Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt
In 1939, physicist Leó Szilárd convinced Albert Einstein he should inform President Roosevelt about the possibility of atomic bombs following the discovery of nuclear fissure. Dictated by Szilárd and written by fellow physicist Wigner, the letter was then signed by Einstein before being sent to the President, who subsequently convened a board. This letter sparked a chain of correspondence between the physicist and the leader of free world.
This post was written by Rob Young at MOO, the digital printer and business card specialists. To start creating truly remarkable products visit MOO online today.
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