‘Little Billy’s Letter’ really funny reading

  Celebrities receive a lot of mail — fan letters, hate mail, etc. But do you wonder if they really read those letters, or if they just let their assistants take care of them. Well, in “Little Billy’s Letters,” writer Bill Geerhart undertook a project to write to as many famous people as he could think of and see what they had to say.
  The collection of famous people who received a letter from “Little Billy” is as about as diverse as you can get. From Charles Manson to Mr. Rogers, “Little Billy” wrote to the famous, the infamous, and a bunch of folks he was just curious about — and amazingly, most of them personally wrote back to him!
  “Little Billy” is actually grown-up Bill Geerhart, a comedic writer who during a time of unemployment found a way to express his creativity with a roll of stamps, some envelopes and a few dozen sheets of paper. He created a fictional younger version of himself and wrote to a wide range of folks asking such questions as “should I drop out of school?” and “what job is better, being a 7-11 clerk or something else?”
  And boy, did he get some answers back!
  Mass murderers and serial killers seem to provide the most colorful correspondence. Charles Manson, who was convicted in the Tate-LaBianca murders of 1969, sent him not one, but two bizarre letters, one with a weird picture of a barn, that clearly show his insanity while one of his followers, Susan Atkins wrote two thoughtful intelligent letters urging “Little Billy” to stay in school.
  Richard “Nightstalker” Ramirez wanted “Billy” to send him a picture, and parent killer Erik Menendez wanted to be his pen pal.
But “Little Billy” didn’t write to just folks in prison, he also sent letters to government figures such as Vice President Dan Quayle, Attorney General Janet Reno, Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist, and British Prime Minister John Major. And they all wrote back, sending autographed photos of themselves.
  Geerhart wrote to religious leaders, including Oral Roberts, and the head of the Mormon church asking about which religion was best. (The Mormons actually sent out missionaries to talk to “Little Billy.” Geerhart had a tough time convincing them it was a joke!) He wrote to infamous folks such as Hustler Publisher Larry Flynt and Dr. Jack Kevorkian, whose letter was actually pretty funny.
  He also wrote to big name companies such as Anheuser-Busch, asking if there was a beer for kids — and they sent a letter to his “parents” tattling on him. The Gap sent him a T-shirt and a watch, and the National Hobo Association sent him a book about hobos. 7-Eleven sent “Little Billy” a coupon for a free Slurpee.
  One of the most touching letters “Little Billy” received was from everybody’s favorite uncle, Fred Rogers from “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” The genuine love and affection for children that Mr. Rogers had shines in this letter to someone he assumed was a little boy.
  “Little Billy’s Letters” is a lighthearted poke at how serious some celebrities really take themselves and how much of the time they really don’t pay attention to the letters they receive from admirers. (But boy, those prisoners do!) Geerhart’s collection of correspondence, complete with his “grown-up” comments, is a lot of fun to read.